And how does she manage to read? Natalia Eremich - Time management for women

Current page: 1 (the book has 15 pages in total)

Alan Lakein

The art of being on time

Why should you think about your time?

Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. Wasting your time is wasting your life.

Taking control of your time means taking control of your life and making the best use of it.

As a time planning and life goals consultant, I created a new system that helps thousands of people. Through this system, people learn how to make the most productive use of their time and manage their lives.

I am not the inventor of the rational system of labor, by means of which it is possible to accomplish work in the shortest possible time, spending a minimum of movements on its execution. Rationality of this kind reduces human activity to a series of mechanical movements. With such an organization, work is deprived of joy and interest. Therefore, we can say that working with a stopwatch takes away from activity not only thought, but also life itself. I try to get people to think more about what they are doing, and not turn their activity into a thoughtless process. If you follow my advice, you may think more about how you can make better use of your time, make your work easier, do many of the things you always wanted to do, and enjoy life much more.

Therefore, please do not call me a specialist in the rational organization of labor. I am a time management specialist.

Efficiency means choosing the best option from the options available and doing it in the best possible way. Making the right choice in the use of time is much more important than organizing the rational execution of the existing task. Rationalization is good in its place, but, in my opinion, efficiency is more needed.

Some of the methods I suggest may surprise you. For example, you sit in line at the dentist for ten minutes. If you are like most people, then you will be wasting your time. But I can show you how you can use those ten minutes to your advantage to get started on a big job that you've been putting off for a long time, like renovating your home or doing a cost analysis for your business. At the same time, I will help you get rid of delays and delays in your business and maintain a good working pace that will allow you to complete the work you have started.

In this book, you will learn about how I, my family, and my clients have used my methods. You will see that my system is not rigid, mechanical, and heavy. By no means! It is pleasant to master it and it is pleasant to experiment on its basis. The benefits of its implementation will be immediate, and then they will constantly increase.

My time management system has been successfully implemented in corporations such as IBM, Bank of America, American Telephone and Telegraph, Standard Oil of California, and many others. It has been used to advantage by prominent filmmakers and producers, designers and scientists, entrepreneurs and students, all who have attended my seminars or consulted individually.

I am an ardent supporter of my system, primarily because it allowed me to take control of my own life. This system will allow you to master your life and do whatever you want with it. It is unlikely that I can give you exact advice on how to become the president of your company or how you can make a successful career in the service and raise several children at the same time. However, with the help of my system, you can achieve such goals - if these goals are yours. In addition, my system can tell you how to excel at school, at chess, at making decorative candles, or at social clubs. It all depends on your choice.

Please remember: there is no shortage of time. We have plenty of time to do whatever we really want to do. If, like many people, you are “too busy” to be successful, then keep in mind that there are many people who are much busier than you, but manage to do more than you. They don't have more time than you. They just make better use of their time!

Efficient use of time is as much an art as being able to drive a car. But this skill can be mastered, and in this book I have collected all the tools you need for you to master this art. I will show you smart, practical ways to become the master of your time, not a slave, and do whatever you want with your life.

Ultimately, you have nothing more important than your life and your time. I cannot give you more time than you have. We all have to keep within a modest budget, which is limited to 168 hours a week. But I can help you use that time more effectively. So, let's begin!

Biggest win: Your life is under your control

The main theme of this book is control. Since it is difficult to find a suitable synonym for this word, let me clarify what I mean.

Make a fist with your fingers. Squeeze it as hard as you can and feel the tension in your hand. If you hold your clenched fist like this for several minutes, your hand will ache from the tension. It is unlikely that you often need a clenched fist in everyday life.

Now, lower your arm along your body and let it relax. Move your fingers and feel how the muscles are under your control. You can do a lot with this hand!

The control I recommend is in many ways similar to that of the fingers. This control over your time (and your life) is neither too tight (tense, obsessive, violent) nor too loose (apathetic, indifferent, lazy). It will allow you to get things done and be flexible and creative in your activities. With this control, you can achieve perfect balance.

Timing freak and others

I emphasize that the purpose of this book is not to turn you into a person who clocks your every move, is constantly busy, or is an aggressive innovator. In order to clearly understand what I mean, I will point out three odious figures that cause dislike both for me and for many other people:

1. Overorganized person who constantly makes lists, checks lists, loses lists. When asked to do something, he spends a lot of time analyzing every possibility, planning everything in the smallest detail, checking every little thing. He will not budge without planning every step, and for this reason he often fails even in his daily duties. He is more interested in feeling organized than actually accomplishing anything. If he has not begun to implement today's plan, then tomorrow he will prepare a new, even more detailed plan. He is so eager to become overorganized that he does not notice the ongoing changes, new opportunities and needs.

2. An overactive person is so busy with things that he does not have enough time to weigh how valuable and significant they are. It is quite difficult to communicate with him, even if you want to offer him how to save time.

