My Favorite Self-Help Stuff

Oops. I just noticed that I said would write “tomorrow” and now it’s almost two weeks later. Should have set up a reminder note.

Here’s Roger Mellott’s Pie Theory though (it’s all about energy).

You know how you sometimes are too tired to do much of anything? And just because there’s time left in the day and you feel like you really OUGHT to get some more stuff done, you just can’t bring yourself to do any of it?

And you beat yourself up about it?

I’ve been there. Still am. But at least I know Roger’s pie theory — and once I remember, I go easier on myself. And do you realize how much energy it takes to beat up on yourself? Just eliminating THAT helps enormously.

So here’s the theory:

He basically uses a pie as the metaphor for the amount of energy we have every day. Each of us gets a pie a day. And before you get all worked up about those people who seem to have boundless energy…

Pies come in different sizes — we dn’t all get the same size pie, and not always the same size pie every day either.

Some days, it’s a huge pie (oh, how I love those days), and some days the pie is the size of a dinner mint (Roger’s words). And we use up just to get out of bed. Been there too.

And so we need to be conscious of how we spend our pie/energy and not waste any (or at lesat not too much) on things that aren’t worth it.

Like arguing with people who are just not going to get it anyway. Or beating up on ourselves for not having the energy to do whatever.

I think that realization alone is helpful.

Can we replenish our pie? Yes. We can rest. We can do things that “feed” us. We can do things that make us happy. We can do things that feed our physical bodies with things that they need to work really well.

But the biggest things that give us pie is to do things that make us happy. To be excited about life. And accept that some days, we may not have as much energy as we would like — and use what we’ve got prudently.

What does that have to do with time management? A lot.

Especially when you approach time management like my friend and mentor Jason (see http://www.IMTimeMastery.com for more info on that).

And what about energy? I’ve recently come across a new way to approach weight management along with time management, and one of the things that inspired my interest in this particular approach is that it promised to give more energy after a few weeks.

And no, not because of any stimulants — there aren’t any, except for the occasional cup of Java. I’m going to work on my weight loss program review site to finally get it set up properly, and this is the first diet that I’m going to review in depth. If you’re curious, you can check out that program here:
http://www.myweightlossprogramreview.com/eodd.php

And my review site (soon) here:

www.myweightlossprogramreview.com

Once I have figured out how to set it up properly, you’ll be able to vote and leave feedback on the various diet plans.

But I’ve gotten a bit side-tracked here. This was supposed to be about energy. And even though lugging lots fewer pounds around presumably should increase energy levels, so let’s leave it at that for now.

Wishing you a very energetic day!

Elisabeth

P.S.: What do you think about Roger or his Pie Theory? Do YOU ever run out of energy? Leave a comment please! If you do, I might share a few more techniques by Roger

Hello all,

what happened to my self help blog? Maybe you’ve been wondering… Have I been procrastinating?

Truth is, I got swamped. I mean way beyond swamped. Somehow several major “engagements” all came together at the same time, and I was scrambling and begging forgiveness left and right, trying to postpone whatever could be postponed. And no, that doesn’t really fit the regular meaning of procrastination. (hmm, I think I’ll write about that sometime soon too).

What does all of that teach me about time management though? Other than put it in my calendar and beware of making commitments too far into the future?

This: There’s only so much time in the day and so much energy in me. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.

I actually learned that a long time ago — from one of my favorite teachers, the late Roger Mellott. I was going through a very stressful time then too, and was beating up on myself because I seemed to “procrastinate” just about all the time.

I mean, the evening wasn’t half over yet and I had a translation job to do. So why the heck didn’t I do it? Well… yes, there was time left in the day, but there was no more energy left in me. I simply could not do it. I was so tired I couldn’t get off of my bed if I tried. And my brain refused to cooperate as far as the translation went.

I felt that way the last few weeks at times… And I remembered Roger.

He had this brilliant theory — the pie theory of energy management. If you’ve been reading my newsletter, you’ve probably read about it. But if not, I’ll introduce you to it right here, again.

Tomorrow

For now, all I want to say is — it was a life-saver.

Meanwhile, I do have another trick up my sleeve, this one related to Time Management.. It has helped me make myself way more productive. Probably doubled my speed with which I can get stuff done. And it helps give me energy when I need it, plus focus, and more.

Still, I’m human, and my mind can always visualize way more than physical me can get done.

So anyway, please check back tomorrow to read about Roger’s Pie Theory and how it relates to time management.

