Developing People

3 Time Management Tips to Help you Creat Pockets of Time

Have you ever wondered how to create more hours in your day? Not to disappoint you, but there are only 24-hours in a day, now and forever. The thing is that you have no control over time, only how you choose to use it. That said, making wise decisions on how we use our time will allow us to create pockets of time that were not available before. Here are time management tips that to help you create pockets of time:

1.   Delegate - When you do not have enough time to do it yourself, it is time to call in the backup. Whether it is getting a housekeeper for your home, or a virtual assistant to help with your business bookkeeping, make sure you call for assistance when you need it. There may be upfront fees for hiring outside help, but in the long run it will be freeing up your time which will allow you to focus on other events and activities.

2.   Daily priorities - Make certain you are aware of what your daily priorities are. If you let yourself get caught up in lower priority tasks and activities you will find yourself stressed and overwhelmed in the limited time you have left for the higher priorities. We all get sidetracked at times, make a point to create a to-do list daily and determine the priority order.

3.   Delete - Over time your goals and priorities change. There are activities, organizations and even interests that will evolve and change over time. Delete those things that are no longer in line with your goals and priorities. They are taking up time that you could be spending on things that are more in line with your life.

When you view your day you may be overwhelmed by the enormous to-do lists, activities, appointments and projects. We will never be able to create more hours in our day, but remembering my 3 time management tips will allow you to get back pockets of time that you can use for more important things.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Poteet

 

10 NLP Tips to be More Confident, Successful & Reduce Stress in Work & Business

1 Think back.

Try to remember the positive things you've done in the last six months and write a list of your achievements. You'll be surprised how long it is. Identify challenges you faced and overcame. Next ask yourself what qualities did I need to achieve this? Write them down. Now Pat yourself on the back. Often we learn skills that are transferable even if our jobs our very specific. This can make you feel good when you remember just how much and how far you have come.

2. Listen out.

Are you being praised? It may not be obvious, but a lack of complaints from a generally stroppy boss or partner means just as much. By the way if you want to be praised then praise others always say thank you and appreciate and it will come back to you.

3. Write down the 10 things you like about what you do.

And then another 10. They're out there, so if you can't think of them keep trying.

4. Celebrate your quirks.

Your magic is in your individuality and this is a much greater strength than just fitting in.

5. Imagine total freedom.

Write down how you would spend your day if you had the time to yourself. Now do it, or at least work out how you can make it happen. When you get stressed move away take a short break and come back. Imagine you are on holiday and the sun is on your face and the sound of the waves. Then start the task again.

6. Take a risk.

To avoid boredom and complacency, get Involved in projects be willing to stretch your comfort zone

7 Listen More Than You Speak and Think Before You Speak.

As my Mum used to say get your brain in gear before your mouth in motion.

You can pick up a lot just by listening to people. And it teaches you Zen Like patience. People will know you are a good listener and willing to learn. Listen to the specific language for Your business and Use It. It makes you sound like one the team and you know what you are talking about. Listen for key words e.g. in the NHS temporary staff are called bank staff. So always refer to the terms. Next when speaking to an individual listen to the verbs they use and key terms. If Brian says Okay Time for a meeting does anyone have anything to share? Share is a feeling word so an answer in rapport would be. I feel etc. I don't see where you're going with this? Okay look would be an appropriate response and then maybe create a picture for them.

In NLP we call this a representational system and its a great way to create rapport at work. By the way NLP is THE way to feel more confident at work. It has so many applications.

8 Get Focused and Centred before you Speak

Before you contribute to meetings and any official discussion pause breathe deeply and look slightly up and state your opinion calmly and firmly with a slight smile when you have finished. If you know NLP develop a calm assertive anchor. It could be just focussing your eyes in a certain way or a tilt of your head triggers feelings of confidence. Every time you use it the anchor becomes stronger. To find out more about anchors check out my audio program NLP Live which is on the website innerzest.co.uk. In a nutshell the easiest way is to think of a time when you really aced something, did it really well and felt totally confident. See what you saw hear what you heard and feel what you felt. Now

Apply the breathing head angle and squeeze your index finger and thumb together until the feeling grow to a peak. Then release. Voila you now have an anchor.

