by Mike Faber

A coaching client asked me recently how she could “create more time” for her personal and professional interests. While we all have the same twenty-four hours in a day, the way we use that time varies wildly. Here are four great tips for getting more out of the time you have!

1. Clearly define what your priorities are for each day. Writing them out increases the chances exponentially that the most important things will get done.
2. Understand what your compelling purpose is for achieving a specific result. Doing this simple association turns a “nice to have” into a “Non Negotiable” result. If a result or action doesn’t have a compelling purpose attached to it, that result or action cannot be a priority for you.

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by K.J. McCorry

Efficiency expert K.J. McCorry, author of Organize Your Work Day In No Time, thinks that the world could be a better place if we’d all cut back on our consumption of paper. With the help of technology, that long-awaited goal might even be manageable.

Today’s employees are inundated with data, finding it more and more difficult to manage this overwhelming amount of data and yet be effective and efficient at their jobs. One of the keys to gaining efficiencies in data management and increasing productivity is to reduce the paper pileup.

Disadvantages of Paper

Although some workers still need, desire, and perhaps even love paper, it comes with some disadvantages: Read the rest of this article »

by Lisa Niederman

Time is such an elusive topic and even more difficult to capture, to conform to your bidding. You know the familiar recant: here today and gone tomorrow. This can also be said about your favorite time management strategies, tools, and books conveniently hidden in corners of your office, again having fallen victim to here today and gone tomorrow. In fact, when people are polled about their favorite time management tools and practices, we received a surprising response — many have returned to using the traditional paper and pencil list. Why? The reason: the current time management tools are complex, confusing, and consume too much time to learn! Too much time to learn, but isn’t the science of time management supposed to save us time?

Could it be that we have incorrectly defined the problem all these years and time is not the issue? This is akin to placing a ladder on a wall to climb and finding out after reaching the top of the ladder that we are in the wrong place. Our current time practices attempt to squeeze more things to do into smaller compartments of time with the hope we might feel some satisfaction at reducing our master task list at the end of the day. And, this task list is a monster, gobbling more of our time to manage, prioritize, and control, leaving us feeling out of control and uttering miserably, “I am so far behind.” Out of breath yet? Read the rest of this article »

by Rosa Mazone

The “Aging of America” and the growing percentage of our population 65 and older, is a trend of undeniable consequence. While advances in medical knowledge and technology have increased our longevity, our culture’s historical view of old age and elders remains.

Many studies debunk myths including the common belief that genetics are destiny, and physical and mental deterioration are coded into our genes. In fact, the studies say, “the influence of genetics shrinks with the years, while lifestyle choices become increasingly important in shaping the quality of later life.” Among the most important lifestyle changes they recommend are engaging in activities and cultivating new friends. According to a recent study on successful aging, longevity, and vitality by the MacArthur Foundation, only 30 percent is genetic. The other 70 percent is attributable to disease avoidance, exercise of mind and body, and staying involved in life. Read the rest of this article »