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This is the 2nd time I've seen you mention Grand Central. The first time was in the "Doing the impossible article..." about getting paper out of your life, not checking voicemail, etc.
I went to Grand Central to sign up, but it's in beta and you can only join right now if someone refers you. Can you share how you where able to get in the beta?
It's something I want to do, and would be the third thing from the "Doing the impossible..." article you recommend that I will have done. I already signed up for the remote control mail service by Earth Class Mail. The jury is still out because I haven't been on it long enough, but early results are promising. I also got removed from any possible mailing list I could track down with the help of DMAConsumers.org. So thanks for the good advice there, and now hoping I can check out Grand Central also.
Thanks,
mdf
The only part of the 5th principle I have a problem with now is:
"Set up a strategic autoresponder and check twice or thrice daily."
Tim, with your book on the bestseller now, this automated response just fills my inbox with crap.
Here's an alternative: Just check it at those times, and respond at those times. If they're expecting a response quicker, they'll get in touch with you via phone, if they can't... obviously it's not important to them and can wait a few hours.
I recently tested this approach with my client, and if it's their high priority and not some delegation without merit, then they'll certainly make it known to you.
Cool.
Donovan
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Hi Donovan,
Good alternative. Here are a few others: 1) Send all of them a single read-receipt e-mail notifying them of the new schedule, 2) Put this "I check and respond only at..." at the bottom of your outgoing e-mail in the signature, 3) Set your e-mail program to only send one autoresponse to each contact per week.
Thanks for the input!
Tim
Working on personal businesses in expense of enough sleep.
Jott has been one of the handiest tools to have in my pocket. Countless twenty second blurbs about some great ideas and some less.
OK. I will now try the GoToMyPC. It sounds almost like magic. Any 30-day trials on Someone Else GO 2 My PC? I've done enough LCD for a lifetime!
Namaste Tim
Interestingly enough, nearly all of my 'not-to-dos' fall under this intermittent rewards category. I'd add, "Don't let your life become a slot machine."
If you still have an invites for Grandcentral, I'd appreciate getting one.
Thanks,
Scott
Be careful (and not just because Google knows so much about you already), GC was built to make you MORE accessible, not less. Having one number that rings my cell, house, and work phones isn't always a good thing. But their other features make up for it if you use them.
I can't think of a good way to hand out invites, or I'd share. Actually, I can, but it's more work for the rest of you. Below are some links for some invites -- beware! If you click 'sign up' on the invite, you HAVE to finish signing up then! Once clicked, the invitation is 'used' and you can't go back and finish later with the same invite.
Probably best if you post a comment that you've used an invite number, so others don't waste time.
1: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/mC7xJTW...
2: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/eetoG2U...
3: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/5AaAVu7...
4: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/LxoakkC...
5: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/RthPUop...
6: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/6q5L4Qq...
7: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/GpjakQa...
8: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/2CNBFBr...
9: http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/DKYpCEq...
Good luck.
You shouldn't have to wait long after requesting an invite.
Cheers.
GREAT one I never do this anyway amazing how they never leave a message!!!
2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
E-mail is a touchy subject! With my job I am the one that is connected to a color printer hence if there is a meeting at 10 am and I haven’ checked my e-mail I’ll lose my job okay get written up but both are bad news! As a sales assistant it’s required to handle all emergencys no matter what time of the day -
3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
GREAT one again! Have an agenda even if it’s just bullet points!
4. Do not let people ramble
I love the I’m in the middle of something to go out what’s going on!
5. Do not check e-mail constantly—“batch� and check at set times only
as number 2 states I have to check e-mail for packages coming in I forgot to add if I don’t response the AE will come up to me asking me if I got the e-mail and if I could check it to print there document! I so wish I could only check e-mail 1 time an hour!
6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
they just talked about this! You got to be greedy here! Great call!
7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm—prioritize
lol maybe that’s why everything is urgent! Lol the joy of radio! I have a hard time prioritizing I even have my boss help me it’s all important to me.. it’s the little thigns that get looked over and that causes issues in the long run! !
8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7, seven days a week
lol maybe I should carry one or at least answer it once in a while! Lol this one is easy!
9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
great one I love my job so this is hard! I have passion for it but I love my partner more!
What other no-no’s would you add to the list?
