7 Time Management Tips That Actually Work

Do you want to be more productive or organized? Do you stay busy all day long but fail to accomplish anything? If so, you have landed on the right page. The time management tips given below can help you increase your productivity and keep you satisfied at the same time. Read on.

 

 

1) It is a myth

As far as time management is concerned, this is the first thing you need to keep in mind. No matter how busy you may be, your day will always be 24 hours long. You can't change time. What you can change is yourself. In other words, you can train yourself to use your time effectively.

2) Find out what kills most of your time

Most of us waste a lot of time. The time we waste can be invested for higher productivity. So, it's a good to find out where you kill most of your time. Do you kill most of your time surfing the web, posting on Facebook or making personal calls?

Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time bandits? Do you spend too much time 'net surfing, reading email, Facebook posting, texting, or making personal calls? This is the first step if you want to start your journey of time management.

3) Set Time management goals

You can get started by eliminating the biggest time wasters in your personal life. For instance, for one week, you can set a goal that you won't log into your Facebook account while you are doing your important tasks.

 

More from PIVOTAL on Time Management

 

4) Put Together a time management plan

The purpose of putting together a time management plan is to readjust your behavior so you can achieve a goal that you set, such as decreasing your stress or increasing your productivity. Therefore, we suggest that you set your goals and then monitor them so you can see your progress.

5) Use Some tools

You can use many tools for managing your time. This tool can be an app or a Day-Timer. This will help you find out where you are heading and how you are going to invest your time down the road. For instance, with Outlook, you can schedule your events without any problem.

6) Prioritize ruthlessly

Ideally, you may want to begin your day by prioritizing the tasks for the next 24 hours. Aside from this, you may want to set a performance benchmark as well. For instance, if you have to do 10 tasks in 24 hours, make sure you know the tasks that you have to complete no matter what.

7) Learn to outsource

Irrespective of the size of your business, you don't need to handle all the work yourself. You may want to share some workload with someone else as well. It could be an on-site or off-site assistant. So, it's a good idea to consider outsourcing.

So, if you are finding it hard to manage time, we suggest that you give a go to these tips.

Using special apps for time management is a good idea. If you are looking for a good app for this purpose, we suggest that you try out Tomato Timer or Pomodoro Timer.

Author:  Shalini Madhav 

,

Ever Been Lost?

 

As you begin another new year let me ask you - have you ever felt lost in any area of life? Feel lost at some point last year? Don't want to live the coming year lost? I could go on, but I know your time and attention span is short so on to my purpose of this short article.

Years ago - without your GPS lady if you got lost you had to stop at a local gas station or some business to ask for directions or you just could have stayed wandering in hopes of eventually finding your way to your destination.

I recall a few years trying to find the rental car location at the Denver airport and driving in circles cause my phone had died. Missed the flight and spent a lot of extra time at the airport. Ever had a similar experience - and not necessarily at an airport?

What exactly does it mean to be lost? For help I turned to the dictionary - misplaced, vanished, missing, mislaid, no longer possessed or retained, lost friends, no longer to be found - finally - having gone astray or missed the way, bewildered as to place, direction etc.

So, let me ask you where in life can we be lost? Here are a few - wrong career - lost? Bad or poor relationship - lost? Bad or poor personal habits - lost? Financial mistakes, too much debt or bad spending habits - lost? Confusion about what really matters in life - lost? Yes, there are many others but let me ask you - ever felt lost in any of these areas? I know I have and I'm not ashamed to admit it - cause - till I did I was unable to find my way out of lostness (yes, I know that's not a word).

Being lost in any area of life can waste time, energy, resources and life in general. Ever stayed in the wrong job to long? Guilty! The wrong relationship too long? Guilty! So, Tim where are you going with this? OK, there are five things we need to consider when it comes to being lost; where are we lost, why are we lost, are we lost because of ourselves or others, have we been lost in this same area in the past and how do we get un-lost?

Where are we lost - Lost is more an emotional than physical issue. Generally speaking your GPS lady is not going to help you get out of a bad relationship or job.

The best way to determine if you are lost is to consider the following; if you are feeling a lot of - stress, confusion, anxiety, frustration, a lot of negative or invalidating self-talk, resentment, disappointment, unmet expectations, you are most likely lost - maybe not super lost but lost nonetheless. Doesn't matter whether it's a relationship, business, career or any other area - it's most likely a time for - a change, letting go, surrender, new growth, acceptance, an ending, a new beginning or at the least some quiet introspection time.

