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5 Tips for Waking Up Earlier

By Calendar | Time Management | No Comments

Not everyone is a natural morning person. Some like to sleep in and get a few extra Z’s. Ever heard of “beauty sleep?” Getting some extra rest is definitely okay unless your schedule no longer allows for it and you need to start waking up earlier.

Maybe it’s a new job, or you’re returning to school after the summer break. Whatever the reason, if you’re not used to waking up early, making the switch can be difficult.

Most people don’t enjoy getting less sleep. Fortunately, there are ways to get around this that don’t involve missing out on much-needed rest. There’s more to it than just going to sleep earlier.

Making some simple changes to your mornings can make a significant difference. Starting to make these changes might seem daunting, but in reality, it’s not so tough. Here are some tips to help yourself wake up earlier and conquer the day.

1. Draft a schedule.

One way to feel more prepared for the next day? Utilizing a schedule should be your go-to move. Scheduling is the perfect way to lay out what you need to get done, then plan your day accordingly.

Simply write down what you know you need to do the next day, and assign the tasks to different times of the day. It can make your days easier because you can visualize what your day requires. Also, you won’t have to figure out what task to do next at the moment. If indecision rules your days, adding this form of structure can help keep you on course.

You don’t have to go crazy planning ahead. Some people aren’t big schedulers, and that’s okay. That can be enough if you want to think ahead only the day before. There are no rules to break here.

When making your schedule, remember to allow enough time for each task. Additionally, be realistic about how many things you do in a day. The point is not to overwhelm yourself; it’s to make your life easier. One thing you can schedule ahead is a morning routine (see #2). Seeing what you need to do in the mornings can help give a sense of order.

2. Create a morning routine.

One of the secrets of waking up earlier is to follow a routine. A morning routine can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. If you’re new to the concept, going easier on yourself is your best bet.

Making a routine is simple — have an order of the activities you need to accomplish in the morning.

For example, the first thing you might do when you wake up is brush your teeth. Then, you might shower. Basically, you’re mapping out what you’ll be doing and giving it some order.

There are different aspects of morning routines. What kind of morning do you want? That might seem like a loaded question, but give it some thought. Do you want to exercise? Make a nice breakfast? Time to journal or meditate? These are things to consider when planning a routine for your mornings.

Perhaps most importantly, remember to make your routine realistic. If you’re not used to going on morning runs and coming home to a green smoothie, don’t expect this by tomorrow. It can take a moment to get adjusted, so start small. For example, go on a short run your first day, and maybe pre-make your smoothie the night before.

Whatever you choose to include in your new routine, make sure it’s not too much to handle. A routine is all about simplifying your time, not adding extra stress. If you’re lying awake at night, dreading everything you have to do when you wake up — it won’t help you. Go easy on yourself!

3. Avoid the snooze button.

When trying to make yourself wake earlier, it can be so tempting to press “snooze.” The extra five or ten minutes might feel like it would do you some good. However, this way of thinking is actually the opposite of reality.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, hitting snooze can be harmful to your sleep health. You might condition your brain to expect those extra minutes, which would be counterintuitive. The short sleep period is not actually restful, so it’s a waste of time. You might even feel more sleepy afterwards.

So how do you stop relying on the snooze button? A little self-control can go a long way. Do all you can not to be tempted to get those extra few minutes. Additional minutes that are not beneficial, if you remember. Try counting 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 — and hop out of bed.

Get up and do some jumping jacks. Splash your face with cold water. Anything to get yourself out of bed and feel a bit more energized. It can be hard at first, but your body will thank you later.

4. Have something to look forward to.

It might seem silly, but anticipating something you enjoy is one of the simplest ways to get yourself up and at them. If you have an activity you’ve planned, and you’re looking forward to — it’s less tempting to stay in bed. It’s some simple psychology, but it works.

Think about something that would motivate you to get up. Is it a yummy breakfast? Maybe a refreshing run outside? Or, perhaps it’s a delicious cappuccino that helps give you that caffeine boost. Whatever it may be, having something that gets you out of bed is great.

If you haven’t used this method before, it could be a good one to try. First, however, think about how much time this rewarding activity will take. You’ll need to factor that into your morning schedule. Or, you might have to adjust your wake-up time.

If you think a mouthwatering breakfast sounds like it would get you up, try that. And, there are steps you can take to make the process easier on yourself in the morning. Having to make a complete breakfast from scratch could take some time. Instead, prepare some things in advance to make cooking a quicker task (see #5).

5. Prep the night before.

Another step you can take to help yourself wake up earlier is to prepare in advance for your morning routine. The less you have to do right out of bed, the easier it can be to get everything done. This can help you feel less stressed about the morning time.

For example, meal prepping for breakfast can free up your mornings. By cooking breakfast the night before, all you have to do is reheat. Or, if you don’t want to make all of it in advance, just prepare some parts of it beforehand.

Let’s say you want an omelet, but don’t like the taste of reheated eggs — prepare to have a fresh omelet by chopping up any vegetables you want to add to the omelet. If you want to add meat, like bacon or sausage, cook those the night before. Now all you have to do is throw it all in a pan in the morning.

How about a little less of an effort? Even just laying out products you’ll use or clothes you’ll wear the next day can help. Picking out your outfit the night before can cut down on time in the mornings, especially if you’re indecisive.

If you wear makeup, lay out what you’ll use on your dresser or vanity. You’ll have less reaching and searching to do when using everything. This can really help with fuzzy morning brain, too.

Don’t be hard on yourself.

It’s important to remind yourself that making adjustments can be hard. Especially if you’re not a morning person, changing the time you wake up can be extra difficult.

It might not be smooth sailing from the get-go, and that’s okay. Don’t put yourself down for any struggle you may feel during the process.

No one said being human is easy. Remember to give yourself some grace. Utilize the tools around you — make a schedule, have a reward ready, prep the night before. Whatever it takes to reach your goal, be sure to use it.

5 Tips for Waking Up Earlier was originally published on Calendar.com by Angela Ruth. Featured Image Credit: Los Muertos Crew; Pexels.com. Thank you!

How Can I Better Manage My Time Management Needs

By Hunter Meine | Time Management | No Comments

You can always do better to improve your time management abilities and habits. Manage your time management needs to make your life better.

Signs that you need to improve your time management abilities and habits include the following:

your long-term ambitions appear elusive;
you are not getting much done; and
you miss or move your deadlines.

There is no project manager assigned to your life to manage your time and responsibilities properly. You can take charge of your own time management needs.

Everyone struggles with time management. It is a skill most of us could use some help to improve. However, signs that you need to improve your time management abilities and habits include:

your long-term ambitions appear elusive;
you often miss or move deadlines;
you can’t concentrate and struggle to accomplish chores or projects;
your work list is overwhelming;
you decide you just cannot do it all;
you labor longer than you should on particular tasks;
you’re always stressed; and
you’re trying hard…but getting nowhere.

If any of the following apply to you, it’s time to grow up a bit and work on your time management.

