I'll do it later

ever said those words?

Are you saying them more and more?

Then read this now from the DLM Blog:

Doing Battle With Procrastination? Here's How to Win – For Good

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:32 AM PDT

Sometimes I get emails from Dumb Little Man's readers – and it's always lovely to receive these! One problem that people often mention is procrastination. They know that this bad habit is holding them back, but they're not sure how to beat it.

All you procrastinators out there – even those of you who told me not to write about this because you'd no longer have an excuse! – listen up. Here's my four-step battle plan for beating procrastination right into the ground:

• Recognize the Enemy
  
• Get out the Big Guns
  
• Protect Your Flank
  
• Never Retreat!

1. Recognize the Enemy
   You're going to have a hard time beating procrastination if you don't recognize your enemy. Procrastination is a cunning creature and can sidle onto the daily battlefield in various guises:
   
   • Distractions (like web surfing)
     
   • "Urgent" tasks (emails / phone calls)
     
   • "I'll just..." tasks (tidy the desk, make a coffee, pop to the store...)
     
   Sometimes, you know you're faced with the enemy. You've just spent the last half-hour Twittering and looking at amusing pictures of cats online; procrastination's got you by the neck. Other times, procrastination wears the guise of productivity. Surely, getting your inbox cleared out is important? Well, maybe it is but are you just using that as an excuse not to get on with your really important work?
   
   Procrastination often wins by making small, incremental gains. Those five minutes of reading the newspaper turn into twenty. That coffee before making a start on work turns into a half-hour natter with your colleague.
   
   Recognize the enemy – and that's half the battle won.


2. Get Out the Big Guns
   If you're going to beat procrastination – especially if you've done battle and retreated wounded in the past – then you need the big guns.
   
   My favorite way to blast procrastination right back into oblivion is what I call the just make a start method. When that cloud of procrastination hovers over a task, the best way to banish it is to dive right in. Get your hands dirty. Don't stop to think too much. Just open up that Word document, find that file, or pick up that phone. Taking action is the fastest possible way to send procrastination running.
   
   Some of the other big guns that will obliterate procrastination are:
   
   • Firm Deadlines (tell your boss you'll have the report on his desk by Friday)
     
   • Music (something with a strong, energetic beat – I like thrash metal...)
     
   • "Chunking" Down (write a step by step plan when you're feeling overwhelmed by a project)
3. Protect Your Flank
   There's no point tackling procrastination head-on if you're not protecting your flank. Don't leave yourself open to attack. People do this all the time by working so much that they burn out, or by forgetting the physical aspect of procrastination.
   
   You need what the army calls R&R – rest and relaxation – if you're going to perform well. Trying to work long days, or working every weekend, is going to leave you wide open to procrastination's lure: when you're tired or stressed, it's hard to stay motivated. Learn to leave work at work.
   
   And, like any soldier, you need to stay fit. Getting regular exercise – just half an hour's brisk walking each day – is enough to really improve your focus. Stay well hydrated, and eat sensibly. You might have laughed in the face of procrastination in the morning, but huge lunch and a couple of beers aren't going to leave you in good shape for the afternoon.


4. Never Retreat!
   Finally, recognize that there will be times when procrastination gets the better of you. You'll have days when you don't accomplish any of the tasks on your to-do lists. You'll lose whole afternoons to web comics and Facebook. You'll spend whole weekends watching DVDs, even when you planned to finally give the house a spring-clean.
   
   Don't let one lost skirmish turn into surrendering the war. You're always stronger than procrastination, and you can bounce back. The more often you win, the easier it'll be. Never retreat – never give up! Pick yourself off the ground, and start the battle again.

Are you winning the war on procrastination? What are your tips from the trenches?

Written on 4/05/2010 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures.

Photo Credit: somethingmarissa

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Working with PDF's

In my work, I need to send documents back & forth and one way to ensure the person receiving them can read them is to send a PDF.

I had this Cool Site from Kim Komando saved in my email for the past year, so I thought it was time to share it with you too:

Make changes to PDF files

PDF files are a popular way to share documents. They can be opened on virtually any machine.

But working with PDF files can be a hassle. Most of us don't have the software necessary to edit them.

Your best bet is to purchase Adobe Acrobat. But who has a few hundred dollars to drop on high-end software?

There's also a free solution: PDFVue. This free site won't give you all the options of Acrobat. But you'll be surprised by what it will do.

Read the Quick Start guide before using the program. Then upload the PDF file you'd like to change.

You can add comments or text boxes. Or, turn your PDF file into a form to be completed by others. You can also insert pictures or block out text.

When you're done, download your PDF file or share it with others. This is one site you'll want to bookmark!

TO VISIT THIS COOL SITE, GO HERE:
www.pdfvue.com

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#2

What is the number one single thing you will do in your life?

