Pivotal Stories

 

There are in fact, many ways how you can remember important information such as numbers, events, errands and names. The challenge is how to make all the information easy to retrieve, out of the top of your head in a random situation.

Memory techniques work on anything that you like to master. There are things you may need to work on in memorizing something for the first time but all information has techniques on how they can all be memorized. It just takes a lot of interest and enthusiasm to be able to absorb all the information we want to understand and remember.

Creating an absurd and outrageous story from a list of non-related items will do well enough to stick in your head. What else is that it stays there in your memory the way the story is created, the chronological order and even the positioning of the character! The fun part about this technique is that there’s no limit to how you want to create the story and the sillier it is; the easier for you to remember it and the keywords that comprise it.

Now you’ll say what if you need to memorize an entire chapter of items and information; surely you can’t create a novel out of this. True. But in fact, what you can do to get around this problem is to break down all the information you need to remember. Try to put the related or similar items in one cluster and name it. Do the same with the rest. You can also create acronyms out of the clusters you have made and then, create a silly story using the acronyms or the cluster of words you’ve created.

Once you have this ready, you can then associate mental images with the story and each key word you’ve made. It has been proven that the imagination, especially when there’s clear images associated with it works efficiently – efficient enough to be remembered.

Following these techniques for the first time may come a bit slower and difficult but practicing them can gradually increase your expertise over any memorization tasks. Learn more important details regarding memorization improvement techniques.

In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

http://bit.ly/QCLhWy

As kids we're not taught how to deal with success; we're taught how to deal with failure. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If at first you succeed, then what? 

-- Charlie Sheen 

"You don't have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good."

Jeff Herring

start

Prepare a written agenda for your meeting. Make sure that everyone at the meeting is aware of it, and if necessary, have the meeting agree to it. Then you can refer to the agenda to keep discussion focussed.

 

Every day you hear people complain about the need for better time management, and when you take a close look at any one of these people, they clearly have habits (or ways of being) that are enormous time wasters. For instance, there are:

The Daydreamers: Daydreamers spend a good portion of their day wishing they had more time to do "fun" things. They tend to put off big tasks by performing smaller, more mundane items while they daydream and wish their time away. Then they end up working all night or on the weekends to meet deadlines.

The Optimists: The optimist is always underestimating the amount of time it will take to accomplish something, resulting in their constantly being over scheduled!

The Bobble Head Dolls: The bobble head doll is a compulsive "yes" person who says "yes" to everything! They don't know how to say "no" or they are afraid to say "no". Either way, the result is the same. They have more things piled on their plate than any one human-being can possibly accomplish!

The Perfectionists: The perfectionist crosses every "t" and dots every "i" nearly to a fault. While I advocate doing things right the first time, if you nit-pick, or if nothing is perfect unless it is done by you (or directed by you), your perfectionism is getting in the way of the time you have to do and have everything you say you want to do and have!



The Socialites: The socialite takes their need to connect with human-beings to an art form. While being "related" is a good thing, in and of itself, it is be a detriment when it gets in the way of the tasks at hand.

The Firefighters: The firefighter is always in a rush. Even when life and business is good, they are constantly frantic, and their forehead is bunched up in knots. Everything is a crisis... even if it isn't, and their franticness ends up draining a great deal of their time. They have simply forgotten how to slow down!

Do you see yourself in any one of these types of people?

You may actually see a bit of yourself in each one of these. Some days it may be your perfectionism that gets in the way of using time wisely, and the next day it may be daydreaming that stymies your progress.
The good news is that no matter which category you fit into, the tips for making the best of your time, and being better at time management, are all the same!

 

Related: 7 Time Management Tips That Actually Work

 

Tips for Better Time Management:

Take 10, 20, 30 minutes at the end of each day to put your plan for the next day down on paper.

Highlight the most important 3 or 4 tasks to be completed and do those tasks first. Don't allow yourself to get so bogged down in the "little" things that creep up that you run out of time for the "big" things.