Why are we lost - well, a few taken from the above pretty much sums this one up.

We are lost because; we feel stuck, feel obligated, are afraid we can't handle change, don't like uncertainty, are in blame mode, feel abandoned or just lonely - any or all of these and many others can contribute to lost feelings or actually being lost.

Are we lost because of ourselves or others - there is little in life we can control, in fact the only thing we can control is ourselves - our decisions, choices, attitudes, mindsets, feelings etc. You would be amazed, maybe not, how many people believe they can control - the weather, the traffic, other people, consequences and just about everything. Got news for you - no can do - no matter how hard you try or how much you feel you should be able to control everything. So, if you are a control freak I'm guessing you are lost a lot and why? Because you are placing your destiny, legacy, happiness, health etc. in the hands of others or circumstances that you will never be able to control. So being lost is ultimately a decision we make due to any number of uncontrollable factors.

Have we been lost in this same area in the past - This one is simple - if you have ever been lost a second or third time in the same life area - guess what? Right, you didn't learn what life wanted you to learn during the previous lostness so it's giving you another chance. And guess what? If you don't learn it this time it will keep giving you more opportunities to learn it until you finally do. Boy, I am so guilty of this one that I hate to admit it in public.

How do we get un-lost - well there's a book here but I'll keep it short. In no particular order of importance;

-Spend more time in honest self-examination and introspection.
-Create an honest support group (3-10) of people who you can bring real issues to and they will be honest with you no matter what. Never rely on just one person because no matter how smart they are you will only get their opinion and trust me - one is never enough.
-Have a couple of coaches - never just one and make sure they have experience in the areas where you want or need guidance.
-Learn to accept the truth and not your version of it.
-Change your mindsets about change, uncertainty or new beginnings. See them as positive, necessary and valuable.
-Get outside of your own ego-driven attitudes, paradigms and comfort levels.
-Admit failure, mistakes, poor choices and/or decisions.
-Don't get stuck in other's realities - stay focused on what is really happening or going on and not what others want you to see or believe.

As an author, I could go on for pages with this stuff, but let's wrap it up with one key point. Sooner or later in the adventure we call life - all of us are going to feel lost, get lost or be lost in some area of life. If you live life to the fullest you can't avoid mistakes, bad decisions or choices, failure etc. "lostness" but what you can do is learn from it or them, so you don't keep getting lost again and again in the same life area. There yet???

 

Author:  Tim Connor  Global speaker and trainer (23 countries and 4000 presentations) on a variety of sales, leadership, motivation, management and business and personal relationships and best selling author of over 80 books. To subscribe to my weekly free motivational booster articles send me an email - tim@timconnor.com. 704-875-1230.

 

 

Pivotal Leadership

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Boundless Leadership: 3 Ways to Boost Morale and Break Down Barriers to Engagement

Engagement and interpersonal relationships form the core focus of my work with teams. I'm obsessed with dissolving barriers to workplace results and relationships. Morale is often a casualty of things gone wrong.

A workshop participant asked, 'is there anything I should or should not do when it comes to encouraging positive workplace morale?'

Let's look at an example to tease out the solution. Consider one of your workplace first day stories. Do you remember what it was like arriving in to a new workplace? What happened in your first interactions? Were they inspiring? Energising? Or cold and depressing?

In my experience, how you start is how you go on. And in this we discover the secrets of morale.

My first day at Outward Bound Australia was hugely enjoyable. It started the night before where I was met by some staff and had drinks at a pub. This was my first night in a new country, and I was already making friends. My new colleague drove me from Canberra out to Tharwa and was gracious enough to let me know about some of the day to day rituals, starting with the morning meeting. Here I met my tribe. I knew they were a tribe because of the uniform: shirts and jackets with the Outward Bound logo, people wearing outdoor fleece jackets, jeans, and hiking boots.

I was introduced and welcomed publicly to the community, given a tour, shown my accommodation, and given my gear: all emblazoned by the OB logo. I was so excited to get a pack of my own with that logo! I felt proud to wear it from the start.

Everywhere there was a sense of hustle. Energy, enthusiasm, and an open curiosity about who I was and where I came from. In short, I felt embraced. I felt SAFE.