Sleep.

Even if you only get 6 hours a night, that's adding up to 42 hours weekly. 8 hours would be 56 hours.

That's every week, including vacation. And if you think pulling some all nighters lowers your average, when you were an infant, you slept a lot more than 8 a day.

So what's #2?

Work. Earning money. There may be times when it could creep up to #1, but generally it will be #2.

Last week, the DLM blog featured this story about #2:

How to Find Your Soul Job

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 07:19 AM PDT

Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, originated the theory of soul mates. He believed that humans were born with 4 arms, 4 hands, and 2 faces. Zeus, Greek King of Gods, saw this as a potential threat and split everyone in half; thereby, condemning everyone to a life of trying to find their other half in order to be whole.

In modern day life, we consider our soul mate as someone who has similar characteristics, dislikes and likes, as well as compliments our differences. What if the same concept applied to finding our “soul job?” This would be a job that we enjoyed going to everyday, yes, there would be some bad times as well as good times, but there is still a sense of fulfillment and gratification at the end of the workday. It is important to note that a soul career/job doesn’t have to satisfy us financially, but gratify us emotionally and intellectually. Here are a few tips in finding and “mating” with your soul job:

1. Find a career/job that you would enjoy, even in the most challenging times.
   We all know that it can’t be peaches and cream everyday. For example, firemen realize that they are going to be saving lives and going into fire and smoke-filled homes and buildings to save lives, but they still do it. They understand the threats and still come to work everyday and give 110%. You can do the same.


2. Explore the unexpected. Think outside the career box.
   Ever thought about working in a job that you would otherwise think unsuitable for you? Currently, you may be a clerk or cashier in a retail store, did you ever think about being a doctor or a nurse? Think about why you haven’t started on the journey to being who you want to be, and then think about what it takes to become whole and get the job you really want. It may seem frightening at first, because you are considering the time, money, and effort, but wouldn’t it be worth it? Aren’t YOU worth it?


3. Conduct research
   After thinking about what you really want to do, determine what steps you will need to complete to accomplish your goals. Will you need to go back to school? How long will it take? Do you know someone already in the field that can give you advice and even be a mentor? Now is the time to begin living the dream that will become a reality. Be realistic, you know you won't be a certified nurse in a year. Realize time constraints, be optimistic. This will make getting your soul job all the more satisfying.


4. Look for alternative opportunities within your current employer.
   So you like the company you are with, but the job position isn’t really what you want to do. Be consistent and check the job board or company listings. Be subtle and let people know you are interested in taking on more responsibilities in order to reach your goal within the company. If the job you desire requires more education or experience, refer back to tip #3 and research what you need to do to get to where you want to be.

It takes some people a lifetime to find a soul mate, and some are still unsuccessful. Finding a ‘soul job’ requires keeping an open mind, being persistent and ambitious. Does your half have what it takes to get what you want to become whole?

Written on 4/02/2010 by Dewoun M. Hayes. Dewoun has worked as an administrative professional for over 15 years, starting as a legal secretary. She writes at the Office Professionals Place, a blog that is committed to training, educating, and consulting professionals with the necessary tools, tips, and techniques needed to institute the “pro” in professional.

Photo Credit: hydropeek

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13 ways

... to simplify.

From the Zen Habits blog:

13 small things to simplify your workday

Work simply and with focus.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter or identica.

One of the best things I did when I decided to simplify my life was to simplify my workday — first at my day job and later, by quitting my day job, in the work I do now as a writer and entrepreneur.

I’ve eliminated most of the routine, boring, administrative tasks with a few simple principles.

These days, I have eliminated the non-essentials, and can focus on what I truly love: creating.

Not everyone can make such drastic steps toward simplicity, but if you have some control over your workday, you can do a few small things that will simplify things greatly.

If you don’t have control, or if you find yourself thinking, “I can’t do these things”, I’d start to ask why not? Is it possible to change things, if not today then over the long term? I found that often I thought something wasn’t possible (working from home, for example), but in the long run they were.

You don’t need to do all of these things — pick just one, and try it. Then try another and see if it works. Experiment to find what works for you.

And enjoy the simple work life.

