Posts Tagged ‘Planning’

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7 Simple Steps to Tame the Job-Hunting Jungle

February 1st, 2013

As we inch closer towards spring here in the Midwest, I’m looking forward to the budding trees and blooming flowers that are only a few months away. As I enjoy the longer days and increased activity at my bird feeder, I’m also a bit saddened that two of my friends have lost their jobs in the past month. However, their cheerful dispositions and confident attitudes can serve as a wonderful example to anyone who’s involuntarily unemployed. Their positive spirit inspired me to write some tips about organizing a job search. Whether you’re currently employed and looking for a new opportunity or unemployed and searching for work, you’ll want to get the most out of your job-hunting time and effort. To overcome feeling overwhelmed, I recommend creating a plan and getting organized – this will help you focus your efforts, stay motivated, and accelerate your success.

Think about your ideal job. Take time to identify your skills and interests and write down attributes of your ideal job. (You may ask a career counselor to help with this step.) Also, think about the type of business you’d like to work for, including aspects such as company size and location. Be sure to consider any transportation and time restrictions you may have.

Set goals. Next, clearly define your job search goals. For example, how much time will you devote each week to job hunting? What specific steps must you accomplish to make your ideal job a reality? Write down the specific tasks you need to accomplish each week. For example: “Research and review 30 company websites, make 20 phone calls, attend 1 networking event, update my resume, practice my interviewing skills, and review classified ads.”

Create an action plan. Now it’s time to schedule your tasks. If you work full-time, you’ll need to squeeze a few tasks into a full day. Having a written plan of action – such as a specific list of people to call during your lunch hour – will ensure you make the most of your limited time. If you’re not working, don’t fall into the “I’ve got all day” trap! Create appointments with yourself to accomplish tasks that will lead to achieving your job-finding goals.

Invest your time wisely. Be sure to allocate your time to each job-hunting activity according to how potentially effective it will be. For example, for your field, spending time networking may be much more effective than responding to classified ads. Also, schedule and tackle difficult or unpleasant activities during the time of day when you have the most mental energy – for most people, that’s first thing in the morning.

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can read more about the how to plan your job hunt. I’d love to hear what additional  tips you have.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Use Your Planner to Simplify Your Life

January 1st, 2013

Happy New Year! I hope the year is off to a great start for you. Are you among the approximately 45% of Americans who make at least one New Year’s resolution? Getting organized was the second most popular New Year’s resolution in 2012, and I’m guessing it’s near the top again this year. Unfortunately, only about 8% of people who make resolutions actually achieve them. What will you do differently this year to help you be successful? To help you get started on achieving your organizational goals, let’s talk about how to set up and use your planner (as a reminder, last month I gave you tips on how to choose your planning tool).

Fill in recurring events. Make a note of birthdays, anniversaries, school and work holidays, and any other events you know about now. You may want to keep a master list of birthdays and anniversaries and use this list to fill in the dates on the calendar. Copying from this list can be a lot easier than flipping through last year’s calendar to find those important dates. You might also want to use a highlighter or colored pen to accentuate any dates that require a card, gift, phone call, or some other form of acknowledgement and advanced preparation. 

Review next month’s important dates towards the middle of the prior month. This will allow you plenty of time to buy cards or gifts. You can review your planner and look for the accentuated dates mentioned above, or you can refer to your master list. For those of you who use a paper rather than electronic planner, you can use a removable sticky note to remind you to do this review each month. For example, I put a sticky note that says “Review Birthdays” on the calendar page for the 20th of the month to remind me to check the next month’s important dates. I simply move this note from month to month. As you review those dates, you might also jot down a reminder to mail the cards or deliver the gifts. For example, if someone’s birthday is on the 15th, you can make a note in your planner on the 7th to mail his or her card. 

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can read more about the how to choose the right planning tool for you. I’d love to hear what you end up using.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Choose the Right Planning Tool to Organize Your Day

December 1st, 2012

As a new year approaches, it’s time to purchase your calendar or planner to keep track of next year’s important dates, appointments and things to do. But with so many scheduling products from which to choose, how can you make sure you select the one that’s right for you? Here are some things to consider when making that decision:

Use only one tool. While it may seem logical to have one calendar or planner for work and another one for home, it’s typically more efficient and less confusing to use just one that captures all of the activities related to your multifaceted life. After all, we often have to address personal issues while away from home (e.g., scheduling a dental appointment while at work) or consider work-related issues while at home (e.g., deciding for what time to make a dinner reservation based on your work schedule). Using a single scheduling tool will allow you to efficiently integrate all areas of your life.

