How To Procrastinate

“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”

Brian Tracy

Procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing. Now that I have your attention, let me clarify my point by sharing the following illustration. Several weeks ago while visiting a friend in the hospital, I happened to pass the emergency room. While in the emergency room I noticed an interesting pattern. 

Patients were not being serviced in the order that they arrived. Those that had cold symptoms and minor bruises were forced to wait while the patients with major injuries were taken in immediately. 

There was a Triage Nurse on duty, whose job was to make sure that the injuries with the most urgency received the highest priority. This was not a first come, first served system. The emergency room is a reminder of the fact that your most important priority is not necessarily the first task that comes to your attention. 

Too many of the to do lists that I see are first come first serve. If there is a list of ten items, most people start with the first item on the list. The problem is that the first item may be the least important while item number ten could be urgent. So, how do you determine what is urgent and what can wait? Keep reading and you will learn how to procrastinate. 

Triaging
Triaging is a system for assigning priorities based on urgency. The nurse in the previous illustration is called a Triage Nurse because her main job is to prioritize. 

I truly believe that if you have more than three priorities that you really don’t have any. When I attack my to do’s, I place a star by the tasks that are truly urgent. The star tells me that if there was a power outage and I could not get anything else done, completing this task would make my day a productive one. For me, checking e-mail, checking voicemail, or sending social media communication is not urgent and does not get a star. I can procrastinate on these tasks because they are not priorities. 

Many of the people with whom I work have a habit of checking e-mail first thing in the morning. They react to a message and spend a significant part of their day putting out fires. The problem is that the truly urgent items take a back seat to something that is of lower importance. They either spend more time in the office or ignore what is truly important. 

If you embrace the process of Triaging, you will have more time for your priorities by procrastinating on those tasks that are not urgent. A failure to triage you will cause you procrastinate on your priorities which is never a good thing! So there you have it. If you know someone who can benefit from this week’s message, please share it using the social share buttons at the bottom of this posting. 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. For more information on How to Procrastinate, read my ebook. 

How To Balance Work and Family

When I was growing up, the following song was always playing on the radio:

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"

Harry Chaplin (Lyrics from the song The Cat’s in the Cradle;1974)

The Father in this song was always too busy too spend time with his son. In his older years, the Dad tried to make up for lost time, only to discover that his son followed his example by being too busy with the demands of life. The lesson here is that once you lose time, you never get it back. 

Noted author and speaker Jim Rohn said it best when he said that we must all suffer from either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. If you fail to apply the disciplines that lead to a balanced life, you will look back with regret. 

As you continue to read you will learn one of the most important disciplines necessary to balance work and family. 

Automation
Every minute wasted at the office is a minute of family time lost. Surfing the social media sites and processing emails are two of the biggest time wasters. According to a recent office time.net survey, 75% of the respondents reported that they spent at least two hours per day on social media sites. Thirty-three percent admitted to spending two hours per day reading and processing emails. What can you do to put your social media and email on auto pilot, so that you don’t end up like the Dad in the song? 

HootSuite
This nifty app allows you to update Facebook, Twitter, & Linked In at the same time. Have you ever logged onto Facebook with the goal of quickly making a post only to be distracted by an instant message or friend request? Hootsuite allows you can make your updates without the interruptions. 

The Hootsuite feature that I like best is the ability to schedule posts in advance. I simply dedicate a one hour block of time during the week where I schedule up to three weeks worth of updates. 

This habit alone has saved me thirty minutes per day that I would normally spend on social media. I now spend the extra time at home taking my daughter to the playground. 

Email Rules Have you ever struggled to focus on a project because of the numerous email alerts chiming through your speakers? The solution is to set your email rules so that these audible alerts are disabled. This will help you to check your email only at the specific times you set for yourself. 

Even though I subscribe to several electronic newsletters and receive hundreds of emails per day, my inbox is usually empty. This is because I set my email rules so that certain emails go directly to my folders and not my inbox. 

For example, I have a special folder for any communication that I am CC’d on. These emails automatically go to this folder and I can read them at my leisure since they are not addressed directly to me. This habit has saved me an hour per day of office time. 

By Automating my social media and email, I save a total of ninety minutes per day. Ninety minutes per day over the course of the year works out to additional twenty three thousand four hundred minutes of free time to spend with your family. 

If you need specific instructions on how to automate your social media and email, please email me at eric@ericmtwiggs.com . 

Sincererly,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. For additional strategies on how to balance work and family, get your copy of my ebook. 

The Answer To Your Most Pressing Management Question

“To achieve life balance, be mindful of what you are giving up in pursuit of what you want.”

