Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - February 17th

As I was talking with my sister on Sunday afternoon, we were discussing a book we both read and I said, “I liked the book, but I want the action steps to make it happen.”  Theory is fine, but I am a person of action and want ideas of how to accomplish something.  Last week’s post included the action steps Teddy Roosevelt used to write about his traveling adventures...he woke up earlier, went for his swim and then wrote about the previous day’s adventures.

 

This week’s Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week includes ideas of how to make time in your schedule to accomplish important tasks….

• Benjamin Franklin said it best, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  In the morning, take 10 minutes before the “craziness” of life begins and prepare a plan for the day.  Look at your calendar to determine what meetings you have and what tasks you need to do.  By planning and preparing, you are creating a path to success.  Additional ideas can be found here: https://hbr.org/2014/06/how-to-spend-the-first-10-minutes-of-your-day/.

• I love the task feature on my Microsoft Calendar.  I have recurring reminders for every day, week and month to help me remember things that I need to do such as paying certain bills, doing certain tasks for my job, etc.  I have scheduled these activities into my life.  What activities do you need to remember to do on a regular basis that you can add to a task list and allow you to think on other things?

• Harvard Business Review had a great article about those pesky 30 minute gaps between meetings.  They are short amounts of time, but a lot can be accomplished during them.  Ideas include returning phone calls, creating an outline for a presentation, reading articles, etc.  Don’t waste these tidbits of time.  These short bursts of time can provide you opportunity to accomplish things on your to-do list and help change your life!  To learn more, read this article: https://hbr.org/2015/02/dont-waste-those-30-minute-gaps-between-meetings

• I am single, but hear stories from parents at the office about the wonderful lives they have with their children.  A recent article by Harvard Business Review incorporated The Agile project management method into a family structure.  For parents, there are some great ideas that can be gleaned from it: https://hbr.org/2015/02/project-manage-your-life

• The One Thing, a great book by Gary Keller, discusses focusing on one important thing each day.  Multi-tasking disrupts our lives and does not work.  During your daily planning, determine the ONE THING you HAVE to accomplish to make the day work and do it!

• And through all of this scheduling, don’t forget yourself…take the advice of Daniel Goleman, “Scheduling down time as part of your routine is hard but worth it, personally, even professionally.”

Here is another great article to reference: https://hbr.org/2015/02/are-you-proud-of-how-youre-spending-your-time.

HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK!!!