Posts tagged "schedule"

Advice Health Inspiration

5 Steps to Better Health

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“Without health, there is no point. To anything.” Everett Mámor

Health is one of those things in life you value once you lose it. Ill health propels us to value it a lot more for a while, then we lose track of it yet again. We fail to understand that without good health, there is very little we can do. Ill health makes us realize that all the things we take for granted should be the very things we ought to be thankful for, day in and day out. As entrepreneurs we tend to push ourselves harder, as great things can only be achieved by great efforts. During this process one of the things we tend to lose track of is our health. I made that mistake recently and hence dedicated this series to help remind myself of the importance of good health.

Listed below are five factors critical to good health:

1. Sleep: Having sporadic sleep cycles can be most damaging to one’s health. Lack of sleep or inadequate and untimely sleep patterns cause lethargy and lack of concentration. This in turn results in not being able to perform optimally and eventually leads to developing related illnesses due to exhaustion. Developing and having the discipline to stick to a sleeping routine can have a positive impact on your health. To read more about developing better sleeping habits please click here.

2. Exercise: A lot of people feel tired at the mention of the word exercise. The association may be a result of associating all forms of exercise with the tedium of weights , running for miles, monotonous repetition and sweating through it all. Developing a healthy exercise routine however can start from something as simple as having a yoga or stretching routine when you wake up in the morning. It is vitally important to establish some form of exercise into your daily routine. To read more about easy exercise routines that you can adopt please click here.

3. Eating Right: Other than staying off the fatty junk food, there are many simple tips we need to integrate into our daily diet plan. I wrote about ensuring to drink enough water during the day and making sure that a healthy breakfast is how you start your day. These small changes impact greatly on energy and fitness levels. It is not necessary to go on strict diets and give up eating all favorite foods . What is important is that we make the small but important changes which will help us live a healthier life. To read more about eating right please click here.

4. Having Fun: Doing the things you love and enjoy has a deep impact on your health. It helps exude energy and a zest for life which is infectious. We have to stop sacrificing the things that bring joy to us simply to be able to assimilate into the society we live in. If you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing, there is no better time than ‘Now’ to start making the necessary changes. To read more about the importance of having fun please click here.

5. Positive Thinking: Having a positive attitude has a major impact on the quality of life. It has the ability to remind us how fortunate we are for everything we have. It helps us to shift focus from all the things we do not have, to all that we need to be grateful for. This level of inner peace creates an aura of positivity around us, which in turn attracts our wants and desires to help make our life a more fulfilling one. To learn more about the power of positive thinking please click here.

Losing perspective of the truly important factors in our lives is a mistake committed by too many people. We become so lost in the daily humdrum that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Life is way too short to miss out at truly living life to its optimum. It is important that we keep a healthy balance between work and fun in our lives. Only through such a balance can we experience a level of inner peace and help bring perspective to the chaotic lives we lead today.

Advice Health Inspiration

The Little Difference

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“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” W. Clement Stone

All of us have fundamental choices in life. We can either embrace life for all its worth and live each day to make a difference, or we can simply go about, just living. This seems like a fairly easy decision to make, and it should be, because it is! Each and everyone of us is in control of the sort of life we want to lead. The decision is completely ours, and our life is a reflection of the decisions which we have chosen to make. If anyone is not satisfied with the results so far, it is up to them to change the way they may be doing things. In truth it all comes down to, whether we are looking at the glass half empty or half full. Two people can look at the same glass with radically different perspectives. In the end, what matters is our attitude, and whether we choose it to be positive one or negative.

I must admit, most of the time I do not understand why so many people have such a negative outlook on life. The mind boggles that someone deliberately chooses to look more at the negative side of life. There has to be some driving force behind such behavior, I have yet to understand it. Being negative not only brings your own spirits down, it has a domino effect on all those who come into contact with it. It permeates into every aspect of your life, from the way you walk, hold a conversation, relationships, social interaction and the vibes you give out. An aura develops around you which only seems to attract all the things you do not want in life. Why anyone would want to do something like that to themselves is a mystery.

