The Time Finder with Paula Eder

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

Archive for November, 2009

Find Time to Refresh Your Tweeting!

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

twitterFinding time to keep Twitter fresh and interesting, both for you and for your tweeple, can be a challenge.  Do you find it so?

As with any task that is performed repeatedly, keeping yourself inventive and engaged will enhance everyone’s experience, including your own. But how can you do that?

Well, for starters, I found an interesting post on TwiTip by Karl Staib of Work Happy Now.  He shares “14 Ways to Fight Twitter Burnout” and notes the importance of creativity and listening, among other things.

Sharing interesting quotations is always a good way to keep your Twitter stream going.  If you use any of the Twitter services like SocialOomph, scheduling quotations that relate to your niche is an excellent way to keep your hand in, while freeing you up to do other things.

That being said, Twitter is first and foremost about relating, so scheduled tweets should be no more than a base.  It’s the interactive part of Twitter that is most meaningful AND most refreshing!

Posting questions can be a great way to get conversations started. Don’t be shy about asking questions about subjects that have you stymied, either.  My VA has gotten some excellent technical help by putting out specific questions in her Twitter stream!

Two other pieces of advice that I found especially helpful were:

Take a Break and Recharge … There will be some days when you just don’t feel like typing even a tweet. Then take a break and just let everyone else tweet their hearts out.

People Will Unfollow You … Don’t take it personally.

Stepping back and maintaining your perspective are very important, whether it be with Twitter or with life! Small breaks allow you to breathe and come back to your work (whatever it may be) refreshed.  And those small breaks from Twitter, in particular, can also help you to remember that the Twitterverse is a big, wide, fluid, ever-changing world.  As often as people unfollow you, new people hop on board.  Things are in constant flux – and that is okay.

Find time to breathe and enjoy the journey!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time for Dessert!

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Paula, under Self-Care Time, Time Boundaries.

DessertFinding time for our goals and priorities, our daily tasks and responsibilities … these are things that we all are challenged by and work hard at in our busy lives.  Our baskets of time are often filled-to-overflowing, and when it comes to things-to-do, we live in a world of great plenty!

Indeed, we could spend all of our time chipping away at necessary tasks and never complete them!

“So,” you ask, “what about the small pleasures that life offers?  How do I find time for them in the midst of all those tasks?”

Well, what I’d suggest is that you use planning, and time boundaries, and discipline!

  • Plan treats and rewards for yourself throughout your day to validate your efforts and recharge your batteries.  (The treats don’t need to be edible … they can include things like a walk, a warm bath, a span of time for just surfing the web or for meditating – whatever gives you pleasure and energizes you.)
  • Time Boundaries help you follow through on your plan.  If free time on the web is your reward, try using a timer so that you don’t run over, or short change yourself.  If exercise is your pleasure, be sure to set aside enough time for all that’s involved.  Don’t forget stretching, cooling down, a shower – everything!
  • Discipline keeps you on track.  When that timer goes off, stop surfing and get back to whatever is next on your list!  If it’s really dessert that’s your treat and you planned for one helping, don’t take two, no matter how tempting it may be!

When you know that you can trust yourself to respect the boundaries that you set and follow through on your plan with discipline, then you can relax and thoroughly enjoy your “dessert” – whatever form it may take!

Do you validate and reward yourself for your follow-through?  I encourage you to make this a staple of your time management repertoire … and I’d love to hear how it goes for you!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time to Recharge with Gratitude!

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Paula, under Time After Time, Time and Energy.

ContemplationFinding time to feel gratitude is always a big plus – no matter what your circumstances or situation.  In these hard times, it is especially meaningful to pause, at Thanksgiving, or any time, to appreciate the gifts that make our lives special.  They may be large or small – it is how our hearts greet and hold them that matters.

I shared 5 insights about this in an article titled “Time Management Tips: 5 Insights on How to Recharge Your Energy With Gratitude” and I’d like to share one, in particular, here – it is so fundamental!

As you appreciate yourself, so you can appreciate others.

