Beware of compulsive cell phone use!

My friend, Steven Iwersen, sent me a link to a post on a blog that I absolutely loved, and I am recommending that you check this link too. The link is for a post on the Harvard Business Review blog at

Can a Smart Phone Make You More Patient?

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/12/can_a_smart_phone_make.html

The author of the post, Alexandra Samuel, explains in the blog that she loves her cell phone and the fact that it helps her make use of time and how that makes her feel more patient. Ms Samuels then goes on to explain that that true patience, however, is an internal matter (I love that) and that compulsive use of her phone inhibits reflection which is the best kind of patience.

Wow! What a great observation!

I wholeheartedly endorse Ms. Samuel’s comments. In my opinion, she is very wise to realize that a smart phone can be as helpful as a best friend and, when you use it compulsively, it can be as harmful as an enemy because it robs you of your ability to reflect.

Here’s a suggestion.

Think of your smart phone as a portable desk. That portable desk is wonderful because it helps you make decisions and act on key priorities when you move from place to place. Like any desk, however, that same desk can clutter up your mind with reminders of all the things you have to do.

I call that stress. What do you call it?

Please look at your office desk right now and realize that all those notes and scraps on top of it are like little radios that only you can hear and they keep saying, “Do me, Handle me, Get me done, Look at me.” In essence, I propose that those papers and notes are prioritizing you.

You don’t want that kind of stress, do you? I sure don’t.

I’m a smartphone (iPhone) user too. I love my iPhone, yet I can see how, when I keep checking it over and over, it not only distracts me. It also robs me of sanity time.

I suggest that, if you’re honest with yourself (and I’m talking to myself too), we check our smart phones so much that they become addictive. You don’t want an addiction, do you? I certainly don’t.

So, one more time. Please think of your smart phone as a portable desk. I’m suggesting this because perhaps you (like me) will realize it’s a good idea to treat your portable desk the same way you know you need to treat a real world office desk by clearing it up and leaving it alone alone for different periods of the day, particularly when you are with your family and friends.

Sanity time, reflecting time, creativity time, appreciating time — all of these are gifts. I suggest you want to protect these gifts by blocking off time for them and shutting down your smartphone from time to time.

Does this make sense? Please comment here.

A vacation helps you improve your focus!

I spoke for the Total Prosperity audience last weekend. The audience was great, very energetic and interactive, and I had a great time. (The Total Prosperity program, by the way, is a two-day program that is part of The Prosperity Alliance.)

While at the Total Prosperity event, I had the opportunity to hear Marshall Sylver, who is often called “The Millionaire Maker” and who is creator of The Prosperity Alliance, talk about a man who came to him for help.

Marshall said the man told him he was so overwhelmed with work that he was spending his entire day putting out fires, and the man said he had been working like this, day after day, for a long time. The man asked Marshall for any advice Marshall could give him as to what might help him rectify his crisis management situation.

I loved what I heard Marshall say he told the man.

Marshall told the man to take a vacation.

Marshall said he suggested that the man make sure his vacation lasts at least one week so the man gets away from all the habits, demands, crises, and “fires” and then returns to his work with a clear mind and a new perspective of his TRUE priorities. (Marshall used the words “let go of” and said the man needs the vacation to “let go of” the patterns of behavior that are getting in his way.)

I loved Marshall’s advice because it’s the same advice I give to clients who want to make their minutes count and the same advice I give to myself. Not only that, authors, writers, and creative people all know they are much more creative and effective when they get away to clear their minds from distractions and ongoing challenges.

Vacations — true vacations away from cell phones, computers, and other attention-getting devices — give you a new perspective.

If you haven’t taken a vacation in a long time, schedule one as soon as you can.

This makes sense, doesn’t it? In fact, it’s so simple and sensible that people constantly overlook the value.

Please leave any comments you have here and, meanwhile, if you’d like more information about The Prosperity Alliance, go to www.prosperityalliance.com

Here’s a “new” thought about multitasking!

Last February I explained in this blog how important it is for you to minimize multitasking.

I pointed out that studies by the Federal Aviation Administration, University of Michigan, and UCLA show that multitasking can be hazardous to your health and that it can lead to numerous physical problems and memory loss and I offered 3 suggestions. (See post in this blog of February 14, 2009.)

That post drew some attention.

Barry wrote a good comment. He referred to information in Don Tapscott’s book “Grown Up Wired” where Tapscott suspects a change in mental processing ability for the Net Geners. Barry said he personally found that hard to believe since everything he knew about the brain indicates its evolution is a very slow process, yet maybe Tapscott is right.