Life is way too short for us to be worried about all the things which are not in our control. We need to focus on factors we can do something about, and our health is one those key factors. Having a positive attitude has a major impact on the quality of life. It has the ability to remind us how fortunate we are for everything that we have. It helps us to shift our focus from all the things we do not have, to all that we need to be grateful for. This level of inner peace creates an aura of positivity around us, which in turn attracts our wants and desires to help make our life a more fulfilling one. We all have the same fundamental choices in life. The decisions we make about these choices will impact and determine the sort of life we choose to live.

Advice Health

Are you Having Fun?

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“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” Dale Carnegie

Life without fun and enjoyment, is living life without, really living. It is imperative to enjoy ourselves in whatever we do in life. If we are not doing something that we enjoy, then it is time to face reality and make the necessary changes. Continuing to do something which one does not like is like a virus, and it slowly eats away at the soul. It becomes a cycle, and finding the courage to step out of it requires, a lot of courage. We make up all sorts of excuses why we choose to remain in jobs we do not like, in relationships which are not working or in businesses we no longer have any interest in. The longer we stay in such situations the more reasons we create for why we cannot leave them.

I believe this is often due to a clash of interest. We sacrifice personal goals, dreams and visions for what society deems acceptable. Along the way we forget who we are and what we really wanted in life. Unfortunately this is a path taken by far too many people and tends to have major repercussions further down the road. The fact is that each and everyone of us knows what really makes us happy. The longer we keep these emotions buried, the more we lose touch with them. Therefore, if there is something that you would rather be doing, take time out now, and first just write it down on a piece of paper. Then, think about it, and visualize ways you could eventually be doing that for a living.

My own decision to become an entrepreneur was made in a similar fashion. I was always fascinated with the world of business, and the challenge of starting out from scratch and building it into something, has been a lot of fun for me. Having been through a successful iteration of this process, there is nothing else that I would rather be a part of. Doing something that you love and enjoy has a deep impact on your health as well. One has a lot more energy and a zest for life which can be infectious. If you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing, there is no better time than ‘Now’ to start making the necessary changes.

Health

Eating Right?

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“All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.” John Gunther

My eating habits have improved vastly since the last time I made a conscious effort to watch my diet more strictly. Sticking to a healthy diet,  saying no to junk food and excessive eating, makes you feel pretty good about yourself. However looking back, there were still a couple of things which were not correct with my diet and may have contributed to my falling sick last week. I have outlined them below:

1. Water: This is an essential part of one’s diet, yet, many of us consume far less than our daily requirement. (This is a nifty site about water requirements).  Unfortunately, I have fallen victim to this lapse many a time. Lack of water in your system can lead to all sorts of problems, in some cases quite critical. It is not necessary to go around remembering how much water you have consumed in a day, it is however important to remember to drink water at regular intervals. It is important to keep yourself hydrated particularly if you are sitting at a desk all day. This will not only improve productivity, but also improve stamina.

2. Breakfast: In our busy daily lives, breakfast is a meal which often takes a hit. We tend to wake up in a flurry and then do our best to get ourselves out of the door as soon as possible. During this rushed time, we grab some juice, and get our hands on anything which appears edible. This routine is a flawed one for the long haul. It also results in lower energy levels in the morning, over eating at lunch time and eventually leads to an unbalanced diet with all its ramifications. Breakfast is a very important meal, one we should all aim to squeeze into our busy schedules as it does affect the rest of our day. It is important to choose your breakfast wisely,  make sure you include protein in some form or other to help keep you going during the day.

These two factors are integral to any good diet and need to be worked into everyones daily routine. They don’t require any major shifts in eating habits, apart from maybe waking up a little earlier to enjoy breakfast. After one has successfully integrated them into a routine,  increased energy levels will be noticeable, possible decrease in weight, but above all, you will feel a lot healthier.

