Time Management and Shopping

If you set up a system for when you go shopping then you will find that shopping is more fun and enjoyable and will take less time. Do you know that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time? This means that we have a lot of money invested in clothing that we don’t wear – let alone the time it took us to purchase all those items.

If you follow some rules then you will save yourself some time when shopping:

Know what suits your body

• Learn your body shape
• Understand what colours suit you

Know your reason for going shopping:

• What is your reason for wanting to purchase a new item
• Write down what items you need to purchase
• Ask yourself – when will I wear it? Where will I wear it? How many times will I wear it?

Preparation for shopping:

• Allow enough time
•  Think about the shopping hours and try to shop when there are less people at the shops
•  If you are co-ordinating items then take those items with you then you won’t wonder if they go, you will know

Questions to ask:

• How many items in my wardrobe will the item go with?
• Can it be dressed up or dressed down?
• Will you be able to use it in more than one season?

If you purchase an item that needs to be altered then take it to be altered immediately. Otherwise, it may just be another item at home that hangs in your wardrobe.

Another way to save time is to actually go through your wardrobe at least once a year. That way, you can ensure that your wardrobe is always functional and serves you. Some questions to ask and guidelines to follow include:

• Anything that you won’t get repaired - then out it goes
• Anything that no longer looks good – out it goes
• Anything that doesn’t fit you – either too big or too small – out it goes
• Anything that is dated – out it goes
• Anything that you feel uncomfortable in – out it goes

Following these tips and guidelines will ideally save you time when you go shopping so that you can use your time for more productive and fun experiences.

Managing your energy allows you to get more done

Last blog we discussed how exercise can help you be more productive. This week we are looking at our energy cycles again. During the day our bodies go through an energy cycle every 90 to 120 minutes. We should be scheduling our tasks around that body rhythm. That is we focus and concentrate on our work for 90 to 120 minutes then do less important work for a rest and recovery break. This type of work includes emails, some calls and perhaps even some meetings.

Our energy cycle is not just physical energy either. Other elements include our emotional energy and mental energy.

Therefore to work at our peak productivity some of the ways to look after ourselves includes:

Physical energy

§  Sleep
§  Nutrition
§  Hydration
§  Exercise
§  Recovery

Emotional energy

§  Positive relationships
§  Do not worry about what you cannot change
§  Enjoyment
§  Recovery

Mental energy

§  Positive thoughts
§  Personal development
§  Recovery

So make small changes over time to look after your body on a physical, emotion and mental level.

 
By doing this you will certainly become more productive and get more done in less time which allows you time to do the things that you really want to do not just what you have to do.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based professional organiser and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. We conduct workshops on ‘Managing your Time’, ‘Systemise Yourself to have a Productive Day,’ ‘DeClutter and Take Back Control’ and Mind Clutter.’ We work with individuals and businesses to help them create a better life.

For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802.

Exercise and Increase Your Productivity

Many of us are aware that during the night we have a rhythm to our sleep – light sleep, deep sleep . . .  however did you know that during the day our bodies also have a rhythm?

Take note as to how you work during the day, once you commence work do you find you can get going but later in the day between 2.30 to 3.30 you start to feel sluggish. Well that is your body rhythm telling you that it is fatiguing.

It is during this period of time when you are start to lose concentration and you will know because of the signs and signals your body gives you such as fidgeting, self-distraction, hunger, thirst, looking for easy distractions, not doing the work you really should be doing. Why not take a walk! Just 10 minutes can make all the difference.

After your walk you can come back to work and you will be ready to go again. Rather than persisting and not really being productive taking a break will allow you to come back refreshed and “on” task. This will increase your focus and concentration. If you had not got up and walked away from the desk then you will continue to work slower, make more mistakes, and procrastinate on decisions because you are not clear. So go for a walk and increase your productivity. You will notice the difference.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based professional organiser and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. We conduct workshops on ‘Managing your Time’, ‘Systemise Yourself to have a Productive Day,’ ‘DeClutter and Take Back Control’ and Mind Clutter.’ We work with individuals and businesses to help them create a better life.

For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802.

