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Personal Productivity

A few days back, we had a brain storming session on personal productivity. Organisational productivity is a subject that may attract more attention than any other in the management field. But what is personal productivity? Does it mean how does one manage his/her time? The answer is yes and no. Yes, time is an important aspect of personal productivity. Rather, it could be so provided your activities are aligned with your goals. And yet it is a lot more. Does it mean one’s achievement towards realization of personal goals? Not just that! Personal goals may change. Personal vision may change. And if one may say so personal mission statement if one ever cares to establish that – that also may change. When we talk of mission statement or vision or an organization, that hardly ever changes. But when we are talking of an individual, the factors that affect a person’s likes and dislikes, desires, drastically change with changing circumstances, or even without these. Accordi

Murphy's Laws

Most would think that Murphy was a pessimist.  His pessimism alone drove him to be a negative thinker.  In the circumstances, it is neither necessary nor prudent to take him or his laws seriously. What does Murphy say?  And what is the implication of his controversial laws? This is what I propose to share with you, today. Murphy's most talked about law is: 'If anything can go wrong it will.' Corollaries are interpreted by many as below: 1. Anything is not as easy as it looks. To me, this is a valid caution.  Often times a task appears a bit too easy.  It is so because we don't all the aspects.  Thereafter the difficulties that we face in completing the task leave us discouraged.  So, if we keep this dictum in mind, we shall be better prepared to do our own job surmounting whatever difficulties come our way. This attitude could be either due to casual conduct or being over optimistic, over confident and taking things for guaranteed.  Hope we all agre

What do you need?

What do you need Now a days, life is full of stress. Stress is the caused by multifarious reasons. Firstly, there is work pressure. This has increased due to the ever increasing competition. Life in the city is also becoming difficult due to distances and slow moving traffic. You take more time in travelling from home and to your work place than you ever did in earlier times.  Pollution is another major factor that saps your energy. On the one side you have less time for your productive work, with reduced energy level you tend to take more time in completing your daily tasks. So time-management becomes another issue. So what should you do? You cannot change the environment, the way the society is moving forward, the social conflicts are increasing. But you can certainly do one thing. Change yourself. Bring about a change in your personality, your perspective, the way you look at things, and the way you solve your daily problems. In order that you successfully do

Self-Confidence

Your confidence depends on how you have been influenced by people around you till now. Be it your parents, your teachers, your friends and others you have been meeting. Some of the influences have created positive impact. ‘Yes, you can do it and you must try’. This motivates you to act even if there is some risk. ‘No, you can’t do it’, ‘it is not for you’ ‘what will others say when you fail’- these are some of the negative thoughts, instilled by people around you, or due to your own brooding. These hold you back. Faith, Fear and Action are three most important ingredients of your self confidence. Today, everyone realizes the importance of self-confidence. Your career, your relations with others, your progress in life or even your reputation- all depend on your self- confidence. Your ability to overcome fears and your determination to take action even in adverse circumstances give it a boost. Anyone who wants to grow in life must develop ability to take some risk. Of

Stretched Goals

Setting Stretched Goals Today I’ll talk to you about the importance of goals in life. Anything that we do in life, we spend our precious time and money must bring about desired results. But often it does not happen. Why? Do we always try to figure out the reasons? If not, then why not? Because our goals are not clear. Because our desire to achieve the results is not so strong. So what should we do? Sit back and think that everything will be alright? Or, that our luck is bad? No! We must clearly define what we want to achieve. Write these clearly on our diary/journal. Make it known to the friends, family members, peers wherever it is necessary. Particularly to our well wishers. When we make our goals known to others, we become more committed. Then, we should create a strong desire within us to achieve our goals. We need to contemplate on these as often as possible. Further, we need to plan how to achieve our goals. Work out the plan and write it down. Spend some t

The Neutral No! - Negotiation Skills

How to win negotiations - The Neutral No. During Negotiations if you don’t agree with your opponent you have a right to say no. But it should be a ‘neutral’ No. What is a neutral No? It is not harsh. There is no anger in it. It is not even apologetic. If you are known to be a nice person, when you have to say No the best thing is to become neutral. It is important to remain on the issue and not allow any digression. It is equally important not to allow your ego to come into the picture. Often times, even when there is a possibility of a solution, it does not materialize simply because of individual egos. By sticking to the issue and remaining neutral you leverage you strengths. There are certain does and don’ts that you must follow while negotiating with difficult people: Your language should remain polite but firm. You should listen actively to what the other person is saying. You should try to assimilate the hidden meaning behind his/her words and strategize yo

Personal Productivity

A day well-spent is a day cherished. We always find some days in our life where we achieve much more; all that has been planned is easily taken care of. At the end of such a day, we actually feel refreshed. There is no sign of the fatigue that bogs us down on days where nothing much has been achieved. So what causes this seemingly strange paradox? The answer lies in our personal productivity.  Personal productivity is the output an individual can achieve given the time he has and the tasks he is supposed to perform. Personal productivity is very satisfying for the inner consciousness. It is a primary source of self-confidence for an individual and boosts his or her moral and raises the self-esteem. It is   the very foundation of success. An individual who is highly productivity on a day-to-day basis achieves a lot at the end of the week, more in a month, much more in a year and so on.  So why do people suffer from lack of personal productivity and remain busy in unp