Daylight And Autumn Leaves

Apparently this Monday is one of the gloomiest in the year because here in the UK we switched to daylight saving time this weekend. We get an extra hour in the morning but the evenings are darker earlier.

However, the number of daylight hours is the same - it's just shifted. So, why would it really make a difference. I have to admit, I don't like getting up in the morning when it's dark but then you do get a chance to see the sunrise or to experience the quiet of a morning as the dawn breaks and the sky brightens, before everyone else gets going.

Even in the dark evenings, there's something cosy about glimpses of light through windows. Make the most of the daylight hours to get out during your lunch break or to enjoy a walk at the weekend.

Notice the changes all around us as we switch from one season to the next. We miss these when we're enclosed in a car or shut away in the office day after day. At this time of year the summer migrants have left and the winter visitors are starting to arrive. Enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of the Autumn. It's less than two months until the winter solstice, when the days will be getting longer again.

Pay attention to your own internal seasonal cycle - there's no reason to feel gloomy - adjust to the shorter days and the change in temperature.

Do what you need to do to nurture yourself.

What Distracts You?

Distractions and interruptions can take up a large part of our day and come from many different directions.

• Email interrupts us constantly from the moment we open our computers to the moment we shut them down.

• Phones can interrupt us throughout the day and they're hard to ignore when they do.

• People interrupt us who have their own agendas, deadlines and priorities and don't think about the affect of their interruption.

• The internet can be a great source of distraction. It's too easy to go off at a tangent with so much information available at the click of a mouse.

• Meetings distract us from our work, especially when they're not run efficiently.

• Distractions around you cause you to lose focus - sounds, sights, boredom, stress, too much on your plate.
  

Even though an interruption may only last a few seconds or minutes it still takes a few minutes to get back to the task in hand. That's if you haven't been dragged off onto something new or end up with even more to do

If you get interrupted several times a day even for just a few minutes each time, you could be losing 1-2 hours each day.

Make a note of all the interruptions you receive in the next week. Where do they come from? Does one person or thing interrupt you more than others?

Take steps to reduce those interruptions and take back control of your time.

Show Them You Care

It's that time of year when everything's coming up roses, cards, chocolates, compilation CDs of love songs, perfume, diamonds, tables for two, as long as it's pink and heart-shaped. Well, it is if you're thinking about your loved one and preparing a special surprise or treat for that certain day.

However, showing someone you care about them shouldn't be for just one day. Make time to connect with the special person in your life - even if you've been together for years, don't take each other for granted just because you're so familiar with each other. Reconnect with why you decided to spend time with this person in the first place. Have children and the day-to-date routine of life prevented you from really appreciating each other. Are you too busy, too tired, too stressed to enjoy each other's company?

Resolve to spend more than one day a year treating your partner. It doesn't have to be cards, flowers or chocolates but something that shows you care. A little something, a big surprise. Make time to do something special every once in a while.

And if you're single ... treat yourself. You deserve it too.

Time Flies ...

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." [Michael Altshuler]

There's another saying, "time flies when you're having fun" and that's something else we tend to notice. When we're absorbed in the moment, we're not so aware of the passage of time. However, when we're waiting for something to happen, or the kettle to boil - it seems to take ages.

You're in control of where your time goes, what you do with it and how you spend it. Use it wisely. Once it's gone you can't get it back and unlike money, you can't make get more of it. We're all likely to waste time in the day, either intentionally or unintentionally. Saying you never have enough time is an indication that maybe you need to look at where you're currently spending your time and where you'd rather be spending it.

How much time do you need to make a difference? Look at small ways in which you can save time and little things you can do that will make a big difference. Rather than waiting for the kettle to boil or a file to download use those few minutes to do something productive.

When time flies - make sure that you're going in the right direction.

Take Time To Make Time

A lot of people think that when you’re busy you don’t have time to stop and start doing things differently. But when you are busy and rushed off your feet with too much to do is often the best time to stop and take a step back and look at what you’re doing.

Have you been doing the same thing, the way you’ve always done it and not surprisingly getting the same results i.e. working long hours, reacting to the demands of your clients or customers, always playing catch-up?

