Clutter.  It magically accumulates, it seems.  We bring home groceries, the mail, the junk mail, meeting agendas, et cetera.  Follow these 7 tips to quickly clear your counter, desk, or command center.

1. Envision what you’d like the counter or desk to look like for inspiration to get started.
2. Sort the clutter into piles of like items,  for example unpaid bills in 1 pile, paid bills in another, invitations in another, junk mail (or just immediately recycle junk mail), etc.
3. Put away all the papers that don’t require further actions if they are needed for record keeping, and Ruthlessly recycle those you have no further actions on or don’t intend to do anything about.  Be Ruthless, not reckless!
4. For items that don’t have a file or a “home” established, put them in the first place you think of.  That way, the way your brain works, you will think of that place first when you need to locate the item.
5. Set up an in-basket for all other paper or items requiring action from you.  This includes mail, prescriptions you need to fill, the online health signup you got a letter about, Post-its that have notes to yourself, everything.
6. Get to the bottom of your in-basket daily or at least every 3 days so nothing falls through the cracks.
7. Schedule a 10-15 minute time for yourself every day to go through the in-basket.  This is what organizers call Maintenance. Pick the most likely time of day for yourself, when you feel the most  ambitious.

TAXES. Ugh.

If you’d like some tips for making tax time easier next year, read on.

Did you get your taxes in on time or did you have to file for an extension? Were you stressed out trying to find the documents you need like W-2’s or receipts? I have several friends who had to scramble to find their tax docs, consuming time that could have been more productive. They could have been making money working for clients instead of searching piles or clogged files for what they needed.

Some people dread tax time because that is how their life looks every April. But others are calm and assured, with very little disturbing their daily routine. Why?

Organization. The people who don’t dread tax time are those who have their tax documents gathered in one place and have them filed early (especially if they are getting money back). Whether a business owner or a homeowner, doing a few key things will make it easier for you and your accountant when tax time rolls around.

My husband, Frank, and I each run our own business. Our client files are quite different, but our tax documents go into just a few files.

All receipts for tax deductible donations get put into an “Odd year tax” or “Even year tax” file, which we give to our accountant.  We keep the rest of our records on Quickbooks, which we can email to our accountant.

Now, I don’t like updating my QB (I update it once a month), but Frank is excellent at updating it every time he receives a check. As his office manager, I take care of depositing and filing the check with the payment slip. That way, everything is in its place and recorded accurately, which makes tax time easier, and tracking our P&L easier as well.

Record keeping for taxes doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. It’s important to record what you take in and what you spend, and have a regular time of the week or month to update everything. It will be easier to remember if you schedule time on the same date each month like the 1st or the 15th.

For homeowners, just keeping a file that holds all the tax documents you get in the mail from your employer, your bank, your investments, etc, is the main thing you need to do. If you don’t have a file or a filing cabinet, a drawer or a basket will do, as long as you make a habit of sorting your tax documents into that place. As I mentioned earlier, have a place set up to drop receipts from charities or thrift stores so you can get all the deductions you are eligible for. They can all go into the same file, basket or drawer if you like.

And don’t forget mileage! Whether you use your vehicle for church, nonprofit or your business, tracking that mileage can really add up on your tax deductions. The government currently pays 56.5 cents per mile for business, 14 cents per mile for charitable service organizations. Did you know you can get reimbursed for medical visits and moving? You can.

I encourage you to put these or similar systems in place now, this week. Do it while you still remember the stress of gathering your tax documents this year. Instead of being stressed out in April, you will have peace of mind. And that’s a good way to be.

You turn on your home computer to send an email that needs to go out this morning to your PTA or Rotary group.  But before you click “write” you notice a Pinterest notification; a friend re-pinned one of your pins. Curious, you click on it. That leads you down the rabbit hole and you are lost in the attractive and addictive world of Pinterest.  Before you know it, you’ve wasted 30 minutes and still haven’t sent out the essential email!  You have to leave for work in half an hour, so you probably will miss breakfast . . . again.

This is the anatomy of a typical distraction.

Funny thing . . . as I went to the internet to find a dynamite quote about distractions, guess which site came up?  PINTEREST!  I admit it, I did get on Pinterest, but I only allowed myself 10 minutes to search.

One way to boost our will power and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us.

Daniel Goleman

I like to call distractions ‘bright and shiny things,’ which take you away from your goal.

Distractions are a part of life, something to either get over or give in to.  Stay focused, or give in to the bright and shiny things.

To help withstand distractions, know your goal.  Use it to stay focused.

