“Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time then becomes inseparably linked with the best utilization of our efforts.” Ted W. Engstom
We all have the same 24 hours in each day.
We can either use our time wisely or squander it away. Once the day is gone, it will never return. As the old saying goes, “The days can feel long, but the years are all too short.” Effective managers discipline themselves to use their time well. Those who don’t will likely be replaced by those who can.
We like to talk about investing our time wisely rather than simply spending it. Like any good investment, managing time requires research and a commitment to choose wisely. The research begins by looking at those areas where we spend time without receiving tangible rewards. Those who invest their time wisely are not inclined to let either time or money slip through their fingers.
Eliminate Time Wasters
The first step in eliminating time wasters is to identify them.
It has been applied to all sorts of situations. The numbers aren't always 80/20 but the rule remains. We don't spend enough time on the things that give us the most rewards in life. If you think about it, most of our hard work is going to things that really don't matter in the long-run.
Putting it into Practice
"What is important?" That is a question worth asking yourself. Name the top 5 things that are most important to you? What is the legacy you would like to leave? What is it that you would like your family, friends and colleagues to say about you when you are not in the room? If we don't have a clear idea of what is important, our efforts will easily be diverted. The tendency will be to respond to what we assume is important at the time -- getting pulled in many directions adding to our stress and draining our energy bank.
An over-used strength often becomes a weakness. Be certain that your overdeveloped work habits and underdeveloped emotional support systems are not causing undue stress that can lead to burnout.
Polish Your Work Habits. Be sure that your work habits are not actually causing the very things you hate about your life.
Every now and then a person runs across a great book that really helps improve the quality of life. This is such a book! Written by top coaches of executive women, Barb McEwen and John Agno, the goal of When Doing It All Won’t Dois to develop solutions and strategies to help women’s lives be easier, richer, happier, and saner.
It’s based on the premise that doing it all won’t do. If you are a woman who is weary and stressed and taking on too much and struggling to juggle it all, this book is dedicated to helping you find the enjoyment and satisfaction you expected with your success.
Well-organized with real solutions and a helpful workbook section, this book focuses on developing your signature talents to do what you do best, developing a formula for success, and prioritizing your values and goals. A great read!
"In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking." Sir John Lubbock
Women have been conditioned to feel "they have to." Since we were young we've been taught to believe that hard work, determination and looking after others will get us what we want -- even if we are not the nurturing kind.
I can't tell you how many times, as a coach, I hear how female clients allow others to set expectations for them. Direct reports continue to manage up. All the employee has to say is, "I can't do this, or I haven't the time" and the female manager will begrudgingly take on the job. They do it because they're used to picking up whether it is for family or direct reports. They are acting motherly or womanly... falling into a cleanup role, often to their disadvantage.
And they're resentful and frustrated because they thought this made them successful. Unfortunately, it is just this type of behavior that has stifled their career. They are viewed as being taken advantage of and seen as ineffective in developing their team, nor are they embracing the power of their position. This behavior sends the subtle message -- women are busy taking care while men are busy taking charge.
Putting it into Practice
Hard work doesn't guarantee the results you want. Remind yourself that the willing horse gets the heavy load but not necessarily the promotion. You are accountable to your boss to see that tasks come in on time and on budget.
However, it is also your role to ensure that staff are fully trained, given the right supports and undertake full responsibility for their assigned duties.
Wish you had a wife? Most working women quickly acknowledge that they wish they did. You have two choices- you can stop thinking about all the chores that need doing befo re you can relax, or you can choose to get the right supports in place to help you manage the tasks that need doing.
Manage the home. In most households, the house work is not evenly divided. Don't allow this to drive you into a martyr role that will adversely affect your family relationships. If you view yourself as a good manager, don't ignore your manager's role in the home.
The Women Presidents Organization (WPO) has compiled an infographic (see below) based on its 2013 Economic Impact Survey. Key findings include:
--Entrepreneurship can be lucrative. 76% of WPO members -- the female owners of multi-million dollar companies around the world -- currently make at least six figures, and 28% have received a salary increase this year, further separating themselves from the misconception that women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.
