2021 UPDATE: Getting “derailed” is one thing. Here it implies a potential for getting back on track with a little focus, some encouragement, and a few tips from me. However, falling off the trestle bridge into the canyon below, before crashing and burning, is quite another thing! This article is about getting back on track organization- and productivity-wise after common life-changes (home, work, health, events, trips, relationships). It was not meant for a worldwide pandemic with severe health, social, and financial implications, accompanied by political and civic upheaval and global warming! In severe cases “back to basics” may mean focusing on eating, sleeping, and exercising enough to recover or maintain one’s health. And, in other cases, a consultation with a medical professional, financial advisor, realtor, or government agency is called for. Even so….eventually you will find yourself either stuck in the past, languishing in the present, or ready to get back on track to meet your future.
Archive for schedule
How well are your organizing systems working for you?
In the introduction to this series I shared the following:
What is a system?
What 6 organizing systems do I think everyone needs?
What 5 questions can you ask yourself to see if your systems are still working for you, or if they need tweaking?
Now let’s take a closer look at each system…
Once upon a time I was taught the Transcendental Meditation technique. It’s a mantra-based meditation that is done for 20 minutes twice a day, but that is not my point. The thing about the training that keeps coming back to me is this frequent admonishment:
If you are too busy to meditate, then you are too busy.
As a time management consultant I now believe this concept can be applied to ANY activity in life that is important to you:
If you are too busy to _________, then you are too busy.
I love helping my clients spend more of their time doing what they want to, and less of it doing what they have to!
I give them lots of time tips (well, I actually coach them through a whole customized program), such as:
- Identify your priorities, goals, and time wasters.
- Create an ideal schedule and use it to help you make decisions.
- Decide what tools are likely to work best for you and commit to them.
- Batch your tasks and block your time.
- Budget time and energy like you do money.
- Use one calendar that combines personal and work schedules.
- Keep a long master to-do list, but a very short daily to-do list.
Embrace the clutter!
Why on earth would I, a professional organizer, say such a thing?
Well, think about it. What’s the opposite of embracing something? Fearing it? Ignoring it? Avoiding it?
Doesn’t it seem like anything you fear, ignore, or avoid persists? It doesn’t go away, it just nags at you. Doesn’t it? Maybe not every second of every day, but repeatedly and persistently.
Meanwhile, it usually gets steadily worse, not magically better. Right?
Why not embrace your clutter – and yourself, and your flaws – and make friends with them?
Are you familiar with the Happy Family Chinese-American restaurant meal? Choose one item from menu Column A, one from Column B… and with six you get egg roll…?
Well, that’s how I manage my time. Allow me to explain…
I know how to get stuff done, and I can teach you how, too. I have tools and systems for all the stages of workflow (collect, process, organize, review and do). I have an inbox and project lists which I clear and review weekly. I say no to activities that don’t support my goals and priorities. For the most part I capture and process new tasks as they occur to me, adding them to my Master Project List or scheduling them on my calendar. I have a notebook handy for capturing stray thoughts when I want to stay focused on my current activity and not worry about losing the thought.
But life happens. Sometimes I get lazy, or sick, or preoccupied, or I’m traveling, or busier than usual, and stuff piles up (physical and mental clutter), and I start to get overwhelmed. (more…)
It’s really easy to say to oneself, at quitting time (or bed time), “I’ll just do this one last thing…just 10 more minutes.” But it – whatever it is — never actually takes only 10 more minutes, does it? Sometimes it takes 15 minutes, or 37 minutes, or 2.5 more hours. And even then, usually, you’re still not completely finished…are you?
Here are 3 ways that just 10 more minutes can affect your life, and what you can do about it: (more…)
Living and working BY DEFAULT means choosing the easiest path, either by unconsciously resorting to bad habits, or by maintaining the status quo. Sometimes we seek to avoid the conflict that can come with making a change. Sometimes we feel we have no choice in the matter. But I’m with Henry Ford, who said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right.”
Those who live and work BY DESIGN notice when things aren’t going well, and make adjustments accordingly. They live more calmly, purposefully, and mindfully.
Here are some examples: (more…)
As a professional organizer I have found that yoga provides a perfect metaphor for the balance we are all seeking in our lives. Balance helps us organize our space, manage our time, and improve our relationships with ourselves and others.
Here are 7 lessons I have learned from yoga class. They are all based on, but not limited to, Bikram yoga, an intense 90-minute workout consisting of 26 poses, done in 105 degrees, and 40 percent humidity. The idea behind the heat is partly to sweat toxins out of your body, but it also enables you to go deeper into the poses, getting greater benefit from each one, without hurting yourself.
2020 NOTE: This post predates the 2017 conviction of Bikram Choudhury for sexual assault and harassment. Ugh! (I totally believe the allegations.) But the principles in this blog post are timeless and universal.
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