It`s about all of these things…

In the 3^rd and last part of our series on professional time management, we’re going to expand our collection of guidelines on list-building to ensure that you will be able to maximize the benefits of this “life hack” technique.

The Best Practices in Creating To-Do Lists

1. Keep It Short & Sweet – I understand that many of you have a lot on their plate and initially, your to-do lists will be long and complex.

However, as you continue refining your grasp of prioritizing tasks and delegating work to others, you will soon discover that life (like your to-do list) can be so much simpler.

Strive to make your main to-do list, day list and future list short and concise. If your to-do lists become too detailed, you may feel demotivated to accomplish each of the items.

How many items should be in your to-do lists?

As a rule of thumb, I often limit my total to-do items to 20 items. If I have to add one more to this list, I often check off 5 or more to get ahead.

Again, listing down things won’t make you a good time manager. The list is the tool that will help you manage your time more efficiently. However, if you end up procrastinating or abandoning your to-do lists, then they won’t be any help at all.

2. Don’t Add Commonplace Activities – A to-do list is actually a way to manage your time when additional activities begin to pile up.

What shouldn’t you put in your to-do lists?

With this in mind, you don’t have to add things like “have breakfast” or “drive to work” on your to-do lists. You already know for sure that you’re going to perform these tasks, so it is actually counterproductive to list them as “to do” items.

Instead of adding activities and events that are bound to happen because they always do, focus on upcoming tasks that require more time than your usual tasks, like going to the dentists or getting an appointment somewhere.

3. Hammer the Hard Tasks First – There was a time when I focused too much on the easy tasks that I had little or no time left for the more difficult ones. It was very challenging to get back on track because the items left on my to-do list were all difficult and time-consuming.

You can avoid this scenario completely by balancing tough tasks and easy tasks. The first thing that you should try to accomplish in your day should a difficult or time-consuming task.

 Keep working on a difficult task until you’ve finished it or you finished at least 50% of the work needed to complete it.

Don’t start on a task only to leave it a few minutes later because it’s difficult. The difficulty level of a task is a big determinant of how much time you should spend working on it. As a task’s difficulty increases, so does the time you need to accomplish it.

4.Be Flexible and Adaptable – Flexibility is the most important trait that you can develop when you are managing your time. If you are inflexible with your own schedule, you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated at all the important things that you have yet to accomplish.

I know that I just asked you to perform at least one difficult task per day, but you must apply this guideline only when you’re prepared for the work ahead.

You know yourself better than anyone else on the planet so be mindful of how you feel and what you’re thinking when you’re planning the days ahead.

5. Work With Your Organic Schedule – Each person’s organic or natural working schedule is unique. Some individuals feel pumped up to work right after lunch time. People like me work better in the hours that lead to midnight. And still some individuals are more efficient workers when they set out to do their tasks after having breakfast.

If you are extremely productive in the evening, schedule your most difficult tasks in a way that they coincide with your “wave of productivity”.

Easier tasks should be reserved for those times of the day when your energy is a little low and you can only handle smaller tasks.

Of course, some people don’t have the option to move their work around. You can remedy this problem by putting “rest gaps” in between difficult tasks so you have a recovery period. This will ensure that you will not be overwhelmed with more difficult tasks even if you’re not mentally conditioned to do them at a particular time.

Another Resource I`d like to share with you is “The 12 Week Year” by Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington, New York Times Bestseller.

In the second part of our series, I’m going to teach you a time-tested method of creating beautiful order in an otherwise chaotic world.

This method is so simple, absolutely anyone can start using it today.

What is this excellent time management tool?

The technique I’m talking about is list-making and its simplicity is actually the basis of its power as a time management tool. People who are already strapped for time need techniques that are easy to implement. Nothing is simpler and easier than building to-do lists!

Simple Guidelines for Maximum Results

 Below are some pro tips for building accomplishable and realistic to-do lists:

1. Create the Right To-Do Lists – There are three kinds of to-do lists that you can create depending on what you have to accomplish. Your main to-do list is contains all of the things that you have to accomplish in the short-term and long-term.

You can list as many things as you want in your main to-do list as this will be used as a resource for the two other lists I’m going to mention in a moment. The second to-do list is your day list.

The day list contains all the items that need to be given attention today.

