Heather Eldred » Oprah

4 ways to get more done each day

Heather — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:45:04 +0000

Let’s face it, no matter how much we get done each day, burning the candle at both ends, the longer our to-do list gets. I personally run to the side of overly ambitious in all the things that I want to pursue and accomplish. In any given day, I might decide to get a lot of work done for a client, work out an hour or two, make a great meal, clean my house, write some pages in my book-in-progress and spend quality time with my kidos. Some days I accomplish all of this and some days not so much. Because I’m always trying to do so much, I’ve had to find effective and simple strategies to get more done- without killing myself. The key? Quit trying to do so much! Here are four tips to help you get more of the right stuff done each day. 1) Prioritize – what do you really want to do and what really has to get done? Once a week (and usually every day), I make a list of the FEW things that absolutely must get done this week. For me, mowing the lawn isn’t on the MUST do list while cleaning the clothes is, folding them isn’t. Paying the utility bill that is past due so the electricity doesn’t get turned off is. At work, I really focus on the 80/20 – the 20% of things that have the ability to move the needle. So the few things might be meeting with my staff to develop next quarter’s strategic plan (helping them find their 80/20) but not cleaning out my inbox. For a busy executive – this list might only be 3-5 items long. 2) Quit multi-tasking – believe it or not multi-tasking is the worst thing that you can do. It used to come with bragging rights but now I think most people realize this is not the way to get more done. You end up working on a lot of things but getting nothing done well. Don’t believe me? Try it for a week. Only work on one thing at a time. You’ll get more done, you’ll feel less stressed and what you do get done will be done well. 3) Make your Mornings Count – Do the most important (and hardest) tasks when your brain is at its peak. For most of us, that is first thing in the morning. I realized a long time ago, that if I don’t get the hard stuff done by 11, I’m pretty much screwed for the day. And what we do the first thing in the morning sets the tone. If you start your day saturating your brain with email or worse yet last night’s Facebook posts, you’ll set yourself up for a very unproductive day. So don’t use those precious fertile moments to read email or pay bills! That time is precious and should be used for things that require great creativity and or great thought. If you are working on a new business idea, writing a book or […]

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Shit Rolls Down Hill

Heather — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 17:52:08 +0000

This topic seems quite apt for this week. It simply was the week of “shit rolling down shill”. And frankly that can never be a good thing. I’ve seen stressed out managers bringing wrath down to their staff. I’ve had high level managers send a nasty emails to entry-level gals in accounting. I myself have started a whole rash of “shit rolling” when I tried to impart a sense of urgency to one of my staff on a big project we are working on. He apparently construed this as “an ultimatum” and conveyed to his staff just that. And that apparently it wasn’t an ultimatum for just him, but for all of them. We all have (probably daily) examples of this at work and at home. Then, I’m reading Oprah’s magazine this morning and the first article that I flip to is about this very topic! It must be a sign. Here I found some helpful advice that I can apply to my workplace which seems to have an increase lately in “shit rolling downhill”. Unfortunately, I suspect that the shit doesn’t just stop at work, those people that had it dumped on their heads took it home and shared it with their families. Then you wonder why your kid goes to school and gets in a fight. Hmm. Apparently this is a phenomenon called “displaced aggression”. The “shit rolling downhill” part stemmed from the military apparently, gotta love how those guys cut to the chase. According to the article, “The cause of stress-rolling, is always the same: You experience a situation in which you feel too overwhelmed, confused, or scared to express your true feelings. You’re fighting for your life and you’re losing.” The true problem could be anything (and sometimes nothing at all) but whatever the problem, “if it seems too big to solve, you may believe that you have no choice but to internalize your fear and anger. Unfortunately, feelings don’t want to stay hidden. Our hidden feelings seep or burst out when we’re with people we trust or who aren’t in a position to resist us.” The bottom line is that we need to identify it in others and stop ourselves from doing it. Who wants to be responsible for putting a chain reaction of stress and shit into the world? Even if you do well at work and maintain professionalism, chances are you probably at least do it at home. I do from time to time, for sure. My kids have been the brunt of many stressful days. I held it in all day, treated my staff and peers with respect. Then that monumentally stressful day came bursting full out on my kids as soon as I walk in the door and the house is a mess and they’ve been playing X-Box all afternoon. Here is some advice from the article and my own observations: 1) You first need to recognize it in yourself. Observing others in this behavior (disproportionality intense behavior) and then look for it […]

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Your own Lightening Bolt

Heather — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 20:58:07 +0000

I am completely inspired today after watching ‘Super Soul Sunday’ on OWN this morning and Oprah’s interview with Panache Desai. What a wonderfully inspiring man. For the last 5-6 years, I’ve heard from people frequently that I have an “aura”. Usually this was in a bar and I figured it was some kind of sexual frequency (or maybe just pickup lines). But then I’d hear it from co-workers as well as family members. I guess there must be something more to it than sexual energy. I then thought it was about self-confidence. I’ve always been blessed with self-confidence and have been told on more than one occasion that I exude this self-confident energy. Ok, then new theory, maybe that is what it is about. Then it dawned on me that this “aura” that attracts people to me like bees to a flower, came about or became more pronounced after I started becoming more spiritually aware. Also, as I mentor others at work and in life, I find myself seeing past all their “stuff” (we all have it) and seeing their “aura”. It’s funny how it is generally much easier to spot it in others than ourselves. Back to Panache – he believes we all have this beautiful “soul signature”… this vibrational energy that is perfect, unique and magnificent. He says that we don’t need fixing or need to learn to be good but at some point we have to believe that we are enough. That we are enough. You are enough. He talked about the Harry Potter series being his most inspirational books. Because we are all special, we all have that lightning bolt on our forehead. We all are magical. We just have to believe. I love that. You are enough. You are a wonderful, magnificent human being. You have a soul signature that is unique. By finally believing & knowing that you are enough, that you are special, you will become aligned to your soul signature and have your own aura. You’ll begin attracting the glorious life that is waiting for you. And in turn, you’ll help others find their own unique soul signature. I recommend watching Super Soul Sunday each week as well as checking out Panache’s website. http://www.panachedesai.com/ Heather

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