Finding Out How Time Management Works

1. Set objectives.

We often ignore goals while managing our time.

It’s easy to lose sight of long-term objectives amid everyday duties. As a result, you may struggle to concentrate on the most pressing issues or prioritize your extensive list of responsibilities.

Overwhelmed? Re-evaluate your task list. Will spending time on this specific task help you achieve your goals?

Work from your SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-Based. Unrealistic or vague objectives are challenging to monitor and generally unfinished.

2. Plan your time.

Stop letting others schedule your time.

The most effective strategy to acquire time management skills is to be purposeful with your time. You are making time management a habit that may help you achieve long-term objectives while reducing distractions and increasing attention. When planning your time working from home, keep in mind different timetables.

For example, notify your roommates when you don’t want to be disturbed, go to a public place, or make a lot of noise. Establishing expectations ahead of time decreases the possibilities for conflict.

3. Plan time chunks.

Blocking your time is an excellent method to prioritize non-urgent, long-term projects that demand attention and significant labor.

It’s generally put on hold when more pressing duties demand your attention.
Setting aside time to focus on specific tasks ensures progress.
Limiting work time also reduces task fatigue.

A shared calendar at work might help discourage employees from arranging meetings within your time blocks.

4. Find your time management peak hours.

Power hours are when you have the most incredible energy and do the most.

You may already be aware of your power hours. If you’re unsure, monitor your time to find out. Therefore, during your power hours, schedule your most vital and time-consuming chores.

However, schedule monotonous jobs that don’t demand much concentration throughout the day.

5. Use sprints for focus.

It’s not always simple to start a job or work deep. Therefore, the Pomodoro approach works well for task beginning and attention issues.

Schedule brief (15–30 minute) periods of intense concentration on a single activity. Then take a five-minute pause between sprints. Prepare a distraction-free environment before a concentration sprint. Get rid of everything except what you need to complete your task.

For example, enable Do Not Disturb on your devices. Avoid putting up with talkative roommates. Your sprints may be as long or as short as you choose. However, five- and ten-minute sprints with one-minute pauses may be more suitable for you.

6. Set time management priorities.

Our to-do lists may suddenly balloon. Idea generation and idealization are human strengths. Ideas are limitless, but time is limited. Pretending you can manufacture time increases your stress levels. For example, the Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful prioritizing tool.

Even if you don’t use the diagram to prioritize activities, the vocabulary and structure may help you evaluate their worth. For example, tasks that need quick attention.

Important: Tasks that help you achieve your objectives. However, they aren’t always urgent, yet failure to do so has significant implications.

The Eisenhower Time Management Matrix divides work into four quadrants. Using this approach will help you prioritize your tasks.

Prioritize these tasks. Next, do these things.

Important But Not Urgent: Postpone or assign. Don’t do it! Remove it from your list.

You don’t have to do everything. However, delete tasks that don’t fulfill your aims to save time, especially if you created them. It takes some trial and error to find the right one for you. Nevertheless, it is possible to build good time management skills.

7. Schedule your week and days.

Every day and week, set your aims and priorities. However, planning your calendar offers you a better sense of the future and allows you to prepare for it.

Therefore, checking in on your time management priorities keeps you on track with your objectives and helps you to adjust to new ones.

8. Saying no.

Time is limited. Even in business, boundaries are necessary. You may feel pressured to say yes to every request, but you aren’t.

It’s essential to be aggressive, know your limitations, and avoid over-committing. Breach of obligations erodes confidence in relationships.

9. Feed your brain.

We frequently take our intellect for granted. Focus isn’t only a result of willpower. Our brains must be in tip-top shape.

You are taking pauses, sleeping enough, eating well, exercising regularly, and socializing to help executive function. If you’ve ever felt “hangry” or grumpy after a stormy night’s sleep, you’re not 100%.

However, when you’re irritable, you’re more likely to create problems at work and at home. Therefore, trying to work when you’re not at your best leads to poor work and mental misery.

10. Stop looking for motivation or inspiration.

You won’t get much done if you wait for inspiration to hit. Set a small objective to get started.

Focus sprints might help you finish challenging activities. Starting time management may inspire you even for five minutes. However, don’t ignore social media.

11. No such thing as time management multitasking.

Multitasking is a losing proposition. Constant interruptions degrade attention, reducing work completion.

Instead of jumping from activity to task, make a list of recurring charges and schedule them. However, it’s tough to resist multitasking when you’re not the only one working from home, but setting limits will pay you in the long term. However, always look for new time savers.

12. Plan your message check-ins.

You may believe checking every email, social media direct message, and phone contact are polite. Like multitasking, these random interruptions limit your capacity to accomplish serious work. Instead, schedule time to catch up on mail.

How Can I Better Manage My Time Management Needs was oringinally published on Calendar by Hunter Meine. Featured Image Credit: CottonBro; Pexels. Thank you!

Adding Your Goals to Your Calendar is Not Difficult

By John Hall | Knowledge Base | No Comments

Have you already given up on your goals for New Year’s Resolutions? Don’t be too hard on yourself. Only 8% of people actually reach their goals. But, why?

Well, there are a lot of factors. But, here’s a problem that often gets overlooked. We don’t set goals correctly.

Typically, when we set goals, we assign a deadline to them. And that can be counterproductive.

“We focus on the end goal that we want to achieve and the deadline we want to do it by,” explains James Clear. “We say things like, ‘I want to lose 20 pounds by the summer’ or ‘I want to add 50 pounds to my bench press in the next 12 weeks.’”

“The problem with this is that if we don’t magically hit the arbitrary timeline that we set in the beginning, then we feel like a failure … even if we are better off than we were at the start,” he adds. “The end result, sadly, is that we often give up if we don’t reach our goal by the initial deadline.”

“In my experience, a better way to achieve your goals is to set a schedule to operate by rather than a deadline to perform by,” adds James.

“Instead of giving yourself a deadline to accomplish a particular goal by (and then feeling like a failure if you don’t achieve it), you should choose a goal that is important to you and then set a schedule to work towards it consistently,” he suggests.

I can get behind that. But, to make this possible, you need a Calendar. So, to make this less intimidating for you, here are eight pointers on how to add your goals to your Calendar as easily as possible.

1. Determine how long you will need to accomplish each task (to plan your day accordingly).

Have you ever had one of those mornings when you woke-up feeling like the world was at your fingertips? In your mind, you tell yourself that you’re going to cross everything off your to-do list. You’re also going to finally return those essential phone calls, schedule meetings for the next year, and still make it to the gym — while somewhere still squeezing in family time.

I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm. But, seriously, how likely are you to succeed in accomplishing all of that?

In addition, most of us drastically underestimate the amount of time we spend every day managing email, making phone calls, preparing meetings, and commuting.

When it’s all said and done, you’re lucky if you’ve accomplished half of what you hoped. In response, you feel defeated and frustrated because your expectations were not met.

This is precisely when a Calendar can be useful. It can help you plan your day more effectively by estimating your time more accurately. And, when you know how you’re time is being spent, you can learn how to schedule your goals appropriately.