1. Start early. Going into work early was one of my favorite tricks — it was quiet, before the phones and chatter and meetings started, and I could get a lot of work done in peace. By the time everyone else was getting started, I’d gotten two or three big tasks checked off.
2. Limit your hours. It’s ironic, because so many people work long hours and think they’re getting more done and being more productive. But they’re throwing brute hours at the problem. Instead, cut back on your hours and set a limit — say 6 or 7 hours a day — and get your most essential work done within that limit. If you know you’re only working 6 hours today, you’ll be sure to get the important tasks done first and waste less time. Limits force you to be effective.
3. Make a short list. Make a long list of all the tasks you need to do … then make a short list of 1-3 things you really want to get done. Choose so that, if you got only these tasks done, you’d be proud of what you did today. Start with the most important task, before checking email or reading online.
4. Batch distractions. What are your common distractions? Perhaps things like email, reading blogs, Twitter or another social network? Set a time for these, preferably later in the day: say, from 3-4 p.m. Don’t do the distractions before then. By grouping them all into one time period, you allow yourself to do other work first, but still get in your distraction time. Another approach might be to do them for 10 minutes at the end of each hour — but stick to that 10-minute limit!
5. Write shorter emails. If email takes up a lot of your day, the simple change of limiting yourself to 3-4 sentences per email will make a big difference. First, it’ll drastically shorten the time it takes to write or respond to emails. And second, it’ll shorten responses to your emails, which means you’ll spend less time reading email.
6. Limit meetings. The fewer the better. Some top Google executives just do 5-minute meetings — anyone who attends these meetings had better be prepared, and concise. If you can get out of meetings and just get the notes, or find an alternative way to communicate, it could save you hours per week.
7. Automate. The fewer repetitive and routine tasks you have to do, the more time you’ll free up for creating and important work. So automate wherever possible: have people fill things out electronically, or get info from your website instead of emailing or calling you, or use a service that automatically processes payments or ships your product, and so on.
8. Eliminate paperwork. I used to deal with a lot of paperwork, and even then I knew it was a waste of my time. If businesses and organizations could have paperwork filled out electronically, it would save a lot of paper, copying, filing, and duplicate effort. Whenever possible, eliminate paperwork in favor of digital. This might be more of a long-term move.
9. Clear your desk. This can be done in a few minutes. Clear everything off the top of your desk. Only put back a few essential items. Everything else should be: filed, given to the appropriate person, given a permanent spot in a drawer, or trashed/recycled. Make quick decisions and then get back to work.
10. Get away. If you can get out of your office, you can find a peaceful spot where you can focus on important work. Find a spot where you can work, turn off the Internet and do your work, and then turn the Internet back on so you can email or upload it to the appropriate spot. Working from home is a good option here. The more you can do this (it might be once a week, or an hour a day, or half of every workday), the better.
11. Take breathing breaks. Every 15-20 minutes, get up from your desk, and take a breathing break. It could be simply walking around the office, saying hi to someone, or even better, getting outside to get some fresh air. Walk around, get your blood circulating, perhaps massage your neck and shoulders if you feel tension. Do some pushups if you want to get fitter. When you get back to work, remind yourself what you want to be working on, and clear away all distractions.
12. Practice a focus ritual. Every hour or two, do a refocus ritual. This only takes a minute or two. You might start it by closing down your browser and maybe other open applications, and maybe even take a walk for a couple of minutes to clear your head and get your blood circulating. Then return to your list of Most Important Tasks and figure out what you need to accomplish next. Before you check email again or go back online, work on that important task for as long as you can. Repeat this refocus ritual throughout the day, to bring yourself back. It’s also nice to take some nice deep breaths to focus yourself back on the present. More focus rituals.
13. Schedule big blocks of creative time. Not everyone can do this, but when possible, put a big block of 3-4 hours in your schedule for creating or doing other important work. Make this time inviolate, and don’t allow meetings or other things to be scheduled during this time. Be ruthless about clearing distractions and doing the work you love during these blocks, taking breathing breaks as necessary. Rejoice in your creativity.

If you liked this guide, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Thanks, my friends.

—
Read more about simplifying your work and your life in my book, The Power of Less.

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Saturday Night Classic Music Video

This week we go to the G's...

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No TV Part 2

Tonight, some words from Seth Godin:

But it's better than TV

At the local health food store lunch buffet, they offer stir fried tempeh.

I never get it. Not because I don’t like it, but because there are always so many other things on the buffet that I prefer.

That's why I don't watch TV. At all. There are so many other things I'd rather do in that moment.

Broadcast TV was a great choice when a> there weren't a lot of other options and b> when everyone else was watching the same thing, so you needed to see it to be educated.

Now, though, you could:

• Run a little store on eBay
• Write a daily blog
• Write a novel
• Start an online community about your favorite passion
• Go to meetups in your town
• Volunteer to tutor a kid, in person or online
• Learn a new language, verbal or programming
• Write hand written thank you notes each evening to people who helped you out or did a good job
• Produce small films and publish them online
• Listen to the one thousand most important operas
• Read a book or two every evening
• Play a game a Scrabble with your family

None of them are perfect. Each of them are better than TV.

Clay Shirky has noticed the trend of talented people putting five or six hours an evening to work instead of to waste. Add that up across a million or ten million people and the output is astonishing. He calls it cognitive surplus and it's one of the underappreciated world-changing stories of our time.

