Wasting time with available media

Living in an era where information is at an all-time high is wonderful. No longer do you have to wait until one can purchase the print version of a magazine/newspaper. Even the radio can seem a little slow in getting the information out to you. While there are lots of channels on the television nowadays, they still miss the mark in getting you the content you really want.

We live in a society where media access is virtually in the palm of our hands. We can communicate just about anything from where we are to virtually anywhere in the world within moments.

It happened suddenly, where this access to this widespread array of communication media became available to John Citizen - the man in the street, and without a plan; he's abusing rather than using it to any real benefit. The result is information clutter, where messages containing the same content arrives on your device from multiple sources, and depending on your device it is soon gasping with dying messages that there isn't enough memory to perform basic functions. This is often despite the installation of extra memory which often seems inaccessible.

Whatsapp has made everyone a comedian, news reporter, and preacher; often without credentials. Many people don't validate the information prior to sending it out. Sure there are others, but they are passive, in that information is not targeted to the individual, but is usually posted to one's personal site where others who so desire may visit and read at their discretion.

In days of old, fake news - as it is now deemed, had a purpose. The propaganda issued was to enable entire governments to gain supremacy over others. It was orchestrated and well coordinated. The channels through which the communication would flow seemed to be well designed so that everyone would move on cue.

Nowadays, we waste the opportunities to communicate with any purpose or effectiveness. The messages we send can aptly be described as junk.

When we spend money on the devices, are we so numb to the relevance of expenses that we are disinterested with reclaiming some of the money we have spent? For many of us, our lifestyles have changed since we have our own businesses, run charities, and involved in the organization at levels that our forefathers strove for and we now take for granted.

Before sending out random communication, decide on a theme, a purpose, even a mission. Identify who would rather visit you to get it and who you can send it to that really wants it. There should be a choice to opt in/out by the individual. If they follow you, then they have opted to be in. Decide if the information you're posting is taking you closer to your overall goals, aims, and objectives without annoying others. Remember, DO NOT SPAM!

Hope this helps you in streamlining your online communication. Time is too valuable to waste. You have a powerful medium in your hand, use it wisely.

Take stock and revamp

When you're doing business for any length of time, it's easy for some things to fall through cracks. What do I mean?

• You deviate from your planned/established procedures
• Damaging behaviours creep in, especially when taken for granted that it's a one off experience 
• Your systems are not really systems, only an ad hoc set of behaviours clumped together 

What do you do?

• You will feel overwhelmed
• You will experience the frustration of not truly making progress 
• Stress levels will increase in all facets of your life - you get the picture 

STOP AND TAKE STOCK

• Examine what you're doing and the results you're getting 
• Identify where changes need to be made; get help if you need to
• Make the changes, and then evaluate to see if they're working 

Here's what you'll find

• You may become more organized achieving more in less time
• Your stress levels will decline
• You will feel more in control of what you're doing and what you wish to achieve 
• Ever so slight, you'll start to experience some successes 
• Stopping and taking stock often enough will even result in your becoming a bigger success than you've ever been

Don't take my word for it. Try it for yourselves. You owe it to yourselves, your family, and your business; whatever it may be. Begin to take steps today to improve the quality of your living. 

Glimpses of a Caribbean Office

A typical summer day at the office can look like this. With the chair under the trees and the ever accessible Wi-Fi can make most work days quite productive.

Just seeing vehicular traffic come and go brings the reassurance that business can still be had even in these tight economic times. 

To be truthful, environment is one of the key contributors to creativity. A little distance from the beach and the nice tropical feel and a cool beverage is all that's really needed to make work a dream in the Caribbean. 

Yes, we still experience stress. Later on I'll relieve some of it with a swim of a couple laps. Tomorrow's filled with events of the weekend, including some work. However, it doesn't always feel like the drudgery usually associated with work. 

I'm grateful to be living in one of the world's best systems - Free Enterprise. Where we know "If it is to be, it is up to me".  Thank God we are alive at one of the best times ever. 

Now, I'm going back to work. We'll chat later on.