Have you ever indulged?  In fact, what does it even mean to indulge?

Most of our waking lives are consumed by what has to be done in order to survive.  We shower to be clean, eat either to live or just to consume, buy in order to feel better or feel powerful, watch TV for distraction or boredom.  Our lives and activities become forms of distractions or have to’s and we begin to forget how wonderful simplicity can feel.

So, have you ever indulged?

When you hear this, I’m sure you think of things like eating an entire box of chocolates or buying yourself a 58” television or some kind of activity where you completely spoil yourself with a need to feel like you are treating yourself to something your normally would not do.  I suppose most people think of this when they think of indulging, but I challenge you to see it a different way.

To me, indulging has a way of being associated with something kind of mindless. Something that people do because they are so tired with their day to day lifestyle that they need a break from the norm and an escape into something that is normally taboo in their life; something they normally stay clear of.  But when I say it is good to indulge, what I mean to say is this: have you ever considered a person, a place or a thing, perhaps a favorite book or song, the park, the smell after it rains, your significant other, your child, the wind as it lightly touches your skin on a sunny day and truly admired it for what it is?  Have you ever acknowledged it or indulged in it in every aspect and understood it for all that it is worth and respected it for all of its possibilities?

We go through our days not realizing that every moment could be a moment of indulgence.  Every day we could take something we would pass up as normal and indulge in it, rather than waiting for a day every month where we “take a break to spoil ourselves”, because everything around us isn’t worth indulging over.

Don’t always think of indulging for superficial pleasure, begin to indulge because you sincerely want to feel and know on a different level.  Indulge in drinking water, don’t just drink the water, admire its beauty, taste every single part of it as it touches your lips, your teeth, your taste buds.  Feel it as it goes down your throat and into your entire body as it helps sustain your life and quench your thirst.  If the elevator at work is broken and you have to take the stairs, indulge in that action.  Walk up the stairs with a sense of pride, know that at that moment you are alive, that your legs are pushing you up in a vertical motion, you are defying gravity by moving upward, your heart is pumping the blood inside of you in order to keep you moving.  When you are eating the same meal for lunch for the third day in a row, taste everything that went into that meal, taste the freedom of being able to eat, feel the energy as it goes into your body, smell the richness in your life that you are putting into your body.  Indulge.

Try this and notice the difference it makes in your daily life.  See and feel every aspect of what is around you.  Next time you come across a simple moment in your life, indulge in it in the way that I have stated above.  Don’t just go through the motions, actually live the motions, be that moment.

Walk through life knowing why and how you are walking.  Indulge every once in a while in the pleasures that you don’t normally see as a pleasure.

Will you take this challenge?

Ariana Renteria is the creator and writer of a place in the pattern. Her passion for writing and enthusiasm in making a difference in the lives of people was the inspiration for her blog.

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Why are so many of us struggling with productivity?

We set out positively when we start our working day and we’re determined that we’ll do a lot of things that will bring us a step closer to our goals, but when at the end of the day we look back at what we have actually accomplished, we realize that not much has been done, despite having enough time.

We’re not productive because we are not AWARE of our moments of being unproductive. Our minds get distracted by a cool video on YouTube, or an interesting article we read on Yahoo News, or a phone call or one of a myriad of other things.

And every time a minor distraction happens, we might even be aware for a split second that we’re not being productive, but we convince ourselves that,  ‘this won’t take long,’  and that we’ll be back to work in no time.

The problem with this is that these distractions add up during the day and eventually constitute more of our working time than actual productive work.

The reason why this keeps happening is because we don’t measure our productivity, and measurement is crucial if we want to control something:

‘Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you canít understand it, you can’t control it. If you canít control it, you canít improve it.’ -  Dr. H. James Harrington

So, how do we measure productivity?

Very simple: we measure the time we had available in each day and then we measure the time we were productive, the time when we were working on the projects that led us closer to our goals.

We can then divide our productive time by the total time available to calculate our productivity in percentage form.

For example, today I started work at 9:30 and I am finishing this article at around 11:30.

For this system to work, you need to be brutally honest. If I am, then in my two hours of available work, I spent around 40 minutes writing this post and about 20 minutes answering emails related to my business.

The other 60 minutes I spent time chatting with two friends on Skype, reading emails not related to my work , and reading internet marketing news not crucial to my business.

