Making Decisions

Here is some sage advice about making decisions in both your professional and personal lives, from author and counselor Rebecca Merrill.

Rebecca Merrill c 2004

1. We all have to do it.

2. We never get to stop doing it.

3. Every new decision leads to more decisions. It's just a question of how

4. It's difficult to make good decisions for a multitude of reasons.

5. We spend a small percentage of our lives making decisions, but they determine the rest of our lives, which are the consequences.

6. There are no "right" or perfect decisions.

7. With every decision, you will experience some loss, especially if you choose to do nothing.

8. You can only make the decision you are capable of making when the decision is called for; all decisions are a function of who you are at the time you make them.

9. The quality of your life is directly related to the quality of your decisions.

10. It is well worth your while to learn how to make good ones.

Everyday Deskmanship

Is your desk always piled high with papers? Do you fear that the situation is hopeless? Well, there are ways to make your desk a more efficient work area. Simply follow my "ten commandments of deskmanship"

1. Thou shalt clear thy desk every night.
2. Thou shalt continually Refine what goes on thy desktop.
3. Thou shalt Not use thy desk top as a filing cabinet.
4. Thou shalt predetermine what belongs Inside thy desk.
5. Thou shalt keep 20% of thy drawer space Vacant.
6. Thou shalt Furnish thy surrounding office to support thy desk.
7. Thou shalt take Comfort when at thy desk.
8. Thou shalt keep Clean thy desk and thy surrounding area.
9. Thou shalt Leave thy desk periodically.
10. Thou shalt Honor thy desk as thyself.

Deskmanship

Is your desk always piled high with papers? Does the situation seem hopeless? It doesn't have to be that way. In my book Breathing Space: Living & Working at a Comfortable
Pace in a Sped-Up Society I observe that you spend so much time at your desk -– it just has to be a comfortable place for you!!

To create more surface space, you could buy a mechanical arm that hoists your monitor over the desk. I have has one and do not know how I lived without it beforehand. Also By clearing your desk every evening, you automatically have to choose what to work on the next day.

At Your Fingertips...

A tip worth employing: Use Google to find a topic-specific search engine, then use that engine to locate the sites that are most applicable to your needs.

Pare Down and Win

My book, Breathing Space which has been translated into Japanese, French, Italian, Chinese, Malay, and Spanish, introduces "paring down." It's a means of discarding what does not serve you, what does not support your work, what does not make your home life more pleasant, what gets in the way, or what you've been hanging onto for too long.

Where in your personal or professional life can you pare down? Check the items below that you suspect require attention. Use this list as a starting point, since many areas may not be of concern to you or you may need to add some of your own areas.

Where else can I pare down?:

[ ] Front hall closet
[ ] Kitchen cupboards
[ ] Bedroom closet
[ ] Under kitchen sink
[ ] Den closet

[ ] Under bathroom sink
[ ] Other closet
[ ] Medicine cabinet
[ ] Linen closet
[ ] Attic

[ ] Laundry room
[ ] Basement
[ ] Garage
[ ] Bookshelves
[ ] Back porch

[ ] Other shelves
[ ] File drawers
[ ] DVD collection
[ ] File folders
[ ] Cassette collection

[ ] Hard drive
[ ] CD collection
[ ] Other collection
[ ] Clothing drawers
[ ] Coats

[ ] Shirts, blouses
[ ] Ties, scarves
[ ] Pants, Skirts
[ ] Handbags, pocketbooks
[ ] Footwear

[ ] Briefcases, valises
[ ] Magazines
[ ] Duplicates, triplicates
[ ] Newspapers
[ ] Other piles

[ ] Newsletters
[ ] Other assemblages
[ ] Items I haven't used in years
[ ] Items I've never used
[ ] Items I can donate

[ ] Anything else I can think of!!

Ways to Manage Your Commute

1. Keep your car in top shape. Take it in for servicing if you even suspect something is askew.
2. Join an automotive club. They pay for themselves after one tow.
3. Wean yourself of flicking on the radio the moment you step into the car, or of listening to shock talkers who offer little to your life. Instead...
4. Install a tape or CD player to control your environment to and from work. Patronize your local library for lectures, plays, books, and music on cassettes.
5. Ride with the windows closed and the A/C on. You'll get the same MPG as otherwise, the ride will to be quieter, and you'll have more control of your immediate environment.
6. Keep spare car keys in your house and spare house keys hidden in a faithful "Hide-a-Key" compartment which magnetically attaches under the bumper.
7. Hide several quarters, key phone numbers, a pad, a pen, stamps, and envelopes in your car.
8. During your ride, reflect on what you'd like to complete or how you'd like your day to go.

