If only businesses put time and energy into training executives to maximize meeting time and make them as productive as possible! Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. Meetings have a bad reputation, often deserved. Very little is accomplished and attendees often walk away annoyed (or even angry) that they wasted valuable time. They’re not the only ones who squandered their time and resources. Companies fare no better. It’s a financial and time drain to tie up people in a room for any length of time.

On the other hand, if handled correctly, meetings serve an important function and are often key to the success of a company. They are an ideal time to brainstorm and make collaborative decisions. And that’s not all – meetings provide a forum where strategies are formulated and decisions are made on how to achieve them. By setting goals and establishing the outcome ahead of time, a meeting can function at a high level and be productive. Meeting attendees will feel appreciated and the company benefits from the high level thinking and the creativity resulting from the meeting.

Would you like to know how to set up your next meeting for success?  Here are several tips:

Invite the people who count. Meeting organizers tend to invite more people than necessary out of concern that they do not want to exclude anyone and hurt their feelings. But best practices advise otherwise — the fewer people, the better. Keep the meeting small, inviting only those who can help accomplish the meeting’s goals. Usually these are the key decision makers who will help ensure the success of the meeting. The one exception is when opinions are needed. Then, a larger group may be better. (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

Bring in the group that can accomplish the task. Once key decisions have been made, it makes sense to bring in a larger group to be introduced to the strategy. This can be as many as 25-40 participants. Once everyone is familiar with the assignment, the group can break into teams and execute the ideas.

Create an agenda. It sets the tone for the meeting. Meeting attendees are more likely to take the meeting seriously when they know the planning behind it. They also are more likely to be active participants. Suggestion: before the meeting, ask attendees for discussion points to make sure that their pertinent points are discussed and to gain their buy in.

Send the agenda and material you want read ahead of time and as early as possible. Be clear about location, date, time and objective of the meeting. Use specific verbs. For example, instead of discussing next year’s trade shows, make the agenda item measurable and specific such as: “choose three trade shows.” Do you want participants to read additional material before the meeting? Tell them so they will have a chance to prepare, thereby reducing wasted time during the meeting. If the meeting is short, skip the attachment and include the agenda in the email. Even if the documents are not thoroughly read, meeting attendees will probably scan the agenda while the email is open whereas they are less likely to click on an attachment.

Start the meeting on time. When a meeting starts late it is usually because attendees – often decision makers — are not on time. Now everyone’s schedule is thrown off.

Use the agenda as a roadmap to stay on track. Do not ignore it. Refer to it throughout the meeting, especially if someone brings up an item that is not on the agenda. When a meeting attendee goes off-topic, the person running the meeting needs to take charge of the situation immediately. Tip: Schedule the most important items first when meeting attendees tend to pay closer attention.

Allocate a specific amount of time to each agenda item. This will help keep the meeting moving and will prevent subjects from dragging on longer than they should. Does this mean you can never discuss something that is not on the agenda? No, but it is an opportunity to stop the discussion and refer to the purpose of the meeting. Ask if the topic should be discussed now or perhaps should be tabled for another time. With an agenda, it will be obvious where to pick up if the meeting does become side-tracked.

Before moving on to the next agenda item, make sure that the topic has been sufficiently covered. Ask if there are additional comments before closing out the subject. Attendees will feel that their thoughts are appreciated.

End the meeting on time. If not, meeting attendees will be very unhappy — now they have to scramble to recover lost time and get back on track to accomplish the tasks they set out to do that day. Nor does the company fare well. Just imagine the cost of bringing together several executives for an hour’s time!

Your meetings will be successful and productive (and attendees will be most appreciative) if you follow these suggestions: 1) invite key executives who will make decisions; 2) create a clear agenda with times allocated to each topic; 3) start the meeting on time; 4) stick to the topics and 5) end the meeting when you say you will.

Now that we’re approaching the end of the year, it is the perfect time to talk about goals which are top-of-mind for many of us. A new year and new goals go together. If you are a member of the 12% Club (people who actually stick to their resolutions), there is no need to read further. Congratulations on achieving your 2014 goals.

But for those of us who do not have goals or who did not reach them this past year, this post is for you. Why do so many of us not accomplish goals? There are a lot of reasons. Can you relate to a few of these?

