gathergreatness.com

It has been an exhilarating day, to say the least.

After spending eight hours at my JOB, I did a few chores and picked up a Pizza at the local pizzeria for the family. Then it was time to spend some time with my online business.

I must say, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. I did however accomplish some important steps, which I am confident will help me move my entrepreneurial business forward.

1. I purchased a new domain name from GoDaddy, http://www.IndustryLeadingExpert.com

2. I learned how to Redirect and Mask my new domain to my Hosting Account.

3. I determined that I like Solving Problems more than Setting Goals.

4. I decided to reactivate my AWeber Account this week.

5. I made a committment to create an e-book or other give-away.

So the evening was fairly productive.

PS.
I am remiss that I have left my list of subscribers to my newsletter dwindle away, by not following through with my monthly publications.

In all my haste to share my most successful ways of managing my time, I almost forgot one very important skill that I had not mentioned.

I came home from work today to find my office to be just the way I had left it this morning. A pile of mail, a stack of books, some scattered papers with my latest projects, and barely enough room on my desk to place my laptop computer.

Yes, it was all right where I had left it. I knew precisely where everything was, well almost.

I guess it wasn’t so bad, but I realized that my concentration level was not very good. As I started to work on an article that I promised to write, I couldn’t help but see an envelope with a past due invoice for a recent doctor visit. This led me to opening my online banking site to determine when I had last paid on the account and the balance due.

Of course this led me to my on-hand-checking-account-balance. After a few minutes of perusing my other bank withdrawals and calculating whether or not I would have extra cash to pay on this bill, my original plan was now totally derailed.

The only good thing that had come from this exercise was the hard core realization that keeping my workspace neat and organized was not an option. It was obviously a requirement.

Just this one piece of mail had cost me a good hour of my time before I could refocus.

Right then I decided to do something to make a difference. I put away the distractions and organized my books. It really felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from my creative genius. As it turned out, I was able to write the article in half the time that I had alotted to getting it done.

So here is my advice to you.

Is your office cluttered or in need of some serious cleaning and organizing,?
What are you waiting for? Take the time up front and get it cleaned up.

If you want to manage your time, manage your workspace first.

Bill
“Helping you Achieve your Greatest Self”

911, What’s your emergency?

It’s serious busness only, and I do mean serious. That should be your mindset and your concentration level, as you sit down to work on your business.

I don’t know about you, but I find the new buzz of ‘multi-tasking’ to be a big problem when I need to get things done.

Truthfully, I need all the concentration I can muster. My time is too valuable to waste, trying to juggle more than one or two things at the same time. I have so many people and projects that demand my attention on a daily basis.

Let me share a few with you.

I have eight major jobs:
1. a full time management career,
2. a wife
3. four grown children
4. seven grandchildren
5. a house to maintain
6. a part time internet business
7. church and social commitments,
8. and maybe, just maybe. a little alone time.

I’m sure you all have a list.

So how do you keep a balance of all the things that need to be done?

For me, the best working method that I use, comes from a slight revision of the Day-Tight Compartment Model used by the great Dale Carnegie.

My day-tight compartment looks like this, ‘focusing on one task or one person at a time.’

If I’m writing an article, I block out the time I need, and spend that pre-determined amout of time exclusively on the article. I don’t check my emails, I don’t answer the phone and I don’t try to entertain one of the grandkids at the same time.

On the other hand, If I decide to help one of the children with their homework, I’m not trying to watch TV or work on a part of my business plan at the same time.

For me, really focusing and living in day-tight compartments has helped me professionally and personally.

To be honest, multitasking has been more of a disaster than a help.

An author, entrepeneur, mentor, and now I am pleased to acknowledge, an online friend, Mike Litman, has identified and written about what he has termed, the 3 P’s of Time.

They are essential to the effective use and management of out TIME.

PROTECT

We need to understand that TIME is the most valuable commodity that we possess. It is more precious than gold or silver, more sought after than any other possession that we might acquire. Therefore, Time should never be taken for granted, unappreciated or wasted.

PRESERVE

All efforts should be exercised to preserve the Time that we are given. Make the most use of the Time that is allotted to us. Don’t allow other people or other circumstance to dictate how you will use your gift. Ultimately you are the master that rules your minutes, hours and days. We need to limit or totally elimiate from our lives the places and occasions that are time wasters.

PRIORITIZE

Most talked about and probably the most apparent need, is the need to prioritize our Time. The things and people that matter most to us should be the major focus of our Time. I find the most productive and rewarding days are almost always the ones that have been well planned in advance. Motivation for me has always been defined by the quality and amount of things that I have accomplished during any given day.

