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Does your home office look like a tornado tore through it? Did you know that the average disorganized person has approximately 3,000 documents at home? Disorganization can cost you lost production time and money. It is a fact that people will spend one year of their life looking for lost objects or documents. That is one year that you could spend being productive, if you were organized.

If the thought of organizing your home office is overwhelming to you, try separating your office into sections. Start with one small section of the room and once that section is organized move to the next small section. This may take a little longer, but remember, it took a little while for your office to get in such a mess, therefore it may take a little while to straighten it out. Whatever you do, once you get one small section done, maintain it.

The easiest place to start would probably be your desk. Step back and take a long look at it. Is it so cluttered with papers and computer equipment that you find it difficult to work on? If so, go through all the papers on your desk. Throw away any documents not needed and file away ones that you will use later. Only keep the ones available that are relevant to your current project. Can these documents be scanned and saved on a disk or on your computer? This will help reduce clutter even more.

Now look at your computer equipment It is taking up too much room on your desk? Get a flat screen monitor. This will free up a lot of space. Buy a separate table for the printer. Get one that has plenty of storage space underneath for printing supplies. Invest in a keyboard tray that mounts under the desk to keep the keyboard off of your workspace. If your desk is against a wall, utilize the space on the wall above the desk. Mount attractive cabinets or shelves here to use for more storage for files, reference material and computer disks or cds.

Now attack the papers that are cluttering up your office. Have two bins available. One is the shredding bin for papers that need shredded and the other is the keep bin for papers that need filed away. Tackle the paper piles one pile at a time. Read through them carefully to make sure it is nothing that you have to keep, and then throw it in the appropriate bin. There is no reason to hang onto that old utility bill unless you need it for tax purposes. The same with receipts. If you are keeping a receipt for warranty purposes, staple it to the user’s manual.

Once all the papers are weeded through, go through your filing cabinet and clean out all the old papers that you do not need. File your current documents and create new files as needed. Shred everything, even if you think it doesn’t need shredded. Shredded paper takes up less room and therefore you will be able to get more into the trash bin.

These are some general ideas for organizing your home office. Search the web for more ideas or look through organizing magazines. The most important thing to remember about organizing your home office is, once it is organized, keep it that way!

Shafir Ahmad is the author of “The Experts Guide to Managing Your Time”. If you are not managing your time, then you are wasting it. Don’t waste time! Get your 7-Part eCourse on Secrets To Better Time Management at http://www.PlanYourTimeNow.com

A wise man once said that time is the greatest gift in the world. And how true it is. Few of us have enough time to get everything done that we think is important. This article will explore how we can make the best use of the time we have available.

First of all, the good news. If you feel that you are not a good manager of time, it is possible for you to improve. Time management, like many other things in life, is a skill that can be learned. Some of the best leaders have reached the pinnacle of their careers, in part, by focusing on how they use time and how their use of time could be made more efficient.

Here are some concrete tips which will help you make better use of your time.
• Spend five minutes at the beginning of every day making a list of things that “must” get done and a second list of things that “should” get done. The “must” list contains items that are directly connected to your personal or professional success…life will be even more difficult if you don’t get them done today! The “should” list contains tasks that can wait until after all the “must” do tasks are completed. Both lists should be prioritized from most important to least.

• Schedule everything. Realistically think about the time that each and every task ought to take and make an appointment in your calendar to do that task. Lots of times we make a list of the small tasks, like telephone calls, without thinking about how much time they will take, only to learn that we used up most of the morning completing what seemed like a series of 3-minute chores.
• Take the time to plan. While most of us know about how we will spend every hour of a two week vacation, very few of us have a plan for the other 50 weeks of the year. Having a plan makes it possible for us to be less confused about what to do next; we can prioritize the use of our time and the work that must fit into it.
• Planning makes our lives more efficient. The few minutes that establishing a plan-for-the-day involves allows us to see tasks that can be accomplished on the same trip downtown; it enables us to see tasks that could be more easily completed by someone else in the family or on our work teams; enables us to identify tasks that are inconsistent with our goals and action plans for the day.

• Make sure that those items you want to get done today, really represent your priorities and your values and not those of someone or something that is no longer important to you.

• Not everything that you need to do will be pleasant. Get the tough stuff done first. That will free your mind and give you more confidence to approach the challenges that are held later in the day. E.M. Gray said, “The successful person has the habit of doing the things that failures don’t like to do.”

• Finally, don’t take on the responsibilities of others…that puts them in charge of your day and not you. It’s a sure way to feel swamped, when you promise too much to too many.

Stretching the day to 25 hours is beyond the capability of most of us but as Leonardo da Vinci wrote, “Time stays long enough for those who understand its nature and use it intelligently.”

Larry Wenger is a leadership development expert. For more information on time management and other leadership development programs contact, http://www.workforceperformancegroup.com

Larry Wenger is the President and Founder of the Workforce Performance Group. located in Newtown, Pa. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Social Work and has led human service organizations of various types for over 40 years.