1. Long-term goals are particularly difficult to imagine. It is hard to know what to do to achieve them.
2. Long-term goals may be off-putting, aspirational and beyond our reach. Here’s an example of a pretty lofty goal: I will grow my company to become an industry leader in two years. That’s very impressive but feels like it may be difficult to make happen. (To make you feel better, often these types of goals are created by executives who have spent days, maybe weeks, formulating them.)
3. Often goals are vague. “Do your best” has a sincere ring to it but it is not specific enough. Unfortunately, few people bother with heavy-duty planning and coordination because they lack “glamour”.
4. The timing may be wrong. At another time, the goal may have been accomplished. Just not now.
5. The bar may not be set for the right “zone”. If it is too low, our efforts might stop too early. Too high and we may give up altogether.
6. Our motivation fluctuates from day to day and is not at all dependable.
7. The brain resists change and often sabotages our efforts.
8. We may lack motivation – the Why. Without a burning desire to achieve the goal, it is easy to fall victim to distractions and competing priorities.

Now that we know why a goal may not succeed, are you wondering if it’s worth bothering to create and pursue them in the upcoming year? The answer is yes and here are some of the reasons why.

• Goals give us purpose. We function better knowing that we need to meet important goals that we have personally set. There are many different types of goals – professional, personal, family and health, to name a few.
• Goals keep us motivated and moving toward the end result, especially when we practice focus to stay on track says buy tadalafil with dapoxetineBy zoning in on what is important, we are able to stay on task long enough to achieve the goal.
• Goals turn a vision into a reality. Forget day dreaming. And “someday maybe” doesn’t count either. Goals need specific criteria.
• Goals give us an end point which can be used for measuring progress.

Imagine a spectrum. On one end are long-term goals and at the other end are shorter-term goals. Both have merit. Becoming an industry leader in two years is a long-term goal while achieving 10% more in sales in three months is at the opposite end. Small and shorter goals are just as worthy as longer term goals and may be easier to make.

The secret for achieving any goal – long or short – is to list each task. (another word for a to-do.) Some goals consist of two tasks whiles others may have twenty or more. Even daunting goals with many tasks will feel more achievable. Once all of the tasks are listed (either on paper or electronically), we can prioritize them. As each task is completed, check it off. (A great feeling!) You can chip away at a goal this way, one task at a time. Or, think of it as one bite of the elephant at a time. If, at any point you are unsure what to do next, refer back to the goal and the list of tasks to help you prioritize. The decision will be a lot easier.

By tackling a goal one step at a time, you will be able to manage your time so you can reach any type of goal. When you plan your day, decide the three most important tasks that must be done. At least one of these tasks should be related to your goal. Eventually, these small, doable tasks will help you reach the goal you’ve set out to accomplish.

When we work on these tasks neuroscientists call this “goal pursuit” — the process of creating and going after the goal. It is the journey – accomplishing the small tasks — that counts. Without a commitment to the journey, the goal can be lost. How easy it is to become derailed along the way!

Achieving a goal is a satisfying experience and well worth the hard work.  Have you decided which goals you are going to pursue in 2015?

The next six weeks will be filled with parties, concerts and events. Some of them are obligatory — you may not want to attend your office party but must show up with a smile on your face. But you may be looking forward to your child’s concert at school and annual soirees with friends. Many people consider this period of time at work to be unproductive. Between late-night parties, holiday lunches and gift-swapping in the office, most are not focusing as intently on the business. In fact, many business people consider this period of time to be pretty unproductive.

Unless you do not plan on showing up between Thanksgiving and New Years, there is still work that needs attending to although, admittedly, your work load may be lighter. Your firm’s 2015 business plans have been completed and are ready for action starting in January. With fewer of your colleagues in the office, there are fewer meetings, fewer reports due and fewer tasks that require your immediate attention. Clients may be on vacation or spending less time in the office so they may be less demanding.

You have a choice. You can “float” through this period and pay minimal attention to work or decide that you’ll use this down time productively. There are a host of opportunities available. It is just a matter of deciding if you want to take this course of action. Why not? Think of the projects that you have put off because you have not had the time. This is your chance to get to them. Some of these projects can help you reach your goals. By starting them now, you will likely have fewer interruptions and a greater chance to complete them than during the year when more urgent tasks and to-dos come up and derail you.

What are examples of projects that you may want to tackle now? How about researching an area that may prove profitable for your company? How about exploring new ideas? You have a list but you never have time to explore them. Or perhaps you want to learn a skill that will improve your performance at work such as the task feature in Microsoft Outlook or how to use Evernote. It is frustrating not to know these features but, without the time to explore the tasks function or how to navigate Evernote, you have had to make do. Here is the opportunity you have been waiting for all year. Taking a class at a school or an on-line video tutorial from a company such as buy dapoxetine in mumbairequires time, energy and focus … and now you have it!

