Hello everyone, this is Helen Huang @ Organizing, based in Beijing, China. In order to better learn and practice the YiXiaoNeng Time Management System, after finished publishing 100 Chinese articles, I decided to continue writing and publishing a daily English article in another 100 days based on the "YeWuBin Time Management 100 Episodes" audio program. Today is the 178th day.
Today's topic is: Introduction to Tools and the Calendar
Today I will begin to talk about tools. Sharp tools perform good work. We need efficient and sharp tools that improve our use of time.
The biggest difference from one generation of people to the next is not a difference in age, but in the improvement of tools available for use. Tools become obsolete so quickly. Obsolete and useless as improvements are made to the existing tools. The older generation is used to this yet it is more difficult to get them to adopt new habits. This is especially true when trying to get them to learn to use new instruments.
It is important as you advance through the years to ensure that you keep up with modern technology. If the use of the technology, not age, is the primary difference between generations and competitive advantage, then to stay at the forefront of competition and success, you must keep up with changes in technology. This is why I have chosen to begin discussing the important topic of tools and instruments. Utilizing the right tools is the one thing you can do to maximize the output from your investment in the Yixiaoneng class.
Over the past three years, I've taught over 300 Yixiaoneng courses in over 30 cities in China. Do you want to know why it is growing so quickly? The reason is because I have mastered the practice of time management through comprehensive study, implementation, and finally the proper and effective of use of appropriate tools that help me achieve my goals faster than before. Combining theory with practical application through the use of the right tools is the perfect three-part combination to getting results out of this course.
I want to say that I am so thankful for your dedication to listening to the Ximalaya courses, providing feedback and sharing it with others so that more people learn the Yixiaoneng time management method. Currently this Ximalaya course ranks in the top ten courses in all of Ximalaya. The payment portion of the Ximalaya course ranks in the top five for paying content. So, thank you so much for your support.
Before I begin discussing the tools and instruments, I do want to say a couple things about it.
First, I talk about the audio lessons.
Using the audio lessons to explain how to use the tools and software applications is quite a challenge. I am going to do my best. But with the audio channel, rather than video or in-person instruction, I am limited to emphasizing the overall purpose of the tool and a high-level introduction of how to use it. It's your choice buy it or to use it. As you listen to it, you may be a little confused because you don't have it in front of you doing it as I'm doing it. Please understand this and don't be deterred by it.
I don't have any relationship with these applications. The reason why I recommend them is simply because they are what I use and, and because I feel you will receive the same value. I am not receiving money, nor am I receiving credit for sharing these tools with you.
The second thing I want to say is about the Apple company.
In all of the Yixiaoneng classroom course over the past three years, I have asked my students to bring an iPhone to the classes yet I've stated that I have no relationship or partnership with Apple.
It is possible that other phones or technologies could work just as well as the iPhone, but it so happens that of all the tools I tried, the iPhone and other tools I recommend were the best.
I have not had enough time to study all of the other systems, so I take many of my examples from the Apple system. Nevertheless, many of the apps, tools and software that I use don't just exist on Apple devices, so you may be able to use them on your devices even if they are not Apple.
Nevertheless, I must say that my examples and demonstrations will mostly use Apple products. I will do my best to explain which non-Apple platforms the tools I recommend are available on, but I don't use many other applications so I may not know all of them.
I say all of this now because if you feel this content will not be worthwhile to you then I invite you to skip the next ten lessons or so which will cover these topics. I am truly sorry and I hope in the future, to expand these topics to include other devices so that I do not inconvenience you.
I say all of this to ensure that you gain the most value out of this course for your time. I don't benefit personally. I don't benefit at all unless you benefit, so I don't want to waste your time. This is why I truly want to make sure I share this information with you before we begin. You have all the control to make the choice you need. Now having said that, let's continue.
Today, I want to start by sharing a very basic but critical software system--- the Calendar System. That is the calendar on your phone.
How do you use a calendar in your daily life? And specifically in this case, I'm talking about a paper calendar. What are the pros and cons of using a paper calendar over the electronic calendars? Well firstly, the advantage of a paper calendar is it is convenient to write and use. But it is not convenient to carry and it's very easy to lose the paper. The more important thing is it can't record long-term matters, and it can't be stored for long periods of time. At some point you will lose past items either physically or because it will be too difficult to search through.
I use an electronic calendar now. Every cell phone has a calendar on it that is part of its basic operating system. I strongly recommend that you do not download an app that has both combined calendar and list functions. Just use the calendar system that comes with the phone.
I recommend the Apple Calendar System. Why? The best reason is that you can synchronize your calendar to the cloud. The same thing can be done with Google Calendar and other calendar system in the Android system. They might be useful as well, but I haven't studied them. If you prefer them, then please, by all means, do so. They may work just as well!
The key to remember though, is you must use an electronic calendar, and it must have a synchronizing function. In this way, the synchronizing function, it can store items over time and you can share the information with multiple people and across different devices like your tablets and your laptops. So this synchronizing ability is crucial.
What specifically should we put in the calendar? You should collect, schedule and execute matters using the Yixiaoneng Time Management method. Enter tasks that are scheduled with a date and time and then check in with your calendar consistently.
That's all sharing today. Thank you being with me together. Have a wonderful day!