Time Management Tips

Write It. Don’t Fight It
David Allen’s tips of writing down items as they come to you is superb advice…which I have never been able to consistently follow http://www.davidco.com/ His site and each one of his books is chock full of incredible information. He is the time management guru for a reason!


Have A Home
More advice from Mom. Always hang your keys in the same place and you will know where to find them! This comes naturally for some but not for all. When all of your items have a home you will spend less time hunting for them. (I need to remember this!)

What are your tips for slowing down?

How do you stop yourself from multi-tasking?

Tips for Multitaskers

Here are some other tips to help stop multitasking and help you organize your day!

The 10 Minute Rule
Set a timer. Take ten minutes to sip your coffee or hot tea down and actually eat some breakfast. Your Mom was right. Eat a better breakfast and feel better all day.

The 2 Mintue Rule
Take just 2 minute to think about what you intend to accomplish for the day. and even make a short list of what you need to accomplish.

Multitasking?

Rushing around and multitasking is an ongoing battle for me, so I am writing this to remind myself to do what I am writing about! What are your tips to stop multi tasking? I suggest the following:

Use Your Evening
Organize yourself the night before. I have come up with some Fashion Don’ts as I dashed out the door. When you take even a few minutes the night before you are better prepared to have a great day.

Slow down so you don't run down!

I am usually in a mad dash, and am working hard to stop multi tasking.

How about you?

Studies show the importance of taking a deep breath and slowing down. As a life coach and reinventin expert I consistently see the wasted time that rushing can cause. When we spend time rushing, we make more mistakes, than if we just took things at a slower and more conscious pace.

Are you a new entrepreneur?

Are you a new entrepreneur?

My bet is that you are. Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is betting that you are.

If you doubt that you have the skills or ability to become a small business owner what this video. As Yunus says, "We are all entrepreneurs.....Some lucky ones find out. Human beings are endowed with endless potential. Most don't get to unwrap the gift that they carry with them." Many Americans doubt that they have the training necessary to become entrepreneurs. The case study he shares will give you courage to implement an idea.

Take an hour this week to unwrap the gift inside of you and plug into one of the Global Entrepreneurship Week events. If you have an idea, challenge or problem you want to explore please share it in the comments or shoot me an email.

Global Entrepreneurship Week

This may be the week your life changes. It is Global Entrepreneurship Week. This week is a global celebration to ignite and fan the enterprising spirit.

In 85 countries around the world millions of people are coming together to with the intention of connecting, mentoring, and engaging the next wave of new entrepreneurs. Unleashing Ideas is sponsored by The The Kauffmann Foundation, the world's largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.

Click here for a few of the projects that are happening this week around the world.

Celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week

The Problem: It was the early 90's. I didn't like the glitter goop hair accessories I saw in the stores. Since I have a massive amount of hair I needed some gizmo to corral at least some of it.

The Solution: I bought a glue gun and silk flowers. I glued them on the barrette. Wearing that barrette transformed my unruly mess of hair in to a garden of curls. A top boutique owner saw me wearing my homemade barrette. She liked it, bought it and sold $1000 of them in the first week. Within six months that same piece was featured in Women's Wear Daily. An afternoon craft project turned into a company called Elizabeth Davidson Design. I started the company with $17 and a glue gun. It grew to $1.5 million in retail sales in four years.

Like millions of others around the planet becoming an entrepreneur recast the shape my life.

The Point: An enterprising person solves problems. My story illustrates that even a very small solution to a very small problem can be the seed of a business. In the current economy there are many problems that are in need of solution.

What's In It For You: Having an idea and taking a small action has the power to change your life. You have the power to take an action that can make a huge difference.

What is a problem that you see a solution for? What good idea have you been sitting on? Is there a market for that solution? How do you get started? How do you solve the problems along the way?

Culture/Politics and Sexual Harassment

Lastly lets look at the factors from both sides of office culture/politics.

Culture/politics:

(M): Know the culture and the politics of the company. This is not restricted to the formal rules, but to the informal as well. Learn from others what goes on in the office, what is okay with them, and what is not. Learn who is comfortable within the office culture, and who is not. It may be that a close knit group is okay with certain behaviors or verbalizations, while others may not be. Know when it is okay to make a particular statement, and to whom. Know the culture. In one situation a boss became afraid even to say to his secretary that she looked nice, or to compliment a particular garment. This is overkill. Be aware of whom you say it to, and how you say it, but don't let paranoia persevere.