You are the base on your life. And you can only give what you have. Imagine a well full of water. It is easy to draw from that source. Now imagine a dry well. It has no water; therefore, it cannot give any water. So allow time in your day to acknowledge your humanity, and warmly validate your efforts to care for yourself and for others. Deep inside, you are always listening to the messages you give yourself.

Indeed, this insight about gratitude reminds me of a wonderful, brief story that I remember hearing from a client:

‘A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: ‘Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.’ When asked which dog wins, he reflected a moment and replied, ‘The one I feed the most.”

It is an interesting question to ponder – what we feed in ourselves.

As we move toward Thanksgiving and its season of gratitude, may your wellsprings of energy and thanks be primed by warm appreciation for yourself!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time to Make Your Holidays Yours!

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Paula, under Time Choices, Time and Values.

CB006061Finding time to get everything ready for the holidays and finding time to celebrate special times may not always be the same.

As Thanksgiving gets closer and closer, with the December holidays waiting in the wings, I have been thinking about two very different ways we can approach these events.  The energy we bring to the holidays can make all the difference in how we experience them!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the holidays?  Are they yet another “task” in your already-full schedule?  Does it look impossible to get the necessary cooking and shopping and planning done before holiday time arrives?  Do you find yourself wishing that you could skip it all?

Maybe it’s time to step back and take another look.

I always encourage people to think of time as a basket.  In the basket are all of the things that your have committed your time to.  Chances are that your basket is full.  Perhaps it is even overflowing.  How do you fit something like the holidays into it?

Well, the other thing that I encourage people to do with their basket of time is to take something out when they add something to it.  Even as a temporary measure, this is important as a way to relieve stress and keep your expectations realistic.

So, as a first step, add the holidays proactively to your basket of time. Making this your own, proactive choice removes the “victim” energy that can sometimes accompany the holidays – especially if you are feeling stressed and impinged on by them.

Next, think about what you can take out of your basket, temporarily, to give yourself some breathing room!

  • Make yourself a quick list of possibilities.
  • Don’t remove your self-care time, as that will leave you feeling depleted just when you want to have access to your best energies.
  • Act on at least one, and ideally two or three of the possibilities you’ve listed.
  • Be sure to let others know, if they will be impacted by your choices.
  • Remember that this is a temporary measure!  Once the holidays are over, you can return to your regular priorities.

As an added bonus, in letting go temporarily, you may discover that there were things on your list of time priorities that you didn’t actually need to be doing.  This can free you up even more going forward!

While we’re talking about holiday planning, here’s something to add to our basket of time for Thursday, December 3 from 7:00-8:15 PM ET! It’s a FREE teleclass offered by my friends and colleagues Cindy Hudson and Maggie McCauley titled:  Color Your Holidays With Calm, Confidence & Courage – Tools To Help You Thrive In The Midst Of Holiday Madness.  As they say, “If you’re tired of the same ole’ same ‘ole holiday routine and you’re ready to feel calm, confident and courageous all during the holidays this year, come to the class and make this the most effortless and joyful holiday season ever!”  Knowing Cindy and Maggie, they are going to have some very useful and inspiring information to share.  I encourage you to check it out!

How are you feeling as the holidays approach?  Have you made room for them in your basket of time?  There’s still time to make proactive choices about it … there’s always time for that … so here’s to your time success!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time to Stay Alert!

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

42-15654386Finding time to keep your blog content fresh is always a timely topic!  Last Monday I shared a few tools that can help you with this.

Today I’d like to zero in on one of them – Google Alerts – in more detail.  I’ll also be sharing about a second search venue – Giga Alert – that I recently read about and that my VA is in the process of exploring.

Google Alerts provide you with a very powerful tool for monitoring your keywords – or really any topics you wish – on the web.  It’s a highly customizable tool that will keep an eye on web postings for you and compile them in an e-mail for each search term you enter.

In addition to receiving e-mail alerts, you can also choose to have your alerts delivered via feed to the feedreader of your choice (e.g., Google Reader or add the feed to your iGoogle page).  This option is nice if you are comfortable using feeds, as you can scan your results in one place (and not worry about filling up your in-box).

