Reader Views is pleased to have with us, Pamela Dodd, author of “The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques: How to get more done without driving yourself crazy.”

Hello Pamela.

Irene: What inspiration did you have to write this book?

Pamela: My coauthor is an executive coach in New York City. The average compensation of his clients tops $500,000 a year. Without exception, time management is a sticky issue they all face. We wanted to recommend a good, easy time management book for them to read, but we couldn’t find one. So we wrote our own, condensing the best information from the top 20 time management books on Amazon based on customer reviews.

Irene: You co-authored with Doug Sundheim, your consulting partner. Give us some insight on co-authoring a book.

Pamela: Like anything else, co-authoring takes good planning. Who has the most energy around the book and is willing to take the lead? How will the work be divided up? What skills does each author bring to the table? What are realistic deadlines to set? As the old saying goes, without planning our work and then working our plan, the book wouldn’t have been written.

Irene: You suggest keeping track of “everything” that one does from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. That is a big commitment to make. Do you have any tips of how to ease into this exercise without feeling pressured for time?

Pamela: Most of us have no idea how much time we spend on things in a day. So it’s hard to begin to figure out how to manage time better if we continue spending too much time on nonproductive activities.

Keeping a Time Log is a big commitment, with an even bigger payoff. The key is simply to find a method that is compatible with your work style and use it for one week. Carrying a small notebook is perhaps the best way. Every 5 to 10 minutes, jot down what you’re doing, even if it’s just daydreaming. The first day is the hardest. Take it a day-at-a-time, if you wish. However, you’ll need a week to get sufficient data to see where your time is going.

An added bonus - you may never need to keep a Time Log again, but you’ll have exercised your time management radar so you can naturally, almost automatically stop wasting time and start using it productively, every day.

Irene: I like that you suggest writing a vision statement, including the realistic as well as the inspirational aspect and then share it with someone. Who do you suggest that “someone” should be?

Pamela: At a minimum, your vision statement should be shared with family, friends, and your closest business associates. The more you share your vision with others, the more it comes alive. You feel increasingly more comfortable choosing to do those things that align with your vision and dropping those things that don’t. Paradoxically, life gets easier as you accomplish more.

Irene: In the book you suggest many tools for keeping oneself organized by using a tickler file. Would you give us a brief description of what a tickler file is and how one can use it with the most benefit.

Pamela: If you’re an active person, you’ve got lots to do. But you obviously can’t do it all at once or all at the same time. So you need to organize yourself in the best way to be doing things when they need to be done.

A tickler file allows you to store things so they show up when you need them. That way they aren’t cluttering up your desk and your mind. Instead of adding a to-do to a pile, where it can easily get buried and forgotten until it’s too late, you file it in a nearby folder. Most people use monthly and daily folders. Need to do something next month? Put it in that folder. The first of that month, go through the folder and reassign items to the folder of the day (or week) you’ll do it. That day (or week), pull the folder out and do it!!

If you’ve never used a tickler file, it takes a while to get into the habit of using it. But when you do, you’ll get more done, worry less, and have far fewer things that fall though the cracks.

Irene: You suggest setting up interviews with several people that know you well. Would you tell our reading audience the purpose for these interviews and what one would ask.

Pamela: Most of us operate on little or no feedback about how we affect others. Formal performance appraisals, done by only one person, usually don’t give us sufficient information to know what we’re doing well and what we may need to change.

Setting up your own informal face-to-face or telephone interviews is a great way to learn more about yourself. (Email is NOT a good medium for these kinds of interviews).

The idea is to ask several people who know you well about yourself and then just listen to what they have to say. You might ask: What am I really good at? What do I need to improve? What’s my best-kept secret? What can/can’t you count on me for?

Interviewers are usually surprised at what others see in them that they don’t see.

Irene: What are your own personal time management tools that work best for you and why?

Pamela: As organized as I thought I was, I wasn’t very good at planning and prioritizing. I used to jump into doing things without careful thought. Now my best tools are (1) a personal organizer I use faithfully and carry with me everywhere, (2) a tickler file, (3) ABC priority lists, which I keep digitally so I can edit them as I finish things and new things pop up, and (4) close-at-hand Action files so my current projects have a folder home and don’t reside as piles on my desk, shelves, or floor. Now there’s nothing more rewarding to me than a clean desk!

