For too long I’ve sat idly by while the good name of procrastination is dragged through the muck. For the sake of getting things done we’re advised to banish, kill, and avoid procrastination without any acknowledgment of the good it’s done.
We owe procrastination. Big time. It’s responsible for our best ideas and busiest hours. Used effectively, procrastination is a powerful motivator and source of inspiration.
Structured Procrastination
Productive procrastination falls into two categories, structured and unstructured. With structured procrastination (via pmarca, via via 43F) you use the desire to avoid an important task as motivation to crank out dozens others. Anything to postpone what you really need to do, right?
Whenever I need to avoid something important, I turn to a few tasks that rarely get the attention they deserve.
Get Organized - There’s no better way to feel productive while avoiding the inevitable than organizing your home or work space. Without procrastination my desk would be perpetually cluttered and the dishes would never get done.
Network - Have a bunch of contacts you should really touch base with but don’t have the time? Procrastination is a great opportunity to politely reply to nonessential email. Taking the time to stay in touch with people pays dividends in the long-run.
Plan Ahead - The only thing better than actually doing something is thinking/talking about doing something. Take the time to identify, record, and schedule all your tasks, obviously leaving the most important for last.
Odds and Ends - Procrastination is the best time to find closure for everything that’s on your mind. Use it as an excuse to investigate and resolve issues that have been nagging you.
Meetings - If you’re not going to be productive, you might as well take other people down with you.
Errands - Need to schedule a dentist appointment? How about that oil change? Procrastination is capable of making the most tedious and trivial errands appealing.
Get Up To Date - Have a bunch of dull reports and memos you should probably read? They’re starting to look a lot more interesting.
Assist Others - If you’re not going to do your own work, you can at least deliver on the help you promised your colleague last week.
Unstructured Procrastination
Structured procrastination is a great way to keep busy, but sometimes that doesn’t cut it. When you’d rather not do anything work related, unstructured procrastination is the way to go. It might seem like laziness, but what’s wrong with that?
Unstructured procrastination is essential for recharging creative energy and allowing the unconscious mind to work on difficult problems. These are 6 productive ways to avoid work completely.
Go to Lunch - You need to eat, might as well do it now so you can’t use it as an excuse later.
Exercise - Same as lunch, with the added benefit of increased alertness.
Take a Walk - A casual walk is a great way to unburden your mind and allow great ideas to come to you.
Relax - If you feel a strong desire to procrastinate, there’s probably a reason behind it. Relax ation is important for a healthy productive lifestyle, why not do it now when you can’t get anything else done?
Come Up With a Great Idea - This one can’t exactly be completed on demand, but studies have shown that entrepreneurs and other creative people tend to get their best ideas during down time.
Read a Good Book - If you’d rather not think for yourself, you might as well absorb the great ideas someone else took the trouble to record.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Return On Investment
Return on investment (ROI) is a term you hear frequently, usually in relation to business and finance. The goal (obviously) is to maximize return on the money you invest. The implications of this concept go much deeper when you start to think of time as your primary investment rather than money. Everything you do is an investment of time. When you watch television, you’re making an investment in entertainment. If you watch a show that sucks, you’ve made a bad investment and receive a poor return for your time.
In many ways time is more valuable than money. You’ll always have the opportunity to make more money, but once time has been spent it’s gone forever. When you think of time as a commodity, and all of your actions as investments, it changes the way you approach every day decisions.
We spend time in many different ways: working, eating, sleep, exercise, entertainment, etc. All of these things are important. When we start investing too heavily in one area and not enough in another we create problems for ourselves. The key is investing our time in a manner that perfectly balances each of these areas and forms a productive and pleasurable life.
Deciding how to invest our time is a formidable task. Unlike business, there are no percentages or spreadsheets to reference. We have to rely on experience and intuition. I’m far from a master at this, but these are a few principals I use to guide my decision making.