If you’re like most people, you probably are. You’re just happy to get through each day and hope that at some point things will slow down long enough for you to catch up. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. While it might seem hard, take time to make time. Find time to refocus and get motivated.

You’re probably busy right now getting things finished off in the last week before Christmas. Don’t wait until you’re no longer busy when you likely to forget how hectic things were and then fall into the same pattern when it happens again, do something about it now.

A problem shared is a problem halved – talk to someone and see if they can provide some insight and give you a different perspective so that you can find a solution quicker and actually save yourself time.

Just In Time

No matter who you are, at some time or other you’ll have found yourself putting things off. Usually it’s something boring, mundane or routine. Something that doesn’t particularly excite us but something we know we really need to do or else …

This topic came up again with a client last week. They were stuck – always leaving everything to the last minute and then piling on the pressure as they scrambled to get it done in time, working late and generally putting themselves under stress every time.

Now, we all do this to a greater or lesser extent, so don’t beat yourself up about it but you can get yourself out of this habit. Start by planning what needs to be done. How much and when i.e. how much work is involved and when do you have to do it by? Now, assuming this is something you want to do, there’s a purpose in doing it and a reward of some sort when it’s complete, start by breaking it down into chunks. Whether it’s a year’s course of study or a project at work – it’s easier when you can see it in small pieces rather than one huge piece of work. Spread the ‘chunks’ across the time available and each week look at the specific actions you need to get done.

That way you know what to expect and have less of an excuse to put it off. You can check your progress and you can avoid leaving it until the last minute.

What You Really, Really Want

I’m in the process of reading Tim Feriss’s – 4 Day Work Week and one of the things that strikes a note is that we work so hard to have the things that if we just took time to look around, we’ve already got. This always reminds me of the tale about the fisherman. If you already know it, I apologise for repeating it here but it’s always worth being reminded.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15-20 years." "But what then?" The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions." "Millions.. Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

So, if you had more time – what would you fill your life with?

If I Had The Time I'd ...

As I was driving back from Manchester last week – a long drive, so I had plenty of thinking time. I was listening to Radio 4, as I often do, I find it easier to listen to on a long drive, and prompted by the conversation, I started to think of all those things that we’d like to do … if only we had the time. Now I’m not talking about all the "101 things To Do Before I Die" things – which was the topic of the show, swimming with dolphins seems to feature on most people’s lists but all those other things that we never quite get round to. Not on the grand scale of climbing Mount Everest or doing a round the world trip but on the smaller scale of putting up that set of shelves, learning a musical instrument or a new language, finding time to exercise regularly, getting home in time to read a bedtime story to your children.

Time is often a sticking point or an excuse when we don’t get round to doing something but it’s always about choice. We chose how to use our time. If we don’t have time for something it’s because we’ve chosen to do something else instead. Whether that’s answering our emails instead of chasing up overdue invoices or reading a book or watching TV instead of learning a new language. All those jobs, activities, hobbies that get put to one side. Is it a matter of delaying tactics for jobs you’d rather not do (we all have those) or is it about really not having the time?

So, have a think – what would you do … if only you had the time?

Why would you like to do it and what stops you … other than time?

Answers on a postcard or just add a comment here.

Bit By Bit, Chapter By Chapter

Last week I officially launched my first book.

Looking back there was a point when the goal of actually writing my book seemed like a distant dream, something almost too big to possibly contemplate. Deciding what to put in the book, finding a publisher, finding the time(!) to write, getting the chapters together and going through the process of getting it into print. One of those many things that you say to yourself - “One day …” as a delaying tactic because it just seems too much to think about or you’re just too busy.

I was lucky enough to be approached and actually asked to write the book by a publisher. However, there were still times when my resolve was wavering and I wondered if I’d actually complete it. There was a certain element of not looking at the end result, which seemed like a huge task and just focusing on getting the next chapter written and sometimes even that seemed almost overwhelming, as I starred at a blank computer screen waiting for the words to come. Again, just spending a few minutes writing down bullet points and random thoughts meant that slowly but surely they developed into something coherent that took shape on the page and four months later ended up in a printed, yellow and black book with my name on it. :)

If you’re not the sort of person that plunges into new projects with enormous determination, motivation and energy, set your goal and just focus on taking one step at a time.

