HANDLING EMAIL

You don’t want to get into the “shuffling blues” where you read an e-mail, postpone action, save it, re-read it later, and find things slipping through the cracks.

As you open each e-mail, do one of the following and be done:
a. If it requires a quick response, (it will only take a minute or two), respond to it and delete it.
b. If it requires a response but is not the best use of your time, try to think of a way of delegating it. There’s a lot of difference between “I do it” and “It gets done”.
c. If it is going to take any serious amount of time to respond (beyond a minute or two), schedule it for action in your Day Planner and then save it or print it out for future action.

VISIONS THAT REPEAT

VISIONS THAT REPEAT

By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

You spend a lot of time reliving memories from the past. Some memoriesare positive and uplifting and give our days a bounce, enhancing ourproductivity and results. Other memories are not so bright and bum usout, draining our spirits and motivation and productivity.Memories are stored in your head after a long journey that begins with asingle vision. Visions are the pictures you see in your mind. You canhave positive visions or negative visions.For example, you are going to a party Friday night. This is a party thatyour brother-in-law always attends and in the past you always got in anargument with him, then left the party in a huff, and generally had abad time.

So you start to visualize going to the party again on Fridayand what do you see?
You see yourself having a bad time at this partybecause, after all, you’ve always had a bad time at the party with yourbrother-in-law.From those visions, those pictures, you take action.

You see a confrontation coming with your brother-in-law and consistent with thatimage you attend the party waiting for him to trigger the arguments ashe has in the past, and sure enough, your body language and wordstelegraph the message that you are ready for verbal combat and so theprocess moves forward to conflict and leaving in a huff.

These actions produce results. Your result was, “not having good time atthe party”. Those results then become the memories that you re-liveover and over again negatively affecting your future productivity.

Your visions direct the actions you take that create the results yourealize that form the memories you re-live over and over again,Now let’s say you would prefer to have a positive memory from thisupcoming party in your mind to relive in the future for enhancedproductivity.

What can you do in advance to change the outcome, thelingering memory? You change the vision.You stop visualizing having a bad time at the next party. I know, you’vehad a lot of history with bad results, but you put a new picture in yourmind this time.

You see yourself intentionally avoiding being in thesame room with your brother-in-law and if he presses to goad you intoargument, you see yourself walking away.
You see yourself sitting withAunt Sarah, whom you spend little time with and talking with her for theevening.You repeat that vision only, over and over, and if you do enough ofthat, you find yourself changing your behavior, avoiding yourbrother-in-law and instead, spending quality time with the other guests.
When you leave, you discover you have produced the result called “nothaving too bad a time at the party”. You recall and remember this now ina positive vein, as an uplifting memory that boosts your attitude anddaily productivity in the future.
Does it all happen so easily and quickly? Unlikely.
Maybe you create nonew results in the near term from this new, more positive way ofvisioning, but if you are willing to persist and make this healthier wayof thinking a consistent habit, then soon you will find it does work.Your visions will be more positive, your actions will follow the visionscreating the results that form the positive memories you will re-liveover and over.