Archive for the ‘General’ Category
May 15th, 2012 | 
Author: 1. Write a ‘To Do’ List
2. Forget The Things That Don’t Matter
3. Email Can Wait
4. Eat Before or After (Not During)
5. Keep A Reserve of Post Ideas
6. Keep A Reserve of ‘Back-Up’ Posts
7. Focus on One Thing
8. Start With The Most Important Task
9. If You Don’t Know What To Do – Create!
10. Work In Time Chunks & Take Breaks
Posted in 
When used appropriately, email is an incredibly useful communication tool. But, like me, many of us feel overwhelmed by the amount of mail that we receive and need to respond to.
However, there are ways to manage your email so that you’re more productive. We’ll explore strategies for doing this, so that you can get on with the real work at hand.
Key Points:
- Most of us feel overwhelmed by email. Although it’s a great communication tool, more often than not it’s overused. By managing it effectively, you can significantly boost your productivity.
- To gain control of your inbox, start by checking and processing email only at certain times during the day. If you’re concerned about the delayed response, let people know that you don’t check your email constantly.
- Also, try to keep your inbox as clear as possible. Organize mail using folders like “Action”, “Waiting” and “Archives”. And when you do check mail, use the two minute rule – any email that can be read and responded to in two minutes or less should be handled right then.
- You can also reduce your incoming mail by asking people to send you less, and by advocating effective email and communication strategies in your organization.
Imagine that you work in a classic autocratic organization, and your boss follows every little rule. He oversees each detail of every project and task – and he seems to believe that you and the rest of the team are incapable of performing without him help at every step.
This, in turn, has created an oppressive and discouraging work environment. Productivity is low, and many people have left to go to organizations that are less controlling and more empowering.
Does your boss watch over everything that you do?
So how can you improve your situation? How can you get your boss – and perhaps your organization – to trust you more?
Working in a micromanaged environment isn’t easy. I ‘ll highlight the disadvantages of micromanagement, and I’ll explore what you can do if your boss micromanages you.
Do you get excited about everything you need to do? Or do you sometimes need a bit of help to get started, never mind getting the task done?
Maybe you’re continuing to ignore those overflowing filing cabinets, instead of taking some time out to reorganize them. Or, you’re avoiding that difficult conversation with a person who is always late, choosing instead to tolerate the tardiness. Perhaps you keep rearranging your priorities, so that the tasks you hate stay at the bottom of the list.
The longer you delay doing something, the more stress and pressure you’re likely to feel. After a while, you may even start to lose confidence in your ability to complete the task at all.
Many of us sometimes need help getting motivated. And it can be very frustrating when we know we have to do something, but we just can’t get around to making a start. So how can we motivate ourselves to do these things?
Do you waste much time during your day due to disorganization?
Perhaps you spend 5 minutes searching for a misplaced file, another 5 looking for an email detailing an important meeting, and perhaps 10 minutes more finding today’s to-do list, lost in the piles of papers on your desk. Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour throughout the day looking for things you can’t find. And that’s just one day! Imagine how much time you’re losing each week, each month, and each year!
Many people struggle with disorganization. And, while some think they can succeed amidst the chaos, this disorganization can end up costing a high price. Disorganization can hold us back from getting the promotion we’ve always wanted. It can block our creativity, add stress to our lives, and prevent us from being as productive andeffective as we could be.