Overcoming Procrastination

Here are eight tips on overcoming procrastination derived from my internationally acclaimed book, The 60 Second Self-Starter, published by Adams Media:

1. Realize that wanting to start on a task is different than deciding to.

2. Relate the underlying meaning of your task to something larger.

3. Don't wait until you're "in the mood." True professionals never do.

4. Recognize that unpleasant tasks don't tend to get more pleasant as time passes.

5. Expect some level of breakdown or backsliding. Progress is not always even; two steps forward and one step back is more often the rule than the exception.

6. Choose someone who can serve as a trailblazer and help you get started.

7. Have somebody waiting for your work.

8. Be forthright with yourself and acknowledge when you're procrastinating, and you'll be that much closer to taking action.

Tips for a PC Virus Attack

* Call a PC guru
* Don't shut off your PC which could trigger the infection.
* Disconnect your online connection.
* Back up any new data, it might be your only chance. Try to clean it later.
* Use another PC to learn about the virus.
* Employ anti-virus software to scan and clean. If not treatable, delete the file.
* Brief your anti-virus software vendor, in case it's an new virus.

Opt Out of Unwanted Mail, Calls

Here is a fabulous article from Consumer Reports on a message featured by the World Privacy Forum titled,

"How to Opt Out of Unwanted Mail and Calls."

"Tired of having your mailbox invaded and dinner interrupted? The World Privacy Forum has listed 10 "opt outs" to help consumers get their names and contact information off marketing lists. The nonprofit group's website explains how the opt-outs work and includes links and phone numbers." Here are options that are especially useful:

* The National Do Not Call Registry - Put your name on this list to stop most telemarketing calls. (You can't stop calls from charities, politicians, or companies you've done business with in the past 18 months.) Call 888-382-1222. Your number stays in the registry for five years. The first registrations will start expiring next year.

* www.optoutprescreen.com offers help to stop "preapproved" credit-card offers. Call 888-567-8688.

* Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service - The 3,600 plus DMA member companies (catalog marketers and nonprofits) must purge their mailing lists of people who register with this service, which costs $1.

* Once a year, financial institutions are required to send you their privacy policies, including how you can opt out if they share such information as your account balances. The Forum's site provides opt-out links for several of the largest banks in the U.S.

* Consumers Union mails subscription offers for Consumer Reports and its other publications. Because CU publications take no ads, subscriptions are their main revenue source. "We are advocates of opt-out options for consumers," says Meta Brophy, CU's director of publishing operations. "It's in the consumer's interest and our interest to send mail they want."

Your "Technology Bill of Rights"

Technology puts independent workers in the driver's seat, so to speak. But it can create such dependency, say my pals, Larry Rosen and Michelle Weil, that it may even lead to questioning one's own creativity and capabilities. To keep technology in it's proper perspective, they say to declare your independence.

1. I am the boss, not my technology.
2. Technology is available to help me express my creativity.
3. I decide when to use the tools technology provides.
4. I have the right to choose what technology to use and what to put aside.
5. I can use technology to stay connected, informed, and productive – my way.

6. Technology offers a world of information. I get to choose what information is important to me.
7. Technology will have problems, but I will be prepared to handle them.
8. Technology can work 24-hour days, but I can choose when to begin and when to stop working.
9. Technology never needs to rest, but I do.
10. I can work successfully by enforcing my boundary needs.

Source: Technostress by Larry Rosen Ph.D. and Michelle Weil PhD.

Sane Cell Phone Use

As cell phones take over the earth, it's vital to remember that you control yours, and not vice versa. As often as you possibly can, keep your cell phone off and only use it for making outgoing calls or when you are expecting an important call from someone in particular. You really do not
want to be available to everyone all the time - that's a guarantee you won't even be able to think straight.

Don't freely give out your cell phone number, except to those you actually want to hear from such as loved ones, clients, and prospects. This should be a relatively small universe. If you can live without it, don't put your cell phone number on your business card, and don't advertise that you have one. People can call your office number and be assured that calls will be returned in a reasonable amount of time.

Roasting the Sacred Cows

In my books and keynote speeches, I describe six "sacred cows"of time management that need to be forsaken.

The six "sacred cows" briefly listed below represent conventional time management wisdom. In contrast to each bit of "wisdom" are Breathing Space Principles that serve as action guides.

1. Handling Paper -- Wisdom: "Handle Each Piece of Paper Once."
2. Reducing Clutter -- Wisdom: "When in Doubt, Throw it Out."
3. Being More Efficient -- Wisdom: Speed Reading, Listening, Learning.

