Click Here To Get Organized and Relax.
Entries Tagged 'Goals & Time Management' ↓
What’s on your New Year’s Resolution list this year? To lose weight? To take up a hobby? To get organized perhaps… I know someone who can help you with that 
.
This year getting back in shape and losing weight it on my list, which is unfortunate because in years past I was thankful that I didn’t have to add this one. But, it is what it is, 12 Reese’s Peanut Butter Holiday Trees later, dang they were good though. I can’t blame it all on the ‘trees’ though, there were many brownies and chocolates leading up to those oh so yummy trees.
It’s all good when you start off the new year ready to roll and ready for a fresh start and positive changes. You’re pumped up, you’re motivated, you’re ready! But what about a few weeks down the road? How do you keep your commitment and see those resolutions all the way through? Well, here are two super awesome websites to help you stay on track and reach those goals as you put down the peanut butter cups.
Habitforge.com: Habit forge will help you with the 21 day process of creating new habits.
You can use this site to tackle your new habits solo or you can get on board with a group that is working on a similar goal to yours. Habit Forge will send you a daily email to check in with you. The steps involved with this site are as simple as 1-2-3:
1) Decide & Act
2) Check your email
3) Succeed in 21 days
Woohooo!
Stickk.com: Stickk will help you reach your goals with awesome accountability-accountability is key for me when I’m working on my own goals!
1) Choose your goal either through the drop down menu of goals or create a custom goal.
2) Choose your stakes-oh snap! You don’t have to, this is optional, but you can choose an amount of money to place on your credit card if you don’t meet your goals each week. This money will go to the person or organization of your choice.
3) Choose a referee to monitor your progress-again, optional.
4) Choose support from other members of the Stickk community.
If you’re finding that you need a boost to kick the Reese’s habit and reach your goals (ok, maybe it’s just me with a Reese’s ‘problem’), then take advantage of these free sites to keep you motivated and reaching your goals! For more tips on reaching your goals, please read more here and I’d love to hear what your own goals are. To your success!
Tags: changes, DIY organization, get organized, goals, habitforge.com, habits, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, New Year's Resolutions, Reese's, stickk.com, tips on reaching your goals
Today we’ll explore time management tip #2 to enjoy the holidays stress-free.
Time Management Tip for the Holidays #2: Save stress and save time in the kitchen this year.
1) Plan your menu for holiday dinner now and make your grocery shopping list.
2) Ask guests to bring items so you don’t have to cook everything yourself.
3) Take shortcuts. It’s OK to buy your pumpkin pie instead of baking it yourself if you want to this year. It’s OK to decorate pre-made cookies. It’s OK to have a potluck and let everyone pitch in. A potluck will save you both time and money since it means less groceries to buy!
4) Look for store specials and coupons before you shop.
5) Shop as far ahead as you can.
6) Go to the grocery store on off-peak hours if you can so you miss the crowds and the long lines.
7) Use a grocery delivery service and not even have to leave the house!
Plan ahead and keep it simple this year! For more holiday organizing tips when you’re the hostess, please read more here.
I’d love to hear your own time saving tips in the comment section too!
Tags: DIY organization, grocery store, holiday organizing tips, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, hostess
Have you ever had a big jumble in your brain of all of the stuff you needed to do but couldn’t think straight or decide what to do first? I’ve felt like that before and it has caused me to just start jumping around from task to task like a jumping bean instead of actually getting anything done. When our brains are not under stress they can think clearly and logically and we function well. When we are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, our brain defaults to our “feeling” brain which takes control of our behavior. If we don’t have good habits in place, then that behavior usually isn’t productive.
So, what’s a solution? Whenever I feel stressed and like I’m zigzagging around, I know it’s time to sit down and write out a list and organize my thoughts. I like to physically write the list vs. typing it out. Now, this shouldn’t be a 100 item list, but the immediate things that need to get done in the next day or so. There’s something about a list that gives me focus as well as a sense of accomplishment as I cross items off of the list.
After you brainstorm your list, you can then start prioritizing. You should tackle these tasks first:
- Tasks that have a due date or deadline
- Tasks that have a financial consequence associated with them
- Tasks that need to be completed so someone else can get their tasks done
So, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a few minutes to jot down what you need to do, cross off what you don’t and prioritize what you do! For more tips on time management for your office, please read more here.
Tags: DIY organization, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, list, office, organize, prioritize, tasks, time management
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Have you ever wanted to stand up and just yell, “STOP!!” to the world? That’s kinda how I feel right now. Somehow I’ve gotten off track and I’ve lost my balance. How do I know? Because….
- I feel cranky and out of sorts
- I haven’t been eating healthy
- I look puffy
- I’m not getting enough sleep and constantly feel tired
- I feel like I am overextending myself to others instead of taking care of myself
- I’m not exercising
- I’m not drinking enough water
Red light-stoooop!!