Today more and more people are experiencing burnout, insomnia, and stress. Why is that? Many people have a very busy life. We all would like more time in the day an extra hour would be fantastic. Maybe have more time to relax and enjoy life with friends and family. However in society today, it is fast pace. Life is more demanding. It seems impossible to slow down. The road that we are driving on is continuous and there is no stop signs on it. It is a fast race. How do you gain more time to slow down? Here a 3 steps to help you on the journey to conquer the time you have on earth.

1. Start a flexible schedule. Allow a little flexibility into your schedule. The more strict you are the less likely you will slow down and have a balance in your life. Things do happen. Leave room for the unexpected surprises. Don’t beat yourself up when situations do occur. Just take care of it. And move on with your schedule. Situations work out and do occur for a reason. Even when it does not make any sense to you.

2. Identify your time blockers. These blockers are those things that are low priority tasks that we think needs to be done. Some examples are taking phone calls when you know you should be working, cleaning out a closet instead of spending that time with your family, checking email every hour, watching T.V. , or surfing the net instead of working on that project that is due in 2 days. These are just a few. The low priority tasks are numerous. Pay attention to these blockers . Explore ways to overcome these blockers and take action to change the blockers.

3. Take note of your workload. You need to schedule on your planner/ calender enough work that keeps you busy. However not too much that will rock into your personal life. Take on additional tasks or projects that will fit into your planner. Schedule time for your work. Schedule time for your personal life. For instance birthdays, anniversaries, or whatever event it is going on in your life. Schedule that onto your calender. This helps with not overlapping events and work in the same time frame.

There is only so much time in the day. You can not buy back time. However make your time worth it. With the right dose of work and personal life, your time will be more productive.

Amanda Young, founder of The Time Mastery, specializes in helping people get more done in less time in business and personal life. To learn more on how to get more done and regain balance in your life today visit http://www.thetimemastery.com

When it comes to trying to manage our time, we usually put a focus on putting more effort into the job. We really think that work has to equal hard work. Then comes the realization that although we’re working hard, we don’t seem to be moving forward at a particularly fast pace—if at all…

This is because we often look at a job as having a certain level of difficulty which is set in stone. No matter how hard we try, certain jobs take a certain amount of time and that’s it.

Is there a way around this problem?

There is, and it isn’t to work harder. What is needed it to make a distinction between the effort we expend on completing a task and the quality of the work we produce. Concentrating only on the effort we expend leads us to be concerned with how hard we work and not how well we work. Working with this view of reality leads us to look at the results at the end of the project and then (usually) being disappointed at those results. We also usually wonder why the time seemed to be nowhere near enough to do the job properly.

We all suffer from this type of thinking at some time or other—and it’s seen at it’s most obvious in the workaholic, the person for whom the most important thing is to be moving rather than producing great results. In this case the effort is mainly used to stay still, a little like treading water—lots of effort but no progress.

What we have to do is stop thinking about the amount of time we spend on something, and begin to look at how efficiently we do it. One of the best ways of doing this is to undergo training in order to improve our performance. We have to stop thinking about hard work and look more at easy work.

The difficulty is that when we find ourselves up your neck in work it can be difficult to stop and to spend some time to look at how we do things. However, taking time to train ourselves will pay off big time a little bit further down the line. The reason we don’t do it is that we have to keep moving forward in order to get the job done – or least that’s what we think. The trouble is that we’re moving forward but not getting things done effectively.

If you find yourself struggling what you need to do is think about how the job could be done more easily, and a good way to do this is to simply look at how other people do it and take their ideas. It’s a fact that almost any job has already been done by someone else, and they discovered the solution, and all that you really need to do is copy the way that they did it and do it that way yourself. It’s amazing how something so simple as copying someone else’s idea can shave hours of the time it takes you to complete a task

Take something as simple as driving a car, for instance. When we first learn to drive we aren’t very good at it, so that means it takes a long time to get from A to B.. But if we undergo a period of training with a driving instructor we’ll eventually become better at driving and getting from A to B. becomes a much simpler and easier task. In short, we learn to do the task quicker. Once we’ve undergone training, we find that the job is a lot quicker to do. The same thing can be applied to almost anything in your life. Do some training in whatever did you find difficult and you find the time taken to do it will shorten amazingly.

The good thing about training yourself to do things better is that it can save a lot of time when taken over the long term. Even if you saved just one hour day you can even be easily saving 25 hours a month. Training yourself to do things better is an amazingly simple and effective time management technique. Today, take a look at something which takes a long time to do, and ask yourself a simple question such as: could I do this quicker if I was better trained? The answer is invariably yes. Then undertake training, and you’ll be amazed at how much less time you need to complete that once difficult task.

Steve Bentham runs the website http://inspirationinsights.com, a website dedicated to inspiration, motivation and personal development. The site is packed with articles on self-improvement, and ideas to get you thinking in the daily inspiration section

Remember when you were a kid, the summer days seemed to last
forever? Now that you are all grown up, there just aren’t enough
hours in the day to get things accomplished.

