Bolder!

Your To-Do List

When you sit down to write out your To-Do list today what will be at the top of it? A client? Family? The bills?

Now go back and check this - where are you on that list?

 

If you're not at the top in the Number One position then go back and re-write your list.

 

After all, if you get lost in the busyness of your life then you've lost the most important part. If you run out of 'you' where will you get more? 

 

Stop now and make yourself a priority. Take a few moments before you start each day and get quiet. Spent a little time with yourself. Check out how you feel and ask "What's needed?"

 

Take a moment more and listen for the answer.

 

It doesn't have to take a big bite out of your day but it will be the most important part of your day. Knowing how you fit into your own life is the real secret of success.

Message Management - Part 2

Hopefully you've established a routine now around when you read and answer messages so here's another best practice that will help you manage even more effectively.

Clean out your Inbox every day. Don't let things languish in there, creating mental clutter. Scan for content and immediately answer what you can unless time is a constraint.

Move anything you can't act on right away into a folder marked "Follow-up". You could break this down even finer into folders marked "To Do", "To Read" and "To Follow Up."

If you're using Outlook, flag important items. You do this by simply clicking on the flag to the right of the message. By right-clicking on the flag and selecting "Custom" you can even specify a specific date and time to be reminded to respond.

Finally, did you know you can drag your emails to your Calendar or Task list in Outlook and it will create a new item for you? All pertinent infomation becomes part of the event or task without you having to re-key it all.

Dealing With Difficult People - Part 3

So you've stepped back, enlisted help and confronted the person making your life difficult and nothing has changed. What do you do next?

 

If it's a work situation you may need to enlist your boss's help. Be sure to address the issue as one of productivity affecting work issues and not as a personal one.

 

Whether or not this is work-related there may come a point where you have to simply leave the ring. You're probably thinking "But why should I be the one to leave? I'm not the one causing the problem!"

 

That may be true, but what price are you paying in terms of your health, success and happiness? On-going stress affects everything else in your life. Do you really want to be held hostage to someone else's problem?

 

Only you can decide if the good in your current situation outweighs the bad. If you decide it does, then redirect your focus to the good and stop giving the other your attention. If you choose to leave then put all your energy into that immediately.

 

Positive action is always your best defense. 

Message Management Part 1

Snowed under by e-mail and voice messages? Luckily, an effective system isn't difficult to establish and maintain. And though the forms of delivery may differ, the principles of message management are universal?

 

Stopping to answer the phone or check your e-mail is distracting and eats into your productivity and focus. It's the invisible (or maybe not-so-invisible) time thief.

 

First, set aside specific times of the day to deal with your particular sources of communication. Twice a day is a good target. I like noon and around 5 p.m.

 

Once you establish your routine be reliable about picking up and replying to your messages. When people realize you can be trusted to get back to them on a timely basis, it eliminates follow-ups and reduce your message load even further.

 

More on this in future Success Tips.