1. Look for Multiple Positives
A multiple positive is an activity that generates a positive return in more than one area. These are great for ROI because they multiply returns and incur fewer losses. One of my best multiple positives is working on this website. It’s something that I find extremely entertaining, it contributes to a small (but steadily growing) stream of income, and it develops skills that I’ll be able to use the rest of my life like writing, web design, and networking.
Every individual will have different multiple positives, the important part is finding ones that work for you. A multiple positive for a software developer might be working on open source or a personal project. It can even be as simple as playing basketball, a fun game that’s also great exercise. The key to finding multiple positives is finding areas where different positive actions intersect. If I can find a way to get paid to eat delicious food I’ll be golden.
2. Avoid Multiple Negatives
Multiple negatives are the same as multiple positives, except the complete opposite. These are activities that detract from multiple areas of life. One of my favorite weaknesses is going out drinking. This hurts me in three ways: the time spent isn’t productive, drinks are expensive, and the effect of staying up late and being hungover usually ruins the following day. If I don’t have a good time, this is basically the worst possible scenario.
I’m not saying you should never go out and have a good time. To be happy we need socialization and excitement. My point is that we should always try to minimize the negative impact of our actions. I try to do this by minimizing the amount I drink and only going out when I know it will be enjoyable. Often we get caught in a pattern of poor investment. Over time, the benefits fade away and what remains is mostly negative, but we keep doing it out of habit. This can be avoided by periodically analyzing our behavior. Is it still a good investment, or is it time to make a change?
3. Utilize the Power of Compounding
I’m sure that everyone reading this understands the power of compound interest. When you invest money you earn interest. Then you start earning interest on the money you earned from interest. Over many years this continues to compound and eventually leads to a very large sum of money. The same concept applies to time. If you invest time by working hard when you’re young, you put yourself in a position to succeed that will continue compounding for the rest of your life. If you waste time when you’re young, you can’t make up for it later because you’ve lost the opportunity to utilize the power compounding.
Many people my age fail realize this, in fact I didn’t, or at least I didn’t act on it, until fairly recently. The primary reason is that we’re trapped in the childish mindset. As a child, your only responsibility is entertaining yourself. You needn’t worry about investing your time because Mommy and Daddy are there to take care of you and they’re usually happy as long as you stay out of trouble. These days many young adults ride the childish mindset straight through college. After graduation we’re expected to adopt the adult mindset (and the responsibility of investing our time) instantaneously. A lot of people don’t get it, and every year they waste trying to extend the college days is an opportunity that can never be replaced.
Many people think their time isn’t valuable when they aren’t working, so they throw it away on activities that have a poor return on investment and don’t build for the future. The truth is, no one else is going to consider your time valuable until you do. If you want to acquire the wealth that will provide the freedom to live your ideal lifestyle, start thinking of every decision as an investment. Nothing is insignificant.
One mental model that can help you make better decisions is imagining that your life is a corporation and you’re the only employee. If you were the CEO of John Doe Incorporated, and were obliged to maximize profit on behalf of investors, what would you make yourself do? You’ll find that this sort of analysis simplifies many decisions and increases return on investment.
In many ways time is more valuable than money. You’ll always have the opportunity to make more money, but once time has been spent it’s gone forever. When you think of time as a commodity, and all of your actions as investments, it changes the way you approach every day decisions.
We spend time in many different ways: working, eating, sleep, exercise, entertainment, etc. All of these things are important. When we start investing too heavily in one area and not enough in another we create problems for ourselves. The key is investing our time in a manner that perfectly balances each of these areas and forms a productive and pleasurable life.
Deciding how to invest our time is a formidable task. Unlike business, there are no percentages or spreadsheets to reference. We have to rely on experience and intuition. I’m far from a master at this, but these are a few principals I use to guide my decision making.