Chances are your first day was not at all like this. I find many organisations do a pretty poor job of welcoming people in a genuine and authentic way. And morale is in check from the beginning.

If we tease out what does not work, we find the secret to boundless morale.

1. Belonging
We are hard wired as tribal animals to seek belonging and safety in a tribe. It's an early development stage that stays with us and is a primal requirement for security.

Here's what not to do: not being ready for the first day (computer, work space, induction plan), treating the new person as an inconvenience to be squeezed in between meetings, not asking how they are feeling, where they came from what they are looking forward to and what experience they can contribute. Not making a big deal, or any deal at all about the new team member. Not explaining who's who at the zoo, what's important to each stakeholder, and what core projects they are working on.

2. Meaning
A sure sign of poor morale is when individuals have a uni-focal perspective on "what's in it for me". This usually results from the belonging needs not being addressed and people default into survival mode. By focusing on meaning and purpose greater than the individual contribution, and feeling the link between individual contribution and higher purpose, some of the tension from self protection eases. It's protective energy versus expansive energy.

3. Gaming
Work is meant to be enjoyable! How is the 'game' of your work? What rules are you playing by? Are they clear and agreed? Or are there some outdated rules that are clunky? What systems create friction rather than flow? Frustration instead of fun? How do you know if you're winning the game of work? Is progress visible and meaningful? What prize do you get when you 'win' at work? How often do you celebrate wins and winning? Cleaning up the game of work is a very pragmatic way to boost morale. Just make things easier, simpler, and more fun.

Many leaders let morale take care of itself. This is a huge mistake. When we cultivate morale deliberately, we clean up blocks to boundless success.

What do you need to improve, let go of, or incorporate to manage morale better?

***

Zoë is on a mission to encourage big thinkers with big hearts to make a big difference. She is passionate about showing leaders how to challenge limitations so they can live and lead with boundless energy, confidence, and conviction.

With over 30 years experience developing leaders, she has published "Composure: How Centered Leaders Make the Biggest Impact" and "Moments: Leadership When It Matters Most." http://www.zoerouth.com/book/

Photo by Paul Bence on Unsplash

Pivotal Writing

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Does punctuation really matter?

Tablet for writing

 

The fuss generated by Lynne Truss’s book, “Eats Shoots & Leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation,” really brought this topic into focus when it was first published. From the way everyone was talking when the book came out, you’d think punctuation was a whole new, previously unappreciated art form that could light up all our lives.

In the cold light of the business day, though, punctuation is not much more than a set of tools we use to fine tune our writing -– nothing more romantic than that.

You’ve probably noticed that it tends to split into two separate categories:

1. Punctuation that affects the meaning of what you write (so it’s worth getting right)

2. Punctuation that doesn’t really affect the meaning of what you write (but irritates some people if you get it wrong)

Beyond that, also there are variations in punctuation rules from one English language culture to the next. Most of those, I would say, fall into category #2.

So let’s take a look at the topic from the non-literary, business-only viewpoint. Please note these are my opinions only and I’m no English graduate – only a realist - so feel free to disagree!

Punctuation that affects the meaning of what you write (so it’s worth getting right)

 

Apostrophe

This is probably the most misunderstood punctuation element of them all. Time and time again I see examples of the apostrophe incorrectly used and I think, “well, if I can get them right on the strength of mere high school / secondary school English, why can’t they?” Apostrophes are easy. Here’s how:

The apostrophe is used in 3 main ways:

1. To make a noun possessive - Suze’s, the children’s, everyone’s – and if it has an “s” at the end of the original noun, then the apostrophe goes after that – cheeses’ – helpers’ –  mothers’ – etc.

2. To show you’ve left something out and/or contracted two words - don’t, won’t, she’ll, he’d, etc.,

and most importantly, it’s as in the contraction of it is

3. To indicate plurals of some lowercase letters - but only a few, as in “mind your p’s and q’s.

The apostrophe is NOT used to accompany possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms and well-known abbreviations.

So you DO NOT need an apostrophe in examples like his … yours … hers … its (aha, that’s why!) … etc.

Similarly you DO NOT need an apostrophe to make plurals out of things like … the 1970s … Ipods … PCs …  etc.

 

Comma

Here’s another really useful punctuation mark. Commas split thought processes after introductory 1) words, 2) phrases or 3) clauses, particularly where there would be a pause in natural speech.

