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SOME TIME SAVERS

by Dr Donald E Wetmore

In my Time Management seminars which have conducted for more
than 100,000 people from around the globe, I show people how
to get more done in less time, with less stress; to help
them have more time for the things they want to do in their
work and business lives.

If you can recapture a wasted hour here and there and
redirect it to a more productive use, you can make great
increases in your daily productivity.

Here are five of the techniques I share in our Time
Management seminars, each one of which will help you to get
at least one more hour out of your day of additional
productive time.

1. Maintain Balance. Your life consists of Seven Vital
Areas: Health, Family, Financial, Intellectual, Social,
Professional, and Spiritual. You will not spend equal
amounts of time in each area or time every day in each area.
But, if in the long run, you are spending a sufficient
quantity and quality of time in each area, then your life
will be balanced. But ignore any one of your areas, (never
mind two or three!) and you will get out of balance and
potentially sabotage your success. Fail to take time now for
your health and you will have to take time for illness later
on. Ignore your family and then may leave you and cost you a
lot of time to re-establish relationships.

2. Get the Power of the Pen. A faint pen has more power than
the keenest mind. Get into the habit of writing things to do
down using one tool (a Day-Timer, pad of paper, Palm Pilot,
etc.) Your mind is best used for the big picture rather than
all the details. The details are important, but manage them
with the pen. If you want to manage it you have to measure
it first. Writing things down helps you to more easily
remember all that you need to accomplish.

3. Do Daily Planning. It is said that people do not plan to
fail but a lot of people fail to plan. Take the time each
night to take control of the most precious resource at your
command, the next twenty-four hours. Plan your work and then
work your plan each day. Write up a To Do list with all you
have to's and all of your want to's for your next day.
Without a plan for the day, you can easily get distracted,
spending your time serving the loudest voice rather than
attending to the most important things for your day that
will enhance your productivity.

4. Prioritize It. Your To Do list will have crucial and not
crucial items on it. Despite the fact most people want to be
productive, when given the choice between crucial and not
crucial items, we will most often end up doing the not
crucial items. They are generally easier and quicker than
crucial items. Prioritize your To Do list each night. Put
the #1 next to the most important item on your list. Place
the #2 next to the second most important item on your list,
etc. Then tackle the items on your list in order of their
importance. You may not get everything done on your list,
but you will get the most important things done. This is
working smarter, not harder, and getting more done in less
time.

5. Control Procrastination. The most effective planning in
the world does not substitute for doing what needs to be
done. We procrastinate and put off important things because
we don't sense enough pain for not doing it or enough
pleasure to do it. To get going on something you have been
putting off, create in your mind enough pain for not doing
it or enough pleasure to do it. I prefer the pleasure
approach. Take a procrastinated project and turn it into to
a game. Work with one thing in front of you at a time so
other things won't distract you. ("Out of sight, out of
mind.") Break it down to little bite-sized, manageable
pieces. Get it started, take the first step and you will
likely continue it to completion.

Dr. Donald E. Wetmore, a full-time Professional Speaker, is
one of the foremost experts on Time Management and the
author of "Beat the Clock" and "Organizing Your Life". If
you would like to receive a free copy of his humorous
article, "Poor John", who wastes hours in his days, email
your request now for "John" to: mailto:ctsem@msn.com

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