September 10th, 2007: Thoughts for the day
For my Friend Jackie:
Using Time Wisely
Finding time to live
An aerial view of most cities would reveal swarms of people frantically racing about. Everyone is in a hurry. If you stop someone and ask how they are, they will reply, "Busy. Very busy." They certainly are active, but often their actions are undirected or misdirected. They seem to be busy for the sake of being busy. They are involved in the business of busyness. Disheveled and unorganized, they are too busy to get organized. They are so busy mopping the floor, they have no time to turn off the faucet.
The price they pay for their endless flurry of activity is high. At the end of the day, or before, they are stressed out, burned out, and wiped out. Instead of a life of serenity, they lead lives of frustration, resentment, and anger. Because they are too busy to have time for anything important, they feel empty. They feel as though they are plodding through a meaningless existence.
Also, because they have forgotten that people are more important than paperwork, their relationships suffer. They are worried about losing time, but not about losing their potential. They work hard for the growth of the company, but ignore their self-growth. The toll of their busyness is also the loss of excellence, for they abandon the practice of doing few things well for that of doing many things poorly. The speed at which they work causes errors and drains them of the energy that is needed to cope with problems.
Self-educated longshoreman and author of eleven books, Eric Hoffer (1902 ~ 1983), had this to say, "We are warned not to waste time, but we are brought up to waste our lives." The cult of busyness is destroying our spirit. The problem, by the way, is not new. You see, the Chinese Character for BUSY is at least 2,000 years old. And the character is composed of two parts: the left side, which means SPIRIT (heart), and the right side, which means DEATH or DESTRUCTION. So, it was clear in the minds of the ancient Chinese that excessive busyness destroys our spirit.
How do we fight against the assassination of our spirit? By taking time and making time to collect our thoughts. If we are to move from impulsive action to directed action, we need to take the time to plan, marshal our resources, and build our enthusiasm. If we are to go from "I'm busy" to "I'm productive," we must make the time to focus on what is important and then take purposeful action.
Our spirit is a creative force that has the power to bring about our dreams. But it needs quiet time to study our options, analyze obstacles, and build a road map to success. If we allow ourselves to get ensnared in a cyclone of busyness, the ember of our spirit's dream will be blown out. Many people are too busy worrying about what they've done to think about what they're doing. We have to reverse that trend by being aware of our actions, always thinking before we act, always reflecting on the results of our actions.
The question facing us is: How do we find the time to live? How do we disentangle ourselves from the web of busyness? Traditional approaches have been to turn to time management with the hope of learning how to squeeze extra hours out of the day. Assuming that I uncover another three hours a day to work with, how does that help me if I'm too exhausted to do anything else? So, the solution seems to lie in ENERGY management, not TIME management. To read about this fascinating idea and learn how to untap your energy with the Full Engagement Training System, get a copy of the New York Times best-seller, "The Power of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz (Free Press Paperbacks, 2003).
One of the best ways to save time is to do things right the first time. "Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done properly." If you agree with that, you agree with the words of Confucius, who taught that in the 6th century BCE. There's something else you can do to regain control of your life, and it's something Confucius never thought of; mainly, turning off the TV.
Staying up late at night to 'relax' or get extra work done is self-defeating because you are denying your body the rest it needs to perform at top efficiency. Another mistake some make is refusing to say NO to the excessive expectations of family, friends, and coworkers. Sure, doing favors is fine, but when others do far less for you than you do for them, it places an unfair burden on you. You keep their friendship, but become your own enemy.
An excellent way to create more time is to perform several goals simultaneously. For example, when you take the family to the park for a game of volleyball, you are enjoying family time, calming the mind with recreation (re-creation), caring for your body with exercise, and recharging your spirit with the beauty of nature.
Another factor to consider is your interpretation of 'success.' Are you striving to HAVE more or BE more? I know a lawyer who sold his practice, moved to the country with his family, and opened an inn. He and his family have discovered they are getting far more from life, despite their lower income. Do you really need a Hummer or will a Honda Civic do? The savings in the price of the car, insurance, maintenance, and gas means you don't have to work as hard. Is it a Hummer you want or happiness? Remember, even if you win the rat race, you remain a rat, trapped in the maze of busyness.
Both busyness and laziness lead to the same end, the neglect of important goals. Our task, then, is to treat time with the respect it deserves. After all, it is both a limited and a nonrenewable resource. Time is our lifeblood; it is destined to reap great benefits if we use it wisely. Of course, we cannot change overnight, making a 180-degree turn from a life of busyness to one of purposeful and carefully thought out action. But we can begin to take baby steps today and bit by bit regain control of our lives.
If you are ever tempted to think that you don't have enough time, consider the poem of Purzil Crofe:
A busy man complained one day:
"I get no time!" "What's that you say?"
Cried out his friend, a lazy quiz;
"You have, sir, all the time there is.
There's plenty, too, and don't you doubt it --
We're never for an hour without it."
