Archive for Organization
Dealing with Overwhelm
Posted by: | CommentsI had someone ask how to deal with overwhelm.
First, take 5-10 deep breaths. This relaxes you, so you aren’t thinking as stressfully.
Next, get everything you are thinking about/worried about on paper or in a to do system so you know what you need to do. Not having things written down, gives you a constant nagging feeling like you are forgetting something. And you probably are.
Take some more deep breaths because you are probably panicky again. Tell yourself you have all the time in the world for what is important.
Chose 3 things on your list that are calling to you the loudest. If you can’t narrow it down, put the top list on scraps of paper. Turn them upside down and mix them out. Pick one out. Sometimes you’ll feel a "man, I should have chosen this one instead." That’s your intuition. So do the one the intuition said.
Once you get started on something, anything, it is easier to keep it going. It’s the starting that’s the hard part.
Put on a timer so you keep working until a break – don’t open facebook, twitter, call a friend or do something else until your break. Otherwise you may waste a whole day procrastinating.
If you are still having trouble getting started, ask yourself what you are afraid of. It’s easier to counter, if you know what is wrong. Overwhelm is a feeling brought on by the thoughts you are thinking. "I have so much to do, I’ll never get it done, it’s not fair, I am always working," is usually unhelpful and puts you in an overwhelmed state. But saying, "I have time, I am enjoying this moment, look how interesting this project is," puts you in a curious, better balanced state.
Overwhelm can be sneaky too. You start to feel overwhelmed and next thing you know you are watching TV, surfing the net or eating ice cream. You are oblivious to the overwhelm for a little bit. But, when you are done you are even further behind. So keep an eye out to what you do to pretend you aren’t overwhelmed.
And watch your expectations. Many times people get overwhelmed because they are trying to be perfect at all things and driving themselves batty. You are lovable whether your to do list is done or not.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed?
Time Management Program
Posted by: | CommentsIn my blog comments someone asked what time management system is right now. I tend to play around with them and move to a different system when I find I start getting huge backlogs. This allows me to get rid of to dos that I don’t want/need to do.
The system I am using right now is Lean Kit Kanban with a word doc.
My word document is filled with todos (also called the master list). Then on Sundays I place 5-10 to do’s under each day of the week (later in the week usually has less so I can add what comes up during the week.) I add things to the Word doc as it comes up either under a particular day or at the bottom for next week. I like word because I can add bold, different colors, etc. And I can add the whole email task if I want so I don’t have to search for it later. I add a deadline to the task if it has one. Very fast and simple.
If I’m not at the computer I put tasks in a little notebook I have and clear out in the evenings.
Then for Daily planning I use the Lean Kit Kanban. It’s a system that uses post it notes in columns like you would on a whiteboard. You can put whatever columns you want. I like To Do, Doing and Done. The To Do column has everything I want to do that day, including daily routine items. You can use different colored post its for different things.
For me:
- Dailies are blue
- Financials are green
- Different clients get different colors
- Personal is pinkish
- Blog is purple
- Projects are orange
The doing column never has more than 5 items, though I prefer 3 items. These are my highest priority for the moment. This ensures you don’t have too many works in progress at one time.
When they are done they get to go to the done column.
In the morning or the night before I move my dailies to the to do column, add anything from Google calendar, and whatever is in my word doc for the day. (Daily chores are in the chore chart which we do after dinner, so they aren’t in this system.)
Here’s part of my Kanban this morning:
You can read more about Personal Kanban 101 here.
I like this method because it is fast and is not complicated. It is easy to personalize.
Have you found a time management system that is working for you?
Finish Up
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the best habits to cultivate to create order in the home is finishing up.
I know when I am slacking off on this habit. All of the sudden a memory card is stuck in the computer, a camera on my desk, plates from lunch on the end table, 5 pairs of shoes on the floor, and grooming supplies on the bathroom counter.
It is sooo much easier and faster just to clean as you go. It’s a rarity now that I leave the house before everything is put back into the cabinets in the bathroom. I used to say I didn’t have enough time, but it take less than 30 seconds to put stuff back.
During the summer when the kids and I are all home, we try to do dishes throughout the day. We don’t have a dishwasher, so it can be long, hot chore if we wait until night to do them all. Not to mention, have you ever tried to clean the blender from a smoothie that you forgot to rinse out right away? Dishes are much faster and easier cleaned up right away.
