[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

Day 83

15th October 2011

`A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees'.

William Blake

 

`People only see what they are prepared to see'.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Develop Observing Skills.



You should cultivate observation skill. There is a gap between whatever our mind and brain notices. We may be `looking' but not `observing'. Looking is a mechanical brain triggered process through our eyes. Observing is a deeper mind process which takes place only when your mind wandering is arrested and made to focus on the thing on which your eyes are fixed.

 

Like writing or reading skills, you have to develop observing skill also through efforts. Next time when you are in a meeting where someone is speaking, observe the following:

  • His facial expression and the non verbal cues.
  • The involvement and participation of others.
  • The choice of his words and how he is using the same.
  • The examples and metaphors he is using.
  • His tonality and voice inflection.

 

When you observe something, the quality of your understanding is greatly enhanced. When you have to decide something very important, if you fail to observe something very important, the quality of your decision making will suffer which will cause irreparable damage.

 

Introspect and check on this important quality over the next few days.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

14th October 2011

`Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations'.

Earl Nightingale

 

Birds of the Same Feather Flock Together.

 

When you want to heat up something, you put it in an oven and to freeze something, you place it in a deep freezer. The object takes the property of its surroundings. It is the law of nature. We are also influenced by the people who surround us. To be a writer, move with writers; to be an artist, be in the company of artists; to be a musician, spend a lot of your time with musicians.

 

To become an expert, we should acquire the best knowledge. There are two gateways to knowledge: through what we hear and what we see. Unless you are in the company of right people, you will not have the opportunity to get exposed to relevant knowledge appropriate for your profession.

 

Introspect and decide the field in which you want to make a mark. List all the people who are achieving in that field and try to spend as much time as possible with them. Join a professional association where such people meet and discuss and take active part in such bodies.

 

You alone should succeed, but you cannot succeed alone!

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

Day 81

13th October 2011

`Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants'.
Epicurus

 

Practice Austerity.

 

Austerity is an important quality to be developed. Money is a valuable resource which should not be squandered away. These days everything is becoming dearer. It is wiser save one rupee than to earn five rupees!  We live in a `world of temptations' where the media is so powerful that anyone can make out a case that any product is essential for us. Every day a new mobile phone with tempting features hits the market with jazzy media advertisement tempting you to buy.

 

A relative of mine who has been living in United States for the past six years on a fairly decent senior position tells me that he has been managing comfortably with one car, one cycle and one mobile phone! He says that he doesn't have more than six pairs of dress. What is even more interesting about his claim is the fact that in United States, the temptation to spend is very high!

 

Over this weekend, critically audit your basic need and check if you need all those gadgets which are in your pending buying list!

 

Spend less, earn more and live happily!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

Day 80

12th October 2011

`Putting out a newspaper without promotion is like winking at a girl in the dark -- well-intentioned, but ineffective'.

William Randolph Hearst

 

Ensure Accessability and Visibility.

 


We live in a society and we need others to reach our ambitions in life. Similarly, others may also need us. In this context, accessibility and visibility are important factors which we should be conscious of. In this electronic era, visibility and accessibility can be easily managed, provided it is our priority. At this exact point of time, someone from somewhere may want to reach us.

 

Check the following:

  • Do you have a mobile phone and if so, does your address card carry the number with the correct area code prefix number?
  • Have you thought about a website? It is a powerful visibility tool. If you have one, are you taking efforts to make people to visit? What is the `hit rate'?
  • If your mobile service provider good enough? Does the signal break and irritate the other person while you are speaking?
  • Do you have an e mail id? Do your people know the same?

In an era of competition and infinite exciting opportunity, accessibility and visibility are very important portfolios to be managed intelligently.

Are you doing justice for this portfolio?

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

11th October 2011

Day 79

  `You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of'.

Jim Rohn

 

Take Responsibility.

 

Take personal responsibility in order to grow. Even in situations where you are a victim of circumstances, think how you could have avoided the damage. We can find one hundred reasons why we are not responsible to what happens to us. That will be rationalising how helpless we are. Successful people differ from us on one unique trait: they own the responsibility for what happens to them.

 

Every time you blame or complain others for your position in life, you don't grow. You only feel bad. But that is not going to help you in any way. Next time you suffer any setback, ask the following questions:

  • In what way I am responsible for it?
  • How I could have prevented it?
  • What do I learn from this?
  • What I am going to do it prevent its recurrence?
  • What strategy do I have to reduce the damage that is done to me?

 

Remember that we can learn a lot from our everyday experiences. Life is not what happens to us; what is more important is what we do with what happens to us!

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

Day 78 

 

10th October 2011

 

`He has a right to criticise, who has a heart to help'.

Abraham Lincoln

 

Giving Feedback and Criticism.

 

Sometimes we have to give feedback and criticism to others. It may be for their good or for our good. But the most important thing to remember is how to give the feedback, especially negative feedbacks and criticisms. The purpose of a negative feedback or criticism should be to help the other person and not to punish or insult him.

 

Evaluate the quality of your feedback with reference to the following factors:

·        The words you use – are they kind and appropriate?

·        The timing of your feedback – is it the right time? Choose a neutral occasion and not when the other person is emotionally charged.

·        The place. Praise in public, criticise in private!

·        Be genuine in your intention and let the other person know it.

·        Check if the purpose of your feedback is achieved and how the other person has taken it.

·        Let the other person know why and what you are trying to communicate.

 

A little amount of empathy and tact will go a long way to maintain a healthy rapport even after you have given the feedback and criticism.

N C Sridharan

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[Time-Management] 100 Days Improvement Plan!

 

Day 77

 

7th October 2011

 

`The greatest wealth is health'. 

Virgil

 

Take Care of Your Health…

 

Just now I met a person who has not been attending to work for some time. I enquired about his health and he mentioned that he has some hormone deficiency. I asked him if he is exercising regularly. He came with the normal `universal excuse': no time!

 

Isn't true that the more busy you are, the more fit you should be? If you have no responsibility in life, perhaps you can take life very easy. But, if you are an important person and shouldering high responsibility, you should certainly take care of your health since your poor health will affect your work life.

 

List what efforts you are taking to take care of your health. For one full week log all your activities and calculate what percentage of your time you are spending for maintaining your health.

 

You don't have to clean and service an idle vehicle. But you have to carefully maintain a heavily used precious vehicle. Remember that your physique is God's precious gift and his job is over the moment he has given it to you. He will not maintain it for you!

 

N C Sridharan

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