Eliminate Time Wasters and Stop Settling for The No Longer Acceptables in Your Life Tele-seminar
You are invited to attend a content-oriented Tele-seminar on Friday, October 28. You will learn specific ways to identify and eliminate time wasters along with 3 practical and easy to implement steps you can take to start eliminating the “no longer acceptables” from your life so you can experience the kind of life you truly want and deserve – professionally and personally.
Many of us say we’re going to make changes to eliminate the things we don‘t like about our life, but few of us actually commit to improving the quality of our life. If you have ever felt like this – it’s time to get a dose of reality.
Give up the excuses because they are just plain cop-outs. Creating the life you want simply begins with a choice. Eliminating those things you find yourself being most unhappy with will allow so much more peace and emotional space. You will feel like a new person when you finally eliminate the things that have been holding you back from what you really want.
Time-wasters do nothing but impede or delay the ideal life you are committed to creating. The good news is they are simple to eliminate. They simply become something you used to do when you were okay with staying where you were. The difference now is that you are ready to move on and create your ideal life. Attend this tele-seminar and learn more.
When: Friday, October 28
Time: 9:00am PT / 10:00am MT / 11:00am CT / 12:00am ET
If you are not in North America, please translate for your time zone by visiting www.worldtimeserver.com.
Investment: $10 USD
Tele-seminar Leader: Anne Bachrach, The Accountability Coach™
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/3tkyhb6
Sign up right now and mark your calendar for October 28.
Can’t attend on this date… SIGN UP and receive a link for the replay after the actual event. Whether you can attend ‘live’ or not, you receive the value of the information via audio for only $10.00 USD.
2 Types of Distractions to Avoid
If you are working in an empty warehouse with powerful equipment and surrounded by tons of steel then distractions are probably not a major issue. The problem is that you are working in an office—perhaps even a home office—and distractions are affecting you on a daily basis. Distractions may cause you to miss deadlines, turn in lower quality work, or use up time that you really can’t afford to lose.
Distractions impact your success to some degree. If you give your market less attention, then that market will shrivel up. Ignoring the wishes of your clients will definitely affect your profit margins. Ignoring the quality of your work may betray your own objectives, ultimately killing your business. When you are aiming to be a professional, it is important to take all of your obligations seriously. So what can you do to minimize distractions around the home and office?
1. Electronic Distractions
Let’s start by focusing on the computer, one of the best and worst instruments of concentration and distraction. Close any computer windows that are not directly related to what you are working on in the moment. Do you have a habit of checking your email, surfing the internet, or reviewing your site statistics every few minutes? This is distracting. Not only does continually switching from one unrelated activity to another rob directly from your work time, it also robs you of your train of thought. It may take several minutes to get that high concentration level back.
Instant messaging programs are another concern. The more friends that you chat with, the more times you will be interrupted by your online friends who probably want to talk about silly things. (I.e. chit-chat, strange YouTube videos or upcoming movie trailers starring Vin Diesel) When you go “online” you are probably just asking for trouble. Try going invisible or perhaps even closing the program entirely. You can always check your email once or twice per day for a predetermined amount of time.
What about all the social networking sites, like Linkedin, Plaxo, Twitter, Facebook, etc. that are rapidly growing? Is this just one more way to distract you? Do you really want to spend your precious time hanging out on these sites, or would your time be better invested on generating revenue for your business, or working out to keep and stay fit and healthy? Now, this isn’t to say you can’t do business with these social websites. You have to decide which would have more of an impact on you achieving your goals sooner.
2. Active Distractions
The fact of the matter is that most electronic distractions are bad for productivity, while most active distractions could actually help. For starters, try to schedule frequent breaks, especially if you work on the computer. You need to take a break now and then, not only to rest your eyes and stretch your arms, but also to give your brain a much-needed “breather.” This refreshes your mind, lets your body relax, and lets you escape the glare of a computer screen for just a few precious moments.
Furthermore, it might help to take a break outside and exercise in some form. When you exercise, it stimulates your mind and body, even while providing a nice relief from constant concentration. You could lift weights, do pushups, go for a walk or even play a musical instrument. The important thing is that you are doing something active, the opposite of fully concentrating on a work activity. I have heard some people say that having a 10-15 minute break every 90 minutes has a positive effect on your productivity.
5 Ideas to Reduce the Biggest Time Wasters
Have you ever thought to yourself: “If only I had more time?” You may even long for the old days when you were young and didn’t have many or any responsibilities. You have the whole world waiting for you. You can do anything you set your mind to—even the things that that you think you don’t have time for!