My productivity then was 60 minutes of work / 120 minutes of available time = 50%

When I do this again in the evening, I then realize that my daily productivity was maybe only 25%.

I have now measured my productivity and realized the painful truth: I spent only 25% of my available time working towards my goals and wasted the rest of my time doing unimportant things.

Life is short and I believe it’s crucial that we become aware of how much time we waste doing nothing important, because only that painful realization will drive our determination to make the best of our time while we’re here and make us more vigilant about our wasted time in general.

A productivity percentage of only 25% means that I could be progressing four times faster towards my goals than I am now.

Consciously being aware of the benefit of greater productivity and of our wasted time are then the necessary ‘carrot and stick’ that will drive us to success and fulfillment.

Tomaz blogs about unique home business ideas where he shares tips and advice on how achieve financial freedom with the power of the Internet.

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Have you ever found yourself daydreaming or just not into your work? Do you feel like it’s a struggle sometimes to concentrate or to get anything done? And at other times, are you able to do your work effortlessly, getting everything done quickly and efficiently? What’s going on here? It might not be you. It might not be your work. It might be your location.

Previously, I discussed time-shifting, which is engaging in activities at optimum times based on first knowing and then capitalizing on your circadian rhythm. By taking advantage of your natural daily energy cycles, when you work can have a tremendous impact on your performance. This knowledge alone can radically transform your productivity and results, but there is another important factor — where you work.

Does it really matter where you work? Yes, and probably much more than you think. I do my best brainstorming when I’m on vacation, in coffee shops or even just outside. I’ve found that I have my best phone calls and do my best analytical work at the office. However, when it comes to writing, I choke at the office. What might take me an hour to write at home could take me three to four hours at the office. Worse yet, the writing would be rubbish. So not only would I waste more time trying to write at the office, but the work itself would suffer.

If you want to produce better work more efficiently, you must become more conscious of where you do your best work. You’ll probably find that there isn’t one best place for everything. The goal is to match the “what” — the activity — with the optimum where and when.

During a presentation that I gave last week, someone asked me how to determine where you do your best work. There’s only one answer — test it. In order to identify where you do your best creative thinking, number crunching, writing or whatever, you need to experiment by working in different locations and logging your results.

Here’s how you can find the best “where” for your work:

1. Identify your work categories. List all of the different types of work that you do. Your list might include creative thinking, cold calling, performing research, doing face-to-face client presentations, conducting conference calls, writing, etc. The work categories for a realtor will be significantly different from a CPA, therapist or HR director.
2. Identify your available work locations. List all of the potential physical locations from which you could work. For example, your potential locations might include work office, home office, den, park, coffee shop, library, car, etc. Or, if you don’t have the flexibility to work from anywhere other than the office, you can still identify different locations at the office such as your desk, a large conference room, the break room, etc.
3. Match your work categories with your work locations. This is the fun part. Experiment by working at each of your locations and noting where it seems most natural and effortless, or conversely, where it seems most strained and difficult.

If you have the flexibility to work where you want, you can get creative by allocating your work based on optimum time and location. However, if you’re like most workers, you can’t simply go home in the middle of the day to work on a proposal. All is not lost, if that’s the case! Focus on the one or two key work categories that can drive your business or career forward, and then identify the most feasible locations where you do this work most effectively. Or, talk to your boss and explain that you’ll be able to deliver even better results if you can work offsite.

If you want to do better work more efficiently, focus on the perfect when and the best where for everything that you do. For instance, it’s getting late here. Time for bed . . .

Join a community of passionate people at Richer Life Insights who want to achieve more in life and at work. You can participate in conversations I have with experts, celebrities, authors, and thought leaders that are laser-focused on practical ways to drive more money, motivation, and meaning into your life. Take the first step toward creating a better life by joining Richer Life Insights for free now!

Why do we have to work so hard to learn Time Management, to master it?
Shouldn’t we be born with the ability to work efficiently?

The problem is that we have the tendency to want to take the easy way, the short way, and as many have said before me, “A shortcut can often lead to long delays”.

Even though multitasking, relaxing and other shortcuts might feel as though they save time, working focused on one task at a time and obeying the rules of Time Management, is the real time saver.

How I learned this the hard way
I used to multitask all the time. I felt that if I could do 4 things at half speed I would get twice as much done. I planned my days, worked hard, but my results started getting worse and worse, I wasn’t working faster, it took about as long time as it used to, but the quality of my work suffered.

