Self Improvement: It’s All About Organisation
January 1, 2009 by John Neyman, Jr.
Filed under Self Improvement Organizing
One of the main gripes that people have about the modern world is that they don’t have enough time. There’s many different sayings and colloquialisms that lead to the belief that time is just slipping away, when in reality, time just isn’t being used properly. Truly organised people are never the ones saying that there aren’t enough hours in the day – not because they’ve found the secret to reversing time, but simply because they’ve learnt to manage effectively.
Some of the things you dislike about yourself, the things that have spurred you into believing you need to improve yourself, can be solved purely through effective time management. If you dislike how short tempered you can be, or how you never see your friends and family enough and worry they feel neglected – the problems are easily solved.
One of the best ways to change the way you use your time is to document it first. There are numerous programs available, free, on the internet which run a clock on how long you spend working on a computer. They’re actually designed for freelancers who bill by the hour and need to prove the time they’ve spent working, but the function is the same for finding out where your time goes. Install it on your work computer and you’ll soon see where your time really goes, and how the six hour stint you’d thought you’d spent working in the afternoon was actually an hour of working and a lot of time spent checking Twitter, writing emails and posting on forums. It should be quite a wake up call.
Knowing where you go wrong, set yourself goals. Organise a chore you dislike – anything from cleaning to responding to letters – and set aside an hour a day in which you do nothing but that. If you have time spare in that hour, start pre-empting the next chore. By compartmentalising those chores that you hate, you’ll free yourself up the rest of the time.
Keep a diary and stick to it, don’t cancel engagements just because you’re too tired or feel like you can’t be bothered. These little non appearances add up, and if you usually just cancel, you never know what you’re missing. Use a diary you can carry in your pocket or briefcase; amazingly, so many people don’t, and then wonder why they miss appointments.
Essentially, when instigating a system which you hope will improve your life and self, you need to know exactly how your life works. Writing everything down and analysing the results will let you see where improvements can be made – and don’t worry, before you know, documenting your life will become second nature.
Feeling Charitable?
January 1, 2009 by John Neyman, Jr.
Filed under Featured, Self Improvement Organizing
Many who embark on a course of self improvement see giving money to charity as one of the easy ways of making themselves a better, selfless person. This is infinitely true, and giving to charity wherever possible is always a wonderful thing to do, but if you don’t have much spare cash or are unsure about which charity to choose, you can still help.
Charitable giving is one of those things that everyone means to do, but never gets around to. If you are genuine about improving your sense of self, make today the day where you actually do something. If you do decide to give money, first be sure you can afford it – there is little point in rendering yourself financially troubled just because you gave to charity. The whole point may be to help those less fortunate than yourself, but not by making yourself unfortunate.
With this kept in mind, find a charity that you feel passionate about. There are major national charities which get a lot of press and airtime, which subsequently leads to a lot of donations. Occasionally, instead of giving to one of these institutions, look around the internet for a smaller charity. The more obscure an illness, usually the less funding it gets – but that doesn’t mean it does any less of a job. These people still need help, and your money will be more useful to them. Still give to the big national charities, but do mix it up a little and vary your giving.
That said, only choose three charities at most to donate to. While you may just be giving for the sake of giving, it is important to think about what can be done with your money. If you have $100 to give, and split that between five different charities, each organisation only gets $20. Instead, select just two institutions and suddenly your money goes a lot further. Just remember that next time you donate, you can give to two completely different charities. Over time, your giving should even itself out.
But what charities need, perhaps even more than small donations, is your time. For true self improvement that is more than just a neat lifestyle choice, instead of giving cash, give yourself. This can include fund-raising, helping to promote awareness or just general administration work. If you have a particular skill – such as web designing or arts and crafts – offer to your chosen charity for free.
By doing this, you really will be improving your character. Giving just cash, all the time, can be a little too easy – but by actually helping a charity to function, you’re doing much more for the greater good. Experiences like these can teach you things that will change your life as a whole and make you a better, happier person – which is exactly what self improvement is all about, after all.
Tips for Self Improvement: Appreciating What You’ve Got
January 1, 2009 by John Neyman, Jr.
Filed under Featured, Self Improvement Organizing
Perhaps more people than would care to admit it always want a little bit more from life. It can be anything from a bigger house to a faster car, and while ambitious thoughts should always be encouraged, they can also be damaging.
The problem with always striving for something bigger or better is that you can lose sight of the good things you already have. Modern life is so frenzied; we live in a world seemingly obsessed with statistics, targets and goals and amidst the desire to reach the next level, the current level can be completely ignored. And the current level might not be so bad, after all.
One of the keys to self improvement is learning to accept your lot in life and what you have. If you never grasp this seemingly simple concept, the quest for more is never ending. Many people work themselves into the ground in their desire for a bigger house or faster car, only to discover that when they have the object of their affection, it has lost it’s lustre. Unless you learn to appreciate the now, you’ll be needing to buy cars faster than the speed of sound and houses the size of ancestral homes before you can sate the desire for more.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with wanting a better life. But the key is to balance it with your current life. Reality talent shows have brought screaming wannabes to the masses, all of whom proclaim an endless desire for fame and fortune that has pushed them to the limits of their sanity. Yet, for the lucky few who do indeed make it, they find the life they so desired was not all it was supposed to be. With every new level you attain, there is another set of problems.
To begin to appreciate the life you have, all you need to do is try and focus on the positive aspects rather than the negative. One good trick is to finish each day with a list of three things you enjoyed that day. Even if it’s something as simple as what you ate for lunch or a program you saw on television, it’s a positive end to a day which helps channel the mind into appreciating life as it is. There’s no harm whatsoever in striving for better, so long as you retain a sense of perspective. After all, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for – you just might get it.
