I believe that the stress we feel from feeling overwhelmed with way too much to do and not having enough time to do it sits right up there with the stress of not having enough money to pay the bills.

For managers that I’ve worked with, from Moms to CEO’s, they state they feel as if they are living in time poverty.  We are going through a great time of cutbacks, downsizing, pressures from the competition, and so managers of all types are cornered into making decisions about time.

The magic wand here is to simply become an expert at managing time.  I don’t believe there is a better skill.  You get more mileage out of what you will learn with time management than any other single strategy.  So I encourage you to get good at this.

I would say 90% of you reading this will say you don’t have time to learn about time management.  And we can have a good chuckle about that.  A part of you will say, Dave, I already know a good deal about time management, so I don’t really need this.  I’ll just be better about putting it to practice, OK?

Well, I ask you to be open to what I am about to share.

First, there are two things to this time management issue.  One - you need to set priorities for things, and Two - you need to learn how to single-mindedly concentrate on one thing at a time.

You see, since you already know there’s not enough time to do everything that needs to be done, you have to be continually setting priorities on your activities.  Ask always: “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?”

I find that question will keep you on track, each and every hour more than any other thought.  What we do is get all wrapped up in some minor thing.  Like the phone rings and we think we have to be doing something so we go grab the duster while we’re on the phone - and when we put the phone down we’re still cleaning stuff.

That’s a huge temptation.  After all, it’s so much easier to do that than to tackle what we were working on.  Plus, with my dusting example you see immediate reward - a clean whatever.

OK - here’s what you really need to do.  Start with your highest priority tasks.  This is the starting point - go for the tasks with highest value.  Before you begin your day tomorrow, set clear priorities of what you must work on and then work that most important task until it is complete.

This is the biggest stress reliever I can offer you.

Talk soon,
Dave

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I love the colors of my new “theme” for the blog, but many of the otherwise “cool” features are broken. And the author has gone into hiding. Something easy to do on the cyber-highway. So, I’ll probably be changing it again to something that works. I need a webmaster.

Isn’t it fascinating the way God made us? I mean, really… think about how we are created to be in relationships with one another. And how tightly intertwined our emotions are to relationships.

In marketing, we use this to sell products. Kodak spent 20 seconds selling you on how wonderful family is and the remaining 10 seconds of the commercial telling you that you needed to capture that on their film. Funny… even a photograph has the ability to make us emotional. Words do, too. All of our senses, I imagine, play a great part.

You want a happy relationship SO bad that you will go far out of your way to make it happen. When I was dating my wife, I would do things I never thought I could. For example, I would work from 6 AM until 2 PM, then catch an afternoon flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Miami. From there I would catch an all-nighter flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil and arrive at the airport there at 8 AM.

Adriana and I would spend the day together, and that same night I would head back out to the airport, catch the evening flight to Miami, arriving at 5 AM. Then I’d catch the next flight to Dallas/Fort Worth and arrive there at 10 AM, take a shower and be at work at 2 PM that day.

But not only romantic relationships; we want the people around us to like us, respect us. We want the community to accept us. The people on our street to know us. Why else would we get involved in community and social life?

Next, I get an earful almost every day from people upset with their jobs. It’s not so much the work, but the people they have to work with. Naturally, we want to make good money, but more than that - we want to enjoy our occupation. Aren’t the best times in our lives those where we were really absorbed in our work?

And I can’t leave out finances when it comes to talking happiness. I have counseled with many who say that they would be happy with living with nothing - which is noble - only to come back later telling me they want enough to make a difference here on Earth.  Financial independence is free from worries about money.  You want comfort without a need to depend on others.  I have found that if you save and invest regularly throughout your working life - you do reach a point where you never have to work again.

Health works into this equation.  Don’t we all want to be pain-free and know our bodies are working at top health and energy?  Most of us don’t even think about health until something goes wrong with it.

OK - so what is key in every one of these areas?  I know in one point in my life I stressed out so badly about a couple of these items that I saw it take a toll on my looks - my appearance - and that’s just on the outside.  What I believe is key here is peace of mind.  The more relaxed and positive you are, the less stress, the more healthful you are.

Did you know you have better relationships when you have more peace of mind?  You feel good about yourself inside and you work better.  With more peace of mind you are bound to make more, earn a good living my friend, and save money for the future.

What happened to all that chatter about The Secret?  One gem I drew out of it was that whatever you dwell on and think about grows and expands in your life.  And if that’s so, our entire lives are simply a study of attention.  The more we pay attention to our relationships, our finances, our health, our work - well the better they will become.  We’ll become happier.

What would make you happy in these areas?

Talk soon,
Dave

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