Consider your sensory preference. Think about whether you prefer the physical process of entering and viewing information on paper to entering and viewing it on an electronic device. If you are more comfortable with paper, then you can limit your search to paper-based planners (e.g., Day Runner, Day Timer, or Franklin-Covey). Two less conventional paper planners that I really like are the Circa Balanced Life System from Levenger (the unique binding system lets you easily customize your planner) and Planner Pad (lets you see all of your to-dos for the week and funnel them onto the day you’ll do each of them). For students, I like a teacher’s-type planner that clearly shows what you have to do in each class. If you prefer an electronic tool, smart phone-based calendars or electronic calendars you can access from your phone or computer, like Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar, might be right for you.

Consider how much effort you’re willing to devote to learning to use the tool.  Paper-based planners are rather intuitive to use. You just write down the necessary information in the appropriate place, and then turn to that place to retrieve the information. Electronic tools, including hand-held devices and computer-based scheduling software, require an investment of your time to learn to use them properly. 

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can read more about the how to choose the right planning tool for you. I’d love to hear what you end up using. 

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Small Steps Can Lead to Big Accomplishments

October 15th, 2012

We all have a few pesky projects lurking on our to-do list (or at least taking up valuable space in our brain) that we just never seem to get around to finishing (or even starting). Maybe yours is finishing the needlepoint Christmas stocking you started 13 years ago, or updating the photo album with last year’s photos, or giving copies of your estate documents to your executor – oh wait, those are my unfinished projects! Well, no matter what’s on your list, how can you keep yourself moving forward on these bothersome undertakings?

The most helpful thing I do when I’m facing an overwhelming endeavor is to break it down. I’m not talking about taking it from a “finish the Christmas stocking” kind of task to “finish needlepointing the snowman” sub-task. I’m talking about teeny, tiny steps such as: “locate the bag with the stocking,” “put the canvas on the needlepoint ring,” “thread the needle.” Yes, it may sound utterly ridiculous and unnecessary to describe what’s to be done in such infinitesimal detail, but there’s great power in making tasks so short and quickly achievable that even the biggest procrastinators among us won’t be able to resist the simplicity and ease of quickly knocking off a few steps here and there. You can read more about this tiny steps concept in my previous blog on kaizen.

If identifying and writing down those tiny steps seems cumbersome, just break your project down to  whatever level of detail you need to move you past your procrastination and sense of overwhelm. However, keep in mind that it’s very empowering and energizing to be able to check something off your to-do list, so the smaller the steps, the more psychic rewards you’ll have the potential to achieve. Just be sure to start each task with a verb – this  seemingly insignificant technique can help make sure you’ve clearly identified exactly what you need to do, and can inspire you to take action.

Once you’ve identified the steps, be sure to capture them in your planner, on a piece of paper, or with some other tool that you trust yourself to refer to. Here’s my prior blog on this concept. Try to assign a target date to each task so you can motivate yourself to chip away at what needs to be done. Target dates can also serve as great mileposts along your journey towards completing your project.

So what unfinished projects have been bugging you? Let me know if breaking them down into small steps helps move you from frustrated and overwhelmed to confident and productive. Meanwhile, wish me luck on finishing that Christmas stocking!

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Posted in Goals, Organizing Challenges, Time Management

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Lists Can Help You Gain Control

October 1st, 2012

Get the oil on the car changed; plan Saturday’s dinner party; write thank you note to Jenna – these are the items on my to-do list for today. And I mean an actual written list, not just some ideas floating around in my head. Why, you may ask, would I need to write these down? After all, it’s only three things. Writing things down prevents me from forgetting things, helps me know what to focus on, and frees me from the stress of having to remember. Writing it isn’t the same as having it in my head – a written list is like a best friend who gently reminds me what and when I should be working on hings to keep me out of trouble. A written list puts me in control of my day, and it can do the same for you.

I have several lists that help me take advantage of the power of writing things down, and I’m sharing them with you here. If you’d like a complete collection of all the forms and lists that help me and my clients stay organized, check out my APPLES Resource Guide. Fear not, Jenna – your thank-you note is in the mail!

Before I start describing my lists, I want to comment on what form your lists can take. I prefer written lists – they work well with my paper planner and I like the hand-to-brain connection of writing things down. You may prefer electronic lists – something you can save on your computer or carry around on your smart phone. Here are two resources that can get you started on making electronic lists: IQtell and Lifehacker. I’d love to hear what electronic lists you like to use.

