It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming the first sunrise of 2007 and I've only just stopped writing 06 on my notepad each day! If you're like me, you may have scratched your forehead at some time during the last few weeks and considered ‘where have the first 5 months of the year gone?’

June is a great time to touch base with those goals you set back in January, when your motivation and resolve were strong. How are you tracking against your own list of objectives? Have you set any goals for this year? The good news is there's still plenty of time to make a difference… even if your goals haven't made it onto paper yet.

We're all faced with creating more with less, and this means that we need to become even better at wisely choosing how we spend our time and how we manage our stress. This month I've included two great articles on doing just that. Dr Veronica suggests the benefits of controlled thinking and psychological hardiness and Grace Judson offers a simple but powerful way to prioritise your daily tasks.

Before you send your next email make sure you read Cynthia Morse's article on tips for great email etiquette.

…and lastly, I'd like to welcome the newest man in my life, Thomas Peacocke. Congratulations to the proud parents of this wonderful little boy, Rebecca and Greg. This is what life is all about!

Best of life,

 

 

By Cynthia Morse

As a Virtual Assistant, I send and receive a large amount of e-mail on a daily basis. I can always tell when someone is either in a rush or simply doesn't like to type. Their messages come through with misspelled words, with little regard for punctuation and grammar.

What's worse is when the tone or meaning of the message isn't clear.

Here are some easy rules of thumb to keep in mind when you are sending and receiving e-mail, especially for business purposes:

1. Always include a subject. If you are replying to someone else's message, it's okay to use what is already in the subject line. If you are the one initiating the e-mail however, you should always include a subject, even if it's one word or a simple phrase such as “May 1 Meeting” or “Follow-up from Meeting.”
2. Pay attention to punctuation and proper grammar. You may not be the fastest typist in the world, but adding those full stops and question marks where they belong will clarify the message you are sending. And don't forget about using capitalisation where needed. Proper grammar goes a long way in helping your message recipient to understand exactly what you're trying to say.
3. Never use all capital letters. “HOW ARE YOU?” makes it seem as if you are shouting at the person. It's okay to use caps for things like “ABC Oil Company,” but using them for anything else is not a good idea.
4. Get to the point. Your message should be short and concise. The fewer words you use, the better. No one has time to read long, drawn-out messages.
5. Be careful with attachments. If you attach a huge file to an e-mail, the person on the receiving end may have a hard time opening it or get frustrated when the message takes a long time to download to their e-mail program. Pay attention to the size of the documents you are attaching, and scale them down if necessary.
6. Use plain text in messages. Sure, HTML messages may look pretty, but everyone can relate much better to plain text, no matter which e-mail program they are using.
7. Whenever possible, reply below the message you receive. When you are replying to someone's question in an e-mail you received, scroll down to the question they are asking or information they are inquiring about, and post your reply there.
   
   For example:
   
   Original e-mail: “James, what is the name of that restaurant you took your client to last week?”
   Reply: “The Bedford Village Inn”
   
   ...is much easier to read than:
   
   Reply: “The Bedford Village Inn”
   Original e-mail: “James, what is the name of that restaurant you took your client to last week?”
8. Check your spelling. Remember that the spell-check feature doesn't always work in this case, so scan your message visually before sending it.

Keeping these tips in mind when you are both sending and receiving e-mail will help your online conversations run a lot more smoothly. You'll also be more productive and save time in the long run. Happy e-mailing!

© 2007 Cynthia Morse, Virtually At Your Service. All rights reserved.

Cynthia Morse CAP is a Virtual Assistant, and the owner of Virtually At Your Service. She offers top-notch administrative support to small business owners and other busy professionals from her home office, allowing them the time to focus on what they love and do best.

Visit her blog, Virtual Biz Connection. It's full of tips, helpful articles and resources for your small business!

Article Source: Ezine Articles

“If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.”
- Mary Engelbreit

By Dr Veronica Ledek

Are you feeling as if you're not performing to your full potential? Or are you perhaps feeling as though you have more potential to give? If you've felt this, then, it's possible that stress is preventing you from accessing all your wonderful inner resources. When you feel anxious, uncertain, confused, angry or frustrated you become tense and stressed and if you are feeling any of these it is unlikely that you will perform to your full potential.

All of these stressful feelings are actually a direct result of what we are thinking. Our thoughts are actually responsible for creating our feelings, it is actually the thought that counts! Further still, what we think and feel directly determines our physiology and what we do. If your thoughts are making you feel stressed then your body will reflect this - it is increasingly recognised that serious illness can be caused by the build up of stress. If your thoughts are making you feel enthused, empowered or happy then your body will reflect this and you will in turn act in confident and enthused ways.

Negative thinking has a tendency to cause stress & tension, blocking energy flow, therefore it makes sense to keep energy flowing by thinking positively. We can do this by attending to the meaning that we have given different situations, it is the meaning that we give to something which determines the way we feel and act. For example if you see the deadline as something that you will never reach as last time you struggled, it will be a struggle for you again unless you choose to see it differently. See it as a challenge, commit to giving 100%, take control of your thinking, think you can do it, feel enthused and give it all that you've got!

So are you ready to stop being a victim of stressful thinking and stress and enrich your life? Are you ready to rise to the challenges of an environment and turn stressful life events into opportunities for personal growth and benefit? What you need is a personality style consisting of commitment, control and challenge, this is called psychological hardiness.

When we are faced with stress in the workplace or in our personal life, we can choose to take control of the circumstances and see each event as a challenge to overcome and achieve. By so doing, you can build up your psychological hardiness and cope more effectively with a stressful event. All it takes is practice and planning and here's how you can do it.

Commitment is a sense of purpose and meaning that is expressed by way of becoming involved in life's events rather than being passively involved. Get committed!

