Double Up

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  What makes you spring into action? For me, I will be assured of starting and finishing a project when I double up.

  • I link two activities back to back that I love.  (Or at least love one of them!) I will file when I watch foodtv.
  • I will support a cause when I add in another team member that I work well with. I have joined committees and become a board member because it was fun, easy and rewarding to be a valuable team member.
  • No one wants to be left in the kitchen alone. My DH and I partner to unload the dishwasher, fold the sheets, and make dinner. You can create all different partners in your family to get this done.
  • Double up dinner recipes!  Freeze part of the recipe for another week.

What is one way you get the little stuff done? What organizing strategy works best for you?

Organizing Tools: Your Calendar/Planner

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There is nothing more important for organizing our time than a great calendar/planner.   You can use this tool to incorporate planning as well.  The strategy of not only recording dates can be the key to making your life more organized and less stressful. 

  • Choose a calendar/planner that works for you.  It’s a calendar/planner that makes it easy to record dates at any time.  It also helps you view time the way you think about time, at a month at a time, throughout  a week, or just in a long string.   Your calendar can be as simple as a yellow pad, very exact like Franklin Covey planners, or with technology on your smart phone.
  • Create a habit of recording dates as soon as possible.  There are always lots of dates swirling n your head for you and your family. By entering these on your calendar/planner  asap, you won’t have to remember them, there will be fewer conflicts of dates and activities, and you will start to grasp a greater sense of due dates and upcoming events. 
  • Refer to your calendar/planner diligently. How often? At least in the morning and evening, but also throughout the day to keep you on track with appointments and projects.
  • Use your calendar as planner for big and little tasks. Breaking down big projects with your own time line, creating accountability dates to complete a project, and adding in baby steps makes your planner a strategy to get things done.
  • Post a family calendar for your kids and partner to add dates.  Keeping everyone in the loop and keeping everyone communicating keeps your family organized. 
  • Have a weekly review to get ahead of the game. Once a week, make a date with your calendar to look ahead, see what is coming, prioritize and get in gear.

 Using a calendar/planner eliminates the mental clutter of remembering dates and times and helps you focus on completion of a project.  The more you use your calendar/planner, the more indispensible it will be!

Image courtesy of The Container Store www.containerstore.com

Organize Your Life Webinar Series

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Save your sanity and get organized in 2013!

Is getting organized one of your New Year’s resolutions? Then Join me this January for 10 amazing webinars from a dream team of presenters for Get Organized month. These classes will help you focus, plan, and organize your time, space, and information.
http://theprofessionalorganizer.com/events/organize-your-life-webinar-series/ …. get a special facebook discount with code “fbdeal” for 10% off all classes.

Webinar classes include how to organize your time, your paper, your kids, your students, your technology, hoarding and more!

  • Classes offered share specific tools and techniques to impact your daily life. 
  • Nationally known professional organizers and productivity coaches available to you in your home by webinar.
  • Affordable solutions to learn about organizing and take that next step in your home or office. 

 Classes begin January 3 and run all through Get Organized Month 2013.  Take a step to make 2013  your most organized year yet!

10 Tips for Time Management at Work

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So much to do and so little time to do it all! It is no wonder we feel drained, unproductive and overwhelmed at work.  Follow these 10 tips to make a difference in your efficiency and effectiveness at work. 

  • Choose a planner that works for you. It can be as simple as a spiral notebook or a Google calendar.  Having one place to consolidate dates makes it easy to keep up with activities, projects and tasks.
  • Use lists. Consolidate your list in one spot.  Making the list is the first step, prioritizing your activities is the next step.
  • Set your day’s priorities the night before.  When you come in to work and you know your focus, you get started right away.
  • Choose 3 Most Important Tasks and get these done early in the day.  Every day is filled with distractions and interruptions.  Getting the most important tasks done early helps you feel productive!
  • Establish times to work hard.  Have a power period in the morning and the afternoon.  These are times where you just work on one project. Turn off all distractions, including your cell phone, email, and post a note on the door for your colleagues, to keep this time sacred.
  • Keep your action items in a desktop sorter in files.  Finding papers you need to work on saves time and energy.
  • Delegate lower level tasks to an assistant.  Know what is worth your time and what is less important. Set up a process for your assistant to check back in with a time line and specific deliverables.
  • Take a break during the day to eat, walk a little and get refreshed.  You will work better with brain food. You may think you have too much to do, but a break will help you be more efficient.
  • Set specific times for email.  Do an email triage, with a quick scan and filing, and then consolidate projects and tasks on your list to work on during your power period.
  • Set a time to end your day.  It’s important to get out of your office and connect with others too. 

