Why be bored?

We often hear others say in their downtime, "I am so bored." Wow, why be bored? I know that there are circumstances where an individual may be incapable of doing anything constructive and I am not talking about those cases here.

If a person is able to physically do something, if they are able to read, if they are able to provide service of any kind to others, then there is almost never a reason to be bored. All too often, this boredom is manifested in watching TV or even worse, getting into trouble of some kind.

Boredome is really a lack of intersting activities being pursued by a person. You don't have to be rich to not be bored, but you should be rich in interests. Simply reading is doing something. Excellent books are available at the public library.

I think that the act of combating boredom is simply the initiative to take action and do sometbing interesting. Am I wrong?

Time management is evolving

I believe that the guidelines for how we manage our time are changing. Of course we want to get the most out of our work day so that we can give an honest and fair effort to our employer each and every day. This is essential to your career.

Having said that, I also realize that balance is very important not only to you in your daily life but also to you as an employee of a company. Having happy, well-rounded employees should make for a great company.

Here is an interested blog post from the Harvard Business Review http://blogs.hbr.org/anthony/2012/07/how_will_you_measure_your_companys_life.html It is essential to keep balance in time management and it is important to your company that you manage your time well.

Online and mobile communication opportunities make keeping that balance a little different, not necessarily more difficult but a little different. How we spend our time is changing and evolving because of the availability of online options. Many professions now allow for telecommunting because of this. Having this availability is a new challenge for time management.

Answering the question, what is the best use of my time at this moment is a challenge. If you are on the company clock, that narrows it down significantly to how can I use this moment to benefit the company or the business. It is the rest of the day and night that is more complicated.

Do I work on my professionals skills, work on my physical fitness, my faith life, family life, or relaxation. The answer is yes to all of these and finding the right combination is a challenge. Online availability makes it easier to accomplish many things but more difficult to balance your time. That is why I say that time management is evolving.

Give your day plenty of thought. Use your time wisely in every way.

Great advice from a master of great advice

No not me, from Brian Tracy. If you are looking for excellent business and sales advice, check out Brian Tracy's Blog http://www.briantracy.com/blog/

Hard Work Does Pay Off

In more ways than one. Of course, pay and benefits are an important part of any job. So if you work hard just to achieve and maintain those two things, then hard work is paying off. Work hard, be honest, keep learning, and you should be fine.

There is much more to it though. Through hard work, you will accomplish things that you may not have thought you were capable of doing. Through hard work, you will achieve satisfaction that your skills have been used to accomplish goals and tasks for which you are paid.

It is not easy and at times not really desirable, but that is why they call it work. If work alone was that gratifying, you might do it for free. However, in accomplishing the goals of your employer, you also accomplish your personal goals. You are using your skills and talents to support yourself and others. There is great dignity in hard work.

So yes, hard work does pay off.

Communication is so important

So many hurt feelings can be avoided through better communications. So many businesses can run more efficiently with better communication. It takes quite an effort by everyone to make effective communications happen.

One thing that digital communication has done is to make some communication more difficult. While social media has increased the quantity of communication, it has taken some of the meaning out of it. How often do people get involved in e-mail or text battles that lack understanding because the messages are misintepreted? I would say this happens a real lot.

There are some guidelines that you can follow that should work to overcome misunderstandings. First is to simply speak up. If you need clarification on any message from your friend, spouse, co-worker, boss, or anyone, just ask. What did you mean? Or how did you mean that? It is better to get clarification than to make decisions based on miscommunication.

Also, wait before reacting if you are not really clear about a message. Don't assume too much and act on something because you think that is what the other person meant. If you really don't know something, don't act upon it without clarification. We do this often where we form feelings or reactions based on what we interpret a message to be without clear understanding.

Communication is so important. Make it your objective to become a better communicator, both is sending messages and receiving them. Also work to make technology more effective for you and those with whom you communicate.

A Customer Focused Approach

In her latest book, Relevant Selling, author Jayne L. Smith makes an excellent point about a customer focused company. She makes it very clear that a company focused on their customers has the best chance for success in any business.

The customers needs must drive your company. Smith puts it this way "The voice of the customer should dictate your budget, strategy, and resource allocations. She takes it a step further by making the point that companies must ask their customers what is important to them.

This sounds like a very simple strategy and I agree with it strongly. Find out what your customers want and structure your business to meet those needs better, faster, and with more consistency than your competitors.

Check out Jaynie's website http://www.jayniesmith.com/ and if you have an opportunity to hear her present at a seminar, I recommend it. She will help your company's sales efforts.

More About Connecting

Think about everyone you come in contact with every day. How often do you make eye contact and how often do you just look the other way. Now I will admit that there are some people who should be avoided, of course.

However, there are many opportunities to connect, sepecially in business. When you visit a company, do you treat everyone equally important or do you just breeze by the people who you feel are less important? For example, what about the receptionist, guard, or janitor? On the other hand, if you are one of those people who are treated often as less important, do you begin to feel that way?

The point is that there are many opportunities to make connections and it is especially important in business. A business setting is a great place to work on connecting with other people. Eye contact, body language, and attitude are all important.

The point of all of this is working on yourself. If you want to continue to improve your career and improve your relationships, work on making connections. However, this is not about you. If you want to make meaningful business connections, your encounter must be about them.