All of the most urgent items in your main to-do list should be put in your day list, especially deadlines and stuff that you weren’t able to accomplish in the past.

The third and final list is the future list. The future list should contain the things you have to accomplish in the following weeks or months. If something needs to be accomplished 2 weeks from now, write it down in your future list so you won’t clutter your day list.

2. Prioritize Tasks with a Main To-Do List – Priority-setting is your primary goal in creating different lists.

Your main to-do list was designed to be a general list so you can assign items to their proper sub-lists. You will also be able to write down the time and date for each of the items before transferring them to your day list and future list.

It would also help if you marked certain tasks with E1 or E2. E1 means “super easy! – will not take more than 10 minutes” while E2 stands for “enjoyable task!”. You can create more notations if you want, if they will help you stay motivated in accomplishing your tasks.

3. Use the Future List Wisely – Writing a future list is a way to accommodate less urgent tasks so you won’t forget to do them. There are also some tasks that don’t have to be accomplished today. If you’re already budgeting your time, there’s no need to add more tasks in your day list.

However, I would warn against using this list for procrastination. Having a long future list doesn’t mean you’re getting organized or you’re managing your time well. It just means you have a list of tasks. It’s what you do after making your to-do lists that truly matter.

Where can you create your lists?

If you’re a little old-fashioned like me, you may prefer to physically write down your to-do items on a journal.

If you’re planning to write things down on paper, I suggest that you use a monthly planner as an extension of your future list to stay organized. It can be difficult to keep track of items on your future list if you can’t see the days or weeks that lead up to each deadline.

Now, I also know that not everyone likes keeping journals and notebooks around.

If you have a smart phone or tablet, you can download organization apps like Any.Do, Clear and other to-do list programs on iTunes or Google Play. There are also other app centers available on the Internet such as the Opera Mobile Market which you can explore.

A good to-do app should allow you to make an unlimited number of to-do items complete with sub-lists. You should also be able to add a time and date for each item that you need to complete.

Some apps allow task sharing through email and through an in-app messaging system, but these aren’t as essential as the first set of features I mentioned.

If you don’t want to download another app, check out your current calendar app to see if it has a list feature… and continue to pursue to be an expert in ‘Expert Time Management Simplified’.

We also learned that in order to seize control of clutter, we have to be willing to let go of our old beliefs and habits so we can make some real progress with getting organized.

How does chronic clutter and disorganization cause stress?

Below are some of the common reasons why chronic disorganization can also lead to chronic stress:

1. Stressed Mind – The more you see clutter, the more your mind reacts to it whether you like it or not.

You can ignore clutter as much as you want, but below your mind’s surface, your subconscious mind is working overtime to find solutions to the clutter. Unfortunately, without conscious guidance your subconscious cannot create concrete and practical solutions.

2. Time Consuming – A cluttered environment is hard to manage and navigate. You will have to spend double or triple the normal time just trying to find the things that you need. Often, people look for things when they are urgently needed so the stress increases even more.

3. Things Are Lost – There will be situations where you won’t be able to find the things you need because of all the clutter. So you will spend a lot of time searching for stuff buried under the clutter and at the end of the day, your efforts will yield nothing. This is the harsh reality of disorganization that we have to accept in order to motivate ourselves to finally get organized.

4. Reduced Living Space – Clutter can easily consume your living space to the point that you will only have a small nook left to move about.

If you don’t believe me, trying watching shows like “Hoarders” to see some extreme examples of how organization problems can conflate to the point where people are actually threatened with eviction by landlords and housing councils if they don’t clean up the messes in their homes.

5. Social Isolation – If your home is chronically cluttered, you may feel embarrassed about the situation and this may lead to ignoring requests of friends to come over.

You may be limited to meeting friends in restaurants and other outdoor locations, which may not always be the most convenient option for all parties concerned.

How can you motivate yourself to become more organized?

Getting the right type of motivation can be hard especially if you’re “going solo” and your support network is very small. Don’t worry – you can still do it!

Here are some ways that you can motivate yourself to finally clean up your clutter at home or at work:

1. Create a De-Cluttering Schedule – Procrastination is the number one enemy of would-be clutter warriors. It’s very easy to say you’ll do something tomorrow, a week from now or 2 months from now.

The human mind cannot fully grasp the passage of time so a year’s worth of procrastination may feel like a week. You will have a much higher success rate if you set a specific day and hour for your first de-cluttering effort.

