Did you get my email?

One thing to keep in mind: email is not instant communication; email is instant ONE WAY communication. Have you ever had a colleague who sent you an email, then called you to make sure you got the email? How likely are you to want to help this person?

I’m going to suggest something really radical: check your email once a day.

Seriously.

If you are like most people and check your email every few minutes, or have some sort of alert system to tell you when you have a new email, stop it. You are splitting your focus and becoming inefficient.

Now, of course, if you are waiting for an answer about some urgent issue that you need to know right now, that’s a totally different subject. But most of us do not have that problem. We have just created email as a sort of instant messenger, in that we expect people to immediately jump and answer
our questions, just as if they had called us on the phone. (You don’t answer the phone every time it rings, do you?)

–Rob

How to Make To-Do Lists Work for You

By Will Newman

To-do lists are effective time-management tools - but only if they’re easy to use. Here are six strategies for making your to-do lists work hard for you.

1. Keep it simple.

Whether you use a computer-based to-do list or a paper tablet, it must be simple. If it’s too complex, you won’t use it… guaranteed. I keep my to-do lists on a 5″ x 7″ paper tablet. I list “major” tasks to be accomplished, with big sub-steps underneath each one. For example, “Edit The Golden Thread e-letter for AWAI” is a major task of mine. “Write main article,” “write Quick Tip,” and “write Introduction” are big sub-steps.

Note: A major task is not necessarily one that takes a long time.

2. Limit yourself.

Small paper tablets work well, because there’s a limit to how much you can write on a page. I stick to a maximum of 10 tasks, all of which can be accomplished within a week of when I list them.

3. Set a due date - and stick to it.

Due dates help prioritize what you do and when. Do not work on tasks in the order in which you write them down. Jot down the due date beside each one, and do them in the order of their deadlines.

4. Use a dark marker to reinforce your feeling of accomplishment.

Cross off sub-steps as you complete them with a regular pen. Use a dark marker to cross off the major tasks. Boy, does it feel good!

5. Redo the list every workday.

Do it every evening. This gives you a clear idea of what you have to do before the end of the next day.

6. Add “pop-ups” to your list.

When something pops up during the day that has to be attended to (such as an important phone call), add it to your to-do list - even if you’ve already done it. Then cross it off. To-do lists not only tell you what you have to do, they can tell you if you’re using your time well.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

The Laws of Visibility

1. Customers will buy from you if they feel welcome.
2. Customers will buy from you if they like you.
3. Customers will buy from you if they know you exist.

Three Little Things

John Forde in Early To Rise proposes an interesting strategy: just do three things. Of course, pick three things that count; not like checking your email or the thousand little everyday things you do. But pick three things you would like to accomplish in the next 1,000 minutes. Those are the things you need to focus on for the rest of the day.

There are always things that you think of that need to be done every day. Throughout the day you think of even more. Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and realized that there was something you were meaning to do all day, and it just slipped your mind? It goes long with focus; you can really only focus on three things anyway.

The word decide comes from the Latin décīdere, to cut off. So when you decide on what you are going to do, you are cutting away all of the other stuff that wants to get in your way.

So, leaving out all of the calls and emails and hallway conversations and diversions, what three things are you going to get done today?

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.
————————————————–

How’s Your PMA? - By Tig Wallis

One of the many challenges we face when working is maintaining our PMA-Positive Mental Attitude. This one factor an make or break our day, and often does. How many times have you got up on a cold cloudy morning and just decided, “I’m not going to have a good day?” Well, they say your words can make it happen, and they are right!

Harry Paul, one of the authors of the now-famous “FISH” series, speaks often of the need to “choose our attitude.” This process works best first thing in the morning, that’s when you decide what kind of day you’re going to have. Another critical point is when you first walk into your workplace for the day. Do you look around you and heave a big sigh at all the work you have to do, or do you jump in with both feet with anticipation? OK, most people hopefully fall somewhere in between; otherwise, you’re going to drive us all crazy. The idea is, if you are approaching your work with the attitude that it’s “just another day at work,” it shows. Pretty soon everyone around you is catching your attitude, and you’ve got a pretty down workplace.

Contrast this with someone who comes into work full of energy and smiles, says, “Good Morning” to everyone they pass, and seems genuinely glad to be there. Isn’t that someone you would like to work with? Most people would. And, trust me, it shows in the office. It shows on the phone, and it shows to your clients.

A trick that helps you to get the PMA is simply to pretend. It’s true, this really really works. Pretend you’re enthusiastic. At first it feels pretty silly, but what you are doing is tricking your brain into believing you’re enthusiastic. Pretty soon you’re believing it, and it gets easier and easier.

Now, no one would expect you to be feeling and acting wonderful every day. Just realize that, most of the time it is a choice, and you alone are responsible for that choice. “Choose Your Attitude,” get your PMA going and make your workplace a better place to work!

Tig Wallis works with businesses who want to improve relationships with their customers and employees. Contact him at The Wallis Group