Alerts are currently offered with results from News, Web, Blogs, Video and Groups – or you can choose a comprehensive search, that will check all areas and get back to you with results.

You can set the frequency of the searches Google will conduct, and you can enter up to 1000 alerts (although as a time management precaution, I’d advise you to stay well below that limit)!

Here is their “Help” page, where you can read through some FAQs about Google Alerts, if you like.

Giga Alert is not affiliated with Google, but they own the domain www.googlealert.com, and until recently they called their service “Google Alert.”  In August 2009, the Google Alert service was renamed Giga Alert. This was accompanied by a transition to the Yahoo search index, and the addition of news alerts and deeper searches, according to their website.

Big difference between the two - Giga Alert is a fee-based subscription service (although at least right now, some of their services are available for free), while Google Alerts are free.

One of the things that my VA has liked about the Giga Alert service is that results are easily viewable, both on the web and via e-mail.  With Google Alerts, you receive a separate e-mail for each search term you monitor, while with Giga Alert, it appears that you receive one e-mail for everything.  Depending on your personal preference, this can be nice.

Here is their FAQ page, for more information about Giga Alerts.

Do you already use any of these tools to keep up to date?  Have you found them helpful?  Give them a try … and let me know what you think (I’d love to hear)!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time to Supercharge Your Planning for the Holidays (or Anytime) – 5 Tips!

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Paula, under Time Management Skills.

To Do ListFinding time to get everything done during this holiday time is a perennial challenge.  One thing that can give you a big boost from year-to-year is to develop and use templates for different holiday-related tasks.  Today’s Finding Time E-zine explores that topic. (If you don’t already receive it, you can sign up for our E-zine in the sidebar.  Do it before 11:45 AM and you should receive today’s edition!)

So using templates is an excellent tool.  Likewise, if you think about it, the holidays can certainly be a “project.”  Often, there are many complex and time-consuming elements that need to be factored in and dealt with.  Here are 5 timely tips, to help you plan ahead for your holidays, just as you might for any big project on your plate!

  • Open your mind to creative possibilities for structuring your plans. If you rely on the usual methods, like outlining your steps ahead of time, consider a fresh approach. Start by clearly defining your desired outcome, and then build around it. Beginning with the results you’d like will stimulate your creativity more than automatically following prescribed steps.
  • Refine the picture of your desired outcome until it’s comprehensive and specific. Make it shine! Don’t undermine your plans by having your results remain non-specific. Create a crystal clear image of the end before you begin.  Clearly describing your goal will help you structure effective action steps.
  • Examine closely the scope and complexity of your plan. If you have bitten off more than you can chew, step back and streamline. Planning realistically greatly reduces the chances of overwhelm and disappointment.  By staying focused and keeping your plans realistic, you can avoid this pitfall.  Learn to marshal your resources by simplifying.
  • Get everyone who’s important on board at the onset. Once you are clear about your plan and have pared it down to a realistic size, think about who needs to know about the different pieces of it.  If you are going to need help, be sure to give people plenty of notice, so that they can also plan their time!  You are much more likely to gain cooperation when people understand and buy into your plan ahead of time!
  • Learn to work backwards. Instead of beginning at the beginning, start from your desired outcome and work backwards to identify each necessary action step. This way, you are more likely to maintain a realistic pace and scale throughout the project.  In contrast, beginning at the beginning can mire you in too much detail or overwhelm you with the enormity of your task.

The holidays are a warm and wonderful time – and they can easily become overwhelming when our enthusiasm outstrips our time and energy!  It’s deeply rewarding to plan effectively when first starting out. You will proceed with more confidence, develop a stronger base of support, and enhance the likelihood of thorough enjoyment for everyone!

How is your holiday planning going?  Have you started?  Read on to learn about Honoring Your Time with Boundaries – a very helpful skill for the holidays – or any time of the year.  If you grab your FREE MP3 before 9PM (ET) TONIGHT, you’ll still have access to a VERY SPECIAL OFFER … so take a peek!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time Boundaries: Say No and Improve Your Relationships!

