How to Win At Your New Year’s Resolution

Time Management New Years ResolutionIt’s that time of year again. The time of false hopes and broken promises. (a.k.a. New Year’s Resolutions!) This year, don’t waste your time with a resolution that won’t even last until the New Year’s Eve party is cleaned up. Follow these three tips to increase your chances of keeping your resolution and making it a habit.

1. Choose One

We have so much we want to change! It can be tempting use our (temporary) New Year’s motivation to fix everything at once, but this wastes your time. You’re better off putting all your time, energy, and focus into overcoming one obstacle. Then, use your satisfaction as motivation to tackle something else.

2. Plan Your “How”

A resolution is just a thought in the air until you have a plan to complete it. “I want to spend more time with my family” is a nice thought. “I want to get to work half an hour earlier each day so I don’t have to bring work home on the weekends” is a plan. Don’t make a resolution without also making a plan to complete it.

3. Pick a Partner

Making something a habit is the key to keeping your New Year’s resolution, but until it’s a habit, it’s helpful to have someone to hold you accountable. Trying to lose weight? Ask a friend to go on the journey with you. Trying to stay organized? Ask a colleague to conduct a “desk inspection” once a week. It’s not enough to just tell someone what your goal is. Unless you have a specific procedure in place for that person to hold you accountable, they’ll forget about your goal just as quickly as you will.

Happy New Year readers! See you in 2014!

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Photo Credit: Freedigitalphotos.net

Why Santa Claus is an Excellent Time Manager

Time management santaIn a few days, millions of children will anxiously wake up and rush to the Christmas tree to see what Santa brought for them. It’s a good thing Santa is an excellent time manager so he can ensure everything is finished on time! Here are three time management lessons we can take from the jolly man in red:

1. He makes a list and checks it twice.

Notice that Santa’s naughty and nice list doesn’t consist of multicolored post-it notes carelessly strewn about the North Pole. He keeps everything organized in one place so he can easily find it.

2. He delegates

Santa could try to make all those toys himself, and thus ensure that they were all made his way and to his standards, but then he wouldn’t have time for those important administrative tasks, like list-checking, travel-planning, and cookie-eating. Santa delegates effectively to his team of elves to make sure everything gets finished efficiently in time for Christmas.

3. He thinks outside the box

Imagine how much longer present-delivery would take if Santa had to fuss with keeping keys to each house and letting himself in through the front door! By using a more creative approach, the chimney, he’s able to speed up his process and finish it all in one night.

Now, some would argue that if they had 364 days to prepare for one project, they’d be great time managers too. Point taken. But regardless of what your job is, I sincerely hope that you are taking time to slow down and enjoy your family and friends this Holiday Season, and are ready to work efficiently and productively in the new year so you can always find time to relax and enjoy the important things in life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Time Diet!

Did Santa bring you time management help this season?  Check out The Time Diet: Digestible Time Management for $12.99 on Amazon.com.

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The Busy Addiction and What I Plan To Do About It

Time Management BusyYou know how sometimes you read something and feel the author is speaking directly to you? That’s how I felt this week when I read a blog post called “Busy Isn’t Respectable Anymore.”

In it, the author explains that we glorify the word “busy” as something to be proud of, and it needs to stop. This particular quote stuck with me: “Busyness was just another addiction I clung to so I could avoid things that made me uncomfortable.”

The Addiction

Being busy is an addiction? Oh my goodness, he’s right! And just like any other addiction, it doesn’t happen over night. We become addicted to “busy” as we slowly convince ourselves that it’s our only option. We’re stressed and become focused on constantly doing something instead of purposefully being productive. We get caught up in quantity at the sake of quality and let go of the idea that it’s ever OK to be caught doing…nothing.

The Challenge

Well, I for one am going to accept his challenge of not answering the question: “How are you?” with the answer: “Busy.” I am not going to let that word define me, and I hope you won’t either. We all have a lot of things going on in our lives, but why should we let the sheer volume of things be the focus? Instead, I’m going to focus on being productive. I’m going to focus on enjoyment. I’m going to focus on the slow instead of the fast.

