| JJ's (Dec '08) Tips in this issue: 1. Keep It Simple! 2. JJ's Favorite Quotes 3. Tele-Coaching & Tele-Mentoring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use the following tips as training tools. Present this situation to your group and brainstorm solutions together, or submit your own situation question to be answered in an upcoming newsletter. ------------------------------------- SITUATION QUESTION: ------------------------------------- Are you trying to do too much in a short amount of time? Are you multitasking and wondering why you feel you are not quite on top of things? The holidays are fun and exciting. However, are your lists of things to do at work, plus the holiday preparations making you frazzled? --------------------- SOLUTIONS: --------------------- Be realistic about your time that is available during this very busy time of the year. Know what is doable and what isn't. Don't try to cram too many things into your already busy days. Instead, remember what my husband says about mid December every year. "This is the time when everyone gets crazy on the highways, so watch out! Keep your schedule of activities simple and safe! We also need to watch out for our own craziness in multitasking too much, especially during the holidays. When you multitask, none of the things you are doing have your full attention. Your mistake on a work project or a car accident on the road could sure put a damper on your holiday festivities. If you are getting more frazzled and tense, you probably are not enjoying one of the best times of the year. Do all of your Christmas holiday traditions need to be carried out or have they become a burden instead of a joy? Keep it simple by prioritizing what traditions are a must and which are just extra work and stress. Perhaps this is the year to eliminate them or delegate those time-consuming jobs to others. Besides, they might enjoy contributing a bigger part this year. Whether it is work or your personal life, you need to work smarter, not harder! You only have so many hours in the day. Besides, with the present economy, everyone is cutting back, so this is a perfect time to evaluate what is important and essential and what is not. Last year in November, in between meeting work commitments, I planned a very important birthday Thanksgiving dinner for my husband. Through emails, every single person coming knew what they were contributing to this special day for Scott. Some sent pictures of Scott, others made the picture board, each brought part of the feast, others helped prepare the house and the feast, and all prepared something special to roast, tell or thank Scott for being in their lives. Scott was blown away with the love and accolades! Plus everyone felt they had helped to make the party the success that it was. With all the planning and coordination that was necessary, many lists and notes were made. After the party, I took note of what worked and the few things that did not work as well as planned. Then to work smarter next time, I saved the notes on all the preparation and planning in a notebook plastic sleeve with the 2 main recipes (for cooking the turkey and making the bread pudding and sauce) showing through the outside. This see-through sleeve kept the recipes clean when I had flour or other ingredients on my hands. Even the grocery list and other lists on what to do each of the three or four days before the holiday were enclosed. The place cards for the table from the last Christmas dinner had been put in there too. This year I pulled the plastic sleeve from my cook book cupboard and everything I needed was right at my finger tips. All I had to do was adjust the notes to the number of people and the occasion, Christmas instead of Thanksgiving. When the big day is my house, I work to start Christmas shopping early so my presents are already wrapped and under the tree before it is time to start house and dinner preparation. This also helps to minimize last minute stress and clutter to clear. Keep it simple so you look forward to the holidays and enjoy the process! These simple tips can be applied to any project at work where different people will be working on it year after year. Making good notes and going over them before they are stored makes them easier to use next time. Document, document and cut out the unnecessary fat (extra expenses) and wasted time. And most of all, evaluate what worked and make suggestions to make it better. Then put the information all together and in a place that it can easily be found. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous NEW YEAR! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JJ's FAVORITE QUOTES: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle "The best motivation is self-motivation. The guy says, 'I wish someone would come by and turn me on. What if they don't show up? You've got to have a better plan for your life." - Jim Rohn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tele-COACHING & Tele-MENTORING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE in an area? Service? Sales? * Motivation and growth of your people? * Dealing with irate internal or external customers? * Leading and Coaching your staff? TRY our one-on-one Tele-Mentoring (phone coaching service) that is available to business owners, executives, managers, supervisors and staff members. 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