To help you figure this out, you can use time tracking tools or a productivity journal — or both if you prefer. Ideally, the longer you record your daily activities, the more accurate picture you’ll have.

2. Know thy goals.

With that out of the way, which goals deserve to be scheduled? That varies from person to person based on their priorities and values. But, whatever they are, they need to be specific and challenging.

According to Edwin Locke and Gary Latham’s research, people who follow these two principles (specific and challenging goals) perform better 90 percent of the time. For example, if your goal is to shed 30 pounds before the start of summer, that might be too ambitious. It’s also too vague and not specific enough.

Instead, break this goal down to be more specific and achievable. For instance, “In March, I will lose five pounds by reducing sugar, bread, and sodas. In addition, I will walk briskly for 20 minutes a day.” The more precise your goals are, the more likely you are to reach them.

In short, there are definitely right and wrong ways to set goals. However, setting your goals incorrectly will almost certainly lead you to miss something. In turn, this will force you to go back and redo things, or otherwise deviate from your intended course.

With that said, once you’ve identified your smart goals, you can insert them into your Calendar so that you don’t schedule anything else ahead of them. So, for example, you could schedule your brisk walk daily from 1 pm to 1:20 pm.

3. Choose your Calendaring method.

You know how you’re spending your time and have set your goals correctly. What’s next? Well, it’s your Calendaring method.

By this, I mean do you want to use an online Calendar? App? Paper planner? That’s totally up to you as each has its own pros and cons.

For example, an online Calendar or app gives you 24/7 access to your schedule. That can come in handy when you need to update or review your Calendar. What’s more, you can receive reminders, customize, or share your Calendar with others to help with accountability or prevent conflicts.

At the same time, digital Calendars can quickly become cluttered or time-consuming if you’re frequently adding notes. In addition, Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University in California conducted a study with 267 participants on goal setting. Putting your goals on paper increases your chances of achieving them by 42 percent.

Overall, there’s no right or wrong Calendaring method. The most important takeaway here is that you actually have a Calendar to add your goals to you it.

4. Divide your day into blocks of time.

As with your Calendaring method, this is totally up to you. It depends on what time of the day you’re most productive. For example, most people are most alert and energetic between 8 and 9 am. As a result, you should focus on your most important task or goal during that time.

Moreover, you may want to try 52 minutes of work followed by 17 minutes of rest when working towards a daily goal. In sports, this is called interval training. The authors of Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg, and Steve Magness, concluded it wasn’t only for gifted athletes to adopt an interval-based productivity approach.

According to one study, its most productive employees usually spend 52 minutes immersed in their work, then take a break of 17 minutes before returning to their work. Therefore, to remain productive toward meeting your goals, you have to work smarter by taking frequent breaks throughout.

5. Let’s be honest; less is always more.

If you are prone to packing too many tasks into one day, you’re not alone. However, you may be headed in the direction of Burnoutville.

A Calendar can show you how full your schedule actually is. You can use this visual to keep your daily goals realistic and spread out your activities.

Here are a few more tips:

Keep your Calendar light. Trying to fill your day with too much may leave you feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and less likely to meet your goals.
Make time for the things you care about. Plan activities and hobbies that you enjoy in your Calendar. By switching off ‘busy mode,’ you have a chance to rest and recharge to stay energized and focused on your goals.
Schedule time for breaks between your meetings, appointments, and tasks. You can make the most of your momentary pauses by reflecting, preparing, and resting your mind. During these breaks, go for a walk or just sit silently in reflection.

This structure may make you wonder how you’ll accomplish your priorities. However, not taking frequent breaks can leave you feeling zapped and overextended.

6. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Want to succeed in reaching your goals? Then you need to stay focused by reducing distractions.

As an example, let’s go back to your weight goal. If you surround yourself with people who don’t have a healthy diet, then there’s a good chance you’ll be eating just as poorly. Or, what if you don’t go grocery shopping and the only thing to eat in your home is junk food? And, if you don’t protect your time, someone meets to schedule a meeting with you during your walk.

I know. That’s a lot I just threw at you. But, in short, you can keep your eye on the prize by;

Add your goals to your Calendar before anything else. This way, if someone tries to schedule time with you, it won’t be during that block.
Share your Calendar. Another way to prevent others from eating into your valuable time. When they view your Calendar, they can see when you aren’t available and when you’re free.
Block out electronic distractions. If you need an hour to focus on your goals, then block or turn off any notifications during that time so that you won’t get distracted.
Schedule declutter and organization time. Whether it’s a daily, weekly, or monthly event, your environment plays a huge role in achieving your goals. According to research, you have a harder time focusing on one visual stimulus when multiple ones compete for your attention. So, set aside time to declutter and organize everything from your desk to Calendar on a consistent basis.

7. Record your progress.

According to research published by the American Psychological Association, the more often you monitor your progress, the more likely you are to succeed if you have a goal. In addition, by reporting your progress publicly or physically recording it, you increase your chances of success even more.

“Monitoring goal progress is a crucial process that comes into play between setting and attaining a goal, ensuring that the goals are translated into action,” said lead author Benjamin Harkin, PhD, of the University of Sheffield. The study appears in the journal Psychological Bulletin. “This review suggests that prompting progress monitoring improves behavioral performance and the likelihood of attaining one’s goals.”

How often should you track your progress? Again, that depends. When it comes to daily goals, you should reflect on what worked on what didn’t at the end of every day. You can do this every couple of days or make this a weekly event for larger goals. No matter how often you do, make sure that this is also scheduled in your Calendar.

8. Follow through.

“Ok, so you’ve created your schedule, figured out the tasks/steps you need to take to accomplish your larger goals, and put them tidily into your daily planner. Now what?” asks entrepreneur Alexandra Hsie.

“The follow-through is the hardest.” And while sticking to your schedule helps, this is all about making incremental changes.

“Establish small habits that build up into greater habits,” Alexandra advises. “For example, want to wake up earlier? Change your wakeup time by fifteen minutes each day until you get to your goal wakeup time.”

What if you’re still missing your goal? Your wakeup time should be changed by 15 minutes every week instead of daily. “The point here is to make a large goal, like waking up at 6 am when you generally get up at 11 am, a set of manageable and small tasks that build into a habit.”

Another tip? Organize a group of people to hold you accountable for your goals. For example, if you want to lose weight, schedule a time to go with friends or have a text chain to motivate each other.

Also, be sure to recognize and celebrate your accomplishments. “Say out loud to others what you’ve achieved that day. Accept their congratulations and allow yourself to be proud of what you’ve done,” suggest Alexandra. “And if that feels weird to you, at least take a moment to yourself to fully realize what you’ve accomplished because you deserve to be recognized for all of your hard work.”

Image Credit: Freestocks; Pexels; Thank you!

Adding Your Goals to Your Calendar is Not Difficult was originally published on Calendar by John Hall.

101 Inspiring Quotes About Reaching Your Goals

By Deanna Ritchie | Business Tips | No Comments

We fall into the same trap year after year. We make a promise to ourselves to exercise, lose weight, get organized, learn something new, or get our finances in order. By the start of February, however, 80% of all New Year’s resolutions fail.