After about 3 months I realized the problem and started choosing one activity at a time to work on. I now focus 100% on the task I have chosen until it is finished. Quickly my results improved and the time it took to work through the day became less and less.

Improving your Time Management skills

To improve you need to be willing to learn and change your habits.

This requires a certain amount of humility, you aren’t perfect today, and you have room to improve.

3 techniques that will make you a better time manager

1. Batching Tasks

Each time you start a new task it takes time to “warm up”, you have to gather all the materials you need and it takes a while before you find a flow. Once you are done you need to put everything away, which wastes several minutes as well.

By spending longer time on each task you decrease the amount of time you spend “Warming up” and “Cooling down” every day.

2. Planning Your Weeks
By organizing your weeks to streamline processes and batch tasks you will save a lot of time.

It also grants you the calm to know that you will be doing all your tasks during the week. I have noticed in myself, and others, that it is easy to feel as though I should be doing more each day, but once I started using a weekly schedule I didn’t need to feel this way, since I knew the tasks would be handled at the right time.

3. Prioritizing you day

Most of us fail to start with the most important (and often most time consuming) task. Instead we hide and do simple tasks such as checking our email.

The problem with that approach is that it leaves the most difficult tasks to the end of the day. If you instead organize your day to have the most difficult tasks first and then have them getting easier and easier. It will motivate you to work faster since your day will be over once you have finished the final simple task.

It will take time to learn and require a lot of discipline, but if you put your mind to it you will quickly start saving 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there.

The information is out there
There are hundreds and hundreds of books on Time Management, thousands of blogs write about it, I write about it. If you want tips, you don’t have to look far.
What you need to do is make the decision, the decision to work on your Time Management skills.

Some of you might say that you don’t have the time, how are you going to spend time reading about Time Management when you already have so much on your plate.

But that is what is so great. You will save yourself hours, each day, by implementing the easy techniques I mentioned above. All of a sudden it will feel as though your days are almost empty.

If you feel like you have too much on your plate to read about Time Management, start reading only 5-15 minutes every day, I am sure you can fit that it, and you will notice how you will be able to fit more and more into your schedule.

Reward yourself

One last piece of advice I want to leave you with is; that you should reward yourself for your efforts.

If you successfully improve your time management skills and free up 1 hour per day, don’t fill it only with lots of new assignments, give yourself a little time off, and enjoy the benefits you have given yourself.

This was a guest post by Daniel M. Wood a well-known speaker and writer on Personal Development, Sales Technique and Motivation. Visit his blog Lookingtobusiness.com and download your copy of his free e-book, Double Your Income.

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“Hey Miss ‘Doesn’t Find Me Sexually Attractive Anymore’, I Just Tripled My Productivity!”

The sub-title of this post is taken from a classic episode of The Simpsons where Homer turns (more) obese and starts working from home. He soon realises that he doesn’t have to enter Y-E-S into his computer to confirm a repetitive command, but instead he can just hit ‘Y’ and get the same result, thus tripling his productivity.

Whilst the sketch was obviously created for comedic value, there is a surprising amount of truth to be found in Homer’s discover and an important message we can take away about saving large amounts of time by making small changes. If you think about it, if Homer’s only job was to confirm computer commands all day, what would have taken him 9 hours would now take him closer to 3. With this in mind, here are 5 simple ways in which I save lots of ‘small amounts’ of time each day, mainly using my computer.

Macros

A large number of computer programs allow for macros to be used, but I save most of my time on MS Word and MS Excel. Macros are basically a saved list of commands that will run in sequence when you press an assigned button. They are pretty simple to set up – just start recording your macro, go through all your processes manually, and then stop recording when you’ve finished the sequence. You can then assign the macro to a new button in your program and whenever you press it the macro sequence runs, saving you from having to go through all the steps manually each time. I once had a table of data that I had to format each day before emailing on to another department. I set up a 15-step macro to handle all the formatting steps, and estimated that it saved me approx 45 minutes each day (that’s almost half a day per working week!)

Bookmarking

Bookmarking web addresses has been possible ever since the first web browsers were developed. It’s surprising how few people use them these days though, preferring instead to Google what they are looking for each time, or type the URL in manually. I realised after a bit of monitoring that around 90% of my internet activity was spent on just 10-15 websites. I therefore set up bookmarks to these websites and I reckon I save loads of time now, not to mention frustration I used to get from spelling my desired site incorrectly time after time. I bet if you had a little think about it, you’d realise you too spend most of your time on the same few websites. Why not set up bookmarks for your most used and see how much time you save.

