Do More in Less Time – And Have More Time for Yourself

Getting things done brings such a great feeling of accomplishment, but it can also be overwhelming if the task seems insurmountable. Sometimes, the days just don’t seem long enough to do everything we want to do. When that happens, worry can set in, but it doesn’t have to!
You can do more than you ever thought was possible, and in less time too, giving yourself time to relax and really enjoy life!
It all begins with a solid foundation of time management and scheduling. It’s okay if you’re not a good time manager right now, you can learn to be. It just takes a little bit of practice and you’ll soon be getting more and more done.
When you see how much you’re accomplishing, you’ll work even harder during your busy times, and enjoy those down times more thoroughly.

These scheduling strategies will help you become an expert manager of your time:

1. Schedule your life for maximum benefit. You can avoid procrastination and the big stressed-out rush to meet a deadline by scheduling each day and using just a bit of self-discipline to stick to your schedule.
   • It helps to break things down into smaller tasks. For example, do you have a big presentation coming up at work in two weeks? Don’t try to do it the night before it’s due. Start now. Working for just a half hour each day can help you get that presentation done with plenty of time to spare.
   • By scheduling your day according to your priorities, you can better utilize the time that you might otherwise have wasted doing unproductive things, like watching television or waiting for the next item on your to-do list to come to you.
2. Disallow doubts from getting in your way. That little voice in the back of your mind that tells you, “It’s too much work,” or “It’s not going to happen,” doesn’t know what it’s talking about!
   • You can do anything you set your mind to. Keep that thought in mind as you go through your day. The more you think it – or even say it out loud – the more you’ll internalize and believe it.
   • When you remind yourself how much you’re capable of doing, you’ll work harder so you can reap the rewards of being done with work.
   • No matter how you reward yourself, make it a point to do so regularly. Finished that presentation? Take the evening off and watch your favorite movie! Whatever reward works for you is a good one – as long as the work’s done first.
3. Recognize when you’re getting stressed and why. Sometimes, in an effort to get more done, you’ll find that you aren’t getting the time for yourself that you’d hoped for. When this happens, stop and reassess your schedule.
   • Are you following your agenda? Are you productive during your scheduled working times? Are you meeting your goals? Where can you make changes for better success?
   • Do you concentrate and get your work done during your working hours? If not, you may find that you still have to work when you should be relaxing. This is a vicious circle that leaves you feeling stressed, while getting nowhere.
4. Eliminate your stressors while building in stress relief. Think about the following as you go about your workday:
   • By focusing during working hours, you’ll complete each task much sooner. Get your drudgery tasks out of the way as quickly as possible to make more time for more enjoyable tasks.
   • Work time is for work only – so avoid distractions. Ringing phones and other issues can stop you from accomplishing your work. Forward calls to your voice mail and establish “do not disturb” times. You’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done without distractions!
   • If you complete your tasks early, keep working until your schedule says it’s time to stop. Perhaps you can tackle some work for the next day to get ahead. Being a little ahead gives you the flexibility to take care of inevitable emergencies without falling behind in productivity.
   • Recognize when you need a break. People are not machines so your schedule should reflect that. Realistic break times should be part of even the busiest schedule.

By planning your time wisely, you’ll accomplish more and be able to reap the many benefits of true relaxation when you’re done. It’s well worth the effort!

Tap Into Your Inner Creativity

veryone has the ability to be creative – including you! Once you learn how to unleash your inner creativity, you’ll be able to tap into it, no matter what else is going on in your life. You might even be amazed at what you’re really capable of!
Discovering your inner creativity begins with looking inside yourself. The idea of “looking within” might seem foreign or even silly, but it’s really not as crazy as it sounds! There are many successful people who understand the benefit of turning inward for inspiration, happiness, and decision-making.
You may not always profit from your creativity. In fact, more often than not, your ingenuity will only benefit you and your family, and that’s okay! Your creativity can still bring you great joy and happiness!
Some people write, draw, compose music, build sculptures, or paint. There are plenty of creative pursuits for you to explore and enjoy. Even redecorating your house, revitalizing your wardrobe, or experimenting in the kitchen can be a creative outlet for you. After all, someone has to try new things, or the world would never change. So let that person be you!

