“The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius Have you got a system that works? If you never forget an appointment, never lose a phone number, never forget to do something, never forget an idea, never lie awake at night thinking about something […]
Eliminate. Simplify. Automate. Delegate. The Four Steps to Freedom!
By September 26, 2012 14 Comments
“Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash. How’s that for incentive to be effective and efficient?” Timothy Ferris This is the productivity idea I have used longer than any […]
Live the 80/20 Rule
By August 29, 2012 26 Comments
“There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker Also known as the 80:20 rule, irrespective of the nature of your business, the Pareto Principle holds that 80% of the consequences of any action come from 20% of the causes.This principle can actually […]
Make Spare ‘Mind Time’ Work
By August 22, 2012 1 Comment
“Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.” Jim Rohn I am a great advocate of using ‘spare mind time’ to educate yourself. By this, I mean times when you are doing something relatively ‘mindless’ – walking the dog, or commuting – when you can simultaneously listen to educational audio […]
Your Time is not Free – so Free up your Time
By August 15, 2012 1 Comment
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay Your time is an investment in your future, so take care how you spend it. Invest it in activities […]
Too much information
By August 8, 2012 2 Comments
“No news is good news.” Ludovic Halevy Many of us spend our days bombarded with information – either from newspapers, tv, radio, mail; or with our heads in the high-tech “clouds.” We text and email like it’s a matter of life and death. Yet despite this unprecedented connectedness, we can sometimes feel more disconnected than […]
Work In The Zone
By August 1, 2012 9 Comments
“The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.” Tony Robbins It’s not just the number of hours we sit at a desk that determines the value we generate. It’s the energy we […]
9 Ways to Beat Parkinson’s Law
By July 18, 2012 8 Comments
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Parkinson’s Law Even if you are not familiar with its name, how often have you fallen prey to Parkinson’s Law? And what can you do to escape it? Or to work with it? Firstly, you have to recognise the symptoms. When you have […]
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings….
By June 20, 2012 1 Comment
If ever there was a topic to bring out the anger in anyone it is the subject of meetings. Particularly ‘internal’ meetings. I haven’t met anyone who likes them or doesn’t have hundreds of stories about the waste of time most of them are. So why on earth do we have so many of them? […]
E-Mail – Free Yourself from Modern Day Slavery
By May 23, 2012 11 Comments
As a communication tool, the greatest strength of e-mail is that it allows you to do things in your own time. The greatest weakness of e-mail is that somewhere along the way, we have forgotten its greatest strength. Did you know it takes on average 65 seconds to regain your focus after dealing with an […]