Irene: Of all the tools that you present in the book, what would you say is the most productive?

Pamela: I particularly like the suggestions in the Prioritize chapter. Priorities are the bridge from our goals to our accomplishments. Yet most of us don’t have good systems for choosing our priorities. Making lists, using the ABC system, following the 80/20 rule, and asking yourself key questions as you work all help you use time more wisely.

Irene: Thank you Pamela for you time. Is there anything else you would like to add for our reading audience?

Pamela:

• We want your readers to be part of the 1,000,000 hours of improved productivity produced in 2006.

• We truly believe that our book can help them get more done in less time - without driving themselves crazy!

• We’re willing to back this claim up. If they buy the book and for any reason whatsoever aren’t more productive after reading it, they can simply send it back to us with their purchase receipt and we’ll personally refund the cost of the book to them with no questions asked. That’s how confident we are of what we wrote.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, an online book review service. She is also the author of her memoir “The Sitting Swing” and designs/facilitates workshops and retreats from her office in Austin, TX.
http://www.readerviews.com

http://www.irenewatson.com

Violet the Pilot in Hawaii is the third book of a children’s
series written by author Bettina Bathe. One of the very first
striking aspects of this book is the illustrator’s use of bright
colored fish and birds, a flowery helicopter, tropical scenery
and agriculture within the Hawaiian Island region. The
illustrations by Barbara Fortin
(www.bellocchioillustration.com) also reveal lush forest and
wildlife scenes including a myriad of creatures that dwell in
the waters surrounding the islands.

This adventure begins when two Hawaiian youth, Kimo and
Malia, request a scenic tour ride in Violet’s purple helicopter.
As always, safety comes first for Violet, and they spend a
few moments discussing air currents and looking at maps
before starting out.

Violet and her passengers are accompanied by as they fly
above tropical forests, a beautiful waterfall, interesting
volcanoes and agricultural fields. The adventure is
interrupted when they are called upon to help rescue a baby
whale. Thanks to Violet’s confident pilot skills and her loyal
animal and insect friends, the frightened whale is returned
to her pod. These unlikely heroes arrive to their destination
safely and celebrate with a Luau and a feast. This is no
ordinary feast - the table is laden with all kinds of Hawaiian
foods. And later, they are entertained by Hula Dancers and
Violet plays her Ukulele.

The author incorporates real life terms in her books, yet she
is able to explain things in a way that young people can
clearly understand. The last page has an illustration with all
three of the flags from the countries Violet has worked in so
far. These could be excellent teaching and memory tools for
the reader to use with children. However, Violet the Pilot in
Hawaii offers more than entertainment and education - the
author has also dedicated a portion of the sales of this book
to the Canadian Red Cross. Additionally, Bettina’s website
(www.violetthepilot.com) offers contests and awards for
young readers for her young readers to enjoy.

ISBN#: 0-9738290-1-X

Author: Bettina Bathe

Illustrator: Barbara Fortin

Publisher: Violet the Pilot Enterprises, Inc.

Published: January 2006

Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book
Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her
impact on the environment - Author of Towards
Understanding, a collection of poetry.
(http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Live sports gambling webpages are modulated through 3 administrations. These are called OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association (the FTGA). bet custom sports

The OSGA is an unbiased institute which supervises the modern offshore betting industry, their objective is to afford gamers access to easily distinguish worthy websites to play gambling games with. It works to preserve customer’s rights, additionally they do not impose any membership charges. The association is a proficient and nonpartisan third party affiliation who formulate unbiased points of view, based around your responses, independent research, phone calls, tips also offers inside news.

The Interactive Gaming Council is a nonprofit council. The administration was founded to allow an arena for involved individuals to discuss problems and in addition to encourage progress in the field of collective interests in the worldwide interactive sports gaming trade, in an effort to establish upright not to mention level-headed industry codes and forms which strive to enhance consumer confidence in internet based betting products and utilities, and in addition to assist as the sports gambling trade’s universal practise adviser and the Interactive Gaming Council provides a data hub.

