Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - October 7th

Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.

 – Napoleon Bonaparte

Last week, the blog discussed why we procrastinate.  This week, here are some tips to help with our procrastinating tendencies.  

Complete Hardest Task During Peak Hours

We all work best at certain times because of our circadian rhythm.  Some people work best in the mornings and others work best in the evenings.  Whenever you work best for your mind and body, work on your hardest project then.  Turn off all interruptions such as televisions, email, Facebook, etc. so that you are completely focused on the task. 

Stop Making Excuses

Since I live alone, I often prioritize other tasks and save the hardest tasks for when I get home.  By procrastinating during my work day, I wear myself out and then do not want to do anything when I get home.  This causes me to not get additional tasks done. 

As ladies, we want to help others and find ways to do “everything”.  The best thing we can do is stop making excuses and focus on what we NEED to do.  A friend recently told me that it is ok to say “No”.

Divide Up Your To-Do List

Create a list of all your tasks and divide them up.  Maybe it will be best for you to divide them up by personal vs. business or tasks you complete in your home vs. tasks you will have to do outside your home.  

For the large projects that need a “little” extra effort, set a time on your calendar during your peak hours to accomplish them.  By setting time aside, you have a time frame to accomplish, which will help you “see a light at the end of the tunnel”. 

Reward Yourself

Once you complete your to-do list, reward yourself.  It could be a nice bowl of ice cream, an amazing cup of chocolate caramel coffee, a nice long relaxing walk or time sitting on the couch reading a good book.  Whatever will motivate you is what you should reward yourself with!

Have an awesome amazing week!

For additional insights, check out this article: http://www.dailyworth.com/posts/2995-9-tricks-to-stop-procrastination/1

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - September 30th

We all put off and delay different tasks…Why?   

Research shows that everyone procrastinates.  Some people procrastinate because they are bored with the basic things of life and want to try new, interesting activities.  Other people are chronic procrastinators, which means they chronically avoid hard tasks and look for distractions.  Today’s technology is a great distraction!

Since mid-July, I had a report I needed to write.  There was not a deadline, but other people were waiting to read it.  I procrastinated for 2 months and was busy with other work tasks.  FINALLY, I decided this past weekend I was going to finish it and I did.  I had made this same decision in previous weekends, but never accomplished it. 

Olin Miller said, “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it."  This is so TRUE!  Once I started working on the report, I spent about an hour finishing it. 

Back to my question….why do we procrastinate?  For me, it was that I had to review something I was in charge of and had to find the strengths, weaknesses and develop ideas for improvement.  In some respects, I was evaluating myself.  Often times, I have seen that when we have to examine ourselves, it makes the task even harder to accomplish.  This particular project I had started a couple weeks ago and just never finished it.  Once it was done, I was happy and relieved.

Sally Berger said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” 

With tomorrow being October 1^st, it is a great time to review our goals and determine what the status of each of them is…..which ones have been accomplished, which ones still can be accomplished and which ones will not be accomplished this year.  For those that you can still accomplish, stop procrastinating, get a plan and COMPLETE your goals!  You will be glad you did. 

Next week, I will provide tips to help with those procrastinating tendencies…

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - September 23rd

John Stephen Akhwari…most likely you have never heard of this man.  However, he made Olympic history in 1968 in Mexico City.  

Akhwari was a marathon runner from Tanzanian that had leg cramps during his run because of the high altitude in Mexico City.  During the marathon, there were many changes for first place and he was hit during the race.  His knee was badly wounded, his shoulder was dislocated and then he hit the pavement hard.  Even with all those injuries, he did not stop.  Finishing 57^th….he was last person to finish and 75 had started.  

The winner was Mamo Wolde of Ethiopa finishing at 2:20:26 and Akhwari finished 3:25:27.  When Akhwari finished, there was only a few thousand people left in the whole stadium and the sun had already set.  The small crowd cheered louder than when the original winner of the marathon crossed the finish line.  

The next day he was interviewed by the media and was asked why he continued running, he said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."

Remember that you have a purpose in this life and you cannot give up.  Remember the amazing words of Winston Churchill:

Never, never, never give up.

Check out this inspirational YouTube video about his story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfMogR7ZnI