1. Look for Multiple Positives
A multiple positive is an activity that generates a positive return in more than one area. These are great for ROI because they multiply returns and incur fewer losses. One of my best multiple positives is working on this website. It’s something that I find extremely entertaining, it contributes to a small (but steadily growing) stream of income, and it develops skills that I’ll be able to use the rest of my life like writing, web design, and networking.
Every individual will have different multiple positives, the important part is finding ones that work for you. A multiple positive for a software developer might be working on open source or a personal project. It can even be as simple as playing basketball, a fun game that’s also great exercise. The key to finding multiple positives is finding areas where different positive actions intersect. If I can find a way to get paid to eat delicious food I’ll be golden.
2. Avoid Multiple Negatives
Multiple negatives are the same as multiple positives, except the complete opposite. These are activities that detract from multiple areas of life. One of my favorite weaknesses is going out drinking. This hurts me in three ways: the time spent isn’t productive, drinks are expensive, and the effect of staying up late and being hungover usually ruins the following day. If I don’t have a good time, this is basically the worst possible scenario.
I’m not saying you should never go out and have a good time. To be happy we need socialization and excitement. My point is that we should always try to minimize the negative impact of our actions. I try to do this by minimizing the amount I drink and only going out when I know it will be enjoyable. Often we get caught in a pattern of poor investment. Over time, the benefits fade away and what remains is mostly negative, but we keep doing it out of habit. This can be avoided by periodically analyzing our behavior. Is it still a good investment, or is it time to make a change?
3. Utilize the Power of Compounding
I’m sure that everyone reading this understands the power of compound interest. When you invest money you earn interest. Then you start earning interest on the money you earned from interest. Over many years this continues to compound and eventually leads to a very large sum of money. The same concept applies to time. If you invest time by working hard when you’re young, you put yourself in a position to succeed that will continue compounding for the rest of your life. If you waste time when you’re young, you can’t make up for it later because you’ve lost the opportunity to utilize the power compounding.
Many people my age fail realize this, in fact I didn’t, or at least I didn’t act on it, until fairly recently. The primary reason is that we’re trapped in the childish mindset. As a child, your only responsibility is entertaining yourself. You needn’t worry about investing your time because Mommy and Daddy are there to take care of you and they’re usually happy as long as you stay out of trouble. These days many young adults ride the childish mindset straight through college. After graduation we’re expected to adopt the adult mindset (and the responsibility of investing our time) instantaneously. A lot of people don’t get it, and every year they waste trying to extend the college days is an opportunity that can never be replaced.
Many people think their time isn’t valuable when they aren’t working, so they throw it away on activities that have a poor return on investment and don’t build for the future. The truth is, no one else is going to consider your time valuable until you do. If you want to acquire the wealth that will provide the freedom to live your ideal lifestyle, start thinking of every decision as an investment. Nothing is insignificant.
One mental model that can help you make better decisions is imagining that your life is a corporation and you’re the only employee. If you were the CEO of John Doe Incorporated, and were obliged to maximize profit on behalf of investors, what would you make yourself do? You’ll find that this sort of analysis simplifies many decisions and increases return on investment.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE MARKET CRASH,
Investors have lost 40%, 50% and more of their investment value in the market crash of the recession 2008. Much of this money was invested in stock funds held in 401(k), 401(k) Roth, IRA, and IRA Roth plans for retirement.
What's an investor to do? How can you avoid huge losses of investment value now and in any future stock crash?
First, you'll need a financial guide. You could pay a financial planner to act as your financial guide, trusting that this person is a competent and honest financial advisor... not just an investment salesman out to earn commissions.
Or, you might start with an approach that is sensible and much cheaper. Learn the finance essentials from a financial guide that is a complete and yet easy to understand investment course.
Get your IRA, IRA Roth, 401(k), 401(k) Roth investment value back up where it belongs. Quit living in fear of a stock crash, and stop worrying about a financial crisis ruining your plans for retirement.
Start your self-help learning adventure now by taking our investor quiz, and take advantage of our free report offer. Then, keep reading for samples of the investor information and finance essentials contained in our new investing resource, Invest Informed.