Tips to Focus on Your Inner Creativity

If you haven’t given much thought to your inner creativity, getting started can be the hardest part.
Here are some things to think about:

• What do you do for a living?
• What are your hobbies?
• What would you do if you could do anything?
• Who would you be if you weren’t worried about the judgment of others?

Ask yourself these questions – especially the last two – openly and honestly, and discover your answers. You just might be astonished about what you find out about yourself. Perhaps it’s time to take that hobby and turn it into a living. Maybe it’s time to shake off the idea of living for others and begin to live for yourself.
Today is a new day to be creative, and a new day to touch the hearts and minds of others with what you have to offer the world. Are you worthy or capable? Of course you are! Let your inner creativity come pouring out.
Once you’ve started to discover your creativity, practice and experiment with it:

• Make it a point to be creative every day.
• Try new ways to do things, even routine chores.
• Seek creative solutions to your challenges at work and home.
• Any time you do something differently or see something from a new perspective, you’re flexing your creativity.

Continue your exploration by branching out into entirely new hobbies and activities that help you in your pursuit of original creativity. Try expressing yourself in music, dance, writing, painting, or even crafts or woodworking.

Avoiding Discouragement

There are people who simply don’t like change. You might even know some of them. As your inner creativity comes out, these people may not support you. That’s okay, because it’s not their life to live. It’s not their race to run. Focus on what you feel in your heart and surround yourself with those who do support you.
Getting support from others can make a huge difference, but either way, you must be your own #1 fan! The best support comes from within, not from what others think is right or wrong for your life.
Using your creativity will inspire you to do even more with your life. You can’t possibly imagine where your creativity can take you if you just let it out and enjoy it. It doesn’t have to be perfect – and you don’t have to be perfect – to bring great joy to yourself and to the world around you.

Make Procrastination a Thing of the Past

Almost everyone procrastinates. There are always things you might not want to do, even though you know it may be necessary. The good news is you can avoid living like that. You can change the way you look at your tasks and make procrastination a distant memory.
There are all kinds of reasons why people procrastinate. Some do it because they don’t like the task, others do it because other things mean more to them, and still other people might be struggling with depression, sickness, or just feeling down. No matter what your reasons for procrastinating, you can take control and get things done.

Find What Matters to You

It’s important to be able to do things that you want to do, but the reality is that someone has to take out the garbage, wash the dishes, or complete that long-winded business report. There should be a healthy balance between things you must do and things you do simply for pleasure.

Of course, what you like to do won’t necessarily be the same as what someone else enjoys, and that’s perfectly fine. Some people like to clean their homes. Others prefer to pay someone to clean so they can do something else. Neither person is wrong, nor should they try to convince the other person to change. They are both focused on what they enjoy doing.
If you want to stop procrastinating, your first step is to determine:

• What you absolutely have to do
• What others have told you that you have to do
• What you can get others to do for you – either volunteer or paid

When you’ve been honest with yourself and determined what matters to you, you can focus on the tasks that you truly must accomplish.

Be Sure to Reward Yourself

Ensure you get something when you give something. In other words, avoid doing a lot of tasks that you don’t enjoy without treating yourself.
It’s important that you reward yourself for doing things you don’t like doing. The reward should be simple and realistic, but also something that you can look forward to. A treat can be anything from a scoop of ice cream to your favorite movie to taking a walk under the stars – whatever brings you joy.
For example, you can tell yourself, “When I finish cleaning the kitchen, I’ll read another chapter in that book I enjoy.” You’ll be more likely to finish cleaning faster if you know you can do something fun afterward.

More Tips to Stop Procrastinating

Rewarding yourself is only one good way to stop procrastinating. Making unwanted tasks more enjoyable so that you’re more inclined to get them done also works.
Try these techniques to convince yourself to complete those tasks:

1. Get others involved. Need to paint your house? Get your family or friends involved and then enjoy some time together afterward. Order a pizza. Watch a movie. Play in the yard. Do something that makes you feel joyful and connected. This way, you can actually look forward to it!
2. Do one thing each day. Divide the task up into more manageable bits. For example, rather than cleaning your entire house in one day, just clean one or two rooms each day, on a schedule of your choosing. When you do that, the smaller tasks seem much easier to handle and you won’t spend your entire weekend cleaning.
3. Set realistic deadlines and goals. If you set unrealistic goals, it’s easy to get discouraged. Avoid discouragement by setting goals and deadlines that are attainable. Your confidence and motivation soar when you know you can achieve what you set out to accomplish.