Health

When did you last exercise?

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“When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no “I’ll start tomorrow.” Tomorrow is disease.” ~V.L. Allineare

Next on the list of factors which contributed to falling a little under the weather was lack of exercise last month. Prior to last month, I had a pretty strict work-out regime which was actually coming along rather well. I have been traveling this last month or so, and sticking to a routine when traveling has got to be one of the most challenging things to do. I guess it comes down again to discipline, and the determination to really stick to it. Fact is, we tend to make up a lot more excuses when we have to make a slightly greater effort to exercise as compared to usual.

We are all well aware of the advantages of exercise. It keeps the mind sharper, the pounds off, increases the body’s immune and resistance systems and to top it off, can be a most effective stress reliever after a long day. To get most of these benefits we don’t have to slave away in the gym for hours on end, there are a host of simple exercises we can build into our daily routine when there is no easily accessible sports facility or a very demanding work schedule . Some that I am working on including into my daily routine are:

1. Yoga: There are several yoga exercises which can be integrated into a daily routine quite easily. I have begun doing five of them right when I get up. They focus on most of the major parts of the body and do a great a job in helping you to stretch and certainly make you more awake and alert.

2. Crunches: After the initial set of exercises, I do a couple of sets of crunches which helps keep as much excess weight of my waist as possible. It is important to do crunches correctly for them to be effective. If you are unsure about whether your technique is correct get some help from an instructor or instruction videos which can be found on the net.

3. Walking: In todays day and age we are becoming increasingly lazy. For even the smallest of hops we choose cabs or elevators. Figure out areas you could replace these habits with a brisk walk which could last a couple of minutes or a couple of flights of stairs. It helps keep the blood flowing and can even act as a boost.

The important lesson I learnt here is, no matter where you are, it is up to you to decide whether you want to exercise or not. If you value fitness and health then it is best to identify ways and mean to maintain  fitness goals, even during busy spells or vacations abroad.

Health

Not Sleeping Enough?

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“In a disordered mind, as in a disordered body, soundness of health is impossible.” Cicero

There are several reasons why I fell sick last week. However, I do believe it all started when I developed and sustained erratic sleep timings. This started a nasty domino effect and slowly permeated into other areas of my life and eventually, I fell sick. Sleep is an integral part of our lives. Our bodies need to rest and rejuvenate to enable them to function optimally. The number of hours of sleep needed, varies from person to person. A widely publicized study performed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2003, demonstrated that cognitive performance declines with fewer than eight hours of sleep. When we develop a cycle of less than 6 hours of sleep over prolonged periods of time, it begins to show as lethargy and an inability to concentrate, and eventually to falling sick.

It does all come down to having the discipline to develop and stick to a routine. Ideally, one would like to have set timings to go to sleep and get up. This timing pattern should remain constant on both week-ends and week-days. Isolated deviations from the routine are acceptable, but the routine  should not be disrupted for more than a period of 3 days. Admittedly there is the argument that as entrepreneurs things are  sporadic, and one week the work flow is manageable, and the next, one gets drowned in it. The ability to stick to a routine under such circumstances is tough. However,  inability to do so, as I have experienced many a time, has nasty consequences. There needs to be balance to enable us to perform and rest both, adequately.

To develop such a routine, we first need to identify when we actually feel sleepy given that we wake up at a fixed time for a couple of days.  We can then establish a suitable time accordingly and develop a routine for a half hour prior to getting into bed. This could involve setting a to-do list for the next day, reading or going over your goals list to see and work on how far you have reached. It is another scientifically proven fact, that brain processes prior to going to sleep have a huge impact on your sleep quality and the next day. The brain processes the last input received many times more effectively than anything else you may have experienced during the day. Therefore it is critical that you use this time wisely.

