Knowing Your Strengths and Weaknesses

By Stephanie Frank

I sat among a pile of papers. Everywhere I looked, I saw more
work to do, and the longer I looked at it, the more overwhelmed I became. Finally, I burst into tears. "Why can't I just figure out a system for all of this paper?" I said to myself. Here I was, an intelligent woman, and I could not figure out how to set up a filing system. I felt stupid.

Really stupid.

So I got up and tried again. And again. And again. Each time I attempted to set up a new system, something wouldn't work,something I hadn't thought of, and I'd have to start all over
again. I sat holding one single piece of paper, trying to figure out what to do with it, when the phone rang.

It was an old friend - actually, an old assistant who had moved away to another state across the country.

"What'cha doin?" she asked.

"Trying to figure out how to file all of these @#$@#$ papers!" I
exclaimed loudly.

She took a long pause and then said to me. "What are you doing that for? You're a professional speaker - you don't have the energy to spend on that kind of detail work - you're a PEOPLE person!".

Well, duh. Yes, I am a people person and here I was, taking a lot of time to do something that frankly, I'm not so good at doing.

BUT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU ABOUT THAT IN SCHOOL!! Remember back in school when you weren't so good in a subject? What did they tell you to do? Try harder, right? Well, I say WRONG! We only have so many strengths and weaknesses, why focus on the weakness?

It makes a lot of sense to me to focus on strengths. When you focus on what you CAN do instead of what you CANNOT do, opportunities arise and people flow into your life to help you. I've experienced this time and time again in my own life, and always when I was working on what I do well.

So my papers? They are all nice and neat in a new filing system which I did not create, but I do follow. Someone else had strengths in organization and helped me out - truly a prosperous and profitable exchange of services.

How about you? What are you focusing on today? What you do well or what you do NOT do well? I challenge you to work your strengths for a month and see what progress you make.

Action Steps:

1. For one week, write down all of the tasks you do.

2. Go over the list and determine which of the tasks you enjoy or are good at, and which you don't enjoy or struggle with.

3. Consider delegating the tasks you aren't good with.

4. Document how the task is done and find another person to do it for you.

5. Celebrate your freedom and success!

Stephanie Frank is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker and entrepreneur. Take the free quiz "Do You Have What It Takes To Be The Next Accidental Millionaire?" and receive over $1,574 of business building tools and resources at http://www.AccidentalMillionaire.com

How to Beat Work Addiction

By Lorraine Pirihi

Why are you so busy? Do you really have too much work? Is work so important to you that you'll sacrifice just about anything in your life to get the job done? Even if it's at the expense of your health and your relationships?

If you find these questions disturbing then see how you rate with these ones:

Do you work more than 50 hours a week?
Do you dream about work?
Do you feel that in order to succeed you must work late most of the time?
Are you a stranger in your own home?
Do you constantly miss family and social events because you're always working?
Do you schedule and undertake more than you can get done in a 40-hour work week?
Do you get bored when you're not working?
Is missing family and social events because of work unavoidable?
When on holiday do you constantly check your phone messages and email?

Your Score

The greater the number of yes answers, the closer you are to fitting the profile of a workaholic. If you've answered yes to more than half of the questions, it's time to take stock before you lose your health, family and everything you hold near and dear to your heart.

Do a Stocktake

First of all take a really good look at your job, what you do and the importance of your accomplishments. Are you appreciated for all those long hours you've put in? Does it really - I mean really - make a difference to your income? Let's face it. In today's economic environment, employees are often nothing more than expendable pawns. No amount of overtime and sacrifice will make a difference when a company has to make cutbacks.

Are You Having Fun?

Secondly, determine if you're having fun at your job, long hours notwithstanding. If you're not having fun and are popping antacids to avoid a stress-related ulcer, then you need to rethink all that hard work you're putting in. Fun must be a high priority in your life and your job should be no exception.

Gary's Story

In one of our coaching sessions, Gary told me he wanted to expand his social circle yet didn't have time because he worked from 7.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. most days. He said he'd been doing this for years and that it was 'the norm' in his profession.

As I continued to question him about why it was standard procedure to work these ridiculous hours, he realised that those colleagues who succumbed to this belief were all very unhappy individuals. Most of them were divorced just like he was and had no-one to go home to. They used work as a way to avoid the loneliness.

Gary was divorced because he didn't pay attention to his relationships. When he was married he would arrive home at 7.30 p.m. most nights and his wife wouldn't bother communicating with him. She was busy looking after their two young boys and meeting their needs. At that time of night his wife was putting the kids to bed.

Gary would read them a story if they hadn't already fallen asleep. He was missing out on everything that was important to him.

Unfortunately Gary didn't wake up to himself in time and got caught up with being 'Mr. Important' at work. He paid a heavy price with the divorce which followed.

Bringing Up Kids

In his book "Raising Boys", Stephen Biddulph categorically states: If you routinely work a fifty five or sixty hour week, including travel times, you just won't cut it as a dad.

He says: Your sons will have problems in life and it will be down to you.

The Final Word

If you seriously want to make changes to your life, then take action now. If it's too hard to do by yourself, get coached. If you've been a workaholic it can take awhile to break your old habits and to instill new behaviours. After all you've got everything to gain by working less and everything to lose by continuing the way you are.

Have a great week

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"
To subscribe to her free ezine visit http://www.office-organiser.com.au

Create A Communication Station to Manage Your Household

By Brook Noel

Schedules and time management systems are the quickest and easiest ways to eliminate conflict and better manage your household. It’s amazing how wonderful these tools are and how they simplify one’s life, but it’s even more amazing that with all these benefits, few people use them! It will take a few hours to set up your system, but it’s worth it.

