It Takes Time to Make Time
It Takes Time to Make Time
* Parenting magazines suggest that we spend at least two hours a day with our kids.
* Health magazines suggest that 90 minutes of exercise daily is necessary to keep us in good health, and eight hours of sleep each night is recommended for optimal functioning. (A study published in the April 2005 Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that only 3% of Americans are living a healthy lifestyle.)
* Relationship magazines advise couples to spend at least 15 hours a week alone together to maintain a good relationship.
Once you throw in a full-time job and commute time, that doesn’t leave much time for other essentials such as eating, grooming, or doing chores around the house.
In my work as a productivity consultant, my clients express a desire to “get organized,” yet they often say they just don’t have the time to do it now. Unfortunately, the longer they put it off, the more time they waste and the further behind they get.
The busier you are, the more you’ll benefit from setting up some time-saving systems, processes and tools.
Productivity has two components -- efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is about getting more done in less time. Effectiveness is about doing the right things, based on your priorities. The rest of this article will focus on tips for increasing your efficiency.
Increase Your Efficiency
How much time are you or your co-workers wasting? Research shows that the average person wastes 150 hours per year – almost one month – looking for things. The number one reason people pile instead of file is a fear of never finding it again once it is stored away. The Paper Tiger addresses this concern. Want to know how?
Here’s a typical scenario that you might relate to… Let’s say you have papers you need to file away about a car accident. If you have a standard categorical / A-Z filing system, the first decision you must make is which category to file the papers under. Do you file them under Medical (for the papers about your neck injury), Legal (for the police report and the legal papers from your attorney), Finance (for the insurance papers), or Household (for the car repair receipts)? Once you decide what category to file the papers under, you must then decide what to call the file itself. Then, weeks or months later when you want to retrieve something, you must remember what category you filed it under and what you called the file.
Consider these alarming statistics: A Steelcase study found that 27% of office workers described themselves as pilers. Ernst & Young reports that the average time it takes to retrieve and re-file a paper document is ten minutes. And 3% of all documents are lost or misfiled and have to be recovered at an alarming cost of $120 per document.
Using The Paper Tiger will allow you to immediately find anything you file or store. The Paper Tiger helps you instantly turn your dysfunctional files or piles into an instantly-retrievable "finding" system. The Paper Tiger allows you to keep your paper documents in your filing cabinet, cross-reference the information you input about each file, and use the search power of your computer to find it in five seconds or less -- regardless of who filed it!
Using The Paper Tiger to file away papers in the example given above, I’d call the file “Car Accident” and would add these keywords to the database: neck injury, lawsuit, Honda Civic, Allstate Insurance, Al's Auto Body (or whatever words I might look up when I want to retrieve one of the documents in the file). The physical paper-based files are stored using numbered labels. Doing a search for any of the italicized words I used above, The Paper Tiger will instantly tell me what file location and number the documents can be found in (Example: Reference 24 or Archive 92)
Not just for paper… Although this software program is most commonly used for finding paper documents, you can also use it to find much more than just paper. Paper Tiger owners have also used this software to help them store and retrieve such things as books, binders, CDs, DVDs, videos, containers, inventory items, storage boxes, x-rays, lab samples – anything you can put a number on. A tow truck company even uses it to find cars in their lot when the owner comes to claim their vehicle. The tow truck employee simply types in the make & model, license plate number or VIN number and The Paper Tiger tells them which stall number the car is parked in on their lot (Example: Stall 127). Prior to using The Paper Tiger, employees wasted valuable time walking up and down rows of cars to physically find the right vehicle when the customer arrived to claim it.
Visit my website for more information about the Paper Tiger. There you’ll find a link to download a no-obligation 30-day trial of the software. You’ll also find a link to my recorded teleclass and class notes, which provides information about program features and describes how it works.
Those who get software from me will also receive my complimentary recorded instructional teleclass and user guide which walks you through how to get started and how to use all the features. The Paper Tiger is available in single-user and in network version.
If you’d like personal assistance getting started, I offer one-on-one consultations by telephone. Wondering how this works? In addition to connecting by phone, I have special technology set up on my computer which enables me to access your computer remotely (with your permission, of course) so I can help you set up your Paper Tiger system no matter where you are located, and you can see what I am doing as you view your computer monitor. Contact me today for more information.
Need group training? I travel, and I also offer training sessions over the phone. We can all connect by telephone bridge line if your group members are in different locations. We can also set up a teleconference using a training room with an LCD projector and a sound system that projects my voice and what’s on the computer monitor. Contact me about your group’s training needs. (I offer training on other topics, as well.)
Regardless of whether you do it on your own or ask us for help, just do it! The sooner you implement The Paper Tiger, the sooner you’ll start recouping lost time.
Now or Later?
How often do you put off doing a non-urgent task now, even though you know it will save you valuable time, energy and money in the long run? What's stopping you? Are you waiting until you have more time? When will that be?
If you don’t take time now, it’s going to cost you a lot more down the road.
Make a written list of what needs your proactive attention NOW so you can save time, energy, money, and heartache LATER:
- Your health and well-being (schedule a medical appointment, start a diet or exercise program, daily meditation, etc.)
- Your relationships (be specific about what relationships you will tend to)
- Systems, processes and tools that will increase your productivity (choose from the list above or add your own)
- General maintenance (house or building, yard, appliances, equipment, car, etc.)
- Computer maintenance (virus protection, updates, computer back-up, etc.)
- Other ______________________
Remember, it takes time to make time!
It Takes Time to Make Time - To learn more about this author, visit Kathy Paauw's Website.
