Happy New Year everyone, it has been a very busy productive start already at 5 Star Communications. Who wouldn’t change a thing or two to make life easier? I thought I’d share the latest article I just published to an entrepreneurial website* as a preview on this blog:
If only we had more time, our resolutions would materialize sooner…right? If results are based on actions and resolutions are mere words with hopes and a prayer, then we all need to find efficient ways to put more actions in our days…and communicate a little less – (I love Elvis’ A little less conversation, a little more action song when I work out for this exact reason).
Aim to accomplish 1 thing per day. Pick your top project, closest deadline, task that has been staring at you in the face and just complete it. No interruptions, no email notifications, no meetings. Ask yourself constantly – Is what I’m doing just busy work, or am I getting closer to my goal? Then reward yourself for a job well–done and enjoy a guiltless hour of relaxation or exercise. It makes it easier if you work for yourself but even the most conservative of bosses value results over attendance these days. You are also worth more healthy and well rested than overtired and sick any day.
Learn to love leftovers, for lunch and dinner. We discovered this simple tip has profound benefits such as time-saving, money-saving, environment-saving and calorie-saving… what’s not to love? When preparing a meal, cook double the recipe and cut back on your meat portions for that evening. You will instantly have delicious food to pack for next day’s lunch and tomorrow’s dinner will take a few minutes to prepare with some fresh veggies and salad. My husband who is in sales and on the road most of the time realized packing his lunch saved him at least 30 minutes a day of not running around and waiting in line, and over $300 a month. Plus, his pants are now a size smaller and he never complains about how tasty his lunches are! He chooses to use that found time doing things he loves and funding them with his extra cash. No need for special diet foods!
Apply the 80∕20 rule. The Pareto efficiency model was a prominent part of the bestseller The 4 hour workweek by Tim Ferriss. Much of our work days are wasted on the token few customers who represents the least profitable part of our business. His book recommended focusing one’s attention on the 20% that contribute to 80% of the income and none of the headaches to save considerable time, going as far as firing the rest to create more quality time for yourself and get better results (read profits). Similarly, Parkinson Law states that Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, it’s good to create a feeling of shorter deadlines in order to free up time for the things that matter. Accomplish more in less time and you will relax more!
Cut back your sources of information. Do you really need to be aware of all your acquaintances status on Facebook? Have you ever really felt out of the loop if you skipped a few days away for these networks? This “social not-working” habit needs to be drastically cut to the bare minimum, assuming you are in your prime working years of course. Same goes for surfing the Net and television; how many ways can you hear the same story, when most reporters and networks access the exact same source? Pick 30-minute information and entertainment time slots in your day and stick to them with a timer if you have to.
Reading noteworthy blogs can be informative of course… this coming from a person who makes her living in the communication field… Tips to be applied with a grain of salt, of course!
*For more on this topic, and other articles see www.evancarmichael.com