Have a great evening.

Elisabeth

And here’s a related blog post on time management.

Take time off for stress relief? Absolutely! The core of any stress relief or stress management program is to take some time off periodically. But those of us who have our own businesses find exactly that VERY difficult at times. We feel like we constantly have to keep all the balls in the air — and continue marketing as well, or else, our business will just evaporate.

And that can cause problems. Burnout for once. Or just exhaustion, or disenchantment. We might wish it would all just go away. I’ve been there, and the horrible thing is that our wishes tend to become true.

A few years back, I was getting very burned out from working double shifts — running a business in addition to my more than full-time job, and within weeks, my business went POOF!

It was weird. All my clients suddenly disappeared and/or no longer needed my services. One person moved away. So did another one — completely unrelated to the first one. Another became pregnant and no longer wanted to continue with my services.

Yet another didn’t like the way I had handled the increase in my fees (which was my mistake, I admit, and I did learn a lesson there), but somehow, I believe the timing was just too uncanny for this to have been an accident.

Meanwhile, I have learned about the Law of Attraction, and if this wasn’t the law of attraction in action, I don’t know what is.

So what should we do? Give ourselves a break! But what about the marketing?

Well, there’s this teleseminar coming up that will give you a great answer. It will give you strategies you can put in place right away that will help you grow your business even if you’re spending some time at the beach or in the park with your loved ones, or playing golf!

Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

Success coach Sue Clement is doing what she preaches — she’s taking multi-week vacations while her business keeps on going, and growing. And she’ll show you how you can do the same.

Where? When?

Wednesday at noon Pacific or 2 p.m. Central time, or 3 p.m. EST

Go to http://www.sueclement.com/teleseminar.html to sign up. And yes, even if you can’t make that time. Or even if you get this information after the teleseminar is already over. Because if you sign up, you’ll get access to all the information afterwards, including the downloadable mp3!

You just can’t get your questions answered… so IF you CAN make it live, it’ll be worth your while to make the effort.

Anyway, in the interest of maintaining your health and sanity — and keeping your business humming along, I highly recommend that you check out Sue’s teleseminar. I bet you’ll enjoy it and will get some VERY useful information from it.

Take Time off Teleseminar

Not all stress comes from lack of time.  There are plenty of other things we stress about all the time, from money to relationships to having to give a presentation at work.

But not having enough time is just about guaranteed to cause stress.  So stress management and time management are definitely closely related.

So what do you do when you have too much on your plate?  There’s only so much you really CAN do. And wearing yourself out by overworking leaves you with no place to go when a “real” crisis comes up.

There are two sides to this: the stress, and the time.  What you want is tools for both of them.  You need a way to ratchet down the stress so you can think more clearly, and then address the time issues.

For stress, you have many options.  You could get my free stress tips report and use some of the tips, or you could get the real thing: My Instant Stress Relief Strategies Resource Guide to stress busting strategies.

That guide hands you a series of strategies from which you can pick and choose.  Experiment, try some out, and see what works especially well for you.

And once you have gotten some stress management tools at your disposal, you can tackle the real issue: Not enough time.

Or rather, trying to cram too much into the time you have. And that often comes from trying to please too many people all at once.

So how to get around that? Well, you may have heard about the 80/20 rule.  And that’s a good start.  But what is part of the 20% that you ought to be doing?

This is where my favorite time management course comes in.  It helps you figure out what to do, how to do it quickly and efficiently, and how make the most of your time.

One of the biggest problems in time management is procrastination. That’s where this program really shines.

And most procrastination has to do with insecurity or indecision. It will show you how to make decisions quickly.  It also teaches you how to quickly make yourself feel more confident (there’s some NLP involved).

And, with the tools that are in this course, it will help you get a tremendous amount done in record time as you cut through procrastination like it was butter on a warm summer day.

So check it out.  It may be just what the time doctor ordered

http://www.IMTimeMastery.com

And here’s another blog post on time management.

Do you know the Abraham-Hicks Placemat Process?

It’s the most amazing tool you could possibly have in your tool box when you often feel overwhelmed by to-do lists. It works wonders for giving you stress relief.

The fact is, we lead linear lives.  No matter how skilled we may think we are at multi-tasking, we can only be in one place at the same time.  And we really can only do one task properly at each moment.

We may be able to alternate our attention back and forth, and sometimes this may be necessary, but for most of us it increases stress and for some of us it gets us nowhere fast.