Do everything to remind yourself to clean up on the appointed day, even to the extent that you have to cancelling other appointments so you can get something done.

2. Kick-start Your Efforts With Visitors – This is one of the fastest and most practical ways to get motivated. Invite some friends over for dinner or a movie night so your mind can finally relinquish its inhibitions about getting organized.

Be sure to invite friends that you secretly want approval from so you will become really motivated to take action. It sounds silly at the outset, but trust me, the most brilliant ways to get rid of clutter come out when you’re having some great friends over.

3. Find Your Tolerance Level – This is extremely important for long-term management of clutter. Some people are averse to the idea of having clutter anywhere in their house while some are completely oblivious to disorganization.

You’re feeling stressed about the clutter at home or in the office because the clutter has exceeded your tolerance level.

You need to identify your tolerance level and use it as a benchmark for staying organized. If you start feeling stressed about the clutter, you have to do something immediately to relieve the stress (e.g. by cleaning up).

This is the only way that you will be able to remove this major stressor for good. Don’t worry – you will soon develop practical routines for getting clutter out of the way!

This article has been sourced from The Huffington Post. The link back to the original article follows at the end of this post.

Science has shown that mindfulness meditation can have a positive impact on a huge range of health conditions, including cancer, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The practice has even been found to slow HIV progression and protect the brain from aging. 

Mindfulness seems to improve nearly every aspect of health — but how? While mounting research has revealed many of the numerous physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness, little is known of the mechanisms underlying these positive changes.

Now, a new study from Carnegie Mellon University, published on Jan. 29 in the journal Biological Psychiatry, demystifies the neurobiological effects of cultivating a focused awareness on the present moment.

……….

Huffington Post link http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/meditation-brain-changes-study_us_56b4b7aee4b04f9b57d93bef

This is the first of a series of articles over the next period of time where I will share personal views and the views of attitudes of a diverse group of others.

This first article from BuzzFeed asks the question “What is Mindfulness and Why you should try it”  This is an informative and light-hearted and hugely valuable entree into the topic. Yet at the same time renews and adds to the information about for the mindfulness practitioner.

A portion of the article follows, while there is a link to the original source and the end. Further information about “mindfulness” will be published on a daily basis.

Mindfulness is a growing movement that encourages people to take a minute to notice their body and its surroundings. To get a little more information about mindfulness, what it is and isn’t, and how people new to mindfulness can begin practicing awareness, we spoke with Cheryl Jones — one of Aetna’s wellness program strategy leads, who is trained in mindfulness and completed the Teacher Development Intensive in Mindfulness-Based-Stress Reduction (MBSR).

What is mindfulness?

Cheryl Jones: Mindfulness is paying attention or noting whatever is happening in the moment with a gentle and open mind. It involves being present in the moment, the one you’re in right now. Mindfulness doesn’t involve chanting, bowing, sitting cross-legged, or burning incense.

How do we practice mindfulness?

CJ: Mindfulness can be practiced formally through meditation where we pause and notice breathing, thoughts, feelings, sensations and surroundings. It can also be practiced informally while driving, during conversations, while exercising, and as you’re eating.

What are the benefits to practicing mindfulness?

CJ: Mindfulness can help lower stress and builds resilience so you can meet the demands of your day with more ease. It allows you to have more clarity to solve problems. Mindfulness can help you be patient with yourself and others. And it can make you more effective and feel happier.

The complete article can be accessed here https://www.buzzfeed.com/aetna/ask-an-expert-what-is-mindfulness-and-why-should-you-try-it?utm_term=.hlzl95EPN#.iiRaJyrvx

To feel happy and content about where you spend your working time is critical to your well being? Or are you a stress head and not the best person to be around either at work or after hours on the weekend.

How is your well being?

I wrote another of my blogs about this.  So here is a link to to that article?

>>>>   Have a look at “How Proud Are You of Your Business”?

CLICK HERE >> You will see a link to a Top Tier Resource … about “a safe way to build a business”.

http://businessinaboxtoptier.com/how-to-build-a-business-you-can-feel-proud-of/

A few years back, I was fortunate to be at a conference in Sydney, “Happiness and It`s Causes” at which Martin Seligman spoke, in fact he was the keynote speaker. I was familiar with Martin`s work, having read a number of his books and completed an online course.  Mind stuff is  about how positive psychology helps to dramatically deepen faith and personal belief. It builds personal strength, personal power and ‘happiness’!