About Invest Informed
Developed by James K. Leitz, a retired financial planner, this 10-part financial guide is a complete investment course published by Investor Educators LLC in late 2008.
No prior knowledge of investments or investing is required to understand this easy-to-read investing resource. It is designed to inform investors and would-be investors of all ages... to help you keep your plans for retirement alive and on track.
Make the first step by taking the investment quiz below or by registering to receive our free report offered above on the right side of this page.
What's an investor to do? How can you avoid huge losses of investment value now and in any future stock crash?
First, you'll need a financial guide. You could pay a financial planner to act as your financial guide, trusting that this person is a competent and honest financial advisor... not just an investment salesman out to earn commissions.
Or, you might start with an approach that is sensible and much cheaper. Learn the finance essentials from a financial guide that is a complete and yet easy to understand investment course.
Get your IRA, IRA Roth, 401(k), 401(k) Roth investment value back up where it belongs. Quit living in fear of a stock crash, and stop worrying about a financial crisis ruining your plans for retirement.
Start your self-help learning adventure now by taking our investor quiz, and take advantage of our free report offer. Then, keep reading for samples of the investor information and finance essentials contained in our new investing resource, Invest Informed.
About Invest Informed
Developed by James K. Leitz, a retired financial planner, this 10-part financial guide is a complete investment course published by Investor Educators LLC in late 2008.
No prior knowledge of investments or investing is required to understand this easy-to-read investing resource. It is designed to inform investors and would-be investors of all ages... to help you keep your plans for retirement alive and on track.
Make the first step by taking the investment quiz below or by registering to receive our free report offered above on the right side of this page.
Stock Tips For Bargain Hunters
Real value stocks can be a fine investment, offering the investor both generous dividends and rising stock prices in the future. Some stock tips that look like bargains turn out to be losers, not value stocks.
Here's a simple example of a stock tip I was given by a broker years ago. He suggested that a stock, JKL, was a value stock, cheap. I'll give you the numbers, the investment basics, then his reasoning. After that we look at some investing basics as I share some valuable stock tips with you.
JKL was selling at $5, at the bottom of its 12-month trading range ($50 to $5). Dividend yield was 10%, and the P-E ratio was at 6 times earnings. According to the broker, JKL was a value stock, a real bargain if you look at the investment basics. His reasoning follows.
The price of $5 is low, it sold for $50 less than a year ago. You want to buy low and sell high. JKL pays a dividend yield of 10% a year vs. 2% or so for stocks in general. The stock sells at only 6 times earning per share. Since the market in general was selling at 15 times earnings, JKL was a value stock and a bargain.
As a new investor I decided to "wait and see". A few months later all of JKL's numbers changed. The stock was at $1, there was no dividend yield, and no P-E ratio. What happened?
Investment basics like dividend yield and the P-E ratio do not lie, but you must understand what they really tell you. It is important to understand investing basics as well when investing in stocks. In the case of JKL obviously something went wrong in paradise. The to-good-to-be-true numbers would have served as a warning to those who understand investing basics.
Here's an explanation and some stock tips to help you avoid losers like JKL.
A stock selling cheap near its one-year low might look tempting, but more than likely the company is in trouble. The investing basics are this: investors bid down a stock's price when they (on balance) see problems. Investor tip: take a wait and see approach. If and when the stock starts to move up on heavy volume it might be a buying opportunity. Other investors are buying because they see value.
Dividend yield is based on past dividend payments. In other words, you could enjoy a 10% yield in JKL at $5, if they pay the dividend indicated and paid previously. In our example JKL stopped paying dividends because they were having serious financial problems. Look before you leap.
The P-E ratio is derived by simply dividing the stock price per share by the company's earnings per share. It tells you how expensive or cheap a stock's price is in relation to profits or earnings. A low P-E implies that a stock is selling cheap, a bargain. The problem is that earnings per share in the calculation are based on the past 12 months. Future earnings can improve, or they can turn to losses. When JKL was selling at $5, the last 12-month earnings were almost $1 per share.
