Tag Archives | lifestyle
The First Thanksgiving, painted by Jean Leon G...

Take Time Off

By on December 24, 2010 in Personal Growth
The First Thanksgiving, painted by Jean Leon G...
Image via Wikipedia
Take time off!

Please take some time to enjoy your family and get some rest. The holiday crunch is coming and for most of us that means non-stop activity until January.

Enslaving yourself to your work can actually make you accomplish less. Master the ability to recharge yourself when you need it. Studies have shown that productivity actually improves with time off and rest. We cannot operate at full speed all of the time and expect not to lose some of our efficiency.

For example, I have started a practice of unplugging from my laptop on Sunday, unless there is some truly compelling reason not to. It is far too easy to become addicted to my Twitter, Facebook and HootSuite and before I know it the “10 minutes to check in” has turned into 2 hours. I have found and many studies substantiate this, that I can recharge my health, energy and focus by completely getting away from work in all its forms. So, my Sundays include reading my paper over coffee, walks, hiking or bike rides with my family or the dogs, gardening and best of all spending time in my chair with a good book!

This Thanksgiving week I am going to attempt to only check in with social media and personal email once a day (max 30 min.,) that’s a compromise my family and I can live with. I plan to spend time petting my dogs, listening to my children, getting in some “auntie” time with my niece and nephew.

What can you do to rest and recharge? Think of the possibilities…..

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The Passage of Time

How Do You Spend Your Most Valuable Currency:Time?

By on October 28, 2010 in Personal Growth
The Passage of Time
Image by ToniVC via Flickr

Are you neglecting the things that matter? Do you think you are somehow different than the rest of us? That you have more hours in the day or can get more done miraculously if you just get organized enough? Let me tell you right now, FORGET IT! There is only so much any one person can accomplish at one time. We are told we can have it all, but that is nothing more than wishful thinking. Be honest. Where are you falling short?

This week I was given some tough love. After taking my bitter pill, I decided to open my closet metaphorically and share my dirty laundry. I am a chronic over-scheduler, over-committer and plate-overflower ( I just made that term up.) I know I am not alone in the disease to achieve. A wise and insightful person pointed out to me that I was already operating with my plate filled to capacity before my husband left for Afghanistan. How did I expect to absorb extra responsibilities into my life and not neglect some things that matter? I don’t really want to hear that. While I cringe at the term “neglect,” it may be an arrow that hits too close to home. She told me what is always, without fail neglected first is yourself, because you somehow feel as though you are not deserving of your place on the priority ladder. Then, although it defies logic we neglect the other things that matter most to us, usually family, friends, home and fun. In some unfathomable twist of brain logic we tend to spend time on those things that don’t really matter in the long term picture of our lives. Why do we do this I want to know? Maybe someone wiser than I can figure out that puzzle eventually. My marching orders are to figure out what really matters, place a premium priority and focus on those aspects of my life and cut back or delete those that don’t.  I invite you, no; I implore you to join me.

Time is our most valuable currency, yet most of us squander it so easily.

What are the things that really matter to you?

What are the things that really won’t matter 20 years from now?

Are you spending your time in that order of importance?

What activities are you spending time on that don’t have a great return on investment?

Do you check your email first thing in the morning instead of taking time to exercise or eating breakfast with your family? I’m sure you’ll be glad of that when your health fails and your kids are gone.

Do you spend too much time on social media, email and news and information intake? Unless that’s your job, you will get better results if you spend your time on actually producing “work.” Those things are tools. Think of it in a more traditional manner. Would you spend 2 hours a day reading the newspaper or submitting press releases instead of making sales calls, product development or working with clients? If you’re at home, is Facebook more important than reading with your kids or making a clean and comfortable environment?

Do you spend more time “preparing and planning” than working. Either you’re an excessive planner like me, or you’re on the other side of the fence wasting time looking for things, straightening piles that shouldn’t be there in the first place, rushing for appointments that you forgot and playing catch up on emails that you should have responded to last week.

It’s not what we want to hear, but it’s what we need to open our eyes to the reality of how we spend our time. If you figure it out… please let me know.

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road blocks

What are Your Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

By on October 12, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success
road blocks
Image by s myers via Flickr

This month we have been focusing on habits and how to successfully change them. A big part of the success strategy is knowing what your obstacles are and having a plan to conquer them. This same concept can apply to many other facets of business as well as in your home life.

Whether you want to stop procrastinating, quit smoking or drinking, start exercising, cultivate a daily writing practice or keep your home clean and de-cluttered, the process, preparation and strategy is the same.