I would be remiss if I did not mention that this is a perfect time to get organized. If your office is piled high with paper, why not go through the stacks and decide if you can live without some of them. Most likely the answer is a resounding ‘yes’! Our clients often print out duplicates of documents because they can not find it on their desk (even though they know it’s there somewhere). Their first response is to reprint it. Ask yourself if you need it or would be able to get it again. Probably not although there are still a few documents that we need to hold onto. Often there are legal papers such as contracts. If another person in the company issued the document, then it’s likely that person will have the original copy. If you need to keep a document, decide where its home should be — on your desk (if you are actively working on it), in a filing cabinet, on your computer as an electronic file?

Once the paper clutter is reined in, it’s time to focus on the electronic clutter which may be more serious than the paper clutter. If files are scattered about without any rhyme or reason, take time now to figure out where each document belongs. Once the new year begins, this project will unlikely take precedence over urgent ones.

While you are organizing your office, there may be other things that you can do to improve its functionality. What tools might make it easier to stay organized — a whiteboard for mapping, wall files that can keep your folders handy, a second monitor? You might take a look around the office for ideas or browse the The Container Store or an office supply store. You could even ask your colleagues what organizing tools they like the best.

Have I convinced you yet to take advantage of this holiday time to do something different and still stay productive? Without having to spend all of your time on urgent, important projects, you can focus on other areas in your work and professional life that are also meaningful.

Drag and Drop

Of all of the amazing features in Outlook, Drag and Drop is among the very best. It is a very simple way to reduce email volume and a huge time saver for organizing information in your inbox. No longer do you need to scroll through a long email list to find the one that needs to have an answer right away. Some people drag and drop their email into folders but this feature can be used far more widely than that. In the training seminars I give I teach people how to move email from the inbox into the calendar, tasks, contacts and notes.

Here’s how:

1. Open Outlook and go to your inbox.

1. Find an email that you want to move to a Folder, Task, Appointment, Contact or Note.
2. Put your mouse pointer directly on the email you want to move and press left button. Keep holding it while moving the email to the bottom of the Navigation Pane on the left side of the screen.
4. When you get to the place you want to move the email, release the mouse button.
5. (Note: you can use the right side of the mouse as well. It will give you a choice to copy or move.)

If you drag and drop the email onto the Calendar icon, the email subject will automatically be the subject of the appointment although you can easily change it. Note that the email will be in the body of the appointment for easy reference. Add a date, start and end time for the appointment and location (if desired) and save.

If you drag and drop the email onto the Contacts icon, just click save and you will have created a new contact.

If you drag and drop the email onto the Tasks icon, the subject will be the same as the email (although it can be changed). Fill in the start and due date. (You can also fill in the status and priority if desired). A reminder can also be added. The original email will be in the section below.

It’s that easy! Give it a try today.

Quick Steps (for 2010)

Introduced in 2010, this feature allows you to quickly manage any email by using shortcuts. You can do in one click what ordinarily might take several clicks. Each Quick Step can be customized and used on a daily basis. For example: you can move an email to a specific folder and mark it as read. Or you can forward an email. My favorite Quick Step is to reply and delete. With one click both steps are accomplished.

Below are handy Quick Steps actions that you may want to explore:

• Filing: Move to folder, copy to folder, delete message, permanently delete message
• Change Status: Set as read, set as unread, set importance
• Categories, Tasks and Flags: Categorize messages, clear categories, flag message, clear flags on messages, mark complete, create a task with attachment, create a task with text of message
• Respond: New message, Forward, Reply, Reply All, Reply with meeting, forward message with attachment
• Appointment: New meeting, create an task with attachment, create an appointment with text of message

Here’s How To Create a Quick Step:

1. In Mail, on the Home tab, in the Quick Steps group, in the Quick Steps gallery, click the Create New Quick Step.
2. Click an action type from the list or click Custom.
3. In the Name box, type a name for the new Quick Step.
4. Click the icon button next to the Name box, click an icon, and then click OK.
5. Under Actions, choose an action that you want the Quick Step to do. Click Add Action for any additional actions.

Now go and create new Quick Steps!

Everyone is late from time to time (even you and me), often for a reason that can not be helped. But that’s not who we are going to discuss today. We are going to talk about people who are chronically late — people who do not leave enough time to get someplace on time. Often they often arrive late for lunch, an appointment or an important event like a job interview or a wedding.

If someone is consistently late, it can be a problem for friends and family who feel like victims. It can even damage the relationship. We all know how it feels to be sitting and waiting for a friend who is always late. “Sorry”, she mumbles when she arrives, “but I had to write an important email before I left and, oh, the traffic was really bad.” Maybe she thinks these excuses are acceptable but they get old quickly. It is tempting to give my friend an earlier time so she’ll actually arrive on time.