--The economy is a growing concern.50% of WPO members believe that economic conditions are the single biggest threat to their bottom line growth. By comparison, just 34% were concerned with economic conditions in 2012.
--Women-owned businesses are thriving regardless. 50% of WPO member businesses have hired new employees, and 63% have actually increased their employees' salaries in 2013. 88% of WPO member companies provide health insurance.
According to a survey by talent mobility consulting firm Lee Hecht Harrison, nearly all job seekers report having some online presence. While the majority report having at least a LinkedIn® profile, about one-third are engaged on several social media channels. Only 7% remain inactive online.
Lee Hecht Harrison surveyed 877 job seekers throughout the U.S. via an online poll asking, “How searchable are you on the Internet?” The results were as follows:
I have a LinkedIn profile
61%
I am active on several social media sites
15%
I have LinkedIn and Twitter profiles
11%
I am active on several social media sites and blog
6%
I don’t show up in a search
7%
Greg Simpson, Senior Vice President, Career Transition Practice Leader for Lee Hecht Harrison, stated, “Social recruiting techniques are making it easier and more efficient for employers and recruiters to distribute job openings and find prospective candidates online. Job seekers without an online presence may be at a disadvantage.” Simpson advises job seekers to be visible and connected online to not only find job postings, but to capture the attention of the hiring community.
Simpson cautions that it isn’t enough to post a profile and use social media to build a network. Job seekers need to develop a strategic approach that ensures their use of social media aligns with how recruiters and hiring managers work. According to Simpson, “Networking is foundational. But job seekers need to go far beyond the fundamentals of building a network. They need to consider how social media can help them find open positions that aren’t advertised, engage directly with hiring managers, support the interviewing process and keep their candidacy strong.”
Simpson suggests, “If you’re a job seeker, use social media to advance your job search. Set up professional profiles on the networks appropriate for your field and industry. Get to know key players, build relationships and join the mix in ways that demonstrate your knowledge.”
"Nature arms each man with some faculty which enables him to do easily some feat impossible to any other." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Most of us try to live our lives with far too little information about how life really works.
If you think about it, everything in life... from kitchen gadgets to the tools we use, come with very detailed instructions. Pages of them. But the thing that matters most to us, life itself, comes with no instructions. We have to discover it ourselves!
Our personalities are shaped by genetics and life experiences. In childhood, we decide what's important to us and that influences a great deal of our personality. And, we continuously evolve. Each of us is defined by many things - our emotional habits, our belief systems, our pattern of thoughts, our cultural upbringing, our preferences, our motivations, our style of relating to others, to name a few.
Some characteristics we share in common, some we don't. What we need to function well will often be quite different from what someone else will need. This is where self-knowledge and personal insight comes in. There is a big advantage in knowing ourselves and the type of environment in which we feel nurtured. But there is also a huge advantage in knowing how a partner, a child, or a co-worker thinks, feels and sorts information. Once we recognize that not everyone is like me and that each of us sees the world through their own lens, we will quickly realize that individuals will approach similar situations differently. It is not necessary that they do it just like me.
Putting it into Practice
Self-understanding. You cannot afford to miss the richness that comes with understanding your own personality and the benefit it brings to relationships. Take time to explore one or two personality assessments, with or without a coach.
Learn your Signature Strengths.It has been said that foresight is better than hindsight but we believe insight tops them all. Learn your top five signature talents and understand how when they are overused can become a weakness. Understand how you stand out from others.
Self-Assessment Resources.As the world moves faster, when you are expected to do more with less, when teamwork and innovation are essential, when there are greater cultural and international concerns, understanding psychological types offers an unmatched resource.
