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Entries Tagged 'Goals & Time Management' ↓
White noise? No, white space. Recently, I was talking to a good friend and colleague of mine about time management presentations and she mentioned that she likes to talk about ‘white space’ in her seminars. Hmmmm, white space? ‘Tell me more.’ White space is when you cross off time in your day planner and leave it blank, yes, leave it BLANK! Can you imagine doing that? I don’t want you to just imagine it, I want you to do it! Cross off some time several times a week or, gasp, a little bit each day for yourself to use as catch up time or time for you. If you constantly have yourself and your family scheduled with activities back-to-back, how can you ever catch your breath let alone get caught up?
White space can be great for catching up with opening the mail, making phone calls, putting your feet up, taking a bubble bath, reading, baking, etc. Creating white space may even mean eliminating some activities, I know that’s probably difficult for you to do. But if you are overscheduled, then you are probably stressed or living in chaos and you have to do something to turn things around.
Start out slowly by scheduling white space once a week and work your way up in minutes or in how many times per week you schedule in white space. Use this time to breathe, catch up, put your feet up: try it, you just may like it!
Please stay on and read more tips on how to improve life balance here.
Tags: Balance-Family, day planner, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, improve life balance, Self, time management, white space, work
To Do List
As you’re going through your day, do you keeping adding just one more thing to your to do list? Maybe you’re out running errands and you just want to make ‘one more’ stop. Possibly you want to squeeze in ‘one more’ household chore while you’re on a roll. You may be at the mall and want to run into ‘one more’ store, real quick. But what happens to our balance when we keep trying to squeeze in one more thing? It gets thrown off. It’s great to have a to do list to keep you focused, it’s great to check things off our lists, but we need to be reasonable about just how many to do’s we have on our daily list. If you keep adding on, you will take time away from something else in your day, possibly family time, reading time, exercise time, whatever it may be for you.
When you create a to do list follow these 5 organizing tips to help you get things done:
1) Keep it short. If you have a long to-do list, make it your “master” list.
2) Write down 3-5 items from your master list and create a “stubby’ to do list. This is more reasonable then a never-ending list AND it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you can cross each thing off and complete your list for the day!
3) Estimate how long each task will take you to complete, including drive time. This will help you be more realistic about how much you can get done.
4) Batch your tasks together if you can. For example, run several errands that are all located in one shopping center so you save on drive time & gas.
5) Choose the highest priority items from your master list each day so you know you are knocking out the most important tasks on your list.
Improve your life balance by being kind to yourself when you create lists that are reasonable and ‘doable!” Please read more on how to make choices for life balance here.
Tags: Balance-Family, DIY organization, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing tips, Self, time management, To Do list, work
Life Balance
“Oh, you’ve got to listen to this informational cd-great stuff!” “This book is SO GOOD, you’ve got to read it!” “We would really like you to head up this committee.” “We need representatives at an upcoming event from the committee.” “When can we get together for coffee?” “I’d love to meet with you so we can discuss what we each do in our businesses.” “Check out this article on yahoo.” “When can we girls all get together for dinner?” “Can we schedule a meeting to discuss this?”
OK, these not be the specific requests you get, but I know you get them. Requests on your time. Requests on your energy. Requests on your knowledge. What in the world is a girl to do? A girl is to MAKE CHOICES. Cold, hard, fast, no-nonsense choices that align with your goals. Recently, I had to tell someone that I wouldn’t be able to meet for coffee to discuss our businesses but said I could talk right then on the phone. Did I feel a little bit bad that I said that when a stranger had made the effort to call me? A little bit because I know it is hard to make those calls, but I think we totally covered what we needed to over the phone & through the mail in a short period of time vs. spending about 2 hours in drive and face time to do it. Do I think face time is important? Yes, I think it’s crucial and vital in my business, but I also know when it is and isn’t the appropriate time to do it. I had to stand up for my own time, but I did it in a polite, kind and professional way. Not easy, but somehow standing up for ourselves and protecting our own time never is. For some reason it is easier to give up what is important to us to make someone else happy. Blech.
No more women!! We have to stand up for ourselves, make choices and speak up to protect our time so we can strive for that life balance that will make us healthy, happy and content. We need to take care of ourselves and sometimes that means saying no to someone else. We can’t say no to everything but we can say no wherever we CAN when it will take us away from our own goals or sanity.
Let’s take a stand and be appreciative that we do have choices and we can decide when to say yes and when to say no for a better life balance!
