The Time Finder with Paula Eder

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

Find Time by Factoring Dependencies Into Collaboration: Increase Your Priority Power™

Posted on May 9, 2012, under Time Management Skills, Time Priorities.

Finding time requires working in collaboration sometimes. And working closely with others can be complicated; there are lots of variables to consider.

So, to combine forces as effectively as possible, try thinking in terms of dependencies. When you do, your Priority Power™ will rise appreciably.

Is “dependency” in project management a term that you’re familiar with?

Basically, when an enterprise you’re engaged in calls for collaboration, the “dependency” is someone outside of your immediate work group who plays an essential role in your achieving your goals. When you prioritize tasks, dependencies must be factored in and accounted for.

Let’s say, for example, that you work closely with a number of different departments at your job. You establish a working budget for each quarter, and the finance department supplies you with the figures. Since they usually take four weeks to gather and compile the necessary data, you prioritize your request and make it well in advance of your due date. This way, you get the data you need with time to spare.

And of course, others depend on YOU, too.

Maybe it’s your daughter, who counts on you to create her costume for the school play. To be ready to play her part, she depends on you to do yours. And, without a second thought, you give this task top priority. Your openhearted commitment to support your child, and her reliance upon you, establish this project’s high priority as you plan your week.

So try consciously welcoming dependencies as you frame your collaborative work. See how your productivity increases with every incremental step forward.

Notice, too, how your greater sensitivity to others’ schedules and needs creates more flow and good will. That is a time-enhancer that not only makes you more efficient and effective, but also adds quality and inner quietude to your busy day.

So, want to learn more about how you can expand and deepen 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 … let’s get started!

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Find Time Using Soft Deadlines

Posted on May 8, 2012, under Time Management Skills, Time Priorities.

Finding time by using Priority Power™ is empowering, energizing, and adds flow as you navigate your day. As you work with your time priorities, soft deadlines are a particularly useful tool.

“Soft deadlines? That sounds like an oxymoron! What are they?” you ask.

Soft deadlines are due dates that you set for yourself, ahead of whatever your final deadlines may be. You can think of them as brightly colored buoys bobbing over rocks and shoals, marking the entrance to your harbor.

These are friendly deadlines that serve a twofold purpose:

They help you spot potential snags and
They tell you when you are nearing home!

Your soft deadlines give you the chance to plan that much earlier for what’s coming up. And that planning makes your progress that much safer and more pleasurable.

Completing a task prior to the last minute not only supports your success – it also enhances your flexibility. Sudden changes and unexpected glitches won’t throw you when you routinely provide yourself with earlier, soft deadlines. You’ll find it easier to tie up loose ends and handle the unanticipated when you give yourself that cushion.

Ready to start?

Try creating some soft deadlines for your most significant tasks. Mark them in your calendar, and consider writing all soft deadlines in one color, and adding the hard deadlines in another to easily distinguish between the two. Then practice focusing on the soft deadline, so that you create some spaciousness in your schedule.

More spaciousness equals less stress, and a deeper capacity to enjoy the moment you are in. Now, that’s Priority Power™!

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!

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Find Time to Check Before You Click with LongURL

Posted on May 7, 2012, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to avoid viruses, malware, phishing sites and other nasty places while exploring the internet is a lot easier if you use LongURL. The popularity of social networking, with its premium on brevity, has led to a proliferation of URL shorteners like tiny.url, bit.ly, and lots of others. The problem with these otherwise useful tools is that you have absolutely no idea what website you are going to land on when you click a shortened URL.

So, that’s where LongURL can help. Basically, it’s a service that gives you the capacity to enter your shortened URL

Here’s a brief video from ComputerGeek396 showing how it works:

At last check, they supported a list of 340 URL shortening services – and are adding more as people suggest them. Just click this link, enter your short URL in the space provided, and see where the link is taking you.

You can also access a Firefox Extension called Long URL Please (from a different provider) that, when installed, will change shortened URL’s on pages you indicate into Long URLs. I use this extension for Twitter and Facebook, for example.

The time that you spend checking URL’s up front can save you untold headaches (and lost hours) that could result from stumbling upon a malicious site. That’s why I encourage you to take a look at LongURL and the Firefox extension (if you use Firefox).

I hope you will find this tool helpful. And let us know what you think … we’d all love to hear!

And, here’s something more to consider. 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, http://optimize.thetimefinder.com/tips-booklet/ and get started today!

Let’s explore time together …

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

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Finding Time by Viewing Deadlines Through Fresh Eyes

Posted on May 2, 2012, under Time and Energy, Time Priorities.

Finding time to actively welcome and appreciate each moment can liven up your day. And something as simple as changing how you view deadlines can help.

So, if you feel haunted by the upcoming red circles on your calendar, how about trying a fresh way of working with them? Approaching your deadlines differently and concluding your tasks in a timely manner definitely regenerates your Priority Power™.

Let’s start with the basics in your approach to your deadlines. First and foremost, “deadlines” sound so … dead. I prefer to think of them as “due dates”, instead.

What a positive re-framing of the concept. Each completed task not only marks the end of something – it also “births” new possibilities!