Corporate stress is one of the most common forms of stress in our society. Public speaking, job security, lateral communication, absenteeism, meetings, time crunch/deadlines, performance reviews, quotas, budgets and phobias of crowds, closed spaces (elevators), and flying are among the top triggers of corporate stress.
Stress is simply a signal within your body that gives you the opportunity to identify and adjust your perception of any situation. You are not a victim to life unless you choose to be, and many people who suffer from workplace stress fall into that category.
Stress has three main fuels: worry, fear and doubt.
They act like little serpents that crawl into the lap of your life and wreak havoc emotionally, spiritually and physically. Yet, what and how you chose to focus your energy in the face of stress makes all the difference.
Lauren E. Miller has learned this firsthand as she walked through two of life's top stressors at the same time---advanced cancer and divorce. Through this experience, Lauren learned that one of the greatest positions of empowerment lies in the conscious choice to stay awake at the gate of your thoughts and prevent your body from identifying stress as a threat.
Drawing from both professional expertise and personal experience, Lauren has created a "stress-free" relief manual with her new book, "5 Minutes to Stress Relief: How to Release Fear, Worry and Doubt." With unique "Grab-and_Go" tips, Lauren provides the optimal foundation for both individuals and entire corporations to move forward into stress-free living in their workplace and personal space.
According to recent articles, childless workers feel that they pick up the slack for their counterparts with kids.
But what do working parents think? A new poll from employee effectiveness and work-life services provider Workplace Options reveals that working parents do not think that parenthood affects their productivity at work.
The poll, which centered on the effect of children’s extracurricular activities on time spent at work, showed that most parents think that their job performance is unaffected. Just 8 percent of respondents admitted that their productivity has suffered as a result of managing their child’s activities, which include sports, dance or theater. In addition, only 6 percent have been reprimanded by a supervisor for spending too much work time on their child’s extracurricular activities.
“There is a perception right now that working parents don’t work as hard as their colleagues without children,” said Dean Debnam, chief executive officer of Workplace Options. “These poll results show that there is a big inconsistency between that perception and how working parents view themselves.”
Poll results also showed:
*6 out of 10 (66 percent) of respondents have used paid time off to volunteer for their child’s school-related or extracurricular activities
*73 percent of working parents said they never or rarely use work time to manage activities for their children
Flexibility for All
Working parents believe they are still productive employees, but not without sacrifice. More than half (56 percent) feel guilty for not being able to attend all of their child’s extracurricular activities. A larger group, 70 percent, have had to miss a performance or game due to work commitments. One in three (38 percent) of respondents said they have a harder time managing activities than stay-at-home parents.
“Working and raising children will never be an easy task,” said Debnam. “Employers can support working parents by offering services to help manage extracurricular activities, whether it’s locating the best local dance studios or finding discounted sports equipment. It helps reduce stress for parents and keeps them focused at work, which can temper resentment from coworkers.”
Indeed, while 80 percent of respondents indicated that their employers do not offer such services, nearly half (47 percent) would take advantage of them if offered.
While work-life services certainly help, Debnam says the real key to tackling the perceived imbalance of workloads between parents and non-parents is to offer flexibility for all.
“Ultimately, all employees are going to have obligations outside of work that require flexibility,” said Debnam. “While it might seem easier to make accommodations for parents, the best way to foster a supportive work environment is to treat everyone similarly. Afford the same flexibility for an employee to pick up a pet from the vet’s office as you might for another employee to pick up a child for an early dismissal day at school.”
The national survey was conducted by the North Carolina firm of Public Policy Polling, October 7-11, 2013. The survey polled 502 working Americans and has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.
The Life of Margrettacovers her young life up to her marriage in 1939. Born during World War I when the Black Plague was circulating the globe and growing up during the Great Depression, as the only child of two career parents, her story resonates with today's children of full-time working parents who seek a better work/life integration.