A far more serious problem is the effect being late has on relationships at work. Unfortunately, chronic latecomers have a poor reputation. Colleagues resent it when their peers show up for meetings after they have started. They do not feel as if they can trust their colleague. Far worse, it can eventually limit career advancement. It’s that serious.

According to where can i buy dapoxetine in indiabuy dapoxetine, most people don’t like being late but this behavior was often acquired a long time ago. Even when they try to be on time, it is extremely difficult to break lifelong habits.

What are some of the reasons that people are chronically late?

• Their time is more important than yours, so they think, and they are indifferent to whether it bothers you. They may consider themselves more important and consider their contribution at work more substantial than yours.
• They squeeze in as much as possible in as little time as possible. Or, they are distracted by last-minute to-dos such as answering the phone instead of letting it go to voicemail. Everything is a distraction. They forget that these things can wait until later.
• They enjoy being late and making others wait. This person may be insecure – arriving well after the appointed hour may make them feel important.
• Some latecomers like creating a grand entrance especially if it’s a large group that is sympathetic to their plight and does not know their history of chronic lateness. Of course they apologize but they also get center stage.
• They do not have a good perception of time and tend to underestimate it. Often people who are chronically late fail to build in enough slack time for unforeseen situations.
• Certain traits also tend to make people chronically late such as anxiety, low self-control and a tendency toward thrill-seeking. It’s an adrenaline rush to beat the clock.
• They thrive on the mini-crisis they create when they are running late and deliberately   put themselves under the gun to get themselves moving.

Interestingly, some people are not comfortable with the idea of being early. They do not know what to do with the “extra time” and are frustrated at not making “every minute count.” The thought of downtime with nothing to do is uncomfortable. The last thing they want to do is wait.

What is their idea of being on-time? In a perfect world, some latecomers aim to arrive exactly at the start time. People who tend not to be late view it quite differently. On-time for them is arriving 15 minutes early which eliminates the stress and gives them a chance to grab a cup of coffee, relax and even scout things.

Try these tips for being on time:

1. Make being prompt a priority. Recognize the negative, stressed out feelings you have when you are late.
2. Build in travel time on the calendar. People who are chronically late tend to underestimate how long it will take to get to a place and be situated.
3. Imagine how it will feel to be on time, even early, without the familiar feelings of being stressed. People will respect that you are on time.
4. Get ready early. Gather up the documents you need ahead of time. That way, if an interruption occurs, you can handle it and still be ready to leave on time. Some of our clients begin preparing for the meeting when they are supposed to leave.
5. Take reading material or something with you so you do not feel as if you are wasting time while you are waiting. Plan it ahead of time so you know that your time will be used efficiently. It will feel so good that you will want to do it again.
6. If you are late most of the time, plan to be on time two times out of five. As you get better, add another time so that you are eventually on time five times out of five. Keep track of your progress with a journal (or Evernote).
7. Plan the night before what you will need for appointments the next day and when you need to leave. Make sure to check for early morning meetings. It is no fun when the meeting stops and everyone looks at you when you walk into a meeting late.
8. Watch the clock. Late people do not tend to be aware of the time.
9. Set the timer, even two. One for when to start getting ready and the other for when to walk out the door.
10. Think about the actions you will need to take to be ready to leave on time.
11. Estimate the time you need to get somewhere and double it.
12. Stop doing other things well before you leave. Remind yourself they can be done later.
13. Fine yourself if you are late or give yourself a negative consequence says Dr. Phil. buy cheap dapoxetine uk.
14. Estimate how long something will take and then compare it with the actual time it took.

How quickly can you find an electronic file? Are your files scattered throughout the computer in any number of places such as the hard drive, documents, the cloud or portable storage? Electronic folders that are not filed in their right locations can be just as messy and cluttered as paper folders.

So much of what we do today is electronic that we need a plan to organize electronic files similar to the way we organize paper files. While many offices still rely on paper to some extent, we are gradually moving away from paper to storing documents electronically which is a compelling reason to set up a system to organize electronic file folders.

There are numerous benefits of an organized electronic filing system. Here are some of the reasons to act now and get your computer files in order:

• Saves you time when you can find what you need quickly and easily, even years later.
• Easy to maintain.
• Helps you be more productive, and look more professional, especially when your boss needs a file now.
• Keeps documents current because the system identifies which documents can be disposed of and when.
• Saves physical storage space and money by reducing the number of filing cabinets and office floor space needed.
• Uses your time more efficiently by reducing the time you, or an assistant, spends retrieving and re-filing physical records.

