GET MORE FROM LIFE EACH DAY
Focus on one day at a time.
Live the moment.
Forget yesterday
and look forward to tomorrow. If you are guilty about what happened
yesterday, or are anxious about what might happen tomorrow, your
energy will be dissipated.
Plan your work, then work your plan.
What good and bad habits have you developed? Reinforce the good daily
patterns and break the bad.
Be an "early bird."
Habits start as consciously made decisions, eg.. what time to get up.
Once established, good habits become second nature. Success is the
result of habit. It depends not so much on doing the unusual, but on
doing the commonplace unusually well.
DON'T PROCRASTINATE. DO IT NOW. Don't confuse being busy with
working efficiently. Activities can be tension-relieving, not goal
achieving. By concentrating on fewer, priorities regularly on a fixed
schedule, you can achieve a lot more in less time.
IS TIME THE PROBLEM OR ARE YOU? Draw up a daily "to do" list. Rank
priority tasks (the important few), as well as the trivial many. This
allows you to focus on fewer things and achieve more. Sort into A, B
& C's
A's are important and urgent. Must do today.
B's are important and not urgent. Want to do today.
C's are not important. Today, if possible or delegate.
Use this system to cover work, personal and family items. This allows
you to strike a balance in your daily living. In addition, you can
schedule the daily activities required to achieve your objectives. By
giving high visibility to your major goal, you can keep your mental
energies concentrated. Remember the 20/80 principle: 20% of your key
activities will give you 80% of your results or payoff and 80% of your
work (or clients) will produce 20% of your profits.
Don't hog all the work. Delegate what you can as this encourages a
sense of responsibility and a sense of teamwork in others. It frees
up your time for more important activities. Handle each piece of
paper only once. Rather than shuffling paper, make a decision to deal
with it NOW (if important). destroy, or diarise for later action.
Use the concept of time blocks to do similar tasks at one
time...rather than when they arise, otherwise trivia will swamp what
is important. Look at your body rhythms for which times suit you
best. When do you work best (or when is your concentration at it's
maximum)? Are you most alert in the morning, afternoon or evening?
Plan your day by your energy cycle. You can schedule the most
important or mentally demanding activities when you are at your peak.
"Next time you say, "I'm wasting time" change that to say, "I'm
wasting myself."
About the Author
Craig Lock
Eagle Productions
My various books are available from:
http://www.novelty-gift.com/
Creative Writing Course
http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html
and my personal sites at
http://www.craiglock.com
and
http://www.elkpublications.com/godzone.htm