So what’s the placemat process? It’s based on the idea that we can only do so much and still be effective, and that we don’t really have to do all of it. There’s a force out there greater than us that helps us out.

Have you ever noticed that some things you just didn’t get to seemed to take care of themselves in miraculous ways? Or they didn’t seem all that important anymore? Or you got a chance to do them much later and it was okay?

Those are all signs that something greater than us is helping us and guiding our subconscious.  The main thing is that we must stop stressing. And the placemat process helps with that.

Here are the instructions:

Get a big piece of paper (placemat size works well):

Draw a line down the middle.

Write a reasonable number of items that you MUST get done today on the left side. Title that section: Things I will do today.

Write everything else that you think you ought to get done etc. on the other side. Title that section: Things I’m turning over to the universe.

And then just do the things on your list.

Also keep track of how many of the Universe’s list will get done. You may be surprised.

You can read about the Abraham Hicks placemat process in “Ask and it is given” by Jerry and Esther Hicks, and in many other of their publications.

If you’re in internet marketing or another fast-paced line of work where you feel like you have to get a tremendous amount done, you may also want to check out

http://www.IMTimeMastery.com

It’s written by a former Buddhist monk, it’s quite amazing, and I’m very excited to be able to offer it to you:

http://www.IMTimeMastery.com

If you want more traditional advice, you can also sign up for my FREE time management tips series:

http://www.IMTimeManagement.info

But don’t forget — there’s only one you and you need to take care of yourself, which includes pacing yourself and allowing yourself rest when you need it, to be able to do what you need to do and to fulfill your destiny.

Have a wonderful and relaxed day, and do give the placemat process a go if you haven’t already.
You may find it’s the greatest stress management tool you’ll have ever found.  Because much stress comes from time “running away from us” and us trying to keep up.

Elisabeth, aka Dr. K

And here’s a related blog post on time management.

Looks like at the moment my self help blog is focusing in on the time management theme.  And the interesting thing is that once you think about something, you come across a lot of related things.

And so I came across Jonathan Mead’s blog, which you should check out:

http://zenhabits.net/2009/04/seven-productivity-tips-for-people-that-hate-gtd/comment-page-2/#comment-65802

I’m not going to repeat all his seven tips here, but just a few notes to whet your appetite:

Create a list of things you should stop!  And related to this point, stop caring about things that don’t matter.

Go through your daily to do list and think about which of these things you either hate doing or simply don’t have to do.  Find a way to get them out of your life.

And he also has a very interesting answer to perfectionism! 

Isn’t perfectionism responsible for so much procrastination? If I find myself with writer’s block, that’s what’s usually at its core.

In fact, Anne Lamott came up with a great term that probably helped generations of students overcome the fear of the blank sheet of paper:

“Shitty first drafts”  — yep, that’s exactly how she called it.

The whole idea is to get stuff on the paper and not worry about whether it’s any good.  Once it’s there, you can make it better.  But before it’s there, what are you gonna do?  Stare at your blank sheet of paper?  Or, these days, your blank screen?

And that applies to just about everything.  Sure, we won’t always be really good when we do something for the first time, but once we start doing it, we may be surprised.  And if not, and if it turns out we hate it, there’s always that list about things you should stop!

Of course, his article isn’t all about stopping things.  He also has a few points about how to turbo-charge the way you do the things you actually do — the things that matter!

Anyway, I’ve got some stuff to do

Comments?  I’d love to know what you think.

Elisabeth

P.S.:  guess where I found out about this article?  Twitter!

Wanna follow me?  http://twitter.com/ElisabethKuhn

And here’s a related blog post on abraham-hicks and time management.

Yes, here’s a FREE Time Management E-Course.  It’s a self help blog gift for you. I just dug that up and am happy to be able to offer it to you.  Is it as amazing as the one I’m selling below?  It’s different. It’s quite a bit more traditional. But then, it’s also free, so why not check it out…

FREE Time Management E-Course

I love the little video (my favorite scene comes within just a few seconds into the video).  Let’s see if you can guess what it is…

Leave a comment if you can

But if you want the real thing, the amazing Jason’s course AND if you want to get some of my personal surprise specials to go along with it, go here instead:

Deluxe Time Management Course

It’s not THAT expensive either.  I mean, imagine how much you’d pay for a personal assistant to help free up some time for you.  For just an hour or two of that, you can get that course, which will free up hundreds and thousands of hours over the course of a year.