It’s The Time Diet equivalent of remembering to savor the bites you take instead of mindlessly shoveling food into your mouth. So readers, I hope you will take time this week and in the coming year to move beyond the “busy” in your schedule and reconnect with what really matters in your life. It’s a challenge I plan to undertake with you!

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3 Reasons To Be Nice (When You Don’t Have Time For It)

Time management smile“Hurry” has become a mainstay of our vocabulary, especially at this time of year! Seems like everyone is in a rush to get somewhere, or do something. Before you get caught up in the sense of urgency, don’t forget that there is always time to be nice (and if there’s not, then you’re moving too fast!) Here is what reminded me of that today:

Today, while out holiday shopping, I saw a mom with two young (tired) kids  in front of me at the food court. The cashier messed up her order several times, and then they ended up being out of the soup she wanted. At this point, I was frustrated for her. When the food finally came out, I was expecting a tirade, but instead, she smiled and said, “Thanks so much! Good luck handling all these crazy crowds today!”

If this exhausted, clearly time-crunched lady made time to smile and say thanks, I had no excuse to be grumpy! When you catch yourself being irritable while crunched for time, remember these three things:

1. Everyone else is busy too

Everyone has somewhere to be and things to do. You aren’t the only one affected by the crowd, or the traffic, or the (insert life crisis here.) Try to be understanding. Even if you do need to complain, there are ways to bring problems to someone’s attention without being a jerk about it.

2. Stuff happens…roll with it

Sometimes things will be completely out of your control. When this happens, it’s easy to look for someone to blame…but it’s probably not their fault either. Look for the humor in a situation, not a scapegoat.

3. A smile might just make someone’s day

When you’ve dealt with cranky people all afternoon, one smile from an understanding person can turn your whole day around. Be that person.

Being nice doesn’t take any extra time. It might take a little extra energy, but that energy is returned to you doubled from the people who appreciate your kindness

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Gobblegeddon and The Importance of Double Checking

Time Management Double CheckDouble checking plans and arrangements always seems like a hassle…until it averts a time wasting disaster! This week, I learned an essential lesson about the importance of double-checking and why two minutes of forethought can save hours of time later. To chuckle at my little calamity, and hopefully prevent this from happening to you, read on…

A Red Eye Gone Wrong

One of the cool things about writing a time management blog is that when crappy things happen to you, the silver lining is always, “Well, at least I’ll get a blog out of it!” That was my first thought after what will henceforth be known as the Great Thanksgiving Travel Debacle of 2013.

Let me preface this story with the fact that my husband and I travel a lot. We know exactly how long it will take to get through security at various times of the day and make a sport out of trying to get an “A” boarding pass on Southwest without paying for early check in. I am usually the queen of double-checking everything when it comes to travel….until this week.

We were booked on a United red eye flight to Florida. We weren’t checking bags, we were busy getting last minute holiday things taken care of, so we didn’t bother to check-in online and print our boarding passes like we usually do. When we arrived at the ticket counter in plenty of time to make the flight, we heard the 5 words no air traveler ever wants to hear…

“That flight just took off.”

What?!?! Apparently, amidst the multiple schedule changes this flight had suffered, we hadn’t seen the email about it being moved up by an hour. Minor details. After several hours of trying to rebook and begging for a standby seat, we finally secured seats on the first flight out in the morning.

Should Have Double Checked…

This left me plenty of time to think about the importance of double checking as I tried to sleep across three chairs and an end table curled up in the terminal with a few other stranded travelers between the hours of 1:00am and 5:00am.

Double-checking always seems so obvious after the fact. It’s not until after something goes wrong that we think, “Really? I didn’t have 2 minutes to spare to ensure that this didn’t happen?”

When people heard of our flight woes, their first assumption was that we got caught up in the huge winter storm that week (affectionately dubbed “Gobblegeddon” by some media outlets.) Nope. This was all 100% preventable.

As we head into one of the most hectic months of the year, remember to take the extra minute and double check your plans before walking out the door. That little extra caution can save you loads of headache later.

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Photo Credit: Freedigitalphotos.net