Living by the Clock (or How to Keep Time from Killing You)
Hello fellow legonites its been a long long time but i have something to share, from a mail i had from simpleology.com asite i had subscribed to and these are some stuffs that really hit me and i'll like to share.Its by Daniel Markovtz read on on its straight from the source.
By: Daniel Markovitz

jumbo-alarm-clock-detail.jpg
Don't let time management be such a burden. A Japanese manufacturer may have decided to produce the Jumbo Twin Bell Alarm Clock--which stands at about 18 inches, weighs over five pounds, and costs about $91--to poke fun at people who can't keep track of the hours.


Fact: the amount of work you have to do is infinite. Even if you were physically able to work 24 hours a day, everyday, you'd never get to the bottom of your to-do list (or your email inbox). There will always be one more meeting to attend, one more problem to solve, one more email to write.

Fact: the time you have to do this infinite amount of work is quite clearly finite. Whether you work 40, 50, or 110 hours per week, there's a limit to how much you can accomplish each week. Just as there's a physical limit to the throughput on a manufacturing line, and a limit to how many jets can take off from LaGuardia airport each hour, there's a limit to how much work you can do each week.

With that said, I've listed a few tips to help you make the most out of the time you have:

1. Treat your time like your money.

Given this reality, you have to treat your time like you treat your money: as a limited resource that must be budgeted. And just as you first budget money for the essential things in life--food, shelter, Oreos - you've got to budget time for your most important work.

The thing is, you can't properly allocate time to your really important stuff if you only capture your work in a to-do list. A to-do list doesn't capture or display the vital bit of information you need: how long will each task take? And the corollary: how much time do you have available?

If you can't answer the said questions, you can't intelligently decide whether you can afford to spend time redesigning the website, or revamping the product introduction matrix, or doing trust falls and ropes courses at the executive team-building retreat. Until you can see the time required to do X, you can't assess the opportunity cost of doing it. Because when you're doing X, you're quite clearly not doing Y.

So what's the answer? How do you track all your work and ensure that you're getting the right stuff done?


2. Make meetings with yourself.

I call it "living in your calendar." That means taking all the tasks that are on your to-do list, estimating how much time each of those tasks is going to consume, and transferring them to your calendar. Don't forget to leave time to process your email. And leave some empty space (an hour or two) each day to deal with the inevitable crises that crop up. In essence, you're making meetings with yourself to do your work. It doesn't matter what calendar application you use, even an old-school paper calendar, as long as you're diligent about using something.

It's an eye-opening exercise: you'll probably find that it's tough - if not impossible - to find a place for everything. But this is the reality of your life. You've simply used the calendar to paint a true picture of the time commitments you have on your plate. And whether or not you make these commitments visible, they're there. My feeling is that if you're going to be run over by a truck, you might as well get its license plate.

This exercise isn't designed to intimidate you with the amount of stuff you have to do. Making your work visible means that you can better determine whether or not you can (or should) say yes to a new project. And if you do say yes, you can better determine when you realistically might be able to get it done.


3. Learn to say, "No."

I know a lot of you will think, "My company/industry moves too fast. I can't say no to new projects." Or, "There's no way I could tell our CEO that I can't get this done by mid-October." But here's the thing: you can say no. In fact, I'd argue that you have to say no.

The CFO says no when the president wants to renovate the offices or hire new people, and the company can't afford it--that's part of her fiduciary responsibility. You have the same kind of responsibility--you have to set expectations about what can be accomplished with the amount of time you have available.


With these three tips, you can align the time you're spending with your real priorities. Sometimes you get so caught up in the minutiae of your daily work, or continue with well-established routines, that your time and energy is no longer targeted at the right things. Are you spending too much time doing instead of delegating and mentoring? Are you spending too much energy on an underperforming employee or a failing product, and too little time on the people and products that have real growth potential? Making your work visible shows you whether you're investing enough time in the right places--and whether you're doing the right things.

The author is the founder and president of TimeBack Management. As a trainer, he has worked with clients such as Merrill Lynch, American Express and Pfizer. He has written for theWall Street Journal, Industry Week, and theJournal of Accountancy. He is also a regular contributor to theNew York Enterprise Report.

Hello legonites, if you are at home at the moment then i say have a wonderful vacation and i hope your efforts in the exam pays off. Its true that God does not do magic but he'll work things out for you if you care to know.
Yes, i almost forgot, i saw this on the yahoo homepage and you have got to read it. Its for those phone boys and girls and the free-nighters and all the others beware. Read on and you'll hear from me later.Ciao.
Teens who become addicted to their cell phones may be placing their health at risk by compromising their ability to sleep well, a new Swedish study suggests.

The finding was presented Monday at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting, in Baltimore.

"The message is that adolescents who use their cell phones excessively are much more stressed, much more restless, much more fatigued, and have a greater tendency to develop sleep deprivation as a result of their calling habits," said study author Dr. Gaby Bader, an associate professor in the department of clinical neuroscience at Sahlgren's Academy in Goteburg.

