The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time to Know the State of YOUR Union: Are Your Head and Heart in Sync for Success?

Posted on January 25, 2012, under Time and Energy, Time and Values.

Finding time to stay connected with yourself – to have your head and heart in sync, is one of the most powerful time management choices that you can make for yourself. So, whether you are a follower of politics or not, it’s important to ask yourself about the State of the Union periodically – I mean YOUR union.

This means setting aside some time to check in with yourself periodically. For some this might be a daily, weekly, or monthly ritual. The more time you spend doing this (and the more often you do it) the better – but it’s important to find what works for you and to build a pattern that you can trust.

You might ask yourself something as simple as, “How are you doing today?” Answer honestly, and strive to open up to an internal dialogue. Let a back-and-forth evolve. This won’t happen all at once, but as you speak and listen to yourself, you may be surprised at what you discover.

It may feel like you are getting to know a new friend. How wonderful!

As you learn more about the State of Your Union, you will be able to adjust the ways that you work and use your time, to better fit with your true values and needs. Keep the dialogue going as you tweak things.

You can’t predict, at the outset, where this path may lead. But here’s one thing I can absolutely guarantee:

When your goals are in sync with your values, your head and your heart work in tandem, freeing up energy and creativity that you may not have ever known that you had!

Why, it would be like the Legislative and Executive Branches of the Government working together. Just imagine what could be accomplished …

So, I encourage you to check in with yourself frequently about the State of Your Union. Listen to what your head and heart have to say to each other … and watch the possibilities blossom!

And as you bring your head and heart into sync, transforming yourself and your relationship with time, consider this: Are you an entrepreneur, consultant, or small business owner who’s ready to take the next big step? If you want to learn how to create and to keep a successful business running on your own, then this is for you! “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” is a booklet with 70 expert-proven tips that will help you recharge your energy and motivation, increase your visibility, and sharpen those vital organizational and time management skills.

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, click this link and get started today! http://bit.ly/FreelanceTips

Find Time to Give Yourself Exactly What You Need Every Single Day! (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Nourish Your Courage with Love: Today’s Timely Tip (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Celebrate Clarity and Realism this Holiday Season (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Respect Yourself-When No Means Yes to You! (thetimefinder.com)

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Finding Time to Enjoy the Ride: 5 Timely Tips about Time and Aging!

Posted on January 24, 2012, under Time as We Age.

Finding time to enjoy the passage of time is a wonderful skill to develop. It involves self-awareness, compassion, and a good measure of letting go.

Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side. The Talmud

There are certain times – like the beginning of a New Year or the arrival of a birthday or other anniversary – that can bring the march of time to the forefront of our consciousness. How do you feel when you come to one of those places?

I believe it’s so important to appreciate and embrace the process and experience of aging.

These tips will provide some helpful stepping stones for you.

Keep in mind that your process of aging occurs over time. It doesn’t happen all at once, though it can sometimes sneak up and surprise you! Review the last few months. Can you identify the incremental changes you’ve experiences in your energy or your efficiency? Rather than worry about this, use your new clarity to understand that these changes are a natural part of living. You don’t have to be surprised by them.
Avoid denial. This goes right along with #1. Be compassionate and direct (a very powerful combination) with yourself as you take in the fact that you move more slowly and it takes you longer to get things done. It can be tempting to deny the reality of these changes and to tell yourself that things will return to ‘normal’ once you are less tired or stressed. But this keeps you on the defensive and sets you up for ‘surprises’ (see #1). You can exercise positive control by listing those tasks that now take you longer to complete … and then planning accordingly.
Don’t react with anger or frustration. This might feel powerful, but in reality it does nothing but keep you stuck! It’s important to HAVE your feelings, but encourage them to flow, rather than letting them churn in whirlpools. Staying stuck in anger or frustration diverts valuable energy from examining how you can adjust to your new pace. Once you’ve let the natural feelings out, use your creativity and challenge yourself. You can craft new ways to maintain your productivity while accepting that the time required to do so may expand.
Don’t stay stuck in grief. Grief, like your anger, needs to flow. That’s how you make way for the new. If your self-esteem is linked to high productivity and accomplishment, you may initially feel like you’ve ‘hit a wall’ as you slow down. However, as you acknowledge your grief and let it flow, you will find that aging opens new gateways. If you look forward, not back, and accept your real losses (and honor your accomplishments) you can reframe this as a time to stretch, savor, and celebrate what truly matters.
Use humor. Simply put, humor humanizes. Try to approach your and your friends’ complaints about the changes that aging brings with empathy and a humorous anecdote (or two)! You see, negativity is highly contagious, but so is a pragmatic view, softened by humor! Create an environment of acceptance … and see how it changes everything.

Want to learn more about how you can grow and optimize your time and efforts … in whatever areas you choose? Here’s a great way to explore avenues to increasing your time skills and heart-based power – whether it’s in your business, or your personal life. I am so pleased to be able to offer my expertise and support as The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to “Time Management”.

