Tag Archive for: being organised

7 tips for leaving the office earlier

 

1. Stop participating in the cultural rules. Commit to getting out the door on time. Who decided that you should work until 7:00 p.m.? How much is the time "you're devoting because you're a salaried employee and obligated to do what it takes to get the job done" worth?

2. Start meetings before 4:00 p.m. If you have some say or control regarding meeting times, schedule them to end by 4:30. Preferably, start meetings right after lunch. Block out your calendar beginning at 4:00 every day so people can't schedule with you. And don't ask people to begin projects at 4:45 PM. Respect their right to a life, too.

3. Be assertive. Don't be afraid to tell others, "I leave work at 5:00, on time, every day. I have a 5:30 commitment I must adhere to." It's none of their business that your commitment is with yourself or your family. People tend to support others when their goals are made public.

4. Schedule fixed office hours. If you have an assistant, block off certain hours a few days a week to accept appointments. Perhaps Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you take appointments from 9:00 to 10:30 and 2:00 to 3:30. This way you don't have interruptions overlapping the time you're trying to leave the office.

5. Make preparations to leave. Gather up your coat and put it in a visible spot so others can see you're on your way out. Close your door a few minutes before quitting time so people will think you're busy or already gone. Whatever they want, it can wait until tomorrow.

6. Challenge your assumptions. Long hours aren't "the way it is." To reduce the time pressure you feel, decide to reclaim your day, not by working longer, but to finish your work within the workday. Don't focus on "catching up." You will never catch up. There will always be more things to do than time to do them. By being more productive during the day, you'll get the same amount of work done and leave earlier.

7. Start small. Pick a single day, perhaps Thursdays, to be "the" day you leave work on time. To support this decision, you will automatically begin to be more productive on Thursdays and work your day more carefully. Keep working on productivity skills and adding more days, until you're working your 40-hour workweek again and accomplishing even better results.

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Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, is president of The Productivity Pro, Inc., an international consulting firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress industries and is the media's go-to expert on personal productivity and workplace issues. Laura is the author of the bestselling book Leave the Office Earlier (Broadway Books). She has appeared on many top news media outlets including CNN, NBC-TV, NPR, Bloomberg, the New York Times, and numerous leading magazines. Laura presents keynotes and seminars on surviving information overload, managing multiple priorities, reducing stress, and balancing work and family. (C) Copyright Laura Stack, MBA, CSP. All rights reserved.

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

Lifesaving magic of tidying up

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

 

 

About the Author

 

 

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Being a Better Manager of Your Time

 

Every day you hear people complain about the need for better time management, and when you take a close look at any one of these people, they clearly have habits (or ways of being) that are enormous time wasters. For instance, there are:

The Daydreamers: Daydreamers spend a good portion of their day wishing they had more time to do "fun" things. They tend to put off big tasks by performing smaller, more mundane items while they daydream and wish their time away. Then they end up working all night or on the weekends to meet deadlines.

The Optimists: The optimist is always underestimating the amount of time it will take to accomplish something, resulting in their constantly being over scheduled!

The Bobble Head Dolls: The bobble head doll is a compulsive "yes" person who says "yes" to everything! They don't know how to say "no" or they are afraid to say "no". Either way, the result is the same. They have more things piled on their plate than any one human-being can possibly accomplish!

The Perfectionists: The perfectionist crosses every "t" and dots every "i" nearly to a fault. While I advocate doing things right the first time, if you nit-pick, or if nothing is perfect unless it is done by you (or directed by you), your perfectionism is getting in the way of the time you have to do and have everything you say you want to do and have!



The Socialites: The socialite takes their need to connect with human-beings to an art form. While being "related" is a good thing, in and of itself, it is be a detriment when it gets in the way of the tasks at hand.

The Firefighters: The firefighter is always in a rush. Even when life and business is good, they are constantly frantic, and their forehead is bunched up in knots. Everything is a crisis... even if it isn't, and their franticness ends up draining a great deal of their time. They have simply forgotten how to slow down!

Do you see yourself in any one of these types of people?

You may actually see a bit of yourself in each one of these. Some days it may be your perfectionism that gets in the way of using time wisely, and the next day it may be daydreaming that stymies your progress.
The good news is that no matter which category you fit into, the tips for making the best of your time, and being better at time management, are all the same!

 

Related: 7 Time Management Tips That Actually Work

 

Tips for Better Time Management:

Take 10, 20, 30 minutes at the end of each day to put your plan for the next day down on paper.

Highlight the most important 3 or 4 tasks to be completed and do those tasks first. Don't allow yourself to get so bogged down in the "little" things that creep up that you run out of time for the "big" things.

