Let's talk time management - the five-minute rule

Yes, my old friend, time management. Where have you been, buddy?

Today I made a concerted effort to create a list and cross things off, like I talked about here.

You know something? Lists work.

What else worked was the five-minute rule.

The five-minute rule is if you need to do something, and it only takes five minutes, DO IT RIGHT NOW. Don't put it off.

I cleared my list in record time today by doing all the five-minute tasks first, then tackling the other stuff.

Amazing...

Confidence booster: keeping track of your successes

Today I was reading Rich Schefren's Strategic Profits blog (I highly recommend it), and came across an excellent article about 3 ways to boost your confidence.  Here's the article.

While I enjoyed all three tips, I particularly liked the first technique, Start a Victory Journal.

At first glance, that doesn't seem like anything new or innovative.  I mean, most of us can pull up a mental list of at least some our top achievements, if given a few minutes (or hours) to think about it.

But when you read Rich's suggestion, you see that he goes deeper than that.

First of all, write it down.  Don't just rely on your memory. We should all be doing this. If you are employed by someone else, it makes performance appraisal time so much easier. And if you work for yourself, well, it's nice to be able to look back at your successes.

Next, what should you write? Here's the fun part! There are three things you should be noting in your journal:

1. Any time you do something particularly well, write it down. Notice I didn't say perfect? Yeah, that's right, time to chuck the perfectionism. Strive for "well done." And if you procrastinate (yeah, this one is aimed at me), then note any progress you're making on anything you've been putting off.  I have a few things I could list here...

2. Any time you do something for the first time, write it down.  Wait, is that a victory?  Yes, it is, and you'll see why in a bit. 

3. Any time you step outside of your comfort zone, write it down. For me, this closely relates back to trying new things. Both of these activities are hard to do, and you deserve to get a mental pat on the back for them.

Okay, now, why are we doing this?  I'm going to quote Rich here, because he said it so well:

"Anytime you do any of these you should record it and congratulate yourself for it in your journal. The longer you do that, the more confidence you will build because you’re constantly reminding yourself that you actually are better than you’re giving yourself credit for."

I love that - reminding yourself that you are better than you're giving yourself credit for. I don't know about you, but I can be very hard on myself. This exercise should help me learn to keep things in perspective. By keeping a Victory Journal, when I'm having a bad day, I can easily remind myself that not only do I not suck, but I'm actually quite good at a lot of things. I'll know because I have it written down.

And the first thing I'm going to write in my Victory Journal is that I stopped procrastinating on my writing and updated my blog.

What will you be writing in your Victory Journal today?

Two things...

"People often tell me that motivation doesn't last, and I tell them that bathing doesn't either. That's why I recommend it daily." ~ Zig Ziglar

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~ Lao-tzu

Motivation and action are required for anything you want to achieve in life. And I know that, but I’ve been ignoring it.

No more inertia. Time to get my butt in gear!

Also - I am slowly (but surely) joining the twenty-first century.  Follow me on Twitter!

On my way to forming a habit

So I've made it to day 6 of the Blogathon, and I've managed to post every day.  My intent in doing this was to get back in the habit of writing every day, whether blog related or not. 

I read someplace that it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I'm about 1/3 of the way there.  Yay, me!

There's updated information over at Li Loves David, if you are interested in gluten-free goodness.

Otherwise, I'm about ready to finalize a piece of spec writing that I'm planning to submit to a potential client, in the hopes of getting them to pay me to write more. 

In case you're not familiar with the term (and I wasn't until a couple of months ago), writing "on spec" means you write a sample for someone, to demonstrate what you can do.  Beginning writers often do a lot of this, as a way to get their names and abilities out there.  The theory is that the potential client will either (A) like it so much they will hire you on the spot, or (B) like it, decide it's not what they are looking for, but keep you in mind the next time they need a copywriter, which hopefully will be soon.

I'm hoping for (A).  We'll see.

I also have two sticks of butter softening on the kitchen counter right now.  They will soon become some gluten-free shortbread.  I don't think I've ever posted that recipe on Li Loves David, so if you're interested, you may want to watch that space soon.

Here's to the weekend!

I never thought I'd say this...

I am going to run a marathon.

No, really.  Stop laughing.  I am going to run a marathon.

I'm not sure exactly when it's going to be.  There are two that I'm eyeing right now - one in November, and one in January.  I can't decide if I want to run my first full in November, or just run the half as a tune up race and save my first full for January. 

Both plans have their appeal.  November would mean that I would get to say I ran my first marathon in 2011, instead of 2012.  You know, a whole year earlier, lol!  But if I wait until January, I could run my first full on the anniversary of and on the same course that I ran my first half.  Plus, I could still say I ran my first marathon within 2 years of starting running at all.

Oh, the decisions - oh, the drama!  It's enough to give me the vapors...

Really, it's going to come down to how well my training goes this summer.  I'm following the Galloway method, and even bought a copy of his book, Marathon: You Can Do It! Inspirational, no?  Anyhow, I'm going to follow his plan to the letter, instead of trying to hybridize it with my own plan.  Not like I did last year for my half.  And this year, I'm not going to get injured ONE MONTH before my damn race (unlike last year). 

Did you know it can take MONTHS to fully get over a simple hip flexor strain?  Yeah, me neither.

So anyhow, right now, I have running on the brain.  Because, much like getting over an injury, it takes months to train for a marathon. 

Did I mention I'm going to run a marathon?

I'll shut up now...

Running on...

I have to share - today I reached a personal best.  I started jogging a few months ago, following the Couch to 5K program.  Today I jogged 2.25 miles without stopping.  Yay, me!

Now, a little history here.  I am not a natural athlete.  I've never been a runner.  I like to walk.  I like to relax.  I think couches are great!  But a series of events converged a few months ago, leading me to realize I want to run a race.  I also want to increase my fitness, have more energy, fit into my clothes better, blah, blah, blah.  But mostly, I want to run a race.  Run the whole damn thing.  And finish it. So I started Couch to 5K.  I can walk a 5K, and in fact, I have walked several.  So training to run a 5K seemed like a logical progression.

Since I'm not a natural athlete, and have some old injuries, I've stretched the training out quite a bit.  It's taken me over 12 weeks to get to the week 6 workout.  I have to be very careful about stretching and warmup.  I still managed to strain each knee early on, but they eventually healed and now they are getting stronger.  And they lasted 2.25 miles today.  Now I'm ready for a nap...

Monthly Writing Goals - April 2010

Okay, I'm writing this down and posting it in public, in the hopes that peer pressure (positive or otherwise) will force me into following through.

My writing goals for April 2010:

1. Edit my novel, at least 7 hours a week.

2. Write at least one post per week, per blog.

The blogs are coming easier than the novel. Gee, what a surprise! I'm finding it hard to be creative and focused at the end of the day. I've tried writing in the morning before work, but that's even worse. I don't really have any creative juices until, oh, 10am or so.

So I've rearranged my schedule started working out before work. That sucks. I'm not a morning person. At. All. But the benefit, besides actually making it to the gym instead of talking myself out of it while at work, is that I'm usually not thinking clearly enough in the morning to mind exercising. By the time I realize what's going on, and how much I dislike it, I'm already at the gym. And it's too late to go back to bed at that point.

That leaves the evening for writing. We'll see how it works out. I really want to work on the novel. My main characters keep whispering to me, telling me bits and pieces of their story. It's time I listened to them.