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9781118982662-ffirs.indd i February 26, 2015 1:20 AM by Dirk Zeller Successful Time Management 2nd Edition  9781118982662-ffirs.indd ii February 26, 2015 1:20 AM Successful Time Management For Dummies®, 2nd edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken , NJ 07030‐5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954667 ISBN: 97‐811‐1898266‐2 ISBN 97‐811‐1898267‐9 (ePub); ISBN 97‐811‐1898268‐6 (PDF) Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  Table of Contents Introduction................................................................. 1 About This Book..............................................................................................1 Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................2 Foolish Assumptions.......................................................................................3 Beyond the Book .............................................................................................3 Where to Go From Here..................................................................................4 Part I: Beginning the Revolution: Simple Steps to Start With ............................................ 5 Chapter 1: The Essence of Good Time Management: Organizing Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Planning in Advance........................................................................................8 Achieving peace of mind.......................................................................8 Activating your subconscious mind....................................................9 The 1,000 percent return ......................................................................9 Assemble all that is needed..................................................................9 Handle everything — just once..........................................................10 Grabbing the Three Keys to Personal Organization .................................11 Stepping back to evaluate...................................................................11 Developing neatness habits................................................................11 Refuse to excuse ..................................................................................12 Chapter 2: Setting Yourself Up for Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Getting to Know Yourself .............................................................................14 Assessing your strengths and weaknesses ......................................14 Naming goals to give you direction...................................................15 Assigning a monetary worth to your time........................................16 Identifying your rhythm to get in the zone.......................................16 Following a System........................................................................................18 Scheduling your time and creating a routine...................................18 Organizing your surroundings ...........................................................18 Overcoming Time‐Management Obstacles ................................................19 Communicating effectively .................................................................20 Circumventing interruptions..............................................................20 Getting procrastination under control..............................................21 Making decisions: Just do it ...............................................................21 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 3 2/25/2015 5:24:21 PM  Successful Time Management For Dummies iv Garnering Support While Establishing Your Boundaries.........................22 Balancing work and time with family and friends ...........................22 Streamlining interactions with co‐workers and customers ...........23 Keeping Motivation High ..............................................................................23 Chapter 3: Linking Time Management to Life Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Understanding Why You Need to Put Your Goals on Paper....................26 Establishing Your Fabulous 50 ....................................................................27 What do you want to have? ................................................................29 What do you want to see?...................................................................29 What do you want to do?....................................................................30 What do you want to give? .................................................................30 Who do you want to become?............................................................31 Labeling and Balancing Your Fabulous 50 .................................................32 Assigning a time frame to each goal..................................................32 Categorizing your goals ......................................................................34 Targeting 12 Goals to Start With..................................................................35 Narrowing down your list...................................................................36 Noting why your top‐12 goals are important to you .......................36 Pinpointing Your Resource Needs ..............................................................37 Accruing funds: A capital idea ...........................................................38 Expanding your knowledge ................................................................38 Honing your skill set............................................................................38 Tapping into human resources..........................................................39 Chapter 4: Putting a Value on Your Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Getting a Good Grip on the Time‐Equals‐Money Concept........................42 Calculating Your Hourly Income .................................................................43 Boosting Your Hourly Value through Your Work Efforts.........................45 Making Value‐Based Time Decisions in Your Personal Life.....................46 Deciding whether to buy time: Chores and responsibilities..........47 Making time‐spending decisions: Leisure activities........................48 Looking at rewards..............................................................................48 Factoring in monetary and time costs ..............................................48 Staying open to experiences and using time wisely........................49 Part II: Establishing a Good System............................. 