You can visit by clicking the link, and when you do you’ll find lots of time management articles by experts in the field, along with a vibrant and welcoming on-line community. Stop by my Expert Page and leave a comment or question … or just say hello. There are lots of ways to connect … I’d love to get started!

Find Time to Be Yourself, Respect Yourself, and Do What You Can: 3 Timely Tips-Part 1 (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Celebrate Clarity and Realism this Holiday Season (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Adjust to Aging – Just Ask Paula! (thetimefinder.com)

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Finding Time for Google Plus – Timely Resources This Cyber Monday

Posted on January 23, 2012, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to connect with friends, family, colleagues, and clients in social networks can be a time-consuming task. It is also a very important (and powerful) venue for staying in touch.

Well, now there is a new ‘player’ in the mix – Google Plus. Not-so-new, actually, as The Economic Times reported this morning that:

Google’s online social networking service ‘Google Plus’ has crossed 90 million users mark since its launch in June.

Google Plus now has attracted 90 million users, reflecting the huge interest in the social networking site which was opened to the public on September 20. That more than doubles the 40 million that Google reported in October.

Interestingly, they note that this growth is quite a bit faster than Facebook’s was (although the social-networking landscape was significantly different back when Facebook was getting started).

Google Search Plus Your World is one of the aspects of Google Plus that makes it so powerful – AND controversial. What does it do? Well, here’s what they say about it in PC World:

Get ready for more Google+ data in your Google searches as the company aims to personalize your results by including more Google+ profiles, business pages, posts, and Google+ and Picasa Photos. The search giant recently announced the significant change to its search engine, calling it Search plus Your World. The new feature is baked right into Google and aims to personalize your search results by including Google+ data when you are signed into your Google account.

Many are predicting that this is likely to raise legal issues for Google down the road. And it will definitely affect your search results, as they are increasingly targeted to your preferences (as reflected in Google Plus). Happily, if you don’t want your preferences to affect your Google Search results, you can change your search settings.

Here’s a brief video with some basics about how to navigate Google +. If you’re familiar with Facebook, you’ll recognize some of the functionalities …

With the power of Google behind it, it’s hard to see how anyone wanting to boost his or her presence on the web could NOT jump on the Google Plus bandwagon. While there remain controversies about how Google Plus is embedded in Google search results, it seems clear that this is a social-networking tool that is going to stick around (unlike some earlier attempts by Google).

So, are you getting started with Google Plus? Let’s connect there (here’s my page and my company page) and explore it together!

And are you interested in learning more about the Heart-Based Time Management™ Path? Here’s one way that you can transform and deepen your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way … I invite you to explore Secrets of Heart-Based Time Management™ – my chapter in the book I co-authored - Stepping Stones to Success! In it I share my proven system for exploring and harnessing the power of your mind, your body and your spirit to help you deepen your experience of time and of your life.

As you work with the ideas I offer, you’ll explore your patterns, clarify your values, identify and prioritize your goals … and create your path for achieving them. You can give yourself the gift of this wonderful resource today, and get started on your journey toward success, Stepping Stone by Stepping Stone …just click this link to get the details!

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Google Plus, and have not received any compensation for writing this content.

Google’s Biggest Social Search Update Yet Features Google+ Content (hubspot.com)
Social Search: Google to crawl Google+… and only Google+ (scienceintelligence.wordpress.com)
Find Time to Share Using Google Circles and Google +1: Timely Tech Tips (thetimefinder.com)

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Find Time and Courage to Move Ahead by Letting Go: 3 Timely Tips

Posted on January 18, 2012, under Time Choices.

Finding time is all about saying No to one thing to say Yes to another, as I often say. The No that you say to one thing is what actually makes your Yes to something else possible, and meaningful. It’s all about how you make your time choices.

So, let’s pause for a moment. How do you feel about your time choices so far today? Don’t come from a critical place or you’ll clam up. Just let yourself feel.

Are there choices you’d like to change? Most of us are going to say yes to that … but before you start thinking about how you want to change those choices, let’s pause again.

Ask yourself, what is it that, for YOU, leads you to want to change how you use your time?

Is it …

Restlessness?
Ambition?
Intuition?
Inspiration?
Supporting your family?

It can be very helpful to feel out just what creates the desire for a change. That lays the foundation for future time choices. Then, having clarified what fuels your desire for change, it’s important to know what ignites it.

Courage is the key! Because moving into change means letting go of what’s familiar and comfortable, it’s courage that inspires you to let go to move ahead.

Since your time is finite, and your energy is, too, it’s important to make the kinds of courageous time choices that enable you to move directions that are in sync with your values and your goals.

As you identify new activities that are especially meaningful to you, you may find it easier to limit activities that compete with your emerging goals with these 3 tips to kindle your courage with your enthusiasm:

Talk to yourself about the changes you desire.
Validate how your new life choices reflect your evolution and growth.
Envision yourself on your new path. Feel yourself move.