Tags: Balance Family, Work, Self, choices, DIY organization, energy, goals, happy, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, requests, time, yahoo
Clean & Organized Kitchen
It’s the weekend, I don’t have any clients scheduled, my kids will be gone with their dad and I have the whole weekend to myself. The hours are all rolled out ahead of me just waiting to be filled. Oh, whatever should I do? Sleep in? Nap in the middle of the day? Hmmm, lemme see, I think there might be a thing or two I could find to do if I look around here, such as:
Laundry
Change the sheets
Fix the two drywall owies & touch up paint
Read a book on student organization
Read the rest of the articles in the Snohomish County Business Journal
Get a pedicure
Go to daughter’s volleyball game (that one is a must)
Follow-up calls for speaking opportunities in the fall
Sweep the garage
Clean the kitchen
Weed the yard
Shop for: Tomato cage, curtain rods, sale at Bath & Body Works ($10 off coupon this weekend only)
Print the paperwork & prepare shipping to return daughter’s backpack that is too small
Exercise (another must for my emotional well-being)
Write blog posts (doing now)
Work on PowerPoint Presentations for business seminars
Listen to 2 cd set on client expectations
Clean out the sandbox & list it for free on Craigslist
Add to Email webinar PowerPoint for DIY Organization
Redo my business files
Clean daughter’s rat cage
Have some fun? Oh ya, whatever.
Holy crap! And this is no joke, these are all the things floating around in my brain of tasks that I need to whip out this weekend. Oh ya, and I told a friend I would stop by for a visit sometime this weekend. Oh, and I scheduled a coffee meeting before volleyball.
What am I going to do-seriously?! How am I going to balance work & home organization and still keep a balance for my sanity??
Well, I already know 4 things that I have to do so they need to go straight to the top of my list, and yes I will physically write out a list. I know I have a coffee meeting, must exercise, must make the business calls and must go to the volleyball game.
And here’s how I will begin:
1) Finish this blog post and write one more while I am sitting here. Better to do tasks in batches.
2) I will clean up the few things that need it in the house so I feel comfortable working all weekend in the house. Plus, no one will be home to mess it up-score!
3) Make a list with the “Musts” at the top. Make sure I don’t confuse “Must” with “Would be Nice.” Making business calls so my kids can eat this fall-a must, sweeping the garage-just nice.
4) Make sure I have some balance so I don’t rush around like a total lunatic all weekend. Nap anyone?
Make sure you strive to have a balance between your home organization projects, errands & to-do list every weekend while you keep a balance for your health & well-being! I will come back and leave a comment to let you know how I did! 
Tags: balance, business, DIY organization, email, errands, health & well-being, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, home organization projects, kids, mama, PowerPoint, To Do list, weekend balance
If you want to get a handle email management & reduce how much email you have coming in, you have to start with your own email sending habits. According to Mike Song from the Hamster Revolution, for every 5 emails that you send, approximately 3 will require a response. So, if you send 5 you can pretty much expect to get 3 back in your own inbox. Reduce how many emails you send and you will reduce how many emails you receive-yeah!
So really think before you hit send. Does this person really need this email to perform their job? Does this person really need to be included in this email string? Do I really need to send this joke and risk getting an “Lol’ back?
Isn’t it great that the first step to email management is in your own hands? Make, “Send Less, Get Less” your new motto every day at your computer or smart phone and see your inbox numbers decrease!
Tags: computer, email, email management, home office organization, Home Organization, homeo organization blog, inbox, Mike Song, smart phone, The Hamster Revolution
Not enough time in your day? Are you struggling to get everything done in a day, feeling rushed, feeling frustrated, feeling like you need just a few more hours? Well, I encourage you to improve productivity in your office today by getting real about how you are spending your time every day. As it turns out, you may be playing FarmVille just a little bit more than you realize…
Try out any of these productivity tools to analyze your computer habits and recapture some extra time!
Rescue Time: There’s a free version to find out where you are spending your time on your computer and for how long. RescueTime is a web-based time management and analytics tool for knowledge workers who want to be more efficient and productive.
Time Timer There’s a timer that you can physically set next to your computer or you can download software to use your timer directly on your computer screen. This is a great way to set a goal to work for a specific amount of time and set your timer. Or to place a limit on how long you will play FarmVille-timer goes off, game goes off!
Use the Time Timer at work to:
- Keep meetings on time and on track.
- Meet deadlines without compromising quality.
- Deliver presentations that are succinct and focused.
- Accomplish tasks efficiently.
Time Timer to improve productivty
Toggl Toggl is a timesheet killer and a way to increase income by not leaving hours on the table. If you haven’t tracked it, you can’t bill it. Toggl is popular with freelancers, groups, and small companies. It’s internet-based and can be up and running from scratch in less than a minute. It has desktop widgets, an iPhone app, and an iGoogle gadget for even faster access.
Give any one of these time trackers a spin to improve productivity and efficiency; when you’re done with your work you can treat yourself to extra FarmVille time!
Your Home Organization Expert-Monika
Tags: DIY organization, efficiency, FarmVille, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, home organization expert, improve productivity, office organization, productivity tools, Rescue Time, time management, Time Timer, time tracking, Toggl
Garage Organization Project
Don’t lift a bag, don’t lift a label, don’t lift a box, just lift a pencil as your first step to starting your home organization project. Your first priority should be to write down your goals for how you want to use your space. If you just start grabbing things and decluttering willy nilly (yes I said it), then it won’t be as clear or easy for you to know what to keep and what to get rid of.
