Speed Read Your Way Through 52 Books Each Year... Effortlessly

I got a lift to work from a friend the other day and the first thing she said as I got in the car was that she reads 52 books each year... in her spare time.

Knowing how busy she is – with work, family and seemingly endless child commitments - I thought at first that she was having me on. I was even prepared to bet on it (and I don't normally bet). But she insisted that it was true and even offered to prove it, though she gave me a hint that she didn't technically read them but had them read to her with feeling and emphasis. I had visions of her lying back eating grapes like the Romans while one of her man servants did the honours but, of course, soon realised she was talking about audio books. She slipped a CD in the car cassette and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the story telling as the narrator 'acted out' a particularly tense part of the story in hushed tones.

As we listened, she explained that this was how she had almost any book she wanted read to her as audio books while she was getting ready for work in the morning, while she got her kids ready for school, while she did her exercises each day, while she drove to and from work and any free time she had on hands. She also mentioned how much calmer it was at breakfast time!!

I've got to say that I was impressed at her organisation but slightly embarrassed by my own morning routine which involved watching a bit of telly, then listening to the same old radio station I'd listened to and shouted at for years. All of a sudden, my mind felt a bit flabby and dull. I worked out that my journeys alone to and from work took at least 5 hours a week which is more than enough for a book each week and that's not taking into account my lunchtime stroll, exercise time, washing dishes or ironing time.

What if I decided to learn a new language, or improve my thinking skills or even find out how to be more motivated? All of a sudden, I couldn't wait to give it a try. Even better was when I found an audio book site that allowed me to download books instantly to my MP3 player. It meant I could get what I wanted when I wanted without going out searching for them and much cheaper than in the shops.

From what this friend of mine explained to me, I knew I had to give audio books a try.
Now, I can proudly say I also benefit from the reading 40 to 50 books each year and I feel much better for it.

For those of you still unconvinced, then if an audio book takes 4 hours, you can easily have it read to you in just four days - 1 hour of spare 'dead' time each.

So, if it takes you 4 days to get through one audio book, then you will get through 5 books in 4 weeks on just the work days. Work 48 weeks a year and you've got through 60 books!! Now they don't have to be 60 different books because if you're learning a new language like French, you could replay chunks and become really fluent.

Perhaps it's better to say that you'll recover 240 hours – or ten full days – of time you usually waste. Time you'll never get again.

If that won't change your life, what will?

How To Overcome Procrastination In 9 Steps

When it comes to seeking success and achieving wealth, procrastination is one of the biggest enemies that hinders the financial, personal, and mental development of an individual. Coupled with laziness and a lack of motivation, procrastination has the power to crush dreams and hold one back from accomplishing the goals they have set for themselves. While procrastination is quite common, there are plenty of ways to get back on track and embrace the things that can lead to success, wealth, and prosperity.

At some point in everyone's life, procrastination strikes. It could be as simple as waiting until the very last minute to take the garbage out or as serious as putting off an important medical checkup. The more of a habit that procrastination becomes in life, the harder it is to achieve success in the things you wish to accomplish. One of the first steps towards overcoming procrastination is to envision the desired level of achievement and plan a course of action that brings you closer to set goals.

When you are interested in achieving success, time management becomes an important part of the process. A few ways to overcome procrastination include:

1. Review your goals and assess how realistic and achievable they are. The least realistic goals are the ones people tend to postpone. To make larger tasks feel less exhausting or difficult, it is suggested to break down an extensive goal into smaller, more manageable projects that take less time to accomplish. This allows you to feel and see your progress towards success every time a "mini" goal is completed.

2. Start making a commitment to complete all of the unfinished tasks you have left behind in the past. Creating a "to do" list with the most important things to accomplish listed first is a good place to start.

3. To avoid procrastination, it is important to keep the big picture in mind. This is one of the best ways to stay focused, which is a necessary factor in achieving goals and attaining success. Having confidence that you are able to accomplish your goals becomes a great driving force for staying on task.

