Archive for the ‘Personal Management’ category

Nine steps to get what you want out of work (and life)

September 14th, 2010

These are some of the steps that represents the foundation of a book called “The Get-it-Done Guy Book” by Stever Robbins

I didn’t read it yet, but it is shipped and I will have it in my hands shortly.
It sounds interesting from a personal management perspective.

I liked the foundation of this book, the nine steps:

Step 1: Live and work on purpose
If you’re anything like me, a lot of what you call work has very little to do with getting anything important done in life. Like when I compulsively check my social media sites every hour. That kind of thing must go.

Step 2: Stop procrastinating
What is procrastinating except the very art of not doing the very stuff you know is most important? We’ll cover how to nip this in the bud, or at least arrange for someone to kick you into action when you’re delaying. And just in case you’re someone who claims being kicked into action doesn’t work for you, we’ll get out an Ostrich feather and tickle you into action instead.

Step 3: Conquer your technology
Our supposed savior, technology, is for many of us, the greatest obstacle we have to being truly productive. You’ll learn how to use your technology to help you focus, instead of hey, hang on a second. There’s an instant message coming in.

Step 4: Cultivate focus
Do you have any idea how much time is wasted multi-tasking? A lot. If you keep yourself focused and eliminate distractions, you can toss yourself into the kind of flow where the results come fast and easy. And you’ll do it entirely without the use of pharmaceutical supplements.

Step 5: Stay organized
When you have a place for everything and everything in its place, it’s no work at all to find what you need, when you need it. I’m not just talking about physical clutter; this is also about organizing your thinking, your projects, and your processes. Reclaim all that time you otherwise spend hunting for the next step, the next paper, or the next person by knowing exactly where to go and what to do when you need it.

Step 6: Don’t waste time
Sometimes you appear to be doing exactly, precisely what you should be doing, but are actually wasting time that could be spent doing something more meaningful, like eating bon-bons and sipping fruit flavored beverages in a hammock strung between your computer and your doorframe.

Step 7: Optimize!
As I mentioned before, doing things twice bores me silly. Especially when it comes to making mistakes. In Optimize, you’ll learn how to do things once or twice, streamline them to the point where the task is completely brainless, and Let’s just say that I’ll leave you to connect the dots. Think, “brain-eating Zombies.” The implications will jump right out.

Step 8: Build stronger relationships.
You can’t get there alone; you need someone to program the GPS while you’re trying to read street signs. Relationships are, ultimately, how everything gets done. Together, we can do far, far more than we can alone. For example, one of us can measure while the other mixes, and then we can both eat the cookies when they’re ready. You’ll learn some excellent ways to create and deepen the relationships that matter most.

Step 9: Leverage!
The ultimate in Doing More, our final destination of leverage will give you several ways to make sure when you do get results, you get better, stronger, and faster than you’d ever dreamed possible.

You can find more materials and audio about this book here: http://getitdoneguynews.com/

One Awesome Tip for Getting Things Done

September 1st, 2010

How do you get things done?

As you may have noticed there are a lot of tips about that floating around online.

One of my favourite productivity tips that have enabled me to get more done is to adopt a habit of acceptance.

Read the productivity tip on: http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2010/08/26/one-awesome-tip-for-getting-things-done

10 Lies You Will Hear Before You Pursue Your Dreams

August 31st, 2010

Unfortunately, just before you take your first step on the righteous journey to pursue your dreams, people around you, even the ones who deeply care for you, will give you awful advice. It’s not because they have evil intentions. It’s because they don’t understand the big picture – what your dreams, passions, and life goals mean to you. They don’t understand that, to you, the reward is worth the risk.

Here are 10 ill-advised tips (lies) people will likely tell you when you decide to pursue your dreams, and why they are dreadfully mistaken.
Read them all at: http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/08/30/10-lies-you-will-hear-before-you-pursue-your-dreams/

3 Ways to Turn Your Challenges into Opportunities

June 23rd, 2010

How much difference can you create in your life with a subtle little shift in perception?

How we represent things to ourselves determines how we will respond to any given situation. In turn, our response will help determine the outcome.

How we respond to any situation reveals a lot about our attitude and perception. So, when we see challenges as opportunities, what does that reveal about our personal vantage point? Likely it means that we have a healthy degree of optimism, self-confidence and openness, along with an adventurous spirit. It would indicate that we enjoy life and look forward to whatever comes next.

Read more about turning challenges into opportunities here: http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/turn-your-challenges-into-opportunities

5 Ways Your Time Management Is Broke

June 22nd, 2010

Time Management Ninja identified 5 signs of broken time management. Among them:
1. Complexity
2. Too many options
3. Not accessible
4. Does not suit you
5. It is redundant

And then there are some ways to fix it:
1. Keep it simple
2. Minimize the options

Read full time management fixes here: http://timemanagementninja.com/2010/06/5-ways-your-time-management-is-broken

Top 10 Motivation Boosters and Procrastination Killers

June 18th, 2010

10. Pick Good Sounds
9. Use Minor Distractions to Fend Off Big Distractions
8. Set a Timer and Crank Until It Beeps

And there are more and very interesting motivation boosters.

Read them all here: http://lifehacker.com/5533897/top-10-motivation-boosters-and-procrastination-killers

To Do or Not To Do?

June 14th, 2010

Simple system about organizing and working with to-do lists.

1. Make your to-do list weekly, not daily.
Daily to-dos put too much pressure on you because you do not always have time to finish everything on the list. It is much better to make a weekly list and then you will be able to decide when you feel like doing a certain task.

2.Set priorities. Not all tasks are equal in their importance (we all know that) so I would recommend to highlight the most important ones (try to keep them under 5 for 1 week). If the task is really big then you should pick a day when you will focus entirely on this task (e.g. I usually set aside the whole day for my cleaning projects and I do not even try to do anything else that day.)

3. Break down your to-do. In order to stay organized I combine tasks that can be easily done together in my list. For example, a trip to the grocery store and to the post office can definitely be done at the same time (if I write them down together then I won’t forget about any of them.) It might take you a few extra minutes to rewrite your to-do but it will be worth it in the end.

4. Keep your list balanced. For every dull task write down at least 1 fun task. For example, if you have to clean the house then you can add a task of eating out that day to reward yourself for the good work.

Read all 12 advices on working with to-do lists here: http://balanceinme.com/balanced-lifestyle/smart-to-do-list-tip

6 Rules of Stress Free Work/Life Balance

June 8th, 2010

Some interesting questions about work and jobs:

What is your relationship with your job?
Do you like it?
Do you hate it?
Do you just tolerate it?
Are you crazy about it (in a good sense)?

Followed by 6 beautiful advices, starting with the most interesting one:

Get clear on your priorities.

Read full article here: http://balanceinme.com/balanced-lifestyle/6-rules-of-stress-free-work-life-balance/