What Do You Do First Thing In The Morning?
7 November 2013In the past decade, emails have become a staple in our lives, both in and out of the office. How many of us reach for the phone or tablet to read our emails first thing in the morning? I’ve met many professionals who are guilty of doing this. The cycle of letting emails dictate your […]
Consistency: The Key To Better Time Management
30 October 2013When I ask people about what they struggle with the most when it comes to time management, consistency is a reoccurring answer. This makes sense, because creating a new timetable or “to-do” list isn’t the difficult part of managing your time. Applying the new schedule in your life is. This step is always overlooked. A […]
A NASA engineer says: ‘Know what to ignore’
17 September 2013A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr James Brown from Florida. (You can hear it here ) James was a NASA engineer and project manager for 16 years, including many years working on the space shuttle programme, has received several awards for his work, and these days lectures around the […]
To improve – inspect: the four keys to great delegation
21 March 2013Even in small businesses, great delegation is a vital skill for any business person who wants to expand or increase turnover. However, the problem is, very few have formal training in it. Many folk lurch along, doing their best, often overwhelmed by their own work as well as the needs of their people, trying not […]
Values-Based Teaching Saves Time! (And gives heaps of other benefits)
11 February 2013I find all this very heartening – the fence at the top instead of the ambulance (and paddy wagon!) at the bottom. From a time perspective, surely all teachers want to reduce wasted time. What we’re seeing with these great practical examples is that by focusing on values you will change behaviour, thereby saving time with tiring […]
Tips on How to Defuse a Volatile Situation
I was at dinner at an AP/DP conference at Wairakei Resort a couple of years ago. As we chatted about time-challenging situations, angry parents, guardians and employees popped into the agenda. Slow things down Winton said: ‘I look for ways to slow things down. When someone comes at you with a head of steam I […]
How to Retain that Holiday Feeling!
10 February 2013Considering that everyone starts back rested and refreshed after our long summer break, it might seem a strange time to think about looking after ourselves, but in truth, can you think of a better topic? A stitch in time saves nine, and most teachers, I find, are keen to maintain the sense of wellbeing they […]
But It’s Quicker To Do It Myself! The Four Stages Of Delegation
4 February 2013Getting work done through others is the fastest way to increase productivity. However, many struggle with the ‘how’. One of the biggest complaints you’ll probably hear when people talk about their staff is ‘it’s quicker to do it myself’. And that’s true. However, if we don’t work out how to get past that stage we’ll […]
As Quickly As You Can Afford It, Delegate. Your Business Won’t Grow Until You Do
Not sure what you can delegate? Don’t know if you can afford it? Try writing down a list of all the regular tasks you do in a week, and estimate the amount of time spent on each activity. Now, pretend you’re paying someone a wage relative to each task, and put a dollar value beside […]
How Changed Thinking Cut Spring Stress
30 January 2013Have you ever noticed how easy it is to keep on doing things in a certain way ‘because that’s the way we do it round here’? I was chatting to Adrian Van Bysterveldt from Dexcel a while back at a Dairy3 conference in Rotorua. When he mentioned Lincoln research regarding once a day (OAD) calf-rearing […]