Learning to Become Responsible

I have noticed during my lifetime that there is a personality trait that you see in leaders which distinguishes them from followers. True leaders accept responsibility without complaining or quibbling about it. The good leader readily accepts responsibility for the things that his subordinates do. When I entered the military years ago I remember the job requirements that the military puts of its officers. The total sphere of the military leaders job rests on these words; “He is responsible for everything that his unit does or fails to do.” Now this doesn’t seem to be fair to the leader but in all actuality it is because the military gives him or her power that he or she needs in order to get the unit to perform.

The true leader is one who exerts control over his or her environment, not vice versa. Since that person is in control he or she has no problem taking responsibility for what happens in it. The true leader has utmost confidence in his or her ability to exert control over the environment and to cause a change in conditions.

The story that comes to my mind is the incident in which Jesus was asleep in a boat with his disciples who were in the middle of a fierce storm. The biggest thing is that many of the disciples were fishermen who were used to being on the seas during rough weather. The experienced sailors were afraid for their lives as well as the others. Jesus who was not intimidated in the least was sound asleep in the boat. When the frightened disciples woke him up he simply spoke to the storm and told it to stop. This is the best example that I can give of the character of a true leader.

Have you ever noticed how high level people are always the first to be blamed when something goes wrong in their organization. The onus to fix the problem falls squarely on their shoulders. Now some other heads may roll in the process but in the end the problem gets fixed and that leader keeps his or her job. Lets look at the office of President of the United States. There is no way possible that the president may know all that is going on in every area of their administration but his name is always the one called. I have never heard a sitting president shrug his responsibility. He has the resources at his disposal to fix the problem but he must know how to employ them. So must any true leader.

Take charge of your environment and don’t be afraid to accept responsibility. Accepting responsibility puts you in control. It makes you the top dog in the food chain. Accepting responsibility puts you in charge of your destiny. Now you are in control rather being like a leaf tossed about in the wind.http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com

Learn how to Walk on Water

If you have lived to see adulthood you probably know that sometimes life can throw some real serious curveballs our way. There is no such word as fair because life will do whatever it pleases whenever it pleases to whoever it wants to do it to. Sometimes the good suffer worse than those who are not so good. Regardless of your lot in life you have much to be thankful for. No matter how bad things may seem to be there is always someone in worse shape. If you look long enough I guarantee that you will find a person with worse problems than you have who is actually happy. That person has learned one important key. That key is to walk by faith and not by what the situation may appear to be.

I learned one very important thing while studying my bible not long ago. I was reading the story of when Jesus told his disciples that they were going to the other side of a body of water. The interesting thing was that a storm came up which seemed like it would sink the boat that they were in. The key is that Jesus was in the boat with them. They didn’t regard his presence but looked at the potential hazard of the situation that they were in and reacted according to that. The storm was frightening and yes it was real. The water was high and raging. No doubt it was filling up the boat that they were in. I’m sure that they could feel the howling wind and stinging rain. They had evert right to be afraid. They had to ask Jesus the same question that you or I would have asked him. “Don’t you care that we are about to die?”

Jesus had been asleep in the ship. He was not worried about not making it across because he had already spoken the word to the situation that they were about to get into. God allowed this to happen for many reasons but the reason that I want t focus on in this article is that this is meant to be a lesson to us.

God spoke the word to them before the trip began and he wasn’t confused about the outcome. He didn’t prevent the storm because it didn’t matter. He is not affected by emotions and fear so the situations that he allows in our lives mean nothing to him no matter. How big that they are to us. This is why he is less patient with people who have been saved for a while because they should know better. I liken it to the young child. The baby who wets his diaper won’t be punished but the three year old will because he should know better.

The story tells of one of how he seemed to be upset at being awakened and stood up and spoke to the storm. The instant that he commanded peace the wind and waves obeyed his commands and stood still. He never even acknowledged the storm but upbraided his disciples for not having faith. Do you see where I’m going with this? We need to look at the situations and circumstances that we go through in the same manner if we believe in and have faith in God.  

I have learned that the storms of life are an opportunity to walk on water. If you can have greater faith in God than you have in your problem them you will overcome the problem. The more severe the problem, the greater the opportunity to walk on water. You can’t stop life from throwing problems at you so you need to learn to overcome them and not worry.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

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Tips to Overcome Anxiety

 Anxiety can rob us of much of the pleasure that life entitles us to. In most cases it can be helped by combining a few changes in your daily routine. Anxiety can be handled like any sickness or disease although I wouldn’t classify it as a mental illness. There are times however when it should be considered a mental illness but most times it depends on the situation. Prolonged anxiety or stress can lead to long term health and mental illness problems.

