CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF WINNING?

is the first question I have to ask you. If you’re wondering why things aren’t not working out, why everything you try goes wrong, The very first thing you have to be able to do is see yourself winning. To view, as Matt Furey puts it, the “movie in your mind” See it, feel it, like it’s real. See yourself winning Give it a try.

Why A Database?

Well, my first thought would be, why not? But hey, I’m biased. So let’s say you have a client list you use for mailings. Sure you could keep your records in a Rolodex, in MS Word, or even an Excel spreadsheet, like many people do. But you expect your client list to grow (and grow it will), and after a while it will become unwieldy. There is just too much data in most client lists to keep track of efficiently in anything but a database.

Lucky for you, if you do keep your data in Excel, it’s incredibly easy to migrate it to an Access database. And if you have it in Word, it’s just a little less easy. The upside of this, other than your computer thanking you for being so efficient, is that you will have a multitude of new ways to look at your client list. Soon you will be thinking of new and interesting things to add to your information about your clients, like their birthdays, the names of their kids, all the things you can use to get closer to your clients and get them to buy more often.

1,440 minutes

We are all given 1,440 minutes every single day, to do with as we decide. Regardless of age, race, gender, or financial position, one thing all humans have in common is the amount of time we are given in a single day.

So why do some people seem to have so much more time than others? Well, you might say, they just manage their time better. But you can’t really manage time, just like you can’t save it. The answer is how you use it.

Here are three keys to get your time usage under control:

Write it Down
It has been said that 1 hour of planning will save 10 hours of doing. When it comes to getting through your day, the “To-Do” list is a must! But it has to be a list of more than just “what I want to get done today.” Start out by figuring out what you REALLY have to do. These are the most important things that MUST be done today. Realistically, you can probably get two to three really important things done in a day.

Prioritize It
According to a recent study, 20% of the average workday is spent on “crucial” and “important” things, while 80% of the average workday is spent on things that have “little value” or “no value”. Do the most important things first. Or, if you have something especially heinous you have to do, do that first. It’s always easiest to get the hard stuff out of the way first. Think of your time lake a jar: If you fill your jar with sand (lots of little stuff), you won’t have any room for big rocks (the big stuff). But, if you put the big rocks in the jar first, you will still have room for the sand.

One tool I heard about from magician Eric Paul (www.epmagic.com) is to use a cheap kitchen timer to keep you on task. Set the timer for however long you want to spend on the task at hand, then keep an eye on it! Every time you get an interruption, you will be reminded by your timer of how much time is being wasted by the interruption, and you will get back on task quicker.

Stay on Task
The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or approximately 50-60 per day. The average interruption takes 5 minutes, so 50% of the average workday is taken up by interruptions. First thing to do: Stay on Task! A comment I hear often is, “I make a to-do list, but it gets buried on my desk!” One way to prevent losing your list is to keep your it in front of you at all times. Put it on a Super Sticky note on your monitor or, as one of my colleagues does, write it on your hand!

All in all taming you time is not a difficult task, but one that takes some planning and daily commitment. Try these tips for 21 days, and you will have a habit that lasts a lifetime.
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Taming Your Time

Time.

We all have it. We all want more of it. Doesn’t it seem like successful people always seem to have a lot of time? They work in a very focused mode, accomplishing exactly what they want to, when they want to. There’s really no big secret to this, they are just managing their Present Time. Instead of calling it “Time Management”, I like to call it “Present Time Management.” Present Time Management involves focusing on the task at hand and refusing to be derailed by interruptions, either internal or external.

Let’s take a look at interruptions for a moment. External interrupters are the type we usually think about: the phone rings, a co-worker stops by “just for a minute,” etc. Internal interrupters are more insidious, because they pop up in our own head and they are harder to say no to. For example, we remember an e-mail that we need to send, we decide to surf the Internet “just for 5 minutes,” we get up for breaks, etc.

Read that paragraph again. There are two words that are crucial to stopping the interruptions that keep us from getting things done: We Decide.

Every time an interruption comes up, we decide to act on it, or continue with the work at hand. And successful people say “no” more often to the temptation of “just a minute.”

Right Now

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why they call it “The Present.” Well, nothing could be more true! The most important thing you’ll ever do, is what you are doing right now.

You can’t really plan what you’ll be doing an hours from now; anything could happen. The only decision you can really make is what to do right this minute.

Try this: before you start something, ask this question:
“What is the best possible use of my time right now?”

While you are working, every now and then ask yourself this question:
“Is what I’m doing right now consistent with my daily goals?” Also ask yourself this question if you find yourself getting sidetracked by an interrupter. The faster you get back on track, the more you will accomplish.

Working in the present is the best way to stay on top of your goals and become a more action-oriented, successful person.
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