Prosper News: September 2007
Dear Student,
The lofty days of summer have passed, and the industrious spirit of fall has come. With the fall season comes the adventure of children going back to school, finishing projects around the house, and preparing for the upcoming holiday season. This coupled with career and family obligations can be overwhelming. Indeed, balancing work, life, and family is a constant struggle for many of us. And finding time to pursue our personal goals and other endeavors may seem arduous, if not impossible. While we may be limited on how many hours we have in a day, it is how we utilize our time that helps us achieve the fine art of balance. This month we encourage you to give yourself the gift of time-time for personal reflection and thoughtful introspection; time to review your goals and evaluate your progress over the past year; time to review your finances and how well you are managing your resources; time to relax, even fantasize and dream. We also encourage you to enjoy and drink in the moment. Remember, time is not your enemy; rather, when managed effectively, it can be your friend and ally. Utilizing time to your advantage is a key step in achieving the fine art of balance in all aspects of life. After all, you may even discover hidden opportunities for new and exciting ventures that were presented through effective time management.
Wishing you continued success,
The Success Team
Balancing Act:
Giving Yourself the Gift of Time
Nearly one in five Americans currently owns a business, which is a testament to our entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, 47% of Americans who do not own a business dream of starting one, according to Harris Interactive. Yet, more than 82% of Americans work for someone else despite dreams of independence, flexibility, creativity, financial freedom, entrepreneurship, and lifelong prosperity. Americans cite inadequate resources, the lack of marketable skills and knowledge, the fear of risk and instability, and time constraints as reasons preventing them from exploring new ventures including starting a business. Fortunately, you have taken the initiative to learn the skills you need to achieve your dreams through the Success Center, and we applaud you! Now, we want to share a few ideas on how to overcome time constraints and achieve balance; thus enabling you to experience continued success.
"There is always a learning curve-about one or two years-when taking on a new project, including starting a business or working from home," says Dawn I. Ballard, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "The key is to figure out how to set boundaries and create artificial distinctions when there really are none; you need to learn how to draw lines when it comes to demands on your time," she says. In other words, identifying practical ways of managing your personal and professional obligations is an important step toward time management and eventual balance.
With that, here are a few tips for managing your time more effectively
12 Tips for Time Management [1]:
- Plan for tomorrow today. At the end of each day, spend five or 10 minutes planning out your schedule for tomorrow. By organizing your task list for the next day, the night before, you save time. Additionally, having your day mapped out saves you from having to rack your brain trying to remember what needs to be accomplished, thereby increasing your efficiency and maximizing your productivity. Knowing exactly what you have to accomplish in the morning and having a plan, facilities time management and reduce stress throughout the day.
- Align your priorities. While you are compiling a "To Do List" every night, organize and prioritize your tasks. Divide your list into categories such as: work, home, school, personal, and miscellaneous; then list each task by importance. While each task is important, some items may be more pressing than others. That said, it is recommended that you organize your tasks by deadline and by category. This will help you determine your priority items. And, as the day progresses, be sure to check off items once they have been completed.
- Maximize downtime. There are several opportunities throughout the day to maximize downtime. For instance, when you are standing in line at the bank or waiting for your computer to boot up, or waiting for a plane that has been delayed for two hours-each of these provide opportunities to be productive. You can return phone calls, check email, write thank you notes, brainstorm on ideas for a new project, update your date book, or catch up on reading the latest edition of The Wall Street Journal (or Harry Potter, whichever piques your interest). In essence, maximize your downtime.
- Emulate the early bird. Set your alarm clock an hour earlier than you would normally (or, at least an hour before the rest of the family wakes up) in the morning. Utilize this time to eat a healthy breakfast and make lunch (instead of grabbing fast food during your lunch break), take a brisk walk or run, or review the task list you wrote the night before (including your goals). You can also use this extra hour for prayer and meditation, which may help with stress reduction, personal enlightenment and clarity, even the cultivation of new ideas. "Spending time reflecting away from work can help you find clarity on your business and your life," says Paige Arnof-Fenn of The Entrepreneur's Life. Additionally, this is a gift you are giving to yourself-it's "me" time that you do not have to feel guilty about later. Remember that the old adage the early bird gets the worm still rings true today.
- Take breaks and relax. Be sure to set aside time for relaxation during the day to recharge and reenergize. Part of achieving balance is maintaining a healthy balance between work and play. While it is important to invest time into growing your business and achieving other professional goals, it must not come at the expense of personal growth. If are not refueling your personal arsenal- if you are not maintaining your emotional, physical and mental health-you will soon find yourself unable to effectively contribute to an organization, project, or to others. Additionally, relaxation allows you to better appreciate hard work and the rewards it reaps. "It is important to come up with a set of rules and personal practices when working from home, running your own business, or from an office," says Lori Sokol of Work Life Matters magazine. "The onus has landed on the shoulders of the entrepreneur to actually set aside time to take breaks, to have lunch, and to just step away," she says. Hence, scheduling time to relax is important to avoid burn-out, as well as for personal fulfillment.
- Pay attention to the "little things" (it is in the details). The slightest seemingly insignificant detail can throw your schedule off, cause you to waste time, and even create a sense of imbalance and chaos. For example, walking to another room to retrieve documents from the printer or making several trips to the grocery store during the week can waste time. While it may only be a few minutes lost here and there, it adds up over time. Planning meals for the week and having a grocery list before going to the store can save you from making numerous trips (not to mention save on gas). Organizing your office so that your printer, fax machine, phone, computer and other key office supplies are in close proximity to each other can save you time and increase productivity. Even reviewing emails before sending them, to ensure you have included bulleted items and addressed key points (and eliminated spelling errors) can save you from having to send multiple emails and improve communication. Take a few moments now and take inventory of how you use your time, and create practical ways of utilizing your time more wisely.
