as e dey hot Part 2…

ok so this is the concluding part of what we started say 2weeks ago or so here

I guess it is no more hot but the lessons are still timeless and i am sure they will help us all put our lives in better perspective.

Meanwhile have i mentioned enough just how much I have been blessed with the best BEST set of people around me. Yeah there are crappy people too but the amazing ones make them look sooo infinitessimal…

Ok let us get this over with darling… I won’t keep you any longer from it.

6-10 coming  right up…

6. USE TECHNOLOGY; Guys, Social media is not just a tool for social interaction. Facebook and Twitter are a HUGE deal and has many benefits. I used to be a Social media strategist at my former place of work and the benefits to be maximised by them are incredible. Currently I am on a project that is focusing on how the GSM companies in Nigeria use Social media to do business. My girlfriend Chioma Chuka has a Masters from a UK University in Social media. People of God, there are ways to maximise today’s technology that is evolving incredibly. It can make your work and day lighter; Could be Google, could be posting a question tackling you at work or school on Facebook and reading the comments and finding answers, or even tweeting about it. I do that a lot.  It could be checking up a ‘how-to’ video on YouTube. My dear, technology works ooo. Just that most times we let technology use us. Recently I had something official to do in Ghana. And it was urgent and I knew that I would be better off staying in the midst of students if I was to get the information I needed for that Project. I just facebook’ed and tweeted, someone mentioned someone on twitter, I contacted her, asked if I could stay with her and voila, that was it. She is a student in Pentecost University in Accra, and with her help and the other students, I got much achieved. Did I mention that I also didn’t have to lodge at a Hotel and pay too? That was me using the leverage of social media and technology.

This is not even limited to social media. Technology could be a washing machine. A woman may be better off getting one than slaving the whole Saturday washing her kids and husband’s cloths. I hate to wash so the comfort of a washing machine is no more luxury but a necessity. And when I am in school, we have Locals who wash for between 10 and 40box. And they wash well. WELL. Sometimes better than me… hehehe. You provide them with soap and water and voila!!! Now tell me why I would want to spend my weekends washing when I can be studying or swimming. Yes that is not technology but that is me finding leverage and using it. The point is find ways to simplify your life so that you can achieve more. You can listen to an audio book if you are too busy to read. ANYTHING!!! Recently I had to make lapel pins for an association. Gosh I had combed a section of Ibadan looking for it. No show. Either the money was much or the quality was not it. I then tweeted, googled, facebooked and did a BBM broadcast. I got several referrals and a few calls later, all my plans to further comb town ended!!! We communicated via email, he sent me graphics, I corrected, paid into his account, he delivered, end of Story. I did not stress myself. I never made any trip to go and see the guy, nope!!! I saved myself time, energy and money, all thanks to Technology.

I stressed this point. I hope you got it.

7. LOCATE YOUR TIME WASTERS (and #passDmic) I put this after TECHNOLOGY deliberately. That is because as such a technology can be leverage; it can also be a time waster. Facebook can waste your time. You can tweet for 12hours a day or more if you are not careful. Many of us are slaves to technology. Instead of using technology, it uses us. I know my time wasters. TV is a time waster for me. Especially desperate housewives. I can see re-runs die, kai!!!

It also is my sister’s time waster especially Army Wives and CSI. Bb-ing can be a time waster walahi. I won’t dwell on it. You bb guys already understand. Find a way to live a life of balance. What I tend to do is that I give myself a target and then when I achieve it, I spend time with my timewasters. This time, it is legit. You can also choose to allocate time consciously to your timewasters and when that time is up, you leave it. Discipline yourself. There is really a time for EVERYTHING. When you do everything in its time, then you get the best out of the day. Right now the time is past 2 in the afternoon and I have not put on the TV since morning but once for about 10minutes. There has been light ooo but I know that TV is a major timewaster and even though I am on vacation, I still don’t want to be entangled with TV. Did I also mention that I like AfMag and Naija movies and about 3 channels are dedicated to Naija movies and that for me is a HUGE TIME WASTER. Which explains why the TV has been off. Big brother IS A TIME WASTER when you spend all day watching it, especially when it is not your job description to review BBA and get money out of it. Watch the highlights, read up on it online, but to watch it 24/7, my dear I put it to you, is serious TIME WASTING. Over-gisting too and its evil twin, Gossip is also another time waster. Gist for a while and then move on. Now I am not saying I have mastered all my time wasters but I am well on my way to, amen. BBm still wastes my time sometimes, so does tweeting but I am learning daily to discipline myself. Some legitimate activities can also be time wasters; you need wisdom to decipher them. I already mentioned one. Washing is a time waster for me. I can wash but when I have stuff to do, then I #PASSDMIC… If you can cut the UGU and waterleaf in the market for the edikaikong soup, please do, just make sure you wash very well with warm water at home. That would save you one hour cutting leaves at home. If you can get a good house help or maid please do to help around the house, please do.

Now I am NOT promoting laziness, not at all. I am not LAZY. You should know how to do all these but when you can get help to free up your time, please do, Get a driver if you can, that would enable you get work done even in the car and you can even send him on errands too. If you can fly, please fly rather than do a road trip. It saves you time and time is money. My pastor Bunmi always tells us, ‘rich people spend money to save time, poor people spend time to save money’ and he illustrates with the classic example of how some people will trek round the market just to save N50 on some items and then end up spending the whole day in the market. Meanwhile a rich person would even find a way to have it delivered at home while he or she frees up time for more activities that would even bring in more money. it was Ford that said ‘I would rather put 4men to do the work that do the work of 4men’. You see, it is easy. My sister told me this story of some female staff in her Company who pay women to cook and deliver to the office. Married women ooo. They pay others who cook for their family and then they take it home and refrigerate for the week.

