I have learned that not all time is the same quality. In times when I am very alert, rested, focused and efficient, I can be three to five times as productive as other times. My goal is to have more of these highly productive hours.

This harkens back to Stephen Covey’s Seventh rule of Highly Effective People – sharpening the saw. The vignette is of a wood cutter who is desperately sawing at a huge tree. A passerby asks the woodcutter why he does not sharpen the saw so he can cut more easily and quickly. The woodcutter replies, I don’t have the time, I have to cut the tree down.

Lately my life has been like that of the wood cutter. I have spent too much time sawing and not enough time sharpening the saw.

So my exercise today is to figure out what things sharpen the saw for me and plan to put those in my days and weeks first. Then allow the wood cutting to take the other time as opposed to the other way around. I call this Reverse Planning. Rather than planning what I have on my to do list and trying to get that done, I plan my down time and deliberately work to get that done.

This exercise is particularly good for highly driven people. Highly driven people tend to feel guilty if they are not working. So good things to put on the list are things that make you feel a bit guilty. Most of what I put on my list are things that I like to do a lot and if left unchecked would likely do too much.

For me, I think the following are my ways of sharpening my saw:

1 – Sleep. I tend not oversleep. I have pushed myself so hard for so long, I am not really sure how much sleep might help me be more productive. I am going to schedule 6-7 hours per night to see if that helps productivity.

2 – Exercise. I become resentful when I push so hard that I do not have time to work out. I will schedule one hour workouts 5 days per week and 2-3 hours once per week. For me this is also tied to sleep. If I push too hard, I end up choosing between sleep and working out. Not good.

3 – I will allow time for a 15-20 minute walk each evening. I find this clears my head.

4 – Tidying and Organizing. I know I like my environment more and am more productive if things are neat. I will schedule an hour per week plus 10 minutes per day on that.

5 – Social time. I will schedule a couple of evenings per week of social time.

6 – Intellectual challenge. I will play bridge, chess or sudoko 5 hours per week. (this tends to be guilt time for me as I enjoy it too much)

7 – Reading for pleasure. I will schedule a few hours to read for pleasure.

My list is not yet complete. I am still working on it. My challenge now is to stick to my reverse time plan and not allow myself to get caught up by the usual daily volume.

Whether you are saving for retirement, a dream home, your child’s college education or other life changing event, it’s important that you plan for it accordingly. This means saving money so that you will have the things that you need, while hopefully being able to enjoy some of the things that you want. Effective financial planning is the key to a wealthy future in more ways than one.

Families who are looking for a long-term investment with competitive rates often look to the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds. In addition to being backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, savings bonds can be purchased for as little as $25.00 meaning they do not require a large investment. Series EE Bonds, which are guaranteed to reach maturity in 20 years, are sold at half their face value, which means you can purchase a $100.00 bond for $50.00. A Series I Bond is sold at face value, but typically earns slightly higher interest than the Series EE Bonds. Investors can earn interest for up to 30 years and will not be required to pay federal income taxes on any interest earned until the bonds reach maturity, or until they are redeemed, whichever occurs first. If the savings bonds are used to pay for qualified higher education, it may be possible to exclude the earnings from federal income taxes altogether. For additional information, investors should consult a financial planner and/or tax advisor. Once you invest in a savings bond, that money will not be accessible for 12 months. Savings bonds that are redeemed prior to five years are subject to a 3-month loss of interest.

A Certificate of Deposit, also known as a CD, is another option for families who are looking to earn interest on their money. Unlike a savings bond, a CD can be used as collateral for a loan. The required investment, however, is larger and typically starts at $1,000.00. The more you invest and the longer you invest it for, the greater the interest rates. A Certificate of Deposit can be redeemed at anytime, but with a preset loss of interest.

These days, more and more employers are offering a 401(k) package as an employment benefit. Some companies will match the amounts contributed by the 401(k) owner, while others will chip in a percentage of the employee’s paycheck. Although accessing retirement savings may seem appealing, it does come with a hefty price if redeemed early. Most experts recommend not touching a retirement account before it’s time in order to avoid stiff penalties and for the purpose of protecting your financial future.

Although some investors use the stock market and even real estate, they are not without considerable risks and often require the guidance of a professional financial planner. When it comes to your future, nothing should be left to chance.

The information contained in this article is designed to be used for reference purposes only. It should not be used as, in place of or in conjunction with professional financial advice and/or recommendations relating to investments and/or savings. For additional information on how to plan for your future or that of your family, consult a financial planner.

Self hypnosis can be just as effective as using a regular hypnotist, so long as you know what to do.

The easiest way to perform self hypnosis is to record your session and play it back to yourself. This means that you can drift into trance without the worry of forgetting your words or any of the other distractions that can cause.

In fact, listening to your own voice as the hypnotist can be one of the most effective forms of hypnosis. After all, you’ve been listening to your own voice for years, so you’re able to cope with your accent and understand what you’re saying to yourself in the script you’re reading.

Find or buy a hypnosis script that you’re comfortable with. You can find plenty of these online for free or cheap and there are hypnosis scripts for near enough every situation you can think of.

The microphone that comes with your laptop or webcam may be sufficient. Experiment and find out. If not, you can get good quality microphones for a handful of dollars from places like eBay or Amazon.

You may want some background music as well to help with the hypnotic experience. If the recording is purely for your own use, you should be able to choose near enough any track from your collection. If you plan on selling the track to others, however, then you will need to use a royalty free track. Again, these can be picked up easily online.

Finally, you will want to mix the music background and your reading of the script together. Whilst Windows does come with some recording software, it’s not particularly good at doing this kind of thing. Instead, search for an audio program called Audacity. It’s available free and is the one of best recording software programs I’ve come across. Use it to mix your final track before you burn it to CD or copy it to your iPod.