4. Utilize time management skills to eliminate activities that waste time or seem counterproductive. Daily tasks should be prioritized in order of importance so you will possess enough time to complete the ones that bring you closer to your main goals. Accomplishing harder tasks first makes the less involved ones much easier.

5. Be aware that challenges, obstacles, and barriers will surface when trying to achieve success and accomplish goals. A more prepared individual, who is keen on possible conflict or concerns, is less likely to procrastinate after hitting a "dead end," "brick wall," or other problem.

6. Once you have reached a particular milestone, achievements should come with personal rewards that encourages motivation and discourages procrastination.

7. When applicable, make reasonable deadlines for the things you wish to accomplish. This helps keep you focused on accomplishing goals and resisting procrastination on things you once viewed as having "all the time" in the world to achieve.

8. When appropriate, make serious attempts to break free from your habitual stronghold pertaining to procrastination. Some people have made putting off things such a habit that an automatic response develops that is quite hard to break. Recognizing that you have a procrastination problem is an important step.

9. Start ignoring all of the things that lead to procrastination. Stop fearing that you will fail in your quest for success. Don't second-guess yourself because it only delays taking an active role in achieving goals. Stop ignoring or dodging the activities or tasks associated with anxiety. Stop procrastinating further on the things you feel guilty for not accomplishing on your first try.

Begin Living in Real Time

In your quest to keep pace with all that's thrown at you, do you find yourself frequently preoccupied? It seems as if everyone is in overdrive today. We don't enjoy the morning, because we're always in a rush, concerned about getting to work on time. We don't enjoy our lunch, because we're worried about what's going to occur in the afternoon, or what needs to be done. We don't enjoy the afternoon, because we're thinking about how we have to pick up our children, get across town to attend a meeting, and then get back. We don't enjoy the evening, because it goes by too fast.

How would your life be if you had the ability to tackle problems and challenges as they arise? What would it feel like to engage in conceptual thinking whenever you wanted or needed to? What if you had a sense of control and ease about each day? If all these components were a part of your life, you would be living in "real time."

What it's Like to Live in Real Time


Diane Weems, an executive with the North Carolina Travel Association, finds that one of her key strategies for effectiveness is taking phone calls as often as possible when they come in, rather than letting them pile up. By taking phone calls as they come in, she's able to interact with the party calling, and is able to often resolve the issue during the call.

"When you let the number of return calls you have to make build up beyond a certain level," Weems says, "you ensure that you won't get back to all the callers, and you're going to procrastinate when it comes to calling many of them."

Weems also finds it useful to deal with mail and papers that come across her desk as they arrive, but concedes that this isn't always possible.

Go for Completion


Steve Sugar, a program planner at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, carries a task to completion instead of leaving it for later, when it might be one of a growing number of tasks that require additional effort.

Sugar finds that even if it doesn't "feel good," sticking with the task at hand is one of the most effective ways of staying in real time and getting things off your desk, be it fielding a phone call, returning correspondence, or working on a budget.

You may know people who live in real time, or who live out significant chunks of their life in real time. Who are these people? These are the people who stay in shape, have the time to take a phone call, and actually know the names of each of her children's friends. This is the person who volunteers for and takes an active role in community organizations.

These are worthwhile achievements; elements of life within your potential. Take a look at twelve components of living in real time, with the realization that each of these are within your grasp.

1. Leave home in the morning with grace and ease. If you can manage the beforehand by taking care of as many things as possible the night before, in the morning you only have to get bodies out the door. No need to have a mad rush, because you've got everything ready to go.

2. Focus on the important issues facing your organization, your department or division, and your job or career. You have to pay homage to the issues that you identify as important in your life, and have the strength to ignore the less important. Magically, when you handle the important things, the others fall into place.

3. Handle and address the mail when it arrives, keep piles from forming on your desk, and handle phone calls within 24 hours. No need to be inundated by receiving too much mail, or have piles that rise ever-higher on your desk, or have a mounting number of calls to return.

4. Enjoy a leisurely lunch. Know the importance of completing tasks, so that when you go to lunch, you're at lunch. Take the time to chew slowly and carefully. Give up reading the newspaper, and focus on the food in your mouth. Old sensations may return. You actually enjoy your lunch, digest your food better, do better back on the job, and have better elimination. What a deal!