10. over think the simple things! It can be hard when something comes up and gets you thinking but a lot of times people over think what ever and it turns into a not so good outcome!
11) Reading blogs.
I suggest to do something similar as with emails. First combine blogs you read in groups. Allocate two-three time sets during the week when you can read them. Here the time duration is important, I can recommend 15-20 minutes, two-three times a week, afternoon, after lunch break. Be strict with it (Parkinson law again). Make a clear decision based on the name and then first three sentences whether you need it or not. Try to think about it as a potential time-waster. The author should not only write his thoughts to the world, but understand that this will take your time and attention, and if the author doesn't put much attention to a clear title and first three sentences, it definitely is not done in the text itself. Don't read everything even of your favorite authors, usually (Pareto's law 8) there are only few highlights in your RSS reader over the week, and it's never urgent.
Challenge a few co-workers to see who can do this as many weeks in a row. The accountability guilt works well for me.
Kim Curtis
Thanks so much for the invites. I used #9 on the list
http://www.grandcentral.com/home/invite/DKYpCEq...
You will be in for a mental scramble!
Great post :)
I don't have a landline, so it doesn't make me more accessible per se. What it does do for me is give me options for screening calls, automatically forwarding certain people to voice mail, playing a 'not in service' ring to people I don't want contacting me again, listen to a message while it is being recorded, and accessing my voicemail from the web (useful because my current work is in a dead spot)
I'll give out two invitations. Contact me @ mike [at] moontouched (dot) com.
Thanks for the great list! I hope to put some of these into action.
***Don't volunteer for routine assignments.*** In my daily work, I'm always known as the one who's responsible, dependable, reliable. If everything falls apart, the boss comes to me to bail things out, usually at the last minute. I found that if I volunteer for routine (boring) assignments, I end up stuck with twice the work and much of it on my own time--what I volunteered for PLUS what someone else volunteered for but didn't do and it became an emergency.
Do not refresh RSS feeds. Read through it once - if it didn't hit your feed list, you will catch it next time you read it. Reloading that page is like the rat hitting the lever for a food pellet ... sporadic reward for compulsive activity that generates little tangible benefits.
And like a true hypocrite, I found this post after hitting 'reload' on my own RSS reader on the second refresh. Must break this habit. :)
Put people who don't respect your time on a VERY VERY short leash. I recently had an (ex) close friend to pull a 'no call, no show' for a celebratory weekend she was supposed to spend at my place. She never called, and emailed me on Tuesday to thank me for being patient with her transition back to the US (she had been living overseas for the past 9 months). (!) After careful consideration, I'm still her friend, she just doesn't have access to me in the way she once did. Period. I don't play that.
As Dan Kennedy says, "People who are perpetually late don't respect themselves - or you and your time."
And, as Maya Angelou says, "People will show you who they are - believe them the first time."
Uh-huh.
This is GOLD. Cuts back to the core message of your book which I believe is the most valuable advice you provide.
I have been implementing these strategies with great success. I have 80/20'd my business, adopted Parkinson's Law as a mantra, delegated like crazy and eliminated interruption and info overload wherever possible.
The result? My business has never been better and I have never been as relaxed and happy. I have gone from stressed out workaholic to (relatively) blissed out business owner with a whole lot of holidays booked in and time to burn on more important things.
I have been documenting the progress on perfectlifeproject.typepad.com
Thanks for reinforcing the valuable messages.
Jeff Rivera
(Author of FOREVER MY LADY - Warner Books/Grand Central)
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Hi Jeff!
That article should be under "articles" in the reader-only section of the www.fourhourworkweek.com site. Hope that helps! I'll be putting up a language-learning post soon as well...
Tim
Gene
What if the agenda is defined but it's too stupid for words? (For an illustration of what I mean, see this comic.
That was a rhetorical question by the way.
First of all, I want to thank you for inspiring us all with being an example of someone who challenges assumptions and turns them on their heads in areas of productivity - heck.. in truly living life.
I hope you get to read and respond to this post; I have a question I was hoping you would be able to answer:
Considering the topic of "not to-do list" ...
1. where does reading blogs or reviewing informative topics on the internet come in? I have found myself at times, just reading the comments on your blog as well as the many entries (and referred links) you have on your site... and they're great reading... even some useful/interesting info in the comments from the community..