To help you create this habit, you can start by looking at a room before you leave it. Before you leave the living room check for your purse, cups, shoes. Before you leave the kitchen take a look around and put things away. Don’t leave anything out when you are done with the bathroom.
You can do this when you are doing a task as well. Before you jump to a different activity, take all the pictures off that memory card, put the card back into the camera then put the camera away. When you are doing bills, put the paperwork, receipts and stamps back when you are done. Before you rush off to another task, check that you’ve finished what you were doing before.
Now, most people can’t do this all the time, but when you can your life becomes much simpler. Finishing up those tasks, putting things away when you are done and not leaving things sit will free up more time. Because then you aren’t always cleaning up old messes and hunting for things left where they shouldn’t be left.
Anything you need to finish up?
Planning Summer 2010
Posted by: | Comments
Big Red, Holland MI
For me, if I don’t plan out what I’d like to do with summer, I get to the end and realize I didn’t do anything I had thought it my head to do.
So a few years back I created a summer list. I get together with the kids and take out last year’s list. We see what we didn’t get to that still sounds like what we’d like to do and put those on the list first. We also get out the summer guide in our newspaper that lists festivals, concerts, plays, art shows etc. that will be in the area over summer. We circle the ones that sound fun and add them to the list.
Then it’s brainstorming time – that’s where the headings in the summer list come into play. What holidays are coming up? What sounds relaxing? What physical activities would we like to engage in? Where do we want to go?
Things that need dates I put into the calendar. And then the list goes on the bulletin board. During my weekly planing I can pick some off the list to add to the week.
You don’t have to fill in every blank – that will just stress you out. Only add what comes naturally. We always fill up holidays/events, places to go and physical activities. But goals is only half filled as is home and garden. Everyone has different interests.
You can also use this type of list for whatever season you are going into.
You can print out a sample that the kid’s and I did this weekend and print your own:
How to Survive a 14 Hour Workay
Posted by: | CommentsLast week was full of long hours for a project I was working on with someone. Thursday ended up being 14 hours. When I told a friend that this weekend she said I must have been exhausted. That’s when I realized, I didn’t become exhausted that day. Here are some tips to get through a 14 hour day.
- If these are the norms, work on figuring out how to lesson your hours. Can you manage up by asking your boss what is coming up so you can prepare ahead of time? I don’t think working 14 hours every day is healthy.
- Exercise first thing to give you energy during the day. I took a short 20 min walk around the pond in the morning.
- Center yourself. Breathe, pray, meditate. Get your head and heart on straight before diving into work.
- Take lots of breaks. I took 5 minutes every 30-90 minutes. To walk around, straighten up, read a magazine article, breathe, talk to the kids, stand outside and look at the flowers. This kept my energy up all day.
- Eat lunch away from the desk. I had a short 10 minute lunch. But, I ate it outside in the sunshine.
- Have your family pitch in for dinner. I knew there was no way I could get dinner on the table that day. So my husband and daughter got dinner ready.
- Don’t let thoughts like, "I shouldn’t be working these long hours. This is ridiculous. I don’t want to be working." drain your energy. The more you resist what is happening, the more your energy fades away. Concentrate on what you are doing, wherever you are. Then later if you want to work out a plan so you don’t have to work so long next time, go for it.
Do you have any tips for long work days?
Making the Bedroom More Serene
Posted by: | CommentsFor mother’s day, my husband got me a new jewelry box, because things were rather jumbled in my old one.
With the bigger box on my dresser, the dresser looked overcrowded. So I put two of the decorative boxes that were on my dresser away. I put the CD’s into one of my dresser drawers. And I put away a lace cloth things were sitting on.
Then the top of the entertainment center where the TV and books are held looked messy. I put my visual journal and supplies on a lower shelf and stored some candles so only a couple pictures of my husband and I, our anniversary candle and the light remained on top.
Look at your bedroom. How can you make it more serene? Are there any pieces you can store for now?
Purse Organization
Posted by: | CommentsWhen Dana from Pouchee asked if I wanted to try out a pouchee I said sure thing.
I got to pick from a multitude of colors and sizes they have available. I decided on a Marine pouchee that goes with my teal purse.