Van VanDyck, Education Manager with American Express in Phoenix, insists on having lunch away from his desk. By getting away from the office, VanDyck is able to regenerate his batteries, and focus on his work and how he'll approach it. He feels that when you stay at your desk too long, every task competing for your attention, big and small, seems urgent.

By getting away at lunchtime, VanDyck is able to stay focused on the big picture. He finds that having the outside lunch enables him to return to the office with new-found energy.

5. Depart from the work place at normal closing hours and feel good about what you accomplish each day. Leaving the workday on time is the single most important step towards permanently living in real time. When you use the magic phrase, "What do I need to accomplish by the end of the day to feel good about leaving on time?", you have little excuse for leaving in a bad mood.

6. Have sufficient and up-to-date health, life, disability, and automobile insurance coverage. If you want to live in real time, this is part of the overall picture. Getting adequate insurance to protect you and your loved ones is bound to be one of the goals that support your overall priorities.

7. File your annual and any quarterly income taxes on time. For tax year 1994, I.R.S. records indicate that more than 40% of taxpayers filed for extensions, so that they did not need to send in their completed tax returns until August 15, or in some cases October 15. You, on the other hand, once making the decision to live in real time, recognize that taxes are a necessary evil and will always be around. Set up a tax log at the start of each year with room for each of your legitimate deductions, where you can file receipts and documentation. Buy software such as Turbo Tax or Quicken that help you to complete your tax returns on a timely basis, if necessary.

8. Take time to be with friends and relatives. People, not things, count most in life. Remembering your priorities and supporting goals, and becoming adept at making decisions, carve out time on your scheduling software, or appointment calendar, to ensure that you don't shortchange the key people in your life.

9. Stay in shape and at your desired weight. When you observe the bodies of most people, you can see the results of a losing tug of war with gravity--but gravity need not win. Fitness experts say that working out for only 30 minutes a day can keep you comfortably fit. As I observed in my book, Breathing Space: Living and Working at a Comfortable Pace in a Sped-Up Society, if you're too busy to stay in shape, you're too busy!

10. Make time for hobbies. On the way to losing your time, did you abandon enjoyable activities that were a part of what made you who you are? Revisit that stamp collection or your garden, the hiking club or whatever you let slide. Living in real time means enjoying your most rewarding hobbies and pastimes on a regular basis.

11. Participate monthly in a worthy cause. It's not possible to give your time and attention to all worthy causes, or even many worthy causes. Your life is finite regardless of how long you live. When you pick the one or two that matter most, and take action, you feel good about yourself and about how you're spending your time.

Some of the factors that increase the probability of your paying homage to these causes include: having to undertake little travel to participate, enjoying your co-participants, getting a psychological stroke when you participate (an internal reward), and receiving recognition for your efforts (external rewards).

12. Drop back at any time, take a long deep breath, collect your thoughts, and renew your spirit.

Let the Goddess Out to Play!

Let the Goddess Out to Play!

For thousands of years women have been splintered and fractured. Men, as well, have been cut off from the vital aspect of the feminine, leaving an imbalance in our society. Reclaiming the ancient goddesses from folklore, and our collective unconscious, we give ourselves permission to make ourselves whole.

You are invited to the world of the Goddess. She is known by many names and faces, from many traditions and cultures but she does not ask you to give up the faith you were born into or the spiritual beliefs you cherish. She comes into your life in addition to any other form of spirituality you hold dear. She comes to enhance who you already are and open a new way for you to see and know yourself;
heal and enrich your spiritual journey.

However you choose to experience the Goddess – as a bowl for healing and change or a divine living symbol awakening the Goddess within you. Both offer great changes in your life.
Great courage and support are necessary on this path.

Bast bats at you with her paw to urge you to come and play with her. It is time to divert to something that is amusing, fun, and totally recreational. Has play been a low priority for you? Do you know how to play? What does play mean to you? Perhaps you've been working so hard that you've forgotten to give yourself a play break. The Goddess tells you the way to nurture wholeness lies in engaging in play. It is time to discover the ways you are able to play and do it!