2. do you ever get sucked into reading all your fans' comments and emails?
3. there are some things you can delegate to v.a.'s... but what about responding to your fans?
thanks for reading (if you really are reading this :) ).
Professor X
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Hi Prof. X!
Good questions:
1. I read a few blogs for fun (see my blogroll), but I generally don't try to stay "up-to-date" on anything. I like to catch up when I have to as opposed to keeping up because I feel obligated.
2. I enjoy reading the comments, and it usually doesn't take too much time. If I can't do it, I'll have a VA handle it. The great part about this growing community is that, if I'm not available, readers can often help each other.
3. Great question. "Responding to fans" is actually a broad category, so I break it down to more specifics, such as "web inquiry", "basic question answered in book", "personal coaching" (which I don't do at this point), "business partnership request", etc. I'll have VAs answer anything that doesn't require me to answer. For me to do otherwise would be a bit hypocritical! I still answer a lot of reader e-mail, but with the number of books in the world, I can't always answer long how-to questions. Fortunately, the blog and forums are an even better resource. 20 single mothers who have implemented 4HWW, for example, will be able to help a single mother more than I ever could.
Keep on rocking ;)
Tim
On number 1, I'd go even further by saying that not all phone calls should be answered immediately. Let them go to voice mail unless it's the caller is important for what you are doing right then. Same with cellphones, use different ring-tones to know quickly whether you should answer or not. And your friends will understand if you need some time for yourself, unless they are greedy bastards :)
Here's a few from me,
1. Don't allow yourself to be greenwashed
2. Stop typing on your laptop when someone comes up to talk to you
3. Don't wait for your employer to train you - we are ALL self employed!
4. Don't think of a pink elephant!
5. Don't publish lists that start with "don't"
Did you think of a pink elephant?
Cheers from the UK
Scott
~Monica
Thanks (and if I'm really stupidly overlooking something, be kind anyway),
Vnormth
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Hi Vnormth,
No worries at all. That's my personal fixed monthly expenses plus the buffer. That number will be different for each person.
Cheers,
Tim
10. Stop joining social networks. Every blog these days is doubling as a "social network", which requires you to, you guessed it, be social. Being a part of 20-40 different "networks" really wastes your time in many ways.
Saw this on CNN today re technology addiction and thought it was germane:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/07/01/la.tec...
But since you started your post with "... and office workers..." I thought I'd mention the obvious: often the BOSS will not ALLOW their employees to take such steps.
Boss: "Hey, you can't ignore your emails or phone calls! That's bad customer service! Respond right away!"
Employee: "But the constant interruptions are making me LESS productive! By batching my emails and responding to them at specific times, I'm able to work more effectively and provide even BETTER service to customers!"
Boss: "That's not how we do things here. We want employees to be open to change, but only to changes WE dictate. Now quit thinking for yourself and answer your emails!"
Having read your book, I know what you're advice would be to employees in such a situation.
I guess my point is that office workers and other employees reading your tips should not assume that implementing all of them will be easy just because, you know, they're FANTASTIC. ;-)
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Hi B!
This is most true. It's a matter of trial-and-error and taking small steps that can be leveraged into big steps once you do the proof of concept. Once per day might make the boss twitch, but once per hour might not. Just get moving in the right direction...
Thanks for contributing!
Tim
Best,
Danielle
Great post. Seems like they all fall under the category of "Don't try to be everything to everyone."
David
Before you start doing something, you need to quit doing something else.
More things we stop doing, more time we get for important things.
Excellent book, I've recommended it to quite a few people.
Jeff Rivera
(Author of FOREVER MY LADY - Warner Books)
http://www.ForeverMyLady.com
Muy interesante tu libro. Tiene consejos muy buenos para mejorar tu actitud hacia el trabajo y hacia la vida en general.
Lo estoy leyendo por segunda ves. Voy a tratar de implementar ulgunas cosas en mi vida personal.
Quiero vender algun producto por el internet e irme a "retirar" a mi patria Costa Rica y manejarlo desde alli.
Tengo que empesar por aprender un poco mas hacerca del internet.
I am 54 years old and I am done with the rat race.
I will be posting my progress.
I hope to meet you some day to hear about your traveling experiencies.
Un saludo desde San Francisco (Daly City), California
Gerardo
Working on personal businesses in expense of enough sleep.
