By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
In my 20 years as a Professional Speaker, I have observed that one of the secrets to increasing personal productivity is to increase the ratio between “time spent” and “time invested.”
Those who enjoy ever- increasing results in their lives have methodically invested more of their time currently for future payback.
Here are five “investment strategies” that will help you to seed for your future.
- Do Daily Planning.“People don’t plan to fail but a lot of people fail to plan.” If we do not plan our day in advance, we tend to get caught up in “stuff.” I recommend taking one hour each night to build an action list of not only the things you “have to”do, but include the things you “want to” do. Your list should include items to help better balance your life and help you to achieve lifetime goals. When you have a clear direction for your life over the next twenty-four hours, all of the resources you come in contact with will be pulling in the same direction. For every hour of planning, you will get back ten hours by avoiding a lot of unproductive activities and better focusing on and accomplishing more of the critical items that will enhance your success.
- Create One Hour A Day Of “Me Time.” Give twenty-three hours each day to the world, but reserve one hour per day just for you, an hour of “Me Time.” Make it an hour of self-study in a topic area of your choice. One hour per day, seven hours per week, and 350 hours per year, and you are the equivalent of a full-time student. By investing one hour per day in focused self-study, we can become a world-class expert in a topic of our choice in three to five years.
- Reduce Interruptions. Invest some time tracking interruptions in your day.Identify and reduce the sources of the unproductive interruptions. A repetitive daily interruption of just 12 minutes per day is 60 minutes per week or 50 hours of wasted time over the next year. If it takes an hour of your time to correct just this one unproductive interruption, you receive a 50:1 payback on your time.
- Increase Your Reading Speed. Most people spend two hours per day, on average, reading. A Speed Reading Course will help you to double your reading speed and comprehension rate saving you an hour per day. Over the next work year, that totals 250 hours. Or, better yet, you will be able to read twice as much within the same time frame.
- Enroll In The “University On Wheels.” The average person spends thirty minutes per day going to work and another thirty minutes coming home. Get a library of audiotapes on topics that are relevant to your future. There are high quality audio programs out there on almost any imaginable topic. You can learn Spanish,enhance your management skills, and listen to the latest and best books on tape while traveling to and from work.
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Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
Certified Executive Coach, Consultant and Trainer
Author, “Organizing Your Life” and “The Productivity Handbook”
Productivity Institute
Personal Productivity Solutions to Leverage Your Impact
127 Jefferson St.
Stratford, CT 06615
(203) 386-8062
(800) 969-3773
info@balancetime.com
https://www.balancetime.com
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