51 Chapter 5: Focusing Your Efforts, Prioritizing Tasks, and Blocking Your Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Focusing Your Energy with the 80/20 Theory of Everything ...................54 Matching time investment to return .................................................54 The vital 20 percent: Figuring out where to focus your energy at work.........................................................................57 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 4 2/25/2015 5:24:21 PM  v Table of Contents Personal essentials: Channeling efforts in your personal life........58 Getting Down to Specifics: Daily Prioritization..........................................62 Blocking Off Your Time and Plugging in Your To-Do Items .....................64 Step 1: Dividing your day....................................................................65 Step 2: Scheduling your personal activities .....................................66 Step 3: Factoring in your work activities ..........................................67 Step 4: Accounting for weekly self-evaluation and planning time.............................................................................67 Step 5: Building in flex time ................................................................68 Assessing Your Progress and Adjusting Your Plan as Needed ...............69 Surveying your results ........................................................................69 Tweaking your system ........................................................................71 Chapter 6: Efficiently Working from a Home Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Knowing Yourself and Your Environment..................................................73 Is working from home for you? ..........................................................74 Weighing the pros and cons of a home office ..................................75 Defining your space needs..................................................................77 Selecting the Right Equipment.....................................................................78 More than a desk and chair................................................................78 Desktops, laptops, scanners, and other tools..................................79 Managing the lighting and noise........................................................80 Getting the Work Done from Home.............................................................80 Fighting the home interruptions........................................................81 Working at home with kids.................................................................82 Feeling isolated from the business world.........................................82 Chapter 7: Setting Up and Maintaining a Productive Workspace . . .85 Streamlining Your Workspace .....................................................................86 Make way! Clearing off your desk ......................................................86 Assembling essential organizational tools .......................................87 Setting up a timely filing system ........................................................88 Tackling piles systematically .............................................................90 Keeping Clutter from Coming Back.............................................................91 Handling documents and papers once .............................................92 Filing regularly......................................................................................94 Taking notes that you can track ........................................................94 Limiting the Paper You Receive...................................................................95 Accounting for Ergonomics and Aesthetics...............................................97 Setting up a proper workstation........................................................98 Decorating your space ........................................................................98 Chapter 8: Fine-Tuning Organization Skills with Technology . . . . . .101 Plugging into Electronic Scheduling .........................................................102 The calendar-sharing benefits of electronic scheduling tools.....102 The utility of portable planners.......................................................103 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 5 2/25/2015 5:24:21 PM  Successful Time Management For Dummies vi De-cluttering Your Computer or Tablet (and Keeping It That Way).....104 Naming files and organizing them with an electronic tree...........104 Offloading excess by archiving or deleting ....................................107 Saving new files strategically............................................................108 Managing Contact Info with a CRM Program ...........................................109 Looking at software and services ....................................................110 Unleashing the capabilities of a CRM program..............................110 Creating effective client profiles......................................................112 Putting a CRM program on a server or in the cloud to maximize accessibility and backup..............................113 Part III: Using Technology to Leverage Your Time ....... 117 Chapter 9: Leveraging Your Time with Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 Timing Is Everything: Taking Charge of Your Time ................................120 Making choices about technology...................................................120 Automate rather than replicate .......................................................120 Communicating Effectively through Technology....................................121 Social media options to consider ....................................................122 Using FaceTime, Skype, and other video communication systems ...............................................................123 Engaging through online meeting platforms..................................123 Organizational Technology Tools .............................................................126 Building your system to find what you need fast ..........................126 Protecting your technology from catastrophe ..............................127 Clouding, Dropboxing, and storing your stuff................................127 Creating a Digital Brain with Evernote......................................................128 Getting your notes, ideas, and thoughts into Evernote................129 