Learn to say "no"

Before you say "yes" to anything, always check your own schedule and that of your family!

Be clear about your priorities; know what you want and what you don't want.

Stay organized; keeping the space around you organized will help to keep your head organized!

Take time for you!



Remember, being a better manager of your time isn't just about how to fit more into one day. It is about enjoying the time you have on this planet. It is about making the most out of the time you have so that you have time to sit back, relax and enjoy this crazy ride we call life! Our day is made up of 86,400 seconds... each one a moment in time that we can't ever recreate. Each one is unique and each one is valuable. So don't forget to make the most of those moments... to enjoy those moments... to enjoy your life.

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Clay Nelson has been coaching executives for over 30 years. Coaching from the core fact that growing people is the key to growing any business, Clay has helped countless business executives and their teams come together to not just improve their businesses, but to improve their lives.
Clay Nelson is also a well-regarded motivational and educational speaker, providing outstanding programs customized to the audiences he is speaking with. Able to speak on any number of topics within his noted specialties, Clay Nelson is known for moving audiences from the status quo to action as they create the businesses and lives they say they want to have.
For more information go to: http://www.claynelsonlifebalance.com

An easy method to keep your desk clear of ‘stuff’

Last week I spoke at the conference of a very busy multi-brand Marketing Department on how to manage their office environment and overload of paper and information. Since their Manager had read 'Getting a Grip on the Paper War - Managing information in the modern office' last year she'd been trying to convert her staff, but decided when the book got lost on someone's desk that she'd better get me in to help reinforce the message!

I asked: 'Who regards themselves as tidy and organised....' (before I'd finished the question, most hands went up) ... with their desks?'

A laugh went round the room, most hands went down, and some folk looked embarrassed.

That's a typical response. Most professionals, especially highly educated ones, haven't been taught simple methods to keep the desk tamed, and so that wonderful stress-reducer - a clear desk - is missed.
Seems to me it's so obvious that it's slipped under the radar.

Here, to help you get through the mass of 'stuff' waiting for your quick action, is one very simple desk-management technique, excerpted from the book.



Chunk your 'put-away' tasks
A very powerful desk-management behaviour to develop is a 'Put it away as you go' habit, but don't be ruled by it. Chunk it.
What do I mean by that? Imagine yourself working at the desk. You finish with a file, or a paper out of a file. You know it's a good habit to put away as you go, so you jump up, walk over to the filing cabinet, and replace it. Or you've borrowed scissors from the receptionist. She's threatened you with early death if you don't return them, so the minute you're finished you do as you were told. Then, (if you're lucky and don't get distracted), back you go to your desk to start on the next activity.
Two possible things can happen here.
1. You spend many minutes per day jumping up and down, interrupting the momentum you'd created at your desk.
2. Because you've completed something and not yet begun the next task there isn't as strong a subliminal pull back to your desk. You're therefore more liable to be distracted by some interesting little by-way, a file that catches your eye, or someone else walking past.
To overcome that scenario, try this one instead. You finish a task and put the completed materials either on the furthest away point of your desk out of your immediate visual range, or even better (as long as it doesn't cause a traffic jam!) put them on the floor beside or behind your chair. The next time you stand up, instead of stepping over the seeming clutter on the floor you ALWAYS bend down, pick it up, and put it away.
I learned this technique as a mother, trying to stay sane raising six children. (Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that one day I'd share it with business people!).
Whilst the children were little, (and anyone who's lived with children knows they have a profound disregard for tidiness) I found that, in a drive to keep the house looking a few notches above a war zone, I seemed to spend all day putting things away! Eventually I learnt to make piles 'to be put away in another room' by the door of any room I was working in. Then, as I walked out the door I'd pick up the pile, quickly zip around the house by the shortest possible route (implementing my own time and motion exercise) and put everything away. It was vastly more efficient than running around the house with each separate item.

Apply the same technique in your office, no matter how large or small, and you'll gain great time-savings. It may seem a slightly untidy way of working but in fact it's very efficient.

Even though there is a slight delay, you are still putting things away as you go - whilst they're fresh in your mind. It's rarely longer than 30 minutes before you put away your current crop of 'stuff'. You never end up with an intimidating pile of filing (and I've seen some mountains!). Over a year many hours are saved - you don't walk around unnecessarily. If it's filing, you don't need to spend time re-familiarising yourself with the item or paper in hand, but it hasn't interrupted your flow of activity.

Bottom line - it saves you spending 'the rest of your natural life' majoring in minor things.

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Author: Robyn Pearce You can contact Robyn at robyn@gettingagrip.com and her website is http://www.gettingagrip.com You can check ou the back issues of these Top Time Tips or the Discussion Board.

