Do you find that there's so much to do and not enough time? People are so caught up in the busy-ness of life, yet often lose sight of what their true purpose is... why they are in business in the first place. Although they say their family and friends or their health are their no. 1 priority often their schedules reflect something totally different. Does that sound like you?
I met up with a colleague last week and we were discussing our businesses and updating each other on what's been happening in our personal lives, when he mentioned about a friend of his who had died recently.
The guy who died had been working for years in his business without any assistance. He'd do everything from the basic administration tasks, phone answering, bookkeeping, seeing clients, processing their paperwork etc. He worked from 7.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. most days and had been do so for 15 years. He hardly ever saw his family, never did anything to look after himself and just kept 'busy'. Because he didn't know any better and never took the time to 'sharpen his saw', the inevitable happened. One morning he bent over to tie his shoelaces, curled over and died!
I'm going to share with you 11 Ways to Simplify Your Life so that you can be one less body in the graveyard...
#1 Write down what matters most to you; what you consider to be most important (your values) i.e. health, family, wealth etc.
Then fill in a weekly planner (or make up your own version). Enter what you're doing each hour for the next 2 weeks.
Then review it and cut out the activities that take you away from what you consider to be most important to you.
#2 Write down your goals both business and personal. - Choose the top 3-5 and focus your time, energy and resources on them.
#3 Learn to say 'No'. - You can't take time for your life and what you want to achieve without learning to say 'no' to others.
#4 Seize Control of Technology and Telephones - Turn the phone and email off so you can focus on what counts. Have technology and telecommunication free periods throughout the day.
#5 Delegate or Outsource - Get assistance in areas outside of your core expertise. Don't waste time on '$10' an hour tasks. Your time could be worth $100 or more an hour so don't waste it fiddling around on activities which fill your day and don't provide you with a good return on your time.
# 6 Spend Money to Save Time - Shop on-line and pay for the extra freight or postage. Use a courier. Find someone else to do the 'running around'.
#7 Clean Out the Clutter - Excess clutter costs you time searching for things, cost you money because it takes up valuable space and you buy more of what you already have but can't find, and it distracts you. Get rid of things...now!
#8 Become the King or Queen of Checklists - Write checklists for tasks or activities which are repetitive i.e. invoicing, client and team meetings, assessments etc.
#9 Diarise Yourself First - Take time out for your own health and well-being each day. Allocate time in your diary for yourself first.
#10 Plan Daily - Plan in your diary what you want to acheive each day. With a plan you will have a clear focus, without it you could end up anywhere.
#11 Get Coached - Every top performer gets coached. You cannot be on top of your game just on your ability alone.
THE FINAL WORD
Consistently take action on these tips each day and you will be happier, healthier and wealthier.
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's No. 1 Productivity Coach. She specialises in showing small business owners, managers and entrepreneurs on how they can have more time, make more money and have a life. Lorraine is a dynamic speaker and has produced a wide range of products to help anyone in business get organised, get focussed and on track.
To subscribe to her free ezine and received powerful productivity tips to enhance your life visit http://www.office-organiser.com.au
Aristotle
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