Scott wrote an interesting comment too. He reported that he worked for a monthly magazine where he always felt he was a “mutlitasker” and he said always used the term with pride, yet that after some thought, he realized that at the end of each deadline he now needs to readjust longer to the real world.

Richard Bernier wrote and said he had just read a fascinating article about how multitasking is a way for the brain to seek novelty. It becomes an addiction and craving and when it starts to lack, our dopamine levels drop and we crave more, thus our productivity suffers as a result. He said wrote about this in his blog and linked to the article. http://thisthatotherthing.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/multitasking-is-the-brain-seeking-novelty

I’m describing this now because yesterday I was talking with some old timers at church when the subject of multitasking came up. Each one of the old timers said multitasking is nothing new. They pointed out that if you’ve ever worked with crops or raised animals, you must multitask constantly.

Our church is located in Kansas City and yesterday it was 1 degree F. outside with 10 inches of snow on the ground. The old timers pointed to the snow and ice and said that no matter what else you might be working on as a farmer, you must stop that work immediately to get all your cattle inside a barn or else the animals will freeze.

A couple of ladies walked by and asked what we were talking about. The old timers said we were talking about “multitasking” and the women said, “If you’ve never given birth to a child or raised a group of kids, you don’t know what multitasking really is.

We all laughed and the more we all talked about this the more we all began to realize that the term “multitasking” must have become popular when we got all this new fangled technology which makes multitasking seem new.

All of this made me smile and I’m reporting it because the old timers had some good points and I thought this might make you multitask and smile while reading this.

Even though this is funny, I am repeating what I said last February and that’s that studies do show that multitasking can be hazardous to your mental health so be sure to set up strategies to help you deal with it.

Make sense? Please leave your comments here.

Who will you find at the bottom of The Grand Canyon?

As you know, I’ve written three posts in this blog about lessons we can learn at the Grand Canyon.

Today is the 25th wedding anniversary for my wife and me, and — as part of that — here’s a true story I tell audiences that might be of help to you.

Please first permit me to explain that, when my wife and I were dating, she told me she didn’t like her name (Velma), and I told her I had always liked that name. I asked her why she didn’t like her name and she told me her family had talked about it as if it was an “old woman name” and, because of that, her name had always made her feel old and boring.

I asked her what name she’d prefer to have and she said she’d like to be called “Jennifer.”

I then asked her, “So, if you were Jennifer, what kind of things would Jennifer do that Velma doesn’t do?“ She responded by saying, “Jennifer would speak up more. She’d take risks. She’d enjoy life more fully.”

A few days later I was telling her about the love I have for The Grand Canyon and I said, “You know, if you really want to understand me, I’d like for you to go to The Grand Canyon with me.”  I explained to her (just as I’ve said to you in this blog) that I think The Grand Canyon is a very special place where a person can get a totally new and even life-changing perspective on almost anything.

I said that, if she’d go to The Grand Canyon with me, we’d drive to Page, Arizona, where we’d get on a raft, and then we’d ride that raft for 179 miles down the Colorado River where we’d see some of nature’s most beautiful sights and raft over a variety of challenging rapids. I told her that we’d then float through the deepest portion of The Grand Canyon and that we’d camp on the sand at the bottom of the canyon for five nights. I pointed out that on our final day we’d raft over Lava Falls, the roughest waterfall in the United States, and, after that, we’d get picked up by a helicopter and lifted out of the canyon. And I concluded by telling her how much I would love for her to share that experience with me.

Velma quickly said, “I could never do that,” and I asked her why.

She said, “ I don’t know how to swim.” I immediately told her that I’d look after her and that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything if she went with me.

Again she said, “I simply couldn’t do any of that” and I responded by saying, “Please tell me who I’m talking with. Am I talking with Jennifer or am I talking with Velma?”

Please now look at the picture at the top of this blog posting and you’ll see that she made her decision.

Clearly, it was Jennifer, not Velma, who went to the bottom of The Grand Canyon with me.

As you can see, Jennifer not only accepted my invitation, she took the risk presented to her and rafted with me on the river through the canyon. She even rafted over Lava Falls with me and trusted me enough to swim (even though she had never been swimming before) in the beautiful blue water at the junction of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River.

When she returned from the canyon, she changed her name to Jennifer to remind herself to continue being the woman she always wanted to be.

Here’s the point.

The Grand Canyon is an awesome, beautiful, spiritual, and timeless place. You can visit it in person and/or you can discover it inside yourself.

I suggest that, if anything is holding you back from getting what you want for yourself, you might want to act on it today. Jennifer found her personal, transforming experience to be very worthwhile and you are apt to be just as happy about your life changing experience too.