1) However, I’m delighted to say that…

2) From the employee’s perspective, I can see we need to…

3) Looking at it from the employee’s perspective, I can see we need to…

Semi colon

This creates a more dramatic pause, usually to link two clauses if you don’t want to use a verbal link like “and” or “but.”

With verbal link:I want to go to the wine bar, but I have work to do here

Without verbal link:I want to go to the wine bar; I have work to do here, however

You can also use semi colons to create a list – for example…

In writing fiction we need to consider a number of issues including establishing the background; defining the main characters; developing the plot; introducing sub-plots; and sketching the roles of supporting characters.

 

Bullet points

In modern business writing – especially for online purposes – it’s usually better to use bullet points to form a list, because they’re easier to follow both verbally and visually. Generally you should use them for lists of three or more points, and probably for no more than about ten without some sort of break.

 

Colon

This creates an even more definitive pause. It’s most frequently used after a complete (short) statement so you can introduce one or more directly related ideas. If they come in list form you may want to use semi colons to separate the list entries that follow.

For example …

The following people were instrumental in helping us achieve our goals: John Doe, senior chemist; Mary Jones, technical manager; Joe Bloggs, technical advisor; Jane Smith, liaison officer.

Don’t forget, too, that colons form an essential part of timings (e.g. 05:00 hours, 6:00 p.m.)

 

Period/full stop

Need I say more? Well, yes. Be sure you use this punctuation mark often enough. Long sentences in contemporary business communications tend to wander and obscure meaning. Shorter sentences are punchier, better understood, and far more powerful.

 

Parentheses/brackets

Parentheses section off extra thoughts that, although not critical, are still relevant to a sentence, e.g. … I wondered if the old homestead (which had been built in the 19th century) would withstand this modern onslaught of renovation.

 

Dash

To an extent dashes perform the same function as parentheses … e.g. I wondered if the old homestead  -- which had been built in the 19th century -- would withstand this modern onslaught of renovation. They also can be used in the same way as a colon, e.g. I wondered if the old homestead would withstand this modern onslaught of renovation –- having been built in the 19th century, it might not have been strong enough.

 

Quotation marks/inverted commas

These marks show direct quotations. Whether other punctuation marks like commas, periods/full stops, colons and semi colons go inside or outside the quote marks depends on where you went to school!

Quote marks also indicate words you want to pull out to suggest irony or some other quirk.In an advertising or promotional context, some people feel that to put quote marks around a statement will make readers believe it has been said by some authoritative person and therefore deserves to be taken seriously.

Well, I know that can work when you’re advertising a fairly low-level product to a certain mass-market level. But believe me if you operate in the higher echelons of business-to-business communications, forget that one. If you want it to be believed, make sure you attribute it to its genuine originator.

Punctuation that doesn’t really affect the meaning of what you

write (but irritates some people if you get it wrong)

Hyphen

Hyphens are used to join two words into one compound word … e.g. well-known, eighty-three, semi-skilled. You also should hyphenate words with some prefixes and suffixes like ex-wife, mid-1970s, self-interested, chairman-elect.

Exclamation mark

People often tend to overuse the exclamation mark which weakens its impact. I’m guilty of this. Often I’ll compose an email to someone, then go back and edit out all but one or two of the “screamers.” Too many of these cheapen your writing, even if it is intended to be light-hearted.

Leader dots…

Another “guilty” from Suze … see? You can use these instead of parentheses or dashes, but they are frowned upon by some people. To be safe, it’s better to use them sparingly or not at all.

Underlining

Underlining is a common way to emphasize text, but be very careful about using it in text that is intended to be used online. Here, an underlined word or words in an email or web text can represent a link. It’s best to use the bold facility for emphasis.

Italics

Another means of emphasizing text. Online, try to avoid using it unless your font is large, because italics are not easy to read from a screen. Traditionally they’re used to show the title of something like a play or newspaper, and also some foreign words e.g. haute cuisine, schadenfreude.

Slash/oblique

This is often used to represent and, or, or and/or. Use it sparingly online as it can be visually confusing

 

 

 

 © Suzan St Maur Better results from your business writing
W: http://www.suzanstmaur.com         E: suze@suzanstmaur.com
For more of my business and marketing communication tips, take a look at my articles on the US website, Marketing Professionals .... go:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/arch/author_list.asp?aut=Suzan_St_Maur
And for even more of my articles, go:  http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Suzan_St_Maur

Pivotal Goal Setting

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How to Increase Personal Motivation to Achieve Your Goals


· Does it leave you cold?