She did not really buy the idea though and so she asked why and then they would usually say that they would rather spend that quality time with their husband heating up their relationship than slaving in the kitchen especially if their husbands don’t mind. Now these women are very busy women building their career and all and so don’t have a lot of time. My dear, I might not do that but whatever rocks your boat darling. For them, cooking is a time waster; they would rather play LOVE with their husbands. And NO you are not allowed to judge.

The story is simple, identify and eliminate your daily time wasters. Whatever it may be.

8. MULTI TASK; the old saying still holds true; Kill as many birds as you can with a single stone. We no longer live in a generation where you do only one thing. Don’t get too good at what you do that you can’t do anything else. Specialization can be killing. And trust me your brain has the capacity to multi task. Yes especially for women but men too.

You can be watching your fave TV program and ironing; you can be driving and listening to various messages. You can even be trekking and listening to audio books, on your iPod and all. I love Joyce Meyer and have attended almost all her conferences… I simply bring the conferences to me by downloading the podcasts and listening while I do other stuff. You could drop off the dry-cleaning on your way to church rather than making that sole trip. Don’t just do one thing at a time. Always ask yourself. ‘What else can I do while doing this?’ Then do it.

9. REINVENT YOUR PROCESS; If it is not broken, why fix it? But if it is, get super glue and do some real work on it. You don’t need to be stuck in a rut. There are hardly rules that are set in stone. It could be as simple as waking up and leaving home 15minutes earlier and that could save you almost one hour of traffic. My sister leaves home at 5am. Gets to work before 5.45am. If she leaves at 5;15am, she probably will get to work at 8am, spending all that time in traffic. Now she gets to work, goes to the gym close to her workplace and after her routine dresses up and is in the office fired up to work before or at 8am. Not looking harassed and harried due to traffic in the morning. For me I have also realized that if I don’t leave my room early, no matter how free the day is, especially when I am in school, the rest of the day seems to just be less than productive. When I have a free day, I still try not to sleep in. I still plan to leave and achieve what I want to early. Basically I seize my day early to make the rest of the day productive, I would rather rise at 5am still, have an early day and an early night that start my day at 12noon cos I can afford to stay up late achieving stuff. For some people, taking breakfast makes them really up and going, for some an early breakfast is the bane of their day. It could also be taking a different route to work that would just help to maximize your day. So find and MAKE that minor (or major) adjustment that can make a MAJOR difference.

10. BE ACCOUNTABLE; I am big on this one. When I see people that say ‘I have no mentor, or Pastor, all pastors are thieves bla bla bla, I feel so sorry for them. Everyone has to, of necessity, have someone that you are accountable to. That you have to report to. That would make you make sure that you stick your guns in and do what you are supposed to. All formal Organizations have an accountability system. Even the informal ones. That is because it helps one stay responsible and maximizes productivity. It could be your friend, your Pastor, your Parents, your boss, your colleague, etc. Anyone that can check in with you occasionally to see that your work is done. my Pastors are part of my accountability network

 i love them to the moon and back. and they love me toooooooo

Recently a very senior Lecturer in school did something that blew my mind He told me to write out a plan I had for a certain project I had and give him a copy every week and by the end of the week, we would assess it and see how far I had gone. . I was really charmed. This lecturer had no reason to. Aside from the fact that he knows that I am a brilliant student and he would want for me to remain in the academia, he really did not have to follow up on me like that. Of course I didn’t have the luxury of slacking after that, even if I had plans to. But it really doesn’t have to always be something serious or someone serious. Just find someone that would sit on your head to ensure that you make the best out of your day, week, month, year and by extension, your Life. And the deal is sometimes you even have to chase them because your mentors might be very busy but by all means please stay accountable.

This has been quite a read, yeah? I hope it helps and blesses you as much as it did me. And most importantly, I hope it helps you live a life of balance and get the best out of your day EVERYDAY…

So now about Rev Albert Oduwole. I put up his picture at the start as a way of crediting him. All these I was reminded of in church a few Tuesdays ago at ISOMAL. That was his topic and hearing all this again kinda help me put my life in perspective all over again and I decided that I would take the pains and transcribe the message and then share it with as many people as I can, this time putting in many personal examples and stuff so you can flow. It is too good to be kept to myself and other church members.

You are welcome 🙂

let me leave us all with this thought… Whatever you feed grows…. Feed your faith and starve your doubts… while at it, keep the doubters OUT… Too many negatives around us.

And well its a National holiday my birthday in a few days. i have this blog post i wanna put up on ‘Where my girls at?” but if i dont find the time to put it up, then i will put it up right after my birthday POSTS… i have 5 as in FIVE blogposts coming up daily on my birthday week that is next week. I am so serious about it. It is a birthday special and i am so super duper sure YOU ALL WILL LOVE IT… no demon will stop me from putting them up, i promise. Cos OLUWA IS INVOLVED…. i am so excited about the 5posts… can hardly wait. i have two already queued up waiting for me to hit the PUBLISH button… Yipeeeeee

Cheers and Love people

Your Fab black Sister,

E