Anticipate obstacles – Take a look back at past failures and try to understand what stopped you from achieving success. Look at personal as well as professional instances where you just couldn’t quite hit the mark. What got in the way?

Identify patterns – Do you have a certain pattern of behavior that keeps popping up and getting in the way of your goal? Do you self-sabotage, burn-out, give up or refuse to ask for help?

Recognize your triggers – Are their certain situations that trigger your current habit? Do you relapse into unproductive behavior around particular people? Do you find some surroundings to be more conducive to failure than others?

Plan ahead – Develop a strategy to overcome obstacles before they happen. The best way to assure success is to prepare ahead of time, rather than to try to come up with a solution when you are in the moment.

For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, don’t take breaks outside with your former smoking cohorts. If you are trying to stop procrastinating, set a timer and a reward. Trying to clear the clutter? Figure out how it got there in the first place. Sort the mail by the recycling bin or set aside 15 minutes each day to tackle one area. If you’re trying to lose weight, avoid buffets! Whatever the behavior you desire to change, enlist support, get a partner or mentor, or publically declare your intention. The extra accountability might be the push you need.

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Seinfeldian Chain In Action

Start Small and Build Momentum to Make a Habit Stick

By on October 7, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success
Seinfeldian Chain In Action
Image by emdot via Flickr

“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.”
~ Shaquille ONeal

We’re talking habits this month.

If you missed the first post in the series, Change Your Habits: 30 Days to a more Productive and Successful Life, I recommend you start there and come back.

Changing a habit is difficult. Let’s face it; you have done certain things in a certain way for probably most of your life. Trying to change those patterns is not an easy task, but it can be done. The success rate is much higher if you don’t try to tackle too much at once, otherwise you are just setting yourself up for failure. This is one of the main reasons that New Year’s resolutions don’t have a good success rate. We attempt grand, life altering changes, often several at once.

Choose one habit – Focus on changing one thing at a time. You can add another change later once you have mastered this one.

Keep it simple – I will exercise 5X per week is good. I will train for a marathon time next month is a goal and an ambitious one, not a habit. I will make 5 sales calls every morning before I check email is good. I will increase sales by 30 % = goal.

Start small – The smaller the better. It’s better to start with a small change and build on that. Wake up 15 minutes earlier, not 2 hours. Exercise for 20 minutes, not run 5 miles. Try slowly cutting back on email checking – 5X per day, then 4X, then 3X…..

Cement it – Write down what habit you are going to change. Documenting helps to solidify and cement the intention in your brain. Put it on your calendar, either electronic or paper. Schedule time for it!

Have you chosen you habit yet?

Click here to read more on creating and sticking with new habits.

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Logo for the program 30 Days Category:Televisi...

Change Your Habits: 30 Days to a more Productive and Successful Life

By on October 5, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success
Logo for the program 30 Days Category:Televisi...
Image via Wikipedia

Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the things you will do the best.

- Marva Collins

Our habits make up the web that supports the fabric of our daily lives. We may often not even realize we have them, but trust me, they are there. Good and bad, we all repeat them in often unconscious patterns that shape the tone, productiveness and success of our lives. You cannot escape this reality. Whether you work in a corner office, are a stay at home mom or especially if you work from home or are a business owner, the quality and efficiency of your work depend on good habits. The good news is that habits can be changed with persistence and patience.

habits

If you want to change the quality and trajectory of your life, then you must cultivate better habits and cease old patterns.

Reality check – Have you identified the habits that are not serving you? Let’s be honest. We know when a habit is undermining our plans and progress.  We stay up too late, watch too much TV, eat unhealthy food, compulsively check email or haunt Facebook. We overspend and ignore our health. Whatever your destructive patterns are, you have to be willing to look at them honestly.

Why – Know your motivation. Is it better health, getting your home or office organized, losing weight, making more money or getting out of debt?  Is there a project you need to finish or a dream that you want to pursue? Motivation can be the determining factor in whether you succeed or not.

Stay positive – It is far easier to focus on cultivating a positive habit rather than trying to simply break an old one.

Some examples:

Instead of saying I need to cut out sugar, you might try I will eat fruit for dessert.

Instead of I want to cut back on spending, you might want to say I will save X amount per week.

Instead of trying to refrain from checking email first thing in the morning, you could cultivate a habit of using your first hour for either your most important work (which I doubt is email) or your self-care (exercise, reading, etc.)