JKL had fallen to $5 because investors sold the stock in anticipation of poor future earnings. They continued to sell the stock off as JKL reported massive losses. With the stock at $1 there was no P-E ratio, because there was no E, earnings.
Don't get too excited when you see a real low P-E ratio. What looks like a value stock can in reality be a company in trouble. Once again, wait and see what happens to the stock price.
As a final stock tip, don't rush in to buy a stock when it is falling. Stocks fall for a reason. The smart investor pays attention to stock price movements. A stock on the way down is seldom a bargain. That's investing basics.
A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.
Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to
Here's a simple example of a stock tip I was given by a broker years ago. He suggested that a stock, JKL, was a value stock, cheap. I'll give you the numbers, the investment basics, then his reasoning. After that we look at some investing basics as I share some valuable stock tips with you.
JKL was selling at $5, at the bottom of its 12-month trading range ($50 to $5). Dividend yield was 10%, and the P-E ratio was at 6 times earnings. According to the broker, JKL was a value stock, a real bargain if you look at the investment basics. His reasoning follows.
The price of $5 is low, it sold for $50 less than a year ago. You want to buy low and sell high. JKL pays a dividend yield of 10% a year vs. 2% or so for stocks in general. The stock sells at only 6 times earning per share. Since the market in general was selling at 15 times earnings, JKL was a value stock and a bargain.
As a new investor I decided to "wait and see". A few months later all of JKL's numbers changed. The stock was at $1, there was no dividend yield, and no P-E ratio. What happened?
Investment basics like dividend yield and the P-E ratio do not lie, but you must understand what they really tell you. It is important to understand investing basics as well when investing in stocks. In the case of JKL obviously something went wrong in paradise. The to-good-to-be-true numbers would have served as a warning to those who understand investing basics.
Here's an explanation and some stock tips to help you avoid losers like JKL.
A stock selling cheap near its one-year low might look tempting, but more than likely the company is in trouble. The investing basics are this: investors bid down a stock's price when they (on balance) see problems. Investor tip: take a wait and see approach. If and when the stock starts to move up on heavy volume it might be a buying opportunity. Other investors are buying because they see value.
Dividend yield is based on past dividend payments. In other words, you could enjoy a 10% yield in JKL at $5, if they pay the dividend indicated and paid previously. In our example JKL stopped paying dividends because they were having serious financial problems. Look before you leap.
The P-E ratio is derived by simply dividing the stock price per share by the company's earnings per share. It tells you how expensive or cheap a stock's price is in relation to profits or earnings. A low P-E implies that a stock is selling cheap, a bargain. The problem is that earnings per share in the calculation are based on the past 12 months. Future earnings can improve, or they can turn to losses. When JKL was selling at $5, the last 12-month earnings were almost $1 per share.
JKL had fallen to $5 because investors sold the stock in anticipation of poor future earnings. They continued to sell the stock off as JKL reported massive losses. With the stock at $1 there was no P-E ratio, because there was no E, earnings.
Don't get too excited when you see a real low P-E ratio. What looks like a value stock can in reality be a company in trouble. Once again, wait and see what happens to the stock price.
As a final stock tip, don't rush in to buy a stock when it is falling. Stocks fall for a reason. The smart investor pays attention to stock price movements. A stock on the way down is seldom a bargain. That's investing basics.
A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.
Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to
Sit Tight for Some Shocking News About Crashing Markets...
Sit Tight for Some Shocking News About Crashing Markets...
My name is Peter Schultz and I've discovered something amazing about the stock market—something so wild that it goes counter to everything you've been taught. Here it is--You can make more money faster during crashing markets than at any other time!
