How many meetings have you went to where the organizer did not really have an agenda and let the whole meeting spin out of control. You can just feel the time passing minute-after-minute where you are not accomplishing anything and neither are they. What a huge waste of time

Corporate America should install time clocks in every meeting room and then have special cards that have the pay rate of each employee on the card. You would slide the card into the machine at the beginning of the meeting and then again at the end. A small receipt would print telling you the cost of the meeting. Suppose you have five managers in a room at an average per hour rate of $50 after a two-hour meeting your receipt would print $500, would that get your attention? That would allow you to evaluate if the meeting was really worth the money.

Many people like to have meetings to talk about problems, but they seldom accomplish more than that, so here is what you can do about it.

No Agenda, Bail Out

If you end up in a meeting that has no agenda, after a few minutes, try to politely excuse yourself. You can always go to the bathroom and not return, and then if anyone asks, you can say you had to get back to work, make a phone call, or whatever (make sure you actually do what you say). Another trick is if your cell phone rings, excuse yourself, no need to return. Use caution with these techniques since in some corporate cultures or special meetings this will get you into hot water.

Try to batch your meetings so that your meetings run back-to-back, this helps keep chunks of your time free for other tasks where you want to be in a flow state as well as if the meeting runs long, you can excuse yourself for your next meeting.

However, if the meeting is on topic or it is of value, you will need to put away all of your “toys” and focus on the meeting, really listen and participate in the conversation. Listen with the intent of understanding and take notes so you don’t miss anything that could take up valuable time later trying to re-gather the information. If it is an important meeting, you may want to bring in a recording device so you can listen to it later if needed (make sure everyone knows your recording the conversation).

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Many people think that by being busy they are also being productive. For email, you have to carefully evaluate what you are doing. Work email is something that we are usually forced to read (at least to some degree), for everything else, it is a matter of choice. Choose to start you day on the right foot, when you come into the office in the morning, just do a quick check on your email for any true can’t wait items, so you don’t miss critical meeting requests, and so forth, but do not get sucked into email that isn’t absolutely critical. Consider Taking the first two hours of the day as heads-down working time, there is plenty of time to answer those email messages later, beside that, I’ve found that many of those types of messages get resolved without you.

 Be Selective in Firing Your Weapon, or It Might Just Boomerang

You can also often save time by not responding right away, most people don’t mind you not answering right away especially if they know you have major projects and are a busy person. If you are called on it, try to excuse yourself by saying that you have been busy. Another great tip is to be careful who you carbon copy, the more people that you respond to, the greater the chance of the email thread spinning out of control, try to just email the person that sent you the email and then carefully evaluate anyone else you put on the list.

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Spam is a vicious enemy. It doesn’t sleep, it doesn’t eat, and it hunts you 24-hours a day. This attacker lies in wait, and wants to devour your time and kill your productivity. Now is the time to pull out your double-barrel shotgun and aim right between the eyes.

But Wait… Why Have You Turned the Gun On Yourself?
The first step in dealing with this adversary, is to stop shooting yourself in the foot! You can do this by simply getting rid of “self-induced spam”, this is email that comes from lists that you have signed up for… you know the opt-in email for your favorite department store, office supply chain, and coffee shop.

This stuff takes up space in your mailbox, and forces you to have to sift through it. Be careful where you tread, a couple of clicks to see the latest book or CD, and you can be blasted into bits by this time-wasting assassin.

Beware, Your Friends May Be Stabbing You in the Back
Are your friends and co-workers always forwarding messages that contain funny quips, the latest gossip, E-Cards, and sad stories about puppies? If so, fight back! Ask them to quit sending it or hit the delete button.

A Shot Rings Out
This cold-hearted attacker uses diversion as a tactic as he tries to grab your attention and put a stranglehold on your time. To fend off this attack, go into the settings in your email program and turn off the notification that plays when a new email arrives. That annoying buzzer interrupts your tasks, it takes your mind off your projects, and it derails your conversations.

How many times have you been heads down working on a project and the email reminder sounds, and off you go to see who sent the email? This is bad for productivity. The human brain requires concentration and continuity to finish tasks. There is a special state that we call “flow” that we get in that allows us to be our most productive self. Every time an email comes in, it’s not necessary for you to see it immediately.

Set a Trap for the Beast
A good hunter gathers weapons, and then lies in wait for the invader. The evil spam beast can be hunted and you can be ready for his attack. Quality commercial software packages such as Norton or McAfee Anti-Virus can drop grenades on spam in your “inbox” in an instant, leaving only bits of spam debris in the bit-bucket or your trash can. If you use an online email provider such as Gmail, MSN, or Yahoo! set the options for your email box to blitz spam even before you see it.

Don’t Let the Enemy Divert Your Attention
In battle, an army will often burn bridges and place obstructions in the road so that the enemy only has one approach from which to attack. You can do this by having separate accounts for work and personal activities. Because your personal email is separated from your work email, you will not get distracted by it, and you will cut off one of the ways that the spam beast can use to attack you.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Technorati Tags: email management, managing email, email filters, fight spam, avoid spam, get rid of spam

Having a “capture system” to help organize your day is essential, because it helps you get things done, keeps track of your important events, and helps take the overload off your brain (because your brain is not trying to remember everything at once).

You will find that once you get everything down on paper, it will free your mind to think of other things, often more important or long-term tasks that were there all along but you had forgot about them because of all the “brain jumble” you have been dealing with due to task overload.

You can use various devices to capture your thoughts, and keep track of your important “to do” items. These devices range from a computer, PDA, voice recorder, or just a plain old piece of paper.