As for me, think how lucky I’ve been to be able to enjoy being married to such a beautiful and fascinating woman as Jennifer – a woman who didn’t stop growing after that 5-Day Grand Canyon experience, but who has continued to grow, blossom, and change every single day for 25 years!

Lucky me!

Does this make sense? Pleases put any comments you might have right here.

A reminder from The Grand Canyon: Plans are Important!

As I said previously, I always smile when I think about rafting through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. One reason I smile is that I always recall how quickly people change their minds when rafting there. And I propose that there’s a lesson in this for us.

First, here’s some background.

The Colorado River is dammed up at Glen Canyon Dam near Page, Arizona. On the Eastern edge of the Glen Canyon Dam you have Glen Canyon Reservoir and on the western edge of the dam you have the Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon. Employees from the Department of Interior, depending on the environmental situation and time of year, release water in varying amounts from the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam so there is a steady flow of water to the Colorado River. That water tends to be very cold since it is released from the bottom of Glen Canyon Dam.

Now, realize this.

People (like me) who enjoy rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon only do their rafting in the warmer times of the year. Sometimes those temperatures are often as warm as 120 degrees F.

Now, picture this.

When you’re rafting on the river, you continually get splashed with the cold water from the river, and when that happens, people say, “Steer the raft out of the shadows into the sun so we can warm up.” As soon as the raft gets in the middle of the sun’s rays, people begin to yell, “Steer the raft back to the shadows of the canyon because it’s so hot here in the sun.”

All of this yelling goes on until people on the raft begin to realize that these hot and cold temperature changes are part of the Grand Canyon experience and then the people on the rafts begin to limit their need for back and forth motion and to appreciate the entire experience for what it is, a trip forward through the canyon, not an experience which they need to keep controlling.

I offer this back and forth description as a lesson for our days. Most of us are often doing one thing and then, because of an interruption, we need to switch to something else. That bothers a lot of people, especially those people who are not following an overall plan. They simply keep switching back and forth (being busy) and therefore get nothing done.

I propose that when you follow a specific plan (like moving forward down the Colorado River), there’s no reason to try to grab control of every moment. Simply limit the number of back and forth changes by prioritizing the ones you need to take care of. In other words, go with the flow of your plan so you keep you moving yourself forward towards to your specified goals.

Does this make sense? Please let me have your comments.

A time management lesson that’s easy to learn at The Grand Canyon.

I explained in the last post on this blog why I consider hiking at (or rafting through) The Grand Canyon as an ultimate time management experience. Here’s another lesson you can quickly learn at The Grand Canyon.

Please picture yourself at The Grand Canyon. Now please look around and notice how big and timeless it is. Notice the variety of formations and colors.

Please now remember that for centuries time was thought of in cyclical terms. Storms came; storms went. Seasons came; seasons went. These will continue whether you have a clock or not.

Man invented time to deal with our linear needs of schedules and precise appointments (i.e., the need to pay taxes, for example).

Now realize that the variety of rock formations and colors at The Grand Canyon were created by seasons. In other words, a clock did not create the formations and colors.

Now please consider this.

Since time is a man made concept, any day can be New Years Day. If you agree, please now say “Happy New Year!”

I love doing this with audiences. They always laugh when I yell, “Happy New Year, everybody!” and they then yell “Happy New Year!” back to me.”

I’m not asking you or anyone in my audiences to say “Happy New Year” to be silly. I’m asking you to say the words now so you’ll know that — since today is New Years Day — you have the opportunity to make a New Year resolution now.

Question: Have you ever made a New Year resolution and then broken it?

Most people are just like you. They make a resolution (lose 12 pounds, for example) and then later (by the end of January, for example) they break the resolution and, consequently, they then wait until the following year to make a new resolution.

I suggest that, rather than wait for a full year to schedule your resolution again, why not celebrate 52 New Weeks. This then enables you to reschedule your resolutions sooner so you keep them from slipping through the cracks and thereby have a greater likelihood of achieving your dream.

I’m not a travel guide so I must admit that you don’t have to go to The Grand Canyon to learn this lesson. You can visualize the canyon in your mind – or look at it in a picture or painting. Either way, I believe in my heart that you’ll anchor the above lesson in your heart more easily if you experience The Grand Canyon in person – for yourself!

Does this make sense? Please put your comments here.

The ultimate time management experience: The Grand Canyon!

When meeting with a group of friends this week, they noticed that I have a painting of The Grand Canyon in my living room and they asked why I talk about The Grand Canyon so much. I told them that The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite places and I explained that, when I hike down in the canyon – or ride the rapids on the Colorado River through it — I begin to realize my own insignificance.