He usually causes dislike in everyone, because he gives everyone advice on what they should do. He lacks flexibility and the ability to make creative decisions, strives for rational decisions, but often chooses the wrong ways to achieve goals. Since he is busy every minute at home and at work, he never has the opportunity to relax.

3. The attention of a person obsessed with timing is constantly absorbed by the clock face. He is nervous and infects others with nervousness, worrying about how not to waste time. He always rushes at full speed, trying to keep an unbearably busy schedule. He vomits and thrashes if the meeting starts at least one minute late. He carefully records everything he does every day. He knows how to save eleven seconds during his morning breakfast. It is not easy to live and work with such a person.

If you think that "taking control of your time and your life" means turning you into an over-organized, over-busy person, preoccupied with wasting every minute, then let me assure you that this is not the case. Each of the three character types described above has potentially valuable traits that have turned into vices. Each of them is just as bad at doing things as a completely disorganized person who never knows what he will do tomorrow, never plans anything in advance and walks through life from crisis to crisis.

Neither extreme is desirable. Too much organization is just as harmful as not having it. There is no one size fits all solution. Different people require different degrees of organization and free creativity in their lives. Moreover, the same person has different needs in this regard, depending on age, season and environment. A person who is very organized at work may be scattered in his spare time. A person who has a clear set of goals at 30 and knows exactly how he wants to use his time and what he wants from his life may find at 40 that he must rethink his ten-year-old plans, unless he wants to grow up.

Your own judge

No part of my system should be applied rigidly, automatically or mechanically. It should only help you overcome internal or external obstacles, but not take away your freedom one iota and not change your individuality.

The use of time is a matter of personal choice, and only you can be the ultimate judge in deciding how to put into practice the advice I have offered in this book. It is important that you compare my suggestions with those of your methods of work that you yourself consider the most effective. As you read, try to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Think about what problems you have with time, and try to determine which ones are the most important. Don't be afraid to make notes on the pages. Reading a book with a pencil or pen in hand will turn it into your workbook. Underline the main points and make notes in the margins. On the inside cover, write down the pages on which you found information that was especially useful to you.

Try to think of various offers and make a choice from them. Keep in mind that different methods work for different people, and sometimes good advice for one may not be good for another. Try to pay attention to those ideas that are especially suitable for you, and use them to lead a more pleasant and fulfilling life.

Whether you're at work, doing housework, schoolwork, or just lounging around, I'll show you how to do it more efficiently. I will help you separate the things that matter from the things that don't. Trust me: you will be able to accomplish important things, even if they seem overwhelming, unpleasant, or impossible.

Are you tired of not having time to do anything because you never have time to start anything on time? I'll show you how to do away with delays once and for all.

Do you want to improve your ability to concentrate, break the habit of distraction and develop the ability to get things done? I will show you how to achieve this and still be happy and content.

This book offers proven methods of working in difficult conditions, and shows all the aspects of such an activity that will allow you to do things with precision, while maintaining good relations with people.

If you wish, this book will help you make more money. If you can make better use of your time, you will be able to improve your relationship with your superiors. If you run an independent business, you will be able to make it more profitable. First of all, this book will show you how to work with more skill, not more effort. As a result, you will have more time for you, your family, your friends. You will have time to realize your dream, for which "there was never enough time." You will feel less dependent on the uncontrollable elements of your position or environment. You will be able to more easily improvise, make adjustments, and redesign various aspects of your life so that these changes are more in line with your personality, your goals, and your worldview.

My statement may seem contradictory, but I believe that by the end of the book you will agree with me that the biggest gain from this book is that by achieving a greater degree of control over your time and your life, you will have more freedom.

Go with the flow, sink or make decisions?

After interrupting her reading of the morning paper, Mrs. Kay smells smoke and sees that the curtains near the stove are on fire. Let's think: how can she make the best use of the time available to her?

The first option: she can butter a piece of bread and continue reading the newspaper.

The second option is that she will do something to stop the rapidly growing fire. Whether Mrs. Kay rushes to the curtains with a jug of water, calls the fire brigade, or runs for a fire extinguisher, no one will argue that Mrs. Kay's best pastime is making a sandwich and reading a newspaper.

Of course, the choice does not always come down to such a clear decision.

After 14 years in the auto industry, Mr. Williams thought he should change his career. He was successful in his career, but not in the way he had hoped. His job as production manager at the Kalamazoo assembly plant did not seem particularly exciting to him. He was bored in Kalamazoo and believed that life in Chicago would be much more interesting.

Mr. Williams wanted change. But what? Should he have used his experience as a factory manager to move to another industry? Maybe he should look for an industrial job in Chicago or some other major city? Should he first change his place of residence, and then start looking for a job? How should he look for new opportunities? Or should he forget about the industrial activity and become a real estate agent? With so many options, he couldn't make a choice.