Remembering and finding things you need....................................130 Chapter 10: Controlling Email Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131 Managing Email Effectively.........................................................................131 Setting up filtering systems ..............................................................131 Separating Your Work and Private Life ....................................................132 Managing multiple email addresses ................................................133 Organizing and storing email ...........................................................133 Responding to email using less time.........................................................134 Employing an email response system.............................................135 Automating your responses .............................................................137 Chapter 11: The Facebook Balancing Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 The Time Advantages of Facebook ...........................................................139 The black hole of time in Facebook.................................................140 Which to use personally and professionally..................................141 Using your personal page to create business ................................142 Leveraging your Facebook business pages....................................143 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 6 2/25/2015 5:24:21 PM  vii Table of Contents Keeping Contacts with Facebook ..............................................................144 To friend or not to friend . . . that is the question.........................145 Posting from public to private .........................................................145 Getting people to share your posts.................................................146 Using the list feature to manage interaction..................................147 Communicating through groups......................................................148 Chapter 12: Twitter: Time Saver or Time Waster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 Deciding Who to Follow..............................................................................149 Those from which you can learn .....................................................151 Those with which you can have fun................................................151 Those with whom you can profit.....................................................151 Those you can teach .........................................................................152 Preventing a Twitter Takeover ..................................................................152 Chapter 13: Creating Effective LinkedIn Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 Creating a Link‐able Profile ........................................................................155 Creating a personal profile ...............................................................156 Sharing your experience...................................................................156 Picturing yourself on LinkedIn.........................................................157 Defining LinkedIn Goals, Objectives, and Connections ..........................157 Establishing Your LinkedIn Schedule .......................................................158 The two‐check system.......................................................................159 Meeting weekly to check for success..............................................159 Part IV: Confronting Challenges to Time Management.....161 Chapter 14: Communicating Strategically to Get Results — Fast . . . .163 Choosing the Right Medium for Your Message .......................................164 Communicating face to face .............................................................164 Vocalizing your message over the phone.......................................166 Putting messages in writing: The joys (and perils) of email, text, and instant messages............................................167 Basic Communication Skills: Being Direct and Succinct ........................169 Cutting out the clutter in your language.........................................170 Including the essential stuff..............................................................170 Fostering Camaraderie When Meeting in Person....................................171 Corresponding Clearly and Confidently via Telephone .........................172 Writing Effective Emails..............................................................................174 Crafting a clear and targeted subject line.......................................174 Keeping an eye on composition.......................................................175 Reviewing your writing .....................................................................177 Preparing for the send-off.................................................................178 Asking Targeted Questions to Get Results...............................................178 Determining what sorts of answers you need................................179 Starting the flow with open-ended questions.................................179 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 7 2/25/2015 5:24:21 PM  Successful Time Management For Dummies viii Narrowing the focus with closed-ended questions.......................180 Pinning down maybes and other conditional responses .............181 Achieving a positive tone..................................................................182 Preparing to listen .............................................................................182 Chapter 15: Defending Your Day from Interruptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 The Fortress: Guarding Your Focus from Invasion.................................186 Protecting your domain from interior intrusions..........................186 Scheduling time offline......................................................................189 Screening interruptions before letting them through...................191 Secondary Defenses: Minimizing Damage When Calls Get Through ....193 Delegating the responsibility ...........................................................193 Shortening or condensing the conversation..................................194 Rebooking discussions for a better time ........................................194 Handling Recurring Interruptions by Co-Workers ..................................195 The colleague with nothing to do....................................................195 