9 Replace But with And - Use Assertive Phrases

To create agreement and compromise in conversation follow theses rules

Never use the word "But"

I see your point "but" negates the other person's opinion. I may be wrong, have you considered? - takes the aggressiveness out of the phrase. Or use And instead.

I see your point And....

10 Whatever the person says Agree!

Respond with words like Great! Good! Okay! Whatever suits and mean it. My mentor always said Okay good and then put his slant on things.

This validates the other person's viewpoint and makes them feel heard. More importantly it puts you in a positive resourceful state where you can operate efficiently and come up with solutions.

Think of it like this.

In a conversation you hear "Your customer service really stinks! We are going somewhere else if it doesn't improve"

You can argue all you like which makes your customer defensive and using our construct you might say.

Okay, Good Thanks for the feedback... that creates an entirely different energy and the other person will go huh? In their mind they will be confused.

Which will make them open to your suggestion and more agreeable.

By Trevor Aird

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Aird

 

Those Pesky Deadlines

As a reporter, I'm no stranger to working on deadline. A story comes in, I do my research, conduct the interviews, and then write the story - all usually within a day's time. However, deadlines do not just apply to my freelance work. Deadlines apply to every single aspect of my life.

I'm on deadline as a teacher - preparing lesson plans in time for class to start. I'm on deadline as a mom - rushing to get to soccer practices and dance lessons by the time each one starts. I'm on deadline as a home owner - keeping the house clean, the family fed, and the dog away from our valuables.

Deadlines are draining and sometimes a royal pain.

I felt this pain when I opened my e-mail at work this morning and received yet another message warning me that my mailbox had exceeded the storage limit. I spent the next 45 minutes rummaging through my sent mail, deleting large files, transferring e-mails to the server, and organizing the e-mails I need to reference in the future.

Without this deadline (or irritating message), I would not have taken the time to do this task.

Deadlines force us to produce - productivity that we would rarely achieve without them. Deadlines keep us on track and more importantly, keep us accountable. Deadlines force us to complete tasks that we would normally put off until another time - a day that will never come.

While we live in a society that promotes "busy-ness," sometimes it is necessary to un-busy ourselves and set a personal deadline. A deadline for family time, a deadline for a run or walk each week, and a deadline for some "me" time.

If we treat our lives like a newsroom, we just might get something done - personally and professionally. That's all for now - I'm on deadline - dinner is in one hour.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shannon_Philpott

 

Goal Setting

Do you feel like you are always working hard, but never really feeling satisfied with the life you are leading? Are you always on the go, but still not achieving the goals and dreams in life that will make you happy?

Goal setting is a great way to lay out a plan to achieve the life you want. Often we will set out goals - either at the beginning of the year or at our birthday - to plan for the coming year. But then, we never follow through on them and feel like we can never get anything done. So how can we really follow through on our goal-setting and achieve the life we have always dreamed of?

1. Determine what goals you want to set. We often think about or write down goals that are what we think we "should" be doing, or what others want us to do, and that is often why we do not achieve our goals. Take the time to sit down and think about what really makes you happy, what you really want to achieve and what you would love to do if you didn't need to worry about money or other people's opinions. Write those goals down.

2. Set goals in multiple areas of your life. We often focus our goals on work or health, but we don't create goals for a balanced lifestyle. If you only focus on career-oriented goals, you are subconsciously telling the universe that is all you care about. By setting goals for career, relationships, health, finances, spirituality and emotional wellness, you begin to create the balanced lifestyle that will make you truly happy.

3. Break down your goals into mini-goals. Once we set goals for our life, we have a tendency to get overwhelmed by how big they seem. This overwhelming feeling can leave us stuck and hinder our progress. In order to make true progress, we need to break our goals down into mini-goals or actions that add up to the final goal. So if you decided to lose ten pounds by the end of the year, mini-goals could include running a 5K race, joining a road-runners club and working with a nutritionist to monitor your food intake. Each of these mini-goals becomes more manageable and, when put together, allow you to reach your primary goal of losing ten pounds.