Just like Mrs. Kay and Mr. Williams, you and everyone in the world are constantly faced with the need to make decisions. Some are difficult, some are easy, some are big, some are small. And so every day.

Who can handle this?

Do you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, an Indian chief, a musician, an architect, an artisan, a baseball player? Do you want to visit Europe, South America, Nigeria, Timbuktu? It's not just a matter of talent or money. Even the new Einstein or Onassis will not be able to do everything and see everything in the world. All around us are options, alternatives, possibilities that require our choice.

What about today? Will you work, go to a concert or visit, play cards or sleep late? Your time is strictly limited, but the possibilities for your imagination have no limits. Most people, even daydreaming for a few minutes, can come up with so many activities that they have enough to do for several weeks or months.

And now let's remember all the things that you need to do: prepare a report that is waiting for yours. boss, answer long-awaited letters, pick up booked tickets at the box office, start preparing for vacation, talk to HR about staffing, find out why your son is behind in math and how you can help him, buy a birthday present for your wife , go to the dentist, weed the beds in the garden, etc., etc.

How can you do everything you need to do today?

And tomorrow you have new things to do. Life is a never-ending river of possible deeds, into which flows the influx of deeds caused by the need to survive, streams of deeds flowing from your family, your boss, your subordinates, as well as streams born in the headwaters of your dreams and hopes.

You have so much to do and so little time to get it done!

Historically speaking, the breadth of your choice is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the not so distant past, when opportunities were limited, life and its organization were not so complicated, people did not have to puzzle over how to spend their time for so long. For all but a small privileged minority, necessity dictated to people their actions. Other aspects of life were determined by tradition, religion, social class, and where people were born.

Now, as social, economic and physical mobility has come to define life conditions and free time has increased, people have more choice. At the same time, the pressure on people to make this choice increased. This choice is often complex and difficult to make. It is especially difficult for women to make such a choice, with so many opportunities open to them.

Everyone wants to take some of your time away from you.

It is possible that you are the breadwinner, spouse, bridge player, church member, political party activist, dog club member all at the same time. You must carefully distribute the applications made for each of these roles of yours. But this is not enough. Irritated customers of your enterprise simultaneously demand that you provide a supply of equipment that you do not have in stock. When you, tired after work, return home, then all members of your family urgently require your attention. All TV channels insist that you watch their programs. You can spend a lot of time trying to match all these requests to your personality and try to satisfy everyone at the same time.

Some of the applications may be favorably received by you, for example, if something is important or someone appears who means a lot to you.

But even if his case is not important to you, remind yourself that we live in an interdependent world, which means that you must share your time with other people to some extent.

After all, you knew when you were hired, when you got married or were getting married, that you were giving up some of your sovereignty over how you spend your time. In return, you received much of what you thought was important to you - love, security, friendship, money, food. Consider the consequences of your decisions. Sometimes you have to do what others want you to do. But not always!

Do what you want to do

Discussing her son's future with friends, Mrs. Reed had no doubts about how her son's time should be spent.

After Jack finishes school, he will certainly go to the university that his parents graduated from. However, Jack had other plans. He was tired of school. He had serious doubts about the usefulness of formal education. He believed that it would be better to spend time traveling within one or two years.

How to make the best use of Jack's time? The answer cannot be unequivocal, although Mrs. Reed and Jack have very strong positions on this matter.

Who makes the decision? Of course, Jack. Mrs. Reid may think that she has the right to make decisions, but even if Jack goes to university (if only to please his mother), it will be his own decision.

Situations where you feel like other people are making decisions for you are not unusual. It may seem that a parent, child, spouse, boss, friend can be just as actively involved in deciding how you spend your time as you are, and sometimes more than you are.

Such a feeling may be quite understandable, but the facts indicate otherwise. Ultimately, the other person can only advise you on what you should do, but you and you alone make the final decision. You either accept or reject the recommendation. Of course, some decisions are associated with unpleasant consequences. Your boss wants you to work on a certain task, but you have your own ideas about how you should manage your time. If you continue to insist on your option, then you may be left without a job. But in many cases the opportunity for free choice is very large.

True, it may seem that you have few opportunities for free choice. It is foolish to deny that age, education, origin, economic status, gender and race place limits on all of us. Therefore, let us agree from the very beginning that there are factors in the position of each of us that are beyond your control. You will save a lot of time if you take them into account and put up with them. The imagination game, “If only I were younger…richer…poorer…smarter…then I would have better luck…” is not the best way to spend time, but deciding what to do to overcome the negative impact of these factors is - already a good way to use your time.

Each of us is subject to constraints that make free choice impossible in every situation. But most of the time, you can make your choice. It is possible that you are deceiving yourself when you say that external factors control your life. It is likely that you are not really trying to do something where you have the ability to control the situation.

The wise distribution of time is the basis for activity.