Communication Central Shopping List

A weekly planner

A set of colored dry-erase markers

Dry-erase calendars (both monthly and weekly)

Address book

A small bulletin board

Notepad

Two letter trays

A message book (spiral notebooks work fine)

Scrap paper and tacks

A three-ring binder and assorted color construction paper

Hole punch

Communication Central will become an important place in your home. To begin, mount a weekly and monthly dry-erase calendar on your refrigerator. Assign each of your children a colored marker. Let them be re-sponsible for recording their school notes, field trips, re-port deadlines, etc. on the calendar. Parents should have two colors; one for your personal schedule and another for family events and other activities that concern the family as a whole.

Other necessities for Communication Central in-clude:

An address book to keep all phone numbers handy. On the first page, fill in emergency contact numbers and make sure that your children know how to access, and when to use, these numbers.

Keep a message book by the phone, and teach children how to properly take messages. Spiral message notebooks tend to work better than the notepads since the messages stay in one spot.

Use your bulletin board to leave each other notes or remind-ers. Have some fun and leave each other special notes on special papers. A little gesture like this can brighten the day of both parent and child. You may also want to sup-ply hooks for each family member to store their keys.

Create a weekly calendar of meals, and plan these out in ad-vance. A Sunday afternoon is a good day to sit down and have a small family meeting so everyone can touch base. Create the upcoming dinner schedule during this time and a shopping list. Post it on the refrigerator for easy reference.

Create a kid’s phone book. Purchase some construction paper and a three-ring-binder. Let each child have their own color paper, i.e. Kim’s Red Pages, John’s Purple Pages, etc. Punch the paper and insert it into the binder. Kids can record frequently dialed numbers, schedules and notes in their pages. You may want to tie a string to a binder ring and attach it to a table near the phone to prevent it from “walking” away.

Lastly, put an “In” & “Out” basket somewhere within your child’s reach. Anything she needs your help with or signa-ture on can go in the “In” basket. You can also use this for items you need to read, file or respond to. Once completed place the item in the “Out” basket. Once a week go through the Out basket and handle each item to avoid pile up.

The Change Your Life Challenge

http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com

Take control of your home, finances, relationships, clutter, time-managmenet and more with this 70 Day Program. Sign up for the free Challenge Weekly Newsletter and the motivational daily Good Morning.

7 Easy Steps for Organized Holiday Storage

By Karen Fritscher-Porter

Wouldn't it be nice if you could find your decorations, costumes, cards and wrapping paper in just seconds and put them away just as quickly after the holiday? You can with a plan! Use these steps below for organizing holiday storage and you'll spend less time on this mundane task and more time celebrating. And don't wait until the holidays, or worse, after the holidays, to read these tips. That's too late. Plan ahead. Start now. Start here...

STEP #1: COLOR CODE STORAGE BOXES. You can buy holiday storage bins, or even ordinary plastic storage bins, in different colors. Or buy containers with different color lids. Or spray paint the exterior of your existing lids appropriate colors. Use all purple for Halloween ornaments and all green and red for Christmas items. That way you'll know at a glance which storage bins to pull for each holiday.

STEP #2: TAKE INVENTORY. List each item in an individual holiday storage container on a sheet of paper. Then put that paper in a translucent sheet protector. Tape the sheet protector to the outside of the bin. You won't have to open each box now to know what's inside.

STEP #3: MAKE A BLUEPRINT. Have you ever struggled to repack decorations into boxes only to find what came out doesn't seem to fit on the return trip? Solve this by mapping the "location" of the items in the boxes in blueprint drawing fashion. Of course you'll have to get everything to fit just so in the boxes the first year. But next year you'll easily be able to duplicate the repacking process by following your packing blueprint.

STEP #4: USE A CODING SYSTEM on holiday storage boxes that tells you in what order to open them. Put the number one on the box that contains the items you'll work with first. Or write "open first" on certain boxes. For example, at Christmas you may typically start with your tree stand, tree lights and/or outdoor lights. Other things you might use first are holiday cooking related items (e.g. Santa or pumpkin cookie cutters), gift wrap and gift tags. Keep other boxes closed until you're ready for those items.

STEP #5: CLUSTER. Two columns of stackable bins that are all orange (for Halloween) in the back corner of your garage are easy to spot. Always group storage boxes together by holiday, even if you can't fit all of the holidays in the same section of the garage, attic or closet.

STEP #6: KEEP A HOLIDAY PLANNER. Keep one three-ring notebook with the inventory sheets mentioned earlier. (This can be in addition to taping the inventory sheets to the individual storage boxes.) You can put all holiday inventory sheets in one notebook and separate the different holiday information with notebook dividers and tabs (sold at office supply stores) labeled Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.

Keep the notebook on your bookshelf year-round. You also can add divided sections to this notebook for holiday recipes, holiday collection lists (so you don't buy duplicate collectibles in a series), holiday gift ideas and holiday card mailing lists.

It's best to do all of these "printables" on your computer and print them versus hand-writing them; that makes for easier updating. You can either put the paper in three-hole punched translucent sheet protectors or leave a wide left margin and three hole punch the paper yourself.

STEP #7: START NOW. Work on your storage plan through every upcoming holiday so that when year two arrives, your plan is in place and complete. It's an investment of time and patience that will benefit you next year and every year thereafter.

