Tag Archives: Time Management

Posted on

Unexpected Time

by

This post is a complete departure from most others in that it is not my usual writing.  Instead, it is a pause.  A reflection on a moment.

Unexpected Time

Unexpected Time

Last week my wife, Christina, and I were invited to a reception for the newly formed Cayman YMCA.  Christina is a director of this outstanding organisation.  Among her many qualities, my wife is known for her organizational skills and for always being on time for events.  It was no surprise when we got there a few moments after 6pm that we were the first in attendance.  We often are.   Of course the caterers were still setting up, but that is not all that unusual.  However, around 10 minutes into our chat with the hostess I started to realise we were the first there not because we were early, but because we were really early.  On casually asking, we learned to our embarrassment that the event started at 7pm.  We were an hour early.  What to do?  The photo above is the answer.  It was taken during that unexpected time together.  We excused ourselves and stepped out to the terrace to take in the view.  Together we had 45 minutes to sit, talk and enjoy the most beautiful of sunsets.

Unexpected time was the perfect time for us that evening.  Sometimes we need that, don’t we?  Moments to unplug on one level and reconnect on another.  Have you had unexpected time lately, and did you use it wisely?

Posted on

3 Tips For Getting Your Goals Back On Track

by

Have you ever felt like you have come completely off your tracks? Projects just not getting done in time, disconnected from your routine, commitments not being met? Of course you have. We all have, and I have too. In fact, I have been off track for the past few weeks (probably months) now. Let me tell you three tips I used to step back and take control again.  Read on.

accident of a wooden toy train

I read a ton of blogs across a wide spectrum of subjects. One could say they are my resistance. I like to think I am learning and fine tuning my research into procrastination. Seriously though, from these blogs I pull ideas that I want to apply in my personal life. I have written about a few of these and, honestly, I’m not doing that great in any. So many thought leaders in the world of blogging say that you have to be honest, real, and open in your writing. Well, this is me ‘fessing up.  It is also me passing on some steps that I am working on to get back to my commitments.  If you are in a rut and off track a bit, hopefully my experience is of some help in getting you realigned.

So, what happened?

Posted on

Know When to Switch Off

by

I try to write about topics related to leadership and productivity. Normally this means that I end up banging out posts before or after work, and on weekends. I call it ‘captured time‘. I enjoy the process, but I never stopped to think that sometimes what I enjoy may be considered and encroachment into the total switch off time of others. This realization came to me while driving with my daughter to go spend some daddy-daughter time by the fountain at Camana Bay. Read on.

Taylor

We had an hour to kill waiting to pick up my son, Ryan, from an activity so Taylor and I decided to go and chill for a bit and watch the kids play in the fountain. As we drove there together my normal Sunday blogging ideas (or lack thereof) started to invade my mind. What was I going to write about? How was I ever going to find the time, what with this non-productive visit to the park and all?

Posted on

Not Another iPhone App Blog Post!

by

I know what your thinking.  This subject has been done, and done well, by so many others. In fact, when I Google ‘best iPhone apps blog post’ I end up with a return of 189,000,000 posts. So what can I add that’s a bit different here. Well, this post is not going to dwell on the standard apps that, in my opinion, everyone with an iPhone (or iPad) should have. Dropbox, Twitter, Evernote, Reeder, Skype, LinkedIn, Flipboard FaceBook, IM Pro, Hootsuite and Buffer are key productivity and social apps that most readers will have already installed. Lets talk about some that are a bit off the beaten track.

Tools

So, considering that an app is really a tool (hence the photo above) to do something, what are four that I recommend?

Posted on

6 Tips To Get Things Done & Achieve Your Life Objectives

by

You can achieve your life objectives by following these 6 tips.

The other night a friend asked me this question. “How do I get so much done?” I did not have a good answer. I’m involved with several of my own businesses. I’m active in civic groups. I serve on a local government board. Monday nights I host a mens bible study group at my home. I have an incredible relationship with my wife, Christina, and our two kids, Ryan and Taylor. I’m a coach on my son’s First Lego League robotics team. I guess while doing these things the one thing that I had never really considered was how exactly I manage to cram all this activity in while moving towards my life objectives, having a good balance and not feeling completely overwhelmed. I did not have a good answer to give my friend on Friday night. That got me thinking. What leads some people to get a lot done while others have challenges in this area?

Looking at my experience I can relate 6 areas that can improve the ability to get more done.

1. Time Management T he secret in my case is not being a time management guru. I am not someone to study if you intend to learn about my time management techniques. Its not that I don’t think time management would not help me get more done. Quite the opposite. I think if one studies effective time management techniques, and applies them in their life consistently, they will be far more productive than the average person. I have done the ‘student’ bit, reading up on practically every time management method out there. Unfortunately, for me its the consistently and applying that I seem to have trouble with. What I can attest to is that there is nothing I have read that I have not learned something from in this subject area.

photo by: this lyre lark