*My ongoing struggle is to consistently get enough sleep and rise earlier. I know that sets the tone for my whole day and often makes the difference between a productive day and a stressful one. So that will be my habit change for October.

Join me in the 30 day challenge to a more productive life by changing your habits. I recommend you choose just one to start and stay consistent. As we progress through October I will share more tips and strategies for making your habits stick.

What habit will you choose to change?

Read more on changing habits and making them stick.

 

 

Looking for a coach in UK? Check out the Life Coach Directory
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20 Strategies to Recharge and Refocus to Increase Your Productivity

By on September 14, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success

Did you know that taking time to rest and recharge are possibly the most valuable productivity and success strategies you can practice?

What do you do to recharge and boost your energy and focus?

Here are some suggestions on steps you can take to restore your energy and revitalize your focus in no particular order. Choose one or several and practice them this week:

  • Meditate – start with a few minutes and work your way up to whatever is comfortable for you
  • Take a walk out in nature – try a park, the woods or near the water
  • Spend time with friends – share, connect and receive and offer support
  • Read a book that inspires you or stretches your imagination
  • Get active – go running, cycling, swimming, tennis, golf
  • Do yoga or Pilates – a regular practice helps both body and mind
  • Practice Pranayama breathing – or try another kind of deep breathing practice
  • Get more sleep – take a nap or go to bed early one night per week
  • Drink lots of pure water and eat really fresh food – try a visit to the local farmer’s market
  • Take in some culture – attend the theatre to watch a performance or a symphony
  • Get outside – take pictures, draw or just sit and soak in the beauty of nature
  • Have fun – play games, tell jokes
  • Treat yourself to your favorite indulgence – a fine glass of wine, a soothing cup of tea, a delicious coffee creation, a scrumptious bakery delight
  • Do something thrilling – cliff diving, bungee jumping, hang gliding, sky diving
  • Get some “bodywork” – schedule a massage, facial, Reiki, reflexology treatment or acupuncture
  • Learn a new sport or activity – try dance lessons, rock climbing, quilting, scrap-booking, bird-watching; the possibilities are endless
  • Spend some time in solitude
  • Listen to music – whatever kind appeals to you. Rock music can be relaxing and energizing for some and classical tunes can be an energy booster
  • Dance – Just get up and let yourself go
  • Brain dump – Get everything out of your head and turn off the worry machine
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Top Picks for Blackberry Apps to Increase Productivity

By on September 2, 2010 in Success

In part 2 in my series highlighting technology tools for productivity I have chosen some highly recommended Blackberry apps. Not a Blackberry user? Check out the posts for iPhone or Android devices. Tools are an indispensible part of your productivity strategy. Choosing the right tool for your needs can be a confusing and somewhat daunting task. The decision must be based on your needs, working style, and level of comfort with technology.

Is there is some particular device or tool you’d like to learn about?  Please let me know and I’ll try to report on it.

My picks:

BeReader – Google Reader client that allows you to read your Google Reader feeds on your BlackBerry everywhere you go, even when you do not have network coverage. Easily access, update and manage all of your subscriptions in one place.

BillableGoal – automatically tracks the time and details of your phone calls and emails.  It also allows you to create timers and enter time to capture events.  All time entries can be exported for input into your traditional billing system.   Great for tracking client time! Supported export formats: plain text, sort able HTML, QuickBooks

Evernote – Free, open source note program, but way more than just notes. Evernote allows you to capture thoughts using text notes, voice recordings, photos and web clippings. You can tag notes or separate them into different notebooks. All notes are fully searchable and sync with a companion desktop application is desired.

HootSuite – Coming soon to Blackberry! Hands down my favorite app for every day social media management. Monitor Twitter and Facebook accounts, send and schedule updates, view statistics, watch lists and track keyword searches.

mProductive – is the ultimate ToDo List app that brings your Calendar, Tasks and Memos all together in one place at last. This app makes it really easy to organize everything that’s important to you. Personal priorities, work commitments and follow-ups (Task lists, meetings, appointments, events, notes, memos and reference information) can all be quickly created, conveniently grouped and effectively managed. A must for GTD users.

My Caption Speech to Text – With its Voice-to-Text capability, you get higher productivity and convenience.  It synchronizes your e-mails, calendar, SMS text, note, memo and task entries exactly as if you typed them yourself — to your Outlook, Google Apps or to Lotus Notes or BES BlackBerry® Enterprise Server.

Shopper – Shopper is ideal for groceries and just about anything else you need to buy.  Organize your lists for multiple stores, track pricing, input coupons, and go!