*****
That's one of my biggest. I could do late nights in my 20's, but now in my 30's I need 8 hours or my following day is bad, then worse with each successive late night.
Love your book Tim and am committing to putting some of your tips into action! First step - Batching Email.
If it's for rapport, put your git'er done mindset on the backburner, and put your *build a coalition* mindset on.
If it's for results, then yes -- agenda in advance and time-budgets and outcomes (not activities.) If you don't agree to the outcome/purpose, or you're not the right person or the right people aren't at the table, push back until your'e set for success.
great post, probably because I recognize a few points on there which I desperately need changing .... especially number 2&5 ... being a bit of an email addict... Thanks for reminding me of the things I need to change!
You're definitely nuts. In a good way.
Some things I think you're off base but on the biggest item , you're very good. You get people thinking.
Regarding Grand Central: I have it now. The problem is with the number of rings before voice mail kicks in (presuming I am not available). I had clients complain that they had waited toooo long (8 and more rings)before being able to leave a message. I checked it out. Way too long. Still holding my number to see if they come up with a way to control the number of rings.
Good stuff:
Jott. Combined with Google calendar is great.
Pinger: Combined with Simulscribe. Very good.
later....
And by the way, I'm not spamming... promise. I manually found your blog, and posted this message. I did create the site though.
Surprisingly, I'm already doing several of these things, partly due to my not-quite-as-young-as-others age, perhaps?
I own a cell phone but seldom turn it on. More often than not, when I do go to turn it on, the battery has died.
People have learned not to call me!
Email? Get a dialup connection where you pay by the minute. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to "batch processing"!
And I'll cut this short since I don't want to ramble...!
--Tom
Great Post! I really found this one inspiring. I personally love #8:Do not carry a cellphone or crackberry 24/7.
I recently ran out of the house to go to work and forgot my phone. I freaked for about 2 minutes, then remembered your advice. After awhile, i honestly completely forgot about it. And i felt lighter mentally and physically. No annoying interruptions and chit chat calls, and no bulky feeling in my pocket. The only thing i missed was my alarm feature for lunch, but i was so in the zone, i got more done and did not need it.
Keep up the good works, Tim.
Chuck
I have had the good fortune to be well on my way to a lifestyle of freedom. I recently moved to New Zealand from San Francisco and I do web consulting/programming for two companies and run my own e-commerce site. I have spent years getting my life completely automated and running as efficiently and effictively as possible. I find myself able to get done all I need to quickly and then I have the problem of what to do with the rest of my time.
Now I am facing the problem of "filling the void" and am trying to do it without 100% leasure activities. So my list for those people that have had some success with the principles in Tim's book and are now figuring out a good "NO" list for their lives in general I offer these tips:
1) don't live a lopsided life. - Make sure to have balance in your life. It's great to be able to travel endlessly, eat anything you want, go to the spa and pub all the time and play games or watch sports 24/7, but it is ultimately unfullfilling, especially if in excess. Instead create a life of balance.
2) Avoid PASSIVE activities and habits. - The fastest way to being dull, bored and unhappy is to constantly engage in passive habits or activities. Some examples are:
a) Watching TV excessively
b) playing online games excessively
c) drinking alcohol or eating when you are bored instead of as an occasional treat
d) driving everywhere instead of walking
e) using drugs
f) not excercising
g) doing too much of one thing
h) gambling at casinos or online
i) following manufactured drama in the news or on TV
j) having no activities in your life that challenge you to grow
k) having negative or unchallenging relationships with other people
3) Don't abuse your body
This is a big no-no. You need your body and mind to live a happy fulfilling life and if you have made it this far, it should be your number one priority.
By creating a good foundation for your body by excercising, eating right, staying active, managing stress, breathing well, avoiding toxicity (people, chemicals, environments, foods), avoiding too much alcohol/coffee/sugar/etc, you can put yourself in a place to be easily inspired, healthy, full of energy and vitality. It will shine through on all aspects of your life from your work to your relationships. Just look at Tim. At the base of all that he does he is adamant about eating what is right for "him" and exercising in a way that helps his body and mind be their best. This means different things for different people, but we all know deep down inside what we need to do.