I’ve also now set up a secondary bookmark folder where I save all the interesting things I come across when browsing around the net. I rarely use this bookmark folder, but when I do try to trace something I recall seeing or reading, it can save me hours.

Email Auto-Responders

No one daily activity takes up quite so much of my time as sorting through emails, and I suspect this is the same for many other people too.  Unfortunately, short of cloning yourself, there will always be a certain amount of emails you have to respond to manually. However, there are a few tricks to save you time and effort when it comes to your email chores.

1.)   If it doesn’t require a personal response, automate it.  Perhaps someone has signed up to your news letter or has downloaded your ebook? You can often send automated thank you emails that still sound personal and appreciative.  Addressing them by the name they entered in the ‘name’ field of the sign-up form is a simple way to make your auto emails more engaging.

2.)   Auto-update your contacts. I’ve set up a system whereby if I don’t respond to an email within 24hrs, an auto email is sent in reply stating that I have received the message and I will respond personally as soon as I can. If I have not replied within 4 days (very rare) another email is sent apologising and assuring them I will respond as soon as I get a chance. This system took a little bit of getting used to, but I’ve lost count now of how many times it has saved my bacon, and how many times people have told me they appreciate keeping them updated. Most of them know it’s an automated system, but this doesn’t seem to matter to be honest.

3.)   For many people the emails they receive tend to fall into the same categories. For example, they might be a request for product information, a sales pitch email, a call back request etc. Over time I created a number of email templates that pretty much cover about 70% of the emails I receive. I use these templates all the time now, and with little tweaks here and there they look perfectly custom each time.  Whist this is not strictly auto-responding, it sure feels like it sometimes with regards to the amount of time it saves me.

Keyboard Shortcuts

It’s hard to get into the habit of using keyboard shortcuts due the fact many people like to stick to what they know, even if switching would save them lots of time. This is an odd phenomenon because often when people do start using shortcuts they wonder why they didn’t adopt ages ago. I think it’s a security thing – people don’t want to risk doing something new when they know what they currently do works just fine. However, by taking the plunge and learning a few simple keyboard shortcuts, you can more than ‘triple your productivity’. Here are my favourites:

• Ctrl+C = Copy
• Ctrl+V = Paste
• Ctrl+Z = Undo (I use this a lot!)
• Ctrl+S = Save
• Ctrl+F = Find
• Alt+Tab = Switch between windows

I apologise if this seems patronising, it’s just that so few people actually use them, despite knowing they exist. There is even a shortcut to bookmark a web page (Ctrl+D) – two birds with one stone I say!

Remote Control Kettle

This one was inspired by the Homer school of logic, but I defend it fiercely whenever friends laugh at me for it. I’ve got my kettle hooked up to a ‘Radiplug’, which is a radio controlled plug that can be activated as far as 20m away. This means that if I’m in my office at home and fancy a cup of tea or coffee, I can turn the kettle on in my kitchen downstairs remotely, thus giving me a few more minutes work time while it boils. Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

Using the techniques in this post and a few other small time-savers, I’ve estimated that I save a full working day (8hrs) per week. Now the hard bit is deciding if I use this extra time to chill out with a beer or get more work done…hmmm…what would Homer do?

Duncan is MD of a surf-clothing company based in the UK that sells items such as flip flops and Roxy bag designs. He’s a massive Simpsons fan and wishes one day to have the productive genius of Homer…the Greek scholar, not the cartoon character.

If you want to achieve success and make things happen, then you probably know that you need to have the ability to motivate yourself.  Everyone seeks to motivate himself to achieve success and prosperity, but many do not know how.

How do you motivate yourself?

To learn how to motivate yourself, follow the quick guide below:

1.  Have a reason

One of the strongest motives to motivate yourself is that you have a reason.  This reason will inspire you and make you do whatever it takes to challenge all of the obstacles, so you can achieve your goals.  If your desire and reasons are normal, then you might get motivated temporarily.  The strong desires that make you think and dwell on your goals are the strong motives that will keep you moving forward.

2.  Have a great goal

Have a goal that you want to achieve.  Having a great goal is crucial because it is very difficult to motivate yourself if you don’t have a specific goal that you want to accomplish.