Jan Amos Comenius

I will take the liberty to continue the aphorism, saying that the wise distribution of time is the basis of peace of mind - when everything necessary is done and there is time left for rest and communication, a person receives tremendous satisfaction and lives in harmony with himself and others.

However, you are among the readers of this book, which means that things are not going smoothly for you. At work, hundreds of unfinished business hang like a sword of Damocles, and at home, like the famous heroine of Korney Chukovsky, Fedora: “Would a woman cook cabbage soup, but go look for a pan!” At night, instead of sleeping, you intensely remember what you didn’t have time to do in the past day: “I sent faxes, bought sausage, cooked dumplings, was late for a meeting with a client, but got there, stroked my husband’s shirt, checked my son’s lessons ... Oh my God! My son's birthday is tomorrow, but there is no present! You begin to compose excuses in the morning (one for your son, the other for your husband, because the faithful will reproach you not only for being behind family life, but also for two folds on the sleeve of your shirt). After an almost sleepless night, having somehow coped with family troubles, you rush to work, of course, late, which causes indignation among the boss, and at the same time you need to manage to persuade him to let you go early today for your son’s birthday.

Even if the story is different from yours, it probably isn't by much. Sighing, you will complain about the bitter woman's share. However, you can change any situation. Tried - didn't work? You may have chosen the wrong path.

Do not look for a panacea for all misfortunes. Stop and think: are you in control of time or is it over you? Are you building your life or is it managing you? Are you manipulating circumstances or vice versa? Surely you are spinning like a squirrel in a wheel, and no one appreciates or even notices this, and the reproaches of others do not let you sleep at night. It is in your power to change everything. In this book you will find the answer to the question of how to do it. Be patient and call upon willpower when you decide to put into practice the theory described here, and the result will not be long in coming.

You will get acquainted with the concept of "time management", learn how to succeed at work and not deprive your family of attention, comprehend the secrets of a successful business and delicious dinners cooked on time. Finally, you will learn the most important thing: how not to suffer yourself, restoring the balance between work and family. The main weapon of a woman is her charm, which must be preserved, as well as the foundation of everything - her own health. You will learn how to properly relax, take care of yourself and at the same time do everything.

You are a woman, therefore, just as there is female logic, female psychology, there is also a female model of time management, which differs from the generally accepted one. The task of a man is to organize mainly working and free time. The woman also has a kitchen, laundry, cleaning, checking the lessons of children, as well as a solarium, massage, a beautician and a hairdresser. Your task is to learn not to rush about, but to cope with all these things in time.

After reading this book, you will learn how to learn how to properly manage an invaluable capital called "time".

Motivation: how to overcome reluctance

Time management - the art of managing time

Time management today is not just a buzzword. Its topic is actively discussed by both professionals and laymen. In particular, women who are busy with family and work try to manage time. At the same time, not many people know that they are engaged in scientific work, and even more so they are aware of how this science is called, so first we will deal with the terminology.

Time management is a branch of science and practice devoted to the study of problems and methods for optimizing time spent in various fields of activity, that is, a technology that allows you to use a person’s life time in accordance with his goals and values.

Time management is a whole system of organizing time, including your own. It is suitable for everyone who has time, and especially for those who do not have enough. Time management allows you to learn not only to set goals, but also to achieve them, properly managing work and personal time. Unfortunately, not everyone achieves results at the same time, as they often act haphazardly.

For successful time planning, first of all, you need to learn how to properly manage it and make it a habit.

Of course, someone can say that time is not subject to people and life often brings surprises that destroy all plans. This statement is correct. No wonder there is a wise saying: do not make plans - do not make God laugh. However, the surprises of life are somewhat predictable. Agree: even if something planned was not done, at the end of the day, along with remorse, there is also a sense of satisfaction from the fact that part of the plans has become a reality.

This happens when a person has made every effort to do everything in time. It’s another matter when you haven’t implemented anything planned, because all the time at work is spent on coffee breaks, conversations with colleagues and smoke breaks.

Time management will help in both the first and second cases, if you approach the issue with all responsibility.

First, imagine that an hour is not just a unit of time. It is a commodity that can be exchanged for money, education, pleasure, health, and other resources. You just need to determine what exactly you need. Not many people do this, as a result of which people mismanage their time, then regret it.

This feeling has been familiar to man since ancient times. Time management is far from the only attempt to learn how to properly plan your own time. One of the first to be puzzled by this was the man whose portrait took its rightful place on the hundred-dollar bill, Benjamin Franklin. It was his system of distribution of goals and tasks that became the basis for the development of modern time management.

The methodology is based on four main principles.

1. Plan, otherwise you will be planned. You can manage only if you have a specific plan, a vision of your future.

2. Time is the most valuable resource. Since it cannot be stretched, accumulated, or added to, the only solution is to organize it intelligently so that, as Rudyard Kipling said, "fill the inexorable minute with sixty full seconds."