Slowly but surely you’ll make progress towards your goal.

Write It Down

I’m reasonably good with dates and generally have a good idea of what’s happening when but it's a lot easier if I write everything down. Usually it’s the personal stuff that needs to get done during the day that I’m more likely to forget, if I don’t have it written down on my list of actions for the day.

I might think I’ll remember something but if I've written it down I don’t have to worry about forgetting it. I’ve often thought "Oh, I’ll remember that" until I can get back home or get back to my computer but invariably there’s so much going on or I get distracted and before I know it – I can’t for the life of me remember what that important piece of information was that I needed to remember. So, now I write things down – phone numbers, people I meet, appointments, things I need to do.

Unless you’ve got a photographic memory or a finally honed brain that can remember ten decks of playing cards at a time or recall the entire contents of your phone book, it makes sense to write every thing down. Carry a notebook with you – write down ideas, thoughts, things to-do when you think of them rather than missing the moment, or use your mobile's text msg or notes function. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a blinding idea or remembering something important when you’re busy doing something else, only to have it disappear from your mind when you’re back in the office or back at home.

Tips on improving you memory later ...

Information Overload

With so much information bombarding us from all directions we can’t possibly give our attention to everything that goes on around us but we feel that we may be missing out if we don’t, therefore we join every new group, we sign up to every social networking site going and we register for every newsletter, magazine and free piece of information that’s out there in case we miss out on some golden nugget of information that’s going to make a huge difference to our life.

I don’t know how many newsletters I’ve subscribed to over time but it’s a lot – now I know which one’s I like, which one’s I find useful and which one’s suit my style of working. There’s nothing wrong in unsubscribing from those you don’t either have time to read, or no longer find useful. We also have blogs, in fact there are hundreds, thousands out there – all of which you could end up subscribing to.

But when are we going to find time to take in all this additional information, read all these newsletters, blogs, contribute to all the discussion groups, attend all the network meetings? Don’t even attempt to. Fit what you can into the time you have available without pushing more important tasks to one side. Choose the ones that matter, one’s that are interesting and useful and don’t worry about the rest.

Remember Pareto’s principle … 80% of the information you need is contained in only 20% of what’s in your inbox!

Keep It Simple

One of the things I find happening more and more, is doing less and less. Not necessarily for myself but for many of the clients I work with.

Although we’d all like to be more efficient and do more with our day, because of course we always have so much to do, what we actually need to do is less, so rather than increase someone’s efficiency so that you can actually fit in all the hundred and one things

The trouble with living a busy, hectic lifestyle and either running your own business or working in a busy organisation is that we often take on too much. We say yes to everything. We try to not only have it all but do it all. No wonder there are so many people stressed out, overwhelmed, worked out and running round trying to catch up with themselves, with never a minute to spare.

Try doing less. Stop doing things that you really don’t have time for. If you have a tendency to take on too much and then underestimate how long it’s going to take, halve the amount of things you say yes to. Apply this to both your business and personal life and start to really enjoy more time.

Getting Accountable

Having goals is all very well and good but if you don’t do anything with them then they’re nothing more than an idea until you put them into action. Many people’s dreams and ideas stay as just that. One way to increase the likelihood that you’ll actually do something about your goals, achieve your targets and reach your aims is to make yourself accountable.

You can do this by actually writing them down. Getting those thoughts and ideas out onto paper makes them more real but your not answerable to anyone but yourself and you don’t have the added incentive of someone else holding you accountable and it becomes too easy to let yourself off the hook.

The next thing to do is to actually tell someone about it. Whether it’s a friend, colleague, mentor or coach. Tell them what you’re going to do and when and agree that you’ll report on your progress or meet up for a review on a regular basis.

