Email Updates and Promotionsenter your email address below:
| | 8 Easy Ways to Save Time and Simplify Your Life!
1) ONE IN, TWO OUT: For each new thing you bring into your house, resolve to
throw 2 old things out!
2) STOP PAYING YOUR BILLS: (Manually, that is!) Call your bank and ask about
their auto pay services. Many offer ways to set up repeating payments to pay
your mortgage, car loan, credit cards and more, on an automatic monthly basis.
As long as you maintain enough balance to cover the payments, you simply set
it up once, and forget it! No more writing checks… addressing envelopes…
and licking those yummy (yech!) stamps!
3) SAY “NO, BUT…”: Don’t let people obligate you to
spend your time in a way that mainly pleases them. A good line is: “Sorry,
I can’t… but if things change I’ll let you know.” Use
the time you saved to accomplish something to advance your own life.
4) PRACTICE JUST “SITTING”: Quiet sitting is a form of meditation
that can temporarily free your mind of the endless streams of mental chatter.
It can help you regroup your thoughts and get a fresh, new, unobstructed perspective
of your life. Pascal said, “All of man's problems stem from his inability
to sit quietly with himself.” How many people do you know for whom this
is true?
5) ESCAPE THE TV TIME TRAP: How much of your life’s irreplaceable time
do you spend staring mindlessly at the TV screen, watching actors and actresses
fulfilling their dreams? Cut out one hour of television a day. You’ll
free up over two full weeks that you can spend on things that really matter
to you.
6) FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS: A villager asked a Zen master, “Please tell me
something wise.” The Zen master replied, “Attention, attention,
attention.” “What does that mean?” the puzzled man questioned.
The Zen master replied again, “Attention, attention, attention.”
His puzzling reply meant that laser-beam focus on what you’re currently
engaged in is a way to not only be more effective in the task, but also to more
fully experience the activity… to be more in touch with the “here
and now.” For example, when you exercise, focus on exercising. When you
write, focus on your writing alone. When you vacation, leave the office miles
behind. Don’t be like the executive who dreams of tropical islands while
working… and then thinks about work while lying on the beach! It’s
an easy way to never fully experience (or complete to the best of your ability)
anything that way.
7) PARE DOWN THE PLASTIC: How many credit cards does one person need? Each
one represents another bill to pay… potentially more interest money down
the drain… annual fees… and another opportunity to negatively affect
your credit. Simplify your finances! Keep one low-interest card for purchases
that you pay off over time… and another card that you pay off in full
each month. Get a card that gives rebates or frequent flyer miles. How do you
get a lower interest rate? Call and ask. They’ll usually do it without
question!
8) 30-SECOND MEETING MORPH: The next time you’re tempted to call a meeting
at work… STOP… take a deep breath… and communicate it in an
e-mail instead. If anyone has questions, ask them to contact you. This lets
everyone else keep working. It’s a fact: the typical office meeting can
be turned into a 30-second e-mail that ultimately gets the job done just as
effectively. It also demonstrates greater respect for everyone’s time.
It works for us at Day-Timers and it can work for you, too!
|
return to index|print this article|
|
|
Day-Timer, a Division of ACCO Brands
is a subsidiary of