• Revise and rehearse what you would do the next time the specific stressful event happens. For example, go over in your mind how you could have handled the situation in a better, more refined way. This will help you practice how to actively become involved in the stressful event rather than passively retreating and trying to avoid the situation when it arises again.
• Express yourself directly to the involved person(s). For example; explain or repeat your feelings and the reasons. Ask for explanations of the other person's feelings or interpretations as they relate to the specific situation. Make sure you check things out so that you don't automatically attach your own meaning to what has happened, it is likely that others have attached several other meanings.
• Rework the situation in your mind. Think about what you would like to say to your boss or co-worker. Think what could have happened and how you could have dealt with the situation in a better manner.

The Control component of psychological hardiness is the tendency to believe and act in a way that influences life's events rather than feeling helpless when confronted with adversity. To build one's control and reduce stress, the following strategies may prove helpful:

• Seek more information about the situation. Read a book or article on the subject of concern, information provides us with knowledge and knowledge gives us control over situations.
• Try to reduce stress by venting the feeling, take control of the emotional state. Either express your feelings to an uninvolved person, do some physical exercise or clean or wash the car to zap away bad feelings.
• Try to lighten or brighten the environment. Bring pictures, plants or flowers to your workplace or bring food to share with others.
• Search for a philosophical and/or spiritual meaning in the stressful experience. Ask yourself “what meaning does this experience have in my life? What is the learning?”. Increase, alter or involve yourself in spiritual beliefs and practices. Try to take something positive from each stressful experience.

Challenge is the belief that change, instead of stability, is normal and that change is a stimulus to enhance maturity rather than a threat to security.

You need to enhance your challenge!

• Use interpersonal skills - call in a higher authority. Learn how to phrase things delicately or to the other person's liking. Challenge yourself to go about things differently.
• Look for ways to keep your perspective on the situation. For example; identify successes no matter how small. Look for successes and accomplishments regularly, one will find successes far outweigh failures.
• Broaden the range of influence and concern beyond the specific work situation. Work within your system to develop support systems which will support you and any change, join professional organisations and become actively involved in bringing about change for the profession.
• Cultivate an objective, intellectual attitude. Emphasise what is realistic and objective. View the circumstances as a learning experience.

If you choose to see each stressful situation as an opportunity for new learning, and choose to take control of your thinking and your emotional states by using control, commitment and challenge you will build a reserve of unconscious patterns which work effectively for you. Practice at becoming psychologically hardy!

Dr Veronica Ledek is a Clinical Psychologist and a member of the Australian Psychological Society. As well as running her private practice, Veronica manages the Ryde Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service and is a regular contributor to the 'Brave New World' e-zine.

Learn more about Dr Veronica Ledek

By Grace L. Judson

One morning a few days ago, I found myself filled with determination interwoven with anxiety. I had a tremendous list of things that needed to get done that day. Needed. Really. Yet the truth of the matter was that I knew - down deep inside even though I wasn't acknowledging it yet - that the chances that I'd get it all done that day were vanishingly slim. Nonetheless, I was convinced I needed... well, you get the picture.

And I'd be willing to bet that you've experienced that same feeling. Whether it's at work (with your boss expecting one thing, your co-workers waiting for something else, or an employee at your office door with a crisis) or at home (where the laundry is piling up, the lawn hasn't been mowed in weeks, and the kids have soccer and yoga and swimming, and when was the last time you had a chance to just sit down with a cup of tea?), you, like me, have undoubtedly been there. If you just grit your teeth and focus, really concentrate, surely you can get it all done. (And then you can have that cup of tea!)

Of course, you can't. Not only can't you get it all done, but chances are you'll reach the end of the day exhausted, irritable and angry with yourself. You'll be angry either because you “failed”, or because you recognise (too late!) that you set yourself up for failure - or both. Either way, of course, you're in a no-win, all-lose position. Not fun, and not necessary, either.

Fortunately for me, I stopped and listened to that little voice telling me what trouble I was getting myself into. Not only did I stop and listen, but I actually agreed with it instead of arguing.

Once I recognised the impossibility of what I was expecting of myself, I was able to look at that “need” to get things done. I asked myself one simple question: “What's on fire here?”

In other words, what on that list was going to have real, tangible and serious consequences if it didn't get done? Where on the list were the truly time-sensitive actions that, left uncompleted, would result in a broken promise, an important opportunity lost, a critical step missed in a larger project or stream of events?

Everything else didn't “need” to get done that day. In all probability many of those tasks would be “on fire” later in the week, but right now, that day, they weren't burning. And that meant they could be postponed. With luck and a little concentration (and maybe some delegation!), I would be able to get to them before they went up in flames, but I wasn't going to worry about them that day.

What I found truly fascinating about this process was that it resulted in a very different list of priorities than I would have had if I'd just started with what most appealed to me, or what I thought at first glance were the most urgent tasks. And it was absolutely the right prioritisation.

That question - “What's on fire here?” - has become a big part of my planning process now. While I obviously prefer to get to things before they are in crisis mode, this question ensures that I'm focusing on the real priorities, rather than the things I want to do or think I should do.

So next time you hear that little voice of reality saying you can't possibly complete all the tasks on your “need to do it” list, I challenge you to stop, listen and ask yourself, “What's on fire here?” And then do those things, and postpone the rest.

“A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.”
Robert J. McKain, author, nationality and dates unknown.

© Grace L. Judson

Grace Judson is the founder of and driving force behind Svaha Concepts. Stuck in a “success plateau” and having a hard time figuring out reasons to get out of bed in the morning? For more information or to access free resources (including a free newsletter), be sure to visit Svaha Concepts

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Grace_Judson

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