Are you benefiting from a routine?

Anybody with children knows how important a routine is for them. Ignore their nap time and you’ll have a grouchy kid for the rest of the day. In the past, routines were ridiculed as taking the spontaneity or creativity out of something. These days, more and more people are recognising the benefits of routines.

The benefits have been widely described as:

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Time savers = Life savers?

Do you ever have the feeling that time just flies by? This happened to me this last weekend. It was a fun packed one. An organising job, meeting my friends, playing a decent round of golf and finally having purchased new bedroom curtains. Luckily, I didn’t have to do any of the boring or time consuming activities. I’m very grateful for having found some time saving shortcuts, making my life a lot easier. Here are some of my favourite time savers = life savers:

  • Automate your bills and savings. Set up a direct debit or standing order and have your mortgage/rent, utility, TV and phone bills paid directly. While you’re at it, create a regular transfer on pay day and put however much you can afford to into a savings account.

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Setting boundaries – How far do you let others go? (Part 2)

Last time, I’ve taken through the basics of determining and setting your boundaries. Here are some practical tips for setting boundaries in the office:

  • Do you need to do all these tasks? Often, you may be doing tasks for your colleagues or are working on tasks that can be cancelled or delayed. Start pushing back and don’t take on more favours. Ask whether another 1-hour-long meeting is really necessary or whether a phone call won’t suffice. If your team is already above capacity, does this new project need to be implemented now or can it be postponed by 4 months?

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Here’s to a productive and fruitful week

Today was probably one of my most productive days this month. The UK and the US were off for their public holiday, I had blocked time for a project I procrastinated on for too long (yup, I also have weaknesses), defined achievable steps for an upcoming project with some colleagues and answered the majority of my emails (yeah!). Wow! By the end of the day, I felt ahead of the day and even week.

Want to leave your office with the same feeling of accomplishment and success every day? Feel at the top of the world? Make your purposeful planning and actions thrive you to reach your best? Here are some tips for you to increase your efficiency and productivity:

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The Home Office – Are you still cleaning or already getting things done?

Today was a great day. Starting with a walk around the lake, I’ve attended a very informative seminar about medical benefits in the GCC. The best was finishing my work day from home.

To me, working from home has many advantages: Less interruptions and less distractions, a lot more focus and productivity! Given my various deadlines (who doesn’t have them), it was just what was needed and I was so pleased to close a number of activities off.

To some, working from home is a very different story. The laundry basket is calling your name, you haven’t seen your neighbour for a while, why not catch up and oh, you haven’t decided what to cook for dinner yet. What can you do to treat your home office just like your regular office?

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Work smarter, be more productive

Organised Life and Mind

Organised Life and Mind

168 hours! That’s how much time each of us have per week. The majority of these 168 hours will be spent in bed, hopefully being sound asleep. The second biggest chunk is being taken up by our work. Being in the Middle East, we often face working outside of our normal working hours.  Who doesn’t work with colleagues in Western countries which are 2, 3 or even 8 hours behind our time zone and which have the Monday – Friday working week instead of our Sunday – Thursday working week?

Just like you, I don’t want to spend day and night working. There are too many great things in Dubai (and in life) which I like to experience. Over the years, I’ve been experimenting with different approaches to become more efficient. Here are some tips to help you work smarter and enjoy life more:

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Be aware: Energy vampires

Living in the Middle East, where temperatures can easily reach 45-50C (113-122F) in the summer, the thought of a siesta or afternoon nap to recharge your battery is very appealing. This morning, my colleague Marie was telling me this morning how low her energy levels were. Bang! At 2 am, she was bright awake and couldn’t fall back asleep. I’m sure Marie would have preferred the option for a power nap after lunch.

I can so emphasise with the siesta idea as I’m coming across various energy vampires during my day. This is referring to individuals who are sucking the life out of you. For me, multi-tasking is probably the biggest and more stressful one. Answering a call and simultaneously checking my emails or calculating something in excel don’t work. Every day, there’s a new study released which confirms that multitasking is not leading to increased productivity!

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