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Goals

How Do You Spend Your Time?

by admin on April 6, 2010

I have been somewhat disorganized lately.  Our insurance business has been a little slow, which I think is causing this disorganization.  When I (and others) have too much time on my hands, it is easy to find ways to waste the extra time rather than make it productive.  I have spent the last couple of days re-organizing how I will spend my time.  I read on chrisbrogan.com today, where he is re-drawing how he will spend his time.  It feels nice to be on the page with someone who has put some thought into this process.  To me, it is important to spend a little time thinking about the most productive ways to spend your time.  Due to the speed with which business and work flows can change, it is important to evaluate your time at least once per quarter, if not more often.

Email:

How much time are you spending on email?  I spend a lot of time on email, yet much of that time can be shifted to non-peak business hours.  That is to say, that every email does not need an immediate response.  In fact, many emails don’t need a response within the same business day.  I have decided to make an immediate judgement on emails as they come in and determine whether they need immediate response, or whether I can work them from home at night.  This began today, and I already have a few to respond to this evening.  I think I’ll be okay.

Reading:

It is important to spend some time each day to determine what is going on in your world (local news, profession-specific news, world news).  I sometimes imagine everyone sitting around reading their local newspaper or Wall Street Journal.  Needless to say, times have changed and the consumption of news/information has felt that change.  The problem arises in that the information is so readily available and so vast, that if you don’t watch out, you can spend too much time each day “staying informed”.  If you don’t believe me, log the amount of time you spend each day on the Internet reading news (including sports, entertainment, fashion) and you will probably be amazed at just how much time you are spending. 

Even though the information is readily available, I have decided to carve out a few minutes in the morning, a few in the afternoon, and some wrap up time at night before I go to bed.  I don’t think I will miss anything major.  I do get Washington Post email updates, afterall, so I’m sure I will be informed of any news that would be immediate for me to know.

Business Contacts:

How much time do you spend each day reaching out to potential business partners?  If you spend too much time on non-essential reading and emails, then you are losing valuable contact time.   I like to pick up the phone and contact people.  When I don’t have the time to pick up the phone, I go to Linked In or Biznik and look how my connections are connected to everyone else.  I found a couple of old contacts today and reunited with them.  It was nice to connect.

Take some time and log what you are doing each day.  Is it productive?  Is it wasteful?  Maybe you are better than the rest of us, but if you go through this process at the very least you will confirm your productivity.

CWH

collinharbour.com


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How To Recover From A Big Loss

by admin on March 30, 2010

In business and in other aspects of life, most of us will face loosing a deal or a job.  We may even face a tough time after a good deal goes south.  I have been writing the last couple of weeks about my Baylor Bears men’s basketball team.  They lost on Sunday (the women just won to advance to the Final Four!!).  It was sad.  I had a rough day on Monday.  I spent much of the day pondering what it would have been like if the Bears would have made the Final Four/National Championship.  That would have been a big deal.  I know the team is heartbroken.  They had a great season.  Duke played a great game.  Nothing else can be said.

As much time as I spent thinking about the game, I also thought about the players and coaches and what their “Monday” must have been like.  I can guarantee it was worse than mine.  My mind also wandered to those who are having a difficult time int he current economic climate.  I am one of those.  Most likely, you are too.

The question that arises is, how do we deal with these difficult times?  What can we do to get beyond the disappointment, or embarrassment, or failure?  I have come up with the following list, which is probably only a surface scratcher:

Breathe:  Unless it is the most dire of circumstances, life will go on.  The best idea is to take a deep breath and know that you’ve still got many other things to accomplish.  Breathe . . .  it feels good.  Breathe again.

Put One Foot On The Floor And Step:  There are mornings when I wonder if it is worth getting out of bed.  I am always, 100% of the time, glad that I decided to get out of bed.  Put one foot down, and then put the other one in front of it.  Repeat it again and again.  If you don’t take the first step, you’ll run the risk of being stuck pondering the could’ve beens and should’ve beens.  Don’t waste time thinking of what could have been . . . Instead, try focusing on what will be because of the experiences you have gained.

Turn To Something That You Can Be Happy About:  Perhaps you have family that you can lean on.  Perhaps you have someone else who has had recent success.  Try not to be resentful because your time will come soon.  For now, just focus on others for a few days.  If they are happy, you will be happy, too.

Set New Goals:  Now the the disappointment is behind you, set some new goals. Where do you want to be in 6 months or one year.  Even better, make a 5 year plan with many checkpoints outlined along the way.  New goals will help you as you move forward.  They will give you something to shoot for now!!

This may be a “duh” list or it may be a list that doesn’t seem all that involved.  The reason is, because when you experience failure (which we all do), then there are only a few things you can do to get over it.  And you must get over it because if you get stuck in the miry clay, then you are only wasting time.  Take it from me.  I have wasted time in the past and it only made a bad situation worse.

Collin W. Harbour

collinharbour.com


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New Beginnings

March 21, 2010

Baylor Men’s Basketball is in the Sweet 16!!!  This may not mean a whole lot to you if you have not followed Baylor sports over the last decade, but let me see if I can refresh your memory.  In the summer of 2003, one of the Baylor basketball players went missing and after all of [...]

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