“Another Two Yards”

In the great movie Chariots of Fire, sprinter Harold Abrahams was devastated after losing a 100-yard dash. Professional coach Sam Mussabini watched the race closely, and afterwards said: “I can find you another two yards.” Abrahams trusts Mussabini, engages him, and wins the gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics.

In Life and Work

Most of us run a race against time. Competing priorities vie for our attention. What will we do or not do? How can we possibly get everything done that’s important?

In life and work, what we really need is more hours, not yards.

Is it really possible to get more time? Yes! Although we all have exactly 168 hours per week, the real question is: how many hours are productive, and how productive?

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In a few days, millions of people will start down the path of a new year’s resolution, determined to be better, smarter, trimmer, or more organized in 2012. But a year is a very long road to walk. By next January, only a handful will even remember their resolutions for the year. But a few will succeed.

As a time management coach, I’ve seen the successful ones, and I know how they do it. They have five simple keys that anybody (including you) can use:

1. Simple but meaningful goals.
2. Start right.
3. Plan ahead.
4. Connect with habits daily.
5. Fail without giving up.

Simple but Meaningful

People who succeed with their resolutions for change work on a few simple goals. They are more interested in success than they are in the thrill of contemplating success. They aren’t looking to become perfect overnight and aren’t charmed into the thrill of perfect living for two weeks. They choose a simple, believable goal, leaving other goals for a later date. Knowing they can succeed, they also know that they will have more opportunities to meet goals. Simple.

Meaningful resolutions are also important. Half of America will exercise on January 1st (or 2nd), but the soon-to-be bride will still be exercising in March. Why? Most people resolve to exercise, because they know they should. In contrast, the bride is thinking, “I’ll fit in my wedding dress if it kills me.” When our goals are meaningful, we look beyond the goal to something we want more than [Click title for more...]

Years ago, Steve Pavlina–motivational speaker and blogger extrodinare–graduated from college with a 3.94 GPA after just three semesters. To accomplish this incredible feat, Pavlina averaged more than 30 credits per semester. On his blog, he reflects on what he learned during that time about productivity. The core of time management, he argues, is simple:

1. Decide what to do
2. Do it

That’s it. Productivity in a nutshell. But concealed within this deceptively simple philosophy lies the biggest resason why some people fritter away their time while others live their dreams: Some people avoid “doing.”

A good time management system (like our own TRO training) helps you easily decide what to do. Your task list should remind you of critical deadlines, suggest the most important tasks, help you focus by grouping similar tasks, help you quickly pick your next task, keep you informed while away from your office, and help you focus energy on the things you care about most. A good system can make you the world’s most efficient decider, but some days it’s still hard to cowboy up and be a doer.

Why do people fail to do what they’ve decided to do? Why does it take some people twice as long to do the same task? Everyone has their own reasons, but a few factors tend to be fairly consistant:

• Motivation. Apathy begats procrastination. The more intensely you desire the outcome and believe it is connected to doing the task, the more likely you are do

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I recently received an ecstatic email from a client, Steve Leininger (Capital Performance Advisor at Thomas, Wirig, Doll & co.) who sent me this screenshot during his Total, Relaxed Organization training. Steve started out with 3,605 emails, he followed the TRO steps, and he reached the elusive landmark of email organization: inbox zero.

I never thought in my lifetime the inbox would be empty,” he wrote in his email. “This is the second time.”

There’s a sense of relief you get from an empty inbox that can’t be replaced. If you have to wade through tasks to email a reply, you are going to feel stressed—all those uncompleted actions will cry out for attention. This also makes processing stressful, which is why so many people struggle to clear their inboxes.

Click here to find out more.

A TRO trainee pointed out a great service you need to know about. Remail.me saves you a ton of time when switching email addresses. It’s easy, it’s thorough, and it’s cheap. (You can read his forum post here. Thanks for the tip, Andy!)

According to Remail.me, “there are six steps to switching email addresses smoothly.” We agree. Here is what Remail does with minimal effort on your part.

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Microsoft’s latest automatic Windows Update is totally unacceptable. I’m talking about KB949810, pushed out in the latest raft of updates in the USA.

The software installed by KB949810 has only one purpose: to collect personally identifiable information about you and your computer and send it to Microsoft. It does this over and over, and Microsoft does not support uninstalling it.

No, I’m not kidding. This is spyware, pure and simple. Here are some details, known side-effects of this software, and possible remedies.

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Blogging is great, but it’s a time trap. A good article can take many hours to write and dozens of minutes to read. Who has all that spare time?

We recommend instead: micro blogging and mini blogging. We’re moving to that format here at Priacta, for your sake and ours.

Here’s how you do it. [Click here to read more...]

Sometimes I’m asked to disclose my sources. Like, where does that high-tech insight come from? How do I troubleshoot all the nuances of all that GTD software?

While some geeks like to let everyone think they’re a lot smarter than they really are, that’s not me. Ask away.

Here are three quick tips to put you on the path to ultimate geekhood: [Click title for more...]

How many times have you been ready to hit the “send” button and thought, “I should add this to my to-do list,” or, “I’d better check up on this later?” Both GTD and an enhanced system, Total, Relaxed Organization (TRO), teach that you must follow up on tasks. However, manually typing every little job into your task list can be a hassle. When it’s a hassle, it’s easy to forget.

Want an easier way?

If you know the secret, Outlook and other email programs can automatically create follow-up tasks. Go through the simple setup that I’m about to show you, then type anywhere in the email title … and presto! The task is created foryou, allowing you to check on the assignment later. Easy!

Click here to read exactly how you can “teach” your email to do the work for you.

Q: I’m a student, not a businessperson. But I still find it just as hard to keep to my schedule and finish my tasks and appointments. I can’t finish my study plan! Do you have any advice for me?

A: Absolutely! Total, Relaxed Organization is a life-saver for students. With TRO you’ll get more done with less stress, which means you’ll learn better—because stress actually kills brain cells! (The Franklin Institute 2004) Fortunately for your brain cells, we’re going to share some secrets that make TRO work in a school environment, and help you learn faster in the process. Here you’ll find our 10 golden rules of student organization (plus we’ll throw in one extra, bonus rule that lets you get more sleep when things get crazy). Click here to read the entire article and find out how.