The Key to Being Your Best

Have you ever thought about how you structure your day vs. how you should structure your day? A leading question, I know, asked to generate some thoughts. We actually all have a “prime” time or “golden” time during the day when we feel great. It is during this time that we should schedule our most important tasks. This is referred to as our energy cycle.

An energy cycle is how your body functions throughout the day. You need to take note of when you feel good, when you feel tired, when you are just chugging along.

Ask questions such as are you an early bird or a night owl? Listen to what your body is telling you.

It is not always possible to have control over all your tasks or when they need to be completed. However, any tasks that you have control over when you can schedule it then stop and think when is the most appropriate time to place it into your schedule.

When your energy is feeling good you should focus on:

• Important tasks
• Critical decisions
• Problems
• Complex issues
• Or any areas you have been procrastinating

Rather than arrive at work, organise your day, say hello to work colleagues, get a hot drink then check emails as a warm up exercise. Try and put your two most important projects for the day into the first two hours of your work day.

You will find that you get a lot more done.

Action

Let's chart your energy levels:

1. Grab a piece of paper and draw a big "L" for a graph with a vertical and horizontal axis [or download from www.lifestylerefocus.com.au/free-resources
2. Mark the vertical axis "0" to "5" to represent your energy level;  0 – representing low  5 – representing feeling terrific
3. Mark the horizontal axis with your work hours, in one hour increments. You can actually begin this from the time you wake up of a morning.
4. When you arrive at work in the morning, draw a dot where energy intersects with time to indicate how you feel in terms of your energy level.
5. As the day progresses, draw a series of dots horizontally to show how your energy highs and lows.
6. Then connect the dots and analyse your line chart.
7. It’s recommended you do this for a week to get an average as we can vary daily depending on our sleep, wellness and other factors.

Examples

• Great night’s sleep, energy level high, ready to get working, happy = 5
• Poor night’s sleep, feeling flat, yawning, bored = 1

You can download a copy of the energy cycle template from our website www.lifestylerefocus.com.au/free-resources

Thank you and I look forward to sharing more tips, strategies and skills to support you to be more organised so that you too can create a better life.

“Be an inspiration to yourself and

you will be an inspiration to others.”

Are You Organising Your Tasks?

Have you been more proactive in your planning since attending one of my workshop, reading my book or enrolling in my e-course?  I certainly hope so.  Are you now conscious of the benefits of thinking ahead so you’re no longer in an urgent rush, that you can delay a task if something more important comes up because you are thinking of planning no longer as a day by day event but as an overall weekly structure?

Are you organising your tasks so you know what needs to be accomplished and when it needs to be accomplished by?

It’s an incredible freedom isn’t it? 

The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule

but to schedule your priorities.

Stephen Covey

The key is to think about what you need to accomplish this week?  Schedule it over the whole week. Scheduling time for what is most important means these tasks start moving forward to completion.

At either the end or the start of each day, list all the activities and tasks for the day then rate them as either:

                A – Highest Priority tasks

                B – Important

                C – Jobs that need to be done

                D – Lowest Priority tasks

Then rate all the “A” tasks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … and go about your day by doing all the “A” tasks first.  This will ensure if you have distractions or other urgent tasks that take you away from your schedule you are at the very least getting the most important tasks done.

Action:

So please at either the start of each day or each evening, list all your tasks you want to complete the next day and then rate them as A, B, C or D then ensure you do all your “A” tasks before any other tasks.

See if this makes a difference to your progress. I would love your comments, 

hiccups, advice.

Thank you and I look forward to sharing more tips, strategies and skills to support you to be more organised so that you too can create a better life.

“Be an inspiration to yourself and

you will be an inspiration to others.”

7 Tips to Work More Effectively

By implementing these 7 tips you are going to start feeling and being more productive and efficient.  If you implement them regularly they will develop into positive habits that support you to function at the best you can.

