Use of Outlook for Task Tracking

If you are using Outlook at work, you can put Tasks in meeting as you progress with some notes to refer.

By doing this, you would be able to capture it along with other Meetings at single Place.

Don't forget to put down action items in meeting invite to make it better to recall.

Notes from Speed Reading Webinar

Read, Comprehension and Retain information for Technical Material

• Decide what you want to read and retain. Choose Good Books. You can plan as many subjects to read at a time as you may have ( 1 hour per day per subject) + Repetition times ( find when you can use in existing time)
• Keep Paper, Pen or other logistics suitable for reading handy
• Follow below MRP (Multiple Reading Process) -

1. Preview -  2 Mins
• Read Introduction and Summary
• Read questions if available
• Take notes to catch important phrases
2. Overview -Get Main Points - 5 Mins
• Read TOC, Heading/sub headings/bold faced words/Tips
• Read first sentence of each paragraph if article is short or no headings available
• Identify important sections where more details are required
• Add more phrases and links
3. Read using speed reading methods
• Read and recall only after section/paragraph and take short notes -key words 
• Limit 20 mins - 5 min breaks strategy
• When a diagram is referred, look at it
4. Repetition
• Read and Recall
• Create/Organize information - create question/answers, Lists, Mind Maps to revise
• Repetition using Notes spaced learning ( Try to Recall before peeking)
• Skim more articles to get general feeling of information and catching key words. Limit this to 15 minutes per session and add to existing notes or associate. More association in different ways ( doing, listening, talking, writing, reading more)
• Focus more on repetitions in mind than recreating whole notes
• Teach to others

Use of Phone for Habit Development

Now when we all are more hooked to our smartphones than ever, it would be good to use tools to check on your habits and build new constructive habits.

There is one application Logsit on App Store. Just create a List and add action items with/without reminders.
For change/track habits:

• Create action item like "checking whatsapp".
• Keep Whatsapp and this at same folder/location on phone
• Whenever you check Whatsapp, just do check in and see how frequently you check them. Same can be done for email checks.

For building habit:

• Create action item like "drink water" with reminder every 1 hour
• When reminder pops up, drink water and do check in

See over the period/day time how many time you were engaged in activity and become aware of them. Now you can decide what you want and build up or reduce on that habit.

Develop Habit to get success

Many times we start on a task with full force but doesn't sustain on doing it.

The main issue is that we are not aligned to do that activity automatically. There are very little things accomplished with force. Everyone successful first work on developing habit to do the task that will take closer to goal. 

To develop habit, create a trigger on your phone to remind you of the task to do at regular interval. Once it will sink in your subconscious mind, you will start seeing result of automatically doing it without realizing or putting efforts.

Don't do Anything when

Use HALT to decide and take a real Pause before saying/doing anything.

H- Hungry

A - Angry

L- Lonely 

T- Tired

What's good - Break Task down or Consolidation

There is saying that to make a work easy, you need to break down and it will become easy what was initially thought as daunting work.  However, I have seen problem started coming as scope grows, Role build up to have more projects and managing those tasks become overwhelming when those need to be delegated as well.

In many attempts to understand what's missing here is that we go to the route to break them down to find pieces of puzzle; however, in the end when we forget to pull all pieces together, we are not able to complete that puzzle and struggle.

So never leave your objective and keep checking tasks break up against it. 

For example, to better serve clients in timely fashion, we divide company into multiple unit. It works well as we are focused.  However, as business grows, this model struggle in collaboration, below are to name few:

• To give 360 degree view to cover up all expectation in timely and efficient manner
• To get people of right skills since they are not in your department 
• Have multiple dependencies

If company can override departmental goals and create composite vision, it will be able to fix dropping Client satisfaction rating.

Good way to increase G.K.

Google has introduced new search - just type "Fun Facts" or I'm feeling curious and you will get random facts.
On page, if you just click button "Ask another question", you will get new questions.

Good Time Pass and sharing when sitting with family/Friends and also increase General Knowledge.

It's Ocean.. just dive in and Enjoy swimming!

Client Communications Effectiveness

When you have escalations in Client dealings, based on experience you would generally react and become defensive. This backfires most of the time since it's not result oriented.

As you become more experienced, you start responding with putting all facts and way forward. This is responding. It works in dat to day situations; however doesn't demonstrate that you will be able to maintain what is needed to make Clients successful.

The third stage is to connect and understand the drive or intention and plan/act accordingly. This would definitely wow your clients and build confidence in execution and capabilities.

How to motivate yourself to do anything?

There is only one thing we need to start moving towards desired goals.

Create Hope!

Steps:

• You have to find ways to create hope in goal you want to achieve based on your situations
• keep reminding yourself of that hope

Know where your time is going

When your boss asks what were you doing for last one month and couldn't able to deliver, you relook and not able to justify most of the time.

Simple method to capture what you were engaged (if really working) is to  put Tasks done in Calendar meeting as you progress with some notes/proof to refer.

By doing this, you would be able to capture it along with other Meetings at single Place.

Don't forget to put down action items in meeting invite to make it better to recall.

Passion and Persistence Pays to get Success

To achieve what you want, you need to build passion about it. You need to connect with it every way to give it energy. Once Energy is there, you can start driving on road to achieving it. There would be road blocks and there Persistence comes into picture. More you persist, more closer you become to you goal.
Develop persistency by saying to yourself -- one more step, one more time try out. Take break and Try again. If needed, refuel your passion to give yourself a push. There is no need to set deadline or get depressed if you don't get in deadline you set for. That gives opportunity to look again and plan again to move forward for what's worthy to achieve.