I love that the outside pocket actually fits my fat phone. I can never find pockets that do. The other pocket would be good for sunglasses. I never figured out what to put in the other pocket, but the more pockets the better.
You could use it as a wallet, but I love my current wallet so I used the card slots for my mirror, emergency key and Swiss card with scissors, etc.
Inside:
Inside a zippered pocket is my emergency pocket – dramamine, rolaids and other things I may need.
Then I have my key pocket so I quit looking all over my purse for the keys.
A beauty pocket has lipstick, ponytail holder and any other makeup I might want to bring that day. I just noticed it also has little stand up holders for things like lipstick or a mini flashlight.
The final pocket is Kleenex. It is allergy season you know.
I used to keep all these things in separate little purses or pouches.
What I like about the Pouchee is I can pull out the Pouchee with the nice handles in one motion, instead of taking out all my little purses.
The funny thing is, I realized going around town and hour trips I really didn’t need most of what was in my pouchee. So I could take the whole thing out and my purse felt so light. I’d only have a notebook, my wallet and a pen in my purse.
If I had lots of purses I would definitely want a pouchee to transfer things from one purse to another easily.
To keep organized you need something that separates your things so you can find them. Whether it’s a pouchee, little purses or a purse with lots of pockets. And take out the receipts and wrappers daily.
How do you organize your purse?
Why I No Longer Have a Paper Calendar
Posted by: | CommentsI didn’t buy a paper calendar this year. I had been phasing it out and now it’s completely gone.
I use Google Calendar, and it has simplified my life. You can see if it might work for you.
- You would no longer have to rewrite birthdays and anniversaries from old calendars. Or recurring appointments. You can set up daily, weekly, monthly and yearly recurring events.
- You can have your calendar anywhere. I can get it through Google mobile on my phone and there is no synching I need to do with other calendars. You can see it from any computer with internet access.
- You can import other calendars like holidays, TV show schedules, moon phases and people you work with closely. All you need to do is go to Other Calendars on the left sidebar. You can choose to browse public calendars, add someone else’s calendar, add a calendar if you know the URL, or import a calendar from things like Outlook or iCal.
- You can see all the calendars at once or only the ones you want to see by clicking on the calendar (s) in the left sidebar.
- You can get reminders through email, sms or as pop up reminders so you don’t miss appointments. You can even send events to others.
- You can get a daily agenda emailed to you every morning.
- Quick Add adds to the calendar faster than you could write it on a paper calendar.
- You can see daily, weekly, monthly, or four days with the click of a button
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- Searching calendars is easy with the Google Search right at the top of the calendar.
- I have gadgets that tell me the time in other time zones since I have clients all over the world and another gadget that tells me when my next meeting is.
What calendar systems works for you?
Help, I Am Paralyzed with What to Do Next
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever been at your desk, surrounded by papers and todo’s completely paralyzed by what to do next? Or in the living room with kids running around and the house in disarray without the energy to do anything?
When this type of overwhelm happens to me, I do four things:
1. Take 5-10 deep breaths. This calms and lessens the anxiety.
2. Straighten up a bit wherever I am. If I’m at my desk, I clean up the area in front of me. Or if it’s not work time, I tackle a part of the house I am in. The clearer space creates clearer thinking.
3. Then I write out whatever is in my head – to dos, things I’m worried about, or whatever else is using up space in my head.
4. Next I pick 5 things I need to do, usually the most important 5 if priority is clear. I write them on slips of paper. Then I choose one to do. If I get a good, "Ok this is what is next" feeling I proceed. If I get the feeling I need to be doing something else instead, I will do what intuition says. But, once the task is chosen I don’t allow myself to waffle or I won’t get anything done.
Some days I need to keep picking slips of what to do next. But usually once I get the positive flow going I get momentum to continue on my day.
Photo by Jeff Gunn
Not to Do List
Posted by: | CommentsWhen the to do list gets too long and burdensome, it might be fun to create a not to do list.
For example:
I am not going to…
- Feel guilty constantly
- Plan every minute of my day
- Work straight through without breaks
- Sweep every day
- Drive things to school that my kids forget
- Let magazines dictate how I will look and live
- Watch TV more than 2 hours in a day
What are you not going to do?