And lower your stress to boot.  Which is what I as a self help blogger am very much in favor of.

Next time, a(nother) post about my favorite contrarian time management and stress reduction (and Law of Attraction) technique…

Have a fantastic day!

Elisabeth

And here’s a related blog post on time management.

Hi there!

Check out my new article video.  On my favorite self help blog topics: stress and time management.

Okay, so the voice sounds a bit robotic — that’s because it IS generated by a robot

It’s my new articlevideo robot (or is it video article robot?).  And the upgraded version which I might get soon, has much better sounding robots.  And of course, I can do the voice over myself, and I will, soon…

Well… but I tried to put it on this page and it was too big! What to do?

I created an extra page for it where I hope you can watch it:

http://www.MyFavoriteselfhelpstuff.com/stress&timevid1.html

And a second one:

http://www.Myfavoriteselfhelpstuff.com/stress&sleepvid1.html

Go check them out please (and let me know what you think)

Meanwhile, I’m going to investigate if there’s a way to get smaller versions of these videos for my blog (also ones that load a lot faster.

Another one of this Self Help Blog Writer’s favorite finds:

I came across a comment on Steve Pavlina’s Forum that led me to David Cain’s blog:

http://www.raptitude.com/2009/03/the-only-resource-more-precious-than-time/

And I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with you!

It’s a very cool article — quite deep. It starts from the premise I wrote about in a recent post — that time is more precious than money, but it goes far beyond that.

The real question is what happens to our time –he has a very interesting take on obligation — and on how out thoughts rob us of our time and resources.

Which brings us right back to Jason’s program.  How do you think he can triple your productivity?  By helping us to get a grip on some of that stuff that often derails us.

I’ve got to run off right now — how interesting to run out of time while writing about time… I’ll continue this post at a later date.

In the meantime, though, go visit David’s blog, and also check out Jason’s course, which is a total steal!

Have a fantastic weekend.

Elisabeth

P.S.:  Here’s another interesting blog I just came across that deals with how to overcome stuck places in your life:

http://selfdevelopment4u.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-overcome-stuck-states-in.html

I’ve been stretching the definition of Self Help Blog a bit again, what with plastering that cute little banner ad all over the place:

But I have to admit, I just love that banner, the one with the woman looking so happy and joyful as money rains down on her. I want to look at that picture OFTEN, and if I could have it blown up and put it on my wall, complete with animation, I would. And well, you’re reading the blog of someone who actually was an Avon rep while still in high school!

But today, I want to get back to more traditional stuff — and post a few links to my most recent batch of ezinearticles   And the topic of choice has been time management, in part because I’ve managed to twist Jason’s arm and get the right to sell his phenomenal time management course to my readers:

Destiny Achiever: Time Management for Internet Marketers

Just take a look.  I think it’s amazing.  And there’s a ton of stuff in it — though don’t feel intimidated. Even just one or two modules will make a wealth of a difference to your stress levels and — especially — to your levels of achievement.  You’ll get a ton more done.

In fact, I’ve been playing catch up like mad since I started working with this course. I’m finally getting stuff done, cranking it out, one after the other, that’s been sitting on my desk for months!

To go with my new-found passion, I’ve been writing some ezine articles about that as well, along with some about stress management, separately and in combination, not necessarily disclosing what’s in that course though…

Either way, here they are:

Time Management Techniques

Time Management Exercises

Stress and Time Management

Inspirational Quotes for Stress Relief 

And here’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek article:

Increase Your Stress and Achieve That Heart Attack

And here are 5 MORE tips for how to stay calm under pressure:

How To Stay Calm Under Pressure: 5 More Tips

And in case you missed it, here’s the other article of almost the same title: the original

How To Stay Calm Under Pressure

article, with the first 5 tips.

And while we’re on the topic of stress relief, which includes getting out of the rat race (without getting yourself into REALLY hot water), here’s an article about how to pick a network marketing company that actually delivers the goods:

Smart Network Marketing Strategies

Of course, you can also click on one of the cute banners.  OR, if you prefer, you can simply download the PDF of that Shocking Lies report!  No opt-in required.  And feel free to pass it on to ALL of your friends, especially those who might be interested in liberating themselves from their day jobs.

Speaking of liberating themselves from their day jobs — Jason’s course actually includes the day job liberator, which is a whole module on how to do internet marketing while still holding down a day job — and build your business so you can say bye-bye to your boss!

Meanwhile, enjoy your weekend!

Elisabeth