I know that sounds crazy because when markets are falling everyone is running around screaming about ‘the end of the world’ and how terrible things are. But that doesn’t have to be you, because all that fear in everyone else during a crashing market can easily turn into some of the most incredible profits you’ve ever seen.
The reason is simple—people decide to buy a stock one at a time—but when something spooks the herd they all decide to dump their stock at the exact same moment—it is literally like yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater with everyone frantically rushing for the exits...
Stocks fall much faster than they rise...
When you look at a stock’s chart—or a chart of a major index like the Dow or the Nasdaq—you’ll see stocks gradually climbing higher and then when they do fall it’s like they step off a cliff—they go straight down...
Of course this is terrible news for stock traders because they are all set up to only make money in one direction--when stocks rise—which is why they panic so quickly when stocks start to fall. Because humans are programmed to survive, fear is a much stronger emotion than greed—so the moment stock traders feel the slightest whiff of fear they sell--and sell hard. This phenomenon has always been true in the stock market and will always be true as long as there are emotional human beings trading the markets.
A sudden wave of fear can drive enormous profits straight into your account in a matter of minutes!
Imagine figuring out a way to make windfall size profits every time that happens--and imagine being able to do it automatically. Instead of worrying about market downturns you’d welcome them because you would know that it’s the best time ever to really rack up the profits--and rack them up fast.
There are three secrets to making big money on crashing markets--secrets you can use right now
I want to show you three secrets to taking advantage of crashing markets that you can put to use right away. The trick is to use options but we’ve come up with a way to really take advantage of the upside of options while dramatically limiting the downside—and the amazing thing is how easy it is—once you figure this out you can literally put your trading on autopilot.
The great thing is once you put these three secrets to work you can use them just as easily when stocks are climbing as when they are falling—which means you’ll have a way to make great money in ANY market.
You are going to want to see this information right away because we're finding new opportunities to make money on crashing stocks every day...
My name is Peter Schultz and I've discovered something amazing about the stock market—something so wild that it goes counter to everything you've been taught. Here it is--You can make more money faster during crashing markets than at any other time!
I know that sounds crazy because when markets are falling everyone is running around screaming about ‘the end of the world’ and how terrible things are. But that doesn’t have to be you, because all that fear in everyone else during a crashing market can easily turn into some of the most incredible profits you’ve ever seen.
The reason is simple—people decide to buy a stock one at a time—but when something spooks the herd they all decide to dump their stock at the exact same moment—it is literally like yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater with everyone frantically rushing for the exits...
Stocks fall much faster than they rise...
When you look at a stock’s chart—or a chart of a major index like the Dow or the Nasdaq—you’ll see stocks gradually climbing higher and then when they do fall it’s like they step off a cliff—they go straight down...
Of course this is terrible news for stock traders because they are all set up to only make money in one direction--when stocks rise—which is why they panic so quickly when stocks start to fall. Because humans are programmed to survive, fear is a much stronger emotion than greed—so the moment stock traders feel the slightest whiff of fear they sell--and sell hard. This phenomenon has always been true in the stock market and will always be true as long as there are emotional human beings trading the markets.
A sudden wave of fear can drive enormous profits straight into your account in a matter of minutes!
Imagine figuring out a way to make windfall size profits every time that happens--and imagine being able to do it automatically. Instead of worrying about market downturns you’d welcome them because you would know that it’s the best time ever to really rack up the profits--and rack them up fast.
There are three secrets to making big money on crashing markets--secrets you can use right now
I want to show you three secrets to taking advantage of crashing markets that you can put to use right away. The trick is to use options but we’ve come up with a way to really take advantage of the upside of options while dramatically limiting the downside—and the amazing thing is how easy it is—once you figure this out you can literally put your trading on autopilot.
The great thing is once you put these three secrets to work you can use them just as easily when stocks are climbing as when they are falling—which means you’ll have a way to make great money in ANY market.
You are going to want to see this information right away because we're finding new opportunities to make money on crashing stocks every day...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)