One time, my 15-year old nephew asked me a question that surprised me. I was not expecting that he would ask me this question, “Does my father love me?” I did not see any valid reason for him to ask me this. Without second thoughts, I answered “Yes, of course, he loves you so much.” Then, I began rationalizing, groping for answers and providing explanations to convince him that his father loves him very much. I told him that his father has been working hard just to provide for his needs. During birthdays, holidays and special occasions his father would never forget to give him gifts. His father would give him any amount of money he would ask from him. His father sent him to a prestigious school for him to have a good education and bright future. His father would buy him expensive branded clothes. His father hired 2 nannies who would take care of him. I even told my nephew that he is luckier that other kids because he has a dad who is a responsible person and good provider. After hours of debate and persuasion that seemed would not end, he did not change his conviction as if he did not hear anything from me. He still doubted his father’s love for him. Why?
Since I was not able to convince him after all the efforts of I did, I asked him the reason for asking the question. He gave me a simple answer that made me rethink, “I have all the things that I need, but my father is not always there for me.” This shocked me and made me pause and reflect. I realized that my nephew has a point. What would he do with all the expensive stuff and the large amount of money he has if he seldom sees his father. Even though his father is so sincere in expressing his love to my nephew through gifts this love will not be appreciated and recognized. For a long time the father has not loving his child in the way the child wants to be loved. And so, the child does not feel his love. Quality time is love language of the child.
Quality time is spending time with each other with undivided attention. It’s not simply eating together, playing together, or doing something together. It’ “being” together. It’s a “being-to-being” encounter, a person-to-person encounter. The activities we do together may not matter more. It’t the quality of time we spend together. The activities that we do are just opportunities or instruments through we can share ourselves with each other. It’s not the quantity of time that matters, but the quality of time.
When we spend quality time with our loved ones, we enter into another world where there are no paper works, deadlines, meetings, work stress, business pressure, memos, etc. It’s a realm where only you and your loved ones exist. We share our stories, joys, griefs, sorrows, dreams, triumphs, secrets, and our very own selves with each other. No phone calls, worries, fears, customers, bosses, etc. can disturb us. It’s a radical stop from the daily routine of life. It’s a special world where love, joy, peace and intimacy overflow. A minute of Quality Time cannot be compared with a thousand days of Time spent with divided attention and disruptions!
How much QUALITY TIME have you spent with your loved ones? It’s time to invest you time in your relationships!
Friends, I want to recommend you this book in helping you deepen your relationship with your loved ones. This book has done a lot of marvelous things in my life! I hope it will help you as well!
Tips to Make Your Mornings Easier and More Productive
Are mornings the the most difficult part of your day? Some of us find it tough to get going in the mornings no matter how much sleep we have had.
If you are a Mum and you need to get children dressed, fed and out the door with backpacks and school books, mornings can be very grueling. Now even if you aren’t a morning person, there are some strategies that you can engage that will help you feel motivated and looking forward to the day, as opposed to dreading it.
Try the following tips to help you cope with those challenging early mornings:
1. Get to bed on time the night before to ensure you are getting enough sleep. Of course, sometimes even if you have had your required sleep, you will still feel weary in the morning when you wake, but that may be due to the actual quality of sleep you are getting. This could be the very reasson why you can’t get up with a smile on your face in the mornings. So get to bed on time for a week and monitor yourself in the mornings to determine if you feel any different.
2. Try waking up earlier, I know its the last thing you want to do but this might give you a little more time in the mornings to get organised. If you’re trying to squeeze every possible moment of sleep into your schedule, when you do get up you have to madly rush around, which is too stressful first thing in the morning. Much better to wake up and allow yourself a very quiet, calm moments before your feet hit the floor! Enjoy the sunrise while you have a leisurely cup of coffee, before the rush begins.
3. Preparation. Get organised for the morning the night before. Do whatever you can the night before to make your mornings easily and less stressful.Make sure your keys are in the usual spot, make the lunches and organise the backpacks, and have everyone’s clothes laid out. That way when you wake in the morning there is much less to be stressed about!
4. Turn some music on. My music teacher always taught me to make sure I had music in the house with my children. Nice relaxing music in the morning can be a beautiful way to start your day. It can ease you gently into the day whilst keeping you calm, even if you are busy! Enjoying these first few moments that you’re awake can make a massive difference to your entire day.
5. Meditate. Meditation is great for calming your life down or slowing your life down. It allows you to center yourself and go back to a state of peacefulness which in turn can carry you throughout your day. I would recommend though that you mediate in an upright position so you’re not tempted to fall back asleep.