How is this possible? By scheduling time for what’s important as well as what is fun. Of course, along with this schedule, you have to take certain steps to eliminate time wasters. What are time wasters? Time wasters can be anything, from an inanimate object to a full living and breathing person. It is important that you first learn how to identify a time waster and then learn how to stop this person, place, or thing from distracting you. Let’s start by listing some of the most common time wasters.
1. There’s no question that computers and a high-speed Internet connection can provide many valuable services to you. However, these tools are among the worst time wasters in existence. Some companies have actually banned Internet usage during working hours. If you catch your hand slowly approaching your mouse with the intent to surf, catch yourself and get back to work. Ask your friends to not include you in the personal emails they like to send to other friends. You may even choose to only check email one or two times during the day, and for a specific period of time – one time not being the first thing in the morning when you arrive at work.
2. Interruptions from phones, team members, or pop-in visitors can be very distracting. Human beings have a natural inclination to sit around and chat. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this pastime, and there is no need to be rude with your peers, associates, friends, and neighbors. However, you do need to set some rules down and inform everyone who adores your company that during certain working hours you are unavailable. This applies to team members also. You create set meeting times when others can meet with you.
3. Unless you work on the phone, you may choose to unplug this device since telephone conversations can easily take up a lot of time. Once again, explain to family and friends that during working hours the phone is not an option.
4. The next time waster is to consider is not actually a tangible object, but a lack of time management. When there is no time management or scheduling taking place, then a person tends to be unfocused in his or her approach. A person may not prioritize their tasks, or in the opposite case, try to take on too much responsibility. Along with the threat of procrastination, a lack of time management makes for a potentially devastating time waster. The use of a calendar for time management will lead to more efficient and effective behaviors that produce even better results and increases your overall success.
5. One of the most often reported problems with office employees is the lack of education that newcomers are given. This takes up more time having to explain procedures and demonstrate how to work various systems. You could apply this lesson as well, whether you own your own company or work independently of others. Try to learn new systems or new information on your own time, so that by the time you start working you are not wasting any time reading over instructions or surfing for help resources online. Creating procedures manuals for all positions in the firm can have a huge impact on productivity and reduce wasted time. Create a goal to create one or more procedures each week for each position in your firm and put them into procedures manuals for each person and their position.
These are some of the most common time busters. If you sense that you are losing a lot of time, take steps to eliminate the source of the distraction or distractions. This may include sacrificing some items altogether or at least making it more difficult to access such fun, time-wasting activities. Your office productivity will improve and you will be better off!
The ‘stuff’ in your head is distracting you!
Do you have things continually going on in your head of all you have to do today, tomorrow, next week, etc? Those are distractions! When you effectively use your calendar and master task list on a consistent basis you don’t have to have all these things going on in your head thinking you have to remember them and being afraid you are going to forget to do something.
Do some of these things you have in your head keep you up at night? When you take them out of your head and put them on your master task list and on your calendar, you can sleep better every night.
You will be more in control and you will feel a sense of relief. Don’t believe me, try this for yourself and you will be like the many people I coach who have that sigh of relief when they get all these distractions out of their head and in the proper place (that you review and honor – did I forget to mention this part…).
Stop distracting yourself with all your thoughts. Do it today. Let me know how I can help you.
Wasted Time Adds Up – How you can make more money!
How much time do you think you waste each day? You get sucked into doing emails or surfing the internet, watching youtube videos someone sent you, getting interrupted by staff, clients, or friends, etc. Think about this for a minute – how much time do you think you waste each day? Remember it all adds up. Five minutes here, 10 minutes, there 30 minutes on something fun but not productive.
When we asked people how much time do they think they waste in a day, many of them said approx. 2 hours. So we will use this as our example. Use can easily do the math for yourself depending on the number you came up with for yourself.
Here’s an example of someone who said they ‘waste’ 2 hours per day.
2 hours per day
= 10 hours per week
= 1 week per month
= 12 weeks per year
Divide by 4 and you get a whopping 3 months per year that is spent in non-productive time.
Now, let’s not dwell on the non-productive time that we waste. Let’s see what that is worth to us in revenue per year if we utilize that 2 hours per day on more high pay-off activities.
What do you make per month on an average? $5,000, $7,000, $10,000, $15,000
Multiply that number by 3 and that is how much more money you could make a year if you just focused your time more on high pay-off activities.
Even if you start by being more effective and not letting time-wasters and distractions get in your way for 30 minutes per day, you will make even more money. How can you apply this concept in your life so you can achieve your goals?