How come? Well, resolutions rarely involve concrete steps to follow and keep us motivated. What’s more, the majority of resolutions are centered around peer pressure and arbitrary dates.

Instead of making the same mistake next year, and beyond, you shouldn’t make resolutions. Rather, you should be looking at setting and reaching your goals. And, the help you get started and stay focused on these goals, here are 101 quotes you should refer to when needed.

Quotes About Setting and Starting Goals

1. “If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” — Les Brown

2. “Becoming a star may not be your destiny, but being the best you can be is a goal that you can set for yourself.” — Brian Lindsay

3. “You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.” — Zig Ziglar

4. “It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” — Benjamin E. Mays

5. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins

6. “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” — Andrew Carnegie

7. “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” — Tom Landry

8. “Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive.” — Robert H. Schuller

9. “Setting goals allows you to paint a vision of what you wish your future to be.” — Catherine Pulsifer

10. “You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.” — Ted Turner

11. “All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” — Orison Swett Marden

12. “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” — Pablo Picasso

13. “Goal setting is a powerful tool and process for motivating you. When effective goals are set, a giant step towards the life you desire is taken.” — K.C. Rowntree

14. “Set realistic goals, keep re-evaluating, and be consistent.” — Venus Williams

15. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C. S. Lewis

16. “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” — James Cameron

17. “To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind.” — Seneca

18. “You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” — Steve Garvey

19. “No desired achievement is gained without any goal setting.”– Wayne Chirisa

20. “The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them.” — Og Mandino

21. “By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands—your own.” — Mark Victor Hansen

22. “A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” — Walt Disney

23. “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.” — Unknown

24. “You can do anything if you set goals. You just have to push yourself.” — RJ Mitte

25. “In life, the first thing you must do is decide what you really want. Weigh the costs and the results. Are the results worthy of the costs? Then make up your mind completely and go after your goal with all your might.” — Alfred A. Montapert

26. “Don’t look at the big picture as the only achievement. Start with set, smart goals and work up to something bigger.” — Jordyn Wieber

27. “Begin with the end in mind.” — Stephen Covey

28. “One part at a time, one day at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves.” — Karen Casey

29. “Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt

30. “Focus on the possibilities for success, not the potential for failure.” — Napoleon Hill

31. “Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent return on energy!” — Brian Tracy

32. “Set daily, monthly, and long-term goals and dreams. Don’t ever be afraid to dream too big. Nothing is impossible. If you believe in yourself, you can achieve it.” — Nastia Liukin

33. “The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun in the short run. It seems to me though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow, and who make an impact…those people have goals.” –– Seth Godin

34. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things.” — Albert Einstein

35. “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” — George S. Reid

36. “Goals are the road maps that guide you to your destination.”-– Roy T. Bennett

37. “When you set a goal, your brain opens up a task list.” — Mel Robbins

38. “A good goal is like a strenuous exercise — it makes you stretch.” — Mary Kay Ash

39. “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” — Denis Waitley

40. “Set goals and seek challenges; Become a role model for those coming behind you.” — Charles F. Bolden

41. “For most of us, goal-setting sounds and usually is a grueling process, because we most often confuse a goal with a wish, an objective with a desire.” — Michael Lombardi

42. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe

43. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” — Mark Twain

44. “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” — Bill Copeland

45. “When I was growing up I always wanted to be someone. Now I realize I should have been more specific.” — Lily Tomlin

46. “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life that you want, you’re going to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” — Kevin Ngo

47. “Wish it. Plan it. Do it.” — Jaipal Singh

48. “You know that one thing you’ve always dreamed about? Write it down. Then take the first step. Today.” — Petra Poje

49. “The best way to approach a goal is to first break it down into very small bite size steps. Each one of these steps should lead logically to the next step to be completed in a linear order.” — Byron Pulsifer

50. “Stop setting goals. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them.” — Stephen Covey

Quotes About Ambitious Goals

51. “Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite-size chunks, writing them down, believing them and going full speed ahead as if they were routine.” — Don Lancaster

52. “This year I will achieve my most important goal by breaking it down into 365 tiny chunks and tackling on chunk each day.” — Marelisa Fabrega

53. “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” — Michael Korda

54. “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.” — Michael Phelps

55. “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” — Bruce Lee

56. “By having big goals and pushing yourself towards them you will have a lot more energy because you know exactly what your doing and what you’re doing it for.” — Troy Foster

57. “I would encourage you to set really high goals. Set goals that, when you set them, you think they’re impossible. But then every day you can work towards them, and anything is possible, so keep working hard and follow your dreams.” — Katie Ledecky

58. “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

59. “Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” — Muhammad Ali

60. “Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you had aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” — F. Hawes

61. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” — Bo Jackson

62. “When you’re trying to accomplish lofty goals, and when you’re attacking something of great magnitude, you have to have help.” — Zach Johnson

63. “Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”– Harriet Tubman

64. “Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your. Dream deep, for every dream, precedes the goal.” — Rabindranath Tagore

65. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” — Michelangelo

66. “Don’t let anyone turn your sky into a ceiling.”– Anonymous

67. “Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.”– David Joseph Schwartz

68. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller

69. “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs–even though checkered by failure–than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt

70. “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.” — Richard Branson

71. “It is very hard to fail completely if you aim high enough.” — Larry Page

72. “Limitations only exist if you believe they exist. No one ever achieves more than they set their goals at, so aim high.” — Unknown

73. “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —Mark Twain

74. “Once you have tasted the taste of sky you will forever lookup.” — Leonardo Da Vinci

75. “Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the kind of person who can.” — Anonymous

Motivational Quotes to Help You Crush Your Goals

76. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela

77. “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” — John Dewey

78. “The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” — Michelle Obama

79. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, I’ll always get up after I fall. And whether I run, walk, or have to crawl, I’ll set my goals and achieve them all.” — Chris Butler

80. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

81. “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” — Confucius

82. “Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt

83. “Write your goals down in detail and read your list of goals every day. Some goals may entail a list of shorter goals. Losing a lot of weight, for example, should include mini-goals, such as 10-pound milestones. This will keep your subconscious mind focused on what you want step by step.” — Jack Canfield

84. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.” — Michael Jordan

85. “Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground.” — Ralph Marston

86. “If we have a goal and a plan, and are willing to take risks and mistakes and work as a team, we can choose to do the hard thing.” — Scott Kelly

87. “If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals.” — Brian Tracy

88. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” — Earl Nightingale

89. “Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal.” — Brian Adams

90. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”– Henry David Thoreau

91. “There’s nothing better than achieving your goals, whatever they might be.” — Paloma Faith

92. “If a goal is worth having, it’s worth blocking out the time in your day-to-day life necessary to achieve it.” — Jill Koenig

93. “Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.” — LL Cool J

94. “Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive.” — Robert H. Schuller

95. Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. — Sir Edmund Hilary

96. “It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.” — Pat Summitt

97. “Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” — George Whitefield

98. “Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.” — Paulo Coelho

99. It’s not about getting out of your comfort zone to reach your goal. It’s about widening your comfort zone so far that your goal fits comfortably inside. Once you do that, hitting your goals will be like hitting 3s for Steph Curry. — Richie Norton

100. “Dream your own dreams, achieve your own goals. Your journey is your own and unique.” — Roy T. Bennett

101. “This one step: choosing a goal and sticking to it, changes everything.” — Scott Reed

Image Credit: Engin Akyurt; Pexels, Thank you!