Okay, on to my list of lists:

Master To-Do List This is where I write down things I have to do that I’m not quite sure when I’ll do. For example, I want to follow my own advice and update my emergency plans (e.g., what to do if a tornado wipes out my home). I could just choose a date to do it and jot it down on the corresponding page in my planner. However, my next couple of months are very full so I’m not quite sure when I’ll do it. Rather than trusting that I’ll remember to do it at some point, I’ve added it to my master to-do list. I keep this list in my planner, review it once a week (the reminder to do so is on my Weekly To-Do List) and schedule anything I’m ready to commit to doing. You can read more about a master do-do list in my previous blog posting.

Weekly To-Do List My weekly to-do list is typed onto a notecard that moves from Sunday to Sunday (attached via paper clip) in my paper planner. It reminds me to do things like water the houseplants, plan next week’s meals (check out my previous blog posting on meal planning), and prepare for next week’s clients. My houseplants, hungry family and clients appreciate my being on top of these things.

Daily To-Do List I have two kinds of daily to-do lists; one is similar to what most people use – I pick three to five things I want to get done on any given day and write those in my planner. But I also have a daily list that’s typed on a notecard and moves from day to day in my planner. It lists recurring tasks I want to attend to each day, like water my outdoor flowers, thaw the next day’s dinner (thanks to planning meals each week, this is easy), and check some of my social media sites. Even though I remember to do most of these things without looking at the list, having them written down keeps things from falling through the cracks.

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can read more about the lists that keep me organized. I’d love to hear what lists you use to help you stay on top of things

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

 

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Posted in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Organizing Process, Time Management

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Simplify Your Return from Vacation

July 2nd, 2012

Ah, summer – time to slow down, unwind, and take a vacation. I’ve previously written about how to prepare for a relaxing vacation (revisit my tips here), but have you ever prepared for your return from a trip? More likely, within a day or two after you come back from your travels you’re immersed in the chaos that made you crave a vacation in the first place! Some simple forethought and planning will help you make a smooth transition back into the real world so you can still bask in the peaceful glow of your time away from the rat race. I hope these tips will convince you that you don’t have to dread, or even forego a vacation simply because the thought of getting caught up afterwards is too daunting.

Clean before you go. Attack the piles of papers, wash the dishes, catch up on laundry and wash the floors before you head out the door. Nothing can zap your lingering vacation high faster than entering what looks like a war zone. If you clean things up before you go, the only mess you’ll have to deal with when you get home is the vacation clutter. And doing all that work before you go will assure that you really need a vacation!

Have your groceries planned. Have all groceries but perishables already stocked before you go. In addition, create a list of what you’ll need to grab from the grocery store upon your return so you can zip through the store on autopilot. Better yet, stop by the store on your way home from your trip so you don’t have to run out again. You might also want to have a few meals prepped and frozen ahead of time so you can ease back into the routine of cooking.

Let people know. If appropriate, change your voicemail message and email auto-response to let people know you’re away, and when you’ll return. That will save you from having multiple messages from the same people who are wondering why you haven’t gotten back to them. Don’t be afraid to fib a bit about that return date – announce it to be a day later than you’ll actually return so you have a day to catch your breath and prioritize things before jumping right back into the madness. And once you have returned, use these tips to plow through the mail and email avalanches that await you.

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can read more about  how to smoothly transition back to reality after a vacation. I’d love to hear what additional tips you have.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Manage Mealtime Mayhem

March 7th, 2012

Several years ago I saw a sign that said “I have a kitchen because it came with the house” in a client’s home. It’s a relief to know there’s at least one other person besides me who doesn’t like to cook. After all, with the huge number of cooking shows on TV, cooking magazines staring at me in the grocery store, and specialty spice shops and olive oil stores popping up all over, I can’t help but think that everyone except me loves to cook (and is good at it as well). I do love to eat, however, so I’ve done all I can to make meal planning as painless as possible. Whether you’re the cook in your home or are lucky enough to be the beneficiary of someone else’s cooking, enjoy these tips to make mealtimes less stressful.

Plan meals for the week. I used to spend stress-filled hours (ok, minutes, but it seemed like hours) staring at the refrigerator and freezer each evening trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I finally took my own advice and now plan dinners for the upcoming week every Sunday. I write them on an erasable whiteboard attached with magnetic clips to my refrigerator. It’s amazing how much less stressful my day is just knowing I can answer the question “What’s for dinner?”

