It’s almost a wrap! The year 2015 starts this week. Thank you for your commitment to organizing and learning new tools, tips and techniques on Ellen’s Blog this year. Here are your favorite blog posts for 2014!
It’s the time of year when most of your colleagues are out of the office. Because you have used all your vacation time or as just as a personal choice, you are spending a few days in the office between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s quiet and there’s a slower pace with fewer deadlines looming. You may feel it’s the least productive time of the year. It’s truly the perfect time to get a few tasks finished up, get organized and learn new technology.
Make a list of unfinished year end tasks to complete. Throughout the year, administrative tasks and financial reports can be put on the back burner. Prioritize the most important of these tasks, especially monthly administrative or expense reports. Take advantage of technology to scan receipts quickly with your Neat to complete your expense reports efficiently.
It’s been a busy year and your office shows it! It’s time to eliminate paper and see the top of your desk and floor again. Set a timer to get you started and go through all papers. Recycle or shred multiple copies, drafts, or printed emails. Create paper files or scan information to consolidate and create effective document management.
A quiet, undistracted environment is the best place to immerse yourself in learning. Perhaps you have been put off updating equipment, adding your Neat scanner, or learning new software. Holiday time is when you can have more time in case things don’t go as smoothly as you like or installation requires a call to experts.
As the new year begins, you will feel ahead and be more organized because of your extra time spent in the office. A little productivity at holiday time makes a difference.
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Is your To Do list endless? Do you have too much to do and not enough time? Tackling your To Do List doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are a few tips and tricks to knock out your list.
Start with a great way to make your list.
There is too much to remember to keep your list in your head. There are many ways to create your list. A small spiral notebook you can carry with you makes a great spot to record actions. You can use post it notes, writing one task on each note, and post them on a wall or window. Apps like Remember the Milk, ToodleDo and Wunderlist keep your list on your smart phone. Whatever your tool, writing and recording a list helps tackle your tasks.
Be specific on your list. Write in the one next step. Like David Allen recommends, be sure your list includes actionable items. It’s the one next step that will move you forward on that project, rather than the project itself.
Prioritize what’s on your list.
Establish 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) each day. What’s most important may be a task with a deadline or the first step of a long term project. You may not be able to complete your entire list, but you have started on what’s vital.
Do the one most important task first.
Life is complicated and unreliable. Remember that quote about eating dessert first? The only thing you can count on conquering in a day is the task you do first. This also requires you to put aside email until after you have completed a task.
Stay focused with a timer.
Set your timer for 15 – 30 minutes and work on a single project at a time. Research shows multi -tasking diminishes our productivity. You will be surprised at how much you accomplish when working on a single task at a time. A timer can be used at home, at the office, with your family or on your own.
If you are feeling overwhelmed at home or at work, spend a few minutes making and prioritizing your To Do List. Starting your day with a plan makes all the difference in feeling effective and productive.
Join me on my Powerful Productivity pinterest board. You’ll find lots of tricks, tips and tools for making your day more productive.
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As funny as it sounds, a productive day starts the night before. Why? Because mornings are crazy and people are cranky! There’s no time when you accidentally get up late because you or your family hit snooze. The key to productivity is setting yourself up for success the night before.
Make a list
What are essential tasks that need to be done for the next day?
Make a check list for you and your family to be sure these are done at night. Post the list where each person can see it, such as a bathroom mirror. Your list can include a spot for check marks too so you are sure you completed each step.
Get ready early
Getting a great night’s rest starts by getting ready early.
Set your alarm and you will be surprised at how great you feel the next day. Now is the time for you bedtime procrastinators to get great shut- eye.
Work as a team
Get buy-in from your family with a family meeting. Talk about the value of a great night’s rest and working together to have a great day.
Getting started the night before allows for the “oops” factor. Some thing may go wrong in the morning. But you have it covered if you start the night before.
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The biggest lie I tell myself is
“I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it.”
Remember when life was so simple we just had to remember one telephone number to chat with a colleague, family or friend. Just 7 simple digits and we chatted directly. Now we have 2 or 3 numbers per person to remember. But we still think we can remember it all!
Write Stuff Down (WSD)
For me it’s always been natural to write stuff down. Ever since I can remember, I had a small notebook to write down details. If it’s not so natural to you, there’s lots of reasons to start. In the book, Write It Down, Make it Happen, author Henriette Klauser notes that when you write down your goals and dreams, these become reality. When my clients find old notes, they see that they have often finished tasks and accomplished goals.
More reasons to Write Stuff Down (WSD)
For many of us, writing helps us embark on our work. It helps clear the fog in your head. It can help you process and break a task into smaller, manageable units. Once written, you can prioritize and filter out the more essential tasks. Michael Hyatt refers to writing stuff down as the “secret to accomplishing what matters most to you”.
Notepads, Apps and More
So now you are ready to start? Or maybe you already write stuff down, but on post its, envelopes and the back of paper plates. Here are some great options for WSD to help you consolidate and organize your notes.
For each of these options, you can create a category and put your note where you will find it again too!
Now’s the time to give your brain a break and get started. What option will work best for you? What other apps or tools help you write stuff down?
