1  General

• Always carry Battery jumper cables in your car, Torch, Gaffer Tape, as well as tools
• Always keep your clean sports gear in your car, it can also double as an overnight bag
• Have a firm handshake.
• Look people in the eye.
• Be the first to say hello.
• Use the good silver (ie live now!)
• Return all things you borrow.
• Make new friends, but cherish the old ones.
• Never drink alcoholic drinks when you are thirsty/hungry
• When you realise that you're starting to drink quite a lot of alcohol, break the sequence by drinking water or a cola. You'll notice that your free will will return.
• Everything you have should have a place
• Put everything back in its place (When you need something quickly you will be grateful)
• Respect Paperwork. Deal with paperwork instantly if possible
• (Almost) Never put a trip off because of weather (By time you realise the weather is not too bad, it will be too late)
• A telephone caller will reveal his real purpose with the third item
• You will get better with each job interview, so diary your important interviews at the end
• Always ask a question neutrally, ie never imply an answer. eg ask which country is the biggest coffee producer, NOT is Brazil the biggest coffee producer?
• Communal Work: When you can see that you can't escape say clearing up after a party; jump in first that way you get to choose what job you get, plus you get plenty of Brownie points
• Backup your PC personal documents/images/email addresses to CD/DVD every week
• Share a cup or glass with an adult if you like, but never with a child their illnesses are far more virulent when passed on to an adult
• Spend more time thinking strategically, when lying in bed before getting up, going to sleep, waiting in traffic, when arriving or leaving; plan how/what you are going to do in the next time-period, what you need to do, organise, what you need to prepare to make it happen. This is a habit that gets easier
• Is there somewhere you always pass, pause say your coffee shop? If so mentally put things you need to do on the head of the owner, when you get to the cafe look at him and remember what those things are. Do the reverse of this for tasks you need to do when you get home
• Most of us are not good at obeying ourselves, our education social system is geared to making us very good obeyers of other people's orders bosses, teachers etc. You have to work at obeying yourself!!
• Learn to pick up signals from quieter people (including spouses) who may not always specify their desires forcefully. You will up many more Brownie pints
• Learn to say yes often, be seen as someone who gets things done but always negotiate your advantage
• Like a woodsman, always clear up behind yourself so no-one can tell you were there (just good discipline/keep your friends and colleagues happy)
• Fix those niggly things that very time you walk by you think Ï must tighten that screw, get the batteries, pay that bill". They are draining you!!

2  Why you can't find things You've Mislaid

• Because it's next to something that your eyes jump to ie a photo (think about it!)
• Because your memory of what it looks like is incorrect (often the case)
• How to Find things You've Mislaid
  • Forget the item, just tidy up everything
• Energy: If you have a big important business/social event in the evening you must diary some rest time before, I mean a sportsman would rest before a big match and so should you.

3  Driving

• The new/young driver is at most risk when he thinks he's finally mastered driving.
• If you drive so as to be gentle on your car's engine, brakes and gears you will, almost certainly, also be driving safely
• You become a mature driver the day you realise that the you will not get to your destination significantly later if you resist overtaking at every opportunity
• Keep reversing to an absolute minimum, you cannot see behind properly.

4  Preparing items for a journey (Wonder why you always forget something?)

• In the last minute you (always) will panic this causes some kind of brain failure
• You will then only remember the very obvious big things
• Trick1 : Put things in your suitcase/vehicle as you think of them
• Trick2 : Have a checklist
• Trick3 : Before you drive away, mentally run through your list, AND the activities you will be doing
• Trick4 : Have you left anything in your Computer Drives/Memory Sticks on printer/photocopier

5  Punctuality

• Being late for meetings/transport is at the least extremely stressful
• You are more in danger of being late when you have "plenty of time"
• Remember to add on the 'lost' time it takes from when decide to leave and the time you actually drive away in your car (say 15 minutes)
• Some kind of guilt complex makes you do lots of last minute jobs before the appointment (cut them out)
• You must develop a strategy
• Strategy I : Calculate Journey time and then add at least 30% for hold-ups
• Strategy II : Plan to arrive early enough to have a coffee
• Strategy III : Use your spare time up at the destination (write letters etc) and NOT before you begin your journey
• Strategy IV : Diary the entry 30 minutes early (works)

6  How you lose things (and how not too)!

• When you throw a big object away, make sure you aren't also holding a small object eg a key, pen etc. Your hands will automatically release everything.
• When leaving your train, bus, plan seat always look back
• When leaving a hotel look behind the door
• Always make a last tour of the place you last left
• Have a check list
• Make sure that all your possessions have their own place
• Just always put things back in their right place
• All this may not sound cool, well spending hours looking for things isn't much fun either!!

7  When you are a Newbie

• In the first days of a new job try not to tell colleagues how everything the company does or produces is wrong at best they will think you a fool at worse you will make enemies
• Be aware that any impression you make in the first few days is likely to stick for a long time, so behave wisely