Here also are a couple of other reasons.

First, my family and I have noticed that when we think we have a difficult problem, we quickly realize when we hike the canyon that – thanks to the timeless beauty and majestic perspective of the canyon — we don’t actually have the problem we thought we had. The majesty of the canyon simply dwarfs our “problem”.

Also, I like the fact that, when you are at The Grand Canyon, there’s no need to rush or run because the canyon is so huge that wherever you are, you’re already there.

In addition to all of this, I consider hiking to the bottom of The Grand Canyon – or to float on the river through it — to be the ultimate time management experience. What I mean is that to hike or float on the river, you need to plan, prepare, prioritize, schedule, team up with others, and eliminate the things that are unnecessary.

And, best of all, when you focus on your hiking or river riding moments, you see and observe so many inspiring and truly awesome mesas, pinnacles, and other grandiose formations that your powers of concentration become enhanced. And this doesn’t just happen to me. It seems to happen to everyone who steps into the canyon.

Even while not at The Grand Canyon right now, I notice I’m getting more and more excited just by writing about it. This is so amazing to me that I can see right now that I’ll write more about The Grand Canyon experience again this week.

Meanwhile, does this make sense? Please leave your comments here.

How to deal with procrastination (Part 2)

As we said earlier, procrastination is always named as a big time waster and I wrote about ways to deal with procrastination in Part 1. Here are two more strategies that you can use to reduce the likelihood of procrastinating items you really do want to handle.

1) Watch out for putting projects on your To Do list.

Most of us get in such a hurry that we start throwing all kinds of items on our To Do lists, items that actually are projects! Projects of course have multiple steps and, thus, when your subconscious mind sees a project on your list, it reminds you that there are many steps necessary, so you tend to procrastinate it.

Solution: Put the bite size of a project on your to do list, not the entire project.

2) Use action verbs on your To Do list.

Form the habit of writing an action verb to the left of each task you write on your To Do lists.

Example A: If you have “Budget” on your list, are you going to “Think” about the budget, “Plan” the budget, or “Talk” about the budget? Use the verb that describes what you want To Do when you make your note.

Example B: If you have Mom on your list, are you going to “Write” Mom, “Call” Mom, or “Think” about a gift for Mom? Use the verb that best describes what you want to do.

Notice that when you see the verb you wrote (next to the task you want to do), you’ll now looking at a bite size of a task and, thus, you’ll be less inclined to procrastinate the task.

These four strategies (the two here in Part 2 and the two in Part 1 below) are not perfect, but they will help you reduce the likelihood of procrastinating key tasks that you do want to do.

Does this make sense? Please let me know.

How to deal with procrastination (Part 1)

I promised to write about ways to deal with procrastination and then I joked about it by saying I’d do that tomorrow. That’s typical of procrastination. Nearly everyone wants to put things off, particularly tasks that are difficult, challenging, or undesirable.

Here are some strategies you can use to reduce the likelihood of procrastinating items you really do want to handle.

1) Use a To Do list for sure.

Realize that successful days come from pre-determining key priorities so you can maintain focus in the midst of changes and interruptions. Thus, it’s a good idea to form the habit of writing down the things on a To Do list. When you do that, your To Do list will remind you of tasks you want to handle so you don’t forget them and procrastinate them.

2) Consider using more than one To Do list.

Instead of using only one To Do list, consider using five: one for Monday, one for Tuesday, one for Wednesday, one for Thursday, and one for Friday. (If you’re using an electronic organizer, this is a cinch. And, if you’re using a paper organizer, you’ll want to add some pages.)

Now, suppose you’re working on your Monday To Do list and a customer calls and tells you she needs something for Friday. Turn to your Friday To Do list and make the note. Now, suddenly your brother calls and says he needs to talk with you on Wednesday. Go to your Wednesday To Do list and make your note.

When you make your notes on the days you want to remember items, you are Time Activating items to a time when you plan to take care of them and Time Activating helps you overcome procrastination.

These two strategies will help. Consider them now and then I’ll list two more strategies to help you deal with procrastination on Thursday.

Notice how I’m suggesting here that you Time Activate a task on your To Do list for Thursday and, if you do care about doing this, you’ll see your note on your Thursday To Do list and, thus, be less inclined to procrastinate it.

Does this make sense? Please write your comments here.

One of the most common time wasters is procrastination.

Whenever I ask an audience to make a list of their top ten time wasters, they inevitably put “procrastination” on their list. Realizing that, let’s plan to talk about procrastination tomorrow.

Sound OK to you?