Increase Productivity by Batching Tasks

Batching tasks is taking a group of tasks and ‘doing’ them in the same block of time. For example, making all your telephone calls for the day in one group, checking your emails in one group, or when you are going to the shops doing more than just the grocery shopping.

Batching and Shopping

By batching your shopping you are saving time, saving petrol and helping the environment. The following are some elements to consider before you go to the shops for a detailed example of batching tasks.


We know we are going to the shops for the groceries but often there are many errands that we can do whilst we are out such as purchasing petrol, going to the post office, dropping off clothing at a charity bin and so on.


So before you leave the house you need the following:


 A list of all the errands to be done whilst out


 Any items you need for the errands such as the dry cleaners receipt, library books


 Your grocery list


 Eat prior to going shopping


 Dressed comfortably


 A plan of the places you need to go and the logical order in which to complete the tasks. That is place 1, place 2, and place 3. This step alone can save an incredible amount of time


 Estimate how long you think your list will take [each time you learn so you get closer to scheduling the correct amount of time]

Like in your daily work schedule a little planning can save you an incredible amount of time. I know it takes me 10 minutes to drive to the local shops, then get out of the car, complete my tasks and drive home, just by only having to do this once a week it is saving me at least 30 minutes. Time adds up and we lose time easily but planning can easily save time.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based professional organiser and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. We conduct workshops on ‘Managing your Time’, ‘Systemise Yourself to have a Productive Day,’ ‘DeClutter and Take Back Control’ and Mind Clutter.’ We work with individuals and businesses to help them create a better life.

For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802.

Goal Setting

It is time to think about setting goals for the year both in a personal sense and a business sense. However before we even set a goal some things to consider include:

What is your sense of purpose?

What is your purpose in life, what do you love, what do you value, and what do you really want to do? Answer these questions without too much thought it is known as ‘a rapid fire exercise’ rather than ponder for a long time. In a rapid fire exercise you answer the question with 5 answers in 30 seconds. Most of the time you get the same answers even if you pondered for 2 hours. So take 30 seconds and write down five things that are your purpose in life, what you love, value and really want to do.

What is the direction you now have to take?


We now know our purpose so what direction and changes do we have to implement to allow us to achieve our purpose. Make a step by step plan so we know our long term purpose and our short term direction to reach our purpose.


This develops our goals both short and long term. It is important to have a balance of both. By achieving the short term goals we know we are moving forward to our longer term outcome.


Are these plans in line with your values?


It is really important to complete a self-assessment of your purpose, direction and goals to know if they are in line with your personal values. Does it feel right? Does it feel good? Are there any elements you are not comfortable with? Ultimately if your purpose, direction and goals do not match your values even if you get there the feeling will not be as wonderful and you may ultimately be disappointed in yourself or what you have achieved.


Be flexible

Whilst we have our direction and goals it is important to always be flexible along the way. Opportunities that were not available when you made your plan or you did not see may come along. They may just be the right tool or way to propel you forward to achieving your goal so always be open and flexible to amend and change your plans as new opportunities present themselves.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based professional organiser and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. We conduct workshops on ‘Managing your Time’, ‘Systemise Yourself to have a Productive Day,’ ‘DeClutter and Take Back Control’ and Mind Clutter.’ We work with individuals and businesses to help them create a better life.

For more information go to http://www.lifestylerefocus.com.au/ or contact Michele on 0437 311 802.

New Habits to Your Responses

To make changes to ensure we have the ‘The Power To Choose’ in our own life we have to develop some new habits. I recommend the following two new habits to start.



Stimulus and Response
Understand that you are choosing your reaction to the stimulus presented to you. You have the power to choose. Pause to ensure you are making the right choice for you, your values and goals.


> Are you going to yell at the driver that cut you off in the traffic or how are you going to react?
> What about that extra bit of work your boss gives you with a tight deadline? Will you spend the next few hours working yourself up because you are annoyed or will you just focus and get it done?


Evaluation
Every choice we make has consequences which can be empowering but if we make a bad choice we should not blame ourselves but reflect on that choice so we are always aiming to improve.


> Will we make a choice to hang out the washing or play with the children?
> Will we make a choice to start that new course or just keep wondering?


