Here are some timely tips to keep in mind, as we leave November behind and move toward the December holidays.  Remember that starting to think about this soon helps put time on your side.

TIP #1:

Your most important first step is to chart out your time on a calendar that displays the full month at a glance. This overview helps you assimilate your timeline. Notice the specifics about when your holidays occur, along with all the intervening activities and events.  Include others’ events and activities that affect your holiday planning schedule.  Are there school events or vacation times to consider?  Be as all-inclusive as you can to give yourself the best possible picture of the days and weeks ahead.

TIP #2:

This rule of thumb is a constant for ANY planning you do around this time of year.  Remember the “times two rule” that states that everything you accomplish will take twice as long as you anticipate?  Well, during the busy time from late-October to early-January, I encourage you to think about changing this to the “times three rule.”   As the winter holidays approach, you can count on the fact that everything will take three times longer than you think it will, because there are so many things to do!

TIP #3:

Be sure to set aside time for the ‘unscheduled’ events and preparations. It’s always a good idea to build in some ‘buffer’ time into your daily schedule.  The more variables involved in a particular activity, the more chance there is that additional time will be needed.  Even using the “times three rule” you can rest assured that there will be glitches and detours.  The more cushion you can give yourself the better.  (And if the time turns out not to be needed, you might use it for some relaxation and self care!)

BONUS TIP:

Reflect on how you felt after the holiday season last year.  Do you want to consider doing less this year?  Simplifying your schedule can provide breathing room and may enhance your overall experience.  Remember that decisions you make now can be altered next year, depending on how they feel to you.  This flexibility can help you find the balance that makes your holiday time as enjoyable as possible for you and your loved ones.

By giving yourself an overview of the season, using the “times three rule” for planning, and factoring in time for the unexpected, you will find time to do the things that are important to you.  This helps assure that your busy holiday season is a happy and satisfying one!

Here’s one more idea for taking your next step toward time success. Sign up for our free gift, “The New Finding Time Boundary Template: 9 Simple, Sequential Steps to Find More Time and Recharge Your Energy!”

This time template will help you move beyond overwhelm, disappointment, and frustration. Using a workbook format, with room to record your answers, you will discover that 24 hours really are enough!

When you approach time management in a heart-based way, you include all the parts of you – mind, body, emotions, and spirit – in the equation.  And that adds up to a lot!

Ironically, we often empower our feelings, as when we experience an emotion ‘taking over.’  But at the same time, we shrug off feelings, thinking of them in much the way they are described in the ’70′s song, “Feelings“, sung by Morris Albert. The memorable refrain there is … “Feelings, nothing more than feelings.”

That song is a great example of our ambivalence about feelings.  While the explicit theme is how peripheral and unimportant feelings are, the entire song is about how they dominate the singer’s life.

This is such an important point.  So what I’d like to focus on, over the next several posts, is just how powerfully, and often invisibly, our feelings affect us and our relationship to time.  With that as a base, then I will share some practical tools for harnessing the power of your feelings so that you are in sync with yourself and your full energy is available to you.

As Brian Tracy has noted:

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.

So stay tuned, there’s more to come …

And in the meantime, as you explore ways to increase your power and effectiveness – 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!

Maybe these tips will spark other ideas for you.  The main thing is to explore and tap into the power you hold in your hands – power to think ahead and be creative. As you try this approach, I think your results will please and surprise you!

1. Open your mind to possibilities for structuring your project that may not be typical.  Start by clearly defining your desired outcome.  Start there and structure your project around it. Beginning with the ending will stimulate your creativity more than automatically following a standard protocol.
   
   
2. Keep refining your vision of your results or desired outcome until it’s comprehensive and specific. Having your planned results remain vague may feel like it leaves you more options, but in reality it undermines your ability to move ahead with your project.  Clearly delineating your goal will help you strategize more effectively when structuring your action steps AND will help you stay on track as you move ahead.
   
   
3. Examine and evaluate the scope and complexity of your desired outcome. If you have bitten off more than you can chew, streamline your project to make it manageable.  By staying laser focused  you sidestep a common pitfall: defining your anticipated results too broadly. Learn to marshal your resources by simplifying.
   
   
4. Get everyone who’s important to your project on board at the onset.  Once you define your specific, comprehensive goal and pare it down to a realistic size, present it to everyone directly involved.  When you invest time and energy up front preparing an initial, strong presentation of your end point for all key participants, you derive two important benefits:
• First, you are far more likely to obtain their approval and commitment when they understand you.
• Second, the more they comprehend your clearly articulated objectives, the more you’ll have valuable space to explore and experiment along the way.
5. 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.

It’s deeply rewarding to plan a project effectively when first starting out. You will proceed with more confidence, develop a stronger base of support, and be able to begin with a bang!

How will you take the first step on your next project?  Do you have ideas?  Questions?  Drop me a line, I’d love to help!

And speaking of being ready to begin with a bang … would you like to transform and deepen your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way?  Then, 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 …

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There are traditional methods for overcoming the hurdle of the first step, and they vary from one person to the next. For example, many say that the best way to get mobilized is to sit down and write an outline of your project. However, in the initial stages of many projects, it’s possible to get stuck if you go this route.  That’s because so many elements remain uncertain in complex, multi-step projects that outlining isn’t easy or productive.

Other people highly recommend a Zero Draft. They believe you should simply start writing, not thinking about spelling, format or structure. Once you have something on the blank page, they reason, it’s easy to edit.