The more fully you commit to your emerging self, the easier it will be to let go of activities that are no longer a good fit. And the energy you release from your old attachments comes with you – just imagine how you’ll be able to use that!

As you courageously transform yourself and your relationship with time, consider this: Are you an entrepreneur, consultant, or small business owner who’s ready to take the next big step? If you want to learn how to create and to keep a successful business running on your own, then this is for you! “How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer” is a booklet with 70 expert-proven tips that will help you recharge your energy and motivation, increase your visibility, and sharpen those vital organizational and time management skills.

Success is within your reach, so don’t wait, click this link and get started today! http://bit.ly/FreelanceTips

Find Time to Respect Yourself-When No Means Yes to You! (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Celebrate Clarity and Realism this Holiday Season (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Survive and Thrive Through Every Transition Time! (thetimefinder.com)

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Find Time to Build Your Brave Muscles With a Daily Courage Workout

Posted on January 17, 2012, under Time Choices.

Finding time requires you to act with clarity and assertiveness every day in big and small ways. So it helps to remember that courage can be cultivated on a daily basis.

And just like getting into shape, cultivating your courage is a step-by-step process. Each effort you invest provides a base for your next step. Looked at that way, each step is a triumph!

So, as with any big goal, remind yourself that courage is usually gradually acquired, not dramatically seized.

Courage is flexible, too. You grow best when you accept setbacks, correcting your course as needed. And because courage brings you face to face with the unknown, you can expect surprises. So, build in time to accommodate them.

Here’s a simple exercise to help you become better acquainted with your courage:

When you call upon yourself to meet a promising challenge, how do you experience this in your body?

Do you feel a warmth or coolness?

Are you breathing smoothly or braced?

If you inflate yourself with confidence, only to quickly deflate, try a fresh approach.

As a Tibetan maxim goes, “Rest the fearful mind in the cradle of compassion.”

Humility and receptivity allow you to accept knee-jerk resistance and to gradually overcome it.

Accepting a measure of discomfort is most helpful as you grow beyond your comfort zone. Play the edge of your discomfort in small ways, as a daily exercise. As this becomes easier, you will feel more resolute when gazing up at the next learning curve.

Finding Time by Growing Your Courage Incrementally: Today’s Timely Tip! (thetimefinder.com)
Finding Time for Feelings: It’s The Heart-Based Way (thetimefinder.com)
Find Time to Let Changes Change You, Too! (thetimefinder.com)

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Find Time on Cyber Monday to Explore Gremln: The New and Improved TwAitter That’s Coming Soon

Posted on January 16, 2012, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to keep up with innovations in social media can be a full time task. As long-time users of TwAitter, we here at Finding Time have appreciated the ability to offer scheduled tweets of our timely tips, time quotes, and other material so that we can share this great material with as many people as possible.

We recently received an e-mail from TwAitter letting us know that they are soon replacing this tried and true friend with a new and improved social media tool called Gremln. In addition to the functionalities that TwAitter provided (which Gremln continues to offer) this new tool, as described by Kyle Welborn in his post on Tech.li, provides “… web-based software for businesses to engage in social networks and calculate the return on investment for the time and money they spend doing it. In addition, Gremln provides a consumer sentiment tool to help businesses understand how people are talking about them on the web.”

One of the things that made TwAitter unique was that, as part of it’s free service, it allowed users to rotate and repeat their tweets. Other applications might provide a similar functionality – but we haven’t seen it offered for free elsewhere.

Repeating tweets is helpful, because Twitter, in particular, is a platform that people generally visit for brief periods. If they aren’t on line when you happen to tweet, it’s likely that they will never see it … unless you tweet again. I remember reading a post about this in Social Media Examiner where Dino Dogan wrote that, “Guy Kawasaki repeats his tweets four times with at least several hours in between. I repeat my tweets every few days but do not limit myself to four.” So, for putting out information that is helpful to tweeple, we think this is a great capacity to use (not abuse)!

We are especially pleased to hear that, at this time at least, the plan for Gremln is to continue to offer the free service that TwAitter has provided, and to also offer an enhanced subscription service for businesses and power users.

Do you use a tool like TwAitter … or are you interested in taking a look at Gremln? Here’s a quick video outlining Gremln’s features … and we’ll let you know when we get word that it’s gone live!

Maybe Gremln can help you simplify and amp up your social media efforts … and find more time for what matters most!

Are you interested in learning more about the Heart-Based Time Management™ Path? Here’s one way that you can transform and deepen your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way … I invite you to explore Secrets of Heart-Based Time Management™ – my chapter in the book I co-authored - Stepping Stones to Success! In it I share my proven system for exploring and harnessing the power of your mind, your body and your spirit to help you deepen your experience of time and of your life.

Let’s explore time together …

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with TwAitter or Gremln, and have not received any compensation for writing this content.