6. Try to develop a positive mindset. If you have a tendency to be grumpy in the morning, make a conscious decision to start your day in a positive way. Try to imagine the wonderful things that may come your way today. If you have something not so pleasant that you have to face then try to focus on all other aspects of your day which are positive.
7. Be thankful. Start your day by giving thanks for everything you have in your life. Being grateful sets the tone for the day.
If mornings just arent your thing, try to make them easier on yourself and others by remembering to use these strategies and I think you will be surprised at the difference they will make!.
Burnout is one of those things that tends to creep up on you, often without you realizing it. When it does it can significantly affect your mind and body, causing complete exhaustion, anxiety and often causes depression. If you dont stop burnout before it takes hold, it can lead to more serious issues such as heart attacks or strokes. As I said, often we do not even see it coming. A few things to be conscious of:
Take a serious look at your Workload. Be realistic about the hours you are putting in at work. Also take into account how many hours you are working without taking a break as this will contribute to burnout. Remember when it is break time, you must take it, take time away from your job to relax your mind and body, even if it is only a short ten minute break. Breaks are necessary to refresh and rejuvenate your mind. Go for a walk, read a book, or just remove yourself from your source of tension for a few minutes.
Next, be critical of your time management techniques. I know from my own experience, I would tend to be working on one task and then move to an email when it came in, then back to the task etc. You must learn to work efficiently, complete tasks before moving on, avoid interruption in order to do so and you will find you achive more in less time.
Be in tune with your body and know when you are reaching overload or exhaustion. Look for the warning signs and think through what you can do to avoid things getting worse. It may be that you need to take a day off, or a weekend away or simply spend time at home relaxing both your mind and body, away from the telephone and the computer. Work out what it is you need to do in order to take time out to recharge! If you find that you take a short vacation or a day off only to find the old feelings welling up again, then perhaps its time for a re-evaluation of where you are in life, and perhaps a life change is necessary to avoid burnout altogether.
I think the single most important thing you must do if you are to avoid burnout is to learn the art of saying NO. It is great to be accomodating and helpful however not if it is at the expense of your own health. Quite simply nothing is that important if it comprimises your health to that degree.
For quite sometime I worked overseas with a lot of international travel thrown in. I was expectected to put in the long hours, jump on a plane and head off overseas for a week, then back again and into the 60 hour working week. Unfortunately I didnt see the warning signs until it was too late. It took a complete re-evaluation of my life and where I was at and to make some serious life changes before my health suffered more than it already had. Once you reach burnout believe me, its difficult to work your way back from it.
Michael Licenblat, an Australian who devoted a large part of his life to people as a Shiatsu Massage Therapist with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology), has put together an excellent ebook on recognizing and relieving stresses and pressures whilst increasing your productivity. Well worth the read and I only wish I had read it sooner! Get your copy here. Click Here!
Click on the little video to watch it here or read the full article below! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RKvQB-eRJ8]
I’m sure you have heard the term – Work smarter, not harder? What does that mean? To me it means refining your daily work processess to achieve better results from a time management point of view.
How do you “work smarter, not harder?” Look at what you do on a daily basis and develop ways to get the same amount done with less effort and struggle – Yeap! that’ll work!
These days, even with all the automation available to help us with our tasks, we are busier than ever!
This sometimes causes us to feel overburdened with our heavier workloads, especially when it comes to tasks you have to do repeatedly. Finding better ways to accomplish your to-do list is good time management and will save you money, and a whole lot of frustration.
Here are some ways you can implement great time management strategies and work smarter, not harder:
1. Eliminate the useless.
There are unproductive things you do on a daily basis. In fact, you probably already know exactly what these distractions are! Once you identify your time wasters, remove them from your routine and focus on those tasks that are truly productive.
2. Learn to say “No.”
Many people take on too much work because they’ve never learned to tell others “no.” Before taking on extra duties for someone else, make sure you schedule time for your own needs first.
3. Know your limits.
Avoid taking on more than you can handle in order to please someone above you. If you do this on a regular basis, you’ll ultimately be working twice as hard because you’re not performing at your very best.
4. Simplify repeated tasks.
Forms and templates can save time on a lot of tasks. For example, if you have to send out a lot of the same email, create a template email so you can just fill in the specific parts for each person individually or better still, learn how to use mail merge!
5. Automate.
If you’re in a position that requires the same thing done every day, at the same time, then try to find a way to get the process automated so it happens without you there. An example would be to back up your computer every night, automatically.
