[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

Start today!

1st Dec 2009

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Chinese Proverb

Before reading this page, do a small exercise: take a paper and pencil and list all the projects that are pending with you. They may be small or big. Examples are:

·        To write a book

·        To reduce weight

·        To join a MBA programme

·        To learn to play the violin

·        To construct a house

·        To improve relationship with the boss/customer… etc

Against each of these entries, write how long they have been pending with you and, most importantly, one valid reason why they are pending.  After writing this list, just think how different your life would have been if only you had completed the project without delay. Paint a mental picture of the quality of your life if only you had completed the project by this time. Take a piece of paper again and list all the advantages you would have got if you had implemented your plans in time. You have to write and not merely think.

After this exercise, write down your feelings at the end of this exercise. You will be amazed at the feelings you will go through!

Many of us are good planners and we have a very good positive intention to prosper in life. But when it comes to execution, we do not implement.   This is the parameter which distinguishes the successful people from others. A successful person has a plan of action for every thought that crosses his mind. Once he is convinced that a task will help him, he swings into action without much delay or procrastination.

After reading this page, go back to the same list you drew just now and write down one activity you can do today to implement your task.

Try this exercise and feel the impact!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

It is up to you to keep fit.

30th November 2009

Give me a lever long enough and a prop strong enough. I can single-handedly move the world.
                                                                                                       --Archimedes

Some of us stop working for the fear that it may affect our health. We are worried that we may break down or perhaps may even suffer a heart attack. Those who are interested in us warn us that we should not work hard. It is very likely that we are right and others are also right that we must take care of our health.

But the reality of life is that working is essential and extraordinary tasks call for extraordinary efforts. As long as our aspirations are modest and we are willing to be satisfied with small achievements, it is perfectly alright. But once we have fixed our goal which is huge and large, then we have to stretch ourselves. There is no escape from this. We cannot have huge aspirations and at the same time be not willing to stretch ourselves. This stretching may be physical or mental. We may have to stretch our faculties and effort level. When we do not accept this reality, we  get into tension, and this  breaks our health.

Hence, in the ultimate analysis, it is not the effort level or our physical strain, but our inability to tune up our body, mind and intellect which breaks us. It is lack of efforts to keep us fit enough which causes ailments and physical exhaustion, and not the number of hours of work.

So, the remedy? Workouts! Spend some time to sharpen your faculties, your physical fitness and mental ability. Just like a cricketer or a foot ball player spends time not only playing their game, but also  keeping  fit, you should also spend time to meet the challenges of your work load.

It may be difficult to implement. But you have to. The consequence of ignoring this common sense could be very serious.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

27th November 2009

Add a VIP to your list every day!

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.
--Robert Schuller

We need to know people and seek their help and cooperation to achieve what we want to achieve in our life. Success is a team effort and we cannot succeed alone. We have to know who are the people who have the resources to help us. The word `important' means `having great effect or value'. So, an `important' person is one who can add value to our life. We need to have as many such people as possible so that `our team' wins.

Just like a marketing person wants to know who can help him  sell his product in the market, you need to search for people who can help you reach your goals in life. You may not know all of them. It is your responsibility to know them. I can give another example. A good craftsman will look for such tools which will help his work. If he comes to know that there is such a tool available, he will take efforts to acquire the same. We should understand that people are also `tools' and we need proper tools to do what we want to do. The dictionary meaning of the word `tool' is `a device or implement used for a particular task' and `a person used by another'.

Once we understand this simple principle, it is easy to implement the idea presented in this page. We may not be able to know all the people at the  time we want them. We need to work on this important portfolio on a daily basis. So every day add a person to your list and try to know them. Send a card, telephone them that you want to meet them and meet them. You may not get an immediate interview. But you can make some progress over a period of time.

Try this idea and see the difference in your contact level in one year!

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

26th November 2009

Sense of Importance and sense of Urgency

All successful people have a goal.  No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do.-Norman Vincent .Peale

We know what we want and we are clear about it. We want to initiate a course of action. We know what it will do for us. However, we don't get to do it. There is a gap between what we plan and what we do. The implementation takes much longer time. The reason for this is the link   between `importance' and `urgency'. There is no confusion in our mind on the meaning of these two terms. We know that importance is to do with the priorities in life and urgency is to do with time.  But as long as these factors are not linked effectively in our mind, there will be a lag in our action plan.