Create a rotating menu routine. I have 21 index cards, each of which contains one dinner suggestion as well as any special ingredients that I’m not likely to have on hand. Rather than having to put a lot of thought into what to make for dinner, I just grab the seven index cards in the front of the stack and use them as my
starting point. I check my calendar to determine which nights might require a quick meal or an early or late dinner based on my husband’s and my schedules. I reorder the seven index cards to correspond to each evening, and write those meals in order on my whiteboard. I write the special ingredients from the index
cards onto my grocery list and check my freezer and cupboards to make sure all of the non-special ingredients are on hand. I put that group of index cards in the back of the stack and I’m ready for next week’s meal planning.

Create a themed menu routine. Another option to make meal planning easy is to have a theme for each day of the week. Themes help narrow down your options, which for me is the biggest challenge of meal planning. For example, Monday is breakfast for dinner; Tuesday is Mexican; Wednesday is pasta; Thursday is soup; Friday is fish; Saturday is pizza – you get the idea. You could also include a night where family members take turns planning (and maybe even cooking!) what’s for dinner.

Here’s a link to my newsletter where you can find some more ideas to help you make mealtime easier than ever. I’d love to hear what helps you manage mealtime mayhem in your home.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Posted in Home Organizing, Household Tasks, Organizing Process

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Finish What You Start

December 14th, 2011

What do piles of opened mail, bags of stuff in the trunk of your car waiting to be returned to the store, and opened but unprocessed e-mails in your inbox all have in common? They are all things that have been started but not completed. Uncompleted tasks can weigh us down – rather than being able to cross something off our physical or mental to-do list, unfinished tasks nag at us and constantly reminds us there’s more work to do. They can also reduce our self-confidence by reminding us that once again we’ve failed to finish what we’ve started.

Not only can unfinished tasks have a psychic cost, but they can have a financial cost as well. For example, an unfinished quilt or other craft project can represent a huge financial investment. There’s not much return on investment (including the benefit of enjoying looking at our handiwork) when such a project is sitting in a heap waiting to be finished. Unprocessed mail can result in late fees on unpaid bills or overdraft charges from an un-reconciled bank account. Those bags of stuff waiting to go back to the store can be tying up a large amount of your cash.

There are lots of reasons why we may start something and not finish it, including fear, procrastination, poor time estimating, or even boredom. If you want to overcome your habit of not finishing what you start it’s important to figure out why you tend not to finish things and then figure out what to do about it. For example, maybe you’re afraid to finish something because you worry that you’ll have done it incorrectly or it won’t be good enough in other’s eyes. Procrastination may arise because you find the project overwhelming. Poor time estimating may find us starting something but just not having time to finish it. My clients with ADHD tend to have an especially difficult time finishing things, often because they get bored once the excitement of starting a project has worn off.

Once you know what your challenge is, evaluate it and determine what you can do about it. If fear is holding you back, evaluate the worst-case scenario. Maybe your anticipated outcome is worse than what’s realistic. See if you can get someone else’s input to help put things in perspective for you. In addition, remember that by not finishing a project, you run the risk of creating a bad impression in people’s eyes anyway.

If you find a task or project overwhelming, ask yourself what one small thing you can do to move forward. If you focus on just the very next thing you need to do you might find that the project is more manageable and that you’ll move it towards the finish line.

You may discover that you’re not committed to the project so you’re not motivated to finish it. For example, maybe once you started that quilt, you realized that you didn’t like the pattern or the fabric you’d chosen. Give yourself permission to recognize that you made a mistake in picking the pattern or fabric and then move on. Relieve yourself of the guilt of feeling like you have to finish it.

If time management is your challenge – you can’t finish one thing because you’re busy trying to get caught up on something else – you might find it helpful to get some time management coaching. An outside perspective can help you identify habits that are holding you back.

If boredom is preventing you from finishing things, find ways to overcome it. Use your peak energy time – that time of day when your brain is most engaged – to work on things you find boring. Play music, set a timer to challenge yourself, or find someone to work with you to help move that unexciting task forward.

Successful people don’t just talk about doing things, they actually do them, or get other people to do them. Either way, they get things across the finish line. Some days are going to be better than others, but as long as you keep moving forward, you’re bound to successfully get things completed.

Do you have a task that you’ve started but just can’t seem to complete? What steps do you need to take to get it to the finish line? Here’s to your successful completion of the things that are hanging over your head and weighing you down.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Time Management Through the Ages

September 1st, 2011

There are many basic time management skills that are helpful throughout one’s life: setting goals, prioritizing tasks, and planning your day, just to name a few. While the benefit of using these skills is ageless, our time management challenges change as we age. The college graduate trying to juggle a full-time job while keeping up with an active social life needs a different approach to time management than retirees who may have fewer external demands on their time.