4. Visualize yourself reaching your goals. Once you have broken your goals down into mini-goals, take the time each day, or as often as you can, to visualize how you would feel once you reached the big goals in your life. Imagine how you would look and feel, interact with others and what you would be doing if you reached those goals. This visualization process does not need to take long, but it gives your subconscious mind a mental picture of what it is trying to achieve and allows it to really begin to feel it is possible.

5. Take action. Setting goals and visualizing them - as discussed in The Secret - are one part of the equation. If you don't follow this up with action, you will never achieve the goals you set out to achieve. Taking some sort of action every day to achieve your goals also lets your subconscious mind know that you are serious about what you are doing and that you are ready to make a commitment to leading the life you want to lead. Taking some action and making progress towards your goal, e.g. running a 5K, can make you feel like you can do it and give you the confidence to keep going towards the next mini-goal.

6. Get help. Sometimes, we do not have the willpower to achieve our goals - that is when it becomes ok to get help. We may feel less empowered when we cannot do something on our own, but not everything in life can be done by ourselves. Get a coach or join a support group of like-minded people who can help you with your goals. A coach can be great encouragement and a cheerleader for you, but can also get you moving when you are stuck. A support group is a group of people, going through the same things, who can understand what you are going through. Either way, asking for help is not a weakness but a strength, as life doesn't happen alone. Get the support you need and see your goals flourish!

Goal setting does not need to be a tedious process. Really knowing what you want, breaking it down into mini-goals, visualizing what it feels like, and getting help in reaching those goals are the key ways to filling your life with joy, passion and possibilities!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Monica_Thakrar

 

Organising - 5 Traps to Avoid

How many times have you had good intentions to get organized and somehow, someway it doesn't get done? Good intentions get us where? NOWHERE. If you don't anticipate these potential traps you will quickly get derailed from your overall goal. 

Distraction: think about the many things that distract us during our day. Phone/ email/ pagers/ TV/ kids/ friends/ etc. It is easy to get sidetracked and say you'll get to something later if something "appears" to be more important at the time. Don't get sucked in.     

Multitasking: Multitasking sounds so efficient huh? Nope. It's different from distraction because you're telling yourself you're being productive when you really aren't. If you think you multitask and on top of that think you do it well, I beg to differ. Multitasking is the death of good solid work. Commit to doing things well and going full force in whatever you do.       

Emotions:  It's inevitable you will run into things that spark a memory or feeling in you when organizing things in your work or home space. Be prepared for this journey to evoke some powerful memories and emotions. This is natural and okay. However, if you let it consume you in the process the job never gets completed. Recognize the emotion, but don't express it at that moment. Set key items aside that do this to you and study and react to them later.     

Overwhelm: Have you ever started a project and soon after thought, "What have I gotten myself into?"   Embarking on a huge project can be stressful and often are jobs that folks don't volunteer to do for this reason. Just remember... "no pain no gain" and usually the best progress is made in small steps and very often worth it in every way.       

Lack of Planning:  Without planning and preparation for potential traps and obstacles in the organization process it will likely fail in front of your eyes. Not preparing for these traps can cause feelings of failure, confusion, and inadequacy. It's not fair to you to go through that when a simple strategy session can be done ahead of time to keep you on track. 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laurie_Knight

 

Personal Development Plans - A 5 Step Guide

A personal development plan serves as a guide for you to achieve more and great things in life. It basically reflects where you are at the moment and where you want to go tomorrow.

So how do you really create a plan? You can actually create your own and be creative about it as long as the three important elements are there: skills to achieve your goals; the available resources; and the outcome.

Below is a great example of personal development plan. This plan is composed mainly of questions that you need to answer. Take time answering each question. Sharing and visualizing them with other people is not enough. Write the answers down and read them every single day. You should also review and update them as necessary.