(E): Offices are like families. Different people come in and out of each other's realm in a fluid manner over the day. Some can be spoken to in ways that would not be okay with others. Make it clear who you are in the "family" and what is okay and what is not. Harking back to communication let it be known in a frank, but polite, and diplomatic way. Does the office culture/politics suit you? Can you change it? Can it be changed? These can be discussed, as in well functioning families."

How are these issues addressed in your workplace? What advice would you give to someone that is challenged with sexual harassment?

Respect...Sexual Harassment

Now lets look at the factors from both sides for respect.

Respect:
(M): Carry yourself in a manner which builds respect. Bosses or managers who are martinets, or conversely are everyone's pal do not put themselves in a place to be regarded with respect. On the one hand the tyrant builds resentment, which can be turned into actual or false accusations. The pal may put themselves in a position where they get too chummy and may say or do something, even in jest that could be construed as harassing. Respect others' space, physical and psychological.

(E): Respect yourself and others will treat you with respect. It is too easy to slip into familiarity with co-workers or management that goes beyond office decorum. Sometimes, because of the office culture, it is too easy to try to be "one of the boys", especially for women who have traditionally been left out. This can open you to remarks and behaviors that can rapidly deteriorate into discomfort, and possibly harassment. If this does not prevent harassment, respect yourself enough to take it to someone in the company who can help.

Sexual Harassment..Communication

It has been said that there are at least two sides to every story. This will try to cover both sides of the sexual harassment topic. In this case there is the management side, (M), and the employee side, (E). Let us look at the factors from both sides of communication.

Communication:
(M): Make clear the policy for the office regarding sexual harassment, and communicate it in a fashion that is easily understood. When in situations that might allow for a charge of harassment, be clear in what you have to say, not just in the words, but in tone, and in body language, which includes facial expression. Much can be made of the way in which something is said.

(E): If you think someone has said or done something that could be sexually harassing, tell that person straight out that you think what they have said or done is not okay with you. Let them explain. If that does no good, communicate this clearly to the next person up the chain of command from you. If the alleged perpetrator is that person, go to the next step up. Document what has happened, so the memory is fresh, and the information can be passed on without confusion.

Sexual Harassment and What To Do About It

I got splattered with hate tweets after my last post on sexual harassment. The white hot venom that came my way something I had never seen before. As an executive coach, I was surprised to hear of four cases of sexual harassment in two weeks which prompted me to write the post. However, readers' comments on the last post show that there is a blazing fire of sexual harassment burning in many workplaces.

Lungfish said:
"At work I was once accused, falsely, of harassment and exonerated but not until the woman had ruined my work life and then she retracted her allegation and killed herself a few months later...
I am very careful never, ever to be in a situation where I am alone around children and try to avoid being near children at all because of the threat of being accused by some unstable parent..."

Summer Reyes-Carullo took protecting herself into her own hands- quite literally:
"It pays to know how to protect yourself (self defense). it comes in handy when confronted with people who physically harass / abuse you. I got to punch someone... knocking the air out of him and he never bothered me ever again and no one ever tried anything nasty with me ever"
I must admit that I scratched my head about the 15.9% of those sexual harassment charges filed by men.

Hdaryl01 put this statistic into perspective:
"My business employs 15-20 18-25 year old male trades people, and previously employed 1 55 year old female administrator. ALL complaints came from my young macho immature testosterone driven blue collar male employees who drive loud jacked up "Chevy" or "Ford" 4X4's pickups AGAINST the staid "professional" older female. Some were shocked when she inquired over lunch if they shaved or waxed their genitals like she does, or had "hidden" piercings.,,,Others, were really uncomfortable with her unsolicited graphic Monday morning depictions of her sexual exploits on the weekend. Etc."

Javaz stated:"I learned many lessons throughout my career, especially attending office parties after work when I was nearly raped in my early 30's by a very drunk coworker. I did break the rule and reported that man, and guess who was fired? Me."

There was such heated discussion, that I asked two of the top experts on the topic of sexual harassment, Barry Halote, Ph.D., and Allan Gerson, Ph.D., to weigh in on the issue. More on that to come!