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A Late April Fools Day Prank

After 5pm Thursday, a co-worker and I sealed up another co-workers cubical.

He won't see in until Friday morning, but you get to see it now:






Look, no doorway!

No TV Part 1

I'm not giving it up.

But often when I watch, I'm also doing something else too.

But what if you wanted to give it up?

Tonight and tomorrow, I'll have two posts for you on the subject.

This is from the DLM Blog:

My Experiment to Break Free from TV

Posted: 21 Mar 2010 08:09 AM PDT

A few years back, I decided to try a "no TV" experiment. I wanted to see if it was possible to give up television for an entire week. It wasn't as extreme as the 30 day experiment mentioned here, but it seemed like a good length of time to me. Actually, before beginning the experiment a single week of no TV seemed like a lifetime. I had grown quite attached to my TV, but I wanted to get back some of my time. I knew that my time could be spent in a more productive manner than watching TV, but I had grown quite accustomed to plopping down in front of the TV after work and vegging there until bedtime.

As I entered the experiment, I realized I had to overcome some of the excuses I had developed for keeping the TV on. I have heard the following excuses from others and also uttered them myself. I realized that these excuses were really just falsehoods keeping me away from exerting any effort to do anything... anything at all.

1. I Just Turn it on for Background Noise
   We get accustomed to having noise in our lives. So much so that quiet time can feel quite uneasy or even frightening. We often thrive on that constant source of outside stimulation. The television is a poor source of background noise. Most programming leans toward the negative and some (like the evening news) can be downright depressing. Beyond that however, quiet time is very beneficial. In the quiet we are forced to listen to our own thoughts. We get the opportunity to think for ourselves. The quiet allows us to recharge those mental batteries.
   


2. The Kids Watch It
   Ah, the ideal babysitter; needs no payment, doesn't complain, keeps the kids entertained for hours, and allows us parents to get some time to ourselves. It's pretty obvious that "the kids watch it" isn't really a good excuse. Sure the kids get sucked into some happy delightful children's programming and sure they may learn a thing or two, but how much more would they learn by using their own imaginations? We all know that we shouldn't let the kids watch too much TV, but we often long for some time to ourselves and permit that babysitter in a box to do our jobs as parents. And really, the TV doesn't make a very good parent. Our children would be a lot better off if we encouraged play time, reading, and imagination. Of course, part of this includes us getting involved with our children and participating in some of this play.
   


3. I Like to Watch the Educational Programs
   I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say they watch TV for the educational programming like the Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel. The best way to approach this is to ask yourself if this "learning" is beneficial to you personally. Would buy a book to read about this topic? If the answer to that simple question is no, then you really aren't learning anything useful at all. I'm not sure how knowledge of Lions in Africa or Kangaroos in Australia will really benefit us in everyday life. Sure the topics may be interesting, but in reality they take away from time that could be spent actually learning; learning something beneficial that we could apply to our everyday lives.
   


4. I Like to Relax and Unwind After a Hard Day of Work
   Unwinding after work is a great idea, but is watching TV really the best way? How about a warm bath, a good book, some light conversation with the family, a short nap, or lounging in a comfy chair in the back yard. All of these alternatives would be better ways to unwind. Additionally, that time spent unwinding in front of the TV often stretches into most of the evening. That bit of time intended for unwinding ends up being an evening wasted in front of the TV. I'm sure you can find better methods for unwinding that won't consume your evening.
   


5. I Might Miss Something Good
   This was my excuse in my younger years. I hated missing something on TV, especially when everyone else was talking about it the next day. It's a lonely feeling to be left out of conversations just because you missed a TV program and had nothing to contribute. As you get older, the scene changes to coworkers around the water cooler, but the excuse remains. The difference is, as an adult, we should feel less pressure to fit in, and have more meaningful things to talk with our coworkers about. I have missed out on hundreds of "television" conversations at work. It's really not important to me anymore, and I can give a small smile on the inside when a "television" conversation begins because I know I've made better use of my time.

I came across an interesting quote recently:

You sit around watching all this stuff happen on TV. . . and the TV sits and watches us do nothing! The TV must think we're all pretty lame. -Shannon Wheeler

I think the quote hits it about right. My week without TV was a big success. I wasn't twitching, crying in the corner, or drenched in a cold sweat. I actually found myself reading more books, talking more with my wife, and generally enjoying the evenings more. We did allow the TV back into our lives, but on a much more limited basis. In fact, we eventually canceled our cable TV because we weren't getting good value out of the programming available. How about you? Are you ready overcome the excuses and try a No TV Experiment?

Written on 3/21/2010 by Eric Watermolen. Eric is a lifestyle blogger and amateur philosopher. He enjoys discussions of our path in life. You can find him at Eden Journal, where he posts a wide spectrum of articles from personal development to spiritual and philosophical awakenings..

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