Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

Are you a manager?  Would you like more available time?  Yes, then read on . . .

How come you’ve worked hard all day but haven’t started the one task that was most important to you?  As a manager, how come your daily work schedule often falls in a heap by mid-morning?

Who’s got the monkey?  The answer is, you have - probably several!

“Management Time: Who’s got the Monkey” has been the second most popular management article ever published by the Harvard Business Review (“Management Time: Who’s got the Monkey”, by William Oncken and Donald Wass, first published by Harvard Business Review, 1974) and has been reprinted several times.  Thirty odd years later, the message Oncken and Wass sent us on management, still holds true today.

They suggested that there are three types of management-imposed time pressure – Boss, System, and Self.

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Copyright © 2006 Jeanette Cates

Business planning involves a host of different functions, from production to sales to marketing. But rarely does it include time and vacation planning - especially for the solo entrepreneur.

Learning to take time off is a critical part of your long-term plan for success. Research has shown that those who take a regular vacation are sharper and more productive than those who don’t.

Here’s a five step plan to ensure you get the time you deserve.

1. Get a calendar for the year. I find that printing a blank calendar from Outlook serves this purpose well. (Check the Help menu for instructions on adding a new calendar if you’re not familiar with the process.)

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Copyright © 2006 Marshall House

Everyone has a unique perspective of what constitutes an “energetic meeting.” Some may believe that an energetic meeting must be lively and fast-paced; others may believe that a meeting is energetic when they leave feeling energized and uplifted.

Regardless of your own personal viewpoint of energetic meetings, you can increase the likelihood that your meetings will be more satisfying by encouraging your group to adopt certain procedures as standard. Here are some key procedures, if you want participation in your energetic meetings.

Clarify Purpose. A group’s clear purpose right from its beginning helps all other considerations and actions to become clearer.

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Copyright © 2006 Mark Meshulam

Every time you open your browser, it automatically opens to a particular web page. This is called your home page. You can change your home page so that you see what you want to see when your browser opens.

In future articles I will show you how to easily make a “Resource Website” for your company which can be hosted on your own computer or on your network, and which can provide valuable current information to your employees.

The value of setting a browser home page to this resource site, is that your co-workers can have the latest company information on their screen just by starting their browser. It can contain links, images, and downloads just like a web-based site.

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Copyright © 2006 Mary Eule

By nature, entrepreneurs are more action-oriented and idea-rich than others.  For the most part, these are good traits.  However, they often act as a catalyst for crossing the line and heading straight for lack of focus, prioritization and the ever-common doing-it, doing-it, doing-it rut.

Let’s face it, most of us feel like we have way too many things to do every day… a belief that is exacerbated by owning/operating a small business!  Couple that with the pervading notions that “If I’m not working, I’m not worthy” and/or that rapid growth necessitates doing even more, you’ve got real problems. Why, I bet you even know of some people who think that if they just work harder and longer at anything, they’ll eventually make it!  This is hooey.

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In the world of business, the old saw, “Time is money,” may
be more accurate now than ever before in the history of
commerce. Corporations and companies are constantly looking
for ways to increase profits while reducing time –
production time, shipping time, construction time,
development time – anywhere a company can reduce the amount
of time it takes to perform a task, it is increasing its
profit potential. And in today’s global economy, every
second counts.

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Copyright (c) 2006 UpLevel Strategies

Too many professionals struggle with an unhealthy balance
of work and play, as their careers take over the majority
of their time and leave them with little energy to devote
to other priorities such as family, friends, and personal
well-being.

Is there a way to find happiness through a successful
career that will allow you to still enjoy all aspects of
your life? Believe it or not, there is. You, too, can join
the ranks of the lifestyle entrepreneurs.

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Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute

Do you need to have:

• Your manager give you more credit for the work that you
do?

• Your partner acknowledge that your ideas are really worth
listening to?

• Your children accept more responsibility?

• Your friends take you seriously when you really mean it?

• Your customers buy more from you?

• Your suppliers meet your quality standards?

• Your team become more energetic?

Hey, couldn’t the list go on!  I’m sure many of us would
like to see some or all of the above occur (and probably a
few more as well).  The key to being more successful in our
interpersonal endeavours, is to become more influential.
Influence is no longer considered a magic quality that is
bestowed on some and not others.  Nor is it something we
gain through holding a position of power.  Surprisingly, we
can all improve our ability to influence others by merely
sharpening the influencing skills we already have in our
armoury and perhaps using them more appropriately according
to the situation.

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Copyright 2006 Progress-U Ltd.

T h e   U l t i m a t u m

A couple of months ago, Marc (name changed), a manager in
his early 40s, called me and said: “I need your help! My
superiors told me today that I get another 6-week trial
period and if by then I can’t show a good performance, I
will be fired.”

He sounded quite panicky and outraged, which is not
surprising in such a situation. First, I helped him to calm
down so that he would be able to think clearly and
rationally.

Typically, my clients get coached 2 to 4 times per month.
However, as this was a true emergency case, we decided to
set up 2 coaching sessions per week for the first 3 weeks
and then review the situation again.

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Copyright 2006 Synergy Strategies

Stop for a minute and think: What is the #1 project that
you need to get done, but have been putting off? Every day
you try to get to it, but other things just seem to catch
your attention first, like answering e-mails  returning
phone calls, cleaning, taking care of little to do’s on
post it notes… tasks that suck you in and captivate you
until you have no time left to work on what you’ve deemed
important.

These IMPORTANT things are necessary to do at some point
but are not critical or urgent to do right now. IMPORTANT
tasks usually involve something a bit more tedious and time
consuming, like filing, billing, writing, making follow-up
calls, planning, marketing, etcetera.  Since there is no
immediate pressure to get them done, they remain in our
mind and on our to-do lists as things we SHOULD do
sometime. They absorb our energy as we begrudge the thought
of starting the project and they actually eat our time as
we subconsciously procrastinate, doing other little things
that feel more rewarding first.

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