Bolder!

Real Celebrity

Quick - answer these questions:

1. Name the 5 wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last 5 Nobel Prize winners.
3. Name the last 5 Miss Universe winners.
4. Name the last 6 Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
5. Name the last 10 World Series winners.

How did you do?

Don't worry if you didn't know the answers. Most people don't. They are yesterday's headlines and their achievements are quickly forgotten, no matter how loud the applause was.

Here's another quiz.

1. Name the teacher(s) who made a difference in your school career.
2. Name 3 friends who have helped you through tough times.
3. Name 5 people who have taught you valuable life lessons.
4. Name 3 people who make you feel appreciated.
5. Name 5 people you enjoy spending time with.

These are the people who make a difference in your life. The rest of us probably haven't heard of them. They don't have the most impressive credentials, bags of money or make the headlines. They simply care.

Most people don't care what you do until they know you care. Whose list would your name be on?

Einstein's Success Formula

Did you know Einstein loved sailing? It was his passion. I've heard that he spent most afternoons on his boat. In other words, he took time off. What a concept!

Now most of us would agree that Einstein was a pretty smart guy as well as successful in his chosen field.  When asked about the formula for success he said,  "Success equals X times Y times Z, where X is work, Y is play and Z is keeping your mouth shut."

I suspect Einstein came up with that formula on his boat because he obviously understood the balance between work and play. He knew when to listen to the wind, watch clouds and allow room for creative thought. It's said he took a notebook out with him and when the wind died down he jotted down notes and ideas.

If we don't take the time to relax, how will our children ever learn that it's okay to have down time? That the days when we drift and daydream are vital to us as human beings. New ideas and innovations get lost if we 're too distracted to listen for them.

Just ask Einstein.

Your Choice

Just heard a great new term on CBC Radio this afternoon as I was driving home. The woman who spoke is a childhood educator and she was talking about the "rushed infant" culture that has sprung up - wanting baby to be the next Einstein. (More about Einstein tomorrow.)

The speaker used the phrase 'manic compression'.

Because I've been writing and thinking about time management these days - what it is and what it isn't,that phrase really caught my attention. I knew exactly what she was talking about because many  of us experience  'manic compression' in our everyday lives. (No wonder it's filtering down to our kids.)

We usually call it by another term - 'multi-tasking'.

When did it become a virtue to juggle three tasks at once? More than that - when did it become expected of us? Think about times when you found yourself answering the phone and email while trying to eat your lunch. What were you feeling? Would the words stress, anxiety, resentment or fear apply? I'll bet 'relaxed' wasn't one of your answers. 

Whatever happened to doing one thing and paying attention to what's in front of us? Too many of us have accepted the idea of multi-tasking as desirable - even laudable - without ever asking if it's right thing to do. Just because we can doesn't always mean we should.

There's more at stake here than getting through your To-do list. Stress and anxiety cause imbalance.  Stress is the trigger for many diseases. Balance heals. Relaxation restores.

It's your choice. And if you believe your time is out of your control, then maybe it's time to make a change.

Habits Of Action

By Karen Leland and Keith Bailey

You know what you need to do. You know why you need to do it. You even know what steps you must take to get it done. But there’s one small problem: you can’t seem to get moving. It’s a common problem. Maybe it’s chronic procrastination or maybe you’re just so overwhelmed that you feel paralyzed. Either way, the task you must complete is just sitting there, gathering metaphorical (or perhaps literal) dust, and growing more ominous by the day.

A recent study by the Families and Work Institute found that a full third of Americans are overworked; more than 50 percent of those surveyed said they are either handling too many tasks at the same time or are frequently interrupted during the workday – or both. In short, we are overloaded. Is it any wonder, then, that we have trouble getting jobs started, keeping them going, or finishing them up?

As a consultant and coach over the past twenty five years I’ve observed that smart and savvy business women use three habits to get themselves to take action, even in tough times. These habits act as an inoculation against procrastination and feeling overwhelmed so that these busy women are ultimately able to press through and get things done.

Habit #1: Chunking Down: Focus on the Trees Not the Forest

In the computer world, chunking means to break things into bits. To chunk down is to move from a whole to its parts; to chunk up is to move from parts to a whole, or from the specific to the general. Chunking your projects and goals down into smaller pieces will help you take action more quickly and easily, while at the same time helping to combat the feeling of too much to do.

Habit #2: Take Energetic Credit for Completion

When we have a big goal or task to work on, many of us wait – unnecessarily and sometimes to our detriment – until the entire project is finished before we experience any sense of completion, satisfaction, or accomplishment.

Often, even though we’re achieving pieces of our projects and goals all the time, we don’t fully acknowledge them. The most productive people we know are in the habit of enthusiastically taking energetic credit for any action they complete, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant. These people know not to wait until the big item is 100 percent done before experiencing closure. Rather, they generate energy all along the way by recognizing each item they complete.

Habit #3: Time-Planning: Put a Stop to Putting It Off

Smart people are in the habit of using a time-plan to get beyond procrastination. A time-plan is a method of assigning blocks of time to those items you want to get done (but not a minute-by-minute description of your day!) To harvest the power of planning and create your own time-plan, follow these two easy steps:

Step #1: Identify your power times for different types of activities.
Everyone has high and low periods of energy, attention, and focus. By knowing and understanding your own energy patterns you can create a time-plan that takes advantage of your personal rhythms. Reflect on your own energy patterns. When are your power times? Use your power times to take on your most difficult items. Use your down time for more routine items and errands.

Step #2: Set aside blocks of time for getting certain things done.
Keeping in mind your power times, go through your calendar and schedule a specific day and period of time when you will work on an item. Time periods ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours are most effective. Every hour or so, schedule a ten minute break from your task; this will both keep your brain from getting tired and give it a chance to process any information, so that you can return to your project refreshed.

Lastly, don’t just plan your time in your head – write it down! Whether you use a PDA, a calendar contact program, or a plain old date book, keeping a written record of your time-plan is key.

Buy a copy of Time Management In An Instant the week of July 20th and receive a free  license to view the Essential Email online course. To buy the book and claim your bonus, or just to buy the book go to: http://www.quality-service.com/timemanagementinaninstant

Karen Leland and Keith Bailey are the bestselling authors of six books including Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day. They are the co-founders of Sterling Consulting Group, which helps organizations and individuals learn how to fight distraction and find their focus in a wired world. For more information please contact: kleland@scgtraining.com