Entries Tagged 'Goals & Time Management' ↓

This past Saturday I gave a talk in my local area about Goals and Time Management.  Some of us that were there currently do a lot of our business work from home and realize how important it is to be organized with workflow.  So we talked a little bit about how easy it can be to get distracted by other tasks such as housework or even by time consumers like facebook since it can be so much fun-facebook, not the housework!  So I shared with everyone a picture that I had recently about how I should prioritize my office work.   Knowing just how easy it is to get caught up doing all the little stuff, like making phone calls, checking facebook, cranking out emails, while the more important and longer tasks may take a back seat.

So the picture I had in my head was a triangle.  With the tipy top being where I should start by concentrating on the most important/critical task.  A critical task could be a project with a deadline, a task I need to complete that affects someone else getting their work done, a task that affects my bottom line or maybe even just a task that I am putting off or procrastinating on.  It happens.

Then coming down from the triangle as it gets wider, would be a flow of all the other smaller, less critical tasks.  That’s where the phone calls, texts, facebook updates can fall into place.  It’s easy to knock out the little stuff, but are those tasks really getting you closer to your goals?  Organize you workflow priorities and see things get done!

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Have you ever heard of SMART  Goals?  I recently read an article about SMART goals and I thought,  ”Now that is a great way to get organized with a concrete plan!”  So here’s an overview and I will use an organizing goal, but of course!

S:  Specific  Be specific about what you are setting out to do.  Don’t say, “I’ll get the house organized.”  Say, “I will organize four drawers in the kitchen.”  Choose the four drawers you are going to work on.

M:  Measurable  Make sure you can measure your progress.  Write down which drawer you want to organize each week and check it off when it’s been done. 

A:  Attainable   Make sure you can take certain steps to get to your goal.  This can mean planning which day you are going to organize the drawer that week and mark it off on your calendar so you have time set aside.  It’s not going to happen by chance.  You are making a plan to make it happen.

R:  Realistic  Make sure your goal is do-able.  Saying you are going to declutter and organize a huge kitchen in two hours after you have worked all day and you’re tired is not do-able.  Saying you will declutter and organize one drawer every Saturday after breakfast for 30 minutes is do-able.

T:  Timely  You should be able to reach your goals in a certain amount of time.  Set a date that you want to reach your goals and place it on the calendar.  If you are breaking goals up into steps, put each step on the calendar. 

You can organize your goals to get organized-now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

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Well, it’s heading to the end of January.  It’s been a few weeks since we were all feeling in the holiday spirit and feeling optimistic goals and a fresh, new year right around the corner.  Well, how are you doing so far?  Have you met one of your goals or are you making progress toward meeting one of your goals yet? It’s easy to ramp up those plans over a good glass of champagne.  Then comes along the normal day-to-day activities, the deadlines, the requests on your time, getting dinner on the table and just wanting to veg out on the couch at the end of the day because you are just so darn tired.

But this isn’t the time to give up, oh no way!  This is the time to make sure you are doing several things to keep up your momentum:

• Make sure you have written down your goal-this will help make it happen.  Put it where you can see it-make it bold!
• Make sure you have written down the reasons you want to reach this goal-this will keep you motivated!  Why is this important in your life?
• Make sure your goal is reasonable and attainable.  Did you bite off more than you can chew? 
• Make sure you have broken your goal down into little bites, little steps, a bitty bit at a time.
• Get someone in on your goal with you. Garner some support for your efforts and the desired end result.  Get a cheerleader in your corner!

Every day is an opportunity to work on your goals, to move forward.  You are alive-anything is possible!

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Did you know that January is national “Get Organized” month with NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers)?  Yep, that’s right, a whole month for office and home organization!  A new year, a new month, a time for new year’s resolutions with “getting organized” at the top of many people’s lists. 

So, the definition of ‘resolution’ according to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary:

 the act or process of resolving: as a : the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones

I find that very fitting in relation to organizing.  When I go in to help people get organized it is because they are overwhelmed, stressed and don’t know where to begin.  It’s all too much.  But decluttering and organizing really is all about breaking things down into processes, steps so it won’t be so overwhelming.  That’s what I am there for, to break things down, provide support and show people the steps that are needed to reach their goals.