If you have reached this point and have the time and money freedom, you owe it to yourself to avoid the big "lifestyle" NOs mentioned above and to lead a self-challenging, balanced and physically active life. Then when you enjoys the "treats" of the world they will be enjoyable and not glutonous or health undermining.
Matthew
Chris McClatchey
The Housing Market, LLC
Being that I help Business Owner everyday, I agree with your outline. I have already read the book. I believe the key thing I would tell everyone is you have to control your business not let it control you.
The best advice you give that has worked for myself is the emails in the morning. I am still working on the night ones. Ihave found if you don't answer emails first thing and you schedule then your day goes much better.
Just do as Tim said..Haha,,
Maybe #10 thing to stop doing is: filling your life with noise. Every once in a while, turn everything off, and I mean everything. Listen to the silence. Think! Crazy as it sounds, you're not wasting time doing this.
Obviously, you can't do this all the time, but at least once a week, shut it all down. Sort of a variant on "The low information diet".
Any recommendations?
I usually last like 2 days of being good.. then go back to my old habits of every 30 minutes or so...
I am currently reading your book and sure i am learning something to make myself more productive.
My new found and confirmed NOT-TO-DO List will be:
1) Not to answer phone each time when it rings (as thou i will die without that call)
2) Not to rattle on and build "too much a relationship" especially when the caller is unknown to me
3) Not to wake up in morning and read newspapers or check soccernet immediately
4) Not to check my emails several times a day
5) Not to procrastinate and leave the toughest tasks to the last
6) Not to multi-tasks many thins at one time
7) Not to chat online (MSN) with friends and clients when i am doing something online
8) Not to watch FREE online Movies too often without control
9) Not to Not Plan my activities or tasks to complete the following day
PS: I am reading the outsourcing portion in your book now...and i am really thinking of outsourcing most of my not-so-critical stuff out...
PPS: Understand you check your email every Monday..Hope you read all these comments once per week minimum also...Hope to hear something from you...
Cheers,
Sean
Writing a new message is not that same as checking your incoming messages, but most always both get done. Its just too damn temping to peek in to your inbox when you see there is new message sitting there.
I keep my e-mail client minimized all day long until it is the appropriate/scheduled times to check my mail. I write emails without using the email client, to do this I made a new icon for just composing fresh emails. And keep the Icon in my tool bar. Works slick, i write dozens o emails a day without being temped to check what messages are in my inbox.
To make this icon, Right click on the desk top select New Shortcut. Enter in "mailto:" You can change the icon in the settings. I have dragged the icon to the toobar from the desk top.
The NY Times just released a study that happier people don't watch TV. I can attest to this.
I went over 5 years (in my 20's) living in Los Angeles...no TV. It was incredibly liberating and I would recommend that everyone take at least a month off just to see what it's like. You FIND TIME to do all kinds of things that you "never had time for."
It's tough to just "not watch." For best results, remove it all together.
Cool dog. And go to MY dog's blog [LOL -- nice try! Close :) ]
His actions left a huge impression on me which has served me well throughout my life. I love to ignore ringing phones during a conversation. I never break eye contact or lose concentration. The other person usually goes nuts. "Aren't you going to answer that?" I laugh to myself because people have become Pavlolv's dog. The phone rings and people instantly reach for it.
I hope it's all right that I wrote a eensy-weensy article about your own article. The link to yours is actually in plain view in the article. It's your not-to-do list. I just had to share it with people who might happen by my blogsite. The blogsite actually belongs to my company, hence the plug at the bottom. But if you care to read it, I think you'll recognize it by the title: "I'm Not President Of The US!"
But your not-to-dos are helping me quite a lot. A number of those bad habits are mine, mostly because I did not even realize they were bad habits.
Again, thanks!
Claudia Garcia
I am a company writer and just because my deadlines are 2 days, a week, etc., some of my colleagues would ask me to do data-entry tasks when they're up against a deadline. I said no today with no explanation whatsoever. I mean I wouldn't ask any of them to write for me if I am up against my own deadlines.
This presents another problem for me though. Unnecessary paper begins to collect itself on my desk. Don't over organize as I do into neat piles. God for bid someone has to take over my lot; they might not know my system.
Do not save for later what should be organized today.
#11 Only handle a paper document/email if you can finish the task you are about to start.
The two rules have worked greatly to avoid clutter and increase productivity/focus/quality over the last four years.
Ben