1. Think of where you are now.
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What kind of criticisms do you usually get from other people?
• What are the factors that affect your performance? An example of performance indicator is time wherein you tend to get stressed and pressured when you are tasked to finish a workload within a short amount of time so you sacrifice the quality of your output.

2. Think of what you want to become in the future.
• What are the things that you want to achieve in life?
• What are the reasons for you wanting these achievements?
• List down your short-term goals.
• List down your long-term goals.

3. Ponder on things that you need to do and accomplish for you to reach your dreams.
• What are the things, skills, talents, and behaviors that you need to improve on to reach your dreams?
• What are the resources easily available for you to do the things that you need to do?

4. Create a timeline for your dreams, with the start and end date for both short-term and long-term goals.
• When do you want to achieve your dreams?

5. List other things that are important and needed for you to reach your dreams.

If you were able to answer all of these questions, then you just have created your own personal development plan. Creating a personal development plan really requires a lot of thinking and pondering on the part of the planner. It serves as a guide to your future so you might as well be detailed and cautious about it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_H._Hill

 

Facebook - How to Promote Your Business

Social media and social networks are the latest means of marketing your product and promoting your business. When it comes to social networks, no one comes even close to Facebook. The global leader of social sites, Facebook has currently 300 million registered users and is home to over 350k applications.

Facebook is a vital tool for marketing and promoting your product, a lot of features are available on the platform which supplement to this cause.

Using the Wall

On your profile home page what are you have is celled Wall. Your friends can post their messages, comments and or liking or disliking about something. These messages can be viewed by every person in your network (or you can simply hide the messages from any person. By increasing your friends you can easily spread your idea, products and comments to many persons. Your posting in the wall can be viewed by every person in your network so avoid to post personal messages. For this purpose use the Facebook Inbox facility.

Groups:

Groups are a very powerful feature which can be used to communicate and interact with your clients, customers and targeted audience. You can create a group for your company or product and then send notifications to all your members! This is really helpful especially if you are looking to promote a new service or product. You can also post topics and ask for client reviews on certain products.

Fan Pages:

Fan Pages can be safely termed as single page websites! The main advantage of a fan page is that it is public and can be viewed without connecting to Facebook. You can advertise your products, add images, videos etc in short it is a great way of reaching to your fans and clients.

Applications:

If you were wondering when the monetization part will kick in, it is now. Applications are till date the biggest success of Facebook. As mentioned above the social networking giants are home to over 350,000 applications which range from gaming apps to photo editors, sharing, fun, knowledge and every other thing imaginable. These applications are not only a great way to establish your brand reputation but also a sound investment which returns with upgraded monetary benefits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azhar_Masood

 

Twitter for Business

So you're a new or existing marketer and you've been hearing the buzz about this new social networking site, Twitter. Well I say social networking site, that's what it started off as. Little did the guys at Odeo know that this idea they had for an SMS service which would allow for short status updates for communication, would turn into the ability for online marketers and business's to sell products and communicate with customers quickly, directly and regularly.

So you're the marketer... And you want to know how this Tweeting and Twittering works. Or more importantly you want to know how it works from a business perspective. You can use Twitter all you want for following friend's and celebrities and updating a funny status. However how do you sell through it? Well the aim for a marketer is to get followers. You can get followers by e-mailing current mailing lists, putting up links on your sites and other web products, include it in your signatures and so on. The aim of this is once you have followers you can use status updates to recommend products or provide information as often as you want. The beauty of this is also that you know that that's the reason they are following you and it's a lot less annoying than getting a mailbox full of e-mails every week or even not getting them because they bounce and land in the spam tray!

The followers are the keen beans, who want some valuable information, and you are their friend who gives them this information and who also happens to throw a link in to a product that you sell and thinks might be of use to them.