- Take out the papers and the trash (and don't talk back). Avoid being a pack rat. Eliminate junk email, old emails that are not necessary to archive in your inbox and junk mail and other paperwork that is no longer needed. Eliminate stacks of miscellaneous paperwork on your desk and clean out and organize your files regularly (if you have not used a file in more than six months to a year, consider recycling it). In sum, eliminate clutter. There is an old school of thought that a cluttered desk is indicative of a cluttered mind. Moreover, having to sift through mountains of paperwork (and decipher important emails amid lists of junk mail) wastes time, creates confusion, interferes with productivity, and causes unnecessary stress. If you are concerned about throwing away a document with important information you may want or need to refer back to later, consider highlighting key points in the document, typing them up in a Word document and emailing it yourself, or scanning it into your computer files. (Be sure to organize this email to avoid confusing it with junk mail.)
- State it on the record. Research indicates that one's likeliness of accomplishing a goal increases when the goal is written down, reviewed often, and shared with others. Thus, we recommend carrying a notepad or even a tape recorder with you to record ideas and epiphanies; to take note of important dates, items to add to your task list, appointments, and other reminders to yourself. If you do not have a tape recorder, leave a message on your voice mail to review later.
- Stay focused. Work during work hours. Surfing the Internet, taking personal phone calls, or taking lengthy and leisurely lunch breaks takes time away from your work day. If you own a business or work from home, make it a point to establish a specific schedule that says from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, you are at work. If you work at an office but want to make time for projects outside of work, create a schedule that details the time (and duration) of each task on your list. It is easy to become sidetracked by the mosaic of yellow Post-It notes on the bulletin board reminding you stop by the post office and drive kids to ballet recitals; however, that is what you have your task list for-your time has been strategically scheduled and you are organized, so you can mentally be at work during work hours. "You need to come up with a rigid schedule [...] have a finite end of the day [and] avoid the temptation to work into the night," Ballard says. If you work at home, Ballard suggests establishing an office in a separate part of the house, or devoting a specific room as your office to manage work time versus personal time.
- Simplify, simplify, simplify. It is easy to bombard yourself with an endless list of tasks. The first step toward simplifying your life and avoiding epistle-length "To Do Lists" is learning how to say NO. "When you look at a situation or an opportunity at the macro level, you can sometimes see patterns that aren't obvious when you're in the thick of your day-to-day life," says Arnof-Fenn. "I find that I'm most effective in managing my business, and my life, when I'm able to break out of my regular routines and patterns; when I give myself permission to say 'no' and set limits." If baking 1,000 cupcakes for the community bake sale is going to create (or exacerbate) additional stress, give yourself permission to say "I would love to help out, but at this time I am afraid that I will have to decline. Please consider me for the next event." And don't feel guilty about being honest with yourself and with others. Being Wonder Woman or Superman is admirable, but the ability to deliver well on promises without sacrificing your sanity is more admirable. Do not misconstrue self-preservation with selfishness. Occasionally, you must simplify your life in order to progress. Additionally, if upgrading from a 2004 Hyundai to a 2008 Jaguar is going to stretch you financially, thus causing unnecessary stress to meet that financial obligation, consider postponing the new car purchase until your financial means can better sustain such a purchase. Simplicity brings with it a sense of added grace, peace of mind, clarity, and yes-balance-to life.
- People matter. The bottom line is that who is always more important than the what. "When you get the people right, the things that follow will always be interesting," according to Arnof-Fenn. "Remember, if you think you are too small to have any impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." It is important to be productive; however, people are our greatest asset. Real success is found in healthy, solid, and lasting relationships, and not necessarily in a decoupage wall of degrees. "Whether you think of yourself as an entrepreneur, business owner, chef, coach, salesperson, consultant, or investor, make sure how you spend your time plays in your strengths and preferences, and surround yourself with people who complement your strengths and skills," she says. After all, relationships are what sustain us during our most difficult times and bring us the greatest sense of joy and satisfaction long after the spotlight dims.
- Reward yourself. When you accomplish a goal, allow yourself time for earnest reflection and to share the triumph with friends and loved ones. For instance, if one of your goals this year was to pay off the remaining balance on your student loans and you did, consider treating yourself to a weekend at the beach with your spouse. If your goal this year was to lose 20 pounds and you have lost 25 pounds, consider a night out at the spa or a special cruise with your spouse. In truth, the reward does not necessarily have to be as dramatic or extravagant as the aforementioned examples. If you have a daily goal of devoting eight solid hours toward working on establishing a new business or finding new leads for potential real estate investments, congratulate yourself-out loud. "Good job! I did it! I am so awesome!" Then, treat yourself to a well-deserved break watching an old Cosby rerun for some laughter and relaxation. It is as equally important to reward yourself when you accomplish a goal, as it is to give positive reinforcement to a child when they behave well or master a new concept. In doing this, you are increasing your potential for future success exponentially.
Summarily, life is a constant balancing act. Balance is an art that must be practiced, tuned, and refined-constantly. Perhaps Arnof-Fen said it best when she wrote "when you understand that time really is a precious commodity and resource, it helps you focus and prioritize so you can manage your days to their fullest potential."
[1] Several tips and ideas were abridged from AllBusiness.com
