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NABBW Columnist - Self Promotion and Internet Marketing
Handy
Tips to Help You Find More Time Got time to read a quick essay about how to find more time? Desperately need more time but you're not sure where to find it? First take a nice deep breath, then settle back into your chair and read. I'm here to share some really helpful info with you that has radically altered how I use my time. Now I not only have more time, I'm more relaxed and when I am working, I'm a lot more focused. I got some excellent coaching on this from my business coach, Rich Schefren - some of whose tips I'm sharing here. Others are ideas I've added myself. 1. Track your time. You will see where it goes, and then be able to clearly make choices based on what you observe. I like the Trax Time tool, which is a simple 'punch in/punch out' time clock that sits on your computer's desktop. The paid version is a lot better than the free shareware trial. Because of this clarity, I hired someone to do stuff I was wasting time on and added about 3 hours to each day to get more done. 2. Don't multi- task. Put your entire attention into the task at hand, stay focused, and really get the job done. (I was SUCH a bad multi-tasker, that all kinds of things got unnecessarily jumbled.) When you can calmly create a schedule that's not overloaded, you stay more focused and get more done. 3. Implement a system if you're really in overwhelm. I like David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' program. His book by the same name is excellent - I've used just about every aspect of it. And then I even added his software add-in to my Outlook Task Manager. That really helps me tick stuff off my list OR delegate and handle. 4. Using your time tracker, see how you spend your time and cut the fat. Rich says to take a look - 'What am I doing that make me most successful ... or not doing but would make me more successful? What are biggest time wasters?' Delegate or make other changes to re-do your time usage. 5. Once you identify what you need to add or drop, follow this rule: If you add something, you must delete something. Just like budgeting income. 6. Schedule it in. Give yourself a concrete amount of time for tasks. I've given myself one hour, and that's it, to get this ezine written today. I know how my mind works, so I will come in just around 58 minutes. Try this, and be prepared to be surprised how easy it is to focus your time. 7. Create regular shots of down time every 90 -120 minutes. Your brain is craving a break by then, according to time management experts. Be sure to do something completely fun, and you'll come back to work ready to focus well. I play the piano (which I'm learning this summer) and it's fun! A great little break. What could be yours? 8. Don't overload your schedule. We all think we're Bionic and capable of charging through the world's longest to do list. Take a step back, smell the roses and re-assess. Do you really need to do it all? And can you just give yourself a reasonable amount of time to work ... and then to play each day? Just this simple shift will give your brain enough slack to allow for more fun, more creativity, and more productivity. ©2006 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC. For information on how to find the time, energy, money to live your purpose in life, check out Suzanne’s free ezine, The Joy Letter. Sign up at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html and receive our valuable report, 35 Guaranteed Time Savers. And get a daily blast of joyful tips from the Blast o’ Joy blog at http://selfhelpsalon.typepad.com/blast_o_joy/ October
2005: Finding Your Niche In Life
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Suzanne
Falter-Barns is the author of two self help books on living
your creative dream. How Much Joy Can You Stand? (Ballantine)
was a Main Selection of The One Spirit Book Club, and featured
in Fitness, Woman’s Day, Writer’s Digest and on
more than 100 radio and TV shows. Living Your Joy was named
one of the top nine self help books in print by Self Magazine,
and has been featured in many publications including the Christian
Science Monitor.National
Association of Baby Boomer Women Copyright
2005, National Association of Baby Boomer Women |