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The Secrets To E-Mail Nirvana

You crank up your computer every morning, click to your e-mail and--whap!--a slew of messages demands attention.

E-mail can be a great tool, but many misuse it, turning what should be quick, easy communication into a laborious, time-consuming management chore.

"Many people use the inbox as a to-do list, calendar and filing system," says Mark Hurst president and founder of Creative Good, a consulting firm in New York. "File some messages and delete most of them, but without a doubt, don't let anything stay in your inbox permanently."

Hurst says effective e-mail management is built on filters, filing and ruthless use of the delete key.

http://bit.ly/dapIXy

Organise your desk – get motivated

Your desk means a lot to you. It may be the place of your greatest creativity, or your most decisive business decisions. It may be the place that is the hub of your home management systems. It may be a sanctuary, an engine room or a creativity generator.

But if it is covered in piles of paper and other bits and pieces; if it is overflowing and ugly, then all of that creativity, efficiency and productivity is jeopardised, stifled and just plain difficult.

You know that, I know that, and we also know that the solution is to tidy it so that we can find things; make it attractive so that we are motivated; and to implement systems so that it stays that way. But somehow action to create this solution is a bit slow in coming. We are so busy doing the things we do at the desk to find the time to tidy it and set those systems in place.

The answer lies in one simple motivation – focus on the advantages. Visualise the desk as it could be, should be. Focus on how smoothly you will complete your tasks there and what a pleasant experience it will be.

How to always have a tidy office (or house, or garage!)

 

 

I learnt something as I unpacked my bags recently. I'd just returned from a 3-day trip to regional towns around New Zealand. I pulled out some items I needed immediately and then caught myself thinking, ‘I'll finish unpacking later.'

‘No you won't. You'll do it now!' said the little voice on my shoulder.

With a brief flutter of resistance, my procrastinating self crept back into her hole. Within five minutes the job was done, the room was tidy, and I knew I could come back into the room later without that awful sinking feeling of ‘Darn it, I've still got to put all this stuff away!'

I noticed something else. It's easier to shift a moving object than a stationary one, it generates higher energy, and it's less time-consuming. It's when we have to go back to something that we end up in a muddle, it slows us down, procrastination becomes a familiar companion, and tidiness becomes a hard and challenging chore.

The hardest part is the decision to act. Next time, as you stand there being tempted to head down the grey tunnel of ‘slob-itis', try one of the following strategies:

 

  • See yourself coming back into this pristine space with nothing shouting ‘You've still got to put me away.'
  • Hear the congratulations of your dearly beloveds (or surprised work colleagues if it's a work situation).
  • Feel your delight and joy as you connect with the freedom of no clutter.
  • Think back to the last time you did put things away quickly. Remember your thoughts and feelings, the mental pictures and the sounds attached to that positive memory. Build them big in your memory and let the positive energy attached to that memory impel you forward into action NOW.
  • Reward yourself. It might be as small as five minutes to sit and look at the view, take a walk outside, sit down with a relaxing book or magazine, talk on the phone to your best friend, have that chocolate you've hidden from yourself - whatever turns you on.

Next time, when you:

 

  • Complete a task at work - put away tools and paperwork.
  • Return from a trip - unpack everything immediately.
  • Get out of bed - make it.
  • Dress or undress - hang things up and put the dirty washing in the basket (or ready to go out the door next time you leave your bedroom).
  • Eat something - clean up after yourself.
  • Arrive home with used sports gear - clean and store it ready for next time.
  • Finish a task in the garage, workshop or garden - clean down and put away the tools.
  • Come in from work or town with a bundle of items - groceries, post, accounts to pay, magazines to put away - whatever miscellany you typically bring home - put them straight away.

Last thoughts:

 

  • What's clutter? Just something in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • Every piece of paper or equipment lying around is a symptom of a decision not made or an action not completed.
  • Space and clutter strugglers just stop too soon - the job's not done until it's all put away. Just shift the finish line.
  • Why make it hard when it could be easy - all for the sake of another two or three minutes?
  • Capitalise on your existing momentum. Do it now!

Remember, it's faster (and a lot easier) to shift a moving object than a stationary one!

Publisher: Robyn Pearce robyn@gettingagrip.com http://www.gettingagrip.com © GettingAGrip.com 2006

Organize bedroom chaos

Organize Bedroom mess and confusion and make it an enjoyable place to be! Organizing the bedroom can be difficult to achieve because it is probably one of the most lived in rooms, especially by children. Finding solutions to help keep kids rooms and your own room clean are important but they must be solutions that are easy for that person to follow. Here are the A – Z of ideas to get you started….