Important steps:

• Create a goal
• Set up supplies
• Sort belongings
• Make decisions on what to part with and what to keep
• Give belongings a home
• Remove the items you are parting from the home
• Maintenance

Think about your home organization goals and remember to break things down into steps so you aren’t overwhelmed!

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Home organization is often at the top of many people’s new year’s resolution goals.  And why of course I think it’s a great one!  It’s one thing to have a goal but it’s quite another thing to have a plan to make it really happen.  That’s where people get stuck, they have good intentions and all but then they don’t know what steps to take to make it happen.  So, what I thought I would do today is show an example of a home organization goal and how you too can make it a reality!

1.  Write down your goal so you are clear about what you want to accomplish.  “I will clean out my closet and part with old clothing I am not wearing.”
2. Write down the reason you want to reach this goal to keep you motivated to accomplish it.  “I want to be able to reach into my closet to find clothing that fits and looks good on me without stress or stepping over clothing.”
3. Write a date on your calendar to complete this task so you have a commitment and an appointment with yourself.  January 20
4. Write down the activities you need to do to accomplish this task.  Estimate how long each step will take to the best of your ability.

            a)  I will pull all my clothes out and place ‘like’ items together so I can see how much I have.  Pants with pants, shirts with shirts, skirts with skirts, etc.    45 minutes

           b)  I will go through all my clothing and part with articles that do not fit, do not look good on me,  or are ripped or stained.  I will throw away clothing beyond repair and place remaining items in bags for donation.  2 hours

         c)  I will place all clothing that I am keeping back in the closet together according to ‘like’ items.  This will make it easy to find what I need quickly.  15 minutes

         d)  I will take all useable clothing to a donation drop off site.   30 minutes

Breaking it down and seeing approximately how long each step will take makes reaching your home organization goals more manageable!

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After looking at how I have been organizing my home office workflow in parts 1 & 2, I thought we should look at some common time wasters that can seduce us from our work and  tasks at hand.  When working from your own home office, there can be many distractions that come up.  Let’s look at some, you may have others that I haven’t listed as well.  Feel free to leave a comment!

• Taking personal phone calls.  It is very easy to just pick up the phone when you see your favorite person is calling you.  It’s also easy to get sucked into a conversation that takes way longer that you anticipated. 
• Texting.  That chime can be irresistable-I know it is for me!  Turn it off if you are working on one of your critical tasks.
• Checking and responding to email.  Maybe there will be a joke or something positive you come across, it can be like a little surprise!  But you should resist checking email frequently and check it in batches at designated times in your day.
• Errands.  It can be so tempting to jump in the car to get things done more quickly when the kids are off to school.  But before you know it, the day is gone and you didn’t get anything done.  Yet another night spent in the office.
• Housework.  I’m really trying to let this one go and clean later in the afternoon/evening when the kids are home.  I don’t feel as guilty cleaning when they are home as I do sitting in front of the computer.  If I have a pile of laundry to fold on the bed and I do take a break to take a phone call, then I fold quietly while talking.

It takes discipline and a plan to stay focused and organized in your home office; you can do it!

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Well, in part 1 of organizing my home office workflow, I shared how easy it can be to get sidetracked or feel scattered during the day.  Today I’d like to share steps that I have taken to improve my focus and productivity!

• Of course every meeting, talk or appointment I have goes on my calendar, I don’t want anything slippping through the cracks.  You don’t need to rely on your memory for anything-just write it down.
• On Sunday I look at my day planner to see what’s coming up for the week.  I then take a piece of paper and write my ideal week which would be the tasks that need to get done that week.  It might be a talk I need to write.  It may need to be blogs I need to write.  Whatever needs to be done.
• I also created a paper with times typed out and designated slots for certain activities that I know I need to do daily such as twitter and blog right here on DIY.   There are times that haven’t been filled in yet for the next step.
• I then look at my tasks on my “ideal week” sheet and choose the ones I need to do today.  I then fill in the time slots with those tasks.
• I account for time to take a snack break/stretch as I’m in front of the computer a lot as well as lunch time.