6. Delegate.
Delegate some of your responsibilities to other people. If you have too much housework, give the kids some chores and set up a schedule. Four people doing four things will get them done faster than one person doing all four things alone.
7. Focus.
Stay focused on your responsibilities, not the responsibilities of others. If everyone focuses on their primary responsibilities first, the large portion of the job gets finished and then minor details can be taken care of later.
Planning is good time management and saves money too! It allows you to delegate and assign tasks to those most qualified to complete them. Using systems and automation to execute tasks eliminates repetition and assures quality control. Wisely considering limits prevents burnout and late work.
Learn how much you can handle while still being productive. We all have limits, and respecting our own limits leads to greater productivity.
To work smarter, not harder is all about planning, executing and knowing your limits.
All in all, working smarter, not harder does just what it says. Not only does it save you valuable time, but your production levels will soar and the extra added benefit is, how good you will feel by accomplishing so much more with a lot less effort!
Do you cringe at the mess in your home or office? Maybe you’re not even dealing with a mess; you might have things fairly tidy, but maybe you can’t find a single thing when you need it.
Sounds familiar? you need to think about what a good organization strategy can do for your productivity and time management. Being more organized will make your life easier as well as save you time at the end of the day. If you’re interested in organizing your life, little by little, think about these organization strategies:
1. Everything Has Its Place
When you’re organizing your workspace or your living area, everything needs to have a place where it “lives.” For instance, scissors need to live in a specific box or drawer, as do other small things. If something doesn’t have a specific home, it will wander, get lost and generally add to the clutter that pervades your area.
* Take some time to really consider your options when it comes to making sure that everything has a place on a permanent basis.
2. Throw It Away
When you’re looking to de-clutter your workspace, make sure you throw away things that you no longer need. Everyday do a quick purge and get rid of things that pile up on your desk or kitchen counters. This will get you more space and give you a better idea of what is going on in general.
* Daily mail and papers are the biggest clutter culprits. Be sure to throw away any junk right away and file away any important papers. The longer these things stay in a pile, the more likely they will get lost or forgotten.
3. Tidy a Little Bit Every Day
Many of us shudder when it comes to cleaning. If you think that you have to break out the brooms and mops and spend the whole day cleaning, then you’re in for a surprise. The truth is, by spending just ten or twenty minutes a day organizing your space, you’ll be making a huge difference.
* Start with cleaning one area each day. This can be a deep cleaning or just a superficial cleaning but at least you’ll feel productive. Once this becomes a habit, you’ll finish your cleaning faster and have more free time everyday.
4. Set Routines and Learn to Delegate Chores
Keeping a home organized and running smoothly can be difficult, especially if you have a large family. Establish set routines so certain tasks are completed everyday and assign large chores, like laundry, to a specific day of the week. This way you know exactly what chore has to be accomplished everyday.
* Delegate chores to your spouse or children that are age appropriate. Dividing the work among many family members teaches everyone how to work together as a team.
5. Reminders
Get yourself a professional journal or a daily planner and use it. Sometimes just the action of writing something down in a book can really help you remember where you need to be and when.
* Other ways of reminding yourself of important events is to use post-it notes or an organizer on your cell phone. Experiment and use whatever method works best for you and your lifestyle.
No one expects you to go from clutter-bug to super-organized overnight. But by simply implementing a few of these tips into your life, you will re-discover what it’s like to be prepared and organized both in the workplace and at home.
So, by now you should see that its not that hard to organize home!
Home is where the heart is Use these time management strategies and the question…”how can I organize my life?” will never come up again!
One time, my 15-year old nephew asked me a question that surprised me. I was not expecting that he would ask me this question, “Does my father love me?” I did not see any valid reason for him to ask me this. Without second thoughts, I answered “Yes, of course, he loves you so much.” Then, I began rationalizing, groping for answers and providing explanations to convince him that his father loves him very much. I told him that his father has been working hard just to provide for his needs. During birthdays, holidays and special occasions his father would never forget to give him gifts. His father would give him any amount of money he would ask from him. His father sent him to a prestigious school for him to have a good education and bright future. His father would buy him expensive branded clothes. His father hired 2 nannies who would take care of him. I even told my nephew that he is luckier that other kids because he has a dad who is a responsible person and good provider. After hours of debate and persuasion that seemed would not end, he did not change his conviction as if he did not hear anything from me. He still doubted his father’s love for him. Why?
Here are some ways you can implement great time management strategies and work smarter, not harder:
Use these time management strategies and the question…”how can I organize my life?” will never come up again!
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