Six Sigma Blogs

You want to perform well at your job so you devote countless hours at work instead of going home at a reasonable time. You want your personal life to succeed, so you find your self thinking about your family or problems at work. Neither is a recipe for a balanced healthy life and can lead to disaster.

It’s been said that “Too much work makes Jack a dull boy,” this is certainly true if you devote yourself to your career to the exclusion of everything else. Even if you love your job you may feel consumed by it if it’s all you have in your life.

The proper balance between work and your personal life lets you keep them both in check. A full personal life can be a stress reliever at the end of a busy workday.

The need for a separation between private and public responsibilities is even more pronounced when you own your own business. Having your own business is a huge responsibility and it can make you feel you need to spend every moment you can consumed with work. This can make your family feel neglected and negatively affect your health.

Starting your own business is a dream for many people. They long for the freedom from having a boss and to be able to set their own hours. Being all about work, however, simply replaces one set of problems for another.

Spending too much time on one thing can be self-defeating. You can reach a saturation point where you are no longer being effective.

Anything can grow tiresome if you do it to the exclusion of everything else. You can start making mistakes and grow tired of it even if it’s something you love. This can be disastrous for your business. It’s better to take some time off from what you’re doing to gain a fresh perspective.

A healthy balance between work and personal time is essential for a successful life. Each plays a role in off-setting the other. When that doesn’t occur you face negative consequences. Take time to evaluate your life and make sure you are giving your work and personal life the time they need.

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One problem that almost everyone shares is procrastination. At one time or another, most of us have a tendency to put off doing things that need to be done.

The problem is that in procrastinating we are not only not doing what we had said we would, we are actually creating tension and anxiety. This stress can spread beyond you to encompass others, from people working on the same project as well as loved ones.

Often the reason you are delaying is because you face an especially hard job. You then become lost in all the small peripheral things you have on and end up telling yourself the big job is too hard, impossible even, and you cannot do it. The conclusion of this type of thought pattern is exacerbated stress and inability to do any constructive work.

The best way to break this cycle of delay and procrastination is to make yourself a list every day. By doing this, you can work out what needs to be done, how important each job is, and whether it has to be done on that particular day.

Once you have finished a particular job, cross it out. This simple act of striking the job off can actually help your attitude, making you look forward to that next pen stroke.

Another good way of avoiding procrastination is to devote just fifteen minutes to a task that you have been putting off. This often works because getting started is actually the most difficult part. Once you’ve devoted fifteen minutes to a task, you may find that you will just stick with it until it is completed.

Sometimes projects may seem bigger than what they actually are. If this occurs, it is easy to put it off, but instead, you should acknowledge that you are doing this. Don’t allow it to happen, break this big project into multiple smaller ones, and complete each of them individually.

Many people find that if they start their day by completing a few small tasks on their “to do” list, they become motivated for the entire day. This can be a great way of putting and end to procrastination so that you can get more done in your life.

This author has been blogging on success for the past two years. In addition, this individual likes providing knowledge on different topics, including shipping crates in addition to cheap moving boxes.

Time is obviously the universal ruler of the world. Humans are enslaved by the idea of time, as we use frequent sayings such as “we don’t have enough time.” These ideas have long been in existence, and this dreadful curse of time has prevented many of us from achieving our goals and aspirations. It is important that we stop and focus on these goals though, and apply the time needed to make them a reality.

Although it can be difficult for busy people to carve out even a little bit of time, if you make it a priority to spend just thirty minutes each day in pursuit of your dreams, it can make a big difference in your life.

Thirty minutes might just be watching half a television show instead of the full one. Some successful people don’t even watch television. They feel as though it wastes their time and energy that could be used on pursuing dreams.

Not all people want to give up television. Deleting just thirty minutes each day of this enjoyable activity is all you need to do to drastically change your lifestyle.

Another way of regaining thirty minutes is to stop using the snooze alarm on your alarm clock each morning. Getting up just thirty minutes earlier can be a great way of getting a jump on the day. Plus, if you get up before the rest of your family does, you will have some quiet time to yourself to spend on your personal pursuits.

Another trick is to get someone in to help you with small tasks, like a PA or a cleaner, or you could even ask your husband or wife to help out for a while. Sometimes you need to get other people in to help you get to your goal. Don’t feel like you are being selfish as everybody should be able to reach for their dream at some point.

You could work out ways of cutting down time spent on chores. Instead of cooking one off meals, you could make several at the same time and freeze the leftovers. Of when you are at the supermarket, make sure you have a list so you can whizz around the aisles.

Another excellent idea is to do all of the housework in one period of time. You can save quite a bit of time doing every chore one after another for an hour instead of over the entire day.

This author has been publishing commentary with respect to time management for the past two years. Additionally, this writer is fond of publishing articles about other subjects, such as a return address stamp in addition to a stamp dispenser.

