Look Before You Leap continued...

Thank goodness the car was running and warm. We drove out of the airport and I told my colleague to pull the map out of the glove compartment where the counter woman had said it awaited us.

Paper trash and other garbage spilled out of the glove box as it was popped open.

"This car is a dump!" I couldn't believe Hertz would give us a vehicle without cleaning it first. And then that little light went off overhead. We looked at each other and said together, "It's not our car."

I glanced into the rear view mirror and realized that someone else had come to the same conclusion. Another light was going off, a flashing light from a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) vehicle right behind us.

Well, of course we had taken that poor guy's car who nodded to us, thinking he was giving us the go ahead and get in signal while rushing in from the cold.

The RCMP were very professional throughout, doing their best to suppress their grins at our stupid mistake. And Hertz apologized for the confusion, telling us we wouldn't be charged for driving the car they intended for us - once we got it.

My lesson was that impatience can have lots of unexpected consequences.

 

POSTMORTEM: John, a wanted man north of the border! He's right, though. Life is getting too fast. We're always in a hurry. We cram cell phone conversations into our down time during the day. We can't even relax and enjoy television commercials anymore. Our clients and prospects want us to get quickly to the point as well. BUT, if you learn to slow down and calm down - it will increase your energy when you need it most. Be wise about managing your time, take time for yourself. Your body, your mind and most importantly, your family will love you for those slowing down times.
Time Management Tips

SPEND TIME PLANNING AND ORGANIZING. Using time to think and plan is time well-spent.

SET GOALS. Set goals which are specific, measurable, realistic and achievable.

PRIORITIZE. Once identified, prioritize time to concentrate your work on those items with the greatest reward.

USE A TO DO LIST. Some people thrive using a daily To Do list which they construct either the last thing the previous day or first thing in the morning.

BE FLEXIBLE. Allow time for interruptions and distractions.

CONSIDER YOUR BIOLOGICAL PRIME TIME. That's the time of day when you are at your best. Are you a "morning person," a "night owl," or a late afternoon "whiz?"

DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT. Doing the right thing is effectiveness; doing things right is efficiency.

ELIMINATE THE URGENT. Work towards reducing the urgent things you must do so you'll have time for your important priorities.

PRACTICE THE ART OF INTELLIGENT NEGLECT. Eliminate from your life trivial tasks or those tasks which do not have long-term consequences for you.

AVOID BEING A PERFECTIONIST. Some things need to be closer to perfect than others, but perfectionism, paying unnecessary attention to detail, can be a form of procrastination.

CONQUER PROCRASTINATION. When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks or set a timer and work on the big task for just 15 minutes.

LEARN TO SAY "NO." Such a small word — and so hard to say. Once convinced of their importance, saying "no" to the unimportant in life gets easier.

REWARD YOURSELF. Even for small successes, celebrate achievement of goals.

 

 

 
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