Making the Most of Your Year

Written by Christy Geiger


Makingrepparttar Most of Your Year By Christy Geiger, Business and Life Strategy Coach

Do you find yourself amazed at how quicklyrepparttar 104622 months pass? Do you find yourself in a small panic over all you know you have to do and how little you feel you are actually accomplishing? Joinrepparttar 104623 crowd! We live in a busy world where our time, priorities and energy are constantly challenged. The reality is that there is simply not time for everything and we don't have enough energy to complete everything. Bummer, I know! If only God had createdrepparttar 104624 world with 8 days in a week or 30 hours in a day…. sounds good? Maybe, but really we would just quickly absorb that time too and be inrepparttar 104625 same spot.

What do we do? There are 5 simple steps to create greater success by managing our time and getting things done in business and life that are important. 1.EVALUATE. What do I really want? Where am I headed? What am I doing now? 2.GET REAL. What is really important that will impact and support your long term goalsrepparttar 104626 best? What is not important? What is distracting me? What is not really supporting my long term goal? 3.PLAN. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? What arerepparttar 104627 KEY action steps? How will I do this? What schedule or strategy will keep me focused? 4.FOCUS. Who do you need to be and what structures do you need to have to accomplish this (mindset, attitude, accountability)? 5.MONITOR/EVALUATE. Am I doing little, unimportant things? Am I procrastinating? What is working/ what is not? How could I streamline what I am doing?

What happens with good intentions and goals… Plans begin as ideas in our head; we desire to have or do something. The key torepparttar 104628 success ofrepparttar 104629 idea is a plan. You knowrepparttar 104630 saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Sometime our ideas will make it to paper inrepparttar 104631 form of a SMART goal and sometime not. If we do write a goal people sometimes we will create some action steps, but rarely do they takerepparttar 104632 time to thoroughly think through what actions are actually needed at each stage to accomplishrepparttar 104633 goal completely. Sometimes people will start planning and get overwhelmed at how much work it will actually take or get overwhelmed withrepparttar 104634 process and give up. Often our goals remain our dreams because we fail to carve out time to make them reality. A management tip is to create a plan from start to finish. With this plan, decide if you haverepparttar 104635 time, energy, resources and desire to bring it to completion. Next, estimate HOW LONG each task will actually take. It is common to underestimate how much time each step will take and therefore it never gets done. Remember, if you are going to add something to your schedule, you must also plan to say "No!" to something else to make time to accomplish your goal.

Step 1: EVALUATE… To create an effective plan, begin with a careful evaluation. Most people are constantly evaluating their present state without much problem. We are constantly assessing, "What do I really want right now?" We look at things around us and talk about what we would like to be different in our life. We talk about our goals, New Year's Resolutions, current intentions, etc. We often state them as fact and sincerely intend to accomplish those in our life. We see how they would make a positive difference and desire for them to happen. There is a small percentage of people who also evaluaterepparttar 104636 questions, "Where am I headed?" and "What will it take for me to get there?" Evaluation is a tool that allows you to anchor where you are now, determine where you want to go and create markers alongrepparttar 104637 way to ensure you stay on course. Without a longer term vision, we tend to react to current situations, "I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I need to get this business offrepparttar 104638 ground, etc." This leads to wandering through life without focus or purpose. Evaluaterepparttar 104639 present and then also evaluaterepparttar 104640 future and what it would take to get there.

Step 2: GET REAL... Then, get real. Does this fit in with where you are headed with your long term goals in your life? What is doing this going to get you? What isrepparttar 104641 cost (consider time, money, energy, emotional, etc.) Are you willing to pay it? If you do really want this, what is going to be important that you do? What is distracting you from making this happen? Identify Key Result Items: •Write exactly where you are headed and what this is going to get you. •Identify what you will have to do and write that down. •Identify what you will have to say "no" to and commit to 3 things you will have to stop to make this happen. Identify what this will "cost" and write down how you will "pay" for it. (This is not just financial, it may be something intangible like - COST: time withrepparttar 104642 family, PAYMENT: work later during week, but home Friday for dinner and family day all Saturday.) •Identify 5 main distractions and how you can eliminate those.

So, You Think You Want to Be a Telecommuter?

Written by Debra A. Dinnocenzo


Do you yearn for a more balanced life and a more flexible approach to work? Do you dream about productive workdays that don’t includerepparttar drain of time and energy devoted to commuting? Do you spend time in traffic (onrepparttar 104621 highway or sitting in an airplane seat) and wonder if there might not be a better way?

More than 25 million Americans have discovered a better way! Teleworking has becomerepparttar 104622 work alternative of choice for ever-increasing millions of workers and managers. Andrepparttar 104623 trend is projected to continue at an accelerated rate. It’s estimated that by 2004, at least 25% of American workers will telework during some portion of their workweek.

What are keys to success and productivity forrepparttar 104624 growing legions of teleworkers? It’s clear that teleworking is not for everyone. For those who thrive on plenty of interaction with co-workers or who associaterepparttar 104625 traditional workplace withrepparttar 104626 motivation necessary to work, teleworking presents some challenges. Teleworking is also not a viable childcare solution since mixing work with childcare typically leads to diminished results in both areas.

Teleworking is ideally suited for workers who are relatively independent, effective time managers, skilled in planning and organizing, self-motivated, highly disciplined, technically proficient and who have a strong performance record. Those workers who telework effectively—and those who want to—are likely to benefit fromrepparttar 104627 following tips for teleworking success:

BE CERTAIN TELEWORKING IS RIGHT FOR YOU. Learn what’s required in terms of personal traits, work style, job requirements, organizational systems support, home office environment and family support. Address areas of concern through planning, training, negotiation and agreement-setting discussions.

DESIGN A PRODUCTIVE—AND SAFE—HOME OFFICE. Utilize an office layout that is conducive torepparttar 104628 type of work you do and your individual work style. Be certain that your home office provides sufficient light, ventilation, and work surfaces, as well as separation from noise and other distractions. Ensure that your electrical system supports your requirements, and avoid hazards such as excessive use of extension cords,repparttar 104629 absence of power-surge protection and stacks of boxes and other clutter that block walkways.

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