Now if you really want to give yourself an incentive and additional impetus to take action, give yourself a compelling reason to achieve a task or complete your goal, especially if you have a tendency to put things off. If you DON’T complete the task – agree that you will do something that would give you a certain amount of pain. Not so much a reward or ‘carrot’ but a stick.

This usually involves money or a prized possession. For instance if you didn’t achieve the goal you’d set yourself, you’d agree to give away your car – lock, stock and barrel, no quibbling, no changing your mind later. It needs to be something pretty significant like that or you wouldn’t do it. The impact of losing something that means a lot to you, is far more likely to keep you accountable and focused on the task in hand.

As Samuel Johnson said "Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging." A slight extreme but you get the picture.

How Much Time Have You Got?

We all know there are only twenty-four hours in a day, no matter how hard you try or wish there were just a few more. Having worked out how much your time is worth last week, let’s think about how much time you have each day to get things done.

From the time you wake up to the time you go to bed there are about sixteen hours in each day, unless you’re the sort of person who can manage with very little sleep.

Work will take up a large chunk of this time, together with travel time, which could be anything from two minutes, if you’re lucky enough to work from home, to two or three hours if you have a daily commute. Allow about two hours for personal tasks, such as washing, cooking, cleaning and eating.

Sleep – 8 hours
Work – 8 hours
Travel – 2 hours
Personal – 2 hours

Total = 20 hours

That only leaves four hours or so, to do with what you want. Four hours to fit in exercise, seeing friends and family, shopping, relaxation, doing the things you enjoy and if you have a family with young children, probably even less, so it makes sense to use it wisely.

While watching TV can be a good way to relax and unwind it’s also a good way to suck up much of that free time that could be spent on more productive or beneficial activities, such as getting in some exercise or spending time with family and friends, socialising or just ‘switching off’ completely.

If you can’t seem to find enough time to get everything done – take a look at how you’re spending those ‘spare’ hours and see if there’s a way to re-prioritise what you’re doing.

What's Your Time Worth?

Do you know how much your time is worth and would you be inclined to fritter it away on things that don't add value if you knew what it was costing you?

If your time is charged at an hourly rate – how much is each hour of your time worth – to either you or your boss? To get some perspective on where you’re spending your time, know what your hourly rate is.

What is your annual salary? ____________

What is your weekly rate? ____________
(Based on working weeks in the year)

What is your hourly rate? ____________
(Either that you actually charge or the number of hours you actually work on your business).

Now you know what your hourly rate is, use it as a guide when you’re looking at how and where you spend your time. If you could find an extra hour a week or even an hour a day, what would that really be worth to you? How much more could you achieve?

Think of where you could delegate your time rather than spending an hour of your time on admin or doing your accounts when that hour could be spent earning money for your business.

Mind The Gaps

Last week I was busy putting the finishing touches to my book. Every time I’ve been the process of writing a chapter, it seems to be the key topic that one or more of my clients is dealing with. I know that it’s the equivalent of buy a red car and all you see is red cars but I found that because I’d just been honing my writing to deal with a specific topic, I could make it even more relevant to the next conversation and equally, it prompted me to add something to the chapter.

Anyway, that's a bit of an aside, one thing that I learned is that creativity cannot be squeezed into a neatly ordered time slot. In fact my attempts to write a chapter in a few hours failed miserably because while the content was pretty much there, it definitely needed a number of writing sessions, periods of mulling over in-between, reviews and read throughs until the final version was ready to be sent off. I also noticed that when I hit a block, the best thing to do was get up and go and do something else and then come back to it a few minutes or even a couple of hours later.

If you’ve got a similar project you’re trying to get underway – treat the gaps as being just as important as the actual writing. While the physical putting pen to paper might only take a few hours, spread it out over a few days, so that you have plenty of time to think about it, add to it, review it and read it through before you’re finished.

Lose An Hour, Gain An Hour

The clocks have just changed here in the UK. We’ve lost an hour as we switch to British Summer Time. It’s darker in the mornings (although it was already light enough at 6.30am) but lighter in the evenings, which gives a whole new feel to the end of the day.

How would you feel if you lost an hour every day? What would you do if you gained an extra hour in each and every day – and not just once a year? Do you feel as if you’d really like an extra hour every day and what would you want to do with that extra hour?