The IGC have built a name for developing honesty, fairness and credibility by reason of its strict industry ethics, and also its appeal to honest concerns. The IGC regularises offshore gambling through advocating a specific ten-point code of practise and in addition bills betting internet sites license fees for displaying the council’s logo. Disgruntled gamers can additionally disclose any of their disagreements to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association has been founded in an effort to present a benchmark which will upgrade the criteria of on-line gambling internet sites. The Interactive Gaming Council understand that by partnering entirely with respectable web sites, they can found an affiliation of the fairest and most proficient overseas betting companies internationally. So, in brief there are establishments that coordinate the conduct practised by internet based sports gaming and which should serve to take the edge off most of the concerns due to the insecurity experienced by skeptics. Machine-accessible sports gambling websites are now consistently free from pitfalls, in as much as personal details should not be demanded also the returns and the odds should be equivalent to common Vegas-style stake. They wipe out traveling time, but keep the character of a regular Vegas style betting internet site, however nowadays you may game in the comfort of your own home.

The process of arriving at a structured settlement is through negotiations concerning the value of the annuity and payment schedule. The process involves primarily a claimant and the life insurance company; if the structured settlement annuity is related to litigation, it will involve the defendant as well.

As per the process, the defendant agrees as per a contractual agreement to pay the claimant sums of money on a periodic basis and in exchange the claimant drops his litigation. The defendant directs a third party/assignee to execute the annuities on its behalf and provides it with funds necessary to do so. An annuity contract is purchased by the assignee and is used for fulfilling the periodic payment obligations.

Individuals who are in the process of obtaining a structured settlement annuity can avail the services of a broker who can help them with the best deal available with respect to their circumstances.

Structured settlements are popular because of the benefits that they offer. These include a tax-free payment stream over a period of time and a guarantee of payment. Other investment alternatives such as stocks and real estate may offer better returns but do not provide the guarantee and security offered by structured settlements. These settlements are regulated by state and federal laws that need to be observed. These laws may require compulsory legal opinion in a structured settlement transaction.

Structured settlement firms manage the paperwork of a structured settlement annuity. The documents include the Settlement Agreement and Release, court orders, assignment agreement, and the annuity contract. The defendant should ensure that he fulfills all conditions for the annuity to remain tax-free for the duration of the settlement. In order to protect the tax-free status of a structured settlement annuity, it is also important to ensure that once the structured settlement annuity has been agreed upon by the concerned parties, it should not be altered. The payments from a structured settlement can also be made to an estate, in such a case, they are free from income tax but estate tax is levied. The closing of a structured settlement can take three to six months. An individual starts receiving payments thirty to forty-five days after getting the court order.

George Hostetler recommends Structured Settlements Guide for more information on structured settlement annuity options.

The major causes of back injuries are work related and accidents involving one or more vehicles. Strenuous activities including bending, twisting, heavy lifting or standing/sitting in one position are also reasons for back injuries. Back injury settlement amounts are decided on the basis of fault, extent of injury, wages lost and predicted duration for recovery.

The back is a complicated system of muscles, ligaments, bones and nerves. When injured, damages can be severe and traumatic. Automobile accidents can cause severe injuries to the thorax, cervix and lumbar regions of the back. When damage is caused to the soft spinal tissue, it can be fatal. Recovery for survivors is slow and painful.

The damages awarded to victims depend on the extent of injuries and the age and physical health of victim prior to the accident. In the workplace, people often sustain injuries involving lifting and twisting. These injuries include slipped discs and torn ligaments. Employees of laundry and food delivery services, courier companies, postal delivery services, hospital nurses and lumber mills workers are at are particularly susceptible because their work involves a lot of lifting heavy loads and other kinds of strenuous activity. An employee can be held responsible for a personal injury settlement if it is proven that the plaintiff works in stressful conditions arising from shortage of staff, heavy workload, extended periods of overtime, etc.

Minor back pain injuries heal quickly, within a few days of bed rest. But severe injuries, especially injuries to the spinal cord, cause disability, pain and mental trauma. Treatment is expensive, often needing extensive hospitalization, surgery, medication and therapy. Keeping this in mind, it is not unusual to see a personal injury settlement award for as much as $1 million for a first time back injury, if there was no pre-existing problem with the back.