I never want to wake up the same person that I was the day before. To live is to grow. Unless we are moving forward we are not using our Time to the fullest.

Become a Time Management Expert by incorporating the 3 P’s of Time,
1. Protect
2. Preserve
3. Prioritize.

To your continued success,

Bill
“Helping You Achieve Your Greatest Self”

Have you ever felt that you have more management talent than you’re being given credit?

You may be the leader in sales production, the most effective trainer, the one everyone comes to for the answers to the tough questions, but not the manager who is getting the recognition.

From my experience, judging a person’s leadership talent is often overshadowed by the same person’s ability, or lack of, to master time.

Continually being late for work, late for meetings and leaving the impression that these things are not important or not manageable may be more detrimental than one might imagine. What does it say about a manager that cannot organize his or her life to meet these obligations?

For ease, let’s name this person, Jos. A. Manager. Joe has been a driving force in the business, his people are highly motivated team players, the profit margin produced by his team is among the top, his customers are highly satisfied. It would seem that Joe would be next in line for a promotion.

Yes, from those who know him well, it would seem so. What about the others? The corporate leaders may have a totally different perspective. A majority of them have gotten to where they are now, in large part, by being overly organized, extremely disciplined, and experts of time management. They could possibly view Joe as nonexistent as far as upward mobility. They may have classified Joe by his middle name, A, meaning Average. So Joe Average Manager is passed over for consideration. His excellent talents are smothered by his lack of focus on managing his time more effectively.

Is it fair? Probably not.

Is it reality? You tell me.

Bill

Bill, what are the steps I need to follow
in order to improve my ability to better manage my time?

Try these 3 ideas. They all begin with the letter “D”
This should help you remember them throughout the day:

1- Declutter your work area.
2- Destroy the interruptions.
3- Devise a system to keep you on track.

Declutter

If you’re like me, trying to work in a cluttered area is like trying to drive a car while text messaging a friend. It can be done, but it is neither simple nor recommended. Chances are, the surroundings will be so distracting that your ability to focus will be nonexistent. As your mind wanders, so too the speed and accuracy of your thoughts diminish.
It may take a few hours to organize your space so it is clutter-free. It may take a few days, but the time will be well spent.
Imagine how much easier it will be to concentrate at the task at hand, without the unnecessary junk that is clouding your ability to think.

Destroy

Interruptions can come from many sources throughout the day. First, realize that interruptions are part of life. They are going to occur. My best advise is to anticipate the things or the people that will be competing for your time and then set a plan in place to destroy the occasions, before they occur. Schedule communications with your associates on your time not theirs, set your phone to silent mode when necessary, and shut your door when you don’t want to be disturbed. There will be plenty of time to catch up and socialize after you accomplish your work. Make it a priority to protect your time.

Devise

“Plan your work, and work your plan.” The absolute first rule of time management is to start with a solid plan. You need to know what you want to accomplish from the beginning of the day. Unless your plan involves a leisurly stroll on the beach, a well structured roadmap is what you will need. Plan your day with specific goals, time-bound benchmarks, and measurable results. If you don’t take the time to plot your direction, don’t plan on reaching your destination, at least not any time soon. Becoming proficient at managing time will therefore involve concentrated effort and discipline on our part.

Good luck, and let me know how you are doing.

Let me know if I can help you with any specific problem you may be facing.

Bill
“Helping You Achieve Your Greatest Self”

Time Management has been a valuable topic of discussion for quite some time.

As early as 140 AD, Marcus Aurelies was quoted as saying, “Live each day as if it be your last.”
“Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today.” - Benjamin Franklin
Use your time wisely, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave
with the song still in them”. - Henry David Thoreau

Of more recent notoriety, I have been following the teachings of Peter Turla.
If you google “time management”, his name is usually one or two in the seach engine results.

Peter is also listed in Who’s Who Worldwide. He’s an internationally-acclaimed author and time management expert who has appeared on more than 200 radio and TV shows. He was a columnist for Success magazine for five years. One of his books, Time Management Made Easy, is a worldwide best seller.

One of the things that interested me is Peter’s way of looking at time management from a futuristic standpoint. He calls this “backcasting.”

Look Back From the Future:
Things that appear critically important today might seem relatively unimportant when you view them from a future perspective. Also, things that appear to be relatively unimportant today might be very important when you view them from a future perspective.

Looking back from the future—“backcasting” instead of forecasting—which items will have been the most significant for you to have accomplished to achieve your ideal week, month, year, and life?

“Backcasting” one week from now? ………………………………………………..

“Backcasting” one month from now? ………………………………………………..

“Backcasting” one year from now? ………………………………………………….

“Backcasting” five years from now? ………………………………………………..

“Backcasting” from near the end of your life? …………………………………….