1. Plan your week

When you have planned your week, you are clear and know exactly what needs to be done.  It allows you to handle unexpected situations with a calmness.  But when you are so busy how do you find the time to plan?

The fact is that if you spend 30 minutes to 1 hour planning your week, writing down everything that needs to be done, prioritising the list by importance and then deciding what should be done on Monday, what on Tuesday and so on, you will save hours during the week.  It keeps you on track and your momentum going.

2. Plan your day

Spending time on planning your day makes a difference.  By planning, we know what needs to be done and we are working more effectively and efficiently.  I imagine you are thinking, ‘I planned my week, why do I need to plan my day?’  When you do your weekly planning that is the big picture view.  During the week, other tasks arise that need to be done, so that is what comes into consideration when planning your day.

3. Batch your activities

Every time you start a new activity, it takes time.  You have to get everything you need in order to do the task, you need to get into the mindset and you need a little “warm up time” during which you don’t work as fast as when you have done something for a while.  Once you are done with the task, you have to put everything away, and “cool off”.

So batch your tasks – email, phone calls, shopping.  It makes you more efficient

4. When at work, work!

Focus and concentrate and work when at work.  Just because you are in the office does not mean you are working.  There are many distractions around you – people, coffee breaks, meetings, etc. Focus and really complete the top three tasks for the day then you can reward yourself with a little down time.

5. Finish every activity you start

Fifteen completed tasks are more effective than forty five uncompleted tasks.  Leaving an activity half-finished is a big source of stress.  Whenever something is only half done, it gnaws at you and stops you from focusing on other activities.

On the other hand, when you complete a task, a rush of endorphins is released into your system making you happy, pleased and relaxed.  It gives you the energy to go on and complete the next activity.

So once you start something, finish it.  If you are breaking the task down then make sure when you stop, you know what the next step is.

6. Focus all your energy on the most important activities

The much quoted 80/20 rule states that 80% of the value you create in a day will come from 20% of the activities you perform.  Meaning, if you complete those 20% you will have done much, much more than if you complete all the rest.

Go through all the activities you perform and see which ones are the most important.  Find ways to focus more time on them.

7. Take a break!

The best way to save time is by relaxing!  To be able to work hard and efficiently, you need to be of sound mind and be able to focus.  Take a break once in a while and go for a walk, drink a cup of coffee or take a nap.

Thank you and I look forward to sharing more tips, strategies and skills to support you to be more organised so that you too can create a better life.

“Be an inspiration to yourself and

you will be an inspiration to others.”

Is your planning system up to scratch?

I have personally had a really busy 6 week period and my routine has been totally changed by what has been going on. I was asked to project manage a project for a firm which would take 3 to 4 weeks. This meant working full time for the firm then in my spare time chipping away at what needed to be completed for the business.



Well how did it all go?


Firstly, I love managing the project and whilst all did not go according to plan the delays were elements way beyond my control. I was waiting for shipments from India and China to come in and they were not arriving at the anticipated time this extended the project to a 5 week period.


Then on week 6 when I was to get back on track with all my other work my 5 year old daughter has been sick and has not been able to go to school for 3 days. Whilst I loved the time we got to spend together it meant another delay to getting back on track.


Is my life now chaos?


Actually, no by using my planning system of ensuring I get the most important tasks done I have been able to stay “on top” of most tasks. It has been an incredible freedom not to be completely stressed and frazzled by the change in routine and the almost impossible task of keeping everything going.


I am wrapped and actually excited to have tested my systems to the maximum and not everything has fallen in a heap. I am not saying that I didn’t have a couple of nights where I was utterly exhausted but the overall big picture is positive. Every client meeting I had I kept, every workshop I was still able to deliver and some of the other tasks were done.


I guess that is the benefits of practicing planning on a weekly to daily basis. Tasks can be moved and flexibility is really important as well as understanding what the top priorities are.


Planning is really freedom!


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.