What are your tips for time management at work?

10 Tips for Student Time Management

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Our students have a lot on their plates! There is homework, sports, homecoming, church and more! Time management is an important skill for them to develop early on to be sure they feel successful academically and personally. Follow these tips to help you do your best!

  • Write in your assignments in your planner in each class. Check your teachers’ websites to be sure you have all your assignments too.
  • Check your planner each afternoon, write in what you missed.
  • Review your out of school activities and write these in your planner.
  • Keep your papers in your homework folder that need action, keep your papers in your binder that are reference
  • Prioritize and plan the week out. What is most important to do on what day? Anticipate the next test.
  • Plan your week by working around existing activities. Wednesdays are especially busy!
  • Break big projects into baby steps. For example, flashcards written, study for short periods, review with someone.
  • Get started and work hard during homework time, from 6 – 9 pm. Take breaks when your concentration stops, but get back to work in 5 minutes.
  • Pack your backpack and your homework before bed.
  • Wind down and get in bed by 10 pm. A good night’s rest makes all the difference.

Getting started and Getting done ~ Paper Management

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paper management

 

 

The hardest part of any project may be to get started or get done. This is especially true with your papers!  Choose one of these ten tips to help you make a difference, get going and get finished.

 

  • Put your perfectionism aside. Set a minimum expectation for yourself that can be accomplished by creating a project scope that allows for success. Instead of creating the “perfect” filing system, work with the big picture and use general, larger categories such as home and auto, finance, and personal.  Or just have one box marked 2012.  There is no one perfect way to file, so design what you need.

 

  • Make the project less overwhelming by making a list of the steps and products needed.  This will make the process more manageable. Start by getting the first step going and then the task falls into place. Make a list of the tasks for paper work. The list may include: pay bills, sort papers by alphabetical groups, file papers, eliminate junk for 5 minutes, or purchase extra files.

 

  • Break your work into smaller steps.  Use a timer and work just 15 minutes. Have a quick file group set up in the desk file drawer instead of the file cabinet.  For papers that arrive very frequently or that you use frequently, it is easy to just reach in.

 

  • Set a deadline to start or finalize your project and write it on your calendar.  As busy as we all are, there is never enough time to do all we want to do. Set a date on your calendar that is your administrative day to work on papers.

 

  • Give yourself permission to take all the time you need to work on papers. With a realistic time frame, you will get more accomplished on discarding, sorting and filing.   Assess your schedule and double the time you think it will take to finish.

 

  • Set the mood with music.  Having a soundtrack gets us moving. Choose your favorite background music, whether it is a playlist, country or classical.  Making it more fun makes paperwork easier.

 

  • Partner with someone who has the skills that match your skills. You pay the bills, your husband files the papers. You can delegate filing to your very organized teen too!

 

  • Make it routine.  Set the time aside and work regularly at your admin tasks with weekly admin time. Start with small bits of sorting and filing regularly and once the routine takes hold add on more.

 

  • Start when you are high energy.  Get a good night’s rest, have a small snack and work at your best time. Work at a time that works best for you, morning or evening.

 

  • Re-frame the work. Get a new perspective on why and how to work with your papers. Know what papers you want to keep and why.  Keep only what you need and be brutal about eliminating other papers.  The best resource for this is Oprah.com ABCs of Important Papers.

 

Paper management is much easier! What’s your first tip to try to make your paper work disappear?

 

5 Simple Filing Solutions

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Filing! Everyone hates filing! However, you can make filing less painful with a few simple solutions.

  • The easiest way to file is to have one box for a one year’s worth of paper. Have an easy to access, attractive box to drop in paper as it arrives. You can find what you need by going through the paper in chronological order. It saves time and energy to have just one box for all papers.
  • Have big categories for your files. Remember that filing is for retrieval! Having categories that include important areas can help you file quickly. Categories include home and auto, financial, personal and work. This filing is best accomplished with hanging files. But don’t just file everything. Be sure to keep just what you will want to retrieve. 
  • Make a list of your files. Often we are not sure where a paper goes, so we don’t file it. With a list, you have choices of where to file and what the options are.
  • File for fun! (Really!) Add music, your favorite tv show, with a friend, or with an adult beverage to add fun to your filing.
  • Use filing products you love. I recently found the filertek dry erase hanging file tabs. Having dry erase tabs means you can add names to your files easily. Also having lots of colored hanging files or beautiful file folders makes your work lovely to look at. Companies like www.officecandy, www.seejanework.com and www.containerstore.com make fabulous products for you to love and use.