First we think of performing some action. But we get to do carry out the action only when the desire to do the same becomes an irresistible and intense obsession. When we reach this state of mind, we become restless and we cannot do any other activity. Until we get to this state of mind, we  say that we don't have the time or the resources to do it. We have any number of excuses for not doing the same. Before we reach this state of mind, we are busy doing something else.

In order that we get this sense of urgency for the priority that we fix, we should take the project into our deep subconscious mind. For doing this we should engage our thought process towards the project. One way to do it is keep asking the question: why is this project important for me and what will it do for me? We need to list as many benefits as we can think of which will accrue to us by completing the project. We need to set aside a specific time and place to for this purpose. During this time, we are not going to plan the activities, but we are only going to list the compelling reasons for the project.

Try this strategy and feel the difference in your intensity level.

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

25th November 2009

Make every day a learning day!

To find yourself, think for yourself.

Socrates

We belong to the human race and we alone have the skill of improving our life by learning something new. We alone can enrich our experience and improve our intellect. We alone have the power to think and understand the significance of what is happening around us. We can interpret the meaning of what is happening around us. This is the essence of human intelligence and it is this feature which distinguishes the human beings from other living and non living entities.

We have to make use of this skill on a day to day basis. We have to learn something new every day. We have to ponder over  what happened during the  day and assimilate  one new learning point. We may be aware of what is happening to us on a daily basis, but we may not pause to process and make a learning from the same. We may notice something happening. This does not mean that we have learnt something from the same. We may make a mistake or take a wrong decision. We may have trusted someone and  get disappointed. Or someone may have shouted at us for no reason. It could be that we were compelled to purchase something which we may not really need.

These are some of the common every day experiences,  we have to learn something from. Sometimes we have to learn from what is happening to someone else.

One way to do this,  is to have a small note book and write down not more than five lines on the learning. We should do it as the last thing in the day. We have to write our learning in the same note book and not on bits and pieces of paper. We can call this note book as `My Learning Diary'. At the end if the week, we should revisit the notes for a summary.

Try this out and see the difference.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

24th November 2009

Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.

John Wesley

We clean up our car, our house, our garden and the living environment. If we do not maintain these things neatly, dust will accumulate and destroy the object. If the item under reference is made of steel, rust will erode the article. We realize the same and so do cleaning up periodically. Just imagine what will happen if the roads are not cleaned up. Government passes pollution control legislation to keep the environment clean. Under this legislation, excessive smoke, dust, effluents etc are controlled.

The same principle is valid for our mind also. Our mind is also capable of becoming `dirty'. The only difference is that we may not be able to notice the same since it is internal. The mind is polluted by bad thoughts, negative emotions and unproductive thoughts. If we do not clean up our mind, this mental pollution will affect our output. The quality of the cleanliness of our mind will decide the quality of our thinking process and ultimately our actions. Our actions cannot be clean if the mind is not clean.

We need to be conscious about what type of thoughts enter and occupy our mind. If we are not conscious about it, the mental pollution will increase. Negative feelings such as greed, anger, jealousy, fear, etc pollute our mind. If we do not notice and clean up our mind, the same will affect out thought process and we will indulge in actions reflective of this state of mind.

The first step in any cleaning operation is noticing. We have to notice dust and rubbish in order that we remove the same. Similarly, we have to notice what is in our mind. Today, you set aside some thirty minutes and do some soul searching and honestly list the negative feelings and emotions that are in your mind. Then think about the consequences if you do nothing about the same. This process itself will trigger an appropriate action plan to clean up your mind.

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

23rd November 2009

Improve the `Technology' of Your Thinking

I was a freethinker before I knew how to think.

George Bernard Shaw

The dictionary meaning of the word `technology' is `the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes'. If you think for a minute, you will realize that application of technology has changed the quality of our life drastically. We have applied technology in various fields of our life. We don't do the same work the way did several years ago. We don't write the way we wrote fifty years ago. The technology of the automobile has changed. The technology of photography has changed. The technology of computers has changed.

The result of the application of technology in all these areas is that we are able to produce products and services of a different quality with less effort. If only we had not done this, we will not be able cope  with the demands of the present day  which is highly challenging.