Here are some time management tips, broken down by the age group for which they may be most relevant (although some may be relevant for any age group):

College graduate to age 30

  • Just because you no longer have to track homework assignments doesn’t mean you don’t need a planning tool. Whether it’s your phone, a web-based calendar or a paper planner, use something to keep track of appointments and remind you of things you need to get done.
  • Establish a recurring time to manage your finances (e.g., Sunday evening). Use this time to balance your checkbook, review your credit card statement, and pay your bills.
  • Be on time – your friends may have been willing to wait, but the work world is less forgiving. Calling or texting to say you’ll be late doesn’t absolve you from your obligation to be on time.

 Age 30 to 40

  • You may be juggling work and caring for young children. As exhausting as that may be, make time for friends and family, including a regular date night with your spouse. It will help keep your marriage and relationships strong.
  • Prioritize and schedule tasks so you get important things done while the kids are napping.
  • Don’t underestimate what help your kids are able to provide around the house – choose age- and skill-appropriate chores for them.

Age 40 to 50

  • Be mindful of how many activities you allow your children to participate in. If they’re overscheduled and you spend all your free time chauffeuring them to activities, nobody will be happy.
  • Schedule time for your family to eat together – there are lots of benefits. If you can’t eat dinner together as often as you’d like, try a family breakfast or lunch on the weekend.
  • If you don’t participate in them already, explore hobbies, recreation or volunteer activities that will be of interest once your kids leave home (yes, that day will come!). It will help reduce your anxiety about transitioning into the empty nest phase.

Here’s a  link to my newsletter where you’ll find time management tips for additional age groups.

I’d love to hear about your favorite time management tips – and if you’re willing to share, what age group you fall into.

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Posted in Life Lessons, Time Management

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When Just a To-Do List Isn’t Enough

August 15th, 2011

I’ve written previously about the benefits of keeping a to-do list http://www.pilestosmiles.com/blog/?p=951. The process of writing down everything you have to do (either on paper or electronically), prioritizing the list, and scheduling when to do each task can be an efficient and powerful way to get things done. That is, of course, if you honor your commitments and do things when you’ve scheduled them.

Sometimes even my well-planned day can fall apart for the simple reason that I just don’t feel like doing the things I’ve set out to do. This happens a lot in the summer, when I’d much rather be doing something outdoors than sitting at my desk. Here are some techniques I use to pump up my motivation and get things done:

I make the most of my peak mental energy time. I’m definitely a morning person, so right after I exercise, I sit down at my desk and knock out the most challenging thing on my list for that day. I find writing to be difficult, so my morning task is usually writing an article, preparing a presentation, or writing a letter (yes, some of us still do that!). When is your peak mental energy time, and what kinds of tasks can help you make the most of that time?

I tell others about my commitments. I have a group of colleagues with whom I meet monthly by phone to discuss my achievements for the past month and my commitments for the upcoming month. Knowing I’m going to be reporting back to them is a great motivator because I’d hate to disappoint them. Is there someone who can help you with accountability?

I evaluate my list regularly. Every few months, I take a look at my to-do list to identify which things I keep ignoring, and try to determine why. Often times it’s because the task just doesn’t seem important or relevant, in which case I typically just cross it off the list with no regrets. I recently worked with a client who was having a hard time completing her homework for grad school. No matter which time slot she assigned it to, she’d find something else to do instead. We discussed her reasons for entering the program and realized they didn’t align with her goals. She now faces the tough decision of determining whether or not she should stay in the program, but at least she understands the reason for her homework challenge. What items never seem to come off your to-do list? Is it time to remove or delegate them?

I break things down. I identify each of the baby steps needed to complete projects so that everything on my to-do list feels manageable and fits easily into the small blocks of time I usually have available to work on things. What overwhelming to-dos can you break down into smaller steps?

I change the scenery. Rather than wish I could be outside when I have to do desk work or make phone calls, I work on my porch or in my dining room that has three large windows. With a cordless phone and a wirelessly connected laptop computer, I can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature while I work, which makes for a happier and more productive me. If your productivity is impacted by your surroundings, what can you do to remedy that?

I turn my to-do list into a “to choose” list. Sometimes none of my productivity tactics work – I’m just not in the mood to do anything I’d scheduled for a particular day. In those instances I just go with the flow: I choose an item that looks appealing on my to-do list, no matter how low a priority it may be, and do that. Or I choose a physical activity (e.g., clean out a closet) over a brain-based activity.  At least something gets accomplished, and sometimes it’s enough to propel me to do one of the items I’d originally scheduled for the day. If not, I know tomorrow will be a better day. What techniques do you use to power through your tasks when you’re not in the mood?

Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom,

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Posted in Goals, Time Management, Uncategorized

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