Hi Cheri, You sure are receiving a pot-pourri of ideas here. I have enjoyed reading the thoughts and ideas of others on this subject very much. I think Jack made a very pertinent point when he said: =============== "I have found that people generally spend too much effort in completing unnecessary work." =============== Two thumbs up from me on that point Jack! I wrote another article about this very thing. You can read it if you want at: http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Being-Busy-Does-Not-Equal-Being-Productive.html I wrote this article after having a conversation with my mother who was lamenting the plight of a close relative. That relative is ALWAYS bemoaning a lack of money. Yet that relative is ALWAYS busy - busy, busy, busy - busy doing junk. Later I will post my method for dealing with people who constantly interrupt us. Best Wishes Gary PS: As before, I figured that it was far more efficient posting that link back to my website than reproducing in full it here.

Hi all, Well, I must say... there is something to this. I started this 6 task idea at work, and the last three days have been more productive than the last three weeks. I was always a "keep it in my head" kinda guy. But something always comes up in my day that takes precedence, and some things get forgot. I have only managed to complete 2 or 3 things from the list each day, but I carry them over, and they get done! It seems so simple... Linda, you'll have to add the $25,000 to my bill! Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Bob

Hi Cheri, You make me smile. Do you fear not being busy? I have experienced the inefficiencies of having too much on the go, but as you said... but am not yet willing to give up on any of them. ..you are not ready for the short list. Hopefully you are being facetious about the 36 hour day. If not, I suggest you get a slow running watch or add another item to your list that says, adjust watch by 12 hours. :-) If it works, please do not nonminate me for POTW. That would cause me to experience an ineffective use of my time since I may feel obliged to reply to many posts. Jack

Hi Gary, I appreciate your support and having read your article, I can relate to what I have gone through in the last 2 years. From your article... - they have difficulty saying "no" to anyone - they have difficulty delegating tasks to others I truly believe that I can consistently avoid the traps you mentioned. My challenge now is to get my wife to avoid the traps so we can gradually prepare for our retirement. But, like Cheri, she is not ready to reduce her To-Do list. :-) I am going through a period of eliminating things to do since I plan on returning to a 8:15AM - 4:30 PM job. My online activities have already started to change but I expect to continue participating in these forums because it has been extremely valuable. So hats off to everyone that contributes to Linda's forums and special thanks to Linda. Jack

Hello Jack, Thanks for your comments. Glad you found my article to be thought provoking. You said: ================= "My challenge now is to get my wife to avoid the traps so we can gradually prepare for our retirement." ================= I think the key to that comment is the word "gradual." That is the key to so many things in life - even the way we put on weight as we grow older. One day you think: "Hmm. I need to lose a bit (or a lot) of weight." What do most people do? Crash diet. Result? Short term improvement then back it all comes. How do you get better at anything? Gradually. I have always advocated that improvement in anything comes with what I call "baby steps." Small increments consistently over a long period of time. What I am talking about here is mind discipline. I could go into a tirade over this. My karate students have had to endure this endlessly over the years. Let me summarise my ideas on this by saying: "Most people's brains are directed by their bodies. An achiever's body is directed by his or her brain." I bolded that because I believe in it so strongly. Sorry if this is sounding like a sermon... it's just that we have hit on some of my favourite subjects here - discipline, time management, self-improvement, achievement. Jack you make another astute observation in your previous post when you said: ================= "You make me smile. Do you fear not being busy?" ================= That was interesting. Indeed some people have to be "everything to everyone." That is why their activity levels are so high and they are always stressed. Like a mother duck coddling after her half dozen ducklings all of whom are darting off in different directions. Can you guys see the picture I am trying to paint? By the way, Cheri, since you prompted a lot of this discussion... I took a look at your website yesterday and found both the layout (Linda's handiwork) and your content (Cheri's effort) quite spectacular. Well done. Another quality site doing its best to balance out the incredible number of awful sites that abound. If we could get rid of everything except sites like yours then the net would be Utopia! Best Wishes Gary