Bridges Edition of 4/7/2006

Welcome to Bridges, a monthly newsletter published by Robin Fogel, Executive and Career Coach & Consultant. My goal is that these newsletters include practical information that you can use in your work and in your life. If you enjoyed the newsletter please forward it to your colleagues, friends and family.

If you would like to take advantage of an executive coach, please
email me at robin@coachrobinfogel.com for a complimentary coaching
session or visit my website - www.coachrobinfogel.com

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Happy April. At this time of year when we look for space to file our income tax returns I thought it might be helpful to offer a few tips on handling paper, email and items on your to-do list.

T0-DO LISTS

I constantly hear from clients, colleagues, and friends about how many things they have on their to-do list and that they seldom get to the things that are most important. While I believe that having a to-do list is an effective tool for most of us - I remember reading years ago that Martha Stewart keeps her to-do list in her head - one way to avoid the mile-long list is to have not one, but two lists.

The first is the master list. I think of it as my brain dump. It is an ongoing list of everything that has to be done - for work, personal, volunteer. It becomes the place to capture information, every time you think of something that needs to be done, add it to the master list.

The second list is your daily to-do list. This list is an action plan for what you need to do that day. Now instead of having 67 items, and constantly feeling overwhelmed by everything on it, you have a more manageable plan of things you can accomplish that day.

On a weekly basis (more often if you feel it is necessary) review the master list and move items onto the daily list that need your attention.

What about tasks or projects with multiple steps? If, for example, you need to purchase a new computer for your office, add "purchase new computer" to your master list and then add a first step - such as, "research computers", to the daily to-do list. You've broken the task into manageable parts and added the item to the appropriate list.

Finally, make sure your lists include stuff that is really important - to you personally and also to help you accomplish your business and professional goals - not just stuff "to-do".

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DEALING WITH PAPER, EMAILS & VOICEMAIL

In the book, "Leave the Office Earlier", by Laura Stack, the author writes about a system she calls the "6-D's". She said that each piece of paper, email or voicemail represents a piece of information and there are only six things you can do with that information.

Discard - toss or delete
Delegate - forward or refer to someone else
Do - if you have enough time
Date - put it in the tickler file for when you need to do it, add it to a to-do list
Drawer - file
Deter - stop reports, memos etc you don't need to be copied on

Think of these steps each time you look at an email or piece of paper and use them to create a system for dealing with that daily inflow - and keep it from becoming a river.

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GOOD READS

A few months ago a favorite client recommended the book, "Love is the Killer App", by Tim Sanders. At the time he wrote the book, Mr. Sanders was the Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo. Sander's prescription for business success is to be a "love cat", and share your knowledge, your network and your compassion with others. Once you get past the "love cat" label, his ideas are truly wonderful in a business climate where more attention is paid to the cut- throat than to the nice guys who can make a difference and be successful stories.

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EXECUTIVE COACHING
Any businesses most valued resource is the employees. Executive coaching is designed to support and develop high potential employees. Please call or email me to learn how this service may have application for your business.
http://www.coachrobinfogel.com/business.html

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I appreciate your comments and feedback on this newsletter, please keep them coming. If there is a topic you would like to hear more about let me know.

A FINAL THOUGHT
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - Anonymous

COPYRIGHT: 2006, Robin Fogel & Assoc., LLC. All Rights Reserved. May be distributed and reprinted in its entirety with copyright, subscription instructions, and contact information intact. However, you may not copy it to a website.