I love to share my personal filing secret! I file 4 times a year and when I file I watch foodtv. What is your personal filing secret?

Going Paperless

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It seems like an impossibility – going paperless! But it can be done!  With the wonderful new digital technology we have, having less paper can happen.

Start with an investment in technology. The Fujitsu ScanSnap ( http://scansnapcommunity.com/) or the Neat Desk (www.neat.com)   are both incredible machines!  Learn which will work best with your existing operating system and computer.

  • Knowing what to keep is important, regardles of whether is in a paper or electronic form.  I love to refer to Julie Morgenstern’s ABCs of Important Papers (http://www.oprah.com/home/The-ABCs-of-Important-Papers/)  Remember, just because you have more opportunity to keep documents digitally does not mean you should keep everything! Be discerning about what you scan and know that to keep.
  • Set up a retrieval system that will work for you.  Keeping documents digitally means you can keep these in categories that work for you.  Outline what your categories will be, create these digitally, and then you are ready to scan and move documents into your categories.
  • Routinely scan and shred.  Have a plan about your scanning.  Establish a spot for papers that are to be scanned and a time to do the scanning.  Having a back up in place is also mandatory. Carbonite automatically backs up your computer.

With your new paperless office, you will feel accomplished!  And think about the s’mores you can make after you burn the paper!   

Ready to make the jump to paperless? Here are some more resources.

http://www.documentsnap.com/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-go-paperless-bury-the-paper-before-it-buries-you.html

ADDA-SR Sunday Seminar: Successful Student Strategies for ADD Families

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Families struggle with getting homework started and completed, getting papers turned in and seeing academic success.  In this workshop, Certified Professional Organizer Ellen Delap will share strategies for time management, paper work flow, and study skills.  Parents and their middle and high school students are invited to attend this interactive and engaging presentation.  

 Join us to:

  • Discuss time management strategies that lead to academic success. Parents and students will learn why and how to use time management tools like paper and electronic planners and task lists. Participants will complete a time grid to establish work, homework and other routines in their week. 
  • Identify paper management strategies that will streamline school papers for both parents and students. Parents will be introduced to the command center for papers and students will discuss various tools for paper such as homework folders, notebooks and files.
  • Establish study skills and study spaces that work best for their learning style.  Parents and students will discuss where students study in their homes and what tools will empower their learning. 

Sunday, September 30 from 2 – 4:30 pm

St. Andrews’s Presbyterian Church Family Center

5308 Buffalo Speedway

Houston, TX

Register at www.ADDA-SR.org

Fees depend on membership and number attending

10 tidbits to total organization

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It’s the little things that count! Take one of these tidbits and make it your own,  getting it done in your own way, to get started on your way to total organization.

1. Go to bed at a regular time. Getting a good night’s rest means you can get up rested and ready to tackle the day.

2. Get up a smidge earlier than the rest of your clan. Your time is your own and you can get more done.  It’s the best time for ME time!

3. Get ready the night before. There is never enough time in the morning. Lots of things go wrong in the morning. Have your bag, your kids bag and any other stuff together at night. Get your clothes together too.

4. Get a plan for meals in and out of your home. There are so many ways to get dinner done, groceries purchased and a plan in place. Having a plan also helps you save money. Have fun with this on pinterest, allrecipes or just by having your family cook with you.

5. Get help with the hard stuff of laundry and dishes. Have a time set aside every day to have both of these completed well before bedtime. It may not be as fun as you like, but add incentives and partnerships so that it gets done. Set a timer to just get laundry put away and dishes in the dishwasher in the evening. In the morning, set that timer again to get the laundry started and the dishwasher unloaded. Have a chores chart to share the responsibilities.

6. Have a morning and evening routine for you and your kids. Use checklists so that everyone knows what to do next and what is expected. Have clocks in the kitchen, bathrooms, and landing strip so that you can keep on time for these routines too.

7. Have a designated spot for your and your family’s stuff. Every evening get the stuff back to where it belongs. If the stuff is already overflowing, set a time to just work on that one area to get it back to a manageable amount in that spot.

8. Keep your car organized by dumping the trash while getting gas. Our cars get just as disorganized as our homes. Take only the papers into your home that are required, not just in case.

9. Write out your 3 most important tasks (MITs) for the next day the night before. Having a clear focus on what to do first makes the day more productive.

10. Keep your calendar up to date. When asked about an activity, just share, “I have to check”. That way you are making a plan before you add new activities for you and your kids.