Make a Difference

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Make a difference; give back to your communityIf you had to pick one quote that best reflected who you are, or what you represent, what would it be?

This was my challenge last week. I’ve been honored with an award*, and was asked to provide a bio and short quote for a poster the organization is preparing for the ceremony.

I recommend that everyone have a pre-written bio [see why in my blog post Four Ways to Use Your Qualifying Conversation], but it never occurred to me to have a quote ready.

It’s a handy exercise. In the end it came down to four choices.

This one gives me great solace and hope:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret Mead

This is the one that tells you the most about me:

The mountains are calling and I must go.
-John Muir

I like this one for its pragmatism:

You can have it all, just not all at the same time.
―Betty Friedan

Because it needed to be short, and I wanted something more hopeful than the previous quote, this is the one I chose:

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
-Mahatma Gandhi

I like it because it helps reinforce my message that one of the benefits of managing your time is having time for yourself, your family, friends, and hobbies.

Do you have a favorite quote? Share it below in a comment. What do you think it says about you?

Filed Under: book, KEEP, time management Tagged With: , ,

Streamline Your Blog Maintenance

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Writing a daily blog post is time-consuming! There was one tool I used that definitely made this challenge easier: a simple spreadsheet. Without this tool, I would find myself writing posts without a plan for how the posts related to each other; with the spreadsheet, I was able to create a cohesive theme, and make sure I included a call to action in each post. I explain how it worked in this video:

Filed Under: business management, Delegation, System Development, time management Tagged With: ,

Creating the High Points In Your Life

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Maura on summit of Mt. Katahdin My husband and I met in a basic mountaineering training course offered by the Sierra Club. He was one of the instructors, I was a student. Many of our dates involved hiking or backpacking, and hiking has remained an important part of our lives. In addition to a shared interest, it provides us time together to talk about our week, and, of course, exercise.

A number of years ago, I heard about the HighPointers Club. The members share a goal of attaining the high point of every state. This sounded great!  We started by trying to fit in hiking a state highpoint whenever we vacationed, and one year decided to attend the annual convention (proving the point that there is an organization for pretty much any interest). We were hooked, and our highpointing efforts stepped up considerably.

Some of the high points are ridiculously easy (Florida is basically a mound in a small roadside park); at the other end of the spectrum is Alaska’s highpoint, Denali. Regardless of the difficulty, one of the beauties of this goal is that you see every state, and some beautiful scenery. But the highpoints are typically not in the most easy to get to locations, and Maine is a good example. It’s a full day drive from anywhere, and closer to Canada than it is to most towns in Maine. Which means that you have to plan your trip carefully to allow sufficient travel time and hiking time, especially if you are traveling from southern California just to hike this peak.

We learned this the hard way eight years ago, when we planned our trip so tightly that we only allowed one day for our hike. That was the day the tail-end of Katrina hit the Northeast, and the park closed all access to the mountain. Four years ago, we tried again. It was raining heavily when we left the trailhead at 6 am, and my husband had had a bad night after eating something that did not agree with him. We turned around after a mile.

So you can imagine I was determined to get this peak on our third attempt. I planned 2 hiking days, so one could be a back-up in case of weather. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and we attained the summit last Tuesday – state highpoint #42 for me, and #44 for my husband. We’re already planning our next highpoint adventure.

Make sure you create your own highpoints- It’s important to plan time in your week for those activities about which you are passionate. It’s too easy to allow other things to co-opt your time if you don’t. As a start, acknowledge what you love to do but aren’t. Then schedule time this week on that activity. Make it a commitment by commenting what you will do below.

Filed Under: time management Tagged With: , , ,

Meet Gmail’s New Inbox

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Concept of email filter in work.Dealing with email is one of the top complaints I hear from my clients. Gmail just came out with a terrific update that I love! It automates what I was doing manually by creating filters (similar to rules in other email programs), and you know how I love automation! Even if you are not currently using Gmail, watch their short video for ideas on how to streamline your own email overload. If you like what you see, remember that it is easy to forward your email from Outlook or another email provider into Gmail. That’s what I do. I explain how in my Inbox Simplicity program.