If you are struggling to fit everything in, then improving your
time management skills can help. Here are some helpful
suggestions that have assist in making my days operate more
smoothly.

*Start your day with a plan. List the tasks you would like to
get done, and prioritize them.

*Be sure to block out time for appointments and family time. It
is very important to balance between family and work.

*Divide large projects into smaller more manageable steps. Doing
so not only will make finishing easier but also makes starting
feel less overwhelming.

*Once you get going don’t interrupt your day to answer the
telephone or by checking email unless you are expecting an
important message.

*Instead designate a time for checking messages and replying to
those that need to be addressed immediately. The others can go
on your to do list.

*Determine what time of day your energy level is at its highest,
and schedule important or difficult tasks for this time. This
is when your mind is at its freshest.

*Carry the simple things that can be done on your downtime such
as when you are waiting for an appointment or a meeting to get
started.

*Take advantage of outsourcing training of your team by using a
well respected skills and training team such as Mentoring For
Free. This will free you up in having to train each person
individually, plus give you time to work on other important
business matters.

Rena Williams is known for her ability to assist and guide others in achieving their goals through free Mentoring and education. Learn more about free training at

http://SuccessMentorLive.com

Like most women, you’re probably juggling many balls at once. Most likely you have a job, whether it’s inside or outside the home, as well as volunteer and family-related responsibilities. You might also have a spouse or significant other to attend to; kids to care for; a household to run (and clean!); cats to feed… The list goes on, and on.

The problem is, with 24 hours in a day, eight or more of which are spent in your pajamas, it’s possible – no, make that probable – that you’re not accomplishing as much as you’d like. Chances are, you feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.

But 24 hours is actually a lot of time. The reason why it doesn’t feel like much is that, quite simply, a huge amount of this time is wasted. Squandered, pilfered and frittered away. And before you know it – Poof! – the day is over. Your bed is still unmade; your errands are still undone; your emails are still unanswered, and you’re left there wondering, “Where did the time go?”

The good news is, help is on the way. Below, you’ll find 10 ways to grab your time back, before it slips through your fingers once again (and again, and again)…

–> 1. Make a list, and check it twice.
Buy bread. Replace the heels on your favorite pumps. Fill up the gas tank. Get a mammogram… the list seems endless. How can a person possibly remember all this stuff long enough to actually accomplish it? Simple: Write it down.

Most time-efficiency experts agree: In order to keep on top of things, you need to have a clear, detailed to-do list, to help manage your tasks and declutter your brain. Think about it: If you write things down, each task that needs to be accomplished is no longer a nagging thought in the back of your mind, competing for your attention and wasting your time. Instead, it’s right there in black and white, waiting to be taken care of. If you’re a techie type, check out MyLife Organized, a nifty task-management software program that helps you to prioritize your work and personal projects. For Windows and PocketPC; $46 at www.mylifeorganized.net. Later, if you feel like rewarding yourself for a job well done, go for it. You deserve it!

–> 2. Resist the urge to hit the snooze button.
Sure, puttering around the house in your PJs is awfully nice, but blowing the most valuable part of the day, the early-morning hours, is more than a waste of time: It’s counterproductive. Studies have shown that the early-morning hours are, in fact, the most productive hours of the entire day. If you start your around-the-house activities or get to the office a half an hour earlier, say, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish. (And don’t forget to tackle your highest-priority projects first, when your brain is at its sharpest.)

–> 3. Multi-tisket, multitask it…
Trying to juggle 10 balls at once is hard, because, ultimately, you’re bound to drop one or two (or all of them!) at any given moment. At the same time, who says you can’t juggle two, or even three if you feel like it? There’s nothing wrong with chatting on the phone with a girlfriend while pasting photos into a scrapbook or photo album, for instance. Or how about folding laundry, ironing or walking on the treadmill while listening to a book-on-tape or the news on your iPod? As long as you’re not trying to accomplish something that requires your concentrated or undivided attention (i.e., writing your dissertation; reading War and Peace; chopping wood), you should be able to handle it.

–> 4. Put yourself on a schedule.
You know the saying, “If you want something done, give it to the busiest person you know”? Well, there’s a reason for that. Most busy people are on a tight schedule. They know that they have a specific amount of time to get something done, so they don’t dilly-dally or waste time. They buckle down and do what needs to be done. If you know that you have only two hours to accomplish a certain task, for instance, you’re more likely to focus on the task at hand and get it done in a speedy, time-efficient manner. In fact, the more time you have to do something, the longer you’re likely to spend doing it (read: all day!) If you’d like to see where your time’s really going, check out TaskCapture, a software program that monitors how long you spend working on files. For Windows and Mac; $79 at www.captureworks.com/taskcapture. Still not sure? Download a free, 15-day demo.