· Do you wonder if there is something wrong with you, why you can't seem to get motivated?

· Do you set goals and then leave them?

· Have you set many goals this way?

· Have you achieved goals and felt lost afterwards?

If the answer to any of these is yes, read on...

----

In 1996 I had an existential crisis that changed my life;... and in some ways the cause of it was my method of goal-setting.

At the time, I had leap-frogged my way into professional writing, jumping five years of journalistic grunt-work to suddenly be writing at a top selling publication in the UK.

I was working with some of the best writers in that section of the industry, my salary was increasing every few months and four million people a week were reading my writing. I had money, a career at 22, and I was fulfilled. Or so I thought.

One day I was walking along the street when a thought struck me like a punch with a wet cold rag: 'Is this IT? Is this all I have to look forward to for the next twenty years? Earning money and buying stuff?' (I acknowledge to those in less fortunate circumstances this may seem unbelievably petty.)

I was struck hard by a kind of horizon-less despair and not long after I started studying the Bible until a few months later I became a Christian.

Why the mini-biography? Because as I tease out the structure of what happened - and what I learned years later to do about it - it reveals powerful insights about some things that might be missing from your goal setting philosophy... things which, if you realize them now, could help you stay motivated for years to come and avoid the enormous drop I experienced. (Of course, I would also say that drop led to something much better so it's all good!)

Want to know more? (That was a Starship Troopers joke for you sci-fi geeks out there... )




What had happened was that I had achieved an Ultimate Goal. This in itself what not a bad thing. It was just that BY itself it led to my crisis...

A few years before I left a job in a timber yard to pursue becoming a writer. I took my college courses then moved onto a journalistic degree. Before I had finished the degree I was offered a job... and suddenly I had achieved what, at the time, was my life goal - to be a professional writer working in the media. At 22.

Do you get where I'm going with this?

I had no-more meaningful goals BEYOND my ultimate goal. I had no-longer had anything more meaningful to strive for. Thus the despair.

When I became a Christian I again had a set of meaningful goals to strive for. One, was to imitate Jesus, which is, frankly, an endless goal because Christians believe he lived a perfect life and we don't.

Life improved for a number of reasons but the ones I want to mention here was that I now had:

a) Meaningful goals beyond my current goals

b) Goals that, should I decide it so, are actually a never-ending series of improvements rather than a one-time Ultimate Goal to aim for.

This is important so pay attention.

Silvia Hartmann, a millionaire, and author of Mind Million explains it like this: "As soon as this [getting your first yacht, Mercedes, castle] has happened and was experienced... people... have to start looking for something else and something new, something even better still."

That is how people are built that's how our neurology is designed - to never stand still but actively seek out BETTER AND DIFFERENT experiences, as long as we live.

She explained that the trouble with only having one goal was that "people... THINK if only they can get that first Mercedes [or anything you desire] then EVERYTHING will be blissful and STAY blissful. This is the 'happily ever after' delusion."

All we have to remember that we are dealing not with THE [ultimate] Mercedes, THE [ultimate] dream home,... THE [ultimate] business, THE [ultimate] contract - but always with THE FIRST.

When you think of it as the FIRST... OF MANY houses/cars/businesses (eg. A house in the UK... and Germany... and Miami and then?) then, as Hartmann says: 'the first goal doesn't have to bear the burden of making you happy and keeping you happy for evermore; it becomes a stepping-stone or a door that is now open and leads to whole new set of unfoldments.

It doesn't take anything away from the fun and excitement of the FIRST GOAL, in fact, it makes it much, much more exciting... because... [As a result]... we now have an evolution of goals that can start much smaller, become much more affordable and available; the goals become springboards to greater and brighter things, all along the way. And they become achievable.''

 

Visit the PIVOTAL books, videos, quotations and articles on goal setting

 

She uses the Golden Goals Line - the exercise is reproduced below from her book Mind Million (no longer available):

>> Exercise: Golden Line Goals

So, here is our exercise.

1. Consider your business and your goals as they used to be. Are they achievable within a reasonable amount of time? Are they achievable with what you've got right now? Are they WITHIN YOUR REACH?

2. If they are not, we go back to the drawing board and re-define goals to create a golden goal line that powers you into the future.