Anxiety is a natural emotion and a defense mechanism designed to help us power our way through those situations which sometimes arise which need to be dealt with. Prolonged danger or stressful circumstances will push us farther than we need to go so that stress begins to show up in the body as physical ailments or illnesses.

It is incredibly vital to your over-all well being to get at least 8 hours of rest a day. This is   an effective strategy to battle strain as perfectly as ward off anxiety attacks. A diet plan as well as physical exercise and proper rest play essential purpose in the all round overall health of the system. Use wholesome, natural foods as much as possible to support your system and to give your body the best and most efficient fuel that you possibly can. Ingesting wholesome food items will help your human body chemistry maintain normal hormone ranges perfectly which will cause elevated resistance to every imaginable ailment.

Most stressors are unavoidable and it is unhealthy to turn your again to specific circumstances that will need to be addressed. Nevertheless, some situations and individuals trigger unnecessary tension that may well lead to and panic assault. I have a saying that; if you want to get on the train to mars, go ahead. I won’t necessarily join you. What I mean by this is that I won’t allow your stressful mood to become my mood. If you are confused and lost because you just didn’t do what you were supposed to you don’t have the right to demand that I become confused also. I have learned that it’s just not good to allow people to effect your mood.

Learn to have a hobby. It is perfect when the thing that you love to do best is your job. This is the best scenario if you ask me. If you have to deal with a situation that stresses you out every day then it is definitely time for a change. Do something that you love and you won’t be distressed even when you are having a tough time of it.

I’ve had many jobs in my life that I simply did not like, nor could I understand the enthusiasm of some of my bosses. I understand now that they just loved their jobs which immediately put us at opposition. That situation put stress on both of us because they couldn’t understand why I was slow to take orders. It put me in a stressful situation because I knew that every time I saw them they would have some work for me that I hated. I don’t hate work but I hated what I had to do at those jobs.  

Rest is very important to maintaining a stable frame of mind. Proper rest helps you to remain calm and relaxed. I have been in many situations where people were tired, stressed, and exhausted. The physical and mental discomfort of being tired does nothing to help you when you have to deal with stressful situations and events. <a href= http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Learning to Control Anger

This is an article that I can write with some authority because I have been there and done that. I used to have a serious anger management problem. It was so serious that it encompassed all areas of my life and had serious negative effects on my friendships. This problem was not natural and not normal but as with all people who have an anger management problem I felt in every case that the anger was justified. I would get angry at perceived indiscretions of other people. Most of the time the indiscretions were real, some times they were imagined.

The fact that I felt that my anger was justified made me feel that it was quite OK to be angry. This only added more fuel to my angry fire. When I would confront the person who was the target of my wrath and they wouldn’t agree with me it only got worse.

I was in the middle of a never ending cycle. Something had to happen to change what was happening to me and it had to be drastic. There was a multitude of events which began to happen to me which I believe were God directed. These events forced me into a place where I had to look at my anger differently. God used so many different peoples and events to temper me that I can’t name them all. Through the process I learned that I can’t dictate or control the actions of other people whether they are right or wrong. If they are right then good but if they are wrong it was just too bad for who ever.

I saw that people didn’t want to be around me because they didn’t want to listen to my tirades and to be honest with you I don’t blame them at all. Being angry didn’t do anything to solve my problems at all. I also saw that people who had done me wrong weren’t bothered by the effects that it had on my psyche. They would continue in life perfectly happy and I would continue angry and miserable.

My anger only hurt me. It hurt my relationships with others, my self esteem, and my hands because I used to smash walls with them from time to time. Once I allowed the spirit of the lLord to operate in my life he began to give me peace. One day I was reading a bible verse which hit home and helped to change my life forever. The scripture reads “Let peace rule in your mind.” I realized that it was up to me to allow te peace that God gives to control the anger which was ever present in me. I learned to yield to the peace of God and allow it to work through me.

Anger is a choice. We can either choose to be angry or we can choose to allow peace to rule us. I have now chosen to allow peace to rule. Eve when I could be justifiably upset there is no point in allowing myself to be angry. I learned not to dwell on destructive thoughts but to look for the good in every situation. I learned that other people are probably not going to do what I think they should do. I just need to keep up with my own affairs which is a big enough job in itself. Other people have to be responsible for whatever choices that they make and the consequences that follow. That doesn’t have a thing to do with me.