Bader said he was "quite surprised" by the strength of the correlation between teen cell phone use and sleep problems. And, he pointed out, the current study is only one part of a broader ongoing effort to assess the impact of numerous forms of technology on adolescent sleep, including computers and handheld e-mail devices.

With respect to cell phones, he and his team focused on the experiences of 21 healthy Swedish boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 20. The teens kept what the authors described as "regular working/studying hours" and were not previously diagnosed with any particular sleep irregularity.

Based on self-reports, participants were divided into two groups: those sending or receiving five calls and/or short text messages (excluding e-mails) a day, and those using their cell phones 15 times or more on a daily basis.

Bader pointed out that while the average number of calls/texts per day hovered between 35 and 40, some of the above-15 call users used their cells with a frequency far more excessively -- approaching, at times, more than 200 calls and/or texts a day. Among all participants, only one reported turning off their cell phone at night, he noted.

All participants were asked to complete lifestyle questionnaires, describing sleep quality as well as self-perceptions regarding depression, anger, and self-esteem. In addition, each kept a sleep diary for one week.

The authors also conducted overnight at-home sleep inspections, as well as two-day cardiac activity assessments.

The researchers observed that the above-15 call group kept more irregular sleeping hours than the lower-use group, had more difficulty falling asleep, more difficulty waking up, and experienced more sleep disruptions.

Heavy cell phone users also consumed more beverages containing stimulants than the minimal phone-user group. This perhaps contributed to the finding that heavy callers also displayed more restlessness, stress, and fatigue than minimal users.

Bader said that among young people, a relatively recent technological innovation like the cell phone has quickly become nearly ubiquitous, giving rise to considerable pressure to keep in touch 24/7. And he suggested that this pressure can develop into an addiction, with serious negative ramifications for adolescent health.

"We see more and more people -- especially the young generation -- who grew up with these kinds of items and gadgets in their hands," Bader said. "And they become dependent on the technology. So, we have to teach young people to be structured. To know when to have the cell phone on, and when to switch it off. To avoid becoming the slave of technology, instead of the master."

Dr. Mary Carskadon, director of sleep and chronobiology research at E.P. Bradley Hospital in Providence, R.I., expressed little surprise with the finding.

"Interpersonal contact is one of the things that's best at keeping us awake," she observed. "And so, a young person receiving cell phone texts or phone calls, when their brain is saying, 'Let me sleep,' is going to have more sleep disturbances. And they are going to be tired and restless, and probably, as a result, going to use more stimulants. And judgment is not always the best in our teenage years. So, that's where I think parental attention to this issue may be useful."
True phones are no more luxury stuff but necessities but man woman boy or girl, it can cost you. IT makes me wanna say it the two-stupid-dog-style, AINT THAT CUTE, BUT ITS WRROONGGGG.

For more on teens and sleep, visit the Kidshealth.org.

Obama a naye pe.

At lats a black American, a Kenyan of origin has ascended the great throne as the flag-bearer or running mate of the Democrats in the great State of America.And what can we do than sing the only chorus of support to give him the 'vim' and morale a man of his integrity should take.
Ye pe Obama
Obama a na ye pe
Se wohwe na se wompe Obama
Embe di ye chi ooo
Na wenim beguase
Ye pe Obama
Obama a na ye pe.
The historic great victory of Obama reminds me of our own politics, that regarding the Student Representative Council (S.R.C).It was also in that election that our Hilary(Joshua Kyeremanteng) the obvious guy to take the throne was defeated when he with the support of his Mugabe-E.C relationship got the vote to run and re-run and re-run again, extending the whole business of voting that our painted fingers became weary of the whole escapade of SRC presidential voting.It brought about the whole Carol stuff like the Iraq and violence issues in America and what was the end a shameful loss.
Obama is our guy and will always be,no more N.P.P influenced presidency- we know courtesy our past vice who is being reprimanded anyway.No more return of the Clintons, we want a change, a black change.God its great being a critic.
I hope and pray that Obama wins and cause a positive change like we hope Alaha would do.
Obama no tension
we are waiting
by the grace of God
Eya e Eya eya ee
Shabo shabo ee dawa dawa.

mfodwo.