If you share files with others, here are some advantages to having organized file folders:

• Team members can access shared folders and find what they need quickly, without interrupting anyone.
• Document ownership is easy to determine.
• Fewer copies of documents need to be printed as long as you, and the other team members, can access the document easily on line.
• Less printing = less paper clutter.
• It is easy to edit a document and share it with others.
• New employees can be brought up to speed quickly.

Tips to organize your electronic filing system:

1. Make sure that the electronic filing system meets the needs of the office, that all documents have a place in the system and that everyone understands and buys into the system.
2. Create a flow chart (electronic or paper) showing the type of information that will be available and the departments or people needing access to specific files.
3. Set up a system everyone will be comfortable with and will use.
4. Mirror your paper folders using the same headings and topics as your paper system. The more similar the two systems, the better.
5. Be consistent about naming conventions. Set up files, folders and subfolders that everyone will find meaningful and easy to understand.
6. Limit the number of clicks to three: file, folder and subfolder. There is no need to go any deeper. Note: whatever filing name system you choose, it needs to match your needs and/or the group’s needs.
7. Use a hierarchal system to organize files instead of a horizontal one. Group all projects and files relating to a particular project, person or thing together instead of using separate folders. For example, a hierarchy for a client file folder might look like this:
   • File: Clients
   • Folder: Individual Client Names
   • Subfolders: Descriptive topic names such as communication, contact information, taxes by year, etc.
8. Follow file naming conventions including client account numbers and revision date. Use underscores, not spaces. For example, an individual client name may look like this: tomjones_3579_11-30-14. Keep file names under 27 characters, all lower case.
9. Use the same format for dates. The key is to be consistent.
10. Add as much information into the file name as possible so it will not be necessary to open it. Be descriptive. An example of a subfolder under communication might be: casesummary1114 (for November, 2014). Don’t just put in “letter.”
11. If others also work on the document, add your initials at the end.
12. Avoid abbreviations and codes that are not immediately obvious to everyone.
13. Set up an index for quick reference, particularly if you use shortened versions of words such as DFT for draft or CTR for contract. Make sure that information is readily available to everyone with access to the file folders. If an abbreviation is not necessary, do not use it.
14. Delete previous revisions once document is final.
15. Create a records retention schedule based on function and date to ensure that outdated electronic documents are disposed of when they are no longer needed.
16. Be ruthless about the documents you save. The more data on the computer the more difficult it is to find necessary documents.
17. Move frequently-used files to the top of the file folder list by adding an “a” or ! (any symbol works) at the beginning of the file name.
18. File as you go. Do not wait until you have a long list.
19. Clean out your file folders at specific times (after a certain number, every Friday, etc.)
20. Back up files regularly.

Many of us do not have clear, thought-out goals. That always comes as a surprise to us. When we ask people at our speaking seminars if they have written goals, maybe half of the group raises their hand. If we ask if they have unwritten goals, a few timid hands go up. These people are usually shy about volunteering this information because they themselves are wondering if their goals are less valuable because they are not written.

Why don’t we all have goals, written or not written? Most people think of goals as large and aspirational and beyond their reach. Here’s an example of a lofty goal — the type that people often think of when they say they have goals: “I will grow my company to become an industry leader in three years.” This goal is long-term, hard to reach, and substantive. Many people find this type of goal beyond their frame of reference. It may be. These types of goals are often created by teams of executives who spend days, even weeks, formulating them. We are often put off by this type of elaborate goal setting process and may decide that goals aren’t for me.

Instead of eliminating all goals, we are suggesting another way to view them. We are all capable of establishing and reaching goals. Admittedly, goals on the top end such as becoming an industry leader, overlap with aspirations – they’re far-reaching business goals. But, at the bottom end of the goal spectrum, they often overlap with to-do’s (they may feel like to-do’s but are not). When you walk into the office wanting to achieve three goals for the day, there are often several steps – to-do’s — needed to accomplish each goal. Even if they do not feel “important” enough, big enough or worthwhile enough, many of the things we do during the day fall under the goals category. Smaller, short-term goals can be just as worthy and important as larger, more esteemed goals and can get you where you want to go. Did you accomplish three goals before leaving the office today? Then you were productive. That’s a reason to celebrate.

When we discuss goals, we include aspirational goals with the ordinary goals we choose every day to get our work done. Goals are intensely personal and there are no rules or restrictions. People have their own goals and their own ways of reaching them whether they are short-term or long-term. Both types have merit and count.

Why do we need goals? They give us purpose and focus and help us plan. We function better knowing that we have met important goals we personally set. Small or large … it does not matter.