4. Beating the Competition -- Wisdom: "Work Smarter, not Harder."
5. Managing Your Schedule -- Wisdom: Use Sophisticated Scheduling Tools.
6. Staying Informed -- Wisdom: Read Key Executive Publications.

While time management was a set of rules that worked well in a relatively finite setting, Breathing Space principles will prove to be far more effective for the ever changing multi-variable situations that executives and managers face today.

The Need to Let Go

Speaker Joe Calloway says that we all need to let go of erroneous notions. Joe's mantra: "I need to let go of..."

* comparing myself to others
* trying to meet someone's expectations other than my own
* doing it all myself
* only telling my clients what they want to hear
* thinking it's all about getting spin-offs or more jobs
* playing small

* not trusting my own opinion
* working with people I can't stand
* pretending like I'm president of a big company
* stepping over dollars to pick up nickels
* not having fun

Caregiver "Emergency Kit"

From Bottom Line Personal , a publication of Boardroom Reports, comes a most useful list:
a Caregiver's "Emergency Kit"

* Personal basics:
Social Security number (original card or a photocopy).
Keys (home, car).

* Health information:
Photocopy of Medicare cared.
Copy of Medigap policy or policy number and agent contact information.
List of current diagnoses. Up-to-date list of current medications with dosage schedule.
Primary care physician and specialists with phone numbers and which conditions they are treating.

* Legal documents:
Living will (if they want extraordinary measures taken in a medical emergency).
Power of attorney for medical and/or financial decisions.

* Financial information:
Co-signing power for bank and brokerage accounts and safe-deposit box
Savings accounts numbers
Investment information
Stock broker
Loans information
Pension, etc.

Avoid the Post-Vacation Slam

Would you like to minimize stress following your travels? Suppose your time away from the office is ending. Once back at work, you have a stack of phone messages on your desk. Your mail is eight inches high. There are memos, reports, and announcements all over the place. You experience extreme pressure to catch up. The moment you return, the whole
world seems to falls in on you.

The Remedy? Plan your trips so that you return before you announced you would. Include a "decompression" phase in your plans; your trip is not complete until you comfortably reintegrate yourself. Also:

* Take one less vacation day and build in a day for transition and decompression rather than coming back too abruptly.

* Avoid returning to work on a Monday; it's already a high-pressure day.

* Instruct others to handle or reroute as many phone calls as possible; and to segment your mail and other papers that come in. Return to a clean office and a clean desk.

* Unpack all your bags quickly. You may be tired, but the task will only be more burdensome later. Put all notes and papers in their place as soon as possible if you ever intend to act on them.

Adjusting to Gridlock

Does it seem as if it's taking you longer merely to drive a few blocks? It's not your imagination--and it's not going to subside soon. More densely packed urban areas have resulted in gridlock. And our population and road use grow faster than our ability to repair our highways and bridges. Three quarters of the nation's 575,000 bridges were built before 1938, and nearly half are structurally deficient. Meanwhile, city planners report that there will be no clear solution to gridlock for decades.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to take personal control. Beat the traffic by getting up earlier, or later. Ask your boss if you can work flextime or at home a couple days a week. If you drive to work, put your CD player to use. I recommend listening to books on cassette, or relaxing with music of your own choice. Commute with people you enjoy talking to, not merely those who live nearby or work close to where you do.

Of course, you can move closer to your job, telecommute, change your job, or self-employ. Otherwise, recognize that gridlock will always be a part of your life.

Streamlining Work and Life

Mike Zimmerman, writing in Men's Health magazine, offers some advice on streamlining your work and your life:

* Switch to online bill paying instead of writing checks.

* Use one email address for friends and family, another for shopping and spam.

* Use DVR recorders to make your own TV schedule.

* Check the news at CNN.com or some other general source. Skip watching TV news.

* Stop overworking.

* Stop over-packing, stop over-promising, stop overdoing everything.

* Discard junk mail immediately.

* Stop micromanaging.

Sane Airplane Travel

Wear loose and comfortable clothing while on board. Sitting in an airplane seat is confining--you don't need to add to it by wearing heavy clothing, restrictive belts, or tight shoes--unless you're meeting a client immediately.

If you do want to sleep--regardless of where you're sitting--as Gerry Tausch would say, don a baseball cap with a sign on the rim saying, "Sleeping, do not disturb," or simply, "Do not disturb." When you want to work, wear a cap with the words "On deadline, please do not disturb." Both messages work well.