The colleague who just doesn’t want to work ...............................196 The employee who’s wrapped up in his world..............................196 The person who treats work as her sole social outlet..................197 Dealing with Interruption-Oriented Bosses..............................................197 The seagull manager..........................................................................198 The verbal delegator .........................................................................198 Working with Intrusive Clients ..................................................................199 A little attention goes a long way.....................................................200 Setting clients’ expectations.............................................................201 Chapter 16: Overcoming Procrastination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 Staring Down the Source: How Procrastination Takes Hold..................203 Calling on short‐sighted logic: “I have plenty of time”..................204 Avoiding the unpleasant: “I don’t want to think about it now” ..................................................................................204 Triggering your fears: “What if I screw up? And what if I don’t?”.......................................................................205 Paralyzed by perfection: “I’ll wait till the time is right”................206 Sabotaging at mid‐process: “I’ve earned a break”.........................206 Looking for thrills: “I work best under pressure”..........................207 Knowing Whether to Put It Off...................................................................208 Poor procrastination: Considering the costs.................................208 Wise procrastination: Knowing when to hold ‘em ........................209 Laying the Groundwork: Altering Your Mindset and Instituting Discipline........................................................................211 Motivating yourself with the carrot‐or‐stick approach.................211 Recognizing excuses and shoving them aside...............................213 Give me a break: Putting off procrastination .................................215 Conquering Dreaded Tasks with Sandwich Tactics................................215 The eat‐the‐crust‐first approach: Starting with the tough job .....216 The Swiss‐cheese approach: Poking little holes in the task.........216 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 8 2/25/2015 5:24:22 PM  ix Table of Contents The salami approach: Finishing it one slice at a time...................217 The discard‐the‐garnish approach: Getting it off your plate........217 Maintaining Your Motivation as You Press Ahead..................................218 Chapter 17: Coping with a Time-Wasting Boss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221 Fulfilling Your Objectives to Help Your Boss Meet Hers........................222 Maintaining Personal Boundaries .............................................................223 Preparing to Discuss Your Concerns with Your Boss ............................224 Identifying concerns and gathering supporting evidence............225 Reflecting on your boss’s behavior style........................................226 Initiating and Fostering a Win‐Win Discussion ........................................229 Irreconcilable Differences: Knowing When to Move On.........................231 Chapter 18: Mastering Meetings with Co‐Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233 Devising Objectives, Listing Attendees, and Crafting an Agenda..........234 Clarifying the purpose of the meeting.............................................234 Creating a guest list...........................................................................236 Holding informal, preliminary mini‐meetings ................................237 Putting together the agenda.............................................................238 Scheduling the Time and Place..................................................................240 Finding a good time slot....................................................................240 Considering the location...................................................................241 The Day Of: Running the Meeting Well.....................................................244 Arriving early for setup.....................................................................244 Launching the meeting......................................................................245 Keeping the meeting moving............................................................246 Assigning action items ......................................................................247 Summarizing and concluding the meeting .....................................248 Following Up for Maximum Productivity..................................................249 Part V: Maintaining Efficiency When Working with Others.............................................................. 251 Chapter 19: Time Management for Administrative Staff . . . . . . . . . . .253 Recognizing Common Pitfalls.....................................................................254 Keeping Your Eyes on the Goal: Your Boss’s Lead.................................254 Boosting your admin image: Ask and you shall receive ...............255 Getting face time with the boss .......................................................255 Dealing with a meeting‐phobe..........................................................256 Working for a meeting‐phile .............................................................257 Asking the right questions................................................................257 Adopting Strategies to Stay On Track.......................................................259 Starting with a few simple steps ......................................................259 Protecting peak productivity periods.............................................260 Getting your priorities in order........................................................262 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 9 2/25/2015 5:24:22 PM  Successful Time Management For Dummies x Seeking clarification about your objectives ...................................262 Creating and qualifying a comprehensive task list........................263 Chapter 20: Time Management for Salespeople . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265 Breaking Your Time‐Investment Portfolio into Three Categories.........266 The money‐makers: Direct income‐producing activities (DIPA) ...267 The prep work: Indirect income‐producing activities (IIPA) .......268 Administrative stuff: Production‐supporting activities (PSA) .....270 Letting the numbers scare you straight..........................................270 Tracking Your Time to See Where You Stand..........................................271 Recording your activities..................................................................272 Evaluating your time‐tracking sheets..............................................273 Looking back at your day..................................................................273 Reflecting on your week, month, quarter, and year......................274 A DIPA success story.........................................................................275 Planning Your Day around DIPA................................................................275 Picking time for DIPA and using that slot wisely ...........................275 Getting off to a good start.................................................................276 Giving priority to prospecting..........................................................276 Leaving time for following up on leads ...........................................277 Blocking out time for sales presentations......................................278 Planning for personal development ................................................278 Continuing education: A lifelong journey .......................................279 Role‐playing: Getting ready for prime time ....................................280 Evaluating your sales presentation performance..........................281 Scheduling your DIPA time...............................................................282 Incorporating IIPA into Your Day ..............................................................283 Using IIPA time to review sales results...........................................283 Keeping IIPA in check........................................................................284 Decreasing Your PSA Time.........................................................................284 Questioning the way it’s done..........................................................286 Chapter 21: Time Management for Business Owners and Executives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287 Stepping Back and Observing Your Time Investment............................288 Increasing Time on Growth Activities ......................................................290 Responsive Tasks: Decreasing Your “In” Time........................................291 Solidifying your organizational chart..............................................292 Crafting clear job descriptions.........................................................293 Creating room for growth with supplemental task lists ...............295 Devising a management plan............................................................296 Empowering your staff......................................................................297 Organizing Daily Priorities .........................................................................298 Planning Ahead: Balancing Your “On” Time ............................................298 Setting aside daily and monthly “on” time .....................................300 Performing a quarterly and yearly review of “on” time................301 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 10 2/25/2015 5:24:22 PM  xi Table of Contents Chapter 22: Coaching Others to Manage Time Effectively . . . . . . . . .303 Finding Out Who’d Benefit from Training ................................................304 Using the four probabilities of success as a gauge .......................304 Tapping into an employee’s motivation .........................................306 Establishing Goals .......................................................................................308 Incorporating Tools and Strategies...........................................................309 Fostering Partnership and Encouraging Success....................................311 Setting up benchmarks and check‐ins to instill accountability...312 Being consistent.................................................................................313 Fulfilling your role as a mirror .........................................................314 Dealing with a Lack of Progress: Can This Employee Be Saved?...........315 Accepting them, warts and all..........................................................316 Giving it one more try .......................................................................316 Saying sayonara .................................................................................317 Part VI: The Part of Tens........................................... 319 Chapter 23: Ten Time‐Wasting Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .321 Failing to Stop and Think............................................................................321 Multitasking..................................................................................................322 Working without Breaks .............................................................................323 Demanding Perfection.................................................................................323 Worrying and Waiting .................................................................................324 Hooking Up to the Tube..............................................................................324 Surfing the Web............................................................................................325 Getting Caught in Junk Mail Undertow .....................................................326 Killing Time in Transit.................................................................................328 Spending Time with Negative People........................................................328 Chapter 24: Ten Time‐Efficient Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331 Start Your Day Early....................................................................................331 Plan for the Next Day ..................................................................................332 Take Care of Your Health ...........................................................................333 Eating for optimal performance.......................................................333 Exercising for energy and stamina ..................................................333 Sleeping for rejuvenation..................................................................334 Set Aside Downtime ....................................................................................334 Plan Meals for the Week .............................................................................335 Delegate Almost Everything.......................................................................336 Say No More Often.......................................................................................336 Always Use a Time-Management System..................................................337 Simplify Your Life ........................................................................................337 Begin Every Day at Zero .............................................................................338 Index....................................................................... 