About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. We conduct workshops on ‘Managing your Time’, ‘How to have a Productive Day’ and ‘DeClutter and Take Back Control.’


For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802.

You Can Be In Control - Part 2

How have you gone the last couple of weeks? Have you taken note of the times you have not been in control?

Have you considered how you reacted to different situations and recognised the times when you could have reacted differently?

Have you tried to stop yourself when others are trying to take control?

Here are the steps!

Making the choice to be in control can be empowering you only need to control yourself.

> Recognise that you have the power to choose how you react to a situation

> Recognise when you are not taking responsibility for your life

> Practise stopping yourself when you are letting others control you and take responsibility

This is a new behaviour so practise is really important. But keep practicing.

“If you don’t run your own life, someone else will”

John Atkinson

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. We are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you.

For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Michele on 0437 311 802

You can be in control!

When we let other people control our life we are passing control of our thoughts, mood, and experiences onto other people who are out of our control. When this occurs we are living a reactive life. The benefit of letting others control us is that we have someone else to blame – and that feels good.

The alternative action is that we could take responsibility for our self.

Are you living your life according to what others want?

We can automatically spend our lives living up to the standards of others instead of taking the time to work out what we want. For example:

 The man who has spent 25 years working as a lawyer because his father was a lawyer. He never changed his profession even though he had the ability, skills and drive to be a professional tennis player

 The mother of five children who feels that she’s less successful than other mothers because she is not a career woman and takes on board what the media says about stay at home mums

 The young adolescent who exercises and diets because the models in the magazines constantly remind her she’s not a size 8 and therefore not a beauty by today’s standards

 The musician who has a regular government job in finance because his parents told him to “get a real job” yet his passion was and always has been music

 The young basketballer who never reached her full potential because her parents focused on her mistakes in the game rather than all the really good plays she made

 The 45 year old father of three children who is still hoping one day his father will congratulate him on what he has achieved rather than point out what his failings are

Take some time and think about times when you have let others control your life?

How did it make you feel?

Do you still let others control your life?

What steps can you do so that you are in control of your life?

Who is going to have the biggest effect on your future?

About Us


LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

1,440 Minutes per Day

We all have the same 1,440 minutes per day – how we utilise that time determines our ability to have a productive day.



So focus on doing the really important and high priority tasks first, usually 3 to 4 tasks each day. Once you have completed those tasks, then you can start working on the smaller stuff.


At the very least if you only get the 3 to 4 high priority tasks done then you will feel like you have achieved something in your day. That’s such a fantastic feeling.


One of my favourite quotes from Stephen Covey is:

“I can not get it all done but I can get the most important things done.”

WHAT ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT THINGS?

About Us



LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Time Tracking Exercise Follow Up

Did you complete the time tracking exercise? How many days did you track your time for? What method did you prefer the planning method or the recording method?



Congratulations on investing the time to save time. Seeing as we invested in tracking time it is important to evaluate our recordings. We want to do the following:


1) Analyse the way we used our time, what can you see from looking at how you spent your time?


2) What are some better ways you can use your time based on the analysis?


3) What are your wasteful tasks?


4) What are your unproductive tasks?


5) How can you reduce or eliminate your wasteful and unproductive tasks? It is okay to do this one step at a time.


6) How can you consolidate your time so you have large chunks of time for your most important work?


What will this achieve?


> make us more aware of adding “quick” tasks into our day


> allow us to slowly eliminate time wasting


> allow us to eliminate unproductive work


> allows us to find chunks of time for our most important projects


> ensures we question what we are doing and when we are doing it


About Us


LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Time Tracking Exercise

Last post we focused on time wasters this time I would love to introduce to you a time tracking exercise that I really recommend. The objective is to think about how you are using your time, identify useless or non productive activities and eliminate them this also provides you with a better guide for how long a task actually takes.



In his excellent book "The Effective Executive," Peter Drucker identifies that effective executives follow three key steps to manage their time better:

1) They analyse the way they use their time and think about better ways of using it
2) They find wasteful and unproductive uses of their time and reduce them systematically
3) They consolidate their time into large chunks that they can use for their most important work.


So over the next two weeks I would highly recommend you attempt one of the two activities below:

This has 4 columsn which you record your activities in what you plan to do, what time you think it will take, what you actually did and how long that activity took.