3.  Have a specific plan

If you fail to plan, others will plan for you.  Make a plan to achieve your goals.  Be flexible, so you can change the plan if you need to if you encounter an obstacle.

4.  Start with small steps

To get to where you want to be requires serious effort.  You need to start taking small steps, so you can get to where you want to be.  Once started, it will become easy for you to continue moving forward.

5.  Do not compare yourself with others

Comparing yourself with others is an effective way if you want to become frustrated.  It will kill your motivation.  Even if you began with enthusiasm, you will lose energy quickly if you start to only focus on what others accomplished.

6.  Procrastination is your enemy

When you procrastinate, it will slow down your progress.  It is ok to take some time to rest, but to stay procrastinating every day will harm your progress.  Leave your comfort zone and motivate yourself to accomplish every task you have to do.

7.  Learn from your previous mistakes

When you keep focusing on your previous mistakes, you are killing your motivation.  Learning from your mistakes can help motivate you since you know what to avoid.  Today is a new day.  Motivate yourself, so you can achieve what you want and deserve.

Always remember what Elbert Green Hubbard said, “Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.”

Dia is the founder of 2 Achieve your Goals and is a freelance contributor to many national self improvement blogs.

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Ever tell yourself “I should be more productive?”

When you think that, you’re probably imagining doing more. Working more hours, getting through more work during those hours, clearing your inbox, cleaning out the garage … just thinking about it is enough to make you feel exhausted already.

The truth about productivity, though, is that we don’t necessarily become more productive – producing more worthwhile results in our lives – by constantly doing more and more. Real productivity might actually come from doing less.

Less Really Is More

I expect you’re familiar with the Pareto principle – that 80% of results are derived from 20% of effort. (For instance 80% of your profit is from 20% of your clients.)

While this doesn’t hold true for every single situation, it’s a good principle to keep in mind. There are probably some areas in your life where you’re expending a lot of effort for negligible results.

By doing less – cutting back in the areas which don’t really matter – you’ll have more energy, focus and enthusiasm for those things which do make a difference.

Try this: Look at your daily to-do list, or write down your commitments – all the things you feel obliged to do. Is there anything which you can cut out?

Efficient or Effective?

Productivity advice often revolves around making us more efficient. Keep a to-do list. Use a timer to keep you on track. Blitz through your emails. Learn a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.

It’s often good advice – but it’s easy to start missing the point. Being efficient isn’t enough – sure, you might be racing through your to-do list faster and faster, but are the items on that list really worth doing in the first place?

Being effective, on the other hand, means looking at the impact of our actions. Although effectiveness and efficiency can support one another, there’s sometimes a tension between the two. To be effective, you might have to take a step back from being busy, and look at the real priorities in your life.

Try this: Today, rather than thinking about getting through lots of tasks, focus on just one or two really significant ones.

Create Your Own Meaning

What counts as “productive” work for you?

Everyone’s definition is a bit different and it depends on your context. Perhaps your day job feels productive, along with your home improvement projects, but reading novels is just a way to relax. An English Literature student would feel differently!

One particular area where people struggle is bringing up small children – it might feel like your “real” work isn’t getting done. I love Charlie Gilkey’s take on this:

If you’re ever trying to balance being productive with hanging out with your kids, it’s time to reevaluate how you’ve framed ‘productivity’. Being a good parent is one of the most meaningfully productive things you can do.

(Charlie Gilkey, Being A Good Parent *Is* Being Productive, Productive Flourishing)

Utlimately, no-one but you can say what’s productive. And often, a truly relaxing break, or some quiet space to think and plan, is much more productive than simply knocking another chore off your to-do list.

Try this: Look at one area of your life which feels like a waste of time. Is it really? Or is it just something which society doesn’t value enough? You can decide that it’s meaningful.

How could you do less and start being more productive today?

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I won’t remind you that airlines tell you to fit your oxygen mask before helping others. You already know that, and you know how the analogy goes.

I won’t waste your time patiently explaining why it’s important to have time for yourself, as though it’s something that only really matters because it lets you help others.

You have the right to private time to play, relax, goof off, or do whatever the heck you want. I don’t need to explain that to you, and no-one needs to give you permission.

The problem that you face isn’t knowing why time to yourself is important. It’s finding ways to get that time on a regular basis.

Here are four things to try:

#1: Block Out Time in Advance

Ever marvel at how you can keep a couple of days free in your calendar when you know you’ll be travelling?

