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Volume 2,
Issue 3 Focus
Your Genius Greetings fellow Renaissance Minds! I hope you are having a wonderful summer. I have been spending mine catching up on backlogs a little, getting slightly more organized, taking in some training, and making some great future business plans. (And I have managed to make some time for family, fun, and sunshine, of course!) I've also recently started writing articles for eZineArticles.com. And I'm finalizing the creation of a brand-new program I'm launching with friend and fellow coach Victoria Cook of The Guilt Free Coach later this month! I'll be sending more details soon. In the announcements section, I'm sharing information on an upcoming talk I'm giving in Algonquin, IL, and also detailing the local theatre company my husband co-founded in the past year. That's my busy summer, in a nutshell. Hope you are all enjoying the summer and moving onward towards your dreams!
Mid-Year Review and Realignment After wrapping up the first half (and then some) of 2008, this is a great time to revisit your annual goals and realign your actions. I received permission from John McConnell of Stressless Training to use an article he wrote on "How to Make 2008 Great!" Since I didn't post it at the beginning of the year, this is the perfect time to share John's wonderful article. You can call it "How to make the second half of 2008 Great!" if you want, but I think it is a powerful document to complete every year. The easiest way to remember to do that would be to complete the questions every year, on your birthday! It's a terrific way to clarify your growth goals on a consistent basis. As parents gear up to send the kids back off to school, there's often a nostalgia in the air and a refocusing on career and personal goals. Also make sure and take a few moments to make some "self-nurturing" goals for the coming months. While many of us take it easy over the summer or have vacations or short get-aways, sometimes the frenzy of getting back to school (not to mention the time delay of getting stuck behind school buses on the commute!) and an increased pace at the workplace wears us down. So revisit and reconnect to those goals, shift your actions if necessary, and also keep taking regular time to enjoy the journey.
You would probably think that a time management coach would encourage you to "Just do it," or to do it now rather than later. So it seems quite contrary that expert coach Mark Forster would be encouraging us to "do it tomorrow," but that is exactly what he is doing in this fabulous little book. Basically, Forster shares a simple 4-step method of getting back on top of things. Corral your backlog, collect all incoming and batch your work (do all new items tomorrow), action urgent items the same day, and start your day by spending time on the backlog, are the 4 steps in a nutshell. The 200 pages of the slim book then go into detail of how, precisely, to do those 4 steps. One of the most valuable ideas I got from this book - and let me tell you, there were many - is the concept of a Closed List. For anybody who has ever felt their to-do list never-ending, and who has been discouraged because their to-do list grows so much over the course of a day that by the end of the day it's even longer than it was at the beginning, this is the book for you! Here is a description
of the Closed List concept. This one idea has dramatically reduced the pressure and stress of my daily to-do list. There are many more valuable ideas in this book, so my best advice to you is to hurry up and get it now and implement one idea from it a month. Don't do it tomorrow!
There comes a time in life when we finally realize that once and for all, it is time to get some housework done in order to regain our sanity! But then we think, "Oh, easier said than done!" and never budge out of our self-defeating habits and routines. Well, when it is time for you TRULY to start getting your life under control, then try Flylady at www.flylady.net. Marla Cilley created a step-by-step system to help women (and men) get control of their chaotic homes. I did the Flylady program (which comes via yahoo mail and doesn't cost a thing!) a few years ago and loved it. I'm sure it's even better now! I had a client start using Flylady recently, and here's what she had to say;
The beauty of the Flylady system is that she breaks it down into tiny, manageable chunks and gradually adds steps bit by bit, keeping you from feeling overwhelmed and encouraging you to make progress in babysteps. Remember to send me any suggestions you may have for a possible "Cool Tool."
Presentation - Get Off Your Buts: How to Make Progress Instead of Excuses - at the Women's Leadership Network meeting If you're local, I would love to have you meet me in Algonquin for some networking, learning, and fun, at the Women's Leadership Network meeting. I'll be sharing some great tips on how to conquer procrastination and be more focused and productive. Open to the public, if you're a woman! (Sorry boys. Next time!) But you must pre-register, so let me know if you'd like to attend. Location: Algonquin,
IL The Riverview
Theatre Company
Feedback Welcome I'd love to hear what you think about today's issue of Focus Your Genius. Please send comments and feedback to TammyCook@RenaissanceMinds.com. Comments and feedback may be posted in future newsletters or articles, unless you specifically request otherwise. Warmly, |
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