101 Inspiring Quotes About Reaching Your Goals was originally published on Calendar by Deanna Ritchie.

Significant Development Goals

By Choncé Maddox | Business Tips | No Comments

Set goals. With the start of the new year comes the bold attempt to “manage time better,” “be more productive,” and “focus on what matters.”

If you are a “project creep” person, you miss deadlines, and an ever-growing to-do list is all too frequent both in your life and business. These two areas must be put on your significant professional development goals. Large-scale polls consistently show time management abilities among the most wanted workforce talents and among the most difficult to find.

What goals could manage your time better?

There is no shortage of advice – books, blogs, hacks, and applications — all designed to improve time management.
The most irritating fact for anyone wanting to better their time management is that these techniques are unlikely to help.
Simply said, these tools and apps assume a person’s underlying talents, but time management skills come first.

Do you think buying a decent set of knives, high-end kitchen equipment, and fresh food will automatically turn you into a five-star chef? No way. Similarly, utilizing a scheduling tool without time management skills is unlikely to provide favorable results. However, developing a new skill or skill set keeps you on the cutting edge.

Fortunately, a lot of studies have been done on time management abilities. Timing management is the practice of adjusting one’s time to changing external conditions. Time management effectiveness requires three specific skills:

First, recognize that time is a finite resource.

Organize your objectives, plans, timetables, and projects to maximize your time.

Adaptation: adapting to interruptions or shifting priorities while doing tasks.

Arranging is perhaps the most recognizable ability, given that most applications and hacks deal with planning and scheduling. However, awareness and adaptive abilities are not as widely recognized.
This presents essential development questions:
Are they equal?
Are some harder to master than others?
What about rarity?

Time Management Tests

To find out, I looked at over 1200 people’s findings from a 30-minute micro-simulation meant to measure time management abilities. Participants were assigned the role of a freelance designer and had to handle work and relationships with customers and colleagues using email, instant messaging, and cloud storage.
They had to cope with scheduling problems, prioritize customer requests, and manage their time.

Some solid evidence emerged for goals

First, all three abilities were equally crucial for time management.
So strengthening one’s scheduling and planning abilities overlooks two-thirds of the skills required to manage time properly.
That’s why it’s so discouraging to try new technology and then feel like we’ve never improved as time managers.

Second, respondents had the most trouble with awareness and adaptation abilities, with scores 24 percent lower than arranging skills.
This study implies that awareness and adaptability are uncommon talents that require direct assistance to achieve.
Also, awareness skills influence how effectively participants avoid procrastination, and adaptability skills influence how well they prioritize activities.

Third, the results contradicted prevalent beliefs about the benefits or drawbacks of multitasking.
A post-simulation poll examined how people felt about multitasking.

Their inclinations for multitasking (what academics call “polychronicity”) had nothing to do with time management abilities.
People’s time management skills have little to do with their multitasking preferences.
So the emphasis on multitasking that many time management experts place on it is unlikely to deliver genuine results.

Fourth, the research shows that people misjudge their time management skills.
For example, just 1% of people’s self-ratings matched their objective skill scores.
Also, self-ratings only accounted for only 2% of real-time management ability differences.
In prior research, people lack proper self-awareness of their competencies, which impedes transformation and leadership growth.

Time Management Skills Development

So how can people improve their time management skills?
To begin, decide where to focus. The only way to honestly answer this question is to examine your present skill levels.
You may fuel your development efforts in three ways.

Improve your self-awareness of time management. This can be achieved by objective evaluations like microsimulations, peer or supervisor feedback, or by defining a baseline of behaviors against which progress can be measured.

Perception matters more than thinking. Understanding one’s time management preferences or personality traits, such as multitasking or being proactive, can help identify areas where reform efforts may fail.
Skills, not personality, are the most flexible personal traits and deliver the best return on investment.

Identify and prioritize your skill gaps

The goal is to prevent self-improvement that is “inch deep but a mile wide” when efforts are scattered out over too many requirements. Prioritize your skill development, starting with the most urgent skill requirement and working your way up.

There are several proven methods for improving time management. Here are a few. Remember that techniques establish underlying abilities that will ultimately enhance time management.
Using these strategies isn’t the purpose.

Increasing awareness. Effectiveness is doing things well, whereas efficiency is doing things quickly. Both are vital. Efficiency is counterproductive.

Find your performance peak. Divide your day into three to four-time slots and rate them from most to least productive throughout a week (most productive is peak performance).

Treat time like cash. Make a time budget for a typical week. Then, sort time into fixed (must do) and discretionary (want to do).

Timing-up for the goal

Not how much time you have left, but how long you spend on things with defined deadlines.

Evaluate your time management skills. After concluding a job, compare your expectations to the actual time it took. This process is good development of skills.

Consider “future time.” Consider how your current actions will affect future activities (e.g., how will today’s project tasks affect next week’s tasks?).

“Sunk cost fallacy.” When you believe you’re spending too much time on anything, take a step back and assess its value (e.g., who will be affected if it’s done or not).

Learning to organize

The learning curves and time requirements for unfamiliar but critical jobs might be severe. Developing arrangement skills means taking control of your life and then organizing your job around it.

Prioritize tasks and duties

It’s not enough to just mention your assignments and meetings.

Goal Setting Not Working? Try These 8 Alternatives

By John Rampton | Knowledge Base | No Comments

Somewhere in between holiday festivities and wrapping up all of your year-end obligations, you might also be setting your goals for next year. While there’s nothing wrong with that, most of us fail to reach these goals. An astounding 92 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions never follow through, according to researchers at the University of Scranton.

Why do we keep setting ourselves up for failure? That answer varies from person to person. However, some of the most common culprits include;

Making goals too vague.
Setting unattainable goals.
Listing only your long-term goals.
Writing your goals as negative statements.
You get discouraged when messing up.
Your environment doesn’t support your goals.
You downplay or don’t celebrate your wins.
There’s no system to hold you accountable.

Furthermore, goals hardly translate to daily actions, and some of us don’t track our progress.

Whatever the reason, if you’ve found that goal setting isn’t getting it done, you might want to explore the following eight alternatives going forward.

1. Ask yourself, “Did I do my best?”

“Do your best. If it sounds like advice from a kindergarten teacher, well, I get it,” writes freelance writer and Fast Company contributor Daniel Dowling. “Vague goals produce vague results, right?”

However, Dowling found that one undefined goal can prove a punch in the gut reality check when included with a system of daily goals. What’s more, it can lead to tangible results.