- Jim Rohn

When I was writing my ebook, I took a poll of to determine your most pressing time management concern. Based on the overwhelming feedback, it is clear that creating a life that is balanced between family and career is the top concern. If life balance has ever been a challenge for you, then you will be able to relate to the following poem by David L. Weatherford.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night? 

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last. 

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask “How are you?”, do you hear the reply? 

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head? 

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last. 

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow? 

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
’cause you never had time to call and say hi? 

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last. 

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there. 

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it’s like an unopened gift thrown away. 

Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

Next week, I will share with you some specific strategies that will help you on your quest for life balance. 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. In my ebook One moment in Time, I share specific steps that you can take to have more balance in your life. 

Which Game Are You Playing?

When I Turned 40, I had the following conversation with my friend Mike: “ Mike, I can’t believe I am 40. I am getting old! Eric, no worries, you are in the prime of your life. After all, 40 is the new 30!” I was feeling pretty good about my situation until I cam across an interesting statistic. 

According to a recent study from The Washington Post, the average life expectancy in the United States is 74 years. After doing a little math, I discovered something disturbing. Divide 74 by two and middle age is 37. 

Half of your time has passed before even reaching age 40. As you can see, we don’t have as much time as we think. What can you do to make the most of your most valuable resource? 

Be Proactive
On the game board of life, you are either playing chess or your playing checkers. The game of chess is designed for the proactive. The successful chess player is thinking two to three moves ahead compared to the checkers player that is only focused on the move that is in front of him. 

Which game are you playing? Here is a story from my past to help you decide. I was scheduled to give a speech for Toastmasters International. I knew about this a month in advance. My presentation was on Tuesday. When did I start preparing? On Monday at midnight! 

I was playing checkers. Waiting until the last minute is stressful. If you are always stressed out, you won’t have the motivation to pursue your dream. What can you do to avoid playing checkers? 

Recognize Your Power Time
You have a genetic clock that gives you high energy levels at certain times of the day and lower energy at other times. This “clock” is known as your circadian rhythm. The key to being proactive is to schedule your highest priority activities during your highest energy times. 

For example, I have the highest energy level early in the morning. I made the mistake of preparing my toastmasters speech late in the evening when I had low energy levels. This lack of energy was a big reason for my procrastination. 

If you are not sure of your power time, you can search for “circadian rhythm” on the Internet and access several online tests that will help you to find out. If you recognize your power time, you will be motivated to be proactive. On life’s game board, more chess equals less stress! 

Sincerely,
Eric M Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. To learn my 5-step plan to become more proactive, download my ebook.

One Moment In Time

“Give Me One moment in time, when I am more than I thought I could be, and all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me.”

Those are the words of one of my favorite songs by the late Whitney Houston. They remind of the following conversation between my friend Donell and I back from my college days:

“Donell, what do you plan to do when you graduate?" 

"Eric, my dream is to be an officer in the Marine Corp and to marry my girlfriend. What about you?" 

"I don’t know. I do know this; I am going to the frat party on Friday night." 

"Eric, you really need to get serious." 

"You're right but the good news is that we are still young and we both have plenty of time to figure it out."

Several weeks later I received a call from Donnel’s mother telling me that he had been killed in a car accident. In the midst of my tears and sorrow, I heard a voice that said, "Eric you don’t have as much time as you think.” 

Time is our most valuable resource. Think about it, you can lose all of your money and recover it tenfold, but once you lose time you never get it back. Today, you will learn a tip that will help you to maximize your time, minimize your stress, and be prepared for your defining moment. 

Be Positioned 
When I refer to being positioned, I mean to be positioned in your passion. A recent Gallup survey concluded that 70% of Americans hate their jobs. In other words, most people spend most of their time, to doing something they hate to do. For many years I was a part of that 70% number. On the outside, I was a young, BMW driving executive of a fortune 500 company. On the inside, I dreaded going into work every day. I was so unhappy; I was ready to quit my job without having a backup plan. Everything came to head one day as I was talking to my father about my situation.

“Dad, I am about to quit my job to find something else. I am coming over to work on my resignation letter." 

"Eric, what is your next move?" 

"I don’t know, but maybe quitting will give me the time to find out." 

"Son, moving back home with your Mom and I is not an option for you so before you quit, ask your self the following questions: 1. What are you passionate about? 2. What does success mean to you? 3. If you could make a difference for anyone or any cause, what would that difference be?"

After talking with my Dad, I decided not to quit. Several weeks later, my company offered me a corporate training position which introduced me to my passion of public speaking. This experience taught me that when you get clear on your vision, you will find your passion. 

Once you have indentified your passion, you have taken one step towards being ready for your defining moment. Next week I will share the next step so stay tuned! 

Sincerely,
Eric M. Twiggs
Your Procrastination Prevention Partner

PS. If you would like additional information on how to position yourself in your passion, read my latest ebook.