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Paula, under Time Boundaries.

FenceFinding time at any time of year is a challenge – and during the holidays it’s especially so.

You want everyone to enjoy themselves, and often, the most important people in your life are gathered in one place for a limited span of precious hours. It’s at times like these that it’s very tempting to say YES to every request and demand for your time. However, as I noted in a recent article on EzineArticles.com, here’s what can happen:

If you resist saying no to important people in your life, chances are you experience overwhelm. And this generates enormous stress!

Being in a state of overwhelm and stress during the holidays affects your (and everyone’s) enjoyment of the time you have together. 

It doesn’t have to be that way – that’s the good news! Using time boundaries assertively (not aggressively) can help you recognize that your time is finite AND can help you find the time you need for your top priorities.

And here’s a benefit that you might find surprising! As you work to assertively communicate and follow through on your boundaries, you’ll also find that your relationships improve.  This is because, while it may be difficult at first (in the way that all change can be difficult), setting boundaries helps clarify relationships and gives them the opportunity to deepen in authentic, meaningful ways.

In my article I offer 5 fundamental benefits that you’ll see in your relationships when you work on saying no in a “firm and friendly” way.  Here’s one of them:

Being authentic encourages authenticity in others. By setting boundaries, you encourage others to clarify their priorities, in turn. Although this may be challenging at first, with practice, you learn how to negotiate to mutual satisfaction. This is one of the most important relationship skills!

Are you ready to try finding time and improving your relationships by exploring boundaries?  We’ve got a very special offer to help you along the way!  It expires tomorrow (Thursday 11/19/09) at 9PM (ET).  You can learn more by grabbing our FREE MP3 (below). What do you think?  I’d love to hear from you about how boundary-setting works in your life – and especially NOW!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time for Boundaries and Self Care During the Holidays!

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Paula, under Self-Care Time, Time Boundaries.

BathFinding time as the holidays approach gets harder and harder, doesn’t it? This time of year, it’s so easy to let yourself get swept up and swept along in the rush and bustle.

That’s why it’s so important to plan ahead and schedule in some time to breathe! Your ability to enjoy the holidays and not feel depleted (and, ultimately, disappointed) depends on your ability to find ways to take care of yourself throughout the season.

My advice to you?

First and foremost, change your view of self care.  It is not an indulgence, it is a responsibility.

Making self care your responsibility means that your next job is to find time for yourself.  To do this, you’ll need to use your skills with setting, communicating, and following through on time and relationship boundaries.

I’d advise you to start small, especially if boundary-setting is relatively new to you.  Begin with a boundary you know you’ll be able to maintain. Maybe try something like going for a 10-minute walk first thing in the morning.  Communicate your boundary to those who need to know.  Then follow through on your plan, validate your success, and build from that base.

Broken down into steps, it sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? It’s important to start thinking about this and practicing now, because as the holidays get closer and closer, your life’s demands will accelerate and finding time will get harder.

The rewards for taking care of yourself using time and relationship boundaries are huge. Remember, self care is your responsibility no matter what the season.  Start now, and enhance your holiday enjoyment while you find time!

What do you think?  Do you use boundaries in your life?  Are they a challenge for you?  I’d love to hear what you think!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time for Finding Fresh Blog Content – 5 Tips on Cyber Monday

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Paula, under Time and Technology.

SearchingFinding time to keep your blog running smoothly is worth the investment, as we learned last week.  This Cyber Monday I’d like to explore some ways to assure that your content is always timely and interesting!

If you want visitors to return to your blog often, it’s well worth taking the time to offer information that’s fresh, useful, and targeted to your niche.

But how do you do that?