The reason why this can work? Firstly, many of us have difficulty determining how much time to dedicate to our goals. When setting goals, we don’t know where to draw the line between ambition and delusion. In turn, this results in us not getting the desired outcome.

When Dowling asked himself, “Did I do my best?” he was confronted with just how much effort he had actually given that day. If he “frittered away most of the day,” he would analyze why and make changes so that he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake again.

“Without asking myself if I’d done my best each day, I’d either have wallowed in self-reproach or failed to reflect on my performance at all. Instead, I’d turned self-criticism into a self-improvement habit,” he wrote.

2. Establish anti-goals.

Is your calendar packed with pointless meetings? Are you burned out from working long hours? Have you questioned your relationships?

If you’ve ever had these types of questions, you can turn things around by setting anti-goals.

While this might seem counterintuitive, “anti-Goals create a balance by showing us a tangible set of values or actions that we don’t want to be,” clarifies Ken Wu.

Originally introduced as a concept called ‘premeditatio malorum,’ which Seneca, Foucault, and Socrates used, “anti-goals give us a benchmark of failure to avoid and allow us to anticipate ourselves at our worst,” he adds. This enables us to develop our first steps of personal growth, and we remain true to ourselves as we develop.

When starting out, Wu focused on the following areas;

Values. Do you want to reject any standards or behaviors?
Habit. Which actions are you consciously trying to avoid?
Physical. What possible health issues do you want to minimize?
Emotional. Which mental states do you wish to avoid?
Relationships. Do you want to avoid certain relationships? What is your ideal way to interact with others?

To harness the power of anti-goals, however, Wu advises that they shouldn’t consume you. He also says that they shouldn’t make you complacent or remain stagnant. Instead, they must evolve and drive you forward.

3. Set themes.

Although there is a place and time for goals daily, goals often lead to anxiety, regret, and depression rather than fulfillment, pride, and contentment, claims Niklas Göke. This is because we exert pressure on ourselves until we reach our goals. In addition, when we finally do accomplish them, they disappear without a trace.

Moreover, we think that happiness is experienced after this burst of relief. In turn, this inspires us to set a new, bigger goal. However, it remains beyond our reach. In short, it’s a vicious cycle.

Harvard researcher Tal Ben-Shahar calls this “the arrival fallacy” — the illusion that “reaching some future destination will bring lasting happiness.” To combat this, author and entrepreneur James Altucher lives by themes instead of goals that encourage meaning over pleasure.

Göke says that a theme could be a single verb, a noun, or an adjective. “Commit,” “growth,” and “healthy” are all valid themes, he adds. As are “invest,” “help,” “kindness,” and “gratitude.”

“Themes are immune to anxiety about tomorrow,” states Göke. So your regrets about yesterday don’t matter to them either. “All that matters is what you do today, who you are in this second, and how you choose to live right now.”

4. Focus on systems.

According to James Clear, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, asserts that there are several problems with goals, including;

Both winners and losers have the same goals.
Attaining a goal is a momentary change.
Goals can restrict your happiness.
Goals are often at odds with a long-term process.

Because of this — look at, Clear champions systems over goals. These are simply daily processes and habits. For example, exercising for 30-minutes before work or learning a new skill for 10-minutes after lunch. Even though you didn’t set a specific outcome, like losing 50 pounds or becoming fluent in Spanish, systems are flexible and help you make progress.

This is well described by Clear using a rowboat metaphor. Consider goals as the rudder and systems as the paddles: “Goals determine your direction. Systems determine your progress.”

5. Burn or burn.

Okay. This might seem a little radical and potentially dangerous. However, it might be worth trying if you struggle to complete those necessary but dreadful tasks needed to reach a goal. And, here’s how it works, according to Nir Eyal in an Observer post.

Pick your routine. For instance, going to the gym.
Book your time. Block out time in your schedule for the routine. Routines can’t be performed if you don’t reserve the time to arrange an appointment or meeting.
Find a crisp $100 bill — or any denomination that you wouldn’t want to lose.
Find a lighter.
Buy a wall calendar and place it somewhere you’ll see daily.
Place the lighter near the wall calendar and tape the $100 bill to today’s date.

There are now two options available to you. On any given day, when it’s time to perform your routine, you have the option to choose either option A and perform the routine, in my case to feel the “burn” in the gym, or option B and literally burn money, explains Eyal. The money can’t be given to someone or spent on anything; it must be set ablaze.

Not only is it dangerous to actually light the bill, but it’s also illegal. However, science has found that just the thought of watching your hard-earned money aflame can motivate you to complete the tasks that you don’t want to.

6. Adopt a mantra.

The process of achieving a goal often involves changing your habits as well. Of course, this is always easier said than done. After all, when some of us experience setbacks, we tend to get so disappointed that we simply quit.

Perhaps you should adopt a “mantra” instead of a resolution if this describes you. As a result of being overextended, entrepreneur Reshma Chamberlin tried this approach by incorporating a yearly “anchor.”

For Chamberlin, as she told Fast Company’s Jenna Abdou, “It’s not a single objective, like go to the gym every day. Instead, your mantra is a conscious choice to take control of your life.” For example, her 2017 mantra was, “Ask, and you shall receive.” Through this motto, she was felt more empowered to pursue new experiences.

When setting mantas, though, Chamberlin suggests that they are positive and deliberate. And, the mantra is too unrealistic or making you unhappy; try a different one.

7. Make a PACT.

“Instead of SMART goals, which don’t encourage ambitious, long-term endeavors, I prefer to make a PACT with myself,” notes Anne-Laure Le Cunff over at Ness Labs. “While a SMART goal focuses on the outcome, the PACT approach focuses on the output.”

In short, rather than pursuing a well-defined goal, it’s about continuous growth. In this regard, it can be a valuable alternative to SMART goals.

But, what exactly does PACT stand for?

Purposeful. An appropriate goal should be relevant to your long-term purpose in life, not just to your immediate needs. It’s much easier to get and stay motivated when your goals are aligned with your passions and priorities.
Actionable. You should have a goal that is both actionable and controllable. Focusing on immediate outputs rather than overplanning for distant outcomes in the future is the key to shifting your mindset.
Continuous. Choice paralysis prevents so many people from achieving their goals, explains Le Cunff. This happens when you have so many options that you spend more time researching than actually doing things to further your goal. One benefit of continuous goals is that they’re flexible and repeatable. That means focusing on continuous improvement is more important than a pre-determined endpoint.
Trackable. Not measurable, Anne-Laure Le Cunff adds. Often, statistics are overrated and don’t apply to a wide variety of goals. As with the GitHub tracker, Le Cunff likes the “yes” or “no” approach to goal tracking as it makes tracking progress a breeze.

8. Don’t set goals at all.

According to Leo Babauta, the author behind Zen Habits, sometimes the best goal is no goal at all.

“Today, I live mostly without goals. Now and then, I start coming up with a goal, but I’m letting them go,” he writes. “Living without goals hasn’t ever been an actual goal of mine … it’s just something I’m learning that I enjoy more, that is incredibly freeing, that works with the lifestyle of following my passion that I’ve developed.”