Goals help prioritize tasks. We are often asked by overwhelmed clients which tasks should be done first. It can be very confusing looking at a long list and wondering in what order they should be handled. This is when having goals is really helpful. Referring back to your goals will help you determine what tasks on your to-do list should be done first.

Goals give us an end point which can be used for measuring progress. It allows us to break up a larger process into smaller, doable chunks that we know we are capable of handling. If our goal is to move from being a general accountant to an accountant specializing in forensics, there are a number of steps necessary to accomplish the goal, such as speaking to forensic accountants about their experiences (one step) and taking classes (another step). Once those two steps are complete, then we can move to the next action (as buy dapoxetine tablets online indiarefers to it).

Goals require that we be specific vs. day dreaming or resorting to ‘someday maybe’. Just wanting a promotion at work or improving our skill sets will not happen without action. Goals turn a vision into a reality. By clarifying a goal, we understand exactly what it will take to reach it. We create criteria that will help move us farther along in our careers and achieve what we consider important. Many of us use S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable,   Realistic, and Timely) when we first establish a goal. However, it is important to monitor the goal at all times, not just at the beginning. (Watch for tips in a future blog on how to stay focused throughout the life of the goal,)

Achieving a goal is a satisfying experience. It takes effort, organization and focus to accomplish it. Relish the feeling that you did it. It will boost your self-confidence and prepare you for the next one. No matter what the challenge, even if it is harder, you know you are capable and up for it.

Is it really possible to achieve a balance between work and life? Are we capable of fitting it all in? The term Work-Life Balance became popular in the 1980’s when corporations did not offer much in the way of flexible options. Picture a seesaw with work loading down one side and everything else, a.k.a. life, on the other side.

Many people have come to the conclusion that work-life balance is a myth, especially living in our all-consuming tech world. Email, smart phones and tablets blur the lines between work and all else. The office and our clients can reach us anytime, anywhere. We find ourselves “on” 24/7. There is always a lot to do and too few hours in the day to get our to-dos done.

Cali Yost, author and CEO of the Flex+Strategy Group, has given work-life balance a new name, work-life fit. Balance implies that work and life are at opposite ends which we know is not true. Work-life fit is a proactive approach, giving people more flexibility than they realize. Work can be a variety of win-wins for workers and employers.

In her book buy brand dapoxetineYost points out that the key is to find the fit that’s right for you which will allow you to be in control. You get to spend time with the people who are most meaningful in your life and to decide how much time and energy you put into activities.

Below are 12 work-life fit tips that will help you focus on the activities that are most meaningful to you:

1. Set crystal clear goals. Identify the goals that are important to you such as, work, professional, family, friends, keeping fit, your faith, and even fun. Too often, we are on autopilot and do not think about the ways we spend our time. If you want to make partner in a law firm, be prepared to devote the time and energy it will require. Clarifying your goals will serve as a roadmap going forward.
2. Ask yourself for every activity you are involved in: Does this activity add value? Does it meet my goals? Evaluate each and every project. Are you spending too much time and energy on an area that will be of little consequence to you in the long run? Eliminating a task can free you up to work on priority projects. For example: Do you still need to be attending association meetings from an earlier career? You might be able to meet your friends somewhere else and not be bound to a particular meeting time.
3. Eliminate as many errands as possible and combine the rest. Take a critical look at your errands which can take a chunk out of the day. Consider outsourcing whenever possible and batch the rest together. Do errands together that are in the same part of town.
4. Exercise. Study after study shows that working out benefits the mind and the body. You’ll need to carve out the time because it won’t happen, especially if your schedule is jam-packed, without being proactive. Make the time because it certainly won’t come to you.
5. Get enough sleep. Sleep-deprived individuals do not think clearly. Lack of sleep causes problems regarding focusing, stress, and sometimes serious medical issues. The Better Sleep Council survey in 2013 found that almost half of all Americans do not get enough sleep. (online purchase of dapoxetine)
6. Start slowly and keep a journal. If you decide that you want to make a change in your work-life fit, do it gradually and mindfully. There is no need to rush into this. Even small changes can have a big impact. Keep track of these changes with a journal.
7. Find a balance between work and enjoyment. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. There’s some truth to that. Plan on doing fun things such as spending time with family and friends, learning a hobby, or taking a class to advance your professional career. All of these activities will expand your mind and, believe it or not, make you better at your job.
8. Set boundaries. Are you going to answer that text or email on a Saturday afternoon? Let your clients and colleagues know what is acceptable. They will appreciate your candidness.
9. Say no, especially if it interferes with your goals. If a supervisor asks you to handle a specific project, ask him/her what project(s) you should work on first. If you report to several supervisors, let them make the decision.That way you can stay out of it.
10. Re-evaluate your goals periodically. As life changes, so do our goals. Set a certain time quarterly to sit down and review your goals. Mark it in your calendar. Something may have changed that could affect your current list of goals. For example, a promotion, or a new baby, might cause you to rethink the future.
11. Select an accountability partner. Bounce ideas off of someone you trust who can help you stay on track and meet your goals. Ask someone who is committed to your well-being such as a co-worker, a friend or a coach.
12. Reduce the amount of television you watch and the time on the Internet. Both are black holes. Not many of your activities will get done if you are searching the web or watching hours of television.