This principle applies to our thinking process also. With life becoming more and more complicated, we have to apply technology to our thinking process. We can call it as thinking technology. There are a lot of tools which will change the way we think. Edward d Bono's lateral thinking is an example. The advocates of Total Quality Management (TQM) use 7 QC tools which are nothing but thinking tools. We are all familiar with the tool of brain storming. Many of us apply these tools to solve work related problems only. We have to realize that thinking is a survival skill and applying technology to our thinking process will change the quality of our life.

So, don't just think…. Improve the technology of your thinking and notice the difference!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Assertive Discipline through NLP

 

Dear Readers,

"Assertive Discipline through NLP"

One day workshop on 5th Dec 2009

Many parents and teachers have been asking me that they want a programme to discipline their children assertively. In response to such requests I am conducting an open programme on above title in Chennai. If you are interested you can get the details by visiting my website: www.thetimefoundation.com

You can also pass on this message to those who may be interested.

Thanks

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

20th November 2009

The Portfolio of `Thinking'

You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction- Alvin Toffler

We use the word `thinking' very often and we also know the meaning of the word. But the question is, do we set aside a specific time for thinking? Do we give the same importance to the portfolio of thinking as we give to the portfolio of doing? From  morning to night, are we conscious about the various thought processes that take place in our mind?

The answer to most of the above questions will be a big `no' with reference to many of us. Many of us are more keen to indulge in doing some activity than in thinking. We find this strategy easier and simpler. The reason for this is, for most of us, thinking is not working. However, the strategy of successful people is that they spend an equal amount of time for thinking as they allot to doing some activity.

There is one more aspect to the portfolio of thinking, which is the quality of thinking. It is not then the amount of time we spend on thinking, but how focused is our process of thinking.

From this week do this exercise. Set aside a specific time either in the morning or in the evening. Let it be about forty five minutes to start with. Seek a place which is silent and peaceful. Keep the telephone off the hook. Switch off the mobile phone. Keep the eyes closed and THINK! Resist the temptation to stop this process and proceed to doing some thinking. It is thinking time and not doing time. Just like you devote time for doing various other activities such as bathing, eating, sleeping etc., make it a practice to allot a specific time for the portfolio of thinking.

Try this for a month and notice the difference!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

19th November 2009

THE SECRET OF MAHATMA GANDHI

 

Boss: Where's my pencil?

Secretary: Behind your ear.

Boss: Dammit, woman, I'm a busy man.  Which ear?

                                                                    -  Osborn Elliot, Men at the Top

 

We are living in a world where all our faculties are being challenged and we are stretched. Sometimes, we are forced to accept tasks which we have to do whether we like it or not. When our abilities do not match the task on hand, we go through lot of mental strain and tension. Because of this busy life, we reach a situation of burn out by mid forties. Is there a way out? Yes. All that you have to do is to look out for examples and models. Look at a person who is busier than you and understand the strategy he / she follows to deal with a similar situation.

 

For example, read this passage from Sri Richard Livingstone, who spent a lot of time with Mahatma Gandhi:

 

More than any other worker, the leader must safeguard reserves.  Gandhi is a good illustration.  He impresses one as being very frail physically.  Yet, where is there a leader subjected to greater strain?  I think, I found the secret of his wonderful endurance when I visited him at his Ashram near Ahmedabad.  The only day on which I could arrange my crowded programme so as to step off to see him turned out, as I discovered on arrival, to be his day of silence.  He graciously invited me in writing to sit with him during the period, which terminated shortly after dusk.  We then had a memorable conversation under the stars as he lay on his couch in front of his cottage.  Among other things, I asked him toward the close of our interview to tell me  what led him to observe a day of silence.  He replied that he was so tired of talking and of hearing others talk that   he found that in the tremendous pressure upon him, he was not only breaking down physically but also losing his mental freshness and spiritual power, and was in danger of becoming formal, mechanical, and devitalized.  He craved quiet for thought and prayer.  And so he resolutely observes one day of complete silence each week.  He told me that someone had asked him whether he would not break the silence in order to talk with the Viceroy, and he had replied that he would not do so for any person.                   

Sri Richard Livingstone

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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