The rest of the time, it seems like every day is packed full: you can’t imagine just having a whole free day open up in the middle of the week.

When you’ve got a meeting, a long trip or a vacation, your calendar stays clear. You’ve blocked out that time in advance, so you don’t fill it up with work or other commitments.

To get more time for yourself, do exactly the same thing. Figure it out in advance:

• Plan a “weekend off” several months ahead, so that you don’t end up filling it with the usual social obligations, chores and so on.
• Find an afternoon once or twice a month where you can escape to the theatre, to a gallery or out into the countryside – whatever makes you feel re-energised and alive.
• At the start of each day, pick half an hour when you get to do whatever you want: maybe reading a chapter or two of a novel, taking a bath, or going for a jog. You can find half an hour if you look ahead.

#2: Get Your Own Space

Ever settle down for some quality time on your own, only to get interrupted by a housemate or family member? Perhaps you’d just poured yourself a glass of wine and settled down with a magazine when your spouse came in to switch the television on, or maybe you were listening to an audio book when your kids started a screaming competition.

It’s hard to recharge your batteries when you’re surrounded by other people: even if they don’t mean to interrupt you, they often do. Find somewhere you can close the door and get away from it all. (If you’ve got children, that might mean escaping to a coffee shop or somewhere else out of the house.)

#3: Say What You Need

It’s absolutely okay to say to a friend I’m not coming out tonight. I need some time by myself. Sure, some extroverts may be puzzled – but they’ll soon get used to it.

Similarly, it’s fine to tell your partner, kids or housemates that you want some quiet time. Obviously you can’t enforce constant silence – but you can ask them to keep it down for an hour while you read or take a nap.

Be clear and assertive (not aggressive) about what you need, and encourage others to behave the same towards you.

#4: Experiment With Different Times of Day

Not all hours in the day are equal. You might find that it’s easiest for you to get some peaceful time on your own before the rest of the household is awake: perhaps you get up early to meditate, exercise or read.

Alternatively, you may be barely human until your third coffee of the morning. Perhaps your best time to focus on yourself is in the evening, once the kids are in bed.

Other options are:

• Your lunch hour (get out of the office if you can; if you stay at your desk, you’ll still have your mind on work)
• Stopping at a cafe on the way home from work
• Taking some time for yourself while your partner or flatmate cooks dinner
• Swapping childcare with a friend at weekends, so you both get some time to relax

What other tips do you have for getting enough time to yourself? Share them with us in the comments.

I won’t remind you that airlines tell you to fit your oxygen mask before helping others. You already know that, and you know how the analogy goes.

I won’t waste your time patiently explaining why it’s important to have time for yourself, as though it’s something that only really matters because it lets you help others.

You have the right to private time to play, relax, goof off, or do whatever the heck you want. I don’t need to explain that to you, and no-one needs to give you permission.

The problem that you face isn’t knowing why time to yourself is important. It’s finding ways to get that time on a regular basis.

Here are four things to try.

#1: Block Out Time in Advance

Ever marvel at how you can keep a couple of days free in your calendar when you know you’ll be travelling?

The rest of the time, it seems like every day is packed full: you can’t imagine just having a whole free day open up in the middle of the week.

When you’ve got a meeting, a long trip or a vacation, your calendar stays clear. You’ve blocked out that time in advance, so you don’t fill it up with work or other commitments.

To get more time for yourself, do exactly the same thing. Figure it out in advance:

• Plan a “weekend off” several months ahead, so that you don’t end up filling it with the usual social obligations, chores and so on.
• Find an afternoon once or twice a month where you can escape to the theatre, to a gallery or out into the countryside – whatever makes you feel re-energised and alive.
• At the start of each day, pick half an hour when you get to do whatever you want: maybe reading a chapter or two of a novel, taking a bath, or going for a jog. You can find half an hour if you look ahead.

#2: Get Your Own Space

Ever settle down for some quality time on your own, only to get interrupted by a housemate or family member? Perhaps you’d just poured yourself a glass of wine and settled down with a magazine when your spouse came in to switch the television on, or maybe you were listening to an audio book when your kids started a screaming competition.

It’s hard to recharge your batteries when you’re surrounded by other people: even if they don’t mean to interrupt you, they often do. Find somewhere you can close the door and get away from it all. (If you’ve got children, that might mean escaping to a coffee shop or somewhere else out of the house.)