Balance is really important to me, but I’m only human and I stumble too. The good thing is I am now acutely aware of what is going on and I can and will take steps to correct it. And I need to correct it because I feel really icky right now.
So what am I going to do? Well, this weekend I went to Trader Joes and bought protein powder and powdered greens and started making myself smoothies. I’ve got my water next to me right now and I got on the treadmill last night and this morning. I had the lights out last night before 11 pm, but I need to strive for even earlier. And as for the coffee outings I would like to do with my friends, well, I’m going to contact them today to let them know I need to catch my balance first before I add anything more into my schedule.
Life happens and we can easily get off track. But the faster you can get yourself back on track the better because you will feel better. When you feel better it will extend to all parts of your life including your family. So, don’t be afraid to organize your schedule around you, it’s not selfish and it’s for the greater good all the way around!
Tags: balance, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organize your schedule, time management
So much work, so little time! How do you make sure that you organize your time to get your most critical tasks done? How do you decide what your most critical tasks are? First, I would highly recommend that you read the book, “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy-good shtuff! But for now, each day I want you to start the day thinking about your “frog” which will be your most important task for the day and “eat that frog” or otherwise tackle that task so you know that you’ve gotten your most critical task done. All the rest will fall in place. Your frog is:
- Your biggest, most important task
- The task you are most likely to procrastinate on
- The task with the greatest positive impact
Your frog may have a financial consequence, it may have a deadline or it may need to be eaten before someone else can do their work. Whatever your frog may be, you need to schedule time directly into your planner to get ‘er done. According to Bill Zipp, scheduling a task into your planner is “putting the rock on the calendar.” This is a way to make sure a task has time allotted to get it done vs. just hoping you can fit it in. No hoping, only critical planning here!
For more tips on how to organize your time, please stay here and keep reading.
ur “frog” is you biggest, most important task
Your “frog” is the task you are most likely to procrastinate
Tags: Brian Tracy, DIY organization, eat that frog, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organize your time, time management, tips on how to organize your time
“There’s no correlation between how long you sit at your desk and what you accomplish.”
Kenneth Ziegler
This, my friend, is a very true statement. We can sit at our desks and look busy, we can sit at our desks and feel busy, we can sit at our desks and pretend to be busy. But just because we are sitting there, doesn’t mean we are getting BIG things done. Hmmm, how many different distractions can you think of that can take you away from your most important tasks? Here are a few I can think of:
- Texting
- Instant messaging
- Socializing
- Talking on the phone
I’m sure there are more but you get the picture. Sitting at your desk does not always = getting important tasks done. So what can you do improve time management and accomplish more at your desk? Ready for the answer?
Stay completely focused for 20% of your day which is 96 minutes.
This doesn’t mean that you only work for 96 minutes per day. What it means is you focus on your most critical task of the day interruption free. This means:
- No texting
- No web surfing
- No email
- No phone calls-left voice mail do it’s job
- No Farmville
- No open door time
Have you ever went into work when no one else was there? Wasn’t it incredible how much you got done without interruptions? Well, this is what you should strive for every day: 96 minutes. You will probably get more done in 96 minutes than you usually get done all day! The rest of the day will still be filled with tasks, but you will know that you got your most important task(s) out of the way. Try it, you might like it! For more tips to stay organized and on task, please read more here.
Tags: desk, DIY organization, facebook, FarmVille, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, office organization, stay on task, stay organized, time management, twitter, work
The kids are back in school and a new routine has been born-hooray! My kids and I are more night owls than morning birds and we’ve had to adjust to an early morning schedule but frankly I think my kids are doing better than I am. At the same time, I really am loving the new freedom of having a quiet office by 7:30 am and how much you can actually get done when you get up early! Once I’m up I’m OK, it’s just getting out of my warm bed that’s challenging. And it’s going to get harder as colder, gray northwest morning start setting in… Actually, it’s gray today, imagine that.
So, this morning I walked back in the door after kid drop-off and started with breakfast. I have a healthy to-do list to tackle today including creating a PowerPoint Presentation for a talk at our local elementary school. As I was moving about my house I noticed my phone sitting by the back door. Now how did that happen? It’s always connected to me. But oh how freeing! Amazing that I was plugging right along without thoughts of texting or the compelling need to look over at my phone. I left it where it sat and here I am type, type, typing away listening to music on Pandora. While typing, something came up that created a “need” to send a text. But oh no, I will not stop now, I’m on a roll! Although, it’s amazing how strong the pull is to run down and knock out a text.
