SOME USEFUL TIPS TO LOWER YOUR PHONE BILL

Happy day to everyone,

High Bill - worry not

I hope you are in high spirits as you read this article and hope it fulfill your needs.

Hand phone is widely regard as a convenient communication tool for most of us, if not all of us. It is easily subject to misuse especially when calling someone you like to chat for long hours. As such, its bill may drive some of us crazy, if left unchecked. I hope this article will help shed some light on how to lower your phone bill. At the same time,  you will be made aware of other cheaper means of communication options that are available.

1. One of the encouraging ways  to lower your phone bill is  to use the internet to communicate instead of using phone. If both caller and receiver have access to the internet, then use the internet to communicate. You may make use of Skype, Msn messenger and Yahoo messenger. Using VOIP (voice over internet protocol) options to make online calls will  save your money.

2. Nowadays, most offices and services providers have toll-free numbers. Using toll-free numbers is another good tip to lower your phone bills. Make it a habit to call toll-free numbers.

3. Prepaid plans are  good alternatives as you have full control on your phone usage especially for those who have a tendency to overuse phone services. Once your minutes are up, you need to wait till the end of the month to top-up. By doing so, you have a fixed limit of monthly phone bill.

4. Another way is not only to set a maximum number of phone calls per day for yourself, but also the maximum duration of each call. List down what you want to say in advance and speak straight to the point. Make it a habit so as to be more effective and efficient. To lower your bill further, make use of non peak hours such as late evening to make such calls if possible.

5. Do the same for short message sending (sms). Alternatively, use email if you do not have to respond to a call or text message immediately. By doing so, you are rest assured to lower your phone bills.

6. Do not subscribe to unnecessary entertainment packages which you can transfer to your own MP3 and video files from internet. Hence you can save for not using the phone’s entertainment package.

7. Scrutinise your monthly bill and phone the customer service if you think there is a discrepancy in your phone bill. There have been numerous occasions where phone companies made mistakes in their bills. Take this extra effort to check your phone bills carefully.

8. Sign up for auto-payment of your post-paid phone bills so as to avoid unnecessary charges.

9. You may use fixed line to make free local calls, if available, especially those who are internet subscribers instead of using hand phone. This not only helps you to lower your phone bill, but also reduce your exposure to the radioactive effect of hand phones.

10. Subscribe to service provider packages such as family pack with free calls amongst family members. Check with service providers before you sign up for the most suitable pack for your loved ones.

Now, I want to throw the ball to your court because I believe you may know other cheaper means, which I am not aware of.  Appreciate if you could put forward via comments for the benefits of all the readers. Thank you for your kind participation.

I am look forward to hearing from you,

James Oh

TO-DO LISTS THE KEY TO EFFICIENCY

Hi! everyone,

I am so glad to seeing you all again and I believe that you not only enjoy reading the articles, but are also receiving its value and benefits.

In today's information age world, we have a very hectic lifestyle. The chances that we are caught in the following situations are very high:-

1. We frequently feel overwhelmed by the amount of work we have to do; or

2. We have mountain of deadlines to meet; or

3. We just forget to do something important, so that people have to chase us to get work done.

All of the above are consequences for not maintaining a proper "To-Do List". To-Do Lists are prioritized lists which comprise of all the tasks that need to be done. They list everything that you need to perform, with the indication of priority and dateline.

From my personal experience, there are at least five valuable benefits, as listed below, which I like to share with you:- 

1. Stay in control

This is, by far, the greatest benefit. Our lists will give us a feeling of staying in control of our lives. This is vitally important especially when we don't have a clear, daily list of action steps to help us maintain our activity and stay focused. However, when we keep To-Do lists, we are never at a loss for finding something to do that is important. Even when we work off lists due to unexpected tasks, our minds are always attentive to the things we need to do next. Hence, no time is wasted.

2. Eliminates procrastination

I have to honestly admit that I seldom procrastinate. In fact, I have the habit of doing thing early and focus on completing things ahead of schedule. Those who have worked with me, know that I seldom slip through the cracks or get lost because I am always backed up by To-Do list.

3. Frequent reassessing of priorities

Since it gives us a bird's eye view of all the uncompleted tasks, it constantly helps us to reassess our priorities and at the same time frequently force us to confront items on our list that have made slower progress than expected. By constantly reviewing To-Do list it will not only enhance your productivity, but your deadlines would probably be met.

4. It relieves mental attention

Our lists function similarly as an external quick-access hard drives for storing items that are not currently needed for the immediate tasks at hand. Therefore, by making lists, we relieve our mental attention and eliminates worry. As such, we are less likely to wonder what is going on because we consciously work through everything going on in our lives through the process of updating our lists. This give you peace of mind because we are freed from the burden of having to remember details. 

5. Allow timely reassigning of tasks

By regularly updating the progress, problem areas and bottlenecks will surface much faster and easier. This will prompt you to reassign tasks if necessary or alternatively bring more help to a problematic area. Prevention is always better than cure. So, To-Do lists can assist you to achieve that goal.

6. It will help you to achieve gratification.

You will obtain much gratification by ticking things off as you accomplish them. Thus the immense feeling of satisfaction is always there when you look back at the list and seeing every task with a line through it. You will definitely feel much more gratified at the end of day. This will fan your desire to achieve more with less. Try it out, you will then know what I mean.

For those who have done so, congratulation to you and I believe you will continue to do so because the benefits are overwhelming. For those who have not , I challenge you to try it out and let us know your feedback. You may find it time consuming but I can assure you that each benefit is significant enough to justify your time spent. This may be painful exercise initially, but later you will enjoy working with it because of its overwhelming benefits.

I hope the above solution will ease your life and give you some light to drive you towards greater achievement in life.

Thanks for your time and look forward to hearing from you.

 James Oh