Dr. Susan Biali

Reading this book has changed my life forever.  Can you imagine that this guy manages to run all his businesses by only checking email (I think it was) once a week??  I’m a slave to email, I start with email first thing in the morning, and then it kind of drags me through the day, like a hostage.  By the end of the day, it’s very rare that I’ve accomplished anything of major significance.  Other than perhaps answering a record number of emails.

I’ve had a hard time keeping my blog up to date, as it tends to be a “non-urgent” type of priority, and gets shoved out by all the “urgent” emails.  According to Ferris, instead of starting our day with email, we should start removing ourselves from its claws by scheduling “email viewings” twice a day, at 12 and 4 pm (with the goal of eventually viewing it much less frequently still).

And, any time you’re doing something, you should ask yourself this: “AM I BEING PRODUCTIVE, OR JUST ACTIVE?”  Another way he phrases this is this: “AM I INVENTING THINGS TO DO TO AVOID THE IMPORTANT?”

He says that each day, we should have one or two major things (which are important to our future, and the life that we are creating; they may be things that produce income, or move us towards a dream) that we need to accomplish, each day.  And, ideally, we should accomplish them by 11 am, so we don’t try to procrastinate them by announcing “uh oh, time for lunch!”  We need to focus on these tasks, with absolutely no interruptions (take the beeping noise off your inbox – I’m notorious for checking email every few minutes, when I’m working on another project).

Today, my goal was to 1) finish reviewing and adding comments to my book contract, and send it off to my publisher and 2) to write this blog!  I have never, ever, written a blog in the middle of the day.  Which is ridiculous, as my blog is actually a very important part of what I do, it’s such a great way to keep in touch with you – and I’ve been failing you!

It’s 11:14 am, and I will now have accomplished both.  And haven’t checked my email (ok, I peeked, but only opened and answered a couple! That’s major progress!).

What things do you do all day that keep you busy, and make you feel like life is screaming past you like a bullet train?  What can you stop doing?  What should you really be doing, instead?  I’m so excited by this, rather than having this weight on my shoulder about the important things I should be doing, I WILL be doing them!  What a relief!

Dr. Susan Biali, MD is an internationally recognized wellness expert, life coach, speaker, author and flamenco dancer, dedicated to helping people live their dreams and create better balance, health and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Biali speaks internationally, and her opinions and advice on health and life appear regularly in print, radio, and television media across North America.  An expert for HealthyCanada.com and HealthyOntario.com, she writes three nationally published columns on wellness, nutrition and life balance.  Dr.Biali is the author of the upcoming book Your Prescription for Life! Seven Steps to Extraordinary Health & Happiness.  www.susanbiali.com

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Comments (2)

14-01-2009 05:06

President, Prescient Digital Media

Great article, Susan! I like the practical schedule examples. 
 
BTW I just listened to the WSRadio interview... you really have a great story there. I'd love to see a feature from you on battling depression without drugs and relating your own experience... it's a fantastic story!

Written by Toby Ward

14-01-2009 05:23

wsradio and healthycanada.com

Hi Toby - thanks so much! And I'm glad you liked the wsradio interview (for those who don't know what Toby's referring to, you can listen to the interview by going to the blue box on the top lefthand side of my blog home page). I will write more about my experiences with depression in the future, I've always thought many people could benefit by "experts" speaking more openly about their personal experiences. 
By the way, I often mention in my bios that I'm an expert for www.healthycanada.com - Toby's the "brain" behind that website, check it out for lots of great health and wellness information! 
Susan

Written by Dr. Susan Biali

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