Posts tagged Challenges
Time Management Tips for Entrepreneurs – How to Boost Your Personal Productivity
Sep 30th
One of the most common challenges that people face, especially entrepreneurs, is to effectively manage their time. In this information age, there is too much information to sift through and if you let the information control you then you will feel overwhelmed and under-achieve. So what does one have to do to improve their personal productivity? Several ideas have been proposed and here I would like to summarize all the points into 4 main points. So let’s get started.
Point #1: Break free from the Time Management myth: You have to first change your mindset and point of view to understand and acknowledge the fact that Time cannot be managed. Time is time and is a constant. What you have to focus on, instead, is how to manage YOURSELF in time. Stephen Covey once said, “Time Management is a misnomer. The key is to manage yourself.” So from the here on, the focus will be on how YOU can take charge of your time.
Point #2: Tackle Overwhelm effectively: In this age you have too much information coming at you, and one keeps jumping from one topic to the other leading to overwhelm and waste of time. We always move in the direction we look. So if you want to change your direction, then just change where you look. And one keeps looking at different things throughout the day, and guess what they end up moving everywhere – and that means nowhere. So how do you tackle it? Let’s start with you – Don’t complain about too much information. The way you look at it determines how you would react to it. You CANNOT AVOID overwhelm, but you CAN MANAGE it. And this is how you do it:
1.You must form the habit of scheduling everything that needs to be done: You cannot just react to new information. Be a student and not a follower. Your day should have a pattern and everything that needs to be done should be given an appointment. If the newspaper wants you to read it, then you should give the newspaper a specific time to engage you. Your time is important, so everything that takes away your time should be scheduled.
2.Disconnect yourself regularly: Take regular time-offs from your daily grind. Find ways of relaxation and refresh yourself with new ideas and thoughts. Engage in your hobbies regularly. If you like fishing, schedule it every week. It’s said that the most creative ideas come to you when your mind is relaxed. So when once you are back at your work, you are keyed up and raring to go.
Point #3: Avoid the #1 killer of time – Distractions: It’s not social media, emails, etc that causes you distractions; it’s YOU. You are the one who let’s them distract you. You cannot do things when you feel like doing it; you have to schedule it. You have to build a boundary of protection around you. The best solution, what I have experienced, to tackle distractions is to get the most important things done before distraction comes looking for you. That means that most of the distractions start after people have started waking up and getting to work. Roughly after 1000 am things start to take on the colors of distraction. So the best thing to do is to schedule all your important activities early in the morning. By doing this, you ensure consistent productivity. It’s said that great poet Ernest Hemmingway used to finish off all his writing before 1000 am. After that, he used to enjoy life. Use that principle.
Point #4: Choose your environment: My experience shows that I can’t get everything done in front of my work-desk. I also don’t like to exercise in the house. I tend to do better outdoors, sucking in the fresh morning air. What environment you choose is entirely up to you. It helps to assign specific environments to specific activities.
To summarize, if you take a look at the above 4 points, you will see a common pattern – it’s about YOU. It starts with you and ends with you. You have the total power and control to manage yourself and boost your productivity. Try the above techniques for a week, and see how you adapt to it.
All the best and God Bless.
How to Bounce Back After a Big Disappointment
Sep 27th
Most times when we desire things the expectation within us is very high. It is as if this desire will make or destroy our lives. We go about them driven towards success telling ourselves anything other than this would be unacceptable. It is good to have this within us during these times however if things do not work to plan and if we fall short of this success then there are other factors that we must take into consideration to rebuild this momentum.
Second time around is always easier
The amazing thing about doing the same thing twice is that it is always easier on the second go. We know the pitfalls, know our shortcomings, have experience of failure and most times know how to avoid this. The real issue with the second time is the mind set. This is where all the hard work needs to be done. We must remove the element of defeat from our first battle and prepare ourselves to have the same passion as we had the first time. If we can raise ourselves above this then we would progress a lot faster and without doubt for success.
Speed of completion
Doing something for the second time is always faster to complete than the first time. In the first attempt everywhere is a new discovery. Even the feelings are new and have to be appreciated and dealt with. These all take time to process and hence the delay. In the second, third or fourth instance, our findings are analyzed with more wisdom. They are stored away easily because we know where they fit in our system and when and where we would need them. If we do not have this burden weighing upon us it is easier to work faster and efficiently for success. This is another way of finding hope and the spirit of passion the second time over.
Growth in confidence
Our nerves are better prepared to withstand a second attempt in life. They are geared for what to expect and prepared to deal with the eventualities. They rise up to challenges, question our pride and add more vigor to attain success. Although we may start slowly because we are recovering from failure, once we are in motion things become different. Our confidence grows with each moment and there is determination and focus not to lose this time around.
Different expectations
Although victory is still at the forefront of our minds, failure is also taken into consideration. The important thing about this is that we have a balanced perspective. Not only do we dream of the times of success but we encompass the reality of it. This reality is the room for failure and this keeps our feet on the ground and makes us thorough to deliver victory. There is nothing like a bit of disappointment to sharpen the mind and awake the spirit within. This is a time for true guts and these only get going when the odds are against us.
Quality of delivery
If before we aimed to give back 80% in quality this time we would aim for at least 90% or perfection, if that were possible. Our excuses are thrown out the door because we believe that it is our second or third time around and we should know better. This may even give us the impetus to aim for higher rewards than we had expected in the first attempt. We know we have experience, we know that we come better prepared than before and more importantly we want to be paid for this experience. Most times doing things the next time around offers better quality than in the first attempt.
The important thing to note here is that true victory is guaranteed with God and he determines how many tries we would have before success. Hard work can only get us so far but the true success for dreams and desires comes with faith. There is no time frame for this.
