Crucial v Not CrucialWritten by Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
We all have "too much to do". True? Sure 'nuf. And that says a lot of good things about you. That you have "too much to do" suggests that a lot of people have entrusted much confidence in you. I mean, people who are drifting about early each afternoon begging co-workers for something to do, may not have earned that confidence from others. And this applies not only in our work lives but in our personal lives as well.But this creates a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's great to enjoy confidence of others. Yet, having "too much to do" often creates stresses and distresses that may reduce your overall productivity. I divide our responsibilities into two categories: "Crucial" and "Not Crucial". Crucial items give us "biggest bang for buck" for time spent and is most productive use of our time. It is logical use of our time. "Not Crucial" gives us emotional relief. It's doing little things, junk mail, desk dusting and like, that, while necessary, do not really advance our daily success very much. When we accomplish "Crucial" things in our life we are doing "business" v "busyness". We are making progress versus wheel spinning. Have you ever had a day when you were busy whole daylong but when you got home that night you knew you had not accomplished a darn thing? (We can fool world sometimes but we cannot fool ourselves.) Doing Crucial things builds up our self-esteem and our motivation level. Ever notice when you've had a really productive "Crucial" day how that positive momentum carried forward into your evening hours? You are more inclined to do woodworking, spend time with kids, or work on hobbies, when you've had a great day. But when you've had one of those "Not Crucial" days, motivation and momentum levels are reduced and when we come home that night, many of us just want to block out day with that all important exercise, "click, click, click", sound of TV remote device, surfing us through a multitude of channels that fail to grab our interest.
| | SOME TIME SAVERSWritten by Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
In my Time Management seminars which have conducted for more than 100,000 people from around globe, I show people how to get more done in less time, with less stress; to help them have more time for things they want to do in their work and business lives.If you can recapture a wasted hour here and there and redirect it to a more productive use, you can make great increases in your daily productivity. Here are five of techniques I share in our Time Management seminars, each one of which will help you to get at least one more hour out of your day of additional productive time. 1. Maintain Balance. Your life consists of Seven Vital Areas: Health, Family, Financial, Intellectual, Social, Professional, and Spiritual. You will not spend equal amounts of time in each area or time every day in each area. But, if in long run, you are spending a sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area, then your life will be balanced. But ignore any one of your areas, (never mind two or three!) and you will get out of balance and potentially sabotage your success. Fail to take time now for your health and you will have to take time for illness later on. Ignore your family and then may leave you and cost you a lot of time to re-establish relationships. 2. Get Power of Pen. A faint pen has more power than keenest mind. Get into habit of writing things to do down using one tool (a Day-Timer, pad of paper, Palm Pilot, etc.) Your mind is best used for big picture rather than all details. The details are important, but manage them with pen. If you want to manage it you have to measure it first. Writing things down helps you to more easily remember all that you need to accomplish. 3. Do Daily Planning. It is said that people do not plan to fail but a lot of people fail to plan. Take time each night to take control of most precious resource at your command, next twenty-four hours. Plan your work and then work your plan each day. Write up a To Do list with all you have to's and all of your want to's for your next day. Without a plan for day, you can easily get distracted, spending your time serving loudest voice rather than attending to most important things for your day that will enhance your productivity.
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