Now I feel like I don’t have to jump around so much checking emails and twitter and such when I can count on having a specific time set aside for those activities.   This doesn’t mean every task is going to take the exact amount of time I have alloted-it really is just an estimate.  But if I can stay close to schedule, I know I can get a lot more done in the day realizing I need to go with the flow a bit too.  I feel much more organized and focused now!

Part 3:  Time Wasters.

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I love how much work I am able to do right  from my own home office!  I am able to blog, twitter, write talks, write ebooks, type up client data and on & on.  But working from home can also involve distractions like laundry, phone calls and the urge to quickly clean out the dishwasher (even though it’s a chore I can’t stand).  When you are your own boss and can work at night or on weekends too, it can be easy to get off track or even have a scattered approach to your work because there isn’t quite that cap on your time or work hours to stay within.

So recently, I’ve really been organizing my home office workflow so I feel like I have a better handle on when I do what tasks and making sure everything gets done in a  timely manner.   I want to feel like I am accomplishing more during the day instead of being on the computer so much at night.  I have decided that in place of the computer at night, I would like to devote more time to exercise and meditation (I’m new at that) and also use that time to clean my house so it’s fresh for the next day.  It’s distracting for me to try to work knowing things are out of place in the house.

Next blog I will share the way I am organizing my workflow!

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The best time to get organized for a new day is the night before!  Getting your clothes ready for the next day is a great first step.  The other night I was putting together my outfit for the next day and I needed to iron a shirt.  The next thing I knew, I pulled out two more outfits for the following days as well.  I figured as long as I had the iron out, I might as well just get it all done at once.  If you don’t think you will know what you will feel like wearing the next day (or 3 like me!), then at least prepare by ironing and having several outfits ready to choose from depending on your mood the next morning.

Other helpful things to do to prepare for the next day:

• Pack lunch
• Put anything in your purse that you may need to take with you
• Make sure your briefcase is loaded with anything you may need
• If you have things that need to leave the house with you, either place near the door or out in the car if you park in the garage
• Check your calendar to make sure you are clear on what you need to do the next day.  This gives you some wiggle room if you realize you have something that needs to be prepared or purchased-you still have a little time on your side!

Getting up before the rest of your family can be very helpful as well.  Earlier this week I had a presentation to give on organizing paper at a breakfast meeting so I had to get up earlier than usual.  It felt really great to be up early, dressed and I even made a stop at the store at 6:30 am!  If you can get a head start on your family, it will give you some quiet time to concentrate on getting yourself ready and fresh for the day.  Get organized at night for a smooth day the next day!

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How can you get organized if you don’t know what you want to accomplish?  It’s very easy to have lots of great ideas for how you want to spend your time whether it be on home projects, business plans, hobbies or any type of activities.  And it’s easy to get scattered doing a little bit here and a little bit there but never really accomplishing or completing any one activity or idea.  So, let’s stop the madness now and step back to make a plan.  I’m doing that right now for my business plans for the upcoming year.  I’ve really thought about what my dreams are and where I enjoy spending my time the most.  Now I will be mapping out plans monthly to get where I want to go!

You too can sit down and think about what your focus is.  What will make you happy?  What would you like to accomplish or complete?  What would you like to eliminate? 

• Get out paper and pencil or your computer and jot down what you would like to accomplish.  Make this reasonable, like 3 things.
• Choose the task that you would like to accomplish first. 
• Now break this down into manageable steps.
• Make sure you have a timeline, use your calendar to add deadlines for each step.
• Keep track of your progress if needed.

Here’s an example:

Say you want to run a 10k:

• One day research local races in your area
• Choose a race/date & sign up
• Place it on your calendar
• Decide how much you need to train each week to be ready
• Schedule in training time throughout your week
• Train, train, train
• Have fun on race day!

Get organized with focus and a plan!

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