–> 5. Don’t be a Martha!
With so much going on – emails to answer; calls to make; lunches to pack; clothes to launder; gifts to buy; meetings to attend – keeping your head above water can feel like a Herculean task. One way to handle this stressed-out, overwhelmed feeling is to focus on the big picture and cut yourself some serious slack. For instance, if you need to bake 24 cupcakes for your daughter’s kindergarten class, don’t worry about decorating each one with a perfect little buttercream rosette. You’re not Martha Stewart! The cupcakes will taste just as yummy rosette-free, and no one will notice the difference. The less pressure you place on yourself, the more time you’ll have to stop and smell the roses (or the cupcakes, as the case may be…).

–> 6. Learn how to delegate.
If you’re one of those “If-you-want-something-done-right, do-it-yourself” kind of gals, well… get over it! Like any new skill, accepting help can take time to learn. But once you do it, you’ll be surprised at how good it feels to cede control to others.
Therefore, instead of trying to do it all, superhero-style, ask for help. If you’re the one in your household who usually cooks and serves dinner, clears the table and then washes up afterwards, try this: Have your kids or spouse set the table, or chop and peel vegetables. Have them clear, wash up and take the garbage out. Make your requests known, and your expectations clear. Once you’re in the habit of asking others to pitch in, you’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish (or, if you feel like, indulge in some well deserved time to yourself). Remember, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

–> 7. Get more sleep.
As counterintuitive as this may sound, getting more shut-eye actually allows a person to enjoy more waking hours in a day. The reason is simple: people who don’t get enough sleep at night tend to feel cranky, fuzzy, unmotivated and unproductive during the day. And not only are cranky, fuzzy, unmotivated and unproductive people not a lot of fun to be around, they end up wasting gobs of time because they’re too tired to focus – or even function! (Why do you think sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture, anyway?) The moral of this story? Get at least seven hours of sleep (eight is better), and don’t feel guilty for hitting the hay early. You deserve a good night’s rest.

–> 8. Step out of line!
Lots of precious time is wasted in the check-out line. In the supermarket; at the post office; the bakery; the bank. Basically, anywhere that you can find a cash register, you’ll find a line. It will be long, and it won’t move. And if it does move, it will move slowly. Very, very s l o w l y. Plus, not only is waiting in line more tedious than watching paint dry, it’s a complete and utter waste of time. Time that could be spent engaged in other, more meaningful activities. One way to avoid these time-sapping lines is by ordering as much as humanly possible – from bananas to bicycles; nail polish to novels; violins to Volvos – online. Buying in bulk helps too (think: toilet paper; diapers; bottled water, etc). The bottom line? One less trip to the store is one less time-waster for you.

–> 9. Block temptations.
As wondrous as the Internet is – and it is! It is! – it is also the greatest time-waster on earth. (Case in point: How many times have you bid on useless junk on eBay, or Googled hapless ex-boyfriends? And let’s not forget about PerezHilton.com!) Now, that’s not to pooh-pooh technology. It’s great, and you can’t stop the steady march of progress. But unless we keep our baser technological impulses in check, well, Houston…we’ve got a problem. Email is a perfect example. They suck up more time than an Electrolux. So, instead of clicking on each new message that bounces into your in-box, check your emails once per hour (or half hour, if you are truly addicted). If demonstrating this kind of restraint feels too difficult or downright impossible, you can always block your computer from certain programs – such as pesky emails – for a set period of time. For Windows only, try a free download at www.sourceforge.net/projects/temptblocker.

–> 10. Keep it in perspective.
Of course, keeping lists, multitasking, scheduling, delegating and buying in bulk isn’t for all of us. Like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time, some can do it effortlessly while others find it impossibly hard. If you fall into the latter category, don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead, accept the fact that you, like everyone else, have your limitations, and be kind to yourself. You might also find that having your own system of doing things works best for you. If that’s the case, be inventive. Create your own time-saving devices, and celebrate the fact that you’ve discovered something new. Oh, and don’t forget to share!

Melissa Roske, president of Wheels in Motion Coaching (www.wheelsinmotioncoaching.com), is a New York University certified Life and Personal Coach, committed to helping women realize their potential and to successfuly attain their goals. Melissa is also an internationally published author, advice columnist and relationships advisor.

There are only 24 hours in any day, but how often do you feel that you need more? Many of us feel (especially women) feel overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of tasks we are expected to complete in any given day. This is particularly true of working mothers who are, literally, never off duty and quite often fall into the trap of putting their own needs so far down the ‘to do’ list that they are rarely, if ever’ met.

If this resonates with you, how would you like to have more time?
The bad news is that it is not possible to make any more time in your busy schedule.
The good news is that all you have to do to have more time is to take it!
I recently realized that, for the virtually all my adult life, I have been taking time - even though I was not consciously aware of it!

To explain: whenever I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of a task, or just get stuck in the middle of something, I walk away from it for 10 minutes or so and go and do something completely different.
So, if I have a huge amount of work to finish before a tight deadline, or I’m trying to write something creative and it’s just not flowing, I go for a walk, make a cup of coffee, fix dinner, put on a wash, meditate - anything! - as long as it is not related to the task I’m stuck with.