This attitude has carried over to the rest of my life in that in all things I am learning to be content. Plans have been dashed, money has been lost, troubles have come and so has illness. I am learning that all of these things are just conditions and don’t really matter. Yes they hurt and cause anxiety, fear, and suffering but I will choose not to be influenced by temporary things but to keep my eyes on the prize.

If you have a problem with anger you will have to make up in your mind that you won’t allow it to get the best of you. You take control of anger by allowing the peace of God to rule in your heart and mind. Do the opposite of what life makes you feel like doing. Laugh when you want to cry, hug when you feel like swinging, most of all just find somebody to love and lavish love on them.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Action Speaks Louder than Words

The biggest hindrance that most of us face in not achieving our goals and objectives is that we don’t act aggressively enough to accomplish them. I used to think that if God is on my side every accomplishment would be easy. There is nothing further from the truth and I have learned better now. I have missed out on many opportunities in life and many accomplishments because I would falter at the first sign of difficulty and figure that since there were so many problems I must be doing the wrong thing. Now I know that anything worthwhile is worth fighting for and we will have to fight to secure any major accomplishments. There are no ifs ands or buts about it. It is what it is. I had to accept this fact and roll with it. There is a massive difference between hoping or wishing for self improvement, or that something will change in our lives, and actively deciding to make changes in our lives.

New Year resolutions often fall into the wishing and hoping category. If we say ‘I’d like to give up smoking’ or ‘I need to lose weight’ or ‘I really should get fit’ or ‘I should get a better job’ our chances of success aren’t great. Why not? The wording alone makes these more like a wish list of things that we think will make us happier if they happened. We need to decide what we need to accomplish then make it happen. There is no other way.

Decisions are when we say to ourselves I am going to do whatever I have to do to lose 30 pounds in the next six months or I am not prepared to put up with my job any longer. We need to decide that ‘enough is enough’ and be absolutely serious that this is what we want. We need to be prepared get any information and help we need, form a plan and be prepared to take massive and consistent action. We need to be 100% committed to our decisions and be prepared to follow through whatever it takes. If you have faith and confidence in the plan it will work for you. Your faith will make you work all the more when it looks as if things might not go the way that you need for them to go.

The first step to making any change is making a decision. The next step is to make your decision work for you. No decision will be perfect. If you waver because you want to work out all of the beginning details you don’t have confidence in your decision. Conditions will never be perfect so a decision won’t ever be perfect.

Aggressive execution will make your decision work. If you refuse to take no for an answer of to allow failure as an option you will win 99 per cent of the time. You can make a bad decision and execute it well enough to make it right.

I once talked to an ex Marine who was telling me one of their philosophies on accomplishing the mission given to them by their commander. They believed that if their commander made a mistake they could compensate and make it right by being more aggressive in their execution.

I have noticed that successful people are more often than not what we call hard chargers. They refuse to listen to negative feedback which will hinder their accomplishment of their mission. As I write this article I am looking at one of the best college football coaches in America. His philosophy has always been this; “We performed well but there are some areas in which we need improvement.” The successful person is always striving for more.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Benefits of Military Discipline

Military discipline can be administered in many ways and it is normally a harsh discipline when administered by the military. The military administers discipline as a make or break type proposition. The troop who makes it through military training has learned to adhere to and embrace this new lifestyle. Embracing it enables the troop to survive and even flourish in his military environment. Military discipline is all encompassing in that it is designed to touch every aspect of the life of the soldier. When the soldier enters the military all vestiges of the old life are removed. He or she is indoctrinated to military life by having military icons replace all that he has ever known in civilian life.

The recruit loses TV and radio privileges. In addition they are confined to a military environment during the entire time that they undergo training. They are stripped of hair and clothing and bombarded with a new lifestyle which is ultra disciplined.

One good thing is that this discipline becomes a major part of the life of the recruit. It carries them through their time of military service and can also help tremendously in their civilian life. The soldier may have a hard time adjusting to the discipline of civilian life and struggle for a while before letting go of some of the values which served then so well while they were in the military. This is normally difficult for the average person because they had to embrace these values in order to survive while in the military.

It has been my experience that former military men and women often make superior employees because of the discipline that they received while in the military. Now I am being careful not to say that every former serviceman will be a better employee because not all of them were good soldiers. Some people reject military discipline at all costs. This type person will not respond to civilian authority and will have a rebellious mindset. If this is the case there is no amount of authority or control which will work. This type person has learned to play the game which makes them even harder to identify.