3. It is necessary to be able to distinguish the main from the secondary. Time management implies the distribution of working time into strictly regulated (must be done) and soft (it is desirable to do it, but if urgent matters appear, you can postpone it).

4. Only methodical adherence to a given course can lead a person to the goal.

Remember these principles and try to follow them at all costs. It should not be assumed that time management involves rigid planning. The philosophy of time management is different: people cannot be free in everything: if a person wants to get freedom in one thing, he must limit it in another. For example, if you want to be able to quit your job at any time and hide from the hustle and bustle - go to the countryside, closer to nature, then first you must make your business process perfect, running like clockwork. Time management allows you to free up time for what you would most like to spend it on. This is a tool for setting life goals and spending time to achieve them. Time management is the doctrine of making time for the most important things in life, and the sooner you comprehend its secrets, the richer and more interesting every day will be.

Make your reading list according to the time you spend on the road.

Over the past decade, the time that residents of large cities spend commuting to work has increased markedly. Real estate prices in the center of metropolitan areas have skyrocketed - and many have decided to move to the outskirts or to the suburbs, where renting and buying a home is cheaper. But the ride has become much further.

The average Londoner spends an average of 6 hours 10 minutes a week commuting to and from work. In New York, this journey takes 6 hours 18 minutes, in Moscow - 9 hours 20 minutes.

This time can be spent usefully by reading books. An adult reads about 300 words per minute - that is, in 6 hours on the road you can read about 108 thousand words (this is the volume of Wuthering Heights, Gulliver's Travels or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) - and you still have there will be time on Twitter. All this, of course, provided that you choose public transport and you have the opportunity to open a book. Those who drive to work will have to settle for audiobooks.

We tell you how best to organize road reading and which books are suitable for your route.

15 minutes drive or less

Dutch professor of neuropsychology Wibo Brauer from Groningen

The university claims that on short trips it is best to read poetry - or stories and news. “After reading a short text, you can decide what to do next: read another poem, prepare for a transplant, or start a conversation,” he says.

Another option is . According to Adam Trodd, stories of 1,000 words or less are great for a one-stop or two-stop trip. In addition, publishing houses produce popular works for readers with a limited supply of time.

30 minutes drive or less

For half-hour trips, short story collections are ideal. Joseph Kennedy, deputy head of sales at Oxford University Press, suggests reading classics like Chekhov and Katherine Mansfield or new authors like Lorrie Moore.

“Personally, I prefer collections of connected stories,” says Maike Ziervogel, head of London-based Peirene Press. She recommends The Gap by Olumide Popula and Annie Holmes, "Who Are You, Really?" Alice Monroe and All That Is Man by David Salai.

Also in this category are Canterbury Tales, The Decameron and A Thousand and One Nights - collections of short stories written in the Middle Ages.

45 minutes drive or less

On longer trips, it's best to take a novel with a sequel, such as The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens. This comic novel was even published in parts (there were 19 in total), so reading chapter after chapter with interruptions will return you to the origins of that time.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (the first detective novel) was also serialized in All the Year Round, published by Dickens.

In parts, even The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, The Portrait of a Woman and The Ambassadors by Henry James, and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe were printed in newspapers.

For 45-minute trips, letter and diary novels are also suitable: Dracula by Bram Stoker, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, or the recent The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

60 minutes or more

You are lucky! Long trips give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of great works. “When you start reading a new novel, it takes a long time to build the structure of the book in your head, to understand and appreciate the elements of the narrative, and this cannot be done in a short trip,” says Professor Brouwer. “Reading a large work in fits and starts is fraught with the fact that the frustration of having to close the book in the middle of the story may be stronger than the pleasure of the plot.”

This category of books includes some recent winners of major literary awards - A Brief History of the Seven Murders by Marlon James and The Sale by Paul Beatty (they won the Booker Prize in 2015 and 2016).

“To make it easier for you, develop the habit of reading,” he advises.

Perseverance in achieving the goal and a systematic approach - this is what improves the functioning of the neurons responsible for reading. Read regularly and reading will become a habit.

With a little practice, and who knows, the commute to and from work may become your favorite pastime.

Prepared by Evgenia Sidorova

Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. Waste your time
means wasting your life. But how do you get everything done?

We turn to the book "The Art of Keeping Up" by Alan Lakein and take control of our time with the help of tools and the author's methodology, to master your life and make the best use of it.

In the book:

• how to plan your time wisely;
• how to become productive;
• how to do everything and not get tired;
• how to manage your life;
• a lot of examples, life stories;
• special attention to the topic “how to do everything around the house”.

As well as tools and practical ways to become the master of time, not a slave, and do whatever you want with your life.

If you are sharpening a vicious worm called “I want to do a lot, but I don’t know how to do it,” then read on and you will find tips on how to learn how to do everything.