#3: Say What You Need

It’s absolutely okay to say to a friend I’m not coming out tonight. I need some time by myself. Sure, some extroverts may be puzzled – but they’ll soon get used to it.

Similarly, it’s fine to tell your partner, kids or housemates that you want some quiet time. Obviously you can’t enforce constant silence – but you can ask them to keep it down for an hour while you read or take a nap.

Be clear and assertive (not aggressive) about what you need, and encourage others to behave the same towards you.

#4: Experiment With Different Times of Day

Not all hours in the day are equal. You might find that it’s easiest for you to get some peaceful time on your own before the rest of the household is awake: perhaps you get up early to meditate, exercise or read.

Alternatively, you may be barely human until your third coffee of the morning. Perhaps your best time to focus on yourself is in the evening, once the kids are in bed.

Other options are:

• Your lunch hour (get out of the office if you can; if you stay at your desk, you’ll still have your mind on work)
• Stopping at a cafe on the way home from work
• Taking some time for yourself while your partner or flatmate cooks dinner
• Swapping childcare with a friend at weekends, so you both get some time to relax

What other tips do you have for getting enough time to yourself? Share them with us in the comments.

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Tips For Breaking Bad Habits and Developing Good Habits

Do you feel as though your work, studying or chores always end up taking too long? Do you feel as though you could be more effective if only you could stay on task?

Maybe you’re convinced it’s a question of will power, or organization, or motivation. The solution, though, might be very simple.

One of the easiest ways to get dramatic improvements in your productivity is to use a timer. You can grab the one from your kitchen, use the alarm on your phone, or try one of the popular free online timers like e.ggtimer.com or Tick Tock Timer.

When you’ve got a timing ticking away, you’ll suddenly discover a new sense of focus which you never knew you had. Here are five specific ways in which your timer will help:

Writing and Working Faster

A lot of the writers I know – of fiction and of non-fiction – use timers to focus for specific periods. It’s all too easy to get distracted when you’ve told yourself that you’ll spend a whole morning on that report or article or short story … when you’ve got thirty minutes to sit down and focus, you’re much more likely to get on with the task at hand.

Timers work particularly well for big tasks without an obvious end point, like clearing your emails. You might not be able to face getting through the whole backlog at once – but spending fifteen focused minutes every day will go a long way to clearing it.

Studying More Effectively

If you’re in school or working towards a qualification, you’ll be spending at least some of your time studying. Your brain can’t focus on learning for hours on end – experts think that it’s best to concentrate for between 25 and 45 minutes, then take a break to recharge.

Next time you sit down to study, try setting a timer for thirty minutes. It’s a lot easier to stay focused and motivated when you know you have a break coming up.

Getting Through Chores

I hate doing chores, and often end up putting them off – which only means they end up being more of a pain! You might well feel the same. One technique that works really well is to spend just five to fifteen minutes on something – it’s surprising how much you can get done. Even I can just about stand to clean the kitchen for ten minutes!

FlyLady popularized the idea of using a fifteen minute timer to tackle chores, and hosts of fans around the internet testify to the effectiveness of this.

All we ask is that you set a timer and spend 15 minutes a day decluttering. That’s it. Anyone can do anything for only 15 minutes, even if you have to break it down into 5 minutes segments.

(Declutter 15 Minutes a Day – 5 Great Tools That Make it Easy! on FlyLady.net)

Limiting Your Procrastination

We all need to take breaks in order to remain productive. The problem is, it’s all too easy for a twenty-minute break to turn into two hours of browsing the net and giggling at pictures of cats with silly captions.

When you decide it’s time for a break, set a timer. Give yourself around ten – twenty minutes, depending on what you feel you need. Once that alarm goes off, get straight back on track with your next task. (It helps if you’ve made up your mind what to do next before taking your break.)

Making Phone Calls

How often have you been on the phone with someone for far longer than you meant to? It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re chatting, only to realize that a whole hour’s gone by. If you’re making a call, set a timer going (preferably one which has a silent alert, like a pop-up on the screen). Once the alarm goes off, you’ll be reminded to draw the conversation to a close.

If you’re conducting an interview by phone, this is also a good technique to make sure you don’t have to keep one eye on the clock – you can chat away with your full focus on the conversation, and when your alarm goes off to tell you there’s five or ten minutes to go, you can draw things to a close.

Have you tried using a timer to improve your productivity? How did it work out for you?

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