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You’ve just returned from a vacation, feeling relaxed and looking tanned, only to find a colossal pile of mail and other papers waiting for you at work. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the volume of paper when you return. Even when you are not on vacation, 57% of workers in a recent survey by Neat reported frustration with paper and believed there are better paper management tools. What’s the best way to deal with paper after you return from a vacation?
Get a plan.
The best start requires planning and prioritizing. Before heading on vacation, let your team at work know and encourage them to send emails after your return. When you return, get a good night’s rest and head to the office a little earlier than usual. Your head start means you are working before others arrive and interruptions begin. Make a list of all your outstanding and upcoming tasks. Then prioritize what is immediately important and what can wait until the end of the week. Getting clarity is the best first step.
Automate when possible.
There are many ways to automate your work. Set up your auto-responder before you leave to share your absence. Set up a new message for the week of your return to indicate you are back at work, slogging through paper (and email) and will not be available for meetings until later in the week. Arrange for auto pay for bills before you leave so payments are made in a timely fashion.
Plow through your papers.
Triage the important and urgent papers, brutally discarding others. It’s not time for the “maybe, should and what if” papers. Categorize the remaining papers into groups of Action, Pay, Scan and File and place these in your Command Center, your tool for organizing actionable papers. Create a task list for actionable items in addition. Your list will help you stay on top of projects and help you focus.
Scan and digitize paper from your trip.
Often on vacation we take journals and business related reading materials. We gather business cards from contacts and possibly have receipts for tax purposes. After the trip, consolidate the information, amazing brainstorming notes you had, and other scraps of paper in your Scan folder. Using your Neat Connect or Neat mobile, (sponsored post) scan these items in later in the week. Creating a digital version of these articles and papers will make these easier to file and easier to find with searchable PDF files. Scan in receipts to keep track of your expenses while on vacation and budget for your next trip.
As hard as it is to return to work, having a paper plan can help. It’s never easy to get back to routines and deadlines, but having less paper makes work life better.
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One of the most powerful parts of social networking is the connections and collaborations we make! I asked my social media peeps to share their small and big changes this year. I loved learning a little more about each of them and what the new year holds for them.
The one change I would like to make in 2014 is to change my way of thinking. I’m generally a positive person, but as a woman, a wife and a mom, I see images of perfection everywhere. I want my change to be from within myself. I want to eliminate the negative self-talk that is so damaging. I want to practice more thankfulness and gratefulness and I want to be more present in my life and slow down to simply enjoy the little moments that make up each day.”
Joanie Zisk, Food/Travel Writer, Blogger at www.zagleft.com
Twitter: twitter.com/ZagLeft
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ziskjm/
Facebook: facebook.com/zagleft
My expectation for 2014 is to train myself to just “GO”… When it comes to projects/ideas/dreams, I am strong at “ready” and “set,” but often flail in the action. Fear and self-doubt are two big enemies. What am I afraid of? I plan to achieve both personal and professional growth this year taking “go” to the next level. I will stop second-guessing the outcome and just do it!
Vicki Powers
Journalist, Blogger
@HOUcheap, facebook (HoustonOnTheCheap), Pinterest.com/HoustonOnTheCheap
One of my three words for 2014 is Nourish. For me, this covers a multitude of areas – health, fitness, stress management, life management and self-care. Instead of saying I’m working out so many days a week, I have opted for the overall theme of Nourish. As I make both small and big decisions in 2014, I ask myself: Does this Nourish me? As Jason Womack says, I’m giving myself the gift of my own attention.
Janice Marie Simon, MA, CPO
Certified Professional Organizer
Twitter @janicesimon
Linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/janicesimon
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/janicesimon/
This year I have sent my mind to become better at 3 things: golf, yoga and painting.
Geralin Thomas
Organizing Consultant
Twitter: @Metrozing,
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+GeralinThomas/pos
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Geralin/
2013 was a big year of change for me both personally and professionally which left me working all the time! One big change I am taking small steps to do is to not work as much. I only have a few years left before my kids head off to college (or whatever awaits them after high school) and I don’t want to look back and say “I wish I had spent more time with them”. So far it is going well… keep your fingers crossed.
Kathy Jenkins, Certified Professional Organizer and Certified Family Manager Coach
Professional Organizer and Student Organizing Expert
@ComeToOrderVA
Facebook.com/cometoorder
Pinterest.com/cometoorder
What are you small and big changes for 2014?
A new year means a fresh start! Each year we want to be more efficient, effective and productive so we can be more balanced and be our best. It’s the combination of many tools, tips and techniques that help us with our productivity. Review this list of 14 productivity tips for 2014 and see the strategies you are already using and those you would like to use to create a new habit.
1. Commit to a calendar you love. A calendar not only helps you keep track of meetings and tasks, it also helps you create a plan for your week, month and year.
2. Record recurring events on your calendar to remind you about important dates. These can include credit card and bill paying dates, expense and health flex plan due dates, and birthdays. Using your calendar as a tool for tracking doubles its value to you.