How can we complain that we don't have enough time when every hour of our lives contains sixty minutes? It's not time that we lack, but the willingness to make tough choices. Andrew du Frame tells it like it is, "There comes a time in a man's life when he has to make a choice. And there are only two things to choose. Get busy living or get busy dying." Which one will it be for you?
(Chuck Gallozzi)
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Overcome Procrastination and Achieve What you Want
By May Chew
Procrastination is a situation most people face at one time or another. It can either mean not starting something or not finishing. If prolonged, it can become a bad habit. The main cause of procrastination is the lack of motivation. The reason why people fail to get started or fail to finish a project is because there is not a strong enough reason. Once there is a reason strong enough, the chances are that you will accomplish the task. When there is a strong enough negative consequence of not completing the task.
Secondly, the task may task may seem too overwhelming. People fear failing the task because they think they cannot make it through.
Jim Rohn has suggested 2 powerful tips to deal with procrastination
1) Break it down.
The key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. Focus on accomplishing what's right in front of you at this moment. Substitute real-time positive thinking for negative future visualization. That's the first all- important technique for bringing an end to procrastination. Planning ahead for the next half year to one year may seem overwhelming for some people- why not just look at today? Don't look any further ahead than that. Just one day at a time. And do it consistently. You may want to set a time frame for accomplishing the task. You will be surprised - just by thinking through and planning you're setting yourself to accomplish the goal unconsciously and you may even beat your own deadline!!
2) Write it down.
We know how important writing is to goal setting. The writing you'll do for beating procrastination is very similar. Instead of focusing on the future, however, you're now going to be writing about the present just as you experience it every day. You will need to keep a record and diary of your activities. It forces you to see what you're actually doing... and what you're not doing.Make a quick note of the time you began the activity and the time it ends wherever you are. Try to make this notation as soon as possible.It is recommended you do this every thirty minutes, and keep this up for at least a week.
The distractions, detours and downright time wasters that you will see during the course of the day will amaze you. Once you realize how much these distractions pull you away from what you have set yourself out to do, you will start to be drawn towards your goals again.
In summary, have a strong enough reason to do the task.Break down the task. Be cognizant of the distraction and get rid of them.You will be set for action sooner than you think. Keep at this consistently for 21 days, stick to this task and you will find that you have created a habit that will stick. That will end your tendency to procrastinate.
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Improve Time Management Skill - Assess Where You Are
By Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Is time management or the lack thereof getting the best of you? Before embarking on another time management strategy, take the time to assess where you are. The ability to self assess yourself is a necessary self leadership skill.
When asking for directions to get somewhere, what is the first response that you hear from the other person on the end of the phone line or in front of you? Where are you?” Of course! Until someone knows where you are they cannot provide the necessary directions that you need to get to where you want to go.
Time management is no different. Where are you in your life? Let me help you right now to answer that question. So, grab a sheet of paper and a pencil.
Draw a rather large circle to allow you space to write in the circle
You need 8 equal parts within the circle
Draw a line dividing the circle into 2 equal halves
Draw another line dividing the circle into 4 equal quarters
Draw a third line that divides two of the opposing quarters into 2 equal parts
Draw a fourth line that divides the other two opposing quarters into 2 equal parts
Your circle should now should be 8 equal parts
Next:
Beginning in the 1/8 section from the top center position and going clockwise write the word Purpose
Then in each of the sections going clockwise write one word with the first one being Mental
Career
Family
Ethics & Beliefs or Spiritual (Select the term you feel more comfortable and that represents your life style
Physical
Financial
Social
Congratulations. You have just constructed your Life While. You should now have eight sections each having one word or phrase within each piece of your Life Wheel.
Now place a zero at the center of the Life Wheel and label the far outer rim or circumference of the circle 100. Then assess yourself in each area of this Life Wheel from the center moving outward much like eating a piece of pie by asking yourself one of these questions:
What percentage from 0 to 100 have I achieved for that section?
How happy am I from 0 to 100 right now for that section?
How much of my potential from 0 to 100 have I used for that section?
Upon completion make sure you date this sheet of paper and save it for now you have the answer to where you are. After doing this activity with hundreds of individuals probably closer to thousands because I have lost count, what I have learned is the following:
Most people do not know their purpose in life
Most people have a wheel that is unbalanced
Very few people are at the 90 to 100 in all 8 aspects of their lives
If you will also notice that the areas within this wheel counter balance each other. For if our mental state is not where we want it to be, usually our physical state is suffering as well. Also, you may intentionally be out of balance. For example, if you are changing jobs, this may result in a temporary lack of balance financially as well as to your family and social areas.
Now that you know where you are, you can begin to set goals to even up your wheel. Remember, effective time management is about goal setting and goal achievement as well as utilizing your self leadership skills such as assessing and reflection. When you understand that your goals determine your effective use of time, you will begin to improve time management skills.
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More coming.............for my friend Jackie......