Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Mary Ila Ward

A New Take On Time Management

I’ve been asked by a friend to write a post on time management. It seems fitting at the beginning of each year to look at how we manage our time and “resolve” to manage it more appropriately as we begin anew.

But other than this one tidbit of time management advice, I’m not going to write today about time management: How you spend your time should be based on your purpose, and your purpose should be captured in a mission statement to govern how you spend your time.

Instead, in considering time management, I think it is worth reflecting on this quote from Raising Self- Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World by H. Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelsen:

“Studies of successful, healthy people show that they are consistently good finders who see lemonade in lemons and glasses that are half full rather than half empty. Incidentally, such people, who are quick to celebrate any little movement in the right direction, have very few problems with burnout and stress. People who look at what they failed to accomplish during the day, not what they did accomplish, and who go to bed and burn themselves out in stress tend to invalidate themselves and others. We need to be encouraging to ourselves as well as our children, and celebrate our own incremental successes as we go through life.”

So if you want to manage your time wisely, my advice this year: Celebrate your successes, your “little movements in the right direction” and try to do more of it one day at a time. Don’t beat yourself up when you haven’t checked everything off today’s to-do list. Move what hasn’t been accomplished to tomorrow, and go to bed knowing that you did get something accomplished today. My hope is that you celebrate the accomplishments of each day and purposely connect them to something that connects to your personal purpose.

What is the best advice you have received on how to manage your time?

Want some more traditional reading on time management? Here are some recommendations:

Books: Ready Covey: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First

Blogs: Joseph Lalonde’s How to Improve Your Time Management Skills (the comments on this post are also good reads)

January 6, 2014
College Prep Checklist

Have no clue what to do when to prepare for college admissions? You’re not alone. Recently, two parents and their high school senior were in our office seeking our assistance in vetting different college programs. They were shocked to hear that most admission deadlines in order to be considered for scholarships were less than two weeks away. In addition, they had already missed a few early acceptance application process deadlines to schools that were at the top of their list.

Preparation for college can be a daunting process, with many students and their parents caught at the last minute with so much to do and so little time to do it or overwhelmed with all there is to do and how early the process really should start.

We’ve taken dozens of college preparation checklists and compiled them into one list by grade. We hope that this will help you navigate what to do when as you prepare for and make decisions about college.

Horizon Point College Prep Checklist

January 2, 2014
2013 Year In Review

This year, I made my professional and personal goals public in order to demonstrate one effective characteristic of goal setting- going public with them.

So, did going public help? Here’s how this year shook out:

Goal 1. Maximize productivity in the morning.

Result: Accomplished, but room for improvement. I didn’t get up as early as I had planned, and I really owe more credit to this happening to my running accountability partner and my early-bird three year old than I do myself. But, mornings have gone a lot smoother this year.

Goal 2. Grow company revenue by 30% or more in 2013.

Result: Accomplished. Revenue growth was 58% (gross profit), Net Income growth was 38%. We have been so humbled this year by the trust our clients have put in us, and the exciting and fun work we are getting to do!

Goal 3: Cook dinner and sit down as a family to eat at least four times a week.

Result: A complete flop. One, I didn’t track it, so I couldn’t tell you how many times we did or didn’t do it specifically, and two, I know we didn’t come close to doing this. We sat in front of the TV with crap food more than I would like to admit.

Goal 4: Be committed (as I have been the last two years) to one day a week at home with my little boy.

Result: Almost, but not perfect. Stuck to this for the month of September where so many things hit at once work wise. He went to school three of the four Thursdays in September.

Goal 5: Express gratitude to those closest to me.

Result: Accomplished in the sense that I tracked it this year and was more conscious of how I express appreciation to others, particularly those that interact with daily. On average, I sent one handwritten note to a person each week.

Goal 6: No debt except our house by the end of the year.

Result: Accomplished! Accomplishing goal #2 made this happen.

Goal 7: Read 30 books.

Result: Accomplished (just barely). Read 30. See Year End Book Review.

Other year-end review notes:

Our top blog post of 2013: With almost 25,000 hits: 2 Questions for Striving Servant Leaders

December 31, 2013
Horizon Point Holiday!

At Horizon Point, we work to instill hope by creating passion and productivity in the workplace. This holiday season, we wish you all the joy and hope that this time of year can bring.

Card design by Kayla Riggs. To view her work or order products, email her at KRiggs06207@gmail.com or visit:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dibble-Dabble-Designs/247841588572483?ref=hl

Thanks!

December 24, 2013
Help Your Child Create A Pros And Cons List Not A Good And Bad List

Stressed about helping your high school senior pick a college? The acceptance letters have started coming in and you’re not sure what is the best option for them, or you feel like you do, but you’re worried you will be too vocal with your opinion of what you think is best.

Experienced your freshman or sophomore in college leaving to go back to school from the Thanksgiving holiday almost in tears because they hate the classes they are taking and thus their major?

We get calls this time of year from concerned parents seeking help on how to advise their child who have experienced just these things. One mom told us, “I didn’t know what to do. She got in the car to go back to school crying. I had no idea what to tell her.”

In weighing decisions, big or small, it’s always good to make a pros and cons list, not a good and bad list.

You think the smaller, liberal arts school is a better fit for your child instead of the big university, and you are probably right. But if you frame one school as all good and one as all bad, you may wind up in a fight.

Know you can’t afford to send them to the Ivy League school even though the got in because no scholarship money is available? Yet they have been offered a full-ride to the state school? Make a pros and cons list comparing their options including the con that they will have to work to help pay for their top choice school (which, by the way, may not be a con at all- working to pay for ones own education may be a pro).

Think they need to stick it out in physics even though they hate it because it’s a necessary step in fulfilling their dream (or is it your dream?) of being a doctor? Make a pros and cons list surrounding the decision to switch career focus with them instead of telling them to suck it up.

You’ll find that if you help facilitate a pros and cons list, instead of telling them what to do, nine times out of ten they’ll make the best decision on their own and will be more apt to stick with it because they see it as their decision, not yours.

How have you helped your child navigate career and college decisions?

December 19, 2013