Plan the Night Before

I got lots of feedback on my Golden Hour post. There seems to be 2 types - the plan in the morning and the plan in the evening sorts. I suppose the ideal would be both.

One of my friends sums up the evening view well below:

Hello Jim,

Lots of good, useful and/or nice things to do in the morning. However, for those people, who sleep a bit more than you do, I would still recommend the "plan for tomorrow, tonight" approach. I believe that spending a few minutes at the end of the work-day with planning out the next day, is the best way to hit the road running in the morning. After having walked to work, or having done some yoga or whatever else you suggested.

Best Regards,
Alex

Alex Revai
Productivity Solutions
Email: arevai@productivity-solutions.com
Web: http://www.productivity-solutions.com/
Tel: 416-272-6972

The Golden Hour

I love early mornings. I love the hour or so before the rest of the world stirs. It is peaceful.

Some of the things I use the golden hour for (and of course if I did them all, it would take more than an hour - perhaps I need 3 golden hours):

1 - Organizing my day. If I start the day organized, I tend to get more done but more importantly, I just feel good.

2 - Working out. I have found that working out first thing is the best time for me to do it. It starts the day off right.

3 - Journaling. OK so this is not for everyone and might be a bit out there. I do not do a diary - it is not about my feelings, it is about how I am doing on my goals. I like to spend 20 minutes writing 3 pages free hand. I modified the journalling that "The Artist Way" by Julia Cameron talks about to make it more "business and goal" focussed.

4 - Meditation and yoga. This is more one of those like to do but rarely do things. It would be a good thing to do though.

5 - Walk. Sometimes I walk to work. But even without a walk to work, a walk is a great way to start the day.

6 - Actually digging in and getting lots done. I find I can be highly productive without the usual interruptions that happen during the day.

7 - Reviewing my goals. I find days I spend time reviewing my goals that I am more fucused and more productive on getting done what I want to get done.

I am off for a productive day now.

Facebook Phenomenon

Long day today (and it is not over yet) and I have a very busy weekend planned.

Recently I have noticed a huge groundswell of use of Facebook. And of course I have to be on it because I need to keep on top of trends. As I look around on it, it is a bit like blogging except even more public in ways (like who you are talking to and what you are doing). At least in blogging, you decide what you want to say.

I do not like that I have to log in to get messages from it - seems inefficient. Some parts are more efficient like sharing photos and having group discussions. Perhaps I am too business oriented to fully appreciate a just social thing.

Not sure where it is going - just interesting to observe.

Habits (again)

Stating the obvious, I have not blogged in a while. I slipped out of the habit.

I constantly look at my habits because we are the product of what we repeatedly do. Who we are is in part determined by our habits. This is a re-evaluation time for me and habits. Looking for which ones support what I want to do and be. Looking at those I need to substitute with healthier habits.

There is a good article on health habits on web MD. Of the 13 suggestions, I am good on:

1 - eating breakfast (80% of the time anyways)
2 - getting enough omega 3
4 - social connections (I might have too many)
5 - exercise
6 - dental hygene.
12- daily walk (90% of the days I walk at least 30 minutes. When I walk to work it is 45 minutes each way and I love that time to clear my thoughts. Best 45 minute commute anyone could have)
13 - plan (one of my strong points)

I am fair on

8 - protecting skin
9 - snacking
10 - drink water and eat dairy (not sure how that became one habit). I drink enough water, do not drink milk but love cheese.
11 - drink tea. I do drink tea (mostly green tea) but not as much in the summer.

And if I count business as a hobby, I am good on 7 - hobbies (for that matter, I do play bridge, run, read etc so do have some non-business hobbies)


I am bad on:

3 - sleep

Of course it is not all about health habits for me. It is about business habits, learning habits, growth habits etc.

What we give

I have not been blogging much lately. I find it interesting that my readership has not dropped off much despite of that. Thinking less blogging coincides with many people taking vacations so the 2 go hand in hand.

I attended a fund raiser for the Guelph General hospital last week at the home of Frank and Margaret Hasenfratz from Linamar. Frank gave a short speech and used the following quotation, "We make a living by what we get; we make life by what we give" (Sir Winston Churchill 1874 – 1965).

A good quotation and good words to live by.

To be a Failure or Just Failure

I did presentations to staff at Ronson today. Tonight we have a welcome reception for the Redmond Group who moved into our office on Monday. It is good to see the parking lot full and the sales floors buzzing.

I spoke about failure. There is a big difference between failing and being a failure. One is a learning and an opportunity to grow. The other is an end point. I talked about some failure being good because it means you are trying hard and moving near the edge. Those who never fail never grow or learn or move forward.

Thomas Edison spoke of Overcoming Failure: I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.

I have always said "fail often, fail fast, fail cheap".

Success and failure are linked. Great successes also have their fair share of failures.