Table of Contents
Praise for Cool Time
I am 139 pages into your book and your ideas have put into shape what Ive been trying to improve in my professional life, primarily the organization of my day. My inbox has been empty all week because I am organizing my tasks into workable time slots. My clients regular call-backs are much quicker and there has been a direct increase in prospective business for August because Ive scheduled in keystone prospecting time into my day between 1 and 2pm.... your ideas are making an immediate impact on my daily life, thank you!
Ian Turgeon, Hotel Sales Manager, Fairmont Royal York, Toronto
I took Cool Time home last weekend, and have instituted its principles over the last week, and I LOVE IT! I would love to have Steve Prentice on the show. Is he touring? I have roughly two dozen time management books, and I hate them all. His is the only one Ive ever truly liked and believed in. Its a godsend, and I MUST share it with my viewers.
Bridget Weiss, TV Producer, Edmonton
I very much enjoyed your session and found a number of different things that I feel I can utilize to help me get more efficient and effective as both a worker and manager.
The process of blocking time in my calendar for keystone work as well as the follow-up things (phone, email) really works well for me and for the environment in which I work I love the 55-minute meeting concept and actually spoke to a direct report of mine and asked her to utilize the concepts in a meeting we have coming up next week.
Marina Papadimitrios, Manager, Supply Management, AstraZeneca
I met Steve the weekend of the Great Blackout of 2003. At that time, all of us across North America were still shaking our heads, wondering how we could have been caught without lights or power and with practically no back-up plan.
Steve appeared on my radio show and quickly taught us the Cool Time principles. He was immediately flooded with calls. Listeners wanted to talk to him because he brought such practical advice, common sense and a level head about him. Everything he said made sense! It was an enlightening hour that Ive never forgotten. Steve is now a regular guest on my show.
Steves approach to crisis and everyday living is truly inspiring, rewarding and exciting. Spending time with Steve and his Cool Time concept is like getting permission to stop the stress.
Christina Cherneskey, Talk Show Host, News Talk 1010 CFRB, Toronto
I have been applying the Cool Time principles for a month or so now and have managed to find more time in my days for constructive pursuits and less stress during the evenings. I have recommended your book to my colleagues and associates whenever the challenges of work-life balance or stress management arise.
Walter Robinson, Past Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
FOR : My Family
THANKS TO: Allison Block, Vanni Bronca,
Arnold Gosewich, Nelson Hudes, Dr. Jack Muskat,
Carol Oblak, France Raymond and Roz Usheroff
QUICK REFERENCE
How to:
Always Have Time for Opportunity ..... 73
Become More Productive ..... 65
Control Your Entire Year ..... 209
Deal with Drop-in Visitors ..... 111
Delegate ..... 191
Develop Permanent Habits ..... 184
Eat Better ..... 159
Escape Long Conversations ..... 110
Estimate Task Durations ..... 194
Find Anything in Under a Minute ..... 136
Find Time for Breakfast ..... 169
Get More Sleep ..... 152
Get Some Privacy in a Cubicle ..... 65
Increase Your At-Work Stamina ..... 17
Influence Your Boss ..... 57
Keep To Do Lists Under Control ..... 43
Manage Crises ..... 87
Manage Stress ..... 151
Please Your Callers with Voicemail ..... 121
Prioritize ..... 84
Run Better and Shorter Meetings ..... 93
Say No to Additional Tasks ..... 118
Survive Your E-mail Inbox ..... 129
Survive the Weeks Before and After Your Vacation ..... 162
Tell if Youre a Workaholic ..... 200
Win More Time at Home..... 217
A NOTE ABOUT GENDER: For ease of reading, when referring to people, the text alternates between female and male gender, rather than use his/her and other awkward combinations. Obviously, the examples and techniques in this book apply to everyone, and no slight or bias is intended.
COOL-TIME.COM: The cool-time website is your ongoing source of Time Management tips, ideas, and resources. As a reader of Cool Time I hope you will take time to visit and to contribute your thoughts and ideas.
The website address is: www.cool-time.com
Your username and ID is:
User Name: reader
Password: cooltime
INTRODUCTION
Cool Time refers to the art and science of never breaking a sweat, either mentally or physically, as you go about your day. Cool Time is the end result of the state of mind and attitude brought about by the techniques in this book. Its your investment in excellence.
Working, traveling, and speaking in Cool Time ensures that the highest, most useful faculties of your mind are present and ready. Stress, anger, confusion, and frustration can be controlled by proper planning, anticipation of contingencies, time lines, and constraints, and acknowledging where you are and where youre supposed to be.
Why is this so important? Quite simply, its an edge. Most people just get by. You see them running for buses or getting angrier and angrier while stuck in traffic. You see them eating their lunches at their desks. You see them buying headache and stomach remedies to counteract what stress is doing to their bodies. You see them counting down the days until Friday, when they can finally get some rest. These peopleyour colleagues, clients, and competitorshave the relationship reversed so that stress, anger, confusion, and frustration are front and center on their personal playing field, with clear thought and optimum potential on the sidelines. You will encounter hundreds of examples daily in which people are just hanging on, no longer in control of their own lives. This is no way to exist, and its certainly no way to get ahead. Stress pushes away the ladder of success, leaving the key components undisturbed on the top shelf.
You, however, now have the power to change that by living in Cool Time.
As a person working and living in Cool Time, youll still have to deal with crises, managers, deadlines, and delays. But it is the manner in which you handle them that will be different. Your calm, competent air will be looked up to, will be interpreted by some as charisma or leadership quality, which some people seem to have and others lack. Your mannerisms and mindset, now able to ride the chaos and confusion of the day, will make themselves obvious to others, with a brighter sparkle in your eyes, with body language and posture that displays confidence and ability, with a voice that conveys credibility and authority, and with decisions, ideas, and actions that demonstrate excellence.