WorkStyle™ Great 8's
Welcome to our WorkStyle™ Great 8's
Our clients are always looking for more ways to build their WorkStyle™ into every day life. To help make it easier to implement, we have developed these WorkStyle™ Great 8's. If you need to know how to implement WorkStyle™ into an area of your life and you don't see the Great 8 you need, contact us and we will send some ideas your way.
Enjoy!
- 8 Great Trends for Business Building
- 8 Great Reasons To Take The Day Off
- 8 Great Ways to Celebrate Success
- 8 Great Ways to Slowdown
- 8 Great Ways to Unwind
- 8 Great Ways to Salvage your Spending
- 8 Great Ways to Overcome Overwhelm
- 8 Great Ways to Improve your Work Environment
- 8 Great Ways to Succeed in a Down Economy
- 8 Great Ways to Take Responsibility
- 8 Great Ways to Lift your Spirits
- 8 Great Ways to Start the Workday Positively
8 Great Trends for Business Building
- begin with the end in mind
- have boundaries between WHO you are and WHAT you do
- ask for expert help - don't assume!
- plan the year ahead - holidays; family occassions; anniversaries
- plan weekly - define YOUR WorkStyle Week
- live life as an expression of your values
- take your birthday off
- celebrate success - acknowledge achievement
8 Great Reasons To Take The Day Off
- it's your birthday
- you need a mental health day
- you are sick - stay home and get well!
- annual leave - time to recharge the batteries
- celebrate your success in a major way
- go to a special event of someone you love
- be inspired at an art gallery, museum or just look at nature
- have a planning day to set your goals for the year
8 Great Ways to Celebrate Success
- rent a sportscar or motorbike and go for a long drive or ride
- listen to your favorite CD
- play in the park with your kids or someone elses
- take the day off
- encourage your partner to make you a candle lit dinner
- go to the movies or the theatre
- have a massage
- catch up with friends at a cafe
8 Great Ways to Slowdown
- cut down on caffeine, alcohol & sugar
- stop speeding ... with your car, voice and stride
- notice a magical moment every day
- breathe deeply
- arrive 10 minutes early
- laugh, smile ... just have fun
- stop thinking about what's next and focus on what you're doing now
- give conservative deadlines, allow yourself plenty of time
8 Great Ways to Unwind
- have a hot bath with bath salts/aromatherapy
- listen to your favourite music
- talk to a friend
- have a massage, from someone you care about or a trained masseur
- read a book just for fun
- write in your journal
- go for a walk
- play with pets or children (if you don't have any, borrow someone elses!)
8 Great Ways to Salvage your Spending
Do you owe $5,000 on your credit card or know someone who does? Do you only pay the minimum payment each month? You are not alone. The Reserve Bank of Australia estimates that Australians owe over $16 billion on credit cards. Our credit card debt has doubled since 1998!
Many of us fall into the trap of spending too much money on expensive Christmas gifts and use our credit card to finance them. While credit cards are convenient, they are an expensive source of money. Many of us don't realise how expensive. The answer to this quick quiz may surprise you.
If you have $5,000 owing on your credit card and only pay the minimum repayment every month, how long will it take to pay off?
a) 3 years b) 5 years c) 10 years
While you think about it, here are 8 Great Ways to Salvage your Spending.
- set an overall Christmas budget and stick to it
- have an agreement with your family about a limit spent on Christmas presents
- make a list of who you are buying presents for and have an individual budget for each person
- pay for presents using cash or lay-by and not credit cards
- give yourself time to shop - don't rush around at the last minute buying whatever you can get your hands on
- consider a Christmas savings account - even $10 a week will give you $520 by Christmas
- if you use a credit card, plan to have all of the festive season expenses paid off within three months
- don't give Christmas presents - give New Years presents that you buy in the New Year sales
By the way, the answer to the quiz is c) 10 years. And that assumes you don't buy anything else with that credit card for 10 years!
8 Great Ways to Overcome Overwhelm
- believe in yourself and that it is possible to get it all done
- break each 'clump' into simple tasks and write these down
- prioritise and have deadlines for each of the tasks
- do first things first - often these are the ones that involve other people/resources
- get an expert on your side - a coach, mentor or someone who has done it before
- be disciplined and do what you have planned, especially when you don't want to - use your expert to motivate you and keep you on track
- visualise yourself having completed these tasks and imagine how you will feel when you have finished
- celebrate each success along the way
8 Great Ways to Improve your Work Environment
- have your favourite coloured sticky notes
- put your favourite motivational quotes where you can see them
- have some inspirational images (family, holiday destination or a goal) that you can see throughout the day
- have a tidy desk (it is possible!)
- have some plants or flowers nearby
- master your filing
- escape from the air-conditioning - go outside and see the sky or some nature at least once a day
- smile
8 Great ways to Succeed in a Down Economy
- use your contacts to get referrals
- do something different - provide great service your client/customer. How many of your competition do?
- establish a personal relationship with your key clients/customers
- remain 'on course' with your strategies, don't change direction depending on the latest news on the economy
- use any 'slack time' to learn new skills, research a target market or update your business plan
- focus on your personal integrity as people find it attractive
- fisten to motivations tapes and read motivational books to keep you inspired
- to paraphrase Winston Churchill - "Never, never, never give up!"
8 Great ways to Take Responsibility
If you were to fall ill or even die, are your families left with a multitude of decisions to make? Are your wishes and estate affairs organised, leaving them only to celebrate our life? To make it easier for those you love, take the time to put your affairs in order. Here are some simple ways to start or review this process.
- update the list of important contact details (banks, super funds, doctors, dentists) with your Power of Attorney
- update your will: include your preferences for the type of service and how to handle your body (buried, cremated or frozen!)
- update your Advanced Health Directive/Medical Power of Attorney
- review/consolidate your superannuation policies
- review your insurances life, income, TPD, Trauma, Health and so on
- review your financial plans
- create an emergency pile for irreplaceable/important documents in the home
- store other important/irreplacable documents off site (Bank security envelopes/boxes)
8 Great ways to Lift your Spirits
- Call a friend and ask how they are
- Listen to your favourite 'up' music
- Have a long soak in a bath
- Take a walk with nature - in a park, by the beach, near the mountains...
- Play with your own or someone else's children
- Honour your creativity and dance, paint, draw, write, dream...
- Write a gratitude list - an attitude of gratitude is guaranteed to lift your spirits
- Smile!
8 Great ways to Start the Workday Positively
- write morning pages (see The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron)
- instead of reading the paper (usually full of negative news) - use the time to really be with your family, in your
- garden, or play with your pets
- listen to inspirational tapes or CD's in our car or walk/discman
- smile
- say 'hello' to your work colleagues - be enthusiastic
- get up 15 minutes earlier so that you have plenty of time vs rushing around
- meditate
- listen to beautiful music vs talkback radio or breakfast TV