That may sound liberating in theory, but how does this actually work?

He explains that there’s no goal for the year, the month, the week, or the day. You don’t obsess over tracking or actionable steps. There’s even no need for a to-do list, though jotting down reminders is fine.

“What do you do, then? Lay around on the couch all day, sleeping and watching TV and eating Ho-Hos?” he asks. Of course not. You just do.

“You find something you’re passionate about, and do it, Leo states. “Just because you don’t have goals doesn’t mean you do nothing — you can create, you can produce, you can follow your passion.”

As a result, Leo says that he can accomplish more than if he had goals since he’s always doing something that excites him. But, that’s ultimately not the point. Instead, he emphasizes, “all that matters is that I’m doing what I love, always.”

Work Less Because It’s Done and Play More in 2022

By Hunter Meine | Knowledge Base | No Comments

You may have seen folks around you who get everything done and then some. How do they get so much done so fast?

Time management is the answer.

Time management is the art of organizing and allocating minutes, getting things done. This maximizes productivity and achieves goals. Time management improves job performance and life satisfaction while reducing stress. High achievers don’t just happen. Rather, they’ve honed the talents required to achieve more in less time.

Productivity is a skill.

It’s an acquired talent that everyone must learn. However, it is feasible (and simple) to learn time management. There are several tools, strategies, and approaches available to assist you. We’ve rounded together our finest 32 day-saving ideas.

Planning Your Time to be Done Faster

Planned calendar management will help you build solid habits, get things done and increase your chances of success.

1. Conduct a time audit.

First things first: figure out where you spend your time. Often, what you believe is taking up your time isn’t. Humans are lousy at estimating task duration. Let’s say you need to send a 300-word email. Think: “Emailing is easy. It should just take 5 minutes.” Proofreading, checking language choice, and identifying email addresses are all duties that might add to the task’s duration. Your 5-minute email may take you 20 minutes, 500% longer than expected with such changes.

Assume you have the same issue with numerous tasks. A balanced workload will inevitably turn into a hectic to-do list during the day. You need to know what you can do and what is genuinely eating up your minutes. That’s why a time audit is useful. The most straightforward approach to undertake a time audit is using calendar tracking software. Many firms provide free software, but Toggl Track is the easiest, with applications for all devices.

Track your activities for a week to get an accurate time utilization picture. Then, examine the reports at the end of the week and analyze the time you spend on various chores. With this data, you can quickly improve. For example, you may waste time in useless meetings or busywork.

Now you can see how you spend your time and prepare accordingly.

So here’s the next piece of advice.

Tip #2: Set realistic goals and prioritize and be done.

Time management won’t assist you if you have too much to do. After doing a time audit, you’ll know if you need to manage your time better or if you have too much on your plate.

For attainable goals, skip to suggestion 3.

If you feel overwhelmed, create an Eisenhower matrix or use the 4 Ds of time management: Do, Defer, Delegate, and Delete. Your duties are divided into four categories into both methods:

Do: Important and urgent tasks.

Defer: Important yet non-urgent tasks.

Delegate: Urgent but unimportant tasks.

Delete: Non-urgent or non-critical tasks.

These methods will help you decide what jobs to prioritize, schedule, delegate, or remove. They should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Tip #3: Make a daily management strategy.

You can do this in the morning or at the end of the day. Creating a daily to-do list is one of those time slots. Keep your to-do list simple. The sight of half-completed lists is discouraging.

Even in personal productivity, it’s preferable to under-promise and over-deliver. Write your list as though you’ve already finished it. Submit Report to Project Manager instead of “Submit Report to Project Manager.”

This tiny method will give you an extra push of desire to finish your duties.

Tip #4: Sunday planning management

A strategy will help you focus on your critical goals during the workweek. It also enables you to move from weekend mode to “work mode” on Monday morning. First, spend a few minutes on Sunday planning your entire week. Then, break down weekly goals into daily chores to increase achievement.

You’ll be able to see your daily tasks at a glance. Schedule low-priority work for Fridays and other low-energy days. The week’s energy and creative levels change. Finish creative projects on Tuesday and Wednesday. Plan meetings for Thursday, when your team’s energy drops. Plan and network on Fridays and Mondays.

Personal productivity has hundreds of variations. Because everyone works differently, experimenting with these time management techniques will help you find the ideal strategy for you.

Tip #5: Finish your most critical and time-consuming activities first thing.

The first few hours of work are usually the most fruitful. This is because you can focus better while your brain isn’t completely awake.

They have less energy for daydreaming and other duties. So, preferably, do your most intellectually demanding responsibilities first thing in the morning.

How to Optimize Your Appointments in 2021

By Jon Bradshaw | Appointment | No Comments

Struggling to think of a New Year’s resolution for your business? Focus on your customers and their appointment experience. The steps you take to meet your appointment goals will improve your operations from top to bottom.

What specific appointment goals should you set? Here are eight great ones to choose from:

1. Increase Total Appointments

One clear choice for your 2021 goal list is to increase your total appointment volume. Get a base measurement by looking at your totals from 2020. What kind of growth do you hope to see? This goal should be realistic, but still challenging enough to stretch your limits.

In order to up your total appointments in 2021, take a fresh look at your marketing strategy. Use content to push for more appointments, using deals and incentives to convince customers to book.

2. Decrease Wait Times

After successfully increasing your appointment volume, start working on your customer experience. More customers means longer wait times, which can frustrate and turn away new visitors from your business. Lowering wait times will not only appease them, but increase the overall efficiency of your operations.

If you’re seeing a lot of growth, consider hiring some new employees to take on the extra load. Increased capacity will decrease wait times for customers. You can also implement a notification system that alerts customers of changing wait times to help walk-ins arrive at the right time.

3. Move All Bookings Online

Make life easier for everyone by moving appointment booking online. You might be comfortable with your current system because it’s familiar, but ditching the phone lines for software can make a night-and-day difference.

For starters, online appointment software is available 24/7, meaning customers can make bookings whenever they’re available. Software will also automatically keep track of scheduling, avoid double bookings, and send reminders to both customers and your team about each commitment. Last but not least, customers can pre-pay online, saving you even more headache.

4. Optimize Your Efficiency

Sluggish, drawn out appointments are tiresome and irritating for customers who want to get in and out as quickly as possible. They’re also costly for your business, which makes more money the more customers it serves.

How can you make appointments more efficient? With sub-goals. One might be to start at least 90% of appointments on time. Another might be to cross-train every member of the team on customer service.

5. Boost Customer Retention

Once a customer books their first appointment, your goal should be to convince them to keep coming back. Customer retention is much less expensive than acquisition, and recurring revenue provides financial security.

How do you increase customer retention? Using data. With appointment software, you can see how many repeat customers you have and choose a goal number to pursue. One example of a retention strategy is a punch card that rewards customers who make frequent appointments.