Awaken the Goddess.
The Goddess awakens confidence, belonging and self-esteem.

Requirements are a clear open mind and childlike wonder.

Goddesses do cajole but mostly they inspire.

The very essence of Goddess is inspiration and adoration.

It is so important that we nourish ourselves – body, mind and spirit.

Avenues of discovery may include:

Spiritual, Supernatural, Inspiration, Vision

Peace, Relaxation, Meditation, Lucid Dreaming

Ritual, Spell Casting, Magic, Psychic Phenomena

Auras, Yoga, Hypnosis, Astrology, Tarot

Humanity when thinking of a nurturing, creative presence that loves unconditionally: the thought of the feminine expression arises.

Ulysses:


"To acknowledge the Goddess in someone is to acknowledge their importance.
It is also to legitimize their every feeling as a woman. It is to let them cry and let them sing.
It is to openly express adoration of the place of everyman's birth.
There is worship but here is frailty not perfection and there is blessedness not religion."

"Imagine there is someone in your life you can depend on to pamper, heal, revitalize you and treat you royally. Pick something that would bring you great pleasure and agree to give it to yourself."

(The Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway)

"Light a candle and relax in a favorite chair. Take yourself to a movie, out to dinner or to a museum exhibit you have been meaning to see.
Buy yourself a gift. The best way to keep your soul nourished is to create an ongoing environment for this nourishment."
(The Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway)

" Magic is the art of causing changes in consciousness according to will. The Goddess is the container and the ritual is the recipe for the magic we create." (Dion Fortune)

You are the magic.

Slow Down to Be More Productive- The True Value of Free Time

In a recent Time Management workshop I was presenting, a participant asked a question that touches upon an important aspect of finding balance in today's busy, fast-paced world. While discussing time management strategies with a roomful of busy professionals, I was asked if I schedule ALL of my time. What a good question! The answer is no. Here is why.

It is easy to get caught up in the notion that scheduling our time better is the secret to getting it all done. Actually, that is not the case. There is tremendous value in the experience of unscheduled time. In today's society, unscheduled time is becoming a rare experience. That is unfortunate.

Some of my coaching clients come to their sessions exhausted. They tell me how busy they have been, running from one project or meeting activity to another. On top of that, the activities they have scheduled for themselves that are supposed to be leisure activities, feel as though they are just "one more task" on the "To Do" list. I recently had a client tell me that a massage felt like another obligation. Wow! When self-care or leisure activities feel like obligations, it is a big red flag signaling us that it is time to slow down! The experience of being "overscheduled" can be an enormous energy drainer in our lives.

Setting aside "free" time is another key to increasing productivity. Free time is time for which you have no agenda. Free time is time during which you set your To Do list aside and just see what you feel compelled to do during that time.

Free time promotes creativity. Free time allows your unconscious mind to go to work, solving problems that have been nagging at you. Free time rejuvenates you. Enjoying free time will improve your effectiveness when you are working.

When was the last time you truly let yourself experience free time?

When you set aside free time for yourself, don't be surprised to find it to be very uncomfortable initially. Resist the temptation to schedule anything during that time. You may feel antsy. You may feel a strong pull toward your To Do list. Don't give in!

Just relax and see what you feel like doing. Maybe you feel like painting. Maybe you feel like lying on a blanket and watching the clouds. Maybe you feel like going swimming or bike riding. Maybe you feel like reading a novel. Maybe you feel like going rock hunting. Maybe you feel like going to a store, museum or tourist attraction that you have always wanted to visit. Maybe you feel like taking a day trip. Maybe you feel like walking down the street and having a conversation with a neighbor. Who knows? There are limitless possibilities. Try it and see for yourself!

How To Organize Your Home Office

Work and Personal Time- It's a sign?