Hello everyone, the exam is on again and we are writing before i continue read this;
Human brain is the most
outstanding object in world.
It functions 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
It functions right from the time we are born,
and stop only when we enter the examination hall.
Ha ha ha! i hope your brains don't fail u in the exam or else you'll receive your letter from the Academic Affairs Directorate as a warning but its the last semester so it could be Goodbye and see you no more wishing you a happy university failure life.Maybe you can be Bill Gate after this by making it and we call you back for a doctorate.Don't mind me i had a wicked time yesterday and i am letting out the frustration on you. It'll be fine guys and gals don't worry cos you're in the minority and government is doing much to keep girls in school but if you even leave whats the big deal, some foolish and rich guy will come marry you off.
You know why i didn't write the whole of the last weeks? Chelsea my team, lost in the most dramatic ways ever and i was heartbroken.Everything was right, but for some reason i believe we were not to win.Check out all the efforts, the bars we hit our dominance in the second half and the extras and then when John Terry has outsmarted in his penalty play-out he slips and the ball hits the bar.God that was it and then the day after Ghana loses against Australia but i'm back to form with our win against Libya.
I know we will qualify and then be in the World Cup, geuss what, we could be the first Afraican team to win the cup.Stephen Appiah has to be around then anyway.
School is getting more interesting as you know with the libraries, reading rooms and dining halls all full to capacity.The chewing habits will never end.I'll end with Achebe's proverb
If hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to shoot without missing.Good Luck.

I was browsing the net BBC's World Have Your Say thing and found this which interesting.Here is the topic and some opinions.
A study by US researchers released this week says money is being wasted on strategies which are having little impact.
The finding from the Harvard University's school of public health says condom promotion, HIV testing and vaccine research have had limited success in Africa.
They're advocating instead that encouraging male circumcision and reducing multiple sexual partners should become the cornerstone of prevention.
How do you practice safe sex? Do you think that the methods that have been advocated to reduce infection rates such as condom use and abstinence are working?

partially disagree with the research findings because impact is an impact whether significant or insignificant. So I still endorse the promotion of condom use as a measure of fighting AIDS. However, more attention should be targeted at alcoholic bars because it tends to undermine the use of condom when one is unconscious as a result of alcohol.
If it is true that HIV/AIDS infection is high among the active age group, then alcoholic bars are a good source because intake of among youth is high.

Harvard University it's good: male circumcision and the reduction of multiple sex partners, but the gospel of HIVand AIDS should be included in sermons during Friday and Sunday prayers. most Africans listen to what is preached during prayers. we have to target the religious leaders. when they say there is HIVand AIDS there followers will say Amen.Take the message to the secret socities because a lot of things are happening there that are not discussed in public.

It's 5 minutes or your life
Why take a risk? It always comes from the unexpected. The best solution is precaution. Get married and avoid it all together. Life is precious. African societies outcast people with certain deseases mainly due to ignorance and lack of medications. Even the nearest kin will not accept you once confirmed positive.
Marriage is best remedy and adultery is way to HIV . I would rather be polygamist than been a positive.
Religions misleads discourage preventions alot too

Certainly, huge amounts of resources have been wasted combating HIV/AIDS by the wrong appraoch. This approach has sadly increased sexual awareness amongst very young minds who innocently become victims by satisfying their curiosity and condom circulation has also largely been seen as an unlimited licence to promiscuity. This has largely burgeoned into undeniable increase in sexually transmitted infection, unwanted pregnancies and other related consequencies.
The approach is the problem!

why risk putting your life in between that smallest tiny rubber which can blow up at any single minute just because the capitalists say it is safe. Condom can not be an answer bcoz even when condom is used the user feels deprived of the 'natural exitement'. Again the frequency of a person using condom with one sexual partner is extremely very low. It means by using condom one is fully aware that he/she is taking risk - why risk your life? abstain & test so that u'r conscious is free & do without.
There are a whole lot of things said, what i believe should be done is that you Abstain, after all you have all the rest of your life to fuck, and defuck your wife when you get married why rush.Its like being at school and watching movies always, why not finish and have the rest of it to watching all the movies on the player.

Yeah! hello and a big hi to all legonites and non-legonites. I greet you in the mighty name of the Lord God of Isaac, Jacob and Israel and hope all is well. The semester is fast approaching the end and its about time the various free electives you took in grab 101,202,303 and 404 came to an end.I remember what one guy said of having a course mate( a girl ) as the grabbed one, he said hers was to understand the course which you'll teach her and when examination is approaching you'll be struggling to learn as she revises. Wise up guys and for those who have set a number of sex showdowns as their semester resolution or goal stop it for AIDS is real.'It is enough' courtesy Delong the aspiring S.R.C treasurer.
Well the university had a black-out on Tuesday evening something that we felt we'd escaped for like ages since the last time was during the previous semester.But it was the best anyway for those that thought it was all about learning had a reason to leave their books in their bags and sleep, the stubborn ones AYEKOO!
Coming from the compound house of Sarbah en route the Night Market of the Vandal City, The Basement was open and it was the lucky day for poor diners that day because they had a white candle-lit dinner.Each table had two candles each at a side and the diners had no place to watch but in their eyes, mmhh! so romantic and for no extra fee.
I just hope they don't pray for re-occurence for we the poor ones who had to go to the night market to get some banku and soup had to form long queues since all those who were going to cook rice in their rooms with shito came down to feast.
Foolishness did anyway not cease, i would rather noit go there but we slept in darkness and God the heat was ARRGGHHHH!!!!!
I AM OUT OF HEERRRREEEEE!!!!!!