So, once again, it goes to show that you really can be more productive if you put aside distractions. I know, I know, you can’t run away from phones, instant messages or emails all day, but at the very least, you CAN focus on your most critical task of the day by eliminating distractions. Even an hour of distraction-free time will help you accomplish awesome things! Man, can I make it for a whole hour? Ooooh, I think I already have half an hour of credit!
Tags: critical tasks, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, Pandora, phone, PowerPoint, texting
Lately, I’ve been thinking about ways I can improve time management for myself. Right now the kids are home from school for the summer, so that creates a challenge to stick with a regular routine and can be disruptive. Our schedule is off kilter with appointments for physicals and eye exams, short trips and other activities. But I guess I can’t blame all of the distractions on the kids, I have to look at things that I am doing too and I’m seeing a pattern with texting. I am a fairly social person and sometimes working a lot from home can be a little bit lonely. I also happen to have other friends who do a lot of their work from home. So, we all know we are somewhat ‘available’ at all times. Well, what’s happening it texting is turning into lots of small distractions all day and evening too. And it seems to be a way to just blurt out anything that is on our minds, whether it’s a complaint, a concern or an observance while we are out in public. Texts may come across as, “I need to buy myself some new clothes.” “I am having a meltdown!” “I wish we would get some more sun, I can’t believe this weather.” Blah, blah, blah. We don’t seem to be engaging much of a filter and pretty much say whatever we want, things that we wouldn’t take the time to email or pick up the phone for.
I think texting definitely has it’s place, just like email and cell phones calls. But just like anything, I think we need to work on keeping a balance by not overdoing it. So, my goal is to work with less texting interruptions, even if I have to place my phone in another room. It’s also my goal to think more before I text, because for every text I send, I’m generally going to get at least one back. I need to ask myself, “Is this something I really need to share or should I put down the phone and step away?”
Tags: cell phone, DIY organization, email, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, improve time management, texting, time management
Who’s watched the “Secret,” raise your hand! It’s been a long time since I’ve watched it and I really should watch it again, it’s uplifting and inspirational to me. So, if have seen it then you know what a vision board is. If you haven’t seen it, I shall explain… Recently I needed to figure out where my focus and direction is going for my life and my business. So off to the library I dashed for .25 cent magazines and, much to my teenager’s dismay, I flipped through dozens of them to see they had pictures that I wanted or not.
The idea is, you cut out pictures of what you would like to bring into your life, which of course is different for everyone. You may want pictures of fitness, healthy foods, money, children, a house, animals or perhaps an organized home. Ya, ya, organized home pictures! When you start looking at pictures, you will identify with the ones that have meaning to you. I even cut out small flowers just to throw in since they are pretty and make me feel good. When you are all done cutting out your pictures, you just glue them onto poster board.
I believe that taking the time to sit down and cut out the pictures really helps you focus on what is important and has more power then just thinking about it. Now these things won’t just magically come into your life won’t because you glued down the pictures. You won’t lose 10 pounds because you put a pair of running shoes on your board. What has to happen is you have to know what your goals are, believe that you can accomplish them, believe that the universe will provide for you and then take the steps you need to take to make it happen. Actually put on a pair of running shoes and go running! As my good friend would say, “Get ‘Er Done!”
If you need clarity on what’s important to you right now and what goals you want to reach, head to your pile of unread magazines or your local library and cozy up with some scissors & a glue stick and figure it out! What are your goals? I’d love to know-you can feel free to leave a comment here!
Tags: DIY organization, goals, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, manifesting, organized home, The Secret
Do you feel stressed and overwhelmed by all the tasks you are trying to get done in a day? Balance is the key to reducing stress; I know it’s easier said then done, but you’ve got to keep a balance by taking a cold, hard look at your schedule. Here are 5 signs that your schedule is overloaded:
1) You can’t get everything done in your day
2) You are eating at your desk, eating standing up or eating in the car
3) You don’t have any white space on your calendar to use as catch up time
4) You are staying up late at night to try to get caught up
5) You are working more on volunteer projects than your own important projects
What should you do when it’s time to lighten your load?
1) Really examine your schedule to see if you have bitten off more than you can chew. It may be time to let someone take over some of your extra activities such as volunteer positions.
2) If you take on something new, be sure to remove an activity of equal time & energy commitment. That’s balance baby!
3) Get used to saying no. It doesn’t have to be mean, it doesn’t have to be rude and you don’t have to feel guilty. If you need some tips on how to say no, I’ve got 10 for you right here!
4) Examine your goals and see if the activities you are packing your calendar with are truly the activities you should be focusing on. Sometimes we say yes so much that it takes us away from what is really important to us. Make sure your activities really count to you!
It’s always a challenge in our busy lives to stay balanced and have less stress in our lives, start by making little changes that will add up to big rewards and maybe even allow for a nice soak in the tub!
Tags: balance, DIY organization, goals, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, overloaded, saying no