Pick a time or event in your life that may have a major impact on how the rest of your life turns out. Keep that in perspective so that the daily decisions you make are wise ones.

Now fill in the blank spaces above and see if you can gain insight into your future direction, and how to best manage your time.
Bill
“Helping You Achieve Your Greatest Self.”

* information compliments of Peter Turla - “The Time Man” Turla, www.TimeMan.com *

One of the main reasons I have chosen to become a Time Management Expert is quite simple.
It helps me to accomplish the things that are most important to me.

A fulltime job monopolizes a good part of my time, six days per week. For me, the routines of managing a restaurant business keeps me engaged in productive tasks for the majority of this block of time.

So don’t I deserve to spend the rest of the day in leisure after a hard day at work?
Shouldn’t I just relax?

I used to think so.

I still believe a calming period, sometime during the day, is essential, but allowing myself to be mastered by time-wasting activities is no longer part of my life.
Sitting in front of the television, surfing the internet, and other mindless things are now budgeted much smaller portions of my time.

I would much rather plan a more productive evening.

What helps me, is to make a list of the things I want to accomplish. I usually make this list the night before.

Now I rank the items on my list by:
a. appointments, obligations and any items that must be done.
b. items that are most important in helping me reach my present goals
c. secondary items that would be nice to do, but not demanding my immediate attention.

I make it a point to complete all the “a” items before starting on any of the “b” items and all of the “b” items before getting involved with any “c” items. Thus, I am focusing on what is most important to me.

I find this system to help me live a more stress-free, more productive and more result driven life.

I am sure that some will find this process to be somewhat aggressive. They may be content with just following the path of least resistance. I am, however, driven to make the most of my time, managing not only the weeks and months, but the hours and minutes of my life, achieving my greatest self.

Becoming an expert at something always involves more effort, more dedication and more time.

Bill

Managing time,
some people do it.

Dreaming,
everybody does it.

For me, dreaming is more important.
Dreaming is not only one of my favorite pass times,
It is the inspiration to the majority of my accomplishments.

Think about it.

What motivates you or I to action?

You see something you want.
Then what?

Of course, you try to figure out how best to obtain it.

Right?

Then what? What process do you take to make your dream a reality?

When pursuing our dreams, I would like to propose,
5 questions, consciously or unconsciously, enter our thoughts.

1. How hard do I have to work to achieve it?
2. Is it worth the effort?
3. How long will it take?
4. What will it cost?
5. What might I have to give up?

Everything starts from this vision or this dream.

How well we manage our time then, may depend more upon the motivation, than the steps or the actual mechanics of achievement. If our desire is strong enough, these other factors may not even matter.

Thus managing our time becomes a matter of identifying and prioritizing our beliefs and focusing on the things that matter most to us, not just making a list of some mundane tasks that need to be accomplished.

From the answers we receive to these questions, we can best determine our purpose, and in the process strengthen our resolve to achieving our goals.

Thus begins the journey of becoming the person of whom we dream. Thus begins the process of becoming an expert in the art of time management.

Why are so many people looking for better ways to manage their time?

Students and professionals from all walks of life are spending countless hours and millions of dollars on ways to become better organized and more productive.

From Day Planners, PDA’s, Cell Phones and a multitude of paper and electronic devices, people are working at becoming experts at managing their time. So what’s the big fuss? Why is it so important to monitor how we spend our time?

Good Questions.

For the present, I will look at it from just my perspective.

I do consider myself to be an avid believer in the importance of the good management of my time.
I, for one, use a dayplanner seven days a week, even on my days off.

Why?

Does this sound like you, or am I being overly obsessive?
I just don’t like the idea of coming to the end of my day with a feeling that I had not accomplished anything. I get a terrible feeling that I was somehow cheated and that I have in someway cheated others.

Anyway,
If I was asked to list the 10 main reasons why I choose to become a time management expert, they would be (in no particular order):

1. It helps me focus on what is most important.
2. It ensures that I don’t miss anything that I want to accomplish.
3. It allows me to prioritize my activities.
4. It keeps me from becoming scattered.
5. It keeps me from procrastination.
6. It allows me to experience accomplishment when a task is completed.
7. It keeps me from wasting valuable time.
8. It keeps me from loosing important information
9. It forces me to establish ownership of a project, by writing it down.
10. It helps me to set direction for the following day.

I am sure you can add to the list.

Go ahead, be my guest. I would love to hear from you.
I will go more in depth during the month of May, to further explore each of these as they relate to the mastery of time.

Join me on the journey to better time management.
Please enter your contact information in the upper right-hand box, if you have not done so already.
I look forward to “Helping You Achieve Your Greatest Self.”