Filed Under: business management, personal organization, System Development, time management Tagged With: , ,

The Secret Powers of Time

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Did you know that most Americans agree they sacrifice friends, family, and sleep for their success?

In this fascinating video, psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo explains how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. It’s 10 minutes, but worth it for the insights.

Insight #1: Lots of conflicts we have with people are really a conflict of different time perspectives.
-How can you apply this to your interactions with your vendors and/or clients?

Insight #2: If given an extra day, 50% of Americans would not spend it with friends or family.
-Schedule time with friends and family – and treat those appointments with the same respect you do your work appointments.

Filed Under: time management Tagged With:

Three Simple Systems That Saved My Sanity

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Clock. Time to planSupport systems are important in our personal lives, too. Here’s a post from 2009 that’s illustrates why.

My life changed dramatically in August 2009 when my 87-year-old father fell and required surgery. He was in the hospital for 10 days, then rehab until Oct. 28. What with visiting, acting as patient advocate, and setting up systems to support his return home, I was spending two to three days a week in Santa Barbara. At one point I realized the irony that I was making sure my mother had groceries, but hadn’t had time to do my own grocery shopping in 6 weeks.

Thank goodness I already had three systems in place that really saved my sanity:

  • Bill pay and direct deposit – What a relief to realize that all but one bill (the credit card) was already set up for automatic bill pay, and my husband’s paychecks were on direct deposit. There was no extra work to do. This automation was an additional blessing when I was consumed with my father’s illness – everything got paid without me putting in any work.
  • Dream Dinners – This is what kept food on the table. Once a month my husband and I attend a meal preparation session for an hour and come home with 36 servings of a minimum of 6 entrees we put in the freezer. I’ve been a loyal member for 8 years. In October I didn’t even have time for the one hour monthly session, but the good folks at Dream Dinners prepared my order for me, and I just needed to stop by and pick it up. I even had them make up extras to take to my mother. Another lifesaver!
  • A community of friends and relatives – sometimes we have to accept we are drowning and ask for help. I don’t know what I would have done without my sister, and I cannot come close to expressing my gratitude to her. Another resource was my minister, who used her “minister network” connections in Santa Barbara to publish my request for someone to live-in with my Mom. Although I had also advertised at a local university, it was the congregational appeal that garnered me the most results.

My father died in May, 2010; I still spend one day a week with my mother in Santa Barbara, but it’s planned, and not because of crisis. However, the essence of all disaster planning is to have systems in place, and I encourage you to evaluate what systems you need in place to save your sanity and/or your business. How would your business run if you were sick? [this is essential system #4 on the business systems assessment. If you have not done so yet, you can download this self-assessment from the top right of this page] .

Filed Under: personal organization, System Development, time management, working moms

A Checklist Can Literally Save Your Life

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ClipboardSome things are just so simple you wonder why no one thought of it before. In the article below, a surgeon talks about the complicated process of keeping patients alive and shares his simple solution for how that process might be streamlined. It’s easy to find applications for your business.

Two immediate take-aways from this article:
1. When introductions between team members were made before a surgery, the average number of complications and deaths dipped by 35 percent.

Why? A person, having gotten a chance to voice their name, was much more likely to speak up later if they saw a problem.

Apply this immediately to any team – you may get some insight into problems and/or solutions from people who would otherwise remain silent.

2. Ninety-four percent of surgeons wanted the checklist used if they were to have surgery.

Where could a checklist help you? How about daily tasks for new hires, a packing list you keep in your suitcase, a vacation checklist to make sure you change your voicemail and so on. Please share how you use a checklist to improve your business in the comment section.

read the full article:
Atul Gawande’s ‘Checklist’ For Surgery Success : NPR

Filed Under: business management, System Development, time management