Notice how planning for “due dates” can help you focus with anticipation, not dread. This powerful-yet-simple renaming encourages you to stay on task and also to think ahead to the next chapter of your work.

When your goal is something that you view as positive, then obstacles (including distractions that appeal to you) become impediments that keep you from something you desire. Each time a temptation threatens your success, it becomes easier to steer clear. And procrastination becomes less of an issue, too – because you have prioritized your projects, charted a destination and developed a clear and positive path to follow to success.

Are there time topics that you’d like to read more about here? Please feel invited to drop me a line – I’d love to hear from you and serve your time finding needs!

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Find Time for April’s Time Finder Favorites

Posted on May 1, 2012, under Time After Time.

This morning, as a soft rain falls on New Hampshire’s thirsty soil, I’m pleased to find time to share with you the top 5 Time Finder favorites for the month of April!

Topping the list was a post about a time tracking tool called Rescue Time. This is a powerful and flexible tool that allows you to see exactly how you spend your time – so that you can then make informed choices.

You can use Rescue Time to track how and where you spend your time on the computer, as well as to track off-line time. The nice thing about the on-line tracking function is that once you have set up Rescue Time, it does the tracking for you. There is nothing you need to record. And this means that you get a much better picture than would be otherwise possible, of how you are actually spending your on-line time.

The second most popular post in April was actually shared in March – and is another Cyber Monday post. This one is titled “Find Time with Zamzar and Evernote Clearly on Cyber Monday” and offered information about two more time-saving tools. Zamzar is a file conversion service, while what Clearly does is change “web-based material to a wonderfully readable (and printable) format. You activate Clearly with a bookmarklet that you drag to your Bookmarks Bar, and then click it to create a customizable, highly readable version of whatever you are viewing on the web. You can even adjust the font size!

Find Time to Accept Yourself and Transform Your Time with Empowered Compassion™ was the third top post for April and offers powerful, heart-based advice for revolutionizing your relationship with time.

Finding Time to accept all of who you are is a gentle, deliberate process that will transform your time and give you a solid base for action. That’s because being your most productive self, your most empowered self, means being your WHOLE self. And that’s where Empowered Compassion™ comes in.

April’s 4th most-read post offered practical ideas for incorporating movement into your daily life. Find Time for “Movement Moments” in Your Day! is all about making sure that we pay attention to our body’s need to move … and reap the benefits.

If you spend a lot of time working on-line, your day might easily have you glued to the computer hour upon hour. It can be engrossing work, but in order to be productive and take good care of yourself, it’s imperative that you find time to move.

And last but not least, “Find Time for These Cool Tools for Pinterest!” was another Cyber Monday post that found its way into your top 5.

Pinterest continues to be one of the fastest-growing social networking sites – currently in third place behind Facebook and Twitter. And now, developers are creating all sorts of applications that can help you pin more easily, find people with similar interests more quickly, and analyze your Pinterest influence. All of these enhancements are interesting and helpful – and they can be crucial if you are interested in using Pinterest for your business.

Was your favorite post here? I’d love to hear what YOU resonated to. Just take 5-minutes and let me know! ;>)

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.

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Find Time to be Amazed by Time’s Mysteries on Cyber Monday!

Posted on April 30, 2012, under Time and Technology.

Finding time to simply take in the amazing mysteries that time presents is something that we seldom let ourselves do. And yet, those mysteries are with us every moment, as we live and breathe and work and play within time.

Consider how the merest snatch of a song or a scent of lilac or newly mowed grass can bring to mind a moment from long ago as if it were happening right now. Or think about how time can feel like it ticks by so slowly when you are waiting for a happily anticipated event – meanwhile seeming to rush by at triple speed when you are feverishly trying to meet a deadline.

The thing is that time is objectively concrete and measurable, yet our experience of it is highly subjective. It is also universal – one of the things in life that absolutely ALL of us experience. So, it’s a place where uniqueness and universality bump into one another frequently – and often the result can feel like mystery.

“How is it possible that this moment from 27 years ago can feel so real to me today?”
“Why does time feel like it moves faster as I get older?”
“Where did the time go?”

Do you ever ponder the mystery of what happened to April 29, 1967? Or July 17, 2003? Where, indeed, does the time go?

Well, here’s one graphic representation of, if not where the time goes, at least what happens as it passes. This ingenious use of technology by Frans Hofmeester illustrates the growth of his daughter Lotte, from birth to age 12 … all in the space of a brief video.

Shared by Alison, a long-time reader of The Time Finder, this video offers a condensed view of change over time that I found fascinating – and I offer it to you today!

Lotte Time Lapse: Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45. from Frans Hofmeester on Vimeo.

It is amazing and humbling to see 12 years of growth compressed into just a few minutes – and to consider how our experience of time can be just that malleable and plastic. I think about the moments that loom large in our lives, and how we carry them with us while other moments fade.

Time and memory. Time and duration. There are so many mysteries about time … the deeper youwe delve into them, the more time opens up its rich treasures to us!

Do you let yourself step toward the mystery of time? Are there ways that it confounds and fascinates you, too? Let us know what you think … we’d all love to hear!

And, stepping back into more day-to-day thoughts about time, 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!

Let’s explore time together …

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

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