Karen Fritscher-Porter publishes http://www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com where you'll find organizing products to buy plus free articles and tips to keep you organized year-round. Also go there to subscribe to the free newsletter that keeps you informed about organizing products you can buy year-round in stores.

Organize the Day Before… not the Night Before!

By Mary Gardner

I’ve learned a new skill that I’ve never known before. It has changed the way I do business now and probably forever. It’s in the ART of the PLAN.

The recruiting business is an old and successful business. There are thousands of companies out there that net billions of dollars every year. They provide an incredibly useful service of finding and recruiting highly qualified candidates for companies who need their specialized skills.

The most difficult thing in the business for a person who enjoys meeting new people on the phone is the organization. But it is drilled into your head from day 1. It’s what I’ve most resisted and now it’s what I most cherish.

The day essentially STOPS at 4PM. From that moment on, no calls are made or received. The working day is now done and the planning begins. Every bit of information that was received from the day is now put in the computer. It’s the time to evaluate everything that happened during the day. It’s time to research for your companies, for your candidates and to prep and plan for the next day. It’s time to evaluate all of your calls for the day and to make adjustments for the next day.

Then, the miracle occurs! All of the paper that was worked with that day is filed… IN FILE 13! It all goes in the TRASH. Nothing is saved. Nothing new is filed. It goes into the computer and then IN THE TRASH.

This has completely liberated me. I’m the one who lives by the sticky pad. I’m the one who scribbles notes on everything and then sometimes loses it. But now, I’m the one who acknowledges that my old ways were warped and now, are past history!

It’s a new way of thinking. My previous work had always been to plan quickly at the end of the day or to plan first thing in the morning. I never stopped at a given time and actually stopped WORKING. I NEVER stopped working. And now, I value that time in the day and will protect that time vehemently.

Giving yourself over an hour and a half of planning every day is a great way to keep organized, up your sales and keep yourself from getting overwhelmed. I wish I would have implemented this skill, years ago, but I’m just glad I finally learned it. It’s changed the way I work, and opened up my eyes to many new possibilities.

Changing a habit takes time and can be a painful process. But living in a new way can open up a whole new way of living.

Mary Gardner is a professional networker, coach recruiter. She's been on ABC's 20/20 for her Charisma seminar, and has traveled the country as a Lifestyle Editor for major TV markets. Mary is currently writing a book to benefit women in business.

Six ADD Tips for Organizing Everyday Things

By Sarah Jane Keyser

Life with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) can be a constant hassle. Little things like lost car keys, tools that stick or don't cut well, papers that go missing all add to the general level of tension. These tips will help you come to grips with the nitty-gritty of everyday things.

1. Things have a place close to where they are used.

Putting things close to where they are used means that you do not have to move away from your work space to find them. Put them away when you have finished using them. Car keys are a good example of things that go missing; have a place, a basket or a hook, near the door where you come in and go out. Train yourself to put them there every time you come in.

I have two pairs of scissors in the kitchen. One is short and works well to open packages of food; it lives in a drawer by the stove where I cook. The second pair, longer, lives on the kitchen table where I read the newspaper and often cut out articles. I used to have only the long pair for everything, but it was never where I wanted it. Now which ever pair I need is right at my finger tips.

2. The place for a thing should be logical to you.

Give some thought to when and where you use an object and store it near by. Don't worry about what other people might think. You are the one who is using it. If someone else also uses the object you may have to negotiate or better yet buy two.

I keep paper clips over the bread board. Why? I use paper clips to close up bags of cereal and nuts which live in the same cupboard; I rarely use them for attaching papers together, and when I do, I know where they are.

3. Have tools which are efficient to use and feel good.

A letter open that is long enough to open an envelope with one or two strokes. A paper punch which will take a wadge of papers in one go. Scissors which are sharp and feel good in your hand. Good tools make a job easier and quicker to do and provide kinesthetic pleasure.

I had two letter openers. One, short, stubby, and now gone, was difficult to insert into the envelope, took two or three hacks to get the envelope open and the handle was too short to grasp comfortably. The other has a longer blade which slips easily into the open space in the envelope and the handle fits comfortably into the palm of my hand. Opening the mail is quickly done.

4. Use containers that are adequate and pleasing to you.

Containers should be large enough to hold whatever they are designated for and should hold only one category of thing. A colored envelope on a convenient shelf for bills to be paid this month, an attractive basket by the front door for your keys.

I needed something to hold pencils, scissors etc on my desk. I looked in several stores; they all had versions of a stack of chimneys. I reasoned that they weren't adequate and kept looking. I found an organizer in the shape of a dog in my favorite color; I didn't even stop to think if it was "adequate". He does his job admirably, and I use him because he's cute.

5. Put things away when you are finished using them.

When things live close to your work space it is easy to put them away immediately. Putting them away becomes part of the task in which they were used instead of a separate activity called "putting away". As people with ADD have difficulty coping with multiple tasks, eliminating even one makes every day living a little bit easier.

6. Now to organize everyday tasks - create a routine: the 5 minute SWOOP.

Routines? Sound boring? Yes routines help you get the boring things done without thinking about how boring they are. The 5-minute swoop is designed to do the basic everyday tasks in each room. Make one list for each room of the things that need to be tidied up everyday. Spend no more than 5 minutes in each room; set a timer if necessary. You will know how much time you are going to spend before starting therefore you can get out the door in time to get the kids to school or to your meeting. Be strict about the 5 minutes so that you don't get captured by the ADD impulse to organize an entire cupboard.