Does this happen to you?

Our meetings never start on time because people are always late. The rest of us sit and wait, checking email and thinking about what could be getting done if we were back at our desks.  Or we start the meeting without the latecomers. Eventually they show up and want us to catch them up on the discussion. Help!

It is frustrating when fellow employees – colleagues, supervisors or subordinates — are late for meetings. Does it disrupt the meeting when someone walks in after the appointed time? You bet. For those of us who wait for the latecomers to arrive, or who start without them, we may wonder what’s going on in people’s heads when they are consistently tardy. No question about it – it is inconsiderate. We feel as if they are stealing our time and our colleagues’ time, too.

From their perspective:

• An on-time arrival may not be a priority. They may think that being 15 minutes late is really on-time.
• Their time is more important than ours. They would rather waste your time, not theirs.
• They choose to take a last-minute phone call or email which can easily delay them. The adrenaline rush is on. Maybe they prefer this to a boring meeting.
• They may not be aware of what others are thinking. Or maybe they are and do not care.

Being chronically late for meetings is more common than you think (although is still not acceptable). I’m not talking about coming in late once in a while because that can (and does) happen to everyone. With an average of 11 million meetings a day in America*(yikes!), someone will be late. Often it is the CEO. CEOs were tardy 60% of the time according to a survey of chief executives by management consulting firm Proudfoot. What kind of message does that send to company employees? Being punctual for a meeting, from the CEO on down, sets the right tone. Meetings starting on time (or not) can be attributed to the leadership of the company. Sometimes it starts with one person, probably the one with the most seniority at the table, being consistently late for a meeting. Before you know it, it becomes the norm and now everyone is 5-10 minutes later. Since most professionals attend a total of 62 meetings monthly**, wasted time adds up quickly.

CEOs may be late for their own company meetings but, interestingly, are punctual when they meet customers or clients. In the Proudfoot survey which covered nine countries, only French executives were late to more meetings than U.S. executives (late 65% of the time vs. 60%). Japanese CEOs had the highest on-time rate (late 34% of the time).

Waiting 10-15 minutes for a meeting to begin can be very costly to a company. When you multiply salaries by the time wasted, it can be a very expensive proposition.  And how about the cost to morale? Employees who make it their business to be on time end up spending precious minutes waiting for others so the meeting can finally begin.

At a large company based in Atlanta, meetings are the culture of the company. The day is driven by meetings – starting early in the morning and steadily continuing throughout the day. All day long people move from one meeting to the next. If a meeting starts late, everyone’s schedule is thrown out of whack for the rest of the day. In other companies, you may not be heading for another meeting, but a late start will affect how well you are able to manage your day.

Here are a few tips to help round up everyone in the same room at the same time:

Before the meeting:

• Include in the meeting invitation the start and end times of the meeting and, of course, the location.

• Create an agenda listing the topics, the persons responsible, and the time people will be presenting.
• Call or email invited attendees reminding them of their role and the time they will be presenting.
• Put late offenders first on agenda.
• Establish tardiness fines. For every minute a person is late, they owe $1 or even $5. Donate the money to a charity or use it to buy lunch for the next meeting. (A good incentive for people to come!)

At the meeting:

• Start the meeting on time no matter what; no need to penalize those who made the effort to be on time. Everyone is on a tight schedule and cannot afford extra waiting time.
• Continue the meeting even as latecomers arrive. Acknowledge them and keep going. Do not review what has been discussed in their absence.
• Lock the door two minutes after the start time. This is what employees at a high-tech company in California’s Silicon Valley do. They open the door but the boss needs to knock first. Caution: try this only if your boss has a sense-of-humor.
• Laugh uproariously at a pretend joke when someone walks in late. The latecomer will be sorry that he/she missed out on something funny.
• Note: After the latecomer is locked out of the meeting room and the group is laughing hysterically at a non-real joke the latecomer does not know, constantly late people may start to become embarrassed. It may begin to occur to them that walking in after the meeting has started is not acceptable behavior.
• Or, wait five minutes for the most senior person to show up. If he/she does not, reschedule the meeting. Choose a time that’s convenient for the group that is present.
• Follow the agenda and end the meeting on time. This sends a clear message that you respect everyone’s time.