There’s an old saying that 90% of what you do in life is just showing up. While some people consider this to be true, almost everyone will agree that showing up on time is 100% of life. However, some people still think that it’s okay to be consistently late to various appointments.

You wouldn’t want other people to keep you waiting - it’s just poor etiquette. Keep your friends waiting on you too often, and they’ll start to think that you’re not as good a friend as they once believed.

Being frequently late to your job is an obvious behavior to avoid, yet some people continue to do it. Most companies have no problem firing an employee who’s consistently late. Similarly, being late to classes can mean that you miss out on important information that could have an effect on your grade. Being late will almost always result in negative consequences, while it will rarely impart any benefits.

First, you’re only using more energy by being late. Having to come up with an excuse for your lateness is mentally draining if you have to do it too often.

Put that energy toward something positive instead. Being on time will free you from having to worry about excuses, and you’ll be able to focus on the important things. You’re also causing yourself undue stress by being late, so just arrive on time and you’ll easily reduce your stress levels.

If you’re paid as an hourly employee by your company, it’s almost a guarantee that they want you to show up on time every day. Many offices allow a five-minute grace period before they consider you tardy, but it’s really best not to push your employer’s patience.

Think about it this way: if you arrive to work on time every day while another coworker has a less-than-stellar record when it comes to tardiness, who will the bosses be more apt to promote? All other things equal, being punctual will display good time management skills, and that could mean the difference in getting you the next promotion.

Whatever your situation, it’s always going to be the case that being on time has benefits while being late has consequences. Save yourself the headache and make it a goal to always be on time, and you’ll reap the rewards.

Besides ethics, this writer also frequently pens articles about outdoor candle chandelier and commercial outdoor lighting.

Do you ever feel your work life balance is off? The key to living well is finding this balance. You may find one part of your life is going great, but another area is awful. You may even feel like you have it all, but feel confused by the fact you still do not feel happy.

You probably feel like you are juggling a dozen balls, with your job, kids, spouse, health, etc. It feels as if at any moment you will start to drop some of these balls. While our society emphasizes success in some areas, it neglects many others. Your identity can become the work you do. What good is it to be financially successful if you still feel unhappy. You may find yourself turning to medication, therapy, and rehab to simply survive in this world.

The most obvious need for improvement for most people is the work life balance. Your career makes up a huge portion of your life. Sometimes you may find you allow it to really take over. It can begin to prevent you from giving other parts of your life proper attention. In reality, as important as you may feel your work is, it really provides two things:

–Money to fund the life you really want (live well, be with your family, vacation, etc.),

–It can provide a sense of purpose, especially if you are doing something you feel makes an impact.

Work must stay in perspective. You cannot allow it to take over your entire life, unless you are a nun. It is easy to get into the mindset of constantly working, with the promise to really start living once you reach a certain goal. Unfortunately, you will always find another goal to reach.

The time to start living is now, in this very moment. Being present in the moment requires a high level of self awareness. Our culture is not good at this on a whole. You eat, drink, shop, work, etc. all to really avoid anything remotely close to introspection. You don’t want to look in there–it is really dark and scary.

You will have to have some awareness of your inner needs in order to develop life balance. Use your internal compass to tell you when to bond with your spouse, kids, or yourself. It is easy in our society to be disconnected. It is critical, but often uncomfortable, to connect with others. This connection is a fundamental part of happiness.

The connection with yourself may be the most important of all. You are probably very disconnected to yourself even if most of the time you are alone. It is common for you to want to do one thing, but have your brain telling you that you ’should’ do something more productive. If you don’t do what you ’should’ do, you will find yourself miserable with guilt.

When you take away all of the ’shoulds’, you begin to see how effective your internal compass really is. You have to stop ’shoulding’ all over yourself if you hope to ever really find work life balance.

Ever feel like something is off? Finding life balance is the key to living well. Many people feel that they are really triumphing in one area of life, while another is falling apart. Others feel like they have it all, but still do not feel truly happy.

You may feel like the balls are all up in the air, between your spouse, kids, job, health, etc. If you are not careful, some balls are going to drop. Our society focuses heavily on success in some areas, while neglecting the importance of others. It is common for your career to become your identity. Regardless of how financially successful this culture is, it doesn’t seem to be a very happy one in general. It is commonplace to see people turning to medication, therapy, and even rehabs to deal with life.

Work life balance tends to be the most obvious area in need of improvement. The work you do requires a huge chunk of your time and energy. It can feel like it really takes over your whole life. You cannot allow it to keep you from attending to other critical areas of your life. Work really only provides two things:

–Money to fund the life you really want (live well, be with your family, vacation, etc.),

–You may get a sense of purpose from your work, particularly if it is a passion for you.

