What the Cleanup Uncovered - a Smorgasbord of Time-Saving Tips!

By Robyn Pearce

(653 words)

When we moved from our old house to a more rural environment, a little bit out of Auckland in 2004, over the week I’d been sorting out not only my entire office, but also the entire house.

Isn’t a clean-up a wonderful thing! You find treasures you’ve completely forgotten about, delight in reminders of people and events that passed your way ‘once-upon-a-time’, and close pages on past chapters of your life.

As I touched files and pieces of paper that hadn’t seen the light of day for aeons, I was delighted to come across the following random items carefully snuggled together in a ‘Future Articles’ file. Most of them are pearls of wisdom contributed by participants at speeches and workshops I’ve spoken at over the years – quite a few from the educational sector. (Such jewels would never be thrown out by accident, I promise.)

So now you can have a rummage too. I trust there’s at least one treasure you can use and apply.

Meetings - Only attend if you’ve got something to contribute.

On giving tittle-tattle the time it deserves  - ‘Don’t let yourself be the middle man’. (From a teacher in Whakatane)

The danger of perfectionism - Excellence versus perfection – only do what’s needed for an excellent job, but don’t get bogged down in perfection. Getting it absolutely perfect is almost always a waste of time.

Email and how to have a life! - An auto-responder for when you want to take a holiday, or even a weekend off. ‘Stephen’s virtual office is closed.’

On taking on too much - Sometimes we over-commit and end up feeling over-burdened and under too much pressure. Answer - renegotiate your contracts. This isn’t usually legal agreements, but instead the commitments, both personal and in the workplace, that you’ve made to do certain tasks, or meet particular obligations or deadlines.

Email overload (These two come from a very busy medical specialist.)

• Poorly written hard-to-understand email - Send it back to the sender and ask for it to be re-submitted. Then delete the offending item, so you’re not tempted to waste time with it.
• Don’t be too quick to respond - Even though you’re probably skimming it most days, respond to your mail weekly, instead of every day. Most things become superfluous. (Obviously the seriously urgent matters you won’t treat this way).

Competence and common sense - Some have it, some don’t. Those who don’t, need constant supervision by a supervisor who can step in and assist (but only as much as necessary to break the deadlock) if the struggler gets really stuck.

Reflective time - Cross out time in your diary every week for ‘me’. In Japan it’s considered bad form to interrupt a thinking person. It is however, acceptable to interrupt someone writing or otherwise obviously busy.

Leadership - Leadership is not about having all the right answers, but about having the right questions.

On getting the most out of life - Never let go of the child within – children have endless curiosity.

Start each day as if we’re going to open presents, that it will be a surprise, that we will learn something new and exciting, or have serendipitous wonderful events happen to us. Nine times out of ten, whatever we expect will happen.

Reuben was five and learning to read. His mum was driving the troops back to Auckland after a holiday in Wellington. They’d just passed a well-signed hotel, when suddenly from the back seat, crammed in with his three siblings, came Reuben’s clear and penetrating voice.

‘Hey Mum, I know how to spell ‘pub’.’

‘Do you, dear?’ replied Hayley abstractedly. It was a long and tiring drive, and she was only listening with half an ear. ‘How?’

‘T – U – I’

We chuckled for weeks.

Robyn Pearce CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) is the Time Queen. She mastered her own time challenges and now helps people around the world overcome theirs. She can show you how to transform your time challenges into high productivity and the life balance you desire.

Download her free report “How to Master Time In Only 90 Seconds”, a simple yet powerful diagnostic tool to help you identify your key areas for action. You’ll find it at http://www.gettingagrip.com/products/e-books/index.asp And while you’re there, enrol for your free Top Time Tips – practical advice every two weeks

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