After the meeting:

If your boss is always late:

• Speak to him at another time and ask if it is acceptable to start the meeting without him so that the entire department does not lose valuable work time. Calculate the cost savings and mention that as well.
• Ask if there is a better time to hold these meetings. Would earlier in the day ensure that he could arrive on time?

If a subordinate is always late:

• Speak privately to the offender and find out the reason the person is late.
• Ask how you can help or what resources you can provide. Maybe a time management class or maybe, ahemmm, one of us can help
• Last resort: Include it in the person’s performance appraisal.

*A network MCI Conferencing White Paper. Meetings in America: A study of trends, costs and attitudes toward business travel, teleconferencing, and their impact on productivity.

**Same source as above

Follow these top ten email tips and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how productive you will become in handling email and how much time you’ll save. You’ll also discover that it is really possible to reduce (even empty) your inbox.

1. Do not do email first thing in the morning. Once you plan out your day, work on your most important task (MIT) for the first hour you are in the office while you are fresh and alert. Then, start email. (Note: it’s OK to glance through email first thing in the morning to make sure that you have not missed anything significant, such as an urgent email from your supervisor or a cancelled meeting.)

2. Schedule several blocks of uninterrupted email time – one mid-morning and a second in the afternoon. Use a timer to keep you focused and on track. Plan on spending 45 minutes – one hour reviewing email that needs to be handled right away. The rest can wait. When you are checking email, try and stay focused. That means not allowing internal and external distractions. Let phone calls go to voicemail and indicate that you are “busy” on your calendar. If you think of something that needs to be done, jot it down on a pad of paper and continue to read and answer email. Make the best use you can of the email time you’ve allotted yourself.

3. Move or drag email out of the inbox. Do not let it sit there.Commit to making a decision on   each email. Delaying decisions creates havoc in your inbox. Your inbox is not a filing cabinet.   View your email inbox as just that – an In Box — where email arrives that need processing. Imagine how cluttered and messy your kitchen counters might look like if you ignored incoming snail mail. You’d be lucky to find anything.

4. Decide if the email is action or reference. Start at the top of your inbox and look at each email in order. Do not skip around. If it is action, follow the 4Ds (#5). If it is reference and will be needed again, move it to personal documents, shared files or the personal folders in the inbox. Examples of reference folders are: inactive clients, proposals, past projects, and marketing materials.

5. Use the 4D’s of Decision Making. This valuable tool eliminates a lot of the guess work about how to handle individual emails and where to move them. It is a sure-fire way to reduce the email in your inbox.

• Delete – approximately 50% can be deleted. Ask yourself: Must I keep this? Can I access this information somewhere else if I ever need it? Will this information be out of date by the time I need it? Am I ever going to read it?
• Do It – if it takes less than two minutes.
• Delegate It – 30% falls into the do it or delegate it category.
• Defer It – The 20% that needs to be handled by you directly but takes more than two minutes. Move this email into one of the following locations: your task list (with a due date), your calendar (on the specific day you will work on it) or an appropriate folder to work on later.

6. Set up specific folders for action items, current projects and reference and move email to the appropriate folder. Examples of folders: To Do, To Call, Waiting For (or Pending), Read & Review, Upcoming Meetings/Events, Cases, Clients, Current Projects, Associations. My favorite personal folder is “Read Later”. The email in this folder can wait.

7. When sending an email:

• Create a strong subject line that is clear and specific.
• Put your main point in the first sentence; then explain.
• Tell the reader exactly what you want.
• Keep the length within a screen size by making your sentences and paragraphs short.
• Use simple, concise language.
• Leave lots of white space, making it easier to read and to follow.
• Be sensitive to the subject – sometimes a phone call or face-to-face conversation is better.

8. Respond to the sender promptly even if you cannot give an answer right away. Let the sender know the email was received. Now the sender will not need to send a follow up note because you were proactive. That will be appreciated.

9. Use “Reply All” judiciously. Usually a reply to the sender is all that’s necessary. Not everyone needs to know you’re leaving for vacation and cannot attend the meeting.

10. Move important folders to the Cloud such as Dropbox and SugarSync. If anything happens to your hard drive, your information will be safe.

Often people with hundreds, or even thousands of emails, feel totally overwhelmed and have no idea where to start. We recommend that they set up a system that works using these tips as a guide and then manage the newest emails first. Ignore the older emails or move them into archives where you can deal with them later.

By using a few of these tips, your inbox will be manageable. Finding the email you need will be much easier. You’re the one in control now.