In his book, Action! Nothing Happens Until Something Moves, strategist Robert Ringer makes the astute statement that action is the key element in how your life plays out. Many times we fall in the trap of inaction because we are bombarded with so many items to take action upon that we either misappropriate or literally forget those that have the biggest impact on our well-being. The focus of this article is on the big impact items that we forget. The simplicity of reminder software may cause you to dismiss its capable role in relieving stress; however, finish this article before you relegate this idea. One business owner, well call him Bob, that I know well is heavily involved in the software business. He deals with tasks ranging from software development, marketing and customer service. In the business world, customer relationship management (CRM) is key machine and follow-up is an essential cog in the CRM machine. Bob has been frustrated with his ability to manage his customer contacts. He was mentioning how he would be inconsistent in his newsletter writing and customer contact. Consequently, his customers were forgetting him and the products they had purchased from him. Bob understands that the customer contact is a big impact item. He also understands that other conflicting low impact items have distracted him from getting the big impact things done. I suggested using reminder software to help him manage his contacts. The following paragraphs explain the implementation. The first step was to create a timeline for touch points. For each touch point date, I advised him to create a reminder entry with the message(s) he wanted to communicate and the contact information for individuals he wanted to reach. Now his mind is brought into focus with the big impact item when the reminder fires. He can drop or refuse the low impact items and execute the big impact items right away while they are fresh on his mind. Bob implemented the reminder process for other big impact items also using this reminder software that is too lengthy for this article. Bob now has effective stress management as a by-product of timely and consistent reminders of the big impact items that are necessary for the health of his business. Bobs stress problems were coming from the fact that he was frustrated that he dropped the ball on his most important activities yet he was working very hard. In the noisy society that we live in today, messages are coming from everywhere demanding your time and attention. You must learn to use technology to help stay focused on what matters most. In Bobs, case it was customer contact management. For you, it may be your childs special events. Find these big impact items in your life and apply reminder software to keep your stress level as low as possible. (c) BHO Technologists |