Well that's one way of doing things anyway, often Twitter is also a great way to create buzz and hype about a product or site before its release. This creates a viral interest across the internet about a product that hasn't been released yet, this is excellent and exactly what you as a marketer want. Getting people interested means you will get guaranteed sales and also people talking. If you're really good you might even be able to get people re-Tweeting your tweets or posting your links up in other places, which certainly doesn't do your sales or SEO any harm. However, I also urge caution as follows will soon lose interest if all they ever see is a constant stream of plugs for products which you promote. You also need to balance your promotional Tweets with things of interest to your follows. These could be 'Tips' or 'Tricks of the Trade' or perhaps snippets of humour to brighten their day - remember you have to give your follower a reason to keep coming back.

Right so you know what the aim is and why you want to do it, however what else does Twitter let you know and enable you to do? Well it allows you to judge people's interests and what they think and feel on a product which is great, particularly before release as you can help to test the water and find out what types of users are interested which can help you understand what markets to go into and maximise your sales potential. It allows for links to your site to be posted all over other peoples Twitter accounts and to a huge number of different markets, and a rule of thumb is that more links definitely means more visits to your sites.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nigel_Ridge

 

Twitter Basics to Get you Started

It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the number 1 question regarding Twitter is how to use it. The amount of people joining Twitter or wanting to join this social networking platform is increasing by the thousands every day.

Twitter has become such a big player in the mainstream that people cannot resist finding out what all the fuss is about. Nevertheless, a lot of these people wishing to join Twitter have no idea how to use Twitter. This article hopes to cover some of the basic concepts regarding using Twitter.

Opening An Account

To join any social networking platform, you first have to open an account. When it comes to Twitter, it’s all a matter of going to Twitter.com and following the prompts to complete the signup process. You simply need an email address (which most already do) and the rest is relatively simple. Once you have opened an account, don’t forget to add an appropriate photo and colours that reflect your tastes and preferences.

To Tweet or not to Tweet

Once you start to get the hang of Twitter, you will find it hard not to tweet. Tweeting is basically Twitter language for sending a message to all your followers. Make sure your messages relate to the profile you want to build on Twitter. If it’s inappropriate or not very useful (such as spam) then your followers will not like it one bit. The best way to get a loyal bunch of followers is by consistently providing good content. Tweet carefully and with purpose.

Follow Me, Follow You

The whole essence of Twitter revolves around following other people. It would be wise to only follow those people who share your interests. Otherwise, you will have to put up with uninteresting tweets. Furthermore, if you want people to follow you back, do them a favor and follow them first. The more you share your love on Twitter, the more love others will share with you.

The most important thing to remember is that Twitter is not very difficult to use. As with all things, it’s hard at first, but then with a bit of persistence, you will become a Twitter expert. If you remain committed to making the most out of this social networking platform, then the result would be an increased knowledge of Twitter to the point that you will be in a position to teach others.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Sejas

 

The Little Things

"My most important moments go by, and I don't even know it 'til they're gone." - Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford

Reading a novel the other day on my front porch, I inadvertently dozed off. My head bounced and I woke to feel the spring sun warming my face and body. A lovely moment. Such a little thing.

In the middle of a workshop recently, I noticed a participant looking up at me with such focus and positive intention his energy hit me like a bolt of lightning. I smiled. Such a little thing and one that's with me still.

Looking out my window this morning, I see new buds where there were bare branches a week ago. Spring flows like a wave through my waking body.

Sipping tea at an outdoor café, watching people and soaking up the sun and sounds of my small city, I know it's this moment that counts.

Little things like these are big things in disguise. These ki moments beckon and invite us to notice them, to wake up, pay attention, be present and be happy. And yet, if you're like me, you're mostly in pursuit of the next moment, letting this one get away. On my way to the next moment, the next completed task, I'm never really here. Unless I'm asleep, my body is in constant motion following my thinking -- where and what I need to be or do next.

There is so much to do. Time flies. And sometimes, as I rush to get it all done, I remember these moments of now. Why not linger? What's the rush?

It's impossible, of course. And yet ...

Breathe. Center. Be. Make this moment a ki moment. Be where you are instead of where you're going. Could this now be a big thing in disguise? 

I wish you a day filled with little things and Ki Moments.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_Ringer