You have to keep work in its proper place. It is not your whole life, unless you are married to the church. You can easily fall into the habit of focusing on work and putting life on hold until you have reached some career goal. The problem with this is there is always another goal to achieve.

You have to start living immediately, as you read this. You will need a great deal of self awareness in order to fully live in the present. This is not easy in our society. You will find yourself eating, drinking, shopping, and working to keep yourself distracted from what is going on inside of you. It can be scary to even think of taking a look in there.

But being aware of your inner needs is critical to developing life balance. You must begin to use your internal compass to tell you when to play barbies with your child, take a nap, or pay attention to your spouse. It is easy for you to stay disconnected–isolation and independence are pillars of our society. Connecting requires a certain amount of vulnerability and openness. But bonding with others is a fundamental key to happiness.

It is important that you also truly connect to yourself. Even if you are alone most of the time, you are probably pretty disconnected to your inner world. When your inner compass is telling you it needs rest, your brain overrides it because you “should” go to the gym. Even if you end up relaxing, you are filled with guilt and cannot really enjoy yourself.

You would be surprised at how trustworthy your instincts really are when all of the ’shoulds’ are stripped away. For true work life balance you must start listening to your inner voice and vow to stop ’shoulding’ all over yourself.

Are you one of those people who always seem to struggle with time management? Do you spend hours starting and inventing hypothetical solutions but dont seem to get many of them done? Do you experience a lot of stress due to undone tasks regardless of your good intentions?

Do you have these symptoms? Spending your last few days of December doing well overdue travel expenses? Do you invent new diaries, planners (computer or paper based), only to yet again be looking for that confounded small piece of paper that you wrote some important details onto?

You are in need of a system that will make time management work for you. Whatever the system that you select to organize your thoughts, actions, contacts and diary, you still need the discipline and consistency to stick to one system for long enough for it to work.

Flat file paper notebooks and diaries dont seem to work for creative and innovative people. We have a need for colour and illustrations and practicality. Perhaps you also prefer a system that is always close at hand. If you are inclined to use colour and mind mapping and other graphically visible systems I suggest that you choose your stationery and your pens carefully.

What are the benefits of having a time and information management system? You can make such notes quickly before you go to bed, have breakfast, or while you watch the news on TV. Why would you want to make such notes at such times? Firstly, because 10 minutes later you have forgotten. Secondly, simply because you can, and because it creates the space for you to be your expressive self when you are doing other important things!

Accept that your brain is wired in a certain way and that you create the paper or electronic systems that will provide maximum means to capitalize on your invaluable if not ingenious thought processes. Im not just writing this to falsely compliment you either. Take some positive steps today that will help you learn about yourself and then capitilise on that knowledge.

If you spend some time in creating that elusive system that will work for you, fight off the temptation to depart from it and only effect changes with the discipline of a computer systems change manager! In other words, adapt and change and evolve your system by all means, but keep the consistency at all costs. Contact the author if you would like some more information on this subject.

These 10 time management tips will put more time in your day.

1. Take Time to Plan

Just 15 minutes of daily planning can dramatically improve your productivity. The next time you’re tempted to rush right into doing something, pause to plan. You’ll also reduce stress and avoid crisis management.

2. What Do You Want?

Before you can get anything done, you need to know what you want to accomplish. Goals will provide a direction on where to spend your time.

3. Flexibility Rules

Allow time for interruptions, distractions and opportunities. Life happens.

4. Five-Minute Power Breaks for Energy

Five minute power breaks can invigorate and boost energy levels. Take plenty of during day. You can stretch, daydream, get out of the office, motivate yourself by reading quotes or browse through a catalog. The important thing is to disconnect and unplug for what you where doing.

5. Join Perfectionist Anonymous

Hey, I like my ducks in a row, too, but I finally realized that the row doesn’t need to be perfectly straight.

6. Learn to Say NO

When you plan your day and focus on your goals, you’ll have a realistic look at your available time. This makes it easier for you to say NO when an unimportant task comes up.

7. Know Your Biological Prime Time

Do you know the time of day where you perform at your best? Perhaps it’s the morning. Maybe you like the nights better. Do your higher priority task during your peak

8. Your Top Tasks

Put the 80/20 rule into effect. Identify that valuable 20 percent that will bring you the highest reward. Prioritize your time to work on those items.

9. Join Procrastination Anonymous

Often procrastination occurs because of overwhelm from not knowing where to start. Take your larger project and break it down into smaller 15 minute tasks. (this takes planning) Keep doing those 15 minute tasks and eventually you’ll make a big dent in that larger project.

10. Give Yourself a High Five

Even the smallest wins deserve a celebration. Before you begin a task, promise yourself a reward when you finish. Then keep that promise. You earned it.