10 Tips to Break Bad Habits – So you Can Achieve Your Goals
Bad habits can be difficult to break. Bad habits are a repetitive form of behavior that becomes so enmeshed in your psyche, they quickly become instinctual and involuntary.
Each year people spend thousands of hours and dollars attempting to break free of a pattern of bad behavior, but the majority fails.
Why?
Because there is no magical solution. Breaking a bad habit requires hard work and there are no shortcuts.
To effectively change a bad habit, you need to firstly recognize that the habit exists, and then make a conscious decision to overcome it.
10 Step Action Plan to Break Bad Habits
1. Affirm Your Conviction
If you don’t consider the price you pay for repeating the bad habit worthwhile, then it’s likely you won’t break the habit.
Be honest with yourself and take into account not only how the habit impacts on your life, but also how it impacts on those around you.
Make a decisive choice to become a better human being by breaking the repetitive behavior.
2. Focus on the Benefits
Make a list of all the positive changes that will occur once you have broken the bad habit. Include the improved health factors, the opportunity to improve your personal relationships, or the emotional benefits.
Refer to this list every time you believe your resolve is under threat.
3. Take Action
The time to start your new behavioral pattern is NOW. The right opportunity is NOT going to present itself in a few days or at the start of a new week.
Once you have resolved to change the bad habit, put your action plan into top gear straight away.
4. No Excuses!
Provide yourself with a safe haven in which to activate your plan for change. As an example, if you decide to give up smoking, get rid of any leftover cigarette packets, remove ashtrays, lighters, matches or anything else that reminds you of smoking.
Bad habits are often triggered by stressful situations, so work on a plan of attack to counter your lowered resistance during times of stress.
5. Plot your Progress
Take note of your daily/weekly/monthly progress in your diary or on a calendar in full view. Nothing is an inspirational as seeing how far you’ve come and what it would cost if you had to begin the process all over again.
6. Maintain Motivation
After the initial novelty of making a life altering change begins, boredom can set in. Continually challenge yourself to stay on target, and focus on the good things you will achieve once you’ve broken the back of your bad habit.
If necessary, practice a daily affirmation like “Every day in every way I am becoming a better person.”
7. Set Up a Support Structure
Keeping your action plan to yourself is a great excuse if you fail. You figure: “Nobody knows about what you I’m aiming to achieve, therefore nobody will know when I fail.”
Tell your friends, colleagues and family about what you are proposing to do and enlist their support and encouragement.
They can often foresee your trigger points or notice your behavior slipping into dangerous territory. Their feedback may not always be welcome, but their support will keep you accountable.
8. Falling Off The Wagon
Failure only turns into reality when you stop trying. Don’t allow one small slip up to be reason enough for failure. Accept that your action plan had a slight “bump” and then get straight back on the wagon and continue the journey.
9. Acknowledge and Reward Yourself
Daily or weekly achievements are an acknowledgment of your success. Take the time to stop, think and give yourself a pat on the back in acknowledgment of how far you’ve come.
Reward yourself. Let’s say you’ve gone an entire month without eating one junk food meal; so it’s time to congratulate yourself by taking in a movie, or going to the park to play with the kids. Better still, go to the park and do a 20 minute brisk walk!
10. Maintain Your Focus
Bad habits can take years to develop into subconscious behaviors. So it’s unrealistic to expect that after one or two months of altering your behavioral pattern, those bad habits will be eliminated altogether.
Be aware that it’s easy to re-establish old, practiced forms of behavior.
When you feel your resolve slipping, recount the journey you’ve been on to get to where you are now and focus on all the positive changes you’ve made.
Remember: bad habits may be hard to break, but new habits can transform your life.
Go to www.AccountabilityCoach.com and review the resources available to help you apply new habits so you can achieve your goals.
Specific Ideas to Keep You Focused so You Can Achieve Your Goals, in Any Economy
This tele-seminar is for Financial Professionals and Entrepreneurs and discusses basic concepts that all successful people apply to achieve their goals:
- Why it’s a great time to be a Financial Professional and how to capitalize on it to achieve your goals.
- Define Your Highest Payoff Activities
- The Power of Focus, Belief, and Confidence
- Effective Calendaring / Time Management
- Minimize Distractions and Time Wasters so you can Improve Efficiency
- Your Next Actions
Download your FREE copy today!
http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/AchieveGoalsInterviewOrder.php
How good are you at staying focused on the activities required to achieve your goals?