Sarah Jane Keyser worked for many years with computers as programmer, analyst, and user trainer, but her struggle with inattentive ADD kept getting in the way of her plans and dreams. Once ADD was identified and the great need that coaching filled, she added ADD Coach training (ADDCoach Academy) to complete her preparation for a new career as ADD Coach.

Learn more about ADHD at http://www.CoachingKeytoADD.com or sign up for Zebra Stripes, a free E-zine for ADHD at http://www.coachingkeytoadd.com/newsletter/newsarchive.html

Getting Things Done: A Guide To Next-Action Lists

By Dan Fletcher

Getting Things Done (GTD), is a productivity methodology designed by David Allen. GTD increases your productivity by getting things out of your mind, and into a reliable system that you can trust. This frees your mind to work on the task at hand, instead of trying to remember a myriad of things at once. You will find yourself more relaxed, and more productive at the same time.

In particular, one easy-to-use part of GTD (which I describe later), only takes 2
minutes to learn, but can increase your efficiency by phonemenal levels.

There are many parts to GTD. One important component is next-action lists, which replace to-do lists in other methodologies.

David Allen realised that in today's dynamic society, todo lists, daily plans, etc, often do not work. If everything and everyone around you is going 100% to plan they can work, but how often does everything go according to plan? A meeting runs longer than expected, the report you need isn't ready yet, or the computer network goes down for an hour, and your whole day can go out of whack.

David Allen's solution to this was next action lists. Rather than plan out the day based on projects, you list the next-action items for tasks you have to do. You record these next-actions into separate lists based on context.

This is best shown with an example...

Suppose you had the following todo list:

• Research buying new Palm pilot
• Arrange next marketing meeting
• Service car
• Buy new Apple Mac
• Cancel magazine subscription
• Prepare for the department meeting

The first step in GTD is to change the list to be based on the next physical action for
each project:

• Search online to find different potential Palm Pilots to buy
• Phone John to arrange next marketing meeting
• Look in car manual to find qualified mechanic for car
• Phone Apple Reseller and buy new Apple Mac
• Phone and cancel magazine subscription
• Print out the financial report for the department meeting

By listing the next specific physical action, it becomes much easier to proceed on the projects. You might procrastinate on "Prepare for the department meeting", but "Print out the financial report for the department meeting", seems like a much easier thing for you to tackle, and therefore, you are MUCH more likely to get it done. Just this one idea alone will increase your productivity dramatically! It seems simple, but it is actually quite profound, because it focuses your mind on ACTION.

The next step in Getting Things Done, is to move these next-action's into separate lists based on context:

@Phone (Things I can do when I am at a phone):

• Phone John to arrange next marketing meeting
• Phone and cancel magazine subscription


• Phone Apple Reseller and buy new Apple Mac

@Computer:

• Search online to find different potential Palm Pilots to buy
• Print out the financial report for the department meeting

@Home:

• Look in car manual to find qualified mechanic for car

Why have separate lists? The main benefit is that it lets you look at the tasks that are only suitable to where you are at the moment. If you are at work, you aren't distracted by the tasks that are on the @Home list, and if you are at home, you aren't distracted by the work tasks. The actual GTD contexts that you use are up to you. The standard ones that David Allen recommends are generally based on location (like the ones above), but you can use whatever works best for you.

Another benefit of separating out the lists into contexts is that it becomes easy to change what you are working on quickly if something goes wrong. Suppose your in the middle of some research online, and the computer network goes down. Whilst other people might decide it's time for a coffee break, you can just look at you phone list, and start tackling some of the @Phone tasks instead.

Breaking your todo lists into next-action lists based on context may seem like a lot more work than a standard todo list, but it isn't really. It only takes a little bit longer to plan, but the increase in productivity more than compensates for this.

Next-Actions lists are a small part of the Getting Things Done methodology. They are useful on their own, but their power is multiplied when used with the rest of David Allen's system. GTD is incredibly effective, and I highly encourage you to try it out for yourself, by reading David Allen's book ("Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress Free Productivity"), or by trying out some GTD software.

Dan Fletcher is a developer at dogMelon. They make Note Studio, an easy-to-use tool, being used for GTD on Palms, PC's, and Macs.

5 Reasons to Organize Your Home Today

By Karen Fritscher-Porter

Home organization isn't just for neat-nicks or those drawn toward organized living. Even if you don't fall into those two stereotypes, you should consider learning and implementing some home organizing techniques. Why bother? Here are five good reasons to organize your home:

PEACE OF MIND - When you have a closet packed full of miscellaneous items, don't you sometimes think "I've got to put that on my to-do housekeeping list"? Or you think "I've got to go through that closet to find those missing papers, shoes, whatever." And then when you don't do it, you get a nasty reminder every time you open that closet door. Now multiply that scenario and thought pattern by the number of other areas in your home that give you that same feeling. When it's visible, clutter weighs on your mind because you can't forget about it. It's there every time you open the closet door! So getting organized once and for all could decrease your stress levels by putting your mind more at ease.

MORE TIME - Home organization means less time spent searching for things. You can find what you want now, not in 15 minutes, an hour or perhaps never. Being able to find your ski jacket instantly means 15 more minutes of skiing time. That sure sounds like a lot more fun than spending those 15 minutes searching through your closet for a warm jacket.

ANSWER FEWER QUESTIONS - Where are my shoes? Where is my purse or wallet? Have you seen my keys? Where's my backpack? I'm late! Have you seen my brown sweater? If all family members know the home organization system, then they know where to find their stuff without asking you. But even if they don't, at least you can answer their questions quicker and without stopping what you're doing to help them search.