How to do everything? Alan Lakein's 61 Time Saving Techniques

I suggest that you familiarize yourself with a selection of some useful tips from the book, and also at the end of the publication, have time to use the ready-made list Getting Things Done 61 Time Saving Techniques by Alan Lakein, author of The Art of Getting Things Done.

About lack of time

There is no shortage of time. We have plenty of time to do whatever we really want to do.

About the fact that control begins with planning

Most people make plans stupidly because they prepare them
only under pressure. Perhaps you feel that work is pressing on you and you are forced to plan your day.

Or you have accumulated a large number of vacation days and want to use them in the most enjoyable way. If you plan only in this way, then you risk losing when you most need it.

The ability to plan is not an inborn talent, but just a skill - the more you practice, the more you get.

About the ABC of planning

1) make a list;

2) define priorities.

About when there is no time for planning

No matter how busy you are, you should always take the time to plan.
The less free time you have, the more important it is for you
careful scheduling. Spend only ten on planning
minutes at the beginning or end of the day and these costs are more than compensated for you.

About how to act alone with yourself

People often do not know how to take advantage of the opportunities that open up to them,
when they are alone with themselves. Think about what opportunities you have when your children are at school or when your colleagues go on vacation?

By identifying such opportunities in advance, you can.

About the main secret

The main secret of being able to do more and do better is to make a list called "What needs to be done?" every day, keep it constantly in front of your eyes and use it as a guide throughout the day.

About the 80/20 rule

Based on the 80/20 rule, on a 10-to-do list, 2 things will get you 80
percent success. Find these two cases, put them in group "A" and
implement them.

Leave the other 8 undone because their worth
the results will be much less than those of the two most fruitful cases.

If you focus on the tasks that bring the most results, even if you ignore many tasks with
the least kickback, you will feel more confident.

Read also:

About the rule "only once, but with sense!"

One of my rules says: "Take each paper in your hands only one
times". Try not to put aside incoming paper that requires
immediate response, until the response is ready.

It is much easier to come up with a suitable response immediately after you have read the letter. In addition, if you delay replying, you will waste time re-reading the letter.

About the word "NO"

Learn to say the word "No!" Sometimes the best answer is your "no" at the very beginning.

It's a short word, spoken politely, but it can save you a lot of money.
time. It is very important that other people do not waste your time. When you say "no", don't seem needlessly unfair or
heartless, but the people around you should feel the firmness of your word.

About the main question

"How can you make the best use of your time right now?"

Ask yourself this question when you are faced with a choice between two
affairs, when you are exhausted, when you need to make the transition to some
another matter.

about difficult things

If you feel that the task you are undertaking is difficult or impossible, chances are that you will not try as hard to do it as compared to the task that you consider easier.

But keep in mind that this impression is born of your feelings, not facts. Since you don't know for sure how difficult something is, you're better off assuming it's not hard and you can do it easily.

If you think you are going to succeed, you will work with great perseverance to complete the task.

Read also:

A technique that helps to cope with things that you don’t really like, but you need to do them anyway:

About the activity stimulator

Although the deadline for the end of work is always unpleasant, it contributes
self-mobilization. A promise to meet a deadline rather than saying you'll finish "later" is a good motivator.

About diversity

To maintain interest in the case, try to change the incentives. It is not at all surprising if, after working on the same task in
for a certain time, you got tired, began to show anxiety, and you were definitely tired of work.

The need for change is natural. Variety not only gives life a "flavor", it is one of its
essential nutrients.

About the decision point

If you feel that you are about to drop case "A" and start doing
something else, tell yourself convincingly that you are in Point of Acceptance
Solutions.

Remind yourself what an important point it is. Warn yourself to move extremely slowly here and with extreme caution.

Use 3 Ways to Help You Overcome Business Disgust
"BUT":
1) look trouble straight in the face;
2) recognize that procrastination causes more trouble;
3) arouse enthusiasm in yourself that will help you suppress rejection
of this case.

By fear in your way

Get fear out of your way. Many times I have come across people who avoided doing things to which they attached great importance because they

Don't let emotions get the better of you. If you suspect that you are avoiding making decisions/works because of some inner fear, then the moment you reach Decision Point, ask yourself, "What am I afraid of?"

Make a list of different options and choose the fear that makes you want to quit your job the most. Then look fear straight in the face.

About delay

Don't wait too long before jumping into a fight. Give yourself a little
reserve in time before the deadline.

Try to start a little earlier, even if the pressure has not reached its full strength. As you learn to reduce pressure to provide a good working environment, you will strengthen your willpower.

You will gain a new sense of freedom and self-confidence, you will feel less tension and you will know that you are in control of your time (and your life).

About moving forward

The habits of your life cannot be changed in a few days. For this
it takes time. For you to take control of your time and your life, there are no magic words: "Open Sesame!"

However, you can make progress towards your daily and life goals, even if you have only fifteen minutes at your disposal.