Vaayoo SocialBox – Interactive suite of social networking, sharing and sync services including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Picassa etc. Easily share photos, videos and audibles from your mobile with your friends on multiple destinations that you can select: Web Communities on www.vaayoo.com, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Picasa emails and phones. You can also receive photo and video updates from them instantly.

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Vacation Reminds Us of What’s Really Important

By on August 17, 2010 in Personal Growth

Vacation is a good time to reflect on what really matters in your life and how you want to spend your time on this earth.

“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.” -Jim Rohn

Kids in Montreal

Family

Hearts montreal

Love

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questions

Important Questions to Gain Perspective and Stop Wasting Time

By on August 17, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success

Productivity without a purpose is just busyness disguised as importance.

When was the last time you took a step back and tried to put everything about your life and work into perspective? Most likely the answer is never. I don’t just mean big picture plans, I mean what you actually do every day, how you act, how you spend your time and energy, why you do the things you do. Just humor me for a few minutes and entertain the concept that what you think you need to do or what you should do may not actually be true. Most of our patterns or behaviors are learned or acquired from others and then we never question them again until either something terrible happens or someone causes us to examine them. A recent vacation and a complete change in surroundings started me thinking about my own patterns and probing their effectiveness and even their necessity. This is why taking a break, stepping back and getting outside your “box” that has become your life is so important to both your personal and professional development.

questions

I am challenging you now to scrutinize every pattern of behavior or routine and ask yourself these questions:

  • Why am I doing this? What is the purpose?
  • How much time do I really need to spend on it?
  • Is there a faster, easier or more enjoyable way to accomplish it?
  • What would happen if I stopped doing it?

It feels disloyal in a way to question your own perspective and thoughts, because hey, we all think that we are right. We don’t really like to entertain the idea that we could be completely off-base and have been wasting our time and energy when we could be doing something much more valuable like developing ideas, connecting with people or maybe even having fun!

My own investigation revealed the following insights:

  1. Perhaps I do not need to spend an hour every day on my social media communications. I gained Twitter followers and had engagement even during my vacation period, with considerably less structured tweeting, but Facebook almost completely fell off the grid. My assignment: try switching up the amount of time and the schedule that I currently use to see if I can reduce the time commitment and make it more fun.
  2. Writing my blog posts ahead during assigned writing periods seems more productive, but isn’t the most fun way to write for me. How can I make my writing may be more effective, enjoyable and relevant?  My assignment: Try setting aside the first hour of my work day and write about what is on my mind and current.
  3. My exercise routine gets boring and that makes it a chore some days and hard for me to stick to my plan. What if I really don’t need to be so rigid in my schedule? How can I make exercise more fun and still get the results I want? My assignment: Experiment with including different activities, i.e. biking, walking the dogs, yoga, a weighted ball; instead of my standard running and weightlifting routine.

Stay tuned for my next post on my “Shake it Up” experiment….

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Absolute Minimums are a Must to Improve Productivity

By on July 23, 2010 in Personal Growth, Success

If you consistently accomplish your absolute minimum in each of your critical core concentration areas each day you will make significant progress toward you goals over time.

Remember, slow and steady wins the race. You can always do more than the minimum and I hope you will, but even small amounts of advancement add up. Too often we get caught up in the mental trap of believing that if we can’t commit a substantial amount of time and energy then we might as well not bother to take action at all. That is a myth.

Take a look at what you have identified as your current critical areas of focus and determine what your absolute minimums are.

What is the least amount of time, effort or action you need to take to see progress?

Each person will have different answers and only you as an individual can reasonably define what they are. It is also helpful to note which focus area they address. To get you started, here is an example based on my current focus list, of the absolute minimums that I must do with consistency; both to achieve progress towards my goals and also to feel satisfied with my life and work:

  • Exercise a minimum of 20 minutes daily – physical health
  • Write one hour – career
  • Email my husband daily summary & encouragement – family
  • Work a minimum of 6 hours each day during the summer – career
  • Social media (10 Twitter posts and 1 Facebook post daily, update LinkedIn status weekly) – career
  • Connect with at least one child each day (one on one time, phone call or email/text communication) – family
  • Take 30 minutes of alone time (crucial to my sanity) – mental health
  • Check in with my Facebook community (especially group for spouses of deployed military members) – friends

Your list may be very different and it should be since your life situation is dissimilar to mine. This list will then become a structure for new habits you want to implement. The amount and complexity is up to you, but remember to keep it reasonable or you won’t be able to maintain your momentum.

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