Your Happiness Factor

Managing emotions - Identifying feelings (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Time Management - Pinpointing Those Emotional Blocks to Change My last two posts about Time Management ( The Clock Is Ticking! How Good Are You At Time Management) and ( Time Management: Know Where Time Goes - Keep A Log ) said that the first two steps in managing time are to be clear about your purpose and your direction in life and then to know how you spend your time. Knowing those things and completing the first two steps are important. But often time management improvement plans still fail. This is usually because there are underlying emotional issues. Sometimes people feel guilty about spending time on their own interests. For example, what about the rest of the family – shouldn't this time be spent with the children? Or perhaps you might be anxious about saying no to a colleague and refusing to help them at the expense of time to do your own work. This might be because you lack the ...

Time Management: Know Where Time Goes - Keep A Log My last post about Time Management ( The Clock Is Ticking! How Good Are You At Time Management?) said that the first step in managing time is to be clear about your purpose and your direction in life.  Now you need to find out how you actually spend your time. The best way to do this is to start using a time log. Record each activity throughout your day with the time taken to complete it. Do this at the time, if you can.The closer to the time, the more accurate you log is going to be,  But at the very least, ensure you record each hour's activity at the end of each day. For example Date    Time           Activity             07.00             08.00             09.00  Etc The period covered should be the whole of your waking day. Everythi...

Resolution - better time management (Photo credit: vpickering ) Time may be relative but it is also neutral.  The reality is that there is neither too much nor too little time unless we make it so.  So time management “at the end of the day” is about self-management. If you have a time management problem, the first step is to understand why.  This begins with looking at yourself. In reality, for most of us, 80% of our results come from 20% of our activities – the good old 80/20 Pareto Principle at work again. But first let us work out the extent of the problem. Below are 10 questions. They are all about the signs of poor time management.  So saying yes to even one question suggests you need to improve your time management skills. If you say yes to several questions, you could already be in danger of suffering from stress and even possible burn-out. Are you constantly rushing about from one meeting or appointment to another? Do you fin...

Image by alforque via Flickr Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. Burnout reduces your productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give. The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life – including your home and social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, it’s important to deal with burnout right away and take advice from your coach,  counselor  or medical adviser.  But, if you can, it is best to prevent burnout in the first place Your ...