TIME TRACKING OPTION 1



Time             Activity Planned    Est. Time   Activity Completed   Actual Time


6.00 – 6.30
6.30 – 7.00
7.00 – 7.30
7.30 – 8.00


In the above we plan our day and estimate how long an activity will take. Then we actually record what we did at that particular time and how long a task actually took. This achieves the following:


> Identifies whether we stick to our plan
> Identifies what we do when we vary our plan
> Identifies if we are accurate at estimating how long a task will take
> If we are not accurate, it provides us with a real life estimate of the actual time a task takes


TIME TRACKING OPTION 2

In this activity you record what activities you have been doing and then consider whether they were an essential activity or a non-essential activity.

TIME                                        ACTIVITY


                                    Essential          Non-essential


6.00 – 6.30
6.30 – 7.00
7.00 – 7.30
7.30 – 8.00


This exercise follows a similar example however this time we are reviewing whether tasks are essential or non-essential and identifies how much free time we would have each day if we could eliminate or reduce the non-essential tasks.


It is recommended you try either option 1 or 2 for 5 days however to get real benefits it is even better to do it for two weeks.


Good luck and enjoy your learning experience I personally got a lot of useful information from this exercise.


About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Time Wasters

Part of being human is that we are all time wasters. Sometimes time wasted can be productive, it gives you a break, releases tension, however most time wasted causes extra stress because what you know you should be doing is being put off.


The aim is to identify when you are wasting time and whether it is a welcome break, or whether changes should be made?

Some time wasters:

> Disorganisation

> Procrastination

> Social Interaction

> Perfection

> Visitors

> Telephone calls

> Television

> Mail

> Email

> Computer activities – facebook, twitter, games …

Take a moment to consider what are your time wasters?

Activity

I found this fantastic exercise that I recommend. Now that you have identified what your time wasters are, split your time wasters into two groups, those within your control and those beyond your control.

TIME WASTERS

Within My Control                                                                   Beyond My Control

Take a moment to consider what will you do with the time wasting activities that are within your control?

What should / will you do with the time wasting activities that are beyond your control?

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

New Habits to Manage Time

With any improvements in life it is often our own habits that have to change to be able to move forward. Once I have written on a subject I like to reflect on some new habits or attitudes that we should be developing so that we can move forward. Therefore based on this I would like to propose the following:



Ask yourself “What will make the biggest difference?”
Are you making the best possible use of your time? Do you find yourself being reactive rather than proactive? Are you managing to do what you want to achieve? Therefore each day when planning ask yourself – “What is it I want to achieve today?” and “What will make the biggest difference in my life right now?”


Don’t be late
Lateness is rude and often seen as a lack of respect towards the other person.


1440 Only
We all have the same 1,440 minutes per day – how we utilise that time determines our ability to have a productive day. Remember Pareto’s Principle – the 80 / 20 rule, therefore do the 20% of really important things in your day, the other smaller stuff; the 80% will take care of itself.


Building Solutions
When you’re next thinking of a solution to a problem, make a list. Draw a line down the middle of a page; in the left hand column list things you can control and in the right hand column, list things you can not control.


Be pro-active about what you can control – that’s where you get the most power, don’t waste time on what you can not control.


About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Respect Time

Someone once said “Time is a great equalizer. We all get the same amount of hours each day. Some people are able to organise their lives with consistently high results and successes in many dimensions of their lives whilst others never seem to be able to accomplish what they want.”

Which category do you fit into?

Do you need to develop new habits to plan your day as you are one of the few people who understand that you can not get it all done but you can get the most important things done?

What are the most important things in your day today?

If you have scribbled a “to-do” list on a bit of paper take a moment to look at it and rate it in order of importance then tackle task number 1 first as that is the most important task that you have identified for today, once you have completed that move onto the next task. By doing this small exercise each day you are on your way to making better choices in your day to how you spend your time.

There are further processes to ensure you have a life of balance and fulfilment which I will address in future blogs but this first step is a great way to start prioritising so you can be productive each and every day.

Remember the fantastic statement “I can not get it all done but I can get the most important things done.” Author Unknown

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.