The Virtuous Life - Industry

Dear Friend,

An industrious sinner I much prefer to a lazy saint.-Sophie Kerr

In our society filled with short-cuts and easy answers often we expect quick solutions to all of our business and personal issues. We have become so accustomed to sound-bite answers that are delivered to us daily by the media, that we have lost the ability to work diligently. We neglect hard work in favor of quick fixes. Benjamin Franklin suggests that we should strive to cut off the unnecessary and be productive at all times. Do you find yourself wondering - why don't I ever have enough time? Or where does all of my time go? Or why can't I do what I need to do in the time that I have? I've found that: when I am in a hurry, when I try to do too much - rather than focusing on one project at a time, and when I waste time on the unnecessary - I am not very productive. I am neither efficient, nor effective, at what I am trying to accomplish. Modern science has given us many ways to spend a lot of time doing unnecessary things. A recent survey published in Business Week's August 25, 2008 issue revealed that we have few boundaries in our life - this may begin to explain why are all so busy.

• "45% of those with a Blackberry or similar devices check their email before they get dressed"
• "55% of white collar workers take calls or emails after office hours all or some of the time"

I believe that the author of the 4 Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, provides some applicable strategies for each of us to be more efficient and more effective in our personal and professional lives. The bottom line is that we are to consciously examine our lives - see where we need to add boundaries - prioritize, and take action. Three strategies that he suggests include: Batch Activities that you must perform - in other words create a routine to make the activity more efficient so that it consumes less of your time:

• Check emails twice each day
• Check voice messages at specific intervals
• Set up automatic payments
• Have one laundry day each week
• Run sales reports at the same time
• Cook several family meals at once and freeze
• Shop for clothes twice each year

Outsource the necessary tasks, but those that that are unnecessary for you to do: House cleaning Cooking Grocery shopping Opening mail Answering phone Errands Bill pay Pet care Checking voice messages Online shopping Hire a personal shopper or a helpful sales clerk to shop sales and select clothes for you

Eliminate the unnecessary from your "to do" list:

• Go on a low information diet - reduce newspaper news, television news, and news via the Internet
• Eliminate or reduce drastically the amount of television that you watch - less than one hour per day
• Spend less time idly web-surfing
• Don't finish what isn't necessary to finish - and don't feel bad about it!

Take Action Challenge This week I am asking all ye sinners and saints to take a clear assessment of your life and see where you might be busy, but not productive. Consider if you are doing work or making progress? What can you "batch" - What activities can you do once each day, week, or month - that will save time? What activities can be removed from your to-do list and outsourced? What are you doing that someone else could do? What don't you really want to do? What activities can be removed all together? How has your life changed such that you might remove unnecessary work? What activities when truly examined aren't really necessary?

Take time for an honest inventory of where your time goes. Be deliberate and intentional in your activities - love yourself enough to take the time to discover how you can be powerfully productive.

Blessings to you - either sinner or saint, Margaret.

P.S. Encourage your friends, family, and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. Margaret Pundmann is a life and business coach, speaker, and author of numerous articles on living your most powerful life. Stay tuned, Margaret's first book for emerging women will be available for pre-order in the coming weeks.