Make sure that your next and upcoming FIRST GOAL is completely achievable, and that in achieving this you are paving the way to the next goal.

Make sure that your first goal is something that will make you proud and happy when you have achieved it.

Make a line of at least 3 goals in a row that follow from one another logically and quite easily and write them down across a piece of paper, with the beginning and easiest goal at the bottom, closest to you, and going up to the further, higher goals.

Notice how the WEIGHT of the greater goals are creating a strong motivational pull to get started on the EASY AND ACHIEVABLE goal at the bottom.

Can you understand this principle, FEEL how it works?

 

If you can, then you have just achieved one of the most crucial understandings on motivation and goal setting there is.

A Note: You can use this exercise for personal goals, for business goals, for relationship goals, even for personal development goals.

The golden goal line is a UNIVERSAL principle that works regardless of what the content or context of a goal might be.

Success is in the Striving

A complimentary philosophy to the golden goal line is the idea (supported by Robert Ringer, author of Action and Millionaire Habits) that happiness is found in the striving for goals, not simply the end result itself. And if you are not convinced by this, consider these points.

a) If you are always focused on the BIG end goal, some part of your mind will always consider you a loser until you actually achieve it. You will always NOT HAVE the end goal until you have it... possibly years later. (Thanks to Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, for this insight).

b) Therefore, it just makes sense to enjoy the larger part of the process, which is all the little goals and hours of practice you have to do to build the big one. Yes, you can choose to be happy about the 'journey' AND the destination.

Adams supports - and yet actually goes further than - Hartman and Ringer, and suggests that we stop thinking of ourselves as having BIG goals per se. Instead, we think of ourselves as aiming eternally for improvement with the bigger goals as just part of the journey towards excellence. That way, the motivation will never be blocked by the idea that it will just end.

Striving small but consistently

Adams says that if you do something every day that has the overall effect of making your life better then you have a system for improving (for example drinking water and exercising). But you don't have to start off with grand sweeping actions... in fact, you can start off... tiny.




I first came across this concept in One Small Step can Change a Life and later, in more convincing detail in The Compound Effect. It can be summed up thus:

Small decisions, consistently taken, can add up to destiny... or destruction.

For example, each day I practice 'no-mind' holding 15 seconds or more of blankness in my mind. I am up to about 22 seconds at the moment. At first I couldn't go beyond six or seven seconds.

Andy Shaw, creator of a Bug Free Mind, and another millionaire, says that this is the foundational skill for creating a life of your dreams - to be able to control your own mind. He says that ANYTHING he teaches you when you don't have this skill will not work to its full effect.

So I practice a few minutes a day... and I am now able to quiet my mind much faster than before. This tiny thing, practiced consistently is having a compound effect on my life.

What could you do consistently that would add up over time... and I stress TIME because you may not see results instantly? Keeping well hydrated is a daily discipline that bears much fruit in its positive effect on the rest of your life.

Anthony Robbins says the Japanese call these ideas Kaizen - and he calls it CANI - constant and never ending improvement!

If you're not in the habit of making everyday improvements then try this... pick one area of improvement and do something to improve every day for 30 days. For example, when I was studying Provocative Coaching I would write out provocative statements every day until it became second nature.

Doing this is not just useful for improving - it gives you a real taste of what continuous improvement feels like.

===

So, in summary - keep adding at least three meaningful goals beyond the completion of your current goal; breathe a sigh of relief as your improvement and therefore attainment never has to end and if you need to, take baby steps because you are still moving forward.

To infinity and beyond!

Joshua Cartwright writes with the purpose of giving you the knowledge and drive to overcome issues and pursue your goals. Check out his books on Amazon and especially his latest book created with the help of millionaire maker Ron G Holland: The Millionaire Silence: http://tinyurl.com/my245ny

,

Memory: Discover the Missing Component of Recall

Memory is everything; without our memory we have nothing. We must have an ability to recall information in order to learn and develop. Today brain research has uncovered fascinating discoveries relating to memory, yet we have only just begun to understand this mystery of the mind.

 

Most researchers focus on the brain and how the different parts are related to memory. This understanding is very important if we are ever going to truly understand ourselves. I find neuroscience to be a fascinating subject that has helped shape my understanding of the human condition however I don't want to look at the brain in regards to memory.

I instead want to focus on the mind and how it utilizes information in regards to our memory. I want to share my theory on how the two different minds (conscious and subconscious) work together to provide us with the ability of recall.