If you don’t work from home and are not in a position to physically remove yourself from your work, you can still ‘escape’ for a few minutes. The key is to turn your attention to something that is as different as possible to what is causing you to feel bogged down or overwhelmed.
When I go back to what you were doing, you do so with fresh eyes and renewed energy.
I’ve been using this strategy for over 30 years and I can honestly say that not even once have I said ‘I wish I had not taken that 10 minutes!

Eileen Bennett is a writer and editor and runs the http://www.askmammy.ie site

Surfing around the world of blogs this past month, I ran across the “Ultimate Guide to Productivity” project started by Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog. Ben solicited bloggers around cyberspace to contribute their best tips for getting things done, and I was inspired (once I realized that reading blogs is the archenemy of productivity!), to catalog my own proven tips:

1. Immediate deadlines. The key to productivity is focus, and the best way to get focused is to have a deadline (have you ever noticed how much you get done the day before you leave on vacation?). So I try to create momentum and a sense of urgency during a regular workday with “immediate” deadlines. Instead of just doing something for as long as it takes, I determine beforehand how much time I’m going to spend, whether it’s writing a proposal, making phone calls or paying my bills. A time limit — 15-30 minutes are best for maintaining urgency — also adds a competitive element that makes even the most tedious activity seem more like a game.

Those of you who have read my articles on “flow” may remember my use of this technique at a Japanese bank where I had the brain-numbing task of processing corporate requests for bank balances. To prevent myself from committing harakiri, I challenged myself to “finishing 15 applications by lunchtime,” reorganizing the various steps of the process to minimize delays. By shifting my focus from the tedious nature of the work to beating the clock, I was so much more productive than my predecessor, that I created a backlog in the department where the completed applications were sent (and was able to negotiate a sanity-saving four-day workweek!).

2. Mini-goals. The companion to immediate deadlines is mini-goals. For each activity, zero in and ask yourself: “What am I trying to achieve?” “What am I trying to say?” You may think you don’t have time to plan for every little task but have you ever spent 20 minutes writing – deleting, typing, deleting – a three-line email? Mini-goals sharpen your focus, raise your efficiency and signal when you’re done!

3. Top-three list. How many of you scribble out long, multi-page to-do lists for the day that are unrealistic, overwhelming and make you feel like a slug when you don’t get it all done? Why not try a “top-three” list instead: sure, keep your master list of 79 “to-dos,” but choose the three most important things you absolutely, positively are going to get done that day. Throughout a day filled with inevitable distractions, your top-three will act as a compass to keep you on track. (And since everything is relative, you will likely derive greater satisfaction from completing the three designated tasks than if you had completed 7 from a list of 15.)

4. Control email.Timothy Ferriss, author of Four-Hour Workweek, advises disciplining yourself to check email twice a day (or less) – virtual heresy in this world where instant response (“Did you get the email I sent 10 minutes ago?”) has become the norm. He suggests setting up an email autoresponder that indicates you will be checking e-mail twice per day or less, but if you don’t want to go that far you need only train people to learn when they can expect a response from you. (Seems to work for Timothy: he speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing, and an actor on a hit television series in Hong Kong. Oh, and he’s 29 years old.)

5. Write it down. As productivity guru David Allen says, there is one part of the brain that is not that smart: the part that doesn’t wait to remind you to do something when you could actually do something about it. If you’re out of milk, when does your brain remind you that you need to buy more? When you’re pouring the last few drops into your cereal – if it were smart, it would only remind you when you’re passing the dairy section at the grocery store. How many times today have you had a thought that you needed to get something done that you still haven’t done? It’s a waste of time and energy to keep thinking about something that you make no progress on. Write it down, make a list and your brain will feel less compelled to keep reminding you, reassured that it’s being taken care of.

6. Stop multi-tasking. In an effort to get more done, many people pride themselves on their ability to multi-task. But research at the University of Michigan has shown that the brain has limited total capacity and that instead of working harder when engaged in more than one activity, the amount of cortex activation actually decreases as the brain establishes priorities among tasks and allocates the mind’s resources to them. Moreover, the subjects in the study all lost time when switching from one task to another, and the more complex the task, the more time lost. You know what that means: no more conversations on the cell phone while driving!

7. Take a break. You may think you’ll get more done if you just keep working but taking a 10-minute break every 50 minutes or so – ideally a stroll or some stretching and deep breathing if you’ve been sitting in front of the computer – will recharge your powers of concentration and stimulate your brain to produce solutions or ideas that have been eluding you.

Follow these tips and you may even start to enjoy your productive days as much as a vacation. As former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says: “Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.”

Renita T. Kalhorn is a personal performance coach who specializes in helping goal-oriented professionals to take a quantum leap in their career. Subscribe to In The Flow, her FREE monthly newsletter and receive her FREE Energy Playbook, Find Your FLow! 21 Simple Techniques to Banish Tedium, Reduce Stress and Inspire Action at intheflowcoaching.com

I’m rarely “busy.” I’m usually working on a project. I might be writing a book, recording a CD program, writing an article for my weekly international EZine, Coffee with Kevin Hogan, creating an ad or promotion, giving a presentation, consulting, speaking, or researching.