Take this garage organizing project for example, I always ask clients, “What’s your goal for your garage?” “Do you want to park in your garage?” “Do you want to use your garage for storage?” Clients will vary in how they want to use their garage. Some want to park inside. Some want to park outside and use the garage for storage and activities inside such as ping pong. The only right answer is what works for you!
In this particular garage, we were focusing more on organizing for storage.
Organized Garage Storage Unit
When you know how you want to use your space, it will make it much easier when you’re making decisions about your stuff. Does this item fit in with your goals for the garage? If not, let it go or move it to the room that it should live in.
Having goals also makes it easier to know where to store things. If you know your goal is to have all of your camping gear accessible, then you know you should make a camping gear section storing all camping gear together.
Make it easier to meet your home organization goals, but starting with, well, a goal!
Tags: Decluttering, DIY organization, Garage Organizing, goals, Home Organization Blog, home organization project
BlackBerry
Did you know that it’s called the “BlackBerry Prayer’ when people cup their phone in their hands on their lap while texting, possibly even “hidden” under under a table? I just learned that term and I’ve probably been guilty of it myself at some point. Cell phones and their options are amazing nowadays and that can make them quite addicting! That addiction can also throw a curve ball into our goals for maintaining a healthy life balance.
Some of the negatives we see around smartphones that may make us look dumb:
1) Looking at our phones instead of the people standing in front of us trying to hold a conversation. I’d say it pretty much screams, “Anything other than talking to you is more interesting right now.”
2) Playing with our phones during a meeting. Being a speaker myself, I will just say-that sucks.
3) Playing with our phones instead of playing with our children.
4) Posting event details to facebook instead of enjoying the event itself.
5) Jumping when your phone says jump through text tones, emails and facebook notifications.
6) Surfing the web instead of taking care of your home, yard or home organization projects.
7) Talking on the phone in the bathroom.
There was a study by Retrevo.com where 36% of respondents said they posted to Twitter immediately after sex-about the act or their partner. Gross!
9) Texting while driving-that’s super dangerous and an expensive ticket!
10) Breaking up with someone over the phone, not with a call but through texting. Step up people!
Consider putting the phone down, giving people your full attention and improving your life balance to decrease stress-maybe yours, maybe someone else’s stress! Check here for more life balance tips to avoid being a slave to the tone.
Tags: balance, Blackberry, healthy life balance, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, Self, sex, smartphone, stress, texing, work
Balancing Time
We only have so much time in a day to get everything done. If you want to preserve a positive life balance and reign in your stress levels, you have to really think about how you are spending your time. Consider this, every time you say “yes” to something you are actually saying “no” to something else. We can’t effectively do two things at once. Of course there are some exceptions, such as you can get exercise and have family time by going on a bike ride with your kids which is a great thing! But more often than not, we are trying to get in too many activities in a day. The more commitments that we say yes to, the more we rush from place to place, attend too many meetings, read too many emails, make too many phone calls and send too many texts.
When you say “yes” you may be saying “no” to:
- Family time
- Relaxation time/downtime
- Organizing your home
- Organizing your home office
- Exercise
- Healthy eating
- Cleaning your home
- Processing paperwork such as your mail
- Visiting with friends
- Taking care of your yard
- Taking care of yourself
- Catching up with your reading
- Writing thank you notes from a special occasion
- Calling friends & family to say a long overdue hello
- SLEEP
Preserve your sanity and keep a healthy life balance by considering carefully before you say “yes” to any new activity. You should really consider removing another activity or commitment from your schedule if you take on something new to help you keep your balance.
Tags: balance, Balance-Family, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, organizing home office, organizing your home, Self, stress, time management, work
Magazine Clutter
Magazines=lots of words, lots of pictures, lots of products, lots of knowledge, lots of C-L-U-T-T-E-R… Yes, clutter.
Please tell me that you know rationally that you will never, ever have time to catch up with piles and piles of magazines. Magazines on the the couch, on the table, the floor, on the nightstand, in the bathroom too.
What do you do if magazines are multiplying in your sleep, getting you further and further behind? Try any and all of these 10 Decluttering Tips to lighten your load:
1) Reduce volume by being picky about what you allow in your home, discontinue all magazine subscriptions that you are no longer reading.
2) Do a major purge to give yourself a clean slate. Let all of the unread magazines go so you can read only the new information coming in.
3) Recycle, recycle, recycle.
4) Share a subscription with someone else. Read only what you want and pass it on knowing your friend won’t want outdated info.
5) Take magazines to your local library, libraries will often sell them to raise a little bit of money for programs.
6) Read magazines in your local library, sit and read what peaks your interest and go home without them.
7) Check out your favorite magazine websites for articles & recipes.
8) Just say no to magazine fundraisers instead of trying to be nice by ordering something you don’t want.
9) Donate old magazines to a local hospital.
10) Donate old magazines to a local doctor or dentist.
You will let go of a lot of guilt when you let go of a lot of magazines, just do it, trust me! Click here for more helpful home decluttering tips.
Tags: clutter, home, home decluttering tips, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, magazine clutter, magazines, recycle, subscriptions