Today more and more people are experiencing burnout, insomnia, and stress. Why is that? Many people have a very busy life. We all would like more time in the day an extra hour would be fantastic. Maybe have more time to relax and enjoy life with friends and family. However in society today, it is fast pace. Life is more demanding. It seems impossible to slow down. The road that we are driving on is continuous and there is no stop signs on it. It is a fast race. How do you gain more time to slow down? Here a 3 steps to help you on the journey to conquer the time you have on earth.

1. Start a flexible schedule. Allow a little flexibility into your schedule. The more strict you are the less likely you will slow down and have a balance in your life. Things do happen. Leave room for the unexpected surprises. Don't beat yourself up when situations do occur. Just take care of it. And move on with your schedule. Situations work out and do occur for a reason. Even when it does not make any sense to you.

2. Identify your time blockers. These blockers are those things that are low priority tasks that we think needs to be done. Some examples are taking phone calls when you know you should be working, cleaning out a closet instead of spending that time with your family, checking email every hour, watching T.V. , or surfing the net instead of working on that project that is due in 2 days. These are just a few. The low priority tasks are numerous. Pay attention to these blockers . Explore ways to overcome these blockers and take action to change the blockers.

3. Take note of your workload. You need to schedule on your planner/ calender enough work that keeps you busy. However not too much that will rock into your personal life. Take on additional tasks or projects that will fit into your planner. Schedule time for your work. Schedule time for your personal life. For instance birthdays, anniversaries, or whatever event it is going on in your life. Schedule that onto your calender. This helps with not overlapping events and work in the same time frame.

There is only so much time in the day. You can not buy back time. However make your time worth it. With the right dose of work and personal life, your time will be more productive.

Procrastination Solutions

Solutions are proffered when there exists a problem. Procrastination is one of the greatest problem man can ever face. Procrastination can cost you a living, abruptly leaves with you no hope for the future. How can you wake up in the morning with no goals to guide you through the day? How can you succeed in you day-to-day activities with Procrastination taking the most part of you? Even when you have the best plan on the planet, Procrastination will ensure you never get it done, that no one ever hears about it, you're never celebrated, you're never given an award, you never meet people real needs. You never even make a living. You only survive because none has the right to end your life.

Procrastination solutions are the best kept secrets of overcoming Procrastination fast! And best of all, you'll see results in weeks. I have not promised that it is going to be easy, but you'll have no excuse to give whatsoever when you do not make an impact because of Procrastination. Some of the insider information you'll need are here outlined.

• Do unpleasant task first and forget about them.
• If a task seems mighty or not inviting, the truth is that you've got to do them and avert some problems in the future – break them down into small steps and tackle them bit by bit.
• Get a deadline for all your projects. Make them realistic so you do not get frustrated when you cannot meet too ambitious goals. There is a kind of urgency attached with a task when a deadline is added.
• Delegate tasks if you have to. Nobody told you that the most successful individuals did it all by themselves.
• Disregard protocols – sometimes, you just have to get started on something – you can start anyhow so you gather enough momentum to continue, when you feel motivated, you can follow orders.
• Change your perception, change our attitude! Because you can easily lie to your subconscious and can deceive it, you become your own worst enemy. Whatever you tell your subconscious is what it acts. You can tell a wrong perception about a task to your subconscious and it will say – yes boss, that's exactly what it is. So why not tell it some good, change your attitude and your thinking about that task – tell it to your subconscious and watch it say – yes boss, that's what it is and we can do it now!
• Now, consider the effects of putting off a task, of not being responsible, of not being in total control, of not making that call, of not checking on the dentist or the doctor, of not trying to loose some weight, quit smoking, being the market leader, being the best you can be.

If you are a perfectionist , you'd have to understand that first, human nature is imperfect. Please start this minute. The world is on its knees for you. The world cannot wait for you to launch that million dollar idea for the benefit of mankind, to reconcile with that old friend, to save yourself ten more years if you quit smoking now, to look sexier if you fight obesity now, to check on your tooth with your doctor or whatever.

There are hundreds, thousands and even millions of excuses you may give to procrastinate on whatever task you have to do, well its definitely to your personal detriment, excuses will always be there. Get started now! And save your future, your spouse, your children, your job, your health, your life!