6. Raise Referral Rates

The best leads come from existing customers. Set a goal to raise the percentage of your new appointments that come from referrals. Referred customers are more likely to commit to your business and to refer you to even more people.

Incentivizing referrals is the best way to make this happen. Offer discounts or prizes to customers who bring a friend to their next appointment. Then, focus on making their experience with you unforgettable. Get it right, and you won’t even have to ask them to book a return visit.

7. Experiment With Virtual Appointments

If your business provides a service that can be delivered online, virtual appointments are a great way to reach customers who are still wary of COVID-19. Even a partial move to virtual appointments can put you ahead of the curve.

Virtual appointments are often used by doctors to treat patients without exposing themselves or others to illness. Personal trainers, nutritionists, counselors, marketing firms, and more can provide guidance through videoconferencing.

8. Learn to Let Go

While you want as many customers as you can handle, some may just not be worth it. Toxic clients can upset your employees and even scare other customers away. It’s better to start fresh in 2021 by saying “no” to customers who are holding your company back.

Did you think of a particular client while reading that last paragraph? Look for ways to shift their business elsewhere, either by referring them to another company or gently confronting them about their behavior. The interaction might not be pleasant, but it will be worth it.

Reach new heights in 2021 by setting one or more of these goals. Sit down with your team and talk through how, exactly, you’ll make this year your best one yet.

5 New Year’s Resolutions to Take Your Business to New Heights in 2020

By Jon Bradshaw | Business Tips | No Comments

Regain Your Time by Learning the Art of Saying No

New Year’s resolutions are good for more than personal growth. If you want to grow your business in 2020, now is the time to set goals for the new year. Simply putting your goals on paper makes you 42% more likely to achieve them.

Growth comes in many flavors. Whether you want to give your culture, marketing, sales, or something else entirely a facelift in 2020, consider making one or more of these New Year’s resolutions for your business:

Resolution No. 1: Extend the holiday cheer.

The holiday season makes people happy. Unfortunately, the boost to workers’ mood and motivation doesn’t always last. If leaders don’t make an effort to maintain that environment, team members quickly reacclimate. Soon, stress seeps back in.

Leaders need to promote workplace harmony to keep tensions low and spirits high. Set out a box so colleagues can make cultural suggestions without worry. Review them at an all-staff meeting, and decide together which to implement. Give gifts and encourage gratefulness year ‘round, not just around the holidays.

Resolution No. 2: Be more transparent.

If there’s one resolution every company should make, this is it. Transparency plays an underappreciated role in productivity. Workers who feel included and understand company goals are more willing and able to achieve those goals.

Make revenue and expenses an open conversation. Map out the business strategy for everyone to see. Encourage top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer feedback. Use tools like Slack and processes like weekly updates to keep people in the loop.

Resolution No. 3: Manage time methodically.

Another great way to boost productivity is to improve your time management skills. It’s easy to get caught up in daily distractions and busy work. Ask yourself each day, week, month, and quarter: What needs to get done, and where will it fit?

Start by implementing a zero-based calendar. Fill every 15-minute block with something, even if it’s merely meditating or responding to emails. Encourage your team members to do the same, and be sure to share calendars so everyone can see what others are working on.

Resolution No. 4: Set Sales Goals.

A business is nothing without sales. If you don’t have specific targets set for 2020, take a moment to do so. Think in percentages: You might want to increase revenue by 10% compared to last year, for instance.

To get there, you need a plan. Ask salespeople about kinks in your pipeline. Interview current customers about high and low points in their sales experience. If you haven’t already, invest in sales tools to automate outreach.

Resolution No. 5: Get more attention online.

Digital channels are how most companies get business these days. If you buy billboards or newspaper ads, shift that spend to more modern tactics. Research suggests that organic and paid search, as well as social media and email marketing, have the highest ROI of digital channels.

Social media, in particular, allows you to create virtual customer environments. Online groups and forums are nearly free to set up. Beyond their branding benefits, they allow you to provide support to customers who might not be willing to call in.

Resolutions are powerful because they help you hold yourself and your team accountable. Think about where your business needs that discipline the most, and set your 2020 goals to suit.

7 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Holiday Traditions

By Jon Bradshaw | Business Tips | No Comments

For entrepreneurs, the holidays mean more than an annual sales bump. They’re a season to reflect on what holiday traditions can teach us about business.

Everyone celebrates the holidays differently. Some people are happy to enjoy the season sitting in front of a Christmas tree or yule log. For others, all that matters is spending time with family. Still others spend the time attending bake-offs and holiday parties.

But however you celebrate the holidays, you can learn a few things from common traditions:

1. Enjoy others’ lights, but don’t be blinded by them.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to take stock of what others are doing. But just as you shouldn’t drive around all day just to look at Christmas lights, you don’t want to focus so heavily on other companies that you neglect your own.

Take the time to hang your lights. Differentiate yourself, and keep in mind that every budget is different. It’s all well and good to be inspired by others, but it would be pretty lame to copy someone else’s lighting scheme.

2. Do something nice for your neighbors.

Reach out to other businesses in your metaphorical neighborhood. Seeing other companies in your industry strictly as competition can cause you to miss out on key mentorship and partnership opportunities.

Start small: Reach out on LinkedIn, and share content that you think might be helpful. Offer to get lunch in order to discuss ways you might be able to lend a hand in the new year.

3. Reconnect with family and friends.

There are two major holiday letter-writing traditions: Christmas cards and thank-you notes. Both are a means for staying connected with the people you care about.

Just as important as establishing good relationships is maintaining them. Check in with the people that care about your business and express appreciation for their support. This includes not only customers and clients but also colleagues and suppliers. Don’t be that person who only reaches out when you need something.

4. Give yourself something to look forward to.

Advent calendars are used to count down the days until Christmas and meter out daily treats. Start each business day by checking your calendar and scheduling something fun for yourself, like a lunch out or leisure activity after work.

Be flexible, but set boundaries for when you will and won’t be working. Effective scheduling can save time and make the time you do spend working more productive.

5. Throw a party.

The centerpiece of most holiday traditions is a party or celebration. Family and friends gather for food, fun, and good company. Bring everyone together by hosting a similar year-end party at work.

Celebrations have business value: They build trust, deepen relationships, and release stress. Tension in the office can be culturally destructive, and periodic parties are a great way to alleviate it.

6. Make yourself a wish list.

Remember how, as a kid, you’d jot down everything you wanted from the new year? Pick that habit back up as an entrepreneur.

Creating a wish list helps you make your desires more concrete. Create two of them: one that’s aspirational, and another that is more practical. Know the differences between what you want, what you actually need, and what you can afford.

7. Take time to rest.

Both at work and at home, the holidays are busy. Although it’s good to celebrate, it’s just as important to give yourself a break. Taking a break is a great way to boost your productivity down the line.

Give yourself some grace: You’ve worked hard this year. Don’t beat yourself up for spending a few days away from work, taking a midday nap, or lounging around on a wintery day.

Enjoy the holidays, but remember what they stand for. When you get back to business in the new year, you’ll be that much more ready to reach for the next rung.