Sometimes disciplined people may be institutionalized which makes them creatures of habit. People who have been institutionalized are creatures of habit and any small change in their environment will cause them much distress. They can be counted on to perform the same daily tasks like clockwork but can’t handle anything outside of the realm of the present.

The truly disciplined person has established good daily habits and a work ethic which all serve to help them get ahead. He or she should be able to respond to changes in the situation smoothly and efficiently without missing a beat. New and different requirements won’t bother them because they have the mindset to take on the problem and prevail. The same disciplined approach to life will be the thing that causes them to overcome the problems presented by new and changing situation.

The disciplined person will manage the environment that surrounds them. They will have developed a habit of managing their surroundings and will do so no matter where they happen to be. They will exert that discipline whether they are stranded on a raft floating in the Pacific, or in an executive boardroom, or watching TV in their living room. Discipline is a lifestyle not just a practice<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com>The Good Life</a>

Learning to Control your Emotions

Our emotions sometimes are the thing which can make or break us in life. If you can control your emotions you can sometimes turn a bad situation into a good one. I have learned that emotional control is key to most of the interactions that we have with other people. Being a customer service person has helped me tremendously in life. I have learned how to deal with the most irate customer and eep the situation under control. The key is that we have to learn how to control our own emotions. The key to this control is to walk on top of our situation in a sense.

Now I understand so well the significance of Jesus walking on water in the scriptures. The waters represent the troubles that life will sometimes throw our way. The key to not sinking is to keep your mind above the bad situation. Don’t allow it to suck you under but learn how to walk on top of it. You can handle the situation if you don’t allow it to handle you. I have determined that no matter how tough a curve ball life throws at you it is possible to handle. The situation won’t get any better if you cry about it so the only choice is to deal with it. Remember that it won’t go away until you do something about it.

Everyone is influenced by mood. We should try to better understand our moods in order to take control and by doing this, we can avoid doing things that we might regret. We should not react to stressful situations because nine times out of ten that reaction will be negative. A negative reaction means a bad decision. Each and every bad decision costs in the long run. Our reactions can become clouded by our emotions. I once read a poem about a man who dropped his glasses in a pot of dye. Afterwards everything that he saw was purple. Our outlook on life can be shaded the same way by our emotions. We should avoid being influenced by our emotions for this very reason.

Imagine our body as being a bus and that your emotions are the passengers. Each one is attempting to take over the wheel from you. If you are not strong and determined you will have a situation that isn’t good at all. Until you get all of the passengers under control you will have a situation which is schizoid. You have to take the wheel and remain in control if you want to get to your predetermined destination.

So what must you do? You must learn to reduce the number of passengers by dropping off at the stops along the way. Get rid of those negative and troublesome one, like anger, worry, greed, and others, this will eventually help you to gain control of the steering wheel and drive smoothly without any harmful distraction. You will be the master of yourself.

You have to be the master if you are to get where you need to go. There is no other way. Life is hard sometimes and it will not get easier if you react to it through the lens of your emotions. Your emotions can dig a hole for you that it is not possible to climb out of.

I have learned that no matter how hard it is to interact with other people our battle is not with them it is in our own minds. I was watching a court show yesterday where a daughter had a bad attitude. She was blaming her mother for her fathers death. Her father was killed while driving drunk and it was the daughter’s rationale that the mother had nagged him to the point of drinking and driving. The judge asked her several questions. He first asked if the mother put a gun to the man’s head and make him drink the liquor. The next question was if she put a gun to his head and forced him to drive drunk. Of course the answer to all of these questions was no. The judge’s assessment in this case was that the mother didn’t force the man into drinking and driving. Now by the same token other people don’t force you to react in a negative manner. You choose to do so.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Learn How to Focus and Set Goals

As I began to get this article together I realized that I don’t really know what my goals are. Yes I have goals but they are not specific so I guess that I am writing this article for myself as well as you. It is important that we have a clear picture of what our goals are and the direction that we want to go.

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to do you need a clear plan of how you are going to get there the rest should not be that difficult. The most important thing from here is the plans that you lay out to reach your goal. Your plans must be thorough and concise. You have to account for contingencies and difficulties and be able to work around problems which arise. In order to do this you will have to anticipate the problems before time. You won’t be able to predict and plan for every contingency but when the unexpected does happen you will be able to react to it smoothly. If you have a well thought out plan it will be very difficult for anything to break your stride.