Neither of these approaches uses your time wisely.

So, what other options are there?  I recommend that you begin a project at the end – defining desired outcomes.

Identifying your goal allows you to effectively visualize the overall result. You don’t become mired in the specific details of the topics you need to address, the resources you must consult, or the particular methods you will use.

Instead, with this definition of desired outcomes, you give yourself the framework of your project. Once the outcomes are defined, you can work backwards to lay out the needed action steps.

How does starting by defining desired outcomes ‘find time’ for you? You are engaging in a form of goal setting that is flexible. You avoid false starts, going off on tangents, or feeling obligated to follow traditional steps in order to achieve your optimal results.

When you give yourself permission to define the desired outcomes in terms of what you want, you activate your powers of visualization.  You are then able to give yourself a very clear picture of what you plan to create.  From that picture, your first step will emerge organically.

 Try it and see.  If you are willing to experiment with this alternative to writing outlines and Zero Drafts, you will begin your project with the two most useful states of mind: “awareness” of what you want, and “flexibility” in how you achieve it.

Ready to take that first step?  When you free yourself from the obligation to follow the rules and give yourself the gift of clarity about your desired outcome, you won’t need to “figure out” where to start – you will know.  Your first step will be right there in front of you, ready for you to take it!

Experiment with this alternative approach. The creative focus you develop through this process will enhance your power and effectiveness.

And speaking of increasing your power and effectiveness – 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!

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Finding time to deal with the curve balls that sometimes come our way is one of the biggest time management challenges you ever face.  Hurricane Irene gave many people in the eastern part of the US a good opportunity to prepare, adjust and carry on this past weekend.

How did you fare?  I hope you and yours are safe, as you read this … and any storm damage you suffered was minimal at most.

From a time management perspective we were lucky that Irene was a relatively slow-moving storm.  As she moved up the Atlantic coast this weekend, it was possible to pretty well predict where she was headed – leaving those in her path time to get ready.

Even when you are expecting a storm, though, it disrupts your plans and you likely have to replace your usual tasks with storm-related activities.  In addition, you can’t know specific details of the storm’s impact ahead of time.  Will you lose power?  Will trees come down?  How will friends and family be affected?

It’s a humbling life experience, being confronted with the power of nature.  I would add that it can be grounding, as well.

Big life events like Hurricane Irene remind us that the power we ultimately hold is very much rooted in ourselves.  We cannot control the path of the storm, the wind speed, or the rainfall.  But what we can do is prepare, adjust and carry on.

Don’t underestimate how empowering it is to take in that fact.  When you thoroughly understand this, right to your very core, you don’t waste time and energy trying to change what you cannot.  Instead, you can put your energy toward flexing where you need to … and you’ll be that much better equipped to adjust and carry on once the storm (whatever form it takes) has passed.

This powerful lesson can change your perspective and move you ahead, perhaps in unexpected ways.  And let me know what you discover - I’d love to hear!

And speaking of moving ahead, I am pleased to share that I am The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to “Time Management”.  When you visit you’ll find 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!

So, what if you could find another hour every day? You can! You can explore some practical and effective options for taking charge of your time by signing up for our free gift – “The New Finding Time Boundary Template: 9 Simple, Sequential Steps to Find More Time and Recharge Your Energy!”   Claim it and see how you can recharge your energy, reduce overwhelm and frustration, and come to learn that 24 hours really ARE enough!

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• Find Time When You Need It Most Using Timely Flexible Focus (thetimefinder.com)

If you’ve wondered exactly where flexible focus can help you, here are some classic scenarios where this tool can give you a timely boost:

• Training new employees.
• Starting a new job.
• Collaborating closely with a colleague who has a different work style.
• Introducing/Integrating new people or projects into busy schedules.
• Balancing work and home demands.

Do you face any of these challenges now? Or, do any of these bring to mind other times when you have been stretched too thin and felt like you were spinning your wheels in mud?

Take special note of the situations that stand out for you. Write them down as a first step, keeping in mind that challenges become much more manageable when you move them out of your head and onto a page.

Then, as we mentioned in our first post about Flexible Focus, take these two key and timely steps:

• Internalize the power: Take time to travel within and create a heart-based approach to the personal challenge that you are facing; and
• Externalize the tasks: Do some brainstorming about what systems you can develop to keep things running smoothly.

You start to benefit as soon as you realize that certain situations call for Flexible Focus.

Mindfulness during these times will broaden your perspective. You’ll find it easier to be patient with yourself and others, too.  And then from that base, you are freed up to brainstorm creative solutions and responses to whatever challenges you face.

Finally, at the end of the day, give yourself a few moments to reflect. Envision how using flexible focus has sent ripples of fresh energy to you throughout your day, and take a deep, relaxing breath of gratitude!

Are you feeling ready to start using flexible focus to find time when you need it most?  What does that process look like for you? Picture it, make it real, and drop me a line – I’d love to hear how it goes!

And are you interested in deepening your relationship to time in the Heart-Based Way?  Then, 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 …

Related articles

• Find Time to Thrive with Flexible Focus-2 Timely Touchstones (thetimefinder.com)
• Find Time to Bust Your Time Gremlins and Break Out of Your Time Traps! (thetimefinder.com)
• Find Time to Increase Your Productivity with this Cyber Monday Time Tool! (thetimefinder.com)
• Find Time to Value Your Values the Heart-Based Way (thetimefinder.com)