When I’ve asked this question before, most people say that they’d use it to exercise or sleep. Something most busy people find they don’t have time for – to exercise regularly or to get enough sleep. Well, why not find that extra hour starting from today?

It doesn’t have to be an hour every day but perhaps start with a couple of hours each week. Take a look at how you currently spend your time and see if there are certain activities or times when you’re easily distracted or less productive. Could you fit more into one part of your day to free up some time in another part – perhaps at the beginning or end of the day?

You probably lose an hour every day but don’t really notice it, as you either rush from one thing to the next or get distracted or waste time on unimportant activities.

Set aside one hour to do exactly what you need to do – whether that’s to be totally focused on one task, to use it to exercise or to go to bed earlier.

Once the time is gone, you can never get it back so use your time efficiently and productively – don’t waste it.

Set Your Office Hours

If you work from home it can be helpful to have a flexible working day to fit in around family and home life but don’t blur the lines between the two. Create a structure of core hours.

Start work at roughly the same time each day. By all means take breaks during the day to have some ‘home’ life, or time to get chores done. But place a time limit around these. Set a fixed start time and finish time to your working day or your likely to end up working late into the evening – just because there are still things to be done.

Plan your time at the beginning of the week and if you need to take a half day for home based tasks or school commitments – sports day, school play, car servicing etc. Book this in and plan your work around it. How many hours do you work in a week? Spread them out across six days rather than five or work four long days and have three days off.

When working from home you can at least choose the hours you want to work but make sure it’s not getting in the way of the rest of your life. Working at weekends can be a good time to catch up on things at the end of the week, or spend some time planning for the week ahead. There’s no reason why you need to stick to 9-5 but make sure that you don’t end up working a 50-60 hour working week.

If your family and friends are complaining that they never see you, take a look at whether you’re really using your time effectively.

Efficient Meetings

We know that people spend far too much time in meetings and that quite often the time spend in travelling to and from a meeting can be greater than the actual meeting itself.

A great way to save time spent on meetings is to set up a meeting using either group conference call facilities or a call over the internet. Rapid changes in technology mean that people across different locations, countries and continents don’t have to travel to take part in the same meeting. Saves huge amount of time for everyone involved if you multiply up the travel time involved in traditional face-to-face meetings.

Teleclasses, workshops and teleseminars can all be presented online with notes displayed in an online ‘classroom’ format with a trainer holding the call and students calling in.

Group conference calls enable people to meet, communicate and discuss key objectives without having to be in the same room. Because there are no visual cues these need to be handled carefully to ensure that everyone is allowed to participate, key points and actions are documented and communication is clear.

Video conferencing – were you can see people at the other end of the phone line – can be useful but can also be distracting and the quality of the technology can make an impact on it’s effectiveness.

If you’re going to use this technology, test it out ahead of time or as a dry run to make sure it works and iron out any hiccups before the actual meeting. There’s nothing worse than trying to sort out the volume and picture signals at the start of the meeting.

Save you and your colleagues time and money and think about the most efficient way to hold your meeting.

Stress Less

Stress is something that we’ve all experienced. What is stressful for one person can be enjoyable for someone else. People can handle different and varying levels of stress, there's no 'one-size fits all' approach when dealing with stress and it can vary depending on our situation at the time.

A certain level of stress is good - it stirs us into action and gives us a push to meet deadlines, deal with confrontations and adds spice to life. However, too much stress affects the body both physically, mentally and emotionally and causes a loss of performance and ultimately a breakdown of the body resulting in illness.

Look after yourself:
- eat a healthy, balanced diet
- avoid excessive stimulants - coffee, tea, cigarettes and alcohol
- take regular exercise - include gentle exercise like Yoga or Tai Chi
- allow time for yourself, your family and friends

Adjust your workload:
- work less hours
- learn to say no
- take responsibility
- start being pro-active instead of reactive
- "don't sweat the small stuff"
- improve your skills
- work within your own ability

Know what causes you stress and then find ways to reduce it or learn how to deal with it better.