For all that has been written and said about goal setting, I have met very few people who are sure of what their goals are as well as me. Do you know your goals? I bet you that you’ve a good idea what you’d like to change in your life but that’s not the same thing as having big and exciting goals. We all know that things that we want to get rid of or turn around in our lives. We want to get rid of stress and all its associated physical and psychological problems. The key question is do you have a clear idea of what you actually want? Then again, we often think that we’re sure of our goals, but, ask yourself, how often do those goals actually change? We have to be able to adjust to the changes which may take place in our lives.

Ask yourself who is most important to you in life. Do you devote your time and attention to these priorities. Look at the elite athlete. He or she trains many hours per day in order to be able to compete with others. Understand that they will lack in other areas of their lives and development but thet had to reach out for the prize that they wanted. They had to sacrifice to get there. Remember that they had a knack for whatever it is that they did. You must have a knack or true desire to move out in the direction that you have determined in order to be successful. If you are not you just won’t have enough juice in you to get there.

You also need the right people around you to support you. You can’t get there without some help. The athlete has support people who are in his or her corner and will assist in every possible way. You need the same. Choose your support personnel. Choose them wisely. Choose people who have a real interest in what you are doing and goals which are very similar to yours. This way you have a support system in place which will help to carry you through some of the tough times.

When you set your goals describe your objective to your subconscious mind in language that it understands which is the language of the five senses.

Learn how to focus your mind like a laser at the specific task that you need to accomplish in life. This focus also is a major factor in the accomplishment of your goal. Apply these techniques and they will help you tp accomplish your lifelong ambitions.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Tips for Increasing Productivity

Techniques for Increasing Productivity

I really enjoy what I do for a living but there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. I am self employed but I have to figure out ways to get more productive and squeeze more work into my day so that I can make a better living. I honestly need to add a full time employee but I can’t afford one right now so I just have to make do with what I have which is me.

The biggest key to being productive is to be organized and not to make mistakes which will add more time to the completion of tasks. I have found that it’s best to make sure that one task is 100% completed before you begin to work on the next one. This eliminates the possibility of mixing events. It also helps me to keep my mind clear as to what I am doing. I can be sure that the first task will not get mixed into the second. The statement that no job is over until the paperwork is done applies to being productive. Mistakes cost valuable wasted time. I hate it when I find myself attempting to straighten out a mistake that I have made which puts me behind schedule.

The next biggest factor to being more productive is to do what you enjoy and enjoy what you are doing. When you enjoy your job it becomes a pleasure to work and not a past time to be avoided. When I come to work excited about what I am doing there is no end to what I can do. They person who loves what they do is always looking to do it better.

When you have a number of things on your plate it can seem like you’ll never have enough time to finish them all. Days are so enjoyable when there is not enough time to finish all that you have to do but it is also frustrating.  We always think there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week, but regardless it’s all the time we have. We can’t add more minutes to the hour so we have to make the most of our time.

Increasing your productivity can help you minimize stress and avoid feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. Not to mention, completing necessary tasks on a daily basis can give you a continuous sense of achievement and fulfillment.

We have to anticipate events and problems and create a prioritized of the things that you need to accomplish. When you have a list you don’t waste time between tasks trying to figure out your next task. Don’t procrastinate on your list. Get it done and over with. Once you have completed your mandatory tasks you will feel as if a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. Now you can concentrate on planning future events. When you are planning your list anticipate problems and work around them. For example, if you have to perform tasks which will cause you to have to drive be sure to schedule them around rush hour traffic.

Don’t waste effort with tasks which are counterproductive such as doing other people’s work for them, or wasting time with unnecessary delays or fruitless conversations. Maintain your focus on the task on hand. Knock it out and be done with it. Allow it to be the top priority until you are done with it.

Don’t miss opportunities to save time and do things quickly. For example if you have a friend or coworker who can do a task for you allow them to do it. If you are a leader or supervisor you need to learn how to delegate tasks. Delegate them to the right people so that you know they will be accomplished with minimal negative repercussions.

I have learned to apply these principals to my life and they have increased my own productivity dramatically. I still don’t have enough time because I have added other tasks to my schedule which keep me as busy as ever so I am constantly searching for new ways to be productive.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

The Development of Communications Skills

Communication is nothing more than getting people to understand what’s on your mind or understanding exactly what they are thinking. The successful communicator is also able to get people to follow because they understand how to motivate people to do what they want. Communication skills begin to develop in childhood as soon as the baby understands that he or she is a person also and that they need to find a way to let people know exactly what’s on their mind.