5 ways to keep Distractions at bay

1.  Identify what a real emergency is.   Sometimes at work, you will get a red-flagged email that says it’s an emergency; it needs your attention NOW.  Is that really true? If it’s from your manager or boss, yes it does. But how about other requests?  Know your company’s policy.
2.  Have a plan.  When you are tempted to just check that one text that came through, but you are supposed to be drafting the agenda for this afternoon’s meeting, have a plan. This could include turning off your personal notifications during work hours, silencing your cellphone during focus time, or just training yourself to wait until you finish your current task.

3. If you are frequently interrupted during the day, and you are blocking off time to complete focused work, leave some room in your schedule.   If it’s going to happen, make it part of your plan so you don’t get frustrated.  I call this leaving ‘white space’ in your calendar.

4. Change your physical environment.  Studies show that those in cubicles are interrupted 9 percent more than those with an enclosed office (Real Simple, Dec. 2014).  If it’s possible to rearrange your work environment, (for example, facing away from the cubicle opening) take advantage of that. Many people cannot. It’s also quite helpful to use sound-canceling headphones to block distracting noise.  

5. Kick the urgency addiction.  How often do you check your phone for texts?  How often do you check your email?  Is the newest thing on your plate the most attractive for you to work on?  Can you go a whole day without getting on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter?  Try it.  You might learn something about yourself.

Distractions are a part of life, something to either get over or give in to.  It is a choice.  The choice is yours to make!

Resources:

Stay healthy at your desk with 3 cubicle tweaks: http://ow.ly/E5e82 

www.pinterest.com/explore/distraction-quotes/http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/distractions.html#BozKhmVjdLjKzZ0i.99

Real Simple magazine, Dec. 2014.

 Writing Goals You Will Stick to

Just like a heli-skier, when I wrote my goals for this year, I started at the pinnacle and worked my way down.  You can do this too.

What is your loftiest goal; the one that will have you reaching for the stars?

Think about this:

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”   

~Michelangelo Buonarroti

Start by seeing yourself achieving this goal.  Imagine the feelings of accomplishment you will have at that moment; remember overcoming obstacles, and revel in the sweet taste of success–of having all your hard work pay off.

Who are you with?  Who was instrumental in helping you achieve this milestone?  What are the resources you needed to accomplish your big goal?

These are all things you need to picture.  Because, as all great athletes know, envisioning success at critical moments right before a race is essential.  The Ohio Center for Sports Psychology calls this mental imagery.  Successful athletes “prepare themselves for competition by imagining themselves performing well in (the) competition.”

Here is a great example of training using mental imagery.  Gold medalist Billy Mills:

My loftiest goal this year is to bring my Making Time Your Ally workshop to 6 corporations in Medford, Eugene and Portland.  In 2014, I spoke to 1 corporation in Portland and 2 large groups in Medford, so it is a stretch but not impossible.

With complex goals, I suggest making one list of  resources and one of obstacles.  What has kept you from realizing this goal in the past?  Do you have any fears, tendencies or habits to overcome? How can you overcome them? Record your ideas.

1.  Write your goal down. Be very specific.

2.  Work from the goal backward toward the beginning. Picture a funnel, with your big goal in the large neck of the funnel.  Or, if you are more linear thinker, you can  put your big goal at the end of a timeline and work your way back in time.

If your goal is to finally write the book you have an idea for, what are the steps you need to get you there?  In reverse order, remember:  You’ve got to have a publisher, an editor, to find test readers, to give yourself deadlines, and to establish a daily time to write.  Maybe your first step is to poll friends, family, and everyone you are FB friends with about their interest in your topic.  Or write the first couple chapters and gauge their response.

3.  Break your goal into smaller pieces or milestones by recording the steps you need to get there.

4.  Set a deadline for the ‘finish line’, and for major mile markers in between.

5.  Have someone to report your success to, and act as a sounding board when obstacles come up.

6.  Finally, get started! With all your preparation, new knowledge and backup you are positioned to succeed.

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

~John D. Rockefeller

www.sportpsych.org/nine-mental-skills-overview

Heli ski photo credit: blog.paradizo.com

Click on this image for a larger view.

You Can do Anything for 30 Minutes

It is true you can do anything for 30 minutes. The Fly Lady likes to say you can do anything for 15 minutes, but for projects requiring more brains than brawn, 30 minutes is the ticket to banishing procrastination.

This is what I told a time coaching client: Just work on your business plan for 30 minutes. I call it the 30 Minute Rule. This advice applies to any project you may be putting off.  Even if you don’t want to do it, you will make progress and feel that you accomplished something worthwhile.

What are the things that have kept you from starting a project in the past?

• Procrastination
• Failure to schedule it
• Not enough time to do it justice

Procrastination

Why do we procrastinate?  Fear . . . either it is too big of a task, we don’t have the skills to do it, we need more information, the assignment was unclear, and so on.  The reasons for procrastination seem to be as varied as the persons who procrastinate.