Don't lose your focus during the silly season!

Our top tips to remain on task and on target in 2016!

1. Schedule down time

Plan time to refresh, recharge and revitalise. You have earned it; so prioritise it. Keep in the holiday spirit and encourage the team to enjoy their planned down time so that they return revitalised in 2016.

2. Communicate, celebrate, commiserate!

Remember to keep your communication honest and two-way. Be clear on your expectations, priorities and timelines for projects and tasks that you are working on. You may need to negotiate around others leave time. Discuss your expectations early to achieve synergy in efforts and results.

Thank people for a job well-done and reward them for milestones achieved. Be prepared to reflect and refocus with the team when things get off track.

3. Schedule blocks of time wisely; remain focussed on your goals

Know your priorities and plan accordingly. Schedule everything….from family time, fun time, to gym time. What doesn’t get planned gets missed! Remove distractions, make sure you have access to an appropriate environment whenever and whenever you plan to work.

4. Buy a new journal and start planning

Nothing is more exciting than buying a new diary or business journal in anticipation for 2016. Fill it with thoughts and ideas on everything you want to achieve. Mind map your Key Performance Indicators [KPI’s] a goal not planned remains a dream. Break things down…it’s not as daunting.

You can see a list of stationary and tools we love here.

5. Remember multitasking is a lie!

Work on one thing at a time! Doing two things poorly is worse than focusing your energy and effort on one thing at a time to achieve a quality outcome.

6. Design a creative and stimulating environment

Refresh and reorganise your office. Change your desk around. File, declutter.

7. Remain positive and solutions focused

Nobody likes a grouch. Head into 2016 determined to make a difference. Present a positive outlook to your team.

Follow these tips and you should be skipping into 2016, revitalised and ready for new challenges! Do you have any tips to share? How do you prepare for the end of one year and the beginning of a new one? We'd love to hear from you in the comments - or drop us a line on our Facebook or LinkedIn!

The One Minute Manager

the 21st CENTURY manager's bible!

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Success can be yours with The One Minute Manager 

For more than twenty years, millions of managers in Fortune 500 companies and small businesses nationwide have followed The One Minute Manager's techniques, thus increasing their productivity, job satisfaction, and personal prosperity. These very real results were achieved through learning the management techniques that spell profitability for the organization and its employees.

The One Minute Manager is a concise, easily read story that reveals three very practical secrets: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands.

The book also presents several studies in medicine and the behavioral sciences that clearly explain why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. By the book's end you will know how to apply them to your own situation and enjoy the benefits.

That's why The One Minute Manager has continued to appear on business bestseller lists for more than two decades, and has become an international sensation.
Deceptively simple, and measurably effective, the secrets of one-minute management will help you boost profits, productivity and purpose immediately.

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Crucial Conversations [Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High]

When conversations with people matter.....

The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller that changed the way millions communicate

“[Crucial Conversations] draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, our relationships, and our world. . . . This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.”
—from the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“The quality of your life comes out of the quality of your dialogues and conversations. Here’s how to instantly uplift your crucial conversations.”
—Mark Victor Hansen, cocreator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul®

The first edition of Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene and revolutionized the way millions of people communicate when stakes are high. This new edition gives you the tools to:

• Prepare for high-stakes situations
• Transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue
• Make it safe to talk about almost anything
• Be persuasive, not abrasive

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PAY Yourself Well!

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Have you ever worked out your hourly rate, or the value of your time in 10 minute increments? Do you know what your time is actually worth so that you can prioritise your activities by yield? Let’s take a look. Let’s say your salary was $100, 000 per year, you take 6 weeks paid leave and 1 week of public holidays are accrued annually, you work 37.5 hours a week [1725 hours of work per year]. Your value per hour is $59.26 and every minute of your time is worth $0.99. OK, so you’re not quite Bill Gates earning roughly $114.16 per second, but 10 minutes of your time is still valuable.

Effectively prioritising your tasks enables you to realise what is important and what is not. Not every task is important and not every task is urgent. Knowing the value of your tasks and their importance in helping you to reach your goals will help you to allot more time to those tasks which require your utmost attention.

Steven R. Covey in his book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ suggests using an organisational tool for your to-do lists which will help you to realise how important and urgent your tasks actually are. Observe what you do in a day and pay attention to the tasks that monopolise your time. Classify them according to their level of importance in helping you to realise your goals. You can adopt the method described by Covey by classifying your tasks into the following categories: 

• Important and urgent: Tasks that are important to you in achieving your goals. They also have an impending deadline making them urgent. These tasks must be finished and require your immediate attention and dedication. These are your number one PAY activities.
• Important but not urgent: Tasks that are important but can be done at some later time, they can be postponed to be done after the important and urgent tasks are completed. Focus needs to be given to these tasks if you want to increase your effectiveness. These tasks should be planned and scheduled accordingly within your work plan; they will definitely increase your yield.
• Urgent but not important: These are the tasks which upon completion usually offer little value to your end goal. Try and avoid these tasks as much as possible. Spend time focusing on what is important to achieving your end goal. Learn to say ‘No’ or to delegate them wherever possible. PAY someone else; they are stealing your time.
• Not urgent and not important: These are the low priority tasks that give you the illusion of being busy. Although they have little significance in your life, they take up a signification proportion of your available time on a daily basis. Keep postponing these tasks forever and you will notice a significant increase in your productivity, never PAY these.

Goals are important to achieve your dreams. But they quickly become redundant if your daily activities do not revolve around the tasks that help you achieve them. Set a long term goal and break it down in to a number of short term goals that can be completed in a week or a month. Plan your days and activities around your short term goals.

Set long term goals that span for a year or more and research everything you will need to learn or do to achieve them. Once you have set clear targets, you can focus on setting monthly, weekly and daily goals to achieve your yearly targets. This way you can break down even the toughest tasks and tackle them effortlessly through your daily schedule.  PAY yourself wisely….and reap the rewards!

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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

A must read if you need to increase your productivity

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One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of Presidents and CEOs, educators and parents— in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations.

The number one book for anyone wanting to sharpen the saw and their personal planning and productivity skills.

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