Now, when I’m doing one of those things, I’m not busy,
I’m working on a project. And there is a difference.

Busy means very little is actually getting accomplished.

Today I went to the hardware store to pick up an odd shaped
light. Then I went to Barnes and Noble, just for the heck of it.
Next I popped in at Target and picked up some laundry soap,
yard maintenance stuff, some vacuum cleaner bags and
some raspberry preserves. Then it was over to the gas station
to fill up the gas can for the lawn mower. (I haven’t filled the
car’s gas tank since Christmas….no kiddin’….)

Got home…and replaced the vacuum bag, scoped out some
of the books I lugged home and then dealt with some legal
issues that have no upside.

There isn’t one thing there that was a project. It was all just
busy stuff. I got into the world, found people still there and
came home.

…could have had someone go do those things and it would
have cost me all of twenty bucks to get that done. Instead
i lost two hours of project time because I wanted to get out.

Don’t get me wrong, I made the right decision.

I needed to get out.

I hadn’t started the car since I got back from Vegas
a few weeks ago, so it’s nice to know it still loves me.

But if I did this everyday, I’d be a “busy guy….” and
broke.

Busy people don’t get anything done. And this morning I
got nothing done. It “felt” kind of good to be out and about,
so I probably did my health and psyche some good.

All well and good. No regrets.

But it could become addictive.

KEYPOINT: Being busy, FEELS like something is getting accomplished
when of course in reality, NOTHING of significance is
getting done.

Go back up to the project list above. That is where my
world happens.

Busy is like a piece of chocolate. Tastes great…empty calories.

Are you the poster child for “busyness”, the one who is never
able to get your business projects done (the perpetual starter,
then avoider syndrome)?

Or even worse, are you the one who has decided to throw the
towel because you simply “do not have time”?

What I’d like to show you here is a simple time management
system to become more productive and achieve your goals.

The key to all this is to focus your efforts on incorporating some
simple but profound principles into your life, which are going
to allow you to get more done in the limited amount of time you
have.

I watched hundreds of “busy people” today. Some of them
probably thought they were getting something done. They
went home exhausted from their shopping and fueling and
whatever. For me it was rather exhilarating….

Let’s start here…

The Art of the Tradeoff

(A.K.A. Stop the “I don’t have time” Nonsense)

KEYPOINT: The concept of tradeoff is pretty much the notion of giving up
something to get something else.

No big complicated formula there…

It does not necessarily have to be “hurt” if you know that it
is going to pay off at the end of the day by helping you create
a stream of income that will help you achieve financial freedom.

This is simply about reprioritizing and giving up unnecessary
things and non-productive activities such as spending hours in
front of mindless TV shows, sleeping too much, playing video
games non-stop, chatting for hours on myspace or the phone, etc.

Now STOP.

Two things are common at this point that screw everyone up.

First, a lot of people work on “their goal” and get that stuff
done, thinking that everything is cool.

But it’s not. Working on a goal is not the same as having
the rewards IF everything works out.

KEYPOINT: What’s critical is to put your contingency plans into your
goal structure and time “management” plan each day.

Second, a lot of people think that they can’t watch Lost
or 24 or whatever because they have a goal.

This is crazy.

Each week, take 10 hours and assign it to non-goal
activities. This can be taking the kids to Cub Scouts,
going to church, having the relatives over, watching a
movie or going out to eat.

Obviously if you choose to cut the lawn, (busy work) then
that’s the same as watching a TV show. The point is to
plan these things at the end of the week for the following
week.

There are plenty of non-productive activities that each of us
engage in that we could easily give up (or at least reduce the
time we spend indulging in them) in order to make our dream of
financial freedom or simply a life of freedom, come true.

This is a very important. Make the time available by planning
non goal activities at the end of the week…for the following
week.

The Intensely Focused State

Tomorrow I’ll cut the lawn. That’s an hour. If I want that to
be one of my 10 hours of nongoal activity, all I do when I
cut the lawn is cut the lawn….

But that isn’t the case.

I’ll work on a presentation or plan a product while I cut the
lawn. Cutting the lawn requires no thought so I essentially
get an hour of exercise while focused on something that will be
extremely important.

You can’t write a book while you cut the lawn, and that’s a good thing.

The importance of, “I get things done,” (Your new mantra) is
since we all have a limited amount of time, it is imperative
that whenever you are working on a significant task, you give it
your absolute undivided attention and energy until it is
completed.

It pretty much means giving yourself 100% to what you
are doing when you are working on your business or anything else
that is important for the matter.

I apply this philosophy to all areas of my life and it works without fail.
This is pretty much about not approaching your task or project with a non-
commitmental attitude and ending up producing some half-a**ed
work and results. You can double your productivity just by applying
this principle alone. I personally do not like spending an excessive
amount of time on any task, so I put all the concentration and energy
necessary to get it done in the most reasonable time possible.