The extrovert is normally a better communicator than the introvert because the extrovert is practiced in exerting power over his or her environment whereas the introvert is a reflective type of person. The introvert also interacts with the outside reality but they react by appreciating it rather than attempting to control it. The child who will be an extrovert learns early on how to manipulate the people around him or her, but the introverted child may just be content observing the environment.

The more that the child gets practice in exerting their communication skills the better they become. Communication is a constant growing process and the extrovert is constantly applying what they have learned to different situations. As the extrovert grows older he or she hones their communication skills to a fine point.

Manipulative people will normally talk constantly in order to convince others to go along with their plans. They live for the feeling of power that they get from exerting their influence over others. I have even seen those who delight to induce fear in others and seem to enjoy the look of fear on others if they can elicit it. I have also noticed that when those same people fail to get the fear response from others they don’t seem to know what to do next. The best way to deal with this type person is simply not to allow them to intimidate you. You don’t have to argue with them just don’t allow them to elicit a reaction of fear from you.

External personality traits are those that are visible from outside and internal traits are those that are not visible externally. Traits like your dressing sense, the way you carry yourself, the way you walk and talk, your etiquettes, etc are all part of your external personality. On the other hand, traits like honesty, integrity, compassion, sincerity, level of intellect, etc are traits that are difficult to judge externally. Here, we talk about personality development from the perspective of communication skills i.e. an external personality trait.

Speech is our primary means of communication but our interactions are guided more by nonverbal cues which we receive from others. The gangster or robber knows just how far to push their victims by the reactions that they get. As a matter of fact they can identify a person as a potential victim by observing their demeanor and attitude. They know an easy mark when they see one. One thing that I learned growing up was that when I went to a strange part of my city or an area where I didn’t know the people was to never show fear. At the same time I knew not to act cocky at all because both of these are indicators of being uncertain and fearful.

I was able to avoid serious trouble many times by nonverbal communication. The good communicator is alert to all the cues coming from the person that he is communicating with. The best communicators will respond to these cues immediately to win the support or get the understanding of the person who they are communicating with.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>

Managing your time Effectively

I have noticed as I have grown older that there just doesn’t seem to be enough time. Time flies by so quickly and once it’s gone it won’t come back again. I have developed a very low tolerance in my latter years for people or activities which waste time. I grow irritated when I deal with people who just don’t have their stuff together and waste my valuable time. I am always looking for ways to do more with the time that I have but there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do all that I want or need to do.

The key to effective time management is organization. The organized person can get more done more efficiently than the disorganized person. He or she will save you time and money if they are an employee of yours. If you are not an effective time manager this is probably your problem. When I was in the military I used to think that people who worked until late at night were really putting out a lot of effort. They were in fact putting out a lot of effort but it wasn’t necessarily productive effort. As I began to watch people I noticed that many of them effectively wasted their day with activities or events which were unimportant. Many would spend time in meaningless meetings or dialog with others that wouldn’t get anything accomplished at all. I learned that I could finish all that I had to do well within the confines of the working hours of the day and more. The biggest thing that I had to do in order to be super productive was to maintain my work focus.

Now it helped to make a list of the tasks which needed to be accomplished each day before hand and to put them in the easiest order to get them done. Once I had listed the tasks in order I had to focus on what they were and eliminate them one at a time. After I had done all of the necessary tasks for the day I would step back from the tunnel vision and go back into my planning mode. I found that no matter how daunting my list of to do things seemed to be I could usually get them caught up before lunch time. This left the remainder of the day free for me to do whatever else that I needed to do.

I also found that I couldn’t allow other people to waste my time. Most of the phone calls that I got were usually from people who were in some way attempting to get me to do things for them that they had the ability to do for themselves. I learned to not even answer the phone unless it was my boss during the time that I was attempting to get caught up on my assigned task list. After I had taken care of my job I would attend to the needs of others. I knew that on certain days we had staff meetings. During these meetings we were required to brief our areas of expertise. I learned to gather the information that I needed well in advance to avoid the last minute rush that I saw other people get caught up in each week.

It is imperative that you put yourself on a schedule so that you will accomplish all of the events that you need to accomplish. I also found that sticking to my schedule insured that small tasks didn’t slip my mind.

Proper planning makes you an effective time manager. Plan tasks all of the way through. Walk through the tasks required to accomplish your objective then execute. Confer with experienced people to for see probable pit falls. I have learned through many hard experiences that it pays to really listen to those who have been where you need to go. The valuable insight that they will give you will save you from many unintended problems.<a href=http://cedricrice-A.webcopycat.com> The Good Life</a>