Learn to say "no"

Before you say "yes" to anything, always check your own schedule and that of your family!

Be clear about your priorities; know what you want and what you don't want.

Stay organized; keeping the space around you organized will help to keep your head organized!

Take time for you!



Remember, being a better manager of your time isn't just about how to fit more into one day. It is about enjoying the time you have on this planet. It is about making the most out of the time you have so that you have time to sit back, relax and enjoy this crazy ride we call life! Our day is made up of 86,400 seconds... each one a moment in time that we can't ever recreate. Each one is unique and each one is valuable. So don't forget to make the most of those moments... to enjoy those moments... to enjoy your life.

....................................................
Clay Nelson has been coaching executives for over 30 years. Coaching from the core fact that growing people is the key to growing any business, Clay has helped countless business executives and their teams come together to not just improve their businesses, but to improve their lives.
Clay Nelson is also a well-regarded motivational and educational speaker, providing outstanding programs customized to the audiences he is speaking with. Able to speak on any number of topics within his noted specialties, Clay Nelson is known for moving audiences from the status quo to action as they create the businesses and lives they say they want to have.
For more information go to: http://www.claynelsonlifebalance.com

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
Dubois

Most of us have to work, and the more you can do in the least amount of time, the better. Working smarter frees you up so that not only do you have a job, but you have balance in your life !

Getting Back To Basics

A simple time management tip is to use a daily 'to do' list.

You have a couple of choices:

Write your list in the morning, as the first task at the commencement of your working day.

Step back a bit and take the time to do it before you finish up the night before - as your final flourish for the day. This helps to free your mind so that you don't take your work home with you. Instead, you just leave it there to stew, all by itself, until you arrive next morning to take up the reins.

Write It Down

Forget trying to create a To Do list in your head. It must, must, must be written down. And then left somewhere highly visible, such as your desk top. That's why I suggest writing it in your diary, so you can juggle it with your other commitments.

An effective To Do list will almost always be updated during the day. It is not a static document. As your priorities alter with each crisis, your list will be a work in progress.

First of all, don't be unrealistic. Steal yourself to list only the achievable projects and activities. If you are unable to complete a task on the designated day, simply transfer it to the next day or another suitable time in your diary. Look at the daily To Do list as the map that keeps you on track.

When you have written your list in the diary, go back and number each item in order of importance. Then, you can simply start with No. One and work your way through.

Writing

Your Work Book

In our busy working lives today, we are bombarded with so many different distractions that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of everything that's going on, particularly if you work in an open-plan office.
Instead of recording on scraps of paper or sticky notes all the zillion thoughts that pass through your mind during these stressful periods, use an inexpensive spiral note book. Anything of importance that you write down can then be found again at a later date. Use it as an adjunct, or a companion, to your diary and as a great memory jogger.

You'll find using a Work Book will help you focus your thoughts, remind yourself of past conversations and save time as you'll no longer have to search for all those "back of envelope" notations.

Taming the Telephone

Murphy's Law of Telephones and Deadlines means that when you are really pressed trying to complete a project on time, the telephone will take off, with a mind of its own.

The pro-active person will rejig their answering message to say something like this: "Hi, it's Joe Bloggs. I'm unavailable right now however if you leave a message stating what your call is about, and the best time to phone you back, I'll get in touch later in the day."

On the other hand, if you have someone working with you who can screen your calls (lucky you) word them up to give a similar message. Asking what the call is about will help you assemble any relevant information before you call back. This will enable you to better plan your day, to return all calls sooner and more effectively.




Time Management / Stress Management

Effective time management will directly affect your stress management. Using these simple, commonsense time management tips will greatly reduce your stress levels. Keep your systems simple because the simpler they are the more likely you will use them. By implementing these tips and continually sticking with them you will also avoid procrastination, and work smarter, not harder.

-------------------
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"
To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.co