My wife’s late uncle Al always told us “make memories. That’s what matters”. He certainly did in the last years of his life. In fact, we made some great memories in our home a mere 4 days before his untimely passing from a sudden heart attack.
How we manage our time is not just about efficiency or making more money, it’s about managing a finite resource that shapes our human experience, relationships, and our legacy.
Is increasing your productivity as simple as A-B-C?
Continue readingHow to overcome procrastination in 5 minutes.
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An empty calendar holds a world of possibility, mischief, and potential abuse. An empty calendar is great if you have a day scheduled off away from the demands or your job as a busy reverse mortgage professional, but not on work days.
If you’ve arrived at your desk Monday morning with a nearly empty calendar, save that required conference call, you’re missing out and you may pay dearly for it. “Nature abhors a vacuum”- this idiom that reminds us that empty spaces go against the laws of nature itself. They may also go against the laws of good time management. Why?
If you worked in a collaborative environment where you and your coworkers share your calendars, they will see your ‘free time’ and…
Is your workload unmanageable? Does your to-do list far exceed your available time? You could be getting a reality check. In our ‘do-more’ society being busy has been mistaken as the hallmark of success.
While I have personally touted the benefits of time management in past episodes, perhaps we are missing a more important consideration, our capacity. If you’ve ever hired a contractor for a home improvement project or hired a website developer you’ve most likely run into the issue of cost overruns. In such situations, the contractor fails to account accurately the time, materials, and money required to complete the task leading to frustration, anger, and unmet expectations. However, if we’re honest, we often do the same to ourselves.
To avoid this common pitfall we must accomplish two things…
You may benefit from adding some bullets to your life. Today most, including myself, make extensive use of online calendars on their desktop computer or mobile phone. After all shouldn’t we leverage technology for increased productivity since “there’s an app for that”?
Bullet journaling and planning is a concept whose time may have come for business professionals. Both online and paper day planners present their own unique challenges. For the most part, they make you fit into their time management methodology. For some…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
Most of you are familiar with Stephen Covey’s famous book on personal productivity and success entitled, “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People”. Do his principles still work into today’s fast-paced, technology-driven culture? Welcome to Friday’s Food for Thought brought to you by Open Mortgage, where better is possible.
Let’s briefly examine each of the seven habits and see where they may apply in your daily routine as a reverse mortgage professional, spouse, parent or friend.
#1. Proactive. This is to focus on the things you can control and then devising a strategy to improve that particular undertaking. This stands opposed to reactive people who focus on what is out of their control and use their energy to complain.
#2. Proactive. Start with the end result in mind. Visualize the goal, reputation or situation you desire. Next, write down the necessary action steps to reach that goal. This requires prioritizing your life, which means learning what to say yes and no to.
#3. First Things First. Speaking of what to say yes and no to, Covey spent considerable time in his book outline the importance of priorities. His prioritization strategy centers on dividing tasks or goals into four quadrants: 1- important and urgent, 2- Important but…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary, and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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Weekends. Those two precious days of the week we cherish for rest and relaxation. A few questions come to mind when I ponder weekends. Am I making the best of my time? Are my weekend activities hindering my workweek progress? This week we will examine both and look for insight on how successful individuals spend their weekends.
Am I making the best of my time?
Set the alarm. The temptation to completely detach from being a task-oriented person is strong on the weekend but is it the best approach? If we don’t manage our sleep during the weekend we may simply sleep in on Saturday or Sunday. Getting a few extra hours of sleep is a worthy goal but try instead to set your alarm one hour later for weekend mornings
Are My Activities Hurting the Work Week?
One of the consequences of not wisely using our time on the weekends is that tasks and errands get pushed into our work week robbing our productivity. Try bunching personal errands and tasks for a few hours on Saturday or Sunday. By doing so you will not be tempted to take time off or leave early during the workday to complete these tasks…
Download a transcript of this episode here.
Looking for more reverse mortgage news, commentary and technology? Visit ReverseFocus.com today.
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You have your day planned: Meetings, phone calls, emails, client appointments…then it hits us. Something urgent requires our immediate attention or does it? The phrase “Tyranny of the Urgent” was coined in 1967 by Charles E. Hummel in his short publication. Hummel opens with the question “Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?” Perhaps those of us , or should I say most of us would answer yes! But even if possible would a longer day really solve our problem? Most likely not. The issue is so not one of time but priorities. That is where we choose to invest our time. Such a dilemma leads to stress, self doubt and possibly health problems. Why were we never taught this in school? Hummel was inspired by the words of a cotton mill manager who said…
Do you ever ask yourself where did my day go? Or Saying “I am just sooooo busy! Or… how do I get out of the rut I am in and better utilize my day? Many of us do. When it comes down to how we spend our day it boils down to two things: planning and choices. Planning ahead on our calendar for the commitments we have and making choices how we spend our down time.
Here’s how I use the rule of three in my planning. First I get a piece of paper and divide it into three sections. Sleep, Work and Things I Do.