Business Meetings

5 steps to ensure effective meetings

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Boss Ramblings

Meetings are and have always been a critical tool to get the job done. All successful meetings have several common key factors. When we incorporate them into our daily meetings we will see a surge in productivity and efficiency. This will have a direct impact on the results and bottom line. Listed below are five key factors which should be incorporated into every business meeting:

  1. The Agenda: An agenda brings focus to the reason a meeting is being held. It outlines all the key factors which are going to be discussed and what is needed to be achieved during the course of the meeting. It helps the facilitator to decide who should be invited and why. This will help create a blueprint for the meeting and will also help keep it on track and to reach the required goal. To read more about how to create an ideal agenda please click here.

  2. Time & Focus: These two building blocks must be tracked meticulously during the course of the meeting to ensure that adequate time is allocated to each agenda item and that the course of the discussion remain in line with the agenda. Deviation from these two factors result in meetings where all the participants get frustrated and no consensus is reached. To read more about how to keep your time and focus in line please click here.

  3. Group Participation: Meetings are most productive when you have everyone contributing to the discussion. This results in a group generated consensus to be reached which is free from any sort of bias. A conducive environment needs to be maintained to get everyone to contribute. To read more about how to get participants to contribute more please click here.

  4. Decision Making: Meetings provide a forum to reach decisions on issues through a collaborative process. It is essential that key steps are taken to ensure that everyones opinion on the topic are heard and a collaborative decision is reached. When there is resistance to a proposed decision it needs to be handled with care to ensure that there is no passive resistance which could jeopardize the project. To read more about how to reach decisions effectively click here.

  5. Minutes & Action Items: During the course of a meeting several topics are discussed and decisions reached. Each one of these needs to be recorded for reference purposes. Meeting minutes provide participants with an easily accessible document and reminds them of what tasks were delegated and to whom. Action items need to be delegated with clear instructions and should be time bound for optimal execution. To read more on how you can incorporate minutes and successful action item delegation please click here.

Meetings are a critical business component. To run them successfully will result in better communication. Once a team or a business is at a level where communication flow becomes more efficient and effective it will have a direct impact on its productivity and results. Incorporate these factors into your daily meetings and let me know if you have noticed better results or performance. Also if anyone else wants to share other factors which have helped them run more effective meetings please let us all know. Thank you.

Business Meetings

Minutes and Action Items

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Action Items

Minutes are a critical aspect of any successfully run meeting. Before the start of the meeting a participant should be delegated the role of taking them down and emailing them out to the rest of the group after the meeting. This will provide all the participants with an easily accessible reference point. The rationale that everyone will remember all that is discussed during the course of the meeting is not valid and could lead to confusion in the future. Provided below are some of the key aspects which should be included in the minutes;

  • Details regarding the date, time, participants and primary objective must always be included.

  • Notes regarding every pointer on the agenda sheet provides a good framework for easy reference.

  • Clearly outline the decision or consensus which was reached during the course of the meeting.

  • List down delegated action items with proposed deadlines.

Another key aspect of successful meetings is the delegation of action items. When a consensus has been reached and an implementation strategy outlined action items need to be clearly and concisely delegated to members of the team. Some key points for successful delegation of action items are;

  • Clearly and concisely state the action item to the delegated individual. A rationale behind the item and methodology to be used is essential.

  • Action items need to have time constraints. It provides an outline in which the task needs to be completed in.

  • Follow up action needs to be allocated if the action item is complicated. This helps to keep the team in the loop regarding the implementation. It also provides checkpoints which provide valuable feedback during the implementation process.

It is the meeting facilitators responsibility to ensure that the minutes and action items are successfully delegated. Incorporating them into your next business meeting will ensure that the responsibility for these tasks is efficiently delegated and discussion points are created for future references.

Business Meetings

Decision Making

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enforcing decisions

Meetings provide a forum to reach decisions on issues through a collaborative process. Decisions which are taken without the consensus of all the affected departments or individuals leads to confusion, frustration and an unhealthy work environment. Listed below are a few guidelines on how to reach decisions within groups or teams effectively.