Overcoming procrastination takes work, but it’s something that anyone can do. Make a commitment today to stop procrastinating and start moving forward with your life. You can take control, and you’ll be glad you did as you find yourself accomplishing your goals and enjoying more free tim

Positivity

“Can Do” versus “Can’t Do”


There’s something about the word “can’t” that raises the hairs on our necks. Maybe we don’t like limits being set for us. Maybe we are just rebellious kids at heart.

Think about it. You hear the word “can’t” and immediately your internal conversations start with:

Why not? … See. I knew she wouldn’t listen … Oh yeah, just watch me

Regardless, all of us would do well to heed the advice of communication specialists and minimize our use of the word “can’t.” Tell people what you CAN do – what they CAN do. Here are some examples: “You can have your vacation June 19.” “What I can do for you is .…” “Here’s what you can do….” “Tell me what you think you can do in this situation.

Sounds like a small shift, but it is the small things in communication that make all the difference in the world. We’re so accustomed to using “can’t” that this switch will require discipline. It takes practice but it’s well worth the effort. The difference between CAN and CANNOT is shorter in letters, but longer in results.

what a difference an extra degree can make

212° Focus

In 1981 Jan Carlzon had just been named the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines. His company was in trouble. They had just been ranked by a consumer poll as the worst airline in the world. Last in service, last in dependability, and last in profits as a percentage of sales. Yet one year later, in the same poll, they were ranked number one in all three categories. What happened?
Carlzon had decided to focus on what he thought was the most critical issue…serving the customer. He wanted to keep it simple: identify every contact between the customer and the employee and treat that contact as “a moment of truth.” He set out to let his people know the importance of that moment…the captain, the ticket agent, the baggage handler, the flight attendant. “Every moment, every contact,” he said, “must be as pleasant and as memorable as possible.” He determined that he had approximately ten million customers each year, and on average each customer made contact with five of his people for approximately 15 seconds at a time. Carlzon felt that what happened in these 50 million contacts would determine the fate of his company.

He set out to share his vision with his 20 thousand employees. He knew the key was to empower the front line. Let them make the decisions and take action, because they were Scandinavian Airlines during those 15 seconds. He now had 20 thousand people who were energized and ready to go because they focused on one very important thing…making every moment count. Carlzon made it happen with 212° focus; and you can too.

“Open Minds are more Important than Open Doors”

This month I want to talk to you about this concept called the ‘open door policy’. Many organizations and managers practice this concept whereby subordinates are welcome to come into the office of a superior at any time to discuss any matter, give an opinion, provide feedback etc. From my experience however, I find that whenever employees use the open door policy, the response on the other side of the door is usually lukewarm or downright critical. Some of those who use this opportunity to voice grievances or provide feedback are labeled as ‘irritants’ or worse still ‘trouble makers’. In most cases, employees leave the ‘open doors’ with a bitter taste in their mouth. I cannot help but believe that these ‘open door’ policies have been put in place more to create a positive image for the manager i.e. that he is mature, open and welcomes feedback. In actual fact, the opposite is closer to the truth.


My view is that an open door policy is absolutely useless if behind the open door there is a closed mind. I would rather open minds than open doors. Having an open mind means being able to accept feedback and opinions no matter how dissimilar they are to your own. The objective of an open door policy is to provide a ‘safe environment’ whereby subordinates and peers can discuss a matter openly and to know each other’s views on different matters. The manager need not necessarily accept these views, but he/she must give the other party every opportunity to say their piece. The worst scenario is when they don’t even want to listen because they have made up their minds. What happens after that is that although the door is open, nobody wants to go through it. And organizations and managers then lament that “although we have an open door policy, employees seldom want to make use of it”. Perhaps organizations should start promoting an ‘open mind’ policy. I am most certain this will be much more effective!!