ASK...Make the most of your day

Make the most of your day, ask and expert for advice!

As an executive life coach I encourage my clients to reach out and ask for help.

2. Ask-ercize
Ask the opinions of a blazing variety of folks. Ask your partners, co workers and gulp your family, “How could I do or be better?” Ask unlikely people. If you really listen you will hear amazing answers.

3. Expert-ize
Ask for the opinions of experts. Who is the person you admire most in your field? Pick up the phone and call them. (Sure you may need to do some research first.) The most successful people are often the most generous. Ask them to lunch or to coffee. Just about everyone likes to share their tips for success. Don’t forget to write a thank you note and stay in touch after the meeting.

4. Bye Bye!
If you have anyone that is less than positive in your life- fire them. Yep, say good-bye to your most annoying client, team member, or nasty friend. You'll wished you'd done it a long time ago.

5. Peace Be Still.
While writing my book I turned off the TV. Now, that I have HBO I find some large chunks of time disappearing. Take one day a week to without the car radio on or your i-Pod earphones in. You may be surprised at the wild brilliance that you uncover.

Take Time to Chew!!

How do you make the very most of your day?

In a recent landmark study reserchers found that American women were far less happy than thirty years ago.

Advances made in the workplace have not made many women anything less than miserable.

I'll be posting some tools that can help you in making your day both more productive and fulfilling.

1. Take Time To Chew
You may have heard that it’s important to take time to chew your food. Wolfing down your food can lead to indigestion. The same is true for your work life. Take a few extra minutes to chew your decisions.

One of my life coaching clients was on the verge of burnout. She was dashing so fast that that she was on auto pilot. After some exploration we realized that she had taken on the work of three other people in her office…without realizing it.. Pause before you say yes or no this week. You will be glad you did.

The Power of Positive/Negative focus

In this video I am able to show the power of positive and negative focus and how it affects your body. Often people walk around with negative thoughts and are unaware how badly it can affect your day.

Watch how I am able to prove to 3 different people the power of positive and negative focus!

Watch the video now!

Becoming Empowered with Eli Davidson

EliDavidsonTV

Click here to enjoy this testimonial from last weeks seminar!

Eli Davidson, is a nationally recognized coach, award winning author, popular keynote speaker, and corporate spokesperson."Eli Davidson" is one of the "Top Motivational Speaker's" and "Top Executive Coaches."An award winning writer, her book Funky to Fabulous won the 2007 National Best Books Award Finalist for "Motivation Self Help". Only "The Secret" won a higher award.

"Eli Davidson" was called "one of America's top business coaches". Her executive coaching tips have gone out to 6 million air travelers.She filmed The "Opus" Movie with Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Joe Vitale, Marci Shimoff and other best selling authors from "The Secret" Eli helps educate and inspire people in the law of attraction in a business setting.

Named one of "America's Best Coaches" Ms. Davidson has been featured on American, United, Delta, Northwest Airlines. JC Penny's has sponsored her coaching tips on national television (USA Network).

Recent television appearances: Dr. Phil's Decision House, Better TV, Making It!, Southern California Living, and numerous NBC and Fox affiliates. Her fresh approach has helped her become a contributor to a wide variety of national publications including: Better Homes and Garden, Quick and Simple, BusinessWeek.com, Grand, and Me! Magazine. She is a regular commentator in the Los Angeles Business Journal.

She has coached leaders in numerous industries including Emmy, Grammy, and Golden Globe winners. Also a founding team member of Fed Ex Case.Studies are available upon request.Her cult hit, Funky to Fabulous: Surefire Success Strategies for the Savvy, Sassy and Swamped (Oak Grove Publishing) was an Award Winning finalist of USA Book News National Book Awards 2007. Only The Secret got a higher award.

Corporations bring Eli back time and time again, as they are loving her approach which "boosts moral" in a matter of minutes. Her hands on techniques are entertaining' due to her background as a professional actress. Case studies from client show that she gets results and is "enlightening," "engaging," and "effective."

"Eli Davidson is the one of the hottest female motivational keynote speakers."She's a keynote and seminar speaker, she is a woman speaker. Eli speaks on these themes: empowerment, taking charge of your business and career, and innovation.