Back injuries that seem minor can become critical over time, so it always best to consider taking the advice of a personal injury settlement attorney before settling.

Injury Settlements provides detailed information about injury settlements, burn injury settlements, hydrocodone injury settlements and more. Injury Settlements is affiliated with Debt Settlements.

If you have been unfortunate enough to be a victim of an injury or accident, you can claim your injury settlement to be paid to you as lump sum amount or in installments distributed over a period of time. The best thing for you to do is to consult a personal injury attorney to decide upon which option you choose.

One parameter for deciding between the two is the level of injury inflicted. If the injury is minor, the best thing to do is to opt for a lump sum amount. But, if the injury is serious in nature and requires treatment with considerable medical expenses, it is better to opt for the increasingly popular structured settlement. Most structured settlements come are paid as annuities sold by third parties, usually insurance agencies.

The benefit of taking structured settlements is they are tax free both at the state and federal level. When compared to taking a lump sum, you will find that while the sum is tax free, the income accrued from its investment-interest and dividends is not. With structured payments, the principal and any money earned from it is tax-free.

Structured settlements, though risk free come with a flip side. Once you sign on the dotted line, you cannot change your decision. You cannot change either the amount or frequency of payment, and the payment schedule is not flexible.

Also keep in mind that structured settlements do have a certain amount of risk involved with them. The best way to cushion the risk factors is that you must place the installments in protective accounts like custodial accounts.

Settlements provides detailed information about settlements, debt settlements, injury settlements and more. Settlements is affiliated with Personal Injury Settlements.

Almost everyone deals with fiscal disaster at one point in their existence. Because of this, unpaid obligations will likely creep up. Families can meet these problems because of loss of job, adjustment to marital status, bereavement or just plain bad personal financial supervision. Businesses on average confront this adversity inside the first 2 years of business. To blame for a business failing can span from increased competition, mistakes, loss of important clients to identify some. No matter the reason, unpaid commitments may lead to bankruptcy. , there are bankruptcy alternatives that might save your personal credit report and your business credit.

Financial insolvency can be definable as the inability of a corporation or an individual to satisfy money owed to their creditors. If a corporation files, the defaulter (the company or you) is obligated to let go of all unexempt possessions and property for cut-rate sale. While individual items are held, you have to also subscribe a bound portion of your attained income to the creditors based upon a structured repayment plan. Your TRW scores will be low for a long time, meaning that you will not be in condition to acquire funding for whatever personal or commercial enterprise for a long time.

The head aches and stress made by these undischarged financial indebtedness can be worrying, to state the least, particularly when the idea of registering bankruptcy crawls into your psyche. Within these positions, it is primary to recognize that you have alternatives. It is critical to seek out the alternatives, such as a fiscal consultant who can create a debt liquidation plan for you.

If you are wondering why a financial institute would want to work with you to settle the debt consider that resolution is an alternative for them too. In particular insolvency judgments a bank carrying unsecured paper may receive nothing. Notwithstanding, when a customer makes out a resolution the creditor can at least recover percentage, if not all, of the debt the lenders hold. Think about too that when added the accrual that you paid before along with the past due charges and over limit fees the lenders may have billed, the creditor could be money ahead even prior to the negotiation.

Debt resolution is a good choice for people seeking assistance with overdue payments. When even a solitary monthly installment is forgotten about, nearly all credit lines incur an extremely sizable interest rate that has an impact on the present account balance due. This rate increase will make it a degree more difficult to pay back the total due in the coming months which probably will easily send your debt reeling out of control. Debt settlement will let you to pay your debt with simply a portion of what is owed without destroying your FICO rating for 10 years.

Sports shoes is almost certainly the most key piece of equipment you’ll get so it is necessary that you elect on the proper pair.

A great number of people do not understand that there are big differences in the way in which sports trainers help your feet. It’s not good for your feet if you take part in football or tennis in the identical shoes you wear for running. Find superb deals on ice hockey gear online today.

“Unfortunately, sixty five percent of the England’s recreational men & women put on the wrong shoes for their elected leisure activity,” he says. “Trainers are the most needed piece of sports gear you will ever pay money for and altering what you wear on your feet can avoid injuries.”