SAVE MONEY - How many spatulas and wooden spoons do you have in your kitchen? What about screw drivers or other hand tools? Do you have duplicate items because you forgot you already had one? Ever bought the same book or magazine twice because the ones you had weren't visible in that huge pile? Home organization means fewer purchases of duplicate items by everyone in the household. You won't come home with another something you already have because you forgot where you put the first one. And neither will your spouse because he didn't know your family had one in the first place.

IT'LL LOOK GREAT - A good home organization system implemented with some surface cleaning (for example, dusting and vacuuming the common areas) often gives guests a great first impression of your home. They see the exterior of the shell, a view that says "neat and clean"---even if a true "finger test" in an obscure location would spill some dirty secrets (like dust). If you enjoy entertaining in your home, then this is probably the best reason to organize your home. In fact, throwing a party can be both your incentive and your reward to start organizing your home today.

Karen Fritscher-Porter writes about how to organize your home at http://www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com

Visit http://www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com to read more than 50 FREE articles containing dozens of ideas and solutions to help you organize your home. Plus subscribe to the FREE newsletter updating you about the latest home organization products sold in stores.

The True Definition of an Organization

By James Rick

The true definition of an organization is one that is organized. Organized in all areas of fundamental business best practices. A business that is not organized should instead be known as a chaoticization.

A successful organization is the product of organized individuals all aiming for the same goal; all affecting eachother simultaneously through their actions. They share the same resources and they all play on the same team. An efficient organization gains knowledge and produces more than would be possible through a mass of single individuals alone. It functions on the same principles that governs the growth and organization of our individual bodies. We can learn alot about the world's organizations by observing the most efficient organization on Earth, our body.

Globalization also known as outsourcing, is like half of our body discovering that it can work with the other half. The discovery is new so it faces scrutiny. It may be uncomfortable and a few kinks have to be ironed out before it works properly but in the end it is what's best for the entire body.

Traversing the barriers of space with communication lines that allow information to travel the world and back in the blink of an eye, mirrors the communication links developed thousands of years earlier in our nervous system. Even with all the great technological advances of our time I cannot help but marvel at the ability for data to travel at light speed from one side of our body to the other.

Our external world is a growing reflection of the evolution that has been refined in ourselves. We can learn a lot by observing what has already proven to be a best pratice and apply it. We know our bodies have limited resources. We can toxify our minds and bodies or purify them. We can increase the longevity of our cellular universe or shorten it by the choices we make as a collective consciousness. A single cancerous cell could spread and lead to our ultimate doom. A single brain, like Earth, may stand united or divided. Our futures are written before us if we will only see it. We can adopt the best practices of an established organization or lead an uncertain chaoticization of future.

This article is part of the James Rick Daily Vitamin by James Rick, a daily blog that merges our understanding of spirit with the physical world. James Rick is author of Full Potential, a revolutionary guide to mastering your life in stages. He is also a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and CEO of two international ventures. More can be learned at JamesRick.com.

10 Common Roadblocks to Getting Organized

By Andrea Feldman

1. All or nothing thinking/taking on too much.

“ I’m going to take a few days off from work and finally get this house/office together!” Doesn’t sound very realistic, does it? What usually happens?

2. Not having a plan.

Fail to plan, plan to fail. Be specific about what you’re going to tackle. How long it will take and what tools or materials will you need in order to do the job?

3. Not writing it down.

It's too difficult to keep it all in our heads. Once you decide on the task or project, break it down into small steps. On paper.

4. Not scheduling time to do it.

Thinking you can do this anytime, really means NO time. If you can’t take the time to schedule it, in your calendar, how will you take the time to get it done?

5. Not scheduling appropriately.

Don’t schedule your project at night if you’re a morning person. Don’t expect to have quiet time when the kids are off from school. Don’t try to do the big, focused job on the day you’re having workmen in the house. Don’t overbook!

6. Not prioritizing.

Do the bigger, time sensitive tasks first. Getting caught up in the little things can cause the time get away from you.

7. Not making places for things.

Take the time to create a logical place for something to live. If there’s no room it, some decisions need to be made around clearing some space.

8. Not putting things away.

Prevent piles. File away those papers, books, clean laundry, in a timely manner.

9. Not completing tasks.

Are you one of those people who have dozens of projects lying around, in various stages of completion? Ask yourself what’s in the way? Address what’s preventing you from finishing the project.

10.Thinking you can do it alone.

It’s not easy to make changes. Honor your feelings when clearing out old family possessions or mementos. Make a phone call and tell someone you’re going to finally get to that thing you’ve been procrastinating about. Or hire a professional organizer so you don't have to do it alone.

Andrea Feldman is a Professional Organizer, Time Management Consultant, Motivational Speaker and Trainer. She helps businesses and individuals increase productivity by setting priorities, creating more efficient use of space and changing habits that drain time and energy.

Andrea is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and holds a Specialist Certificate in working with the chronically disorganized from the National Study Group for Chronic Disorganization. As a public speaker, Andrea addresses business and community groups on topics including time management, controlling clutter, how to balance work and personal life.

Andrea is a past president of Last Word Toastmasters Club in Pittsfield, MA. She is on the steering committee of Berkshire Entrepreneurs Network, and President of Southern Berkshires Business Network International.

Andrea offers a free phone consultation and can be reached at 413-655-7766. Her website is http://www.GetOrganizedwithAndrea.com

Improve Your Workplace to Make Your Life Better

By Nicholas Kabarow

What does “quality of life” mean to you? If you want to improve it, you have to define and measure it. Most people think of it in terms of lodging, car, financial income, medical services, and social position. That point of view, however, is not fully complete. An average person is spending more than half of his/her life at work. That is why the level of comfort at workplace is an essential factor influencing on individual’s life. The subject matter of this article is the improvement of your working environment and making it more comfortable for you. Please follow the guidelines in this article to minimize tiredness, achieve more results at work and make your life better.

At work you are facing two quite different factors influencing your personal comfort and efficiency. The first factor is your relations with other people - subordinates, colleagues, boss, partners, and contractors. The second factor is the technological environment in which you are working. There is an enormous amount of books devoted to the question of building good relations and proper communications between people. You may take a look at How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. When people speak about technology, they used to mention particular software aimed to solve a particular problem; usually, they do not pay enough attention to the psychological aspect of a human-technology interaction. This article focuses on that question.

Which emotions do you feel sitting at your desk in the office? Do you feel comfortable? If you cannot answer positively, please follow two simple guidelines. (1) Keep your workplace in order. Documents constantly cluttering your desk form a bad feeling and wrong opinion that you have too much work and can hardly get it done. Always put the documents in a drawer or bookcase at the end of your working day. Following that simple rule will not only allow you to quickly find a required document in the future, it will also help you to stop thinking about your work and focus on the rest. (2) In order to make your workplace a bit milder, place something nice on your desk: a photo of your family, child, pet, a souvenir from an exotic travel, anything you really like. Look at this item from time to time to relax and get good emotions.

An office work is mainly processing of information. One simple tool is widely used in offices to help people store their info – sticky notes. It is very natural to write short notes on small pieces of paper and stick them somewhere near you. The downside of this “technology” is that your workplace becomes cluttered with those stickies, so you can see them everywhere: on your monitor, desk, and the wall in front of you. The real problem here is your inability to quickly find necessary information and control deadlines. The impact of this situation on one’s mentality is quite destructive, yet people continue to use that approach mainly because of its simplicity.

A reasonable way to manage your info is to make use of your personal computer and personal information management software (PIM). A PIM can help you store and find information, plan your time, remind you on scheduled events, etc. It can protect your mind from overstrain, reveal your creativity, and make your life easier. It is very important to find a PIM that really fits your needs. Below are some useful guidelines you should follow when choosing personal info management software.

Since a PIM is supposed to be used quite intensively, it has to be extremely user-friendly. Try several programs and find one, which is easy to use for you. All basic functions of the program should be easily accessible, so you could rapidly take a note, set up a reminder, and check your schedule. Your PIM software should require minimum efforts to operate it; ideally, the number of mouse clicks (and keystrokes) necessary to perform an action should be minimized. Another useful feature of PIM software is the tracking capability. A history feature is highly valuable to safely store and track your information. And finally, the most important question: how a program does actually remind you? Reminders should be non-annoying; the program should not interrupt your current work even when reminding you.

Spend reasonable time on searching for suitable PIM; this will spare lots of your time and efforts in the future. PIM allows you to organize your workplace, reduce your workload, spare your energy, and make you more productive. This will greatly contribute to the quality of your life and career.

The bottom line: Make your workplace comfortable to enjoy your life while you are working. Keep your workplace in order; put your documents into a drawer after you finish your work. Place on your desk or hang on the wall a photo of your family, child, pet, etc. Read a book about the psychology of communication. Choose PIM software, which will help you daily acting as your personal assistant, sparing your efforts, and revealing your creativity. Get positive emotions at work; that is the key to success in your life and career. Good luck to you!

Nicholas Kabarow is a senior designer and software architect at CuteReminder Labs (http://www.CuteReminder.com). His innovative ideas were implemented in the personal information management software called Cute Reminder. Nicholas’ main concept of software aimed for personal use is the quick and unobtrusive user interface able to spare your efforts daily. Comments can be sent via the contact form at http://www.CuteReminder.com/contacts.php

Be More Productive at Work: Avoid These Eight Traps

By Claire Tompkins

Obviously, productivity involves producing. Producing widgets, events, reports, sales. The more producing you do, the more money you have and the greater success your company has. Right? It's not that simple. It doesn't matter how many widgets you produce if no one buys them. It doesn't matter how many reports you produce if they're irrelevant. So, productivity must be tied to a worthwhile goal.

This is a simple concept, but one that is easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of the day. It's easy to be fooled into thinking you're productive when you answer emails and phone calls and get paper off your desk. They clamor for your attention. The trick is to handle them or keep them at bay while you spend time on the things that actually are important, that are quietly waiting for you to get to them.

Eight productivity traps:

1) The "I can do it all" Trap. Newsflash: you can’t do it all, and you'll never be able to do enough. There will always be more you could have done. This is the perfectionism trap. Solution: decide when enough is enough. What is the ROI on your time for a particular project? If you're talking about getting a contract that will be half your profits for the year, spend a lot of time on it. If you're talking about figuring out how to save $40 a month on supplies, spend an hour or less on that.

2) Picking a system and then not using it consistently. Stick with certain ways of doing things. Keep your to do list in the same spot and create items for it with similar language all the time. This allows your mind to concentrate on the content rather than being distracted by the form. Let the form be the holder for the content; something to bring it to you efficiently and invisibly. Each form has its own good qualities, so you just need to pick one. What if phone book entries were all written differently? Some with the first name first, some the last name, some the address first, some the phone number first? Can you see how much harder it would be to look through a book like that and find what you need?

3) The “But we’ve always done it that way” Trap. Take time to look at what you've been taking for granted and see if its efficiency or productivity can be improved. This can be anything from regular meetings to how your desk is set up to how you get to work in the morning. Anytime you hear yourself saying "we always (fill in the blank)," question that statement. Do you "always" for a good reason? A good reason two years ago may not be applicable anymore. Is it necessary? Could it be done faster or piggybacked onto another task? Sometimes just thinking carefully of the steps involved in a particular project can spur a brainstorm to improve it.

4) The "I don't know what to do next" Trap. Be your own boss, and your own employee. When you're the boss, you formulate and set goals and figure out ways to get there. When you're the employee, you get down to work on those tasks. By separating these functions, you don't second guess yourself as much. Your boss has already decided, for example, that a new brochure needs to be created and it should have certain elements and be ready in 3 weeks. As the employee, you start writing the new copy; you don't waste time worrying about whether the old copy really needs changing, or if 3 weeks is a realistic deadline. If new information comes up while the project is in progress, the plan may change. But, again, trust that the decisions you make as the “boss” are the best you can make with the information available, and then let your "employee" act on them.

5) The "I just can’t focus on what I have to do" Trap. Most of us thrive on novelty. We crave variety. The latest thing almost always can get our attention. So you need to figure out some tricks to make your existing project seem new again. Tackle it from a different angle. Ask a colleague for advice and see it from his or her point of view. Break it down into components and then work a little on each one so you don't get burned out on any one element. Pack up your materials and do some work elsewhere; a conference room, your kitchen, a café.

6) The "I need more information first" Trap. This is a variation of #1. You must control your options. People generally confuse having lots of options and choices with getting the best possible result. Fewer choices might mean that the best one was left out. But, lots of choice can induce paralysis. There's an infinite number of questions to ask and conditions to satisfy to determine which choice is the best. And as long as you're stuck on that task, you aren't getting to the doing of the project. Have some simple criteria to judge options, gather them quickly and move forward. What really matters is getting the house built, not making sure you had the world's best hammer to do it with.

7) The "Everything seems equally important" Trap. There's no way you'll get everything done. If you ever did, you can be sure more things would crowd in the door behind them. You must set up criteria for what the important things to do are. In addition, identify things that don't meet that criteria and consciously decide not to do them. Be clear about what you're not doing. Why? Because if you don't, those items will remain on a phantom to do list, forever undone and forever bugging you. Even though you're not doing them, they suck energy away from the important things.

8) The "Everything seems equally important" Trap, part 2. If you can’t get everything done, and you don’t set your own criteria for what’s important, that means that someone else is setting it. Your boss, your mother, whoever. So think of this not as having to give things up, but regaining power over how you spend your time.

The payoff is having clarity about what you are doing, which makes you more productive and efficient. The way to avoid these traps can be as simple as maintaining a regularly reviewed to do list and remember to ask yourself, "why am I doing this?"

Claire Tompkins specializes in simple, efficient systems to help people be more productive, more easily. Before figuring out how to do something better, ask why you're doing it at all. Got to http://www.clairetompkins.com to find out more. Contact her at Claire@clairetompkins.com and 510-535-0856.

Getting Organized for Achievement

By Paul Christenbury

Getting and staying organized is critical to achieving your goals. A well organized person is more productive, has more free time, wastes less money, and experiences less stress. This article will outline a simple, effective, and flexible system to help you get and stay organized by using a top down approach. This system will allow you to keep some of your current scheduling systems in place, if they are currently working for you, and makes suggestions with some new ideas and changes that can be made to make you more productive and organized.

Productivity isn't so much about getting more things done as it is about getting the right things done. Dr. Stephen Covey, who is author of the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has as one of his key beliefs to "begin with the end in mind" and says that goals give a framework for motivation. A top down approach to Time Management means that you start with your goals and work down to your smallest todo tasks. This approach to scheduling your time makes sure your priorities are really being observed and gives more meaning to even your smallest task. You may also find that some of your current activities are not needed or are misguided towards achieving what is really important to you.

Top to Bottom Scheduling Breakdown:

1. Goals

2. Goal Steps

3. Email

4. Calendar/Todo List

Goals

Start by determining your true Goals and Prioritizing. Use MyGoalManager.com's Goals Worksheet to build your prioritized goals list. Once you have your goals list you can create well formed goal statements and set deadlines.

Goal Steps

The next step is to create a plan of action for your goals and develop timelines.

Email

Your email account is a great tool because its like an automatic todo list that is checked on a regular basis. Emails that require immediate action should be addressed and then deleted. Emails that require action at a later date should be recorded in your calendar then deleted. Always try to keep your inbox empty.

Calendar

Many people use a software calendar system such as Microsoft's Outlook, a PDA, or other online calendars to keep track of their appointments. Some people prefer a paper day planner or master list, the most important thing is to find whatever works best for you and stick to it. One very effective method of keeping on track is your mobile phone. Most new phones have a built-in Calendars which is an excellent place to keep your todo list since it is almost always with you. If your in sales or some other profession that requires you to keep an extensive contact list and frequently schedule calls and meetings then you should also look into getting Contact Management Software.

Now that you have a simple organizational structure set up all that is needed is a plan to follow to stay organized. Your Goals and Goal Steps should be reviewed at least once a day. MyGoalManager.com has a "Home Page" (designed to be made your browsers home page so frequent goal reviews are automatic) which the perfect starting place for each day. The system has an automated Goal Review which analyzes all your goals and alerts you to items that need attention. The goal system also can send you email reminders for your Goal Plan which place them in your todo inbox. You can create and modify your todo lists and/or Day Planners from this goal review.