The world is spinning at a dizzying pace, and if we are not careful, we will thoughtlessly add to our list of “must dos” all those things we think we ‘need’ or ‘have’ to do in order to maintain appearances. Then our schedule becomes nightmarish, and when things don’t go as smoothly as we’d like, we promise ourselves that the next time we’ll say no or work a little harder, faster, or better. We don’t consider cutting anything out of our list because, we assure ourselves, “It’s all important!”
So…we get up a little earlier, go to bed a little later, shortchange ourselves or shortchange someone important to us.
When the inevitable happens, we blame ourselves because we can’t run faster than a speeding bullet, aren’t more powerful than a locomotive, and don’t leap tall buildings in a single bound! As much as we’d like to be Superwoman, we can’t! Our overburdened schedule makes our stress levels rise even higher, and the resulting anxieties and frustrations exact a serious price on us and those around us.
Over-commitment is a form of addiction, as potentially lethal as any other addiction. We need to face facts:
The truth is that we’re trying to do too much. The best juggler can only juggle so many balls in the air before they all come crashing down. If we don’t learn the juggler’s lesson, our world comes crashing down.
Granted, this is a tough lesson to learn. Again and again, we catch ourselves overdoing.
Year after year, we have heard working women’s frustrations, and we have helped them deal with massive internal conflicts. Both society and individuals struggle with countless expectations, too much to do in too little time, and the fact that they receive little of the support or recognition they want—and deserve.
Is it any wonder that the self-help books currently available don’t work well in relieving the pressures working women routinely face?
As executive and business coaches, we began our own journey to investigate the factors that are causing all the strain, stress, and frustration among generations of very bright and articulate women. What we discovered serves as the backbone for this book, and for the solutions, strategies, and essential tools we outline here. Our goal is to help women make their lives easier, richer, happier, and saner.
Today’s women are better educated than ever before. They have accumulated a wealth of skills, have learned to be adaptable, and have been told that they can do anything they want to do. The upside is that they have become independent, self-sufficient, and confident of their abilities. The downside is that they will readily admit they have not found the enjoyment or satisfaction they once imagined.
The reason they attribute to the problem is that they have taken on too much. These days, most women dance to a frenzied beat, believing just because they can, they think they should. We were taught if we were capable of doing something it shouldn’t be necessary to hire it out or look for help.
This has led women to become frustrated by experiencing long days and a never-ending “To Do” list. All too often, businesswomen don’t give themselves a break. In an effort to squeeze even more into their nightmarish schedules, they make choices that actually undermine their health, their family life, their careers, and important relationships.
Is it any wonder that the self-help books currently available don’t work well in relieving the pressures working women routinely face?
In examining this dilemma with a succession of clients, we realized that women do not automatically experience the same professional issues that men routinely face. Instead, they struggle to be all things to all people— and along the way they neglect themselves and their own priorities.
These books are dedicated to all those hardworking women everywhere who are willing to embrace liberating change. Believe that your situation can change and you are halfway down the road to making significant changes. Know that change always comes with unexpected gifts.
When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women: The solutions, insights and tips in this book are custom-designed to help you de-stress, re-energize, and channel your time better. You will find these new rituals and behaviors extremely rewarding. You will discover a new-found freedom, energy and sense of peace when you make the changes in your life we suggest. It is time for women to say, "Doing it all won't do." There is a better way.
Year after year, the authors have heard working women's frustrations, and have helped them deal with massive internal conflicts. Career women struggle with countless expectations, too much to do in too little time, and the fact that they receive little of the support or recognition they want--and deserve.
Spirited Leadership: 52 Ways to Build Trust: Being a spirited leader empowers you to illuminate the path for others in an authentic, heartfelt, credible manner. Spirited leadership get you off the exhausting treadmill of "never enough" and onto the path of an exciting, energizing journey where you will fulfill your destiny and soar to new heights of excellence. The by-products of this journey are outstanding, collaboration, innovation galore, engagement extraordinaire and glowing results.
Author Ellen Castro got off the exhausting treadmill when she discovered that trust is the competitive advantage in a world where competence alone is not enough to succeed in business or in life.
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