Frequently asked questions - about finding balance

Good morning I hope this finds you all well and looking forward to another day. A couple of things before we get into today's edition of the Daily Dose.

First of all, the bounce backs are still happening through AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail. And on occassion, Hotmail, being Hotmail have designated some of the subject lines to be SP*M categories....so to all new readers can you please ensure that elle@motivateme.info is in your white list. I'm not saying we can fool Hotmail all of the time, just that it would be nice to try.

And on the subject of new readers, I would like to welcome you all to the community. Thank you for taking the first steps to overcome the procrastination habit by signing up for the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. As you know, change is not easy and having someone you can rely on to give you a boost on an almost daily basis is one way of ensuring those first steps are built upon, maintained and then you can move ahead with new found confidence, safe in the knowledge that you have someone walking alongside you, supporting you.

So why frequently asked questions? Well as you can imagine, our new readers don't have the same level of knowledge as those of you who have been part of the community for a while. I also know that the main site of MotivateMe is huge .... sorry I am rather prolific in the writing department. But a few quick links for you.

The newsletter archive can be found at - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive
My personal blog also has an archive and can be found at  - http://www.motivateme.info/the-barrier-archive
There is also a timelog - if you want to find out how much time you waste on a daily basis - fill this sheet in for a week - and be amazed and horrified at the amount of wasted opportunities....and how quickly you learn to use your time more effectively...it is available from - http://www.motivateme.info/downloads-and-free-stuff/

================================
Finding balance isn't easy. How do you ensure the things that need doing are done well, and consistently when all around is chaos?

1. Do not do those things that do not need to be done. Write a "TO DON'T LIST" - I will not waste time reading forwarded emails....I will not spend all my spare time forwarding emails - with the exception of this one of course (just kidding)....when they arrive. Filter them into one of your folders so they don't have chance to hit your inbox, then you can spend 5 minutes at the end of the day, reading a few, and of course deleting the garbage. I have a couple of prolific forwarder onerers.... and these emails are sent straight to the folder - funnies and other stuff ... for when I need a bit of a smile.

2. Do not waste your time on the social interaction sites....my daughter is a big "fan" of messenger. How she can speak to several people at the same time, plus concentrate on her homework is beyond me....and believe me I have asked the question, made some suggestions, and even threated to take the modem away. But even she knows that in order to get on she needs to turn off the "net" and concentrate on the important stuff.

3. Use the timelog to work out where you spend your time. An alternative is to get creative. So get a large piece of paper ... A4 is good...and your kids crayons....or yours if you have them. Assume that piece of paper is a 24 hour block of time...a day in your life....now start colouring in....how much time did you spend sleeping? 8 hours is one third of the paper...colour it in. What's left? Work time? colour that in. Travelling. Cooking dinner. Watching TV.... every time you do something, colour in a section of your page....what's left is the time you have left over to do what you really want to do. Scary isn't it. And only you can change the colours and the amount of colour on your sheets. Do this for a day or two - if your sheets look the same at the end of the week, then something tells me you're not really ready to change, and you will find all sorts of reasons why you can't work on your goals and projects today.

4. Have your goal list, dream board and visual reminders front of mind. I have a cork board next to my desk, and I have all sorts of things pinned to it. Things I want to see, do, achieve, have, own. One of the biggest things on the board is a picture of bookshelves....a library actually. What can I say - I am a librarian by trade and profession and have a love of books and a thirst for knowledge....my current home is not big enough for all the books I own, so have taken to using them in strange ways. My writing desk - is actually a piece of toughened glass, with a wall of books holding up one side and a wall of bricks holding up the other. What can I say, I'm also into recycling in a big way....don't believe me, well I'll post a photo and you can see it.... http://www.motivateme.info/gallery/me-myself-i/

5. Start with the end in mind. Know what you want - write it down, then write the steps backwards until you get to the starting point....it's an interesting exercise - and one I would recommend doing if you aren't sure of the steps in a forwards kind of way. Then when you get to the beginning, take the first step and work on it. It's one of those techniques that really does work.

and finally for today - because I could keep going ....

6. Do multiples. If you need to buy one birthday card, buy 10....write them and where you normally stick the stamp, write the date - then put them in your out tray - saves time....same thing goes with bills. Write the cheques, date them for a week before the closing date, and then again, write the date in the stamp box....Buy the same gifts ... my folks live in the UK... I live in Perth, Western Australia, so they always get the same kind of gifts at Christmas and birthdays....this year is going to be - actually if i told you that, you might tell them and then it wouldn't be a surprise would it. Saves time, saves stress and you get to be organised.

Have a great day

================================