339 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 11 2/25/2015 5:24:22 PM  Successful Time Management For Dummies xii 9781118982662-ftoc.indd 12 2/25/2015 5:24:22 PM  9781118982662-intro.indd 1 February 25, 2015 8:52 AM Introduction T ime is the only resource that people can’t borrow, buy, or barter. And time refuses to follow one of the main tenets of the law of supply and demand: the idea that when the demand goes up to a high level, the supply will increase to meet the demand. People may use different amounts of time to accomplish results, but everyone is endowed with the same amount of time each day: 86,400 seconds. Your ability to manage that time is really one of the top two causes of suc- cess or failure in your life. Investing greater amounts of time into a need, goal, objective, or even weakness can tip the balance of success in your favor. At numerous crossroads in life, I had to be willing to apply more time than my competitors to achieve a competitive advantage over them in the market- place. I certainly didn’t take for granted that my mental power was far supe- rior to that of my competitors. Rather, my willingness to invest more time in certain tasks or use my time more effectively equalized the playing field. Of course, if you invest too much time at work, you can be a success at the office but a failure at home. A true champion always has his or her pulse on home life and invests the right amount to keep vital relationships in life growing and thriving. The good news is that this book has both arenas cov- ered. Congratulations on investing in yourself, your success, and your life! About This Book Successful Time Management For Dummies is about using your time more effectively to create greater results at the office and at home. Note that in the spirit of saving you time, this is a reference book. In other words, you don’t have to read it from cover to cover. Just look up what you need and put those ideas in action. Personally, I think you should read every word of this book. I wrote it, after all! However, if you’re the bare‐bones‐info type, you can skip the sidebars that appear throughout the book. Those gray boxes contain interesting, often anecdotal information that’s related to the topic but not essential to understanding it.  2 Successful Time Management For Dummies 9781118982662-intro.indd 2 February 25, 2015 8:52 AM This book ✓ Helps you with your organizational habits, discipline, systemization, goals, values, management style, persuasion, and even travel. ✓ Offers real techniques, strategies, and tools that I’ve personally used, taught, coached, and spoke about. I’ve seen them bring forth a bounty of results in my life as well as in the lives of countless others. ✓ Helps you mentally wrap your brain around the problems of time management. ✓ Explains how to establish a solid system that you can replicate over time. ✓ Introduces you to prioritization systems, time‐categorization systems, time‐blocking strategies, and appointment‐setting strategies. ✓ Helps you grab back control and distill time management down to its essence. ✓ Sets you up for success and then helps you establish and align your goals with your time. ✓ Delves into prioritization strategies and tools. ✓ Takes you deep into the most important characteristics of a great time manager. ✓ Tells you how to time‐block your way to greater success. ✓ Contains the tips for you to take your business and career to the highest level, no matter your job title. Icons Used in This Book To help you navigate this book a bit better, you can rely on the icons in the book’s margins. The icons act as little signposts pointing out the important info. This bull’s‐eye icon points out little‐advertised nuggets of knowledge that are certain to give you an edge in increasing your time‐management skills. This icon denotes critical information that you really need to take away with you. Remember these points, if nothing else. They address the issues that you come across repeatedly with time management.  3 Introduction 9781118982662-intro.indd 3 February 25, 2015 8:52 AM Consider this the flashing red light on the road to making a sale. When you see the Warning icon, you know to steer clear of whatever practice, behavior, or response I indicate. These icons tell you that I’ve cracked open the archives of my life experi- ences or my successful clients’ life experiences to help illustrate a point. Foolish Assumptions When I wrote the book, I assumed a few things about you, dear reader: ✓ You want to use your time better. You expect to gain more time with your loved ones, you want to ramp up your success at work, or you’re looking for a little of both. ✓ You know that effective time management isn’t a one‐stop fix; it’s a com- prehensive effort that requires looking at all time‐draining culprits. You’re willing to invest the effort needed to develop your time‐management skills (or create them if they don’t currently exist!). ✓ You’re willing to be patient with yourself throughout the difficult process of self‐betterment, knowing that in the end, all your efforts will pay off. Beyond the Book There is much more information available from your author, and from the Dummies brand, for your learning pleasure. Check out these resources to learn more about the art of successful time management: Find the Dummies Cheat Sheet for this book at www.dummies.com/ cheatsheet/successfultimemanagement. The cheat sheet gives you a quick reference to help you manage your time and stay on track. Extra online content can be found at http://www.dummies.com/extras/ successfultimemanagement. Here, you can find short articles on ways to trim down wasted time. From how to plan a trip to getting your yard work done, you’ll find these articles helpful.