Keep the capturing devices for your system with with you at all times, otherwise you will loose time transferring tasks between devices. My favorite system is using a paper based task list and putting the most important events on my Gmail Calendar. Occasionally, I will break my own rules and use scraps of paper, but I always find that this creates waste and somehow those scraps of paper tend to get lost.

So remember to create one system and keep it simple.

Technorati Tags: getting things done, using a personal organizing system, keep track of important events, how to capture and track your tasks

I would like to tell you about a unique website created by one of the premier expert organizers, Lorie Marrero, that can provide Expert Decluttering Help. This is a unique program for those who need an organization coach, but don’t have the money or time to hire a personal organizer. With this program you can get an expert team of organizers for just $14.95 a month (the first month is just $4.95).Turn your home into a peaceful haven, where you don’t have to be embarrassed by your mess. Using this system, you will learn to organize your things so that you can find them quickly and easily. Or if your having trouble organizing your personal office this system can get everything under control in a flash.

They can get your clutter under control quickly using action plans, step-by-step organization for every room in your house, and will provide you with direct advice through their private message boards. They even allow you to upload photos of your cluttered spaces so that their experts can help you quickly declutter those specific areas.

What I like about this website is that it can save you the cost of a personal organizer ($50+ an hour) and provide far more help than a book or magazine, because it is personalized just for you. They teach systems that stick, so you don’t fall back into your old patterns.

Getting organized takes changes in your personal habits and lifestyle, but the benefits are tremendous. You will have far less stress, gain peace of mind, and have the ability to find things quickly. With the education, motivation, and support provided by this website anyone can succeed.

Click Here For Expert Decluttering Help

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Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.
Art Buchwald

1. Lay out your clothes for the next day the night before, don’t forget your belt, socks, shoes, underwear, and so forth
2. Also lay out your accessories, this includes things such as your wallet, purse, car keys, cell phone, watch, and jewelery
3. Lay out your bathroom supplies the night before. Items such as soap, shampoo, towel, washcloth, toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, brush, comb, hairdryer, makeup, and hair gel should be included on the list
4. Set the coffee make to make your morning coffee
5. Pack your lunch/snack the night before. Remember that if you put it into the refrigerator to leave a reminder by your car keys.
6. Set out the pet medicines, food, and collar for the morning walk and feeding. This is also a great time to take your vitamins or medicine.





7. Some people even like to take a shower, shave, and brush their teeth the night before a big day and then just “freshen up” first thing in the morning. I do this sometimes before a early morning flight when I know I will be pressed for time
8. If your staying in a hotel room, get your bag packed as completely as possible before you go to bed. Don’t forget to put all of your soiled laundry into a bag and then place it into your suitcase.
9. Layout your coat, gloves, hat, and umbrella if you think you will need them in the morning. Putting them in your car the night before is one option, if not, place them by your car keys.
10. Take out everything you need for breakfast the night before. If time is of the essence, then pack some breakfast bars, or grab some fresh fruit. Also taking along a bottle of water is a great way to start you day.

Technorati Tags: Ten Time Saving Tips, 10 Time Saving Tips, Tips For Busy Mornings, Tips To Organize Your Morning, Time Saving Tips

Hey Everyone,

I added a Twitter Feed…. (main page at the upper right)

So you can see what I’m doing

Have A Great Day

Orin

Does your life sometimes feel overwhelming because there are so many things that aren’t getting done and they are beginning to stack up? Do you feel like this chaos is causing you constant stress? If so, read on…

For all of us there are recurring events in our life, we need to pay the bills, pick up the dry cleaning, walk the dog, mow the lawn, wash the dishes, and so forth. The one thing that makes makes these events special is that we can plan for them. In order to do that effectively, we need to setup a routine.

Setting up a routine doesn’t need to be difficult, and will work best if it is driven by a system. For example, if every time that you get your electric bill, you use that as a reminder to change your furnace filter, you have a simple easy-to-remember routine that will work every time.

Here are some tips

• Setup all your important birthday’s, anniversaries, and holidays in your computer’s calendar. Then Set the program to remind you about these upcoming events. Some companies such as Blue Mountain and AmericanGreetings.com allow you to setup online reminders of when to send out cards
• Establish routine with walking your dog, feeding your cat, etc. For example, walk your dog first thing in the morning and then feed him/her when you get home
• Rinse your dirty dishes and put them into your dishwasher when your done eating, then when it gets full you can turn it on before you go to bed
• Take your car to the car wash on Saturdays when you’re running errands and grocery shopping
• Lay out your clothes for Monday morning on Sunday night, so you won’t be rushed in the morning

As you can see, there are countless ways to turn your stressful days into calm days just by establishing some simple routines.

Technorati Tags: How To Set A Routine, Reduce Stress, Eliminate Stress, Organizing Recurring Events

I’m sure that your busy (crazy busy) with lots on your plate, so how can you keep yourself focused and following through on your key projects and goals?

Doing a few things well and consistently is better than doing lots of things not so well and inconsistently. It makes sense, but I keep seeing myself and others fall into the trap of getting spread too thin and loosing focus. This can also happen when you chase every guru’s new ideas while constantly “collecting information”, but not taking any action. You need to have a clear plan on how to make progress on your goals.

You should find a few core goals and then focus your time and attention on the steps that will move you toward achieving your goals. Aim to make consistent and regular progress towards achievement. Break down your goal into achievable steps and tackle them one-by-one, and then cross them off of your list as you accomplish them.

Remember the 80/20 rule, keep working towards your desired goals, and you can achieve them!