Destination
Inspiration
October 2007
Taking The Time To Make The Time
By Lisbeth Anne
Marín
Motivational
Speaker
Professional
Development Consultant
Today’s woman
wears many hats and holds multiple titles: Mine include, Single Mom,
Entrepreneur, Home-Owner, Christian, Volunteer, Teacher, Trainer,
Artist, Swimmer, Neighbor, Daughter, Sister, Friend… I’d wager your
hat rack is equally full.
Those titles
call for a strong skill-set in Time & Organizational Management.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting rigid lists or lackluster
routines.
The
foundation of my plan is a small bound journal that serves as an
ongoing, portable to-do list. I can see what’s on my plate and free
my mind from trying to remember and prioritize it all.
I arrange my
tasks into four categories.
«
The Most Urgent
Most Important Thing;
do it now or first!
«
Important But
Not Yet Urgent Things;
plan time for them.
«
Urgent But Not
Important;
things I could delegate or dismiss.
«
Neither Urgent
nor Important;
Limitless minutia that could devour my limited time.
Many women
have become ‘Human Doings rather Than Human Beings’.
They are
continually do-do-doing, all the while ignoring the importance of
daily ‘Me Time’. It’s wiser to plan your time than waste it
spinning your wheels.
I’ll admit
that I can’t take a two week vacation; when I’m away, my business is
closed. But I’m blessed with frequent half days, flexible hours and
several weekdays off each month. My goal is to do what I love, so
I’ll never dread working.
Truth be
told, I would rather have my plate mostly full than mostly empty!
If you feel the same way, I encourage you to identify the stumbling
blocks in your path to personal freedom!
Six Secrets of
Time Management
1. Identify
Your
Time Wasting Behaviors
-
Interruptions
- Attempting
too much
- Personal
disorganization
- Lack of
planning
- Shifting
priorities
- Lack of self
discipline
- Handling
paperwork more than twice
- Low morale
or depression
- Lack of
motivation
-
Perfectionism
-
Procrastination
2. Keep A
To-Do List and for larger tasks, create a project checklist to break
down the time for each facet of the task. Then start your big project
in small doses, 5-15 minutes-ish. You won’t get finished as quickly
but, once mastered, you’ll have a tried and true method for getting
started! This will alleviate procrastination.
3. Guard
yourself from excessive People-Pleasing. Script a nice No
response and then practice using it. It’s ok to say No without feeling
guilty.
4. Stop
Trying To Be Perfect.
Let go of being
persnickety about every little thing, it doesn’t cultivate excellence;
it encourages insatiable criticism of your efforts. Success Is
Not About Perfection, Success Is About Progress.
5.
Schedule Me Time
to renew. Dance like no one is looking and sing like no one is
listening! Recognize that you are worthy of your time.
6.
Learn to Prioritize
so you don’t waste your
time on minutia. If you are always doing the Most Urgent, Most
Important thing, you’ll never waste another minute of your life!
Lisbeth Anne Marín
is a Motivational Training Consultant specializing in interpersonal and
organizational development skills. She presents a wide array of staff
development training programs, motivational seminars and interactive
H.R. workshops. To view the topics on which training programs can be
provided, Please visit the website, www.lisbethanne.com or call
Lisbeth at 910.867.3163. The website also features a gallery of award
winning designs along with a schedule of complimentary Business Seminars
that are presented to the public through the Center for Business and
Industry at F.T.C.C.
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