How can you make the most of your time right now?
benefit?

Useful books:

Beneficial films:

Educational and useful YouTube channels:

Getting Things Done - 61 Time-Saving Techniques by Alan Lakein, author of The Art of Getting Things Done.

1. Get satisfaction from every minute of life available
at your disposal.
2. Try to get satisfaction from everything you do.
3. Be an incorrigible optimist.
4. Try to go from victory to victory.
5. Don't waste time worrying about your failures.
6. Don't waste time feeling guilty about something you didn't do.
7. Constantly remind yourself: "You can always find enough time
to do important things." If they are important things, you will always find time to do them.
8. Every day try to find a new way to
use it to save time.
9. Get up early on weekdays (and go to bed early).
10. Dine lightly so as not to feel sleepy during
afternoon.
11. Do not get hung up on newspapers and magazines (with rare exceptions). To keep abreast of what is happening in the world, it is enough to look through newspaper headlines, the same applies to news on the Internet.
12. Learn to skim through books in search of interesting thoughts,
13. Do not stare at the TV for days.
14. Ideally, work should be located close to home so that you can walk, when you are too lazy to go there by car.
15. Analyze your habits in order to get rid of
obsolete, or to improve them.
16. End "expectations" once and for all. If you have to
wait, then consider such a situation as "gifted time" in order to
to relax, plan, or do something that you would
otherwise did not.
17. Set your clock three minutes ahead to start the day.
before.
18. Carry a notebook and pen with you to write down observations or thoughts,
occurring in the head.
19. Review your life goals once a month.
20. Review a list of your life goals every day and determine if
What actions can you take to achieve them?
21. Remind yourself of your life goals with the help of inscriptions,
which you do on separate sheets of paper, placed in prominent places, so that you regularly pay attention to them.
22. Even when doing small tasks, do not forget about your
long term goals.
23. The night before or in the morning, plan your activities for the whole
day and distribute cases according to their importance.
24. Make a list of specific things to do in
during the day, and distribute them in order of importance, and then try to do the most important things as early as possible.
25. Schedule your activities three months in advance
forward in such a way as to ensure an even distribution of workload and variety in classes for each month, as well as reserve "extra time" for the implementation of "burning" projects.
26. Give yourself the opportunity to relax and reward yourself when
completing important tasks.
27. Do the most important things first.
28. Strive to succeed not so much by strenuous as by skillful
labor.
29. Try to do only "A" tasks and never do "B" tasks and
"AT".
30. Believe in your ability to correctly distribute cases according to their degree
importance and try to stick to that order, whatever it is
worth it.
31. Ask yourself the question: "Will something terrible happen if I don't
Will I do this job?" If the answer is no, do not do this job.
32. If it seems that you are starting to hesitate, ask yourself the question: "What
am I trying to avoid?" and, having received an answer, try to meet this problem
face to face.
33. Always use the 80/20 rule.
34. Start work with the most fruitful part of the project.
35. Try to drop unproductive activities as much as possible
faster.
36. Give yourself enough time to
focus on high-value tasks.
37. Develop the ability to focus your attention and your
effort on one subject for significant periods of time. 38. Focus consistently on only one subject.
39. Concentrate your efforts on items that will bring
the most significant long-term benefits.
40. Try to show special energy and perseverance when you feel
that you can win.
41. Train yourself to complete your list of "What needs to be done?"
skipping hard things.
42. Try to carry out a significant part of your mental
process on paper.
43. Try to do creative work alone in the morning and
use the afternoon for meetings and meetings.
44. Set clear deadlines for completing tasks for yourself and others.
45. Try to actively listen to every discussion.
46. ​​Try not to waste other people's time.
47. Try to entrust the execution of affairs to other people, if these affairs
are within their area of ​​expertise and they are better able to deal with them.
48. I seek help from specialists so that they can help in
solving problems that require special knowledge and special qualifications.
49. Delegate small things whenever possible and focus on strategic tasks.
50. Produce papers as little as possible and throw away as much as possible
more unnecessary papers.
51. Try to take the same paper only once.
52. Try to write an answer to most letters right away.
53. Try to keep the top of the table free for
work and place most important papers in the center of the table.
54. All things should have their specific places in order to spend a minimum of time searching for them.
55. Set aside three hours a month specifically for debriefing
various trifles.
56. On weekends, try not to think about work.
57. Allow yourself to relax and "do nothing."
58. Assume that some of your time will inevitably be
spent on things out of your control, but you don't have to worry about it.
59. During work, try to keep chatter to a minimum.
60. Constantly think of steps you can take now to
realization of their goals.
61. Constantly ask yourself the question: "How can you spend time with
most useful?"

Unfortunately, or fortunately, a person has to learn all his life. Information becomes outdated too quickly these days. To always be aware of events, you need to read a lot and often. Fiction improves your speech. Books on pedagogy and psychology will teach you how to be a good parent and how to communicate with people correctly. Business literature is essential for entrepreneurs. Any book will give interesting and useful information that can be used in the process of life.

