Trellis Coaching - Trellis News Garden Design Newsletter & Attraction Marketing Coaching

Trellis News
The newsletter for Garden Designers

Welcome to this edition of Trellis News, the ezine that aims to help you expand your community and your business.

With several inches of snow, and the ground hard-packed by frost, it has not been a very productive time for anyone attempting to work outside this fortnight. It seems an ideal time to be finishing off all those preparations we promise ourselves we'll make in the quiet periods, before Spring finally arrives and the public turn their attention to their gardens once more.

Letters Page -
Your opportunity to have your say, to ask questions, look for resources.
Computer Software for Job Quotations: In response to Andrew Stanley's request, Jonathan Ford wrote:

I suggest you contact Sam Hassall (tel. 01252 725513). He is a QS specialising in landscape works. Very reliable. He has done a lot of work for Mark Gregory of Landmark as well as working for me. He has developed a computer package for estimating for quotations. He is the compiler of Spons Landscape and External Works Price Book.

Jonathan was not happy with part of the last edition of Trellis News - he wrote:

Why are you using a normally rational considered and useful newsletter to advertise geomancy and superstition? Feng Shui is of course what I am referring to.

My reply, as Editor of Trellis News, was:

I do understand that many people do not believe in Feng Shui. I published the predictions purely as being of interest to those that do subscribe to the concept - in retrospect, I maybe should have added a sentence that made that clear. Interestingly, some of the recent TV advertising put out by Barclays Bank, Norwich Union and Orange were, I'm informed, all designed with Feng Shui principles in mind, and I think I recall a show garden at Hampton Court a few years ago designed around this idea?

So, to Jonathan and anyone else who feels the same, please accept my apologies if I have offended you in any way.

What's your reaction to Jonathan's comment and my reply?
What else would you like to say?
How could your fellow designers help you find the resources you need?

Please email me at for publication in the next edition of Trellis News - due out in a fortnight's time, 20th Feb 2003.

Forget Time Management!
by Annie Meachem

You're probably familiar with the phrase 'Time Management' and the theories connected with it, and yet it's really a misnomer. The phrase implies that somehow you can do something magical with time that lets you fit into your days all the things you want to do, and never end up with backloads of paperwork, washing up, or whatever your particular overload signal is.

And yet no matter what you do, you cannot change the fact that there are exactly 24 hours in each day, some of which you need to spend sleeping and eating, and that no matter how hard you try to 'manage' time, you cannot produce more hours in a day than there are.

So, before you slink off back to bed with a book for the day, (or whatever avoidance strategy you like to use) because there's just so much to do that it all seems impossible, let's look at some thoughts and strategies that might help...

You can't make more time, you can only choose how to use the time you've got -
and you only get to use each minute, each second, once, before it's gone. How important does that make selecting how you wish to use that time, rather than just letting the precious moments slip away virtually unnoticed?

Decide on your priorities in life -
What do you want to achieve this year, in your business and in your personal life? If the world were to end this year, what's important to you that you get done before then? Once you're clear on your priorities, then it's easier to choose how to use your time.

Chunk it down -
Sometimes your priority might seem so large a project that it's just too big to start, and so you don't. The secret, as with all project management, is to break the task down into its component parts, and tackle each small step at a time.

Plan in planning time -
By repeating an action, you can turn it into a habit - so make a habit of spending regular time with your diary and your mental priority list and work out when you want to do certain things. It's important to plan in relaxation time, and time to spend on the important relationships in your life; it's not all about work.

Schedule blocks of time -
If there are activities you never get round to doing, but that you know are important for your personal and professional development, schedule in a block of time in your diary to concentrate on them. Treat this time as an appointment with yourself, and make it just as important as an appointment with a client.

Be realistic about how long activities take -
and that's normally longer than you think they will. Think of a probable time and then double it - that also allows for any unavoidable interruptions, and if you complete your chosen task in less time, that's a bonus.

Also be realistic about whether you're the only person capable of doing everything. How many tasks could you delegate to someone else?

What are you resisting? -
Have you been in the situation where you have six tasks to complete, one of which is really important and you don't want to do it - so you put it off, and do the easy tasks first? But the whole time, the thought of what you've got to do is still lurking at the back of your mind like a dark shadow. By noticing what you're resisting doing, and getting that done first, you'll feel lighter when you're doing the other jobs, and will probably get more done anyway.

Identify your time wasters -
I asked a workshop group to work out how many extra hours per week they would need to get the things done that were important to them and that they weren't doing. I then asked them to work out how many hours a day they could account for, by adding up the time they spent sleeping, working, playing, etc. They discovered there were a lot of unaccounted for hours, which per week, equalled the hours they needed to accomplish their priorities. So, where was the time going? It varied from person to person, but they could all identify their own timewasters. What are yours?

Be prepared to stop doing some activities altogether -
Which of your timewasters could you eliminate totally? How about examining everything you do, and ask yourself how important it really is. If you knew you only had a year or two left to live, would you still do this activity?

Notice the 'stories' you're telling yourself -
Do you tell yourself you're too busy to do what you'ld really like to? That "if only you had more time, then of course you'ld do some more networking, reorganise your office" etc? You then look for evidence to support this belief, a belief which of course lets you off the hook from taking any action to change things. How about deliberately changing your story to one that is more productive, such as "I can plan my time to do the things I want to do".

Get support -
Making changes to the way you think and act is often easier with someone else to support you. So rope in a colleague, friend, partner or coach to encourage you, and be open to accepting any offers of help they give you.

Setting up an "accountability day" is a fun and focused way which really works to help clear away a backlog of chores that you might have hanging over you, like filing and filling in your tax returns. If you'ld like to find out more about this, do feel free to email me for more information.

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."
Goethe (1749-1832)

End piece

I hope this edition of Trellis News has given you some food for thought. if you know of anyone else who might like a copy, please ask them to contact me on .

Coaching can also support you and your business to grow - to find out more, do contact me for an informal chat.

Best Wishes

Annie Meachem

Trellis Coaching
+44 (0) 1243 545010
email

"Supporting Personal & Business Growth"

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Copyright © Annie Meachem 2003/4. Copyright in this document is owned by Annie Meachem. All rights are reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed without the prior written consent of the Copyright owner.