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Vol. 5 No. 4, July/August 2003 IN THIS ISSUE =================================================== =================================================== BEAT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE =================================================== Time is your second most precious resource. It's the only resource you can't buy, borrow, rent or produce. Its preciousness exists because time is the only commodity that is required for everything we do. Unlike most products we deal with, time is totally perishable and absolutely irreplaceable. In fact the only thing that is more precious than time is our health. Unfortunately, most of us are equally careless with both. This three-part article will help you manage your time more effectively. Come to think of it, time management is a misnomer. Each of us is provided with 24 hours every day. No matter how well you manage it, it still only adds up to 24 hours. Instead of managing time, we manage and prioritize the activities in those 24 hours. And we get everything done that we perceive to be important. (Read that again, it is a critical concept.) Before you nix this idea, please pause a moment, reflect and recall the one thing that is the most important activity to you in your personal or professional life. On a personal side it may be being with your family, football or gardening. On the professional side it may be making more money, being recognized by your peers or getting promoted. Now think back: how often have you been unable to devote enough time to whatever it is that is the most important to you? I bet it doesn't happen very often, does it? In other words, most people make time to do all the things they consider important. In other words, time is like a rubber band. Time management experts tell you that you must learn to say no. I would like you instead to say yes to more things than you think you will be able to accomplish. Why? Because Parkinson was absolutely right when he said: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. The rubber band approach will also help you get rid of perfectionitis because it is better to do the right things right than to do all things right. (Perfectionitis will give you hardening of the categories.) And it will help you to become a more effective delegator and coach. Chunk Your Time I'm sure that your work is characterized by constant interruptions from phone calls, beepers, voice mail, e-mail, employees and co-workers. In fact, for most of us, interruptions have increased logarithmically. Instead of technology making our lives easier, it has made them more difficult. The reason is that we abuse the technology available to us. For example, in the olden days--read a couple of years ago--if we had a really important document to get to someone, we would send it by registered mail. Today, we send it overnight delivery, send an e-mail and then we leave a voice mail just to let the other person know it's on the way. Reminds me of a cartoon by Scott Stantis, called "The Buckets." It shows a man in the office sitting in front of his computer, while on the phone and surrounded by technology. The man is saying to himself: "I have e-mail and voice mail . . . a fax machine and an answering machine . . . two phone lines and a cellular . . . a beeper and an electronic notepad . . . a laptop and a desktop--So where's all the time I've supposedly saved???" For most of us uninterrupted time is almost nonexistent. We go from one crisis to another. Instead of having time to make the important decisions, such as hiring key employees or coming up with a new strategy to better serve our customers, most of us are busy putting out one fire after another. However, if you are to make sound decisions and solve important long-range problems you must have a big chunk of time Routinize Crisis You must learn to manage crises instead of the crisis managing you. You can accomplish that by first putting out the fire, then going one step further and analyzing the crisis. Ask: what is the pattern here, why did it occur, what can we do to avoid it in the future or who can be trained to prevent this occurrence in the first place? Then implement actions designed to prevent it from happening again. Now I can just hear you saying that you are too busy putting out fires, you don't have time for extensive, time-consuming analysis. In other words, you are in a time trap. To get out of this trap, you must begin to analyze how you spend your time, get rid of your time wasters and learn how to chunk your time. So let's begin by looking at your current time utilization. Click here to see how effectively you use your time. In the next issue of this eNewsletter you will discover how to get rid of your time wasters and learn how to chunk your time so you can get the most out of every 24 hours. =================================================== "Positive Attitude: The Key to Peak Performance"--VHS, DVD, CD This highly motivational and entertaining live program (73 minutes) by Dr. Rinke will provide you with specific strategies that will enable you to achieve peak performance and build more positive relationships with your loved ones and team members. Plus you will have fun and enjoy it too! Video: VHS (V105) or DVD (DVD105) $34.95 +$4.50 s/h 100% UNCONDITIONAL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. To order click here or call 800-828-9653. =================================================== "Grandma, how old are you? asked little Johnny on Grandma's birthday.
=================================================== =================================================== Just wondering… Why was every effort made to impeach President Clinton for sexual indiscretions and his difficulty to define what it means to "have sex" but there is nary a word heard when President Bush misleads (lies?) the world to start a war that costs thousands of lives, billions of dollars and untold misery? For the record--I voted for Bush. =================================================== =================================================== ===================================================
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