Most people know about short and long-term memory; and how these two systems work together to give us the ability of recall. I believe there is a third type of memory that I call temporary memory that helps fill in the gap between short and long-term memory. I want to go over each of the three types, show you how they work, and explain how the two minds are related.

Before we can remember something we must first take in the information to be stored. Our DNA does contain some information but for this topic I will be focused on information we have obtained from outside sources; meaning our five senses.

Pivotal Resource Centre       Topic          MEMORY

Everything we experience in life is the result of information coming in through our five senses. Without these senses we would have no experience of the world or have any information to be processed into memory. This incoming information is first sent to the subconscious mind.

The reason the subconscious gets the information first is because it's the survival mind and is much faster at processing information. We need it this way to allow us to react to events that involve an immediate threat to us such as being attacked or touching a hot stove.

After the subconscious mind determines if any action is needed or not; it sends a small amount of the information to the conscious mind were it becomes what we call our conscious awareness. We are only aware of a small part of what is going on around us. This is why two people can have the same experience yet have two different views of what happened.

The thing to keep in mind is just because the information is not consciously known doesn't mean it's lost. This information is still sitting there inside your head just waiting to be used. At the same time this information is not yet a part of your long-term memory. All this incoming information is stored in what I call temporary memory and is controlled by the subconscious mind.

If information is stored in temporary memory; how do we get it to become long-term memory? My theory is the subconscious mind processes this information and converts it to long-term memory when we sleep, specifically REM sleep. To me this is one of the reasons we have dreams. Dreams are nothing more than us becoming consciously aware of temporary memory being converted to long-term memory.




One way the subconscious processes information to be converted to long-term memory is by using emotional "tags". This means if an event has caused us to feel a strong emotion it gets linked to that emotion. When this information is converted to long-term memory it is arranged in such a way as to be easy to recall. In other words the more emotion involved the more the memory will be put at the "front of the line" and information with no emotions will be move to the back. This makes it easier to recall emotional events which are important when it comes to survival. This is why the subconscious is in control of this system.

Just because the conscious mind does not have direct control over this information, it can access it through a process of requesting information from the subconscious. When the conscious mind requests information the subconscious first looks in this temporary memory because it is smaller, easier to process, and most likely to be more relevant. If it can't find it in temporary memory then it will expand the search to long-term memory which can take longer to find because of the massive size of long-term memory.

That's why you can be trying to think of something and then forget about it, but later the answer will just pop into your head for no reason. Your subconscious continues to search without any conscious awareness of what is going on.

The subconscious also uses the information in temporary memory to influence our decisions and actions. This influence is the basis of subliminal programing and can be very powerful if used correctly. Subliminal programing doesn't turn people into walking zombies but can have a real effect on a person's conscious thought process.

As you can see the subconscious mind is very involved with our memory by working with both temporary and long-term memory. The concept of using temporary memory to hold information before being converted to long-term memory is a wonderful system that allows us to utilize information as its being taken in. The problem is temporary memory is a fixed size and this causes problems.

Have you noticed how you get mentally tired if you don't get proper sleep? A lack of sleep causes the temporary memory to become full which can lead to issues with being able to recall the information we want. Sleep is so important in maintaining a strong memory.

 

Pivotal Resource Centre       Topic          SLEEP

Lack of sleep is not the only thing that can cause issues with temporary memory; there is also what environment we find ourselves in.

I skipped over one of the steps in how information is processed because I felt it was too early in the flow of this article. When the subconscious first receives information it looks for any copies of that information in our long-term memory. If it finds an exact copy it will simply reinforce the long-term memory instead of sending it to temporary memory.

This is why we have better recall of something if we can look at the information from different angels or give the information more details. These things cause more copies of the information to be put into temporary memory that will then be converted to long-term memory. If all we do is look at something one way we only reinforce a single long-term memory; and memory is all about the number of links we create. So how is our environment involved in memory?

When you are in an environment you are familiar with you take in more "copy" information because you already have knowledge about what is around you; which causes less information to be stored in your temporary memory. When you are in an unfamiliar environment your temporary memory will fill more rapidly causing you to become mentally fatigued. This is why you feel mentally tired when on vacation or when trying to learn something new.

The final piece of this memory puzzle is of course short-term memory. The conscious mind uses short-term memory to process information it receives. Because of the highly analytically nature of the conscious mind it can only keep track of a very small amount of information. Short-term memory is the only form of memory that is controlled by the conscious mind.