OK…not always reasonable…fast…

Every successful person I know gets things done….fast.

In order to make this possible when you are going to be working
during your business time, do not allow any distractions to
interfere with your work. That means: NO PHONE CALLS,

Here are some tips you can use to make it easier for you:

1. Create a productive work environment (maybe w/ music
or complete silence whichever you prefer, coffee, etc) for
yourself. Create the kind of environment that allows you to feel
relaxed and focused.

2. If that means working outside of your house (e.g.: at a
library) like I had to do, then by all means do it. I’ve had offices
over the years but I just hated going to the office. It reminded
me too much of school, so, I eventually closed my office door
and work from home.

No commute time.
No lease on an office.
No car expenses. (Don’t even need a car.)
Two hours of time saved each day.
Better food eaten.

If you are lucky (smart) enough to be a salesperson or
entrepreneur, you can take home and earn almost 50%
more income by closing the office. (No car, no insurance, no gas,
deductible mortgage for 1/3-1/2 of the house, inexpensive healthy
food and TONS of extra FREE bonus hours each DAY.
If you have kids, you’ll be there when they get home.

If that isn’t compelling…I don’t know what is.

3. I hate work.

Work is anything that I am obligated to do that I really don’t
like and is almost always a waste of time. Taxes, paperwork,
book keeping, yuk.

But ya’ gotta do it. (or pay someone to…)

Create a list of what you want to get accomplished during
each “work” session. This will help you avoid working in a
disorganized manner and create a sense of urgency in you to get
everything done. When you approach your work session with a
clear plan and sense of purpose, you will automatically feel
more focused and energized.

You will be surprised with how much you can accomplish just by
applying this principle. On the Internet, I know people who have
such intense focus that they are able, for example, to put up
a website and launch an entire list building and affiliate
marketing campaign in only four hours flat.

Busy work can be done FAST so you can get to your passions…

Motivation’s Force

Motivation is an interesting things. We are often motivated to
learn…learn a lot and then get overwhelmed and quit.

It’s all pretty simple really: If Jack can do it, you can too.

The best strategy, is, JUST DO IT.

Without a high level of motivation, it is going to be very difficult for
you to get anything done, especially since it takes some time
before starting to see tangible results.

Becoming motivated enough comes down to two things: having a
sense of clarity and having some incentive to get you going.

Clarity means that you know exactly what you are
trying to achieve and how you are planning to achieve it. With
all the choices and business strategies available out there,
it’s easy to be jumping from opportunity to opportunity without
really accomplishing anything concrete.

You are also going to need to have clear goals. By that I
mean tangible goals that are measurable and that you feel
connected to (it is realistic enough that you feel you could
achieve it).

Then proceeded to break down goals into sub-goals and
mini-steps to help you move forward.

Eventually you don’t think in terms of goals. You simply write
down, “Write Secret Language of Influence.”

(The book that Wiley and Sons will be publishing in October.)

And then you go do it.

For now, there won’t be anything to implement if you do not have
clear goals. You need to know what exactly it is that you
want.

Knowing WHY really helps too.

What kind of lifestyle are you envisioning?

How much would you like to earn?

What type of people would you like to form relationships with?

I could go on and on with different types of questions you need
to ask for yourself but I will let you come up with your own.

This process is very important for two main reasons:

- You get a sense of relief and power when you know
exactly what you are going after rather than shooting aimlessly
at whatever life throws at you. You get to control how and where
to spend your time, energy and resources

- You need to be clear on your objective if you ever expect to
engage in business, whether online or offline. If you don’t, you
will be drowned under the sea of new information, opportunities
and scams constantly thrown at you.

Another important point is that you need to reward yourself
for your efforts. Don’t make it food or you’ll just get fat.

Do not discount this because it is a powerful driving
psychological force. It’s hard to brain wash yourself if you don’t
use the classical conditioning methods!

Self reward, will help your brain create a positive association
with the act of getting your work done, and before you realize
it you will feel compelled to do it without any self-convincing.

Keep a business journal to record your goals and their evolution.
It will help you take a step back and analyze your experience
more objectively. Your business journal can also be a great
therapy book where you can record your fears and doubts,
since you most likely will not be able or willing to share this
with your relatives or friends.

Efficiency and Proficiency

(a.k.a “work hard, work smart”)

Just about every book in the self help section now says, “Work
smart not hard.”

That and other idiotic thinking will cause self sabotage!

Working smart is very important. Working hard is very important.

I don’t know anyone who has financial freedom who doesn’t do
both.

What you really want is to work efficiently and with complete
optimization.

You and I get 168 hours this week, so work on the activities
that will generate the most return on your time and effort
investment.

If you are familiar with the Pareto principle (or 80/20 rule) you
know that in most situations 80% of the results
come from 20% of the input (or effort).

The trick here is to be able to identify what are these critical
input activities that you need to be focusing on to generate
most of the desired results. If you make the mistake of allocating
most of your time to the other 80% of the activities, which is
simply busy work (e.g.: answering emails) that will only generate
20% of your results, you are setting yourself up for a lot of waste of time
and frustration.