I found out that a women’s publication was looking for a financial expert to talk to about doing some question answering on financial issues for women. Because I know a woman who is in the financial area, I forwarded her the ‘opportunity’ to respond if she was interested.
I received what I thought was the perfect response back. She said, “Thanks, Anne! I’m worried it would be a bit distracting from my goals.” She then mentioned that she wants to stay focused only on those activities that support her achieving her goals in the timeframe she has set. How many people would think about the opportunity of obtaining more national recognition which may not lead you to the achievement of their goals? I think most would jump at the chance. Let’s say you got chosen. How much time would you have to spend responding to general financial questions for people all over the country? How much time does that take away from serving your current clients and helping them achieve their goals, and how does that impact your goals?
I was very impressed with this and had to share it with you. How focused are you on doing the activities required to achieve your goals? How easily are you distracted? What is the effect of those distractions on your goal achievement? What has to happen for you to be this laser focused so you can achieve all you goals in the timeframe you have set – professional and personal?
10 Principles to Eliminate Distractions and Encourage Success
We’re all guilty of allowing the little things to distract us from what we should be doing.
Take a moment and ask yourself where you truly want to be? Now tell me how many things you did today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday that directly contributed to the future results you want. And then tell me how many things you did today that did not contribute to your success. Those things probably distracted you from what you knew you should have been doing.
Minimize distractions and you’ll reach your goals faster – plain and simple. You must minimize distractions and focus on the tasks that have a positive effect on your success.
Here are 10 principles can be applied to reduce and eliminate distractions.
1. Stay off the internet. Set a time that you honor – say, anytime after 4pm and don’t get on it before then, unless you absolutely have to.
2. Remove computer desktop icons.
3. Remove desktop clutter.
4. Eliminate noises.
5. Discourage walk-in traffic (unless you have a business that you need walk-in traffic).
6. Screen your calls.
7. Ask for what you want.
8. Learn how to wrangle in excessive conversation.
9. Work when no one else is around.
10. Use and honor your calendar and task list. .
Remind yourself that those little distractions offer little return, if any at all, for the time you’ve invested. Instead, stick to the productive tasks that build your success. Eliminate distractions and you have an even better chance of acting on your good intentions and achieving amazing results!
For more information, download the tele-seminar at: http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/resources_teleseminars.php
To Change or Not To Change?
Can People Change?
Change can also refer to an individual’s own mission to become different. An individual’s change can happen quickly, gradually, or over a long-term period of time. It may be a conscious decision by a person to change, or be a personality change only perceivable by others who compare the two distinctive personalities, one past and one present. Changes can also be made for the positive or negative. Most people won’t perceive that they are “changing” for the worse—they may believe in their minds they are improving on certain individual qualities, all the while losing sight of their overall persona. Perhaps they have abandoned their previously upheld values or have altered their own perceptions of happiness and morality.
Knowing the definition of change, as well as the human understanding of change, may enlighten you as you start to make changes in your own life. What kinds of changes do you believe are necessary? First decide why you believe a change is called for. Do you wish to change something about yourself or do others remark to you that you should change? Are you judging yourself from your own perspective or the feelings and expressions of others? Do you think some change might be necessary to get from where you are now to where you want to be because what you are currently doing isn’t working or isn’t as effective as it used to be? If you perceive that your current behavior is self-destructive and ultimately leaves you unhappy then it may well be a time to change. Even so, it’s wise to first consider what qualities are helpful and what qualities can be unhealthy.
The Pros and Cons of Change
Some analysts have stated that when you consider “change”, whether in the context of society or individual improvement, that there are a few factors to consider—the pros and cons of change, as it were. The pros of change are indeed powerful and too many to list them all here. Change can correct a sense of injustice. It can instill faith and hope in humanity and improve human relationships. It can lead to better efficiency in production and lifestyle. At best, change could even save the lives of many people.
What are the cons of change, if there are any? There are definitely some negative consequences that could result from change. You never know, in most cases, exactly what will happen until you try it. When you enter into change, you must believe it will produce the desired results, or why change? What got you to where you are today probably isn’t going to take you to where you want to be without some degree of change. We all grow as we get older. We experience new things and learn new things that help us to make changes accordingly.
Don’t be afraid to change just because you don’t know how the change will affect things. I heard it said, if you continually do things the same way you will always get what you have gotten. Explore what might be. Ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that can happen? In most cases, it will be something desired and something good. You may not do it perfect the first time, but you will get better each time you do it. Try changing something that you have been putting off and experience the results for yourself. Enjoy!
To learn to be a master of change, invest in the tele-seminar at http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/resources_teleseminars.php