As a school teacher, Principal and Life Coach and now business entrepreneur, I have always been inspired by people of Martin`s ilk. But Martin Seligman added a significant new viewpoint about how positive psychology fits into the education system, the business world and into everyday people`s lives.

Optimism rather than pessimism! How my days became so much richer when I have an ‘intention’ at the beginning of the day to filter experiences in such a positive way!

“The inside stuff” is calmer, less volatile, better perspective is added to problems .. the day is just better!

Indeed the name of the conference “Happiness and It`s Causes” got quite a few laughs from my colleagues and friends as I remember! Smirks and cynical comments were common place! “you`re going to a conference on HAPPINESS!”

In the conference, there was a brief but significant discussion on what might have been an alternative conference title. Suggestions included, as I remember … ‘Suicide Prevention’, ‘Depression Causes and What to Do About It and “Fear From Poor Parenting”.

I`ve made up these titles, since I can`t remember the exact ones. My point however is this!  Would these titles have been met with smirks and cynical comments?  Or would there have been almost total acceptance? Because that was the world …then!

Copyright: <a href=’http://www.123rf.com/profile_dolgachov’>dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Martin Seligman’s recasting of psychology opened up a flourishing new field that focused on optimism rather than helplessness, signature strengths rather than pathology, and growth in happiness rather than depression.

How positive psychology can help is obvious now to many. Being optimistic and being around optimistic people is such a nice experience. And it`s so good for us … physically, emotionally, how we think, spiritually.

>>> Our consciousness is at a different level!  We interact with our world   …. better?

We, the human race, have come a long way in a short time, but still have a long way to go!!

About this blog …. til recent days was titled “Personal Development Buzz”.

I reckon “It`s The Inside Stuff” is far more appropriate title?  What do you say?

After all it is what`s inside us, mind and thinking, heart and emotions, physical well-being that so contributes to who we are on a day to day basis?  And so much more!

Like and Share this page would be great! 

Question:  So what is real happiness? How can you experience it?

How can you live it? Every thoughtful person asks such questions.

Your copy of “Master the Art of Positive Thinking” can be accessed by completing your details in the Opt -In box on this page.

Resource:  http://mindspirit.com/the-gospel-of-happiness-how-positive-psychology-can-help-deepen-your-faith/

So often we seek happiness in things that we buy. Personal items, things for the house. We buy things to make us happy. Yes I hear you say! And while we have these ‘things’, we usually feel just great.

We`ve heard said “I`m in need of some shopping therapy”. Great while it happens, but we soon need to do it again!

The result, happy, short term thrill and credit card debt … growing.

“One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation,” says Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University who has been studying the question of money and happiness for over two decades.

We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.”

My best memories are to do with travel, with holidays … being there and after, in conversations with friends, the pics and the videos on Facebook. And the saving up can be fun to do. The looking forward to the ‘happy time’ is also great. It teaches us lots and the build-up process about deciding and denying because “I need the cash for my holiday and travel” .. it`s just good for us?

>>>So what`s on your happiness bucket list? New York, Sydney, Antarctic, canoeing, desert hike, para sailing  …. and more

Read lots more about the Science of why we should spend money on experiences and not things. 

Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University who has been studying the question of money and happiness and …

Most people are in the pursuit of happiness. There are economists who think happiness is the best indicator of the health of a society. We know that money can make you happier, though after your basic needs are met, it doesn’t make you that much happier. But one of the biggest questions is how to allocate our money, which is (for most of us) a limited resource.

There’s a very logical assumption that most people make when spending their money: that because a physical object will last longer, it will make us happier for a longer time than a one-off experience like a concert or vacation. According to recent research, it turns out that assumption is completely wrong.

 

So rather than buying the latest iPhone or a new BMW, Gilovich suggests you’ll get more happiness spending money on experiences like going to art exhibits, doing outdoor activities, learning a new skill, or traveling.

Gilovich’s findings are the synthesis of psychological studies conducted by him and others ……

Read on and build your happiness and well-being quotient. Happiness = new events = travel!

Click here now and enhance your HAPPINESS and WELL BEING!!

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043858/world-changing-ideas/the-science-of-why-you-should-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing