As I write this, the UK is waking up to the result of the election that is not as clear cut as some thought. Maybe the general election results not what you expected. Or maybe they are what you expected. Either way, what are you going to do today that is different from yesterday? Does it really matter who is in power? Does it really matter what the taxes are? What are you going to do differently or the same? Are you going to use any changes to add to your growing excuses list? Are you really able to time the market? I say, do what you dream to do and let all the hot air blow around you. ‘Doing’ can make you more robust than any change in power or policy. Think about the people who bemoan the NHS. Many of them could probably afford to use the increase in personal allowance to get private healthcare (only about £400 per year)? People who think the government borrows too much? Well, how much personal debt are they in? If the government is fragile, better make your own finances robust and start saving more. Taxes going up so you'll be worse off? You can always earn more money, save more money. Or you could watch Netflix and complain on Facebook. Of course, if you really don't like the result, you always have the opportunity to move. But before you do, take chance to be grateful for what you already have. Would you complain less in Syria, North Korea or Somalia? If you live in the UK you already have it good. There may be people that have more than you, there may be people that have less than you. Stop complaining and either accept it or do something. There is nothing else. Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.
What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog It's cheaper to shop at Aldi. It's cheaper for someone to shop at Aldi, but is it cheaper for you to shop at Aldi? Most people never cost in their own time into any decision. If you enjoy going to Aldi or if it gives you time to bond with your kids or your partner, then great. But if you hate it, is it really cheaper. if it's a chore, then why not go somewhere better organised, where you can get everything you need, that is quicker? Why not get your shopping delivered? Because it costs more? Say it costs £50 to do a shop at Morrisons and £30 to do a shop at Aldi. Then say it takes an hour at Aldi because you can't find anything, you can't get everything and have to go somewhere else. This takes, say, another 1/2 hour and it only takes 20 mins at Morrisons. You do not have to value your time very highly to get that it is cheaper not to go to Aldi. And it should be way more obvious as time is the thing you cannot get back. Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.
What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog I often see people tweeting the following quote from John C Maxwell: "Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have." ~ John C. Maxwell I get the gist but is this helping anyone. I am not aware of anyone offering advice that is badged as time management that is different to those professing priority management. Even if this is profound and game changing, the problem is that people cannot manage priorities either. Priorities are subjective, ever moving and infinite. What is unimportant and non-urgent to you is the opposite to someone who is waiting for your work. Hence the stress and the drag into reactiveness. The only thing you can really manage is your energy. So should we call it self-management? I am not sure. Word gymnastics are not useful unless put into action. It does not really matter whether you colloquially call it managing your time or managing your priorities. What matters is what you do right now. And you can either be reactive or proactive. Scott Hanselman says there are three types of work: Work as it appears Pre-defined work Defining work (what work needs to be done) We usually work from top to bottom, but we should reverse that if we want to get anything meaningful done. It does not matter what we call it. What matters is what are you going to do right now? Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.
What would you do with an extra hour per day? More from the Blog Agile does not work: Not when it is an excuse for not gathering requirements, for not understanding complexities and interconnections. Not when it's an excuse for delays, an excuse for inadequate testing and an excuse for poor management. This type of “agile” only results in a shoddy product that may, by luck rather than judgement, be pulled out of the precipice into something useable. Even the creator says the "methodology" does not work. Now that Silicon Valley start-ups run by twenty-somethings are hitting established blue chip manufacturers with the arrogance that the old is bad and the new way is good, I think it is time to stop and learn why manufacturing processes were established in the first place. Eliminate error, remove bottlenecks, get right first time. Doing all the changes in design is much cheaper than in production. These are principals that are not incompatible with software. You can't build a house using agile more elegantly or cheaply than standard practice. But you can build software the other way around. Which method will stand the test of time? As Nassim says probably the one that has already been around the longest. Fed up of meeting hell? Our iPhone app can help. Find out more.
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