If all of this seems confusing or overwhelming let me offer you a metaphor on how all this works that will make it easier to understand.

Your mind is like an office. Information comes in and first goes to the inbox (temporary memory). From there some of the paper work gets move from the inbox to the desk top (short-term memory).




With any desk top there is very limited space so you must work on just a couple of things at a time. You can move papers back and forth from the desk top to the inbox but can only work with a few things at a time.

Just as with temporary memory an inbox can only hold so much before it becomes a disorganized mess. To keep the inbox from getting too full papers are moved to a filing cabinet (long-term memory). From time to time we do move papers from the filing cabinet to the desk top as we need them (consciously becoming aware of something from long-term memory). However it can be hard and time-consuming in finding just what we are looking for.

I hope this metaphor helps with understanding how the three parts of memory work together to give us this amazing ability of recall. Memory is still a mystery yet we are moving in the right direction.

ARTICLE AUTHOR:  Jeremy T. Jordan is a dynamic Speaker and Personal Life Coach that specializes in the areas of Success, Happiness, and Fulfillment. He is the founder of Why U Can Life Management; a personal development system designed to empower people with the knowledge and skills of self-mastery. For more information on Jeremy T. Jordan or the Why U Can Life Management System go to his website http://www.whyucanlifemanagement.com

How Emotions Can Help You Succeed At Work 

 

 

You’ve probably heard it in the past: emotions have no place at work. Or, perhaps Donald Trump’s catchy “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business” line on The Apprentice stuck with you. But forget everything you’ve been told. Emotions and your business do work together – in fact, they work well as a team to help you achieve success. Just think of creativity. If you want to boost your company’s creativity to brainstorm exciting ideas, you need passion! There are many other reasons why emotions are important in business.

As with anything, moderation is key. If you’re letting your emotions get the better of you or cloud your judgement, they could be risky business. However, they can help you achieve your goals and encourage others to succeed, too.

They Help To Get Your Vision Across

Ask yourself: do you want to be seen as someone who’s difficult to read? You might think it’s good to lead from a distance, but what your employees will respect much more is if you’re open and honest sometimes – even if you have something negative to say. A study published on the Harvard Business Review found that 92 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “Negative feedback, if delivered appropriately, is effective at improving performance.” When you share your real feelings, without attacking anybody, you make it much easier for your employees to know what you want. You might also motivate them to work harder at your vision.

They Make You Empathetic

If you’re in tune with your emotions, you’re probably going to be tuning into your employees’ emotions – and that’s a really positive thing. If you notice body language, tone of voice, and how people say things, instead of just listening to their words, you can learn a lot from them, which can give you great insights into your company and what it needs. Remember, when your employees are satisfied, your business will succeed!

Research from Curtin University found that workers who claimed to be satisfied with their jobs earned lower than less-satisfied people. Job satisfaction is about more than money so don’t assume that your employees will be satisfied by their paychecks – how you treat them matters! As for you, you can’t have a thriving business without happy employees, even if you’ve got a great business idea that you know will attract people. You need your employees to make it happen, so treat them well.

They Help You To Resolve Conflict

Being open to emotions in the workplace isn’t just about expressing yourself and coming across as real to your employees. It’s also about having greater Emotional Intelligence, which gives you the ability to resolve conflict. When you’re reaching out to employees and showing compassionate, this can help you to heal workplace conflict and have a much more effective – and happier – working environment. Toxic workers, like the people who complain a lot or steal the spotlight from their co-workers can cost your business millions of dollars, but on the flipside they can actually be really productive. Working with them and using emotional intelligence to diffuse conflict they have with others can create peace, while also boosting their productivity so everyone wins.

They Create A Team

When you display passion and energy, it can be contagious! But it also fosters a team ethic. Researchers from the University of Queensland found that managers can boost productivity and prevent burnout by making employees feel part of a team. “Leaders who create a strong sense of ‘us’ and a sense of belonging within their teams help staff to feel more positive about their work,” Dr Niklas Steffens, lead researcher of the study, said. “This feeling translates to increased levels of engagement.”

Instead of leaving your emotions at the door when you enter work in the mornings, let them come inside! They have many benefits, such as building strong work relationships, helping to ease conflict, and contributing to your career success.

 

Author:  Jackie   Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash