Are emails taking over your life?

Clients that I have coached have often cited being overwhelmed by emails as a cause of stress in the workplace. Sound familiar?

It is very hard to be productive and creative whilst reading emails that are often of no relevance to you. Now more than ever we are inundated with emails from friends, strangers, colleagues and they not only clog up your inbox, they also waste your valuable time as you sift through to find the emails that are actually relevant.

How often have you missed a vital email which actually contains much needed information? If so then my top 10 tips below will get you organised:

1. Respond to emails as you read them, that way you only read them once. If you require further information, call the person directly and get what you need.

2. Set aside 15-30 minutes a day to sift through your emails.

3. Be ruthless and delete emails that are not relevant.

4. Spend a little time organising your email facility, so you can swiftly put emails into different folders.

5. If you have colleagues that CC you on everything, when it is not necessary then kindly ask them not to.

6. If you have an alert facility on your computer, iphone or blackberry turn it off. Choose a time when is convenient for you to read your emails, rather then being sidetracked from what you are doing.

7. Resist the temptation to read or respond to emails when not at work unless absolutely necessary. You may think this is harmless, but it makes it more difficult to turn off from work and be in the present moment.

8. Think about spam in the same way as you do junk mail which you receive through the post. Most of us hardly notice this type of mail and just put it straight in the recycling bin.

9. Try to resist the temptation to read emails that contain jokes or are chain emails as they not only distract you from working productively, but also eat into your time often without you realising.

10. Think before you press send. If you have written an email in haste, put it in your draft section and re-read it later in the day before you send it.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” -
Benjamin Franklin

The Power of Intention

“Intention is the starting point of every spiritual path. It is the force that fulfils all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening, or love. Intention generates all the activities in the universe. Everything that we can see – and even the things we cannot – are an expression of intention’s infinite organizing power.

As the ancient Indian sages observed thousands of years ago, our destiny is shaped by the deepest level of our intention and desire. Once we plant the seed of an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, our soul’s journey unfolds automatically, as naturally as a bulb becomes a tulip or an embryo becomes a child.” Deepak Chopra

The quote above eloquently demonstrates how powerful intention is. Therefore I urge you to set clear intentions and then watch how things almost magically appear to help you on your path. The key to this is for you to be pro-active. There is little to be gained from having clear intentions, but doing nothing to manifest them. Deepak has written extensively on this subject and more information can be found at his website: http://www.chopra.com/

What will you be doing in a decade?

As a new decade dawns, can you envisage where you will be in another decade? Look back over the past ten years and you will most probably feel that it has whizzed by. As the new millennium was rung in, did you have grand plans and resolutions? Have you achieved them? If so, congratulations, if not what stopped you? Lack of time, money, inclination, worry, fear, laziness, self doubt? Whatever it was don't lose heart, as it is never to late to make positive changes in your life. Coming up with great plans and ideas is one thing, but taking action to see the results is quite another.

Successful people clearly decide what they want and then do things each day to move them closer to achieving their goal. I particularly like the quote by Sir Ranulph Fiennes; "Decide what you want to be and once you have, go for it at once and with all your might."

Don't wait for the perfect time to start something that you are passionate about, begin it now. If you wait to long, life can pass you by and before you know it you may look back and say "If only I could have seen what I should have been."

Make a commitment to set aside a little time over the next few days to start planning what steps you are going to take to achieve all you desire in the coming decade. Regardless of whether it is to change jobs, have a better car, more money, bigger house, more time, give more to charity, you and only you can achieve it. Now fast forward in your mind to 2020 and think about how you will feel knowing that you have taken steps to achieve all you want. Know that you deserve all this. I am cheering you on from the sidelines.

What are your Re-solutions for 2010?

As another year draws to a close you may find yourself spending time reflecting on the past twelve months or indeed the past decade as the noughties passes us by. Take stock of your successes as well as your failures. It is important to honour your accomplishments in the past year and congratulate yourself on how well you have done.

As you turn your attention to what the coming year may hold, think about what changes you may want to make. Do you want a better car, new home, to lose some weight, change jobs? Whatever it is, it is possible to achieve these things, but it is down to you. I heard a quote recently which makes alot of sense: "Nobody can push you into the success you deserve." If you are not really happy with your life and how the last twelve months have been, then now is a great time to think about what is not working and how you could make changes to get more of what you do want. Did you make re-solutions last year? If so, did you keep them? If not, explore why. Were your resolutions accompanied by a plan to help you succeed or were they just a sweeping statements which you make every year?

In order for your life to really change and to not be in the same situation next year you need to take action towards achieving and keeping your resolutions. Your resolutions needs to have a practical solution and get you excited when you think about them. It was reported recently that 90% of people that make new years resolutions break them within the first month. Don't be another statistic next year. Decide on what you want and then set about achieving it.

Wishing you a fabulous and successful 2010.

What is the best version of yourself?

When you are being the best version of yourself, what does your life look like?

When you are being the least liked version of yourself, what does your life look like?

What springs to mind? Write it down quickly without thinking to much about it. You may be surprised by your answers. Interestingly, when we are being the best version of ourselves other parts of our lives seem to follow suit. For example, managing household chores, our wellbeing, our work all seem to have a certain ease and grace which enables us to complete tasks effortlessly.

Thinking about the worst version of yourself helps you get perspective about areas of your life that are not working. This version of yourself no doubt limits you in so many ways and makes you unhappy and unmotivated. Therefore, if you know how good being the best version of yourself feels, why would you want to live your life any other way? The benefits of being the best version of yourself are endless and you deserve those benefits. You are worthy of great things.

If completing this little exercise has made you aware that you are not being the best version of yourself, then don't despair just start to make incremental changes towards your best self. Believe me if will eagerly repay you and help you along the way. Start by doing something small today towards regaining the best version of yourself. The key to regaining your best self is not to get overwhelmed, just take it slow and make tiny little changes daily. The changes that are required are different for everyone and you have an inner knowing as to what those changes should be.

Here's to the best version of you!

The Reality of Reality TV

I was prompted to write this after being awoken having dreamt of a guy having pec implants! I traced the origins of this back to a programme that I had been mindlessly watching the day before. It was a reality show where a bride and groom agree to have cosmetic surgery and not see each other for the month prior to their big day. Now call me old fashioned, but I find this pretty extreme and somehow sad that these people are willing to put themselves under the knife all for vanity. However I did give it an hour of my time in order to see the end result!

This got me thinking about how I use tv and how the flurry of reality tv programmes enables us to focus on the flaw's of others, rather than think about our own. We happily judge and idly gossip about another's behaviour without having to dwell on ours. Funny that many people say that they do not have time to focus on the things that are important to them, but yet they find the time to focus on things that will be meaningless in a few short days or months. We are often quick to judge the lives of others we see on tv, but are unwilling to clean up our own.

Through reality tv we get caught up in the lives of others and in turn we allow others to determine what we focus on. Have you ever found yourself watching tv when you know you should be doing something important like attending to your family? Or looking at people on tv enviably because they are doing what you long to do? Yet you prefer to attend to the remote control.

If so, then it is not to late to reclaim those lost hours. I am not saying that you have to stop watching tv completely, just choose more carefully what you watch and when. Decide how much and when you want to use your tv, rather than just having it on for the sake of it. Watch what you really enjoy and gain value from and ditch the rest. Remember the people on the screen are strangers and forever will be. Don't let your own greatness pass you by whilst lounging on the sofa watching life, but not living life.

Unleash The Mighty Toddler Within

We are born with an ability to get all of our needs met, be it a clean nappy, milk, cuddles, comfort, attention etc. As newborns when we became aware of our empty tummy we would wail excessively, prompting our caregiver into action. This is because our survival depended on it. Then as we become toddlers we have a supreme sense of self worth which allows us to engage with the world expecting to get our needs fulfilled. At this age we more often than not get exactly what we desire. To see this in action, watch a toddler decide that they want a certain toy. Very little will prevent them from getting it!

We can learn a lot from the behaviour of children and how we can incorporate some of their determination and focus into our own lives.

You know the drill, you decide that you are sick and tired of the way things have been and make a pact with yourself to make some changes. You may even write your goals down and have great intentions of achieving them. You can feel that you are on the brink of living a truly awesome life and can taste the sweet smell of success and then what happens? You hit a roadblock and instead of seeing this for what it is, a minor setback which needs a solution, it stops you in your tracks and you retreat into the comfort and often boredom of your everyday life, less determined to step outside of your comfort zone again!

Life was not intended to be lived this way. People who lead amazing lives take risks and are willing to stretch themselves regularly in many aspects of their lives. They are also less likely to be swayed by other people’s opinions, much like the mighty toddler. Many of us feel inspired to live our lives in a certain one or do something which we really enjoy, but stop short of actually doing it for fear of rejection or what others may think or say about us. As the adage goes ‘most people are too busy thinking about themselves to worry about what you’re thinking’. So if you know you are guilty of this, remember it is never too late to become who you might have been.

Unleash the mighty toddler within you and get what you want.