Football can put loads of tension on the feet, specially when playing on non-natural surfaces like that of AstroTurf. The boots can also put pressure on your feet, and it is not strange for a footballer to suffer from corns, calluses or damaged, thickened & ingrown toenails. A tremendous, well-fitted pair of shoes is vital and there shouldn’t be any signs of pressure on the foot after a football game or training session.

Racquet sports: It is crucial when playing racquet sports, for example table tennis or squash, to pick & choose shoes explicitly designed for the purpose. These sports activity involve a significant amount of side-to-side movement and running shoes will not provide the demanded solidity. Racquet sport footwear are heavier and more harder than jogging footwear, since their toes are built for stop-&-go action. Comfort is recommended to be your core concern and It’s essential to trade your sports trainers often.

Hill-walking is a good way to commence a gentle fitness regime, whilst the more experienced go for mountain climbing. It is excellent for your cardiovascular health but is lower impact & so comes with reduced risk of injury.

Structured settlements can be bought as an investment or provided as a compensatory payment to an injured party. Hence, these settlements can be used when receiving periodic payments or can sold either by parts or as a full settlement to raise a lump sum.

Structured settlements are usually sold in case of financial emergencies like medical or legal troubles. So the individual interested in buying the structured settlement must consider these even before going in for the settlement. The settlement being offered in the case of a personal injury must be able to cover the cost of the medical expenses as well as the daily requirements of the injured person’s family. It must not be that after receiving the settlement the injured party will have to sell the whole or part of the settlement to take care of such needs.

Attorneys and structured settlement brokers would be the best people to consult before buying a structured settlement. Since the brokers are specialized in this field, they would definitely be very valuable even though the attorney might not be specialized. Different offers available on the market need to be considered first. The brokers can provide details regarding these offers. They must also be in a position to advice on various deals currently available in the market and the best-suited deal for any given circumstance. Brokers also help in selling a structured settlement so they should be able to negotiate with the other party for maximum benefits in the settlement.

People who are looking for periodic payments must look for the most beneficial deal if purchasing the settlement as an investment. This can cover the requisite expenses for a long time if the best kind of structures settlement annuity is bought with the help of a broker.

Structured settlements are the best option for minors till they reach a consenting age and are able to manage huge sums of money. So, such people can invest in structured settlement annuities.

Structured Settlements provides detailed information about structured settlements, cash for structured settlements, sell structured insurance settlements and more. Structured Settlements is affiliated with Lawsuit Loans In Texas.

The cost of life insurance has changed drastically. The coupling of longer life expectancies and lower morbidity tables has resulted in some of the lowest premiums in recent history. It is a fact that seniors are living longer, and insurance costs have been adjusted accordingly. What this means is that many current life insurance polices have become inefficient or outdated when compared to new issues that could be providing larger benefits with less premium. Life settlements are becoming increasing popular as a exit strategy for seniors looking to shift or lapse their coverage.

Life settlements are the transfer of ownership, beneficiary, and all future premium to a third party investor in exchange for a cash settlement. This system provides more that the cash surrender value of whole and universal life policies, but functions no differently than a 1035 exchange. For the seller, the only difference they experience is a much higher dollar amount for ending the coverage. One really exciting prospect with a life settlement is the ability to receive a settlement for a term policy that is going to be lapsed or ended. Term life insurance, normally though of to have no cash value, can be sold for a substantial percentage of the face amount, instead of lapsing the coverage for a total loss.

Most people who are hesitant to look into a life settlement are concerned about the impact on their inheritance. Most people who buy life insurance have other family members or interests in mind while they struggle with the overbearing cost of large life insurance policy. However, the new ease of being reissued a much more manageable policy that will still cover their beneficiaries’ interests, and the possibility of receiving a substantial dollar amount on their current policy to use in enriching their own lives, is why the life settlement industry has doubled in the last three years. Trinity Financial Services can provide more information on how the Life Settlement process works and evaluate on your current insurance situation.

Please contact Troy Kimmel at 1-888-973-8377 or web@trinityfinancialllc.com. Troy is a life settlement broker as well as a licensed insurance agent. He can provide life settlement quotes for both consumers and insurance agents and financial professionals. For more information. Please visit http://www.trinityfinancialllc.com.