My christmas gift to you

[americanoracle]

Rule #1-

It is ALL time management.

This is something that is fast becoming crystal clear to me in watching others succeed and fail at... pretty much everything, but entrepreneurialism especially.

I may have to write a short book on my observations of the last couple months for my fellow procrastinators. But for now... if you are not where you want to be, take a hard honest look at how you spend the 24 hours of your days.

If you can become the master of your own time, and sense of time, and use of time, everything else falls into place. If you cannot, you are going to make things incredibly more difficult for yourself.

That's it. That is the key to the kingdom.

merry merry...

[shushu]

Hey
I just love the way you say things! So true and so on point.

Just because you said something about writing a book on the topic, I think you may find this interesting.

I recently read Dan Ariely’s “review” on a book: The Procrastination Equation by Dr. Piers Steel – an internationally recognized expert on human motivation and the foremost authority on why people put things off.

Being a mega Procrastinator and in the very early stages in turning it around (it's f@#$ing my life up), I find that the reasons for procrastinating things is many times not knowing what to do 1st.

Mary xmas?
Happy holidays!

P.S
Did you ever see my reply to you in my 1st post??

[officer_dibble]

Being very clear about what your goals are and continually reminding yourself of them is - I think - the key to it all. Perhaps concentrate on achieving one goal to start with. At least it has worked for me this year. I've managed to achieve some things I thought it would take five years to do. The only goals I didn't make progress on - were the ones I forgot.

By reminding yourself of your goals - your mind subconsciously tries to find ways to help you meet them. When you get an idea - write it down. Regularly review them and take action on the ones that look reasonable (heck - taking action on the ones that look unreasonable is better than doing nothing).

We all have 24 hours a day - the difference comes in how you choose to fill them. If you have other commitments eg a day job, family etc - then you have to get organised with how you use them. But I reckon 99% of us can find an hour each day which isn't being used as well as it could be. That hour can be used to develop your muse or pursue other goals.

Brian Tracy's Goals is excellent on goal setting.

[shushu]

Hey Officer

I'm not sure if your msg was directed to me, but, I'll check out
Brian Tracy's Goals now, as this may be a good place to start.
"D is for definition" ;-)
thanks again

[affinity]

Great advice guys, thanks!

I'm relatively new to the 4hww concepts (and have just been lurking around for awhile) and think these two spreadsheets might be of use if people are looking for a good way to visualize "time-blocking".

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2020953/productivity/timesheet%20hourly%20v09.xlsx
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2020953/productivity/Month%20Sheet%20Custom.xlsx

I'm actually not very consistent in using these (even when I print them out) - maybe posting them here will trigger something in me :) The main problem I think I face (and maybe other people too) is that I "invent things to avoid the important". Combining this with "measurement = motivation", I think tracking time is the way to go.

Short explanation of the sheets, if needed:

The month sheet is essentially a "2 month dreamline. Since I'm a student, I also mark important days, like tests or projects. The lines at the lower half are basically subtasks or things that I think need to be fulfilled to accomplish goals; they also have a couple lines at the end for a "finish date". (e.g. For a goal like "Be Fluent in Chinese", I'd list "Finish book X", "Flashcards for X consecutive days", and "Find native speaker to converse with")

The weekly sheet started as me trying to standardize what times I sleep/eat. I usually fill these in depending on my class/activity schedule so I know when I am free to do things.

The tiny box at the left of each "hour" is for me to plan what activities I want to do at that hour, and the larger box is for what I actually do. (On the sheet, I

There are two types of tasks (shown on the sheet as S_ and T_). I put S_ tasks as subtasks for my main goals (A1-D2, ranked on importance) and T_ tasks as things that pop up (errands and the like). For time estimation on tasks, I draw a line through the "Est 15m'" and shade the boxes in as I work on the task.

I realize these are a bit amateurish I'm open to any suggestions (or questions) ^^;

[officer_dibble]

Hey Officer

I'm not sure if your msg was directed to me, but, I'll check out
Brian Tracy's Goals now, as this may be a good place to start.
"D is for definition" ;-)
thanks again

Not necessarily aimed at you. But if it helps - it helps.

Procastination isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes you genuinely need to take a rest to avoid burn out or to let what you've learnt brew in your mind to make new connections. I think in these cases, procastination is protecting you from yourself.

But defining what you want to achieve very clearly means that the connections made are useful ones and you can come out of a rest period knowing what to do next. At least that's how I think it works. YMMV.

NB. I don't have shares in Brian Tracy. I will say that I think Goals is his best work. I've listened/read a few of this other programmes/books and while most introduce a few new things, there's a lot of overlap with Goals.

[shushu]

Officer
On my not so easy crusade to finding my muse, I have made up my mind today, that 1st thing 1st , hence DREAMLINEING, the way Tim suggest will be the best for me to do as it seems to be narrowing things very much!! I gave my word to have it done by Friday, aka, my Bday… I will love to keep you posted!

[americanoracle]

Well, in my dithering time I cobbled together the first 35 pages of the dissection of my own awe inspiring abilities regarding procrastination and figured I would share them here, for a limited time.

http://www.americanoracle.com/FLOW.pdf

It's unedited, mostly stream of consciousness from the coffee shop, so you'll have to let me know if you find it useful... but free of charge in any case.

Mostly I just wanted to see how long it would take me to get around to writing a book on procrastination. Because that cracks me up...

cheers.

[shushu]

America, as I told you before, procrastination has her heavy toll on me! I'm going to read this, and will let you know!

[shushu]

America,
I have 1 word: outstanding!
I'm on page 17, must stop now and go to a family Shabas dinner.
Yes, you must edit, having said that, it's brilliant and written with style.
I was LOL with the eyes exsursize-classic :)
I will love to post it on my FB wall as soon as your ready.
Awesome work!
Lets see what I'll do with it!

[americanoracle]

hmmm.

well you're going to appreciate the last few pages re putting on facebook.

:)

I may never get around to editing it, for lack of a motive to do so, but glad you like what's there...enjoying the exploration into the subject.

[shushu]

A
Reading this was fantastic!! So on time and so on point!
You are a gifted writer!
It even brought tears to my eyes, as the truth often hurts!
I'm going to cut the FB cord for a full 7 days starting tomorrow; it’s time to face my demons!
Thanks again
S

[shushu]

Hey
Just letting you know:
Facebook delusion, cutting the cord, day 5 of 7.
Thank you, as reading the 1st chapter of your fantastic book, made me do it! Thanks
Shu

[americanoracle]

Thanks shushu, glad to hear it.

I am reading this evening (for the first time) what I posted originally, and editing it (extensively though probably not near perfectly).

I'll repost a link when it is finished.

cheers...

[shushu]

I can't wait man!!!! I will love, love, love to read it!
BTW, I have my 1st muse idea and I'm starting to see if there is a need for it in the market at all..can you believe this?? me..
By the end of tomorrow, I will have a survey and will send it to 20 people, and start my "market research"...
Tnx again!
Shu

[shushu]

As a result of reading the 1st chapter of your book I've decided to do an experiment:

Facebook delusion, cutting the cord for 7 days.
The results: The unbelievable happened (Drum roll please),
and I got "HIT" by a muse. I even figured out a way to test it. WOW..I've come a long way...there is a great chance that it wont be THE ONE...but hey, in my case I don't think it matters...

The way I'm testing my Muse:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R3THCDY

Thanks again
Shu