Good luck implementing these new organization methods. Go to
http://www.mygoalmanager.com and get started on your goals now!

MyGoalManager.com is an easy to use Goal Setting and Achievement System that directs you step-by-step through prioritized goal definition, plan of action formulation, motivation, reminders, and guidance reviews.

MyGoalManager.com is owned and operated by Gruve International (http://www.gruveintl.com).

Without a Plan, You’re Doomed to Failure

By John Madden

“My job is an endless series of deadlines, I am constantly putting out fires” You’ve probably heard talk like that a time or two. You may sound like that yourself on occasion.

Are you a planner or a “firefighter”? Of course you know that real firefighters plan more than most of us do - to be ready to save lives and property when the emergency occurs. Not so for those of us who just play it by ear and hope that everything will turn out okay.

If you want to be a failure, then don’t bother to plan; avoid any phrase, document, or discussion with the word “plan” in it. You see, planning is only a habit of the really successful, so if you want to steer clear of that lot, no planning is the guaranteed modus operandi.

A major reason we don’t plan is that we have to deal with the future, and the future forces us to ask questions about what might or could be - as opposed to what was and what is. Because the future is unclear, many believe that planning for it is little more than guessing about the unknown.

Life’s greatest challenge is making a plan for what we would love to do at some time in the future. We know we need a plan. But we don’t know how to get started. Here’s a way you might try:

1. Plan backwards.

Start with the desired outcome or result. Take a period of time, say a year. Take a goal, and divide the year by the goal to end up with segments of the goal. So you have twelve months to achieve the goal. You break the goal down into segments of “next steps”, and you break the year into months or weeks. Allocate a period of time for completion of each step, working backwards from the final step. Let’s say you want to publish your book in a year (Not impossible – some writers can finish a book in a couple of months or less). Twelve months from now, write, “First printing of (Title) delivered” You have the goal, the published book, and you have the time, twelve months. Now carve up the goal.

2. Take small steps toward big results.

What needs to happen before the book is published? Make a list. Just brainstorm with yourself or a friend on all the things you know or think have to be done. Write them down, as you think of them - in no particular order. Then put them in the order in which you believe they need to be done. For instance, proof reading will need to be completed before the final printing; getting the book copyrighted will come after editing, and so on. Find out what time it will take for each step and allocate that in the plan.

Of course the major task is writing the book and you should put a target number of words or pages to be completed each month, each week - or even each day, if you can commit to more than one day a week.

3. Ask for help

Plans change for all kinds of reasons. A resource you thought you had may not be available any more, or you have personal or business problems that you didn’t expect. These things will inevitably throw you off balance, but keep your goal firmly in front of you and you will maintain focus. Ask those who have been there on the same journey or project for help. Get on the Internet for tips on writing, planning, goal achieving, etc. There are so many resources out there available to us that there is no excuse today to not have a plan to reach your goal and fulfill your dream.

John Madden is an international speaker, trainer, and author of “Leap, Don’t Sleep” (How to get different results by doing something different). He helps businesses and individuals become more profitable through customer service training, changing present results, networking for profit, coaching skills for managers, stress management through humor, time management, and interpersonal skills. You can reach him at 1-800-301-2924, email john@LeapDontSleep.com; web site: http://www.LeapDontSleep.com

Quick Organizing Tips From Assistance For You

By Yvonne Thompson

Keeping on task and getting organized starts with a basic plan that can be implemented into everyone's daily life. Just by following these simple steps you can be on your way to a more productive and friendly work environment. Below are some quick tips to get you started on the right track towards self improvement and a better work style.

Organize Your Office
Keep all frequently used items within arms reach. Make your workspace work for you. You shouldn’t have to work for space. Create a simple, yet friendly, filing system (tickler) that you will use everyday. File continuously. Don’t stockpile stack of paper. always put things back where you intend on storing them for easy retrieval in the future.

Plan Your Day Everyday
Plan your tomorrow today and always stick to the plan. Keep a calendar or daily planner so you can pre-plan meetings, tasks and appointments. Use your calendar or daily planner to check off each task as they accomplished. Schedule blocks of time for specific tasks. Plan a “clean-up” day at least once a month.

Don’t Procrastinate
Always address any task that can be done immediately first. Follow-up on tasks as needed on the day you specified. Get ahead of tasks when time permits and reward yourself for your diligence.

Reduce Paper
Keep a trash container handy. Throw away envelopes and junk mail immediately. Limit unnecessary subscriptions. Remove your name from mailing lists* Use e-mail and online resources as much as possible. Print only when needed. Incorporate the three "R" rule: Reduce, Recycle, Reuse when possible.

Get Support
Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. We all can use some help at times. Incorporate family and friends into your daily tasks. Utilize experienced outside support services such as Virtual Assistants. If you need help with business tasks, events, mailers or seasonal tasks, Virtual Assistants can lend a helping hand.

*Assistance For You Quick Tip*
Did you know you that you can get your personal contact information removed from marketing lists through the Direct Marketing Association and by contacting each credit-reporting bureau in writing.

© Yvonne Thompson, Assistance For You All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use this article, as long as the entire article is posted and the "About the Author" section, including all links, remain intact and an email is sent advising me of it’s use.

About The Author
Yvonne Thompson owns and operates Assistance For You, a Virtual Assistant Support Service which specializes in assisting small businesses and individuals in becoming more efficient throught diverse administrative support. For more information visit Assistance-For-You.com