YUK.

1. You need to identify the most important activities among the
maze of tasks you will have to get done for the type of business
you are engaged in.

2. You need to allocate your time appropriately to these tasks
according to their value in terms of impact on your overall
project.

3. When you are able to (or can afford) consider outsourcing
the least critical tasks and focus on the top 20% of the revenue
generating activities.

The Power of Systemization

One sure way to save time and get your work done quickly and
efficiently is to have a set system for as many of your business
activities as possible.

I think in terms of projects. Whenever I’m back on a schedule,
I get frustrated because it means I’ve increased appointments
which have a certain length and no chance for optimization.

Having and following a system is advantageous because following
an organized set of procedures rather than always improvising
makes your life easier, saves time and gives you a sense of
control.

If you want to learn how I create time out of thin air and produce
about as much as anyone….check out Time for Love, Time for Money
….because you NEED BOTH.

For more information about thoroughly researched scientifically proven
time management actions,
store.kevinhogan.com
Time for Love, Time for Money

Time management and Production research and updates can be found at kevinhogan.com

Kevin Hogan is the author of 15 books including two international bestsellers: The Psychology of Persuasion and, The Science of Influence.

Whether intentional or by misfortune, being late for a meeting is, in itself, a visible sign of disrespect for other people’s time. Think about the fact that your tardiness usually affects not just your own productivity. Your being late has a infectious multiplying factor because tardiness impacts the productivity of those many that are kept waiting. The impact in real dollar cost associated with productivity loss related to lateness are staggering.

Bottom line: 10 minutes/day of lateness equates to $90 Billion/year in lost productivity or 1% of the US GDP

Recent studies have shown that chronic tardiness affects 20% of the US population, Yes, 20% are consistently late. In 2006 Corporate CEOs show being late 8 out of 10 meetings. This alarming trend of Chronic CEO tardiness has actually worsened since 2002, when a study by management consulting firm Proudfoot, highlighted CEOs were late six in 10 meetings.

All good studies wouldn’t be complete unless they categorized the types of latecomers. According to an ABC News report in March 2007, there are 4 types of chronic tardiness people:

1) Rationalizer type: Blames outside factors

2) Absent-minded Professor type: forgetful or disorganized

3) Deadline or Producer Type: Adrenaline addicted junkie. Gets a psychological high on having a jammed schedule

4) Rebel type: Defies authority and gets a high in keeping people waiting. Feel so important that feel people are willing to wait.

Diana DeLonzor, in her book Never Be Late Again, has chronic lateness types further defined into seven categories.

Bottom line: Whether it is a thrill or habit, there are steps you can take to reduce and eliminate your chronic tardiness problem.

How do you respect and effectively utilize the universally shared commodity of time?

Balancing your time with those around you is an ongoing challenge. Be vigilant about effectively using your time and anyone sharing your time. Your calendar, your day timer (or PDA) and the clock are intrinsic tools of the business trade. Learn to tell time, use timers and challenge yourself to get there on time.

There are mental mind-sets and effective meeting processes that can help you kick the tardiness problem (they helped me).

Consider your scheduled meeting times as just a center point of your overall meeting time. It is usually the informal meetings or contact before and after the formal session where most of the business or decisions are solidified. Always allow time for this informal contact:

1) Allow yourself 15 minutes before each scheduled meeting or event to:
- get your thoughts or agenda together at the location for the meeting
- have a quick meeting with the main person to review the agenda
- chat with the person who is setting up the meeting room to get information on the attendees. Executive Assistants and Administrative Assistants can be an invaluable source of information. Build trust with this individual.
- socialize and introduce yourself to the attendees prior to the formal meeting. You are likely to pick-up on the temperament of key individuals attending your meeting.

2) Allow 15 minutes after each scheduled meeting or event to:
- review how effective the meeting was perceived by your key customer (coach) or by an attending colleague.
- Take time with the key person (key influencer) to review the outcome of the meeting and strategize next steps
- Test the water and ask for the business. You might actually get the order. Alllow time for that too

3) Give yourself the 15/15 minute buffer before and after each scheduled meeting to allow for unexpected things. Plus you will less likely impact on subsequent meeting times. Early is always better than late. Arriving on-time is the most visible sign of disrespect toward the other people involved. For first time meetings, being on-time is one of the major positive impacts on ‘first and lasting impressions’. Add to your good reputation – be on-time.

Including this 15/15 Time Wrapper around each of your scheduled appointments and meetings will afford you more time to prepare/strategize (before)and then assess/close(afterwards). Reduce stress on both yourself and those around you. Your respect for other people’s time is a measure of your own self-respect. Being respectful is an honorable trait - a trait that can only add to your glowing reputation.

Carl Chesal is a business and channel development consultant, trainer, internet marketer and professional photographer. He operates BizFare Enterprise Inc, providing business development, marketing, and internet marketing services. Bizfare Enterprise also operates a number of secure on-line shopping sites.