The most common reason for not reading is lack of time. However, in most cases, the absence of an extra hour is nothing more than a convenient excuse. In order to be convinced of this, it is enough to calculate how many hours it takes to visit the Internet and watch TV. Meanwhile, the time spent on your favorite series or social networks remains the time spent wasted.

You can read not only at home. There are plenty of free minutes throughout the day.

Take with you

There are lunch breaks at work. In addition, residents of modern megacities spend a huge number of hours in all sorts of queues. All this time can be devoted to reading. Even such an unpleasant phenomenon as a traffic jam will seem more pleasant if you take a book with you. It is desirable that the reader, standing in a traffic jam, was not driving.

Before bedtime

A quarter of an hour of reading or a little more can be set aside before bed if you replace watching action films and horror films with a book. Stories about maniacs and monsters will give you nothing but nightmares. Reading is calming and soothing. In addition, the information received by the brain shortly before falling asleep is absorbed much better. This feature of the brain can be used in cases where it is necessary to memorize some new material without much effort.

Instead of sleep

Some people use their commute to sleep. The subway car is not the best place to recuperate. You can oversleep your stop. You need to rest at home, and it is best to read in the subway.

Comfort and convenience

The reading process should be as comfortable as possible, otherwise the eyes will quickly get tired. It should also be taken into account that transport during rush hour is usually crowded. This means that an ordinary book can cause inconvenience.

Electronic books

The electronic version is much more convenient than the paper version. It takes up less space. You can carry a whole collection of books with you and forget about visiting a regular library. In order not to buy a device, use a phone or smartphone on which a special “reader” program is installed. The program allows you to choose a convenient font size, make notes and set bookmarks. The phone is much smaller than the e-book. It is convenient to hold it in one hand, grabbing the handrail in transport with the other. Most popular books can be downloaded on the Internet for free or purchased in special online stores.

"Read" with your ears

Audials, that is, people who perceive information by ear better than visually, audiobooks are suitable. Reading in a moving vehicle is not always convenient. The reader is forced to run his finger across the sheet so as not to lose the place where he just stopped and not to return to what he has already read. The audiobook gives you the opportunity to truly relax. You simply insert the disc into the player, put on the headphones and listen to the voice of the announcer. Such "reading" does not tire the eyes and allows you to fully relax in transport. Audiobooks are also suitable for those who have vision problems. The visually impaired are not recommended to read in a dimly lit subway car or a rocking bus.

Every "hard" reader has a certain set of habits. Some of them should be encouraged. Others need to get rid of.

One of the worst habits is to read several books at the same time. In order to have time to learn as much as possible, many readers take up the study of 2-3 or more works. This kind of reading is useless. Information is not assimilated, the content of books is confused. Much better to focus on one piece.

Reading in the toilet is also not considered a healthy habit. This is one of the dirtiest rooms in the apartment, and you should spend as little time as possible here. The book distracts from the concentration on natural physiological processes. Never read while eating. Time, of course, needs to be saved and spent wisely. However, eating is not the case when you have to do several things at the same time. Distracted by reading or watching TV, you do not control the amount of food eaten.

Good habits will help make reading more productive. It is helpful to write down the books you read. Get a common notebook, a reader's diary. The list will be gradually replenished, which will captivate the reader even more. In addition, the reader's diary will help you not to repeat yourself, that is, not to take a book you have ever read a second time. Opposite each book, you can make notes: like it, dislike it, read other works by this author, etc.

Another version of the reader's diary is also possible: you see a list of books that you need to read. In order for the notebook to be replenished, one must regularly be interested in book novelties. The process of crossing out another read book can be a great pleasure.

Keeping abreast of events in the world of literature will help communication with like-minded people. To do this, you need to join the appropriate club or found your own. Members of the club can take turns to arrange meetings at their homes after the next read work. The exchange of impressions will help to better remember the material of the book, the plot, the names of the characters. A literary club can be purely family. It is good if representatives of all generations are included in the game, especially children, who should be taught to read from a very young age. If the book turns out to be interesting enough, a home performance should be staged based on the work. Children will certainly appreciate the creativity of their parents and the opportunity to prove themselves as an actor.

Not all works capture from the first page. Don't jump to conclusions after the first chapter. The book seems boring, but you need to read it to the end. And the more boring the work, the stronger the confidence that it will be read should be. You need to be able to bring any undertaking to a victorious finale. Reading is an opportunity to accustom yourself to patience.

try new things

If you are only used to detective stories, try reading romance novels or science fiction. You should not be limited and "fixated" on one thing. Changing the genre greatly expands the horizons. You will discover a lot of new and interesting things for yourself, you will find treasures, the existence of which you did not even suspect before.