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You’ve probably read a lot of advice about how you should spend your time…
* Parenting magazines suggest that we spend at least two hours a day with our kids.
* Health magazines suggest that 90 minutes of exercise daily is necessary to keep us in good health, and eight hours of sleep each night is recommended for optimal functioning. (A study published in the April 2005 Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that only 3% of Americans are living a healthy lifestyle.)
* Relationship magazines advise couples to spend at least 15 hours a week alone together to maintain a good relationship.
Once you throw in a full-time job and commute time, that doesn’t leave much time for other essentials such as eating, grooming, or doing chores around the house.
In my work as a productivity consultant, my clients express a desire to “get organized,” yet they often say they just don’t have the time to do it now. Unfortunately, the longer they put it off, the more time they waste and the further behind they get.
The busier you are, the more you’ll benefit from setting up some time-saving systems, processes and tools.
Productivity has two components -- efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is about getting more done in less time. Effectiveness is about doing the right things, based on your priorities. The rest of this article will focus on tips for increasing your efficiency.
Increase Your Efficiency
How much time are you or your co-workers wasting? Research shows that the average person wastes 150 hours per year – almost one month – looking for things. The number one reason people pile instead of file is a fear of never finding it again once it is stored away. The Paper Tiger addresses this concern. Want to know how?
Here’s a typical scenario that you might relate to… Let’s say you have papers you need to file away about a car accident. If you have a standard categorical / A-Z filing system, the first decision you must make is which category to file the papers under. Do you file them under Medical (for the papers about your neck injury), Legal (for the police report and the legal papers from your attorney), Finance (for the insurance papers), or Household (for the car repair receipts)? Once you decide what category to file the papers under, you must then decide what to call the file itself. Then, weeks or months later when you want to retrieve something, you must remember what category you filed it under and what you called the file.
Consider these alarming statistics: A Steelcase study found that 27% of office workers described themselves as pilers. Ernst & Young reports that the average time it takes to retrieve and re-file a paper document is ten minutes. And 3% of all documents are lost or misfiled and have to be recovered at an alarming cost of $120 per document.
Using The Paper Tiger will allow you to immediately find anything you file or store. The Paper Tiger helps you instantly turn your dysfunctional files or piles into an instantly-retrievable "finding" system. The Paper Tiger allows you to keep your paper documents in your filing cabinet, cross-reference the information you input about each file, and use the search power of your computer to find it in five seconds or less -- regardless of who filed it!
Using The Paper Tiger to file away papers in the example given above, I’d call the file “Car Accident” and would add these keywords to the database: neck injury, lawsuit, Honda Civic, Allstate Insurance, Al's Auto Body (or whatever words I might look up when I want to retrieve one of the documents in the file). The physical paper-based files are stored using numbered labels. Doing a search for any of the italicized words I used above, The Paper Tiger will instantly tell me what file location and number the documents can be found in (Example: Reference 24 or Archive 92)
Not just for paper… Although this software program is most commonly used for finding paper documents, you can also use it to find much more than just paper. Paper Tiger owners have also used this software to help them store and retrieve such things as books, binders, CDs, DVDs, videos, containers, inventory items, storage boxes, x-rays, lab samples – anything you can put a number on. A tow truck company even uses it to find cars in their lot when the owner comes to claim their vehicle. The tow truck employee simply types in the make & model, license plate number or VIN number and The Paper Tiger tells them which stall number the car is parked in on their lot (Example: Stall 127). Prior to using The Paper Tiger, employees wasted valuable time walking up and down rows of cars to physically find the right vehicle when the customer arrived to claim it.
Visit my website for more information about the Paper Tiger. There you’ll find a link to download a no-obligation 30-day trial of the software. You’ll also find a link to my recorded teleclass and class notes, which provides information about program features and describes how it works.
Those who get software from me will also receive my complimentary recorded instructional teleclass and user guide which walks you through how to get started and how to use all the features. The Paper Tiger is available in single-user and in network version.
If you’d like personal assistance getting started, I offer one-on-one consultations by telephone. Wondering how this works? In addition to connecting by phone, I have special technology set up on my computer which enables me to access your computer remotely (with your permission, of course) so I can help you set up your Paper Tiger system no matter where you are located, and you can see what I am doing as you view your computer monitor. Contact me today for more information.
Need group training? I travel, and I also offer training sessions over the phone. We can all connect by telephone bridge line if your group members are in different locations. We can also set up a teleconference using a training room with an LCD projector and a sound system that projects my voice and what’s on the computer monitor. Contact me about your group’s training needs. (I offer training on other topics, as well.)
Regardless of whether you do it on your own or ask us for help, just do it! The sooner you implement The Paper Tiger, the sooner you’ll start recouping lost time.
Now or Later?
How often do you put off doing a non-urgent task now, even though you know it will save you valuable time, energy and money in the long run? What's stopping you? Are you waiting until you have more time? When will that be?
If you don’t take time now, it’s going to cost you a lot more down the road.
Make a written list of what needs your proactive attention NOW so you can save time, energy, money, and heartache LATER:
- Your health and well-being (schedule a medical appointment, start a diet or exercise program, daily meditation, etc.)
- Your relationships (be specific about what relationships you will tend to)
- Systems, processes and tools that will increase your productivity (choose from the list above or add your own)
- General maintenance (house or building, yard, appliances, equipment, car, etc.)
- Computer maintenance (virus protection, updates, computer back-up, etc.)
- Other ______________________
Remember, it takes time to make time!
It Takes Time to Make Time - To learn more about this author, visit Kathy Paauw's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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