  • Ensure that the meeting facilitator or any other participant doesn’t take all the limelight. This will lead to an extremely biased view which will not be well received by all the participants. Every person in the meeting has the right to voice his/her opinion and have them factored into the decision making process.

  • Maintain an optimal size and type of the group to ensure you don’t reach a deadlock. This requires you to be selective in who you invite to the meeting. Calling two aggressive participants with three passive individuals will not yield an optimal outcome.

  • To reach an effective decision make sure that all participants have clearly understood the problem or issue which is being resolved to avoid any sort of confusion. An incorrect perception of what is being discussed is common and should be clearly stated in the agenda sheet for reference.

  • Once all the solutions to the problem have been discussed a decision used should be reached by a consensus. A voting systems will clearly identify those individuals who are for the solution and against it, this can be later explored in individual meetings if time is limited in the group meeting.

  • When a decision has been made and has received a majority consensus those individuals who were not in favor of the decision should do their best to buy into the proposed solution. Passive resistance to the solution becomes a major threat in implementing the solution. If you are strongly not in favor of the decision you may call another meeting to convince key individuals, however if the rest of the team is behind the decision you must do your best to go with the majority.

  • The facilitator of the meeting should do a summary of the decision which was reached through consensus at the end of the meeting. This will outline the problem we tackled, the solutions and the groups choice. This provides a great time for participants to clarify any confusion that they may have had.

If senior management has already made a decision on the particular issue do not call meetings to re-iterate the decision. If you need input from some departments calling a “review” meeting about the option selected is a better strategy.

Good decision making skills is a critical success factor for all teams. By leading meetings where you can reach timely and collaborative decisions you will be able to help your team reach fantastic results. Poor decisions which do not have the buy in of the team will result in poor performance which has a detrimental impact on your team.

Help your team to start making better decisions today!

Business Meetings

Group Participation

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Business Meeting Participation

Business meetings are productive when all the attendees are active contributors to the discussion. Without adequate participation a biased decision may be formed based on the input of only a few participants. As the facilitator of a meeting it is your job to make sure that you get everyone in the meeting to become active contributors. Being a facilitator doesn’t require you to be extremely knowledgeable of the discussion. The following tips will help increase group participation in your next meeting.

  1. Take a count of who is going to be attending the meeting. This will help you seat the participants in a manner where all the quiet individuals will not be isolated into a corner. It will also help you structure the list of questions, specifically when you are talking about certain agenda points. Lastly knowing the participants background and personalities will help in anticipating barriers which may act as impediments.

  2. Avoid times such as right before lunch, right after lunch or nearing the end of office hours. These are times when the participants are least attentive and will not be very willing to provide feedback. Choose your time wisely, early morning meetings or an hour after the lunch break are optimal timings for meetings.

  3. Introductions from all the participants helps break the ice and allows for free flowing conversation. This helps to create a friendlier environment to encourage participation.

  4. If the meeting has a technical focus do your best to keep the jargon to the minimum. This will allow all the participants to get an idea of what is being discussed and to provide their opinion or feedback.

  5. Ask open ended questions such as “What are you thoughts on this method?” “How do you think you would implement this process?”. If you do not get appropriate answers to your questions then paraphrase them to make the respondent understand the question correctly.

Everyone at a meeting assumes a certain role. These roles may be habitual or may arise during certain discussion. Examples of roles which may take place during meetings are, the constant nit picker, quiet listeners and yes men. Take a look at your participation in meetings you attended recently. Did you take on any one role in the meetings you attended? If you did, you need to fix this by bringing balance to the image you are portraying.

You have to remember that you were invited to the meeting to give your insights on what is being discussed. You have to take this responsibility seriously and make sure that you voice your opinions in a clear and concise manner. This will give you greater visibility in your organization as well as help you establish a level of authority on a given subject matter.

Do your best to be an active participant at your next meeting!