海角大神

Of all of the parenting tactics I鈥檝e tried, nothing has worked better at facilitating good behavior and a trusting bond like floor time. Simply getting down on the floor and playing with your children builds trust and good relationships like nothing else.

Of all of the dieting tactics I鈥檝e tried, nothing has worked better than portion control (coupled with not keeping 鈥渏unk鈥� snacks in the house). The 鈥渟aucer鈥� strategy, in which you eat nothing at a meal except what will fit on a saucer, works like an absolute charm.

Of all of the saving tactics I鈥檝e tried, nothing has worked better than simply automating it. Ordering the bank to simply scrape a small amount from my checking each month and put it in a savings account means I don鈥檛 have to think about it, and that means I won鈥檛 forget about it or talk myself out of it. The money is just there when I need it.

Of all of the time management tactics I鈥檝e tried, nothing has worked better for me than the 鈥渋nbox.鈥� I keep a pocket notebook with me and whenever I think of something I need to do, I fill a whole page describing it (big words over several lines). I toss these pages in my 鈥渋nbox鈥� at home and go through them once or twice a day, making sure each one is dealt with.

When I stick to these singular tactics, I usually succeed. When I go away from them, I fail.

In fact, I鈥檇 say that finding tactics for success in life and money that actually work is well worth investing quite a bit of time.

Why? Because the ones that work make your life flow so much smoother that you quickly make the time and money back.

It鈥檚 worth the time to read through a list of and try out fifteen of them just to find for me.

It鈥檚 worth the time to try every kind of easily-available fresh produce because the more fresh produce I actually like, the easier it is to have a very varied diet while still eating really healthy.

It鈥檚 worth the time to try all sorts of time management tactics because when I find one that shaves ten minutes off of an average day, I鈥檒l make that time back over the long run.

The key to success is investing the time to figure out what really works for you. They might not be the same things that work for me 鈥� in fact, they probably won鈥檛 be.

I鈥檒l close this message with a few challenges.

If you鈥檙e looking to spend less money, spend some time going through this . Identify twenty that might just fit in your life and give them each a genuine shot. You鈥檒l probably find that fifteen of them don鈥檛 fit you. The other five? They鈥檒l be valuable enough that the entire time will be worth it.

If you鈥檙e looking to spend less time, use the same approach with my upcoming series on Getting Things Done, which will be loaded with time management ideas. Read the series carefully. Pick the elements that you think might work for you and give them a genuine shot. The ones that do work will stick and they鈥檒l end up saving you so much time / making you so much more productive that you鈥檒l flip.

Whatever that area in your life is that you want to work on, start trying some tactics. Go on a daily walk. Eat only the food that fits on a saucer. Read a challenging book for an hour a day.

Just try something instead of sitting there wishing it could be better.

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