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

  • Check Digg for popular items in your area. I encourage you to register with Digg and explore this powerful tool for identifying what people are finding interesting on the web.  I just now did a search for “Time-Management” and came up with some interesting links that could help shape a future post!  Once you’ve done your search, you can sort it by Best Match, Most Dugg, or Newest First, depending on your need.
  • Take a look at Alltop, which may be best described as follows (taken from their site):  You can think of Alltop as the “online magazine rack” of the web. We’ve subscribed to thousands of sources to provide “aggregation without aggravation.” To be clear, Alltop pages are starting points—they are not destinations per se. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance your online reading by displaying stories from sources that you’re already visiting plus helping you discover sources that you didn’t know existed. If you are stuck for content, try scanning Alltop for ideas and links!  You can create an account and set up your own page, adding items by clicking the “+” sign next to them.
  • Set up and use your Google Account to filter your news. You can also use Google Alerts to set yourself up to receive email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of topic.  You might try entering some of your keywords for starters – then you’ll receive, in your inbox, notice of items that contain those words.
  • The Twitter search feature is also a great tool for identifying trending topics in your niche! Just enter your keyword(s) and check out the tweets!
  • Finally, I also suggest subscribing to other blogs in your area of expertise (either via e-mail or, for greater efficiency, in a reader).  Then scan those feeds for interesting ideas and content.  This can be a great spark to get your creative juices flowing.  Also, when you link to others’ blogs you are developing and maintaining important relationships on the web.

How do you keep your blogging fresh and intriguing?  I’d love to hear what works for you!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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Find Time to Set Goals – 3 Ways It Helps!

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Paula, under Time After Time, Time Priorities.

The Finish Line!This week I’m having a great time putting the finishing touches on our next Finding Time E-zine.  (It fires next Thursday at noontime, and if you’re not already a subscriber, you can grab your issue as a bonus for signing up for our FREE MP3 in the sidebar!)  To give you a taste, here’s an article from our archive that asks: “Why set goals?”

Many people just assume that effective and successful people always set goals.  If this is an assumption that you have made, please put it aside for a moment.  Consider how such an assumption might sabotage your ability to realize your dreams.  Too many people who set goals and begin to work on them do not complete  them. For example, those who make New Year’s Resolutions – which are goals – often never attain them.

Setting goals is not a requirement for being an effective and successful person. If you feel driven to set goals because you ‘should,’ then you diminish your view of yourself as an effective and successful person each time you don’t achieve your goals. Instead, we would like to recommend that you view goal-setting as a technique to assist you in 3 areas:

  1. Setting goals helps you define what you want in your life.  It does so in clear, concrete, and simple language.  Nothing is as useful in determining exactly what you want, and creating a picture of the outcomes in your mind, as the technique of setting goals.
  2. Once you have defined the outcomes you want, it’s much easier to design relevant action steps, through the technique of setting goals, to achieve those outcomes. Setting goals clearly defines your destination and enables you to design action steps that point you in the right direction. You can look at your desired outcomes and measure exactly how well each action step you devise moves you closer to what you want to accomplish.
  3. Setting goals introduces two states of mind that can improve your life, whether you achieve your objectives or not.  These two states of mind are “awareness” and “flexibility”. We’ll explore “awareness”  today.

Too many people seem to go through life never fully aware of what they want or could have achieved, until it’s too late.  Setting goals provides a framework that encourages awareness. Daily, you can look at your goals and consider how you are living your life.

You can become aware of whether or not your life choices are bringing you closer to your objectives.  Without that awareness, it is easy to settle for routine rather than choice.  As you can see, if you think of setting goals as a technique rather than an obligation, the entire process changes.

Have you considered setting goals as a way of setting your course?  Has it been clarifying for you?  I’d love to hear what you think!

Want to learn how to set effective boundaries to honor yourself, your time, and your relationships? You can ask for the time and space you need, and get it, too! Claim your FREE MP3, “Honoring Your Time With Boundaries”, and discover tools to move you toward a stronger self and stronger relationships! So, take your next step, click HERE and grab your MP3! When you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) our weekly Finding Time Tips, our monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine, and our Finding Time Personal Boundary Template! All FREE – our gifts to you!

Let’s explore time together …

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