3. Lists make life easier. Write stuff down to be free up your mind and be ready to work. Use a spiral notebook or Evernote for lists. Move tasks from email, post-it notes, voice mail or texts to one list to keep track of all you need to accomplish.
4. Create checklists for weekly and monthly activities at home and at work. Checklists are a great way to not re-invent the wheel. It keeps you on track for projects and tasks that occur regularly, as well as getting things done throughout the week. Easy to use checklists include grocery lists, travel lists, bill paying ledgers, and end of the month work checklists.
5. Choose the top three of your Most Important Tasks (MITs) each day to accomplish. How do you know what’s most important? It is the priorities you set. In business it is usually about finances. Personally it is about family and values. Choosing just three MITs a day ensures your success. Whatever is the first task of the day is the one task you can be sure will be accomplished.
6. Set up a Power Period each day, as least once a day, without distractions. A power period helps you get tasks done, helps you be more creative, and helps you complete difficult tasks and projects.
7. Triage email three times daily and add tasks from email to your action list. It’s easy to spend too much time on email so keep to a schedule to use your time more effectively.
8. Create a command center for your papers. Triage papers daily and set a one hour weekly admin time for paper at home. Having a center where papers that require action are altogether makes it easy to find them and do what is required. Spending a little time daily and one hour weekly helps make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
9. Establish weekly routines at home and work. At home these include what days are grocery shopping and laundry. At work these include weekly reports and staff meetings. You can assign days like Money Monday, Wash it Wednesday or Financial Friday to keep it fun too! Write these on a checklist where you can see your assignments for you and your family.
10. Leave a little white space in your calendar for relaxation and rejuvenation. Many tasks do not go as planned. Back to back activities wear us down. Having a little time between tasks and activities lowers your stress.
11. Declutter your purse, satchel, backpack and your car weekly. Declutter your purse at your command center. Declutter your car while you are getting gas. Help your kids declutter their backpacks into their binders. It takes just a few minutes to do. Sometimes it is just trash that needs to be tossed, addresses and contacts to put in your smart phone, and cosmetics to put away. Just five minutes makes all the difference.
12. Host a weekly family meeting. Family meetings are when everyone shares what is going on and what they need to accomplish. It creates family cohesiveness and a team effort.
13. Post a family calendar in the kitchen for everyone to add their activities and remind everyone of upcoming events. Your family calendar helps everyone work together and be on top of upcoming activities.
14. Create partnerships at home and work. We are all especially good at some things and not very good at other things. When you are partnering, both you and your partners strengths come out, work gets accomplished more quickly and its more fun. Partnerships at home include making dinner, doing the laundry and doing the dishes. Partnerships at work include all types of project management, weekly meetings or monthly or annual reviews. The key is to communicate clearly and work together cohesively.
Nothing feels better than getting things done!
Want more ideas on productivity? Check out my pinterest board!
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Last weekend I attended Blog Elevated, an event hosted in Houston to build a blogging community and teach skills about blogging.
I started blogging in May 2009. As a professional organizer, I think “organized” about my work, my marketing and my blog. I searched for a blogging conference to learn more about how to make my efforts more effective and efficient, because you know…. I am an organizer. Attending BlogElevated last weekend was an amazing opportunity to learn about this craft and connect to local bloggers. I want to share 5 tips I learned at BE (BlogElevated) about blogging.
1. BE statistical. One of my top goals was to learn more about my most valuable posts. I wanted to know which posts are read most frequently. I wanted to learn about statistics for me to decipher what was most important to my readers. Attending a session about google analytics hit home for me. It was a line by line tour of what to look for and where to find information I wanted. Knowing how to guage my metrics will help me focus.
2. BE consistent. One of my strengths has always been to work in a methodical manner, posting consistently on the same day of the week, writing high quality material consistently, and consistently seeking way to engage with my readers. The value of consistency is that your followers look for this and start to crave their consistent interactions with you. What a great affirmation for me!
3. BE a team player. BlogElevated stressed the importance of sharing with each other, teaching each other, helping each other and networking with each other. From Google+ sessions to SEO links, speakers addressed the importance of being there for each other through social media interactions, linking with guest posts and finding ways to help each other. A community where we are all supporting each other with our strengths is the best kind place to BE!
4. BE inspired. It is about the vision you are creating for yourself and for others. You can be inspired to share ideas with others like Cool Asian Hair. You can be an inspiration to others like Chookooloonks. Sharing your vision may not take you directly to where you want to go, but it will make for an amazing journey in any case. Enjoy the ride, whether success or not so much.
5. BE yourself. Have your own voice and be the authentic you. This thought is empowering! What we each share rings through our voices in our writing, brands you when you want to work with companies, and propels you forward as you share your blog through social media. There is nothing more valuable to me.
I look forward to staying connect with #BlogElevated through the Thursday night twitter chats. Join us at 9 pm central!
Back to school so soon! Get in the Back to School Groove with these simple routines. This article is featured on Organize to Revitalize.
http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2013/08/05/get-in-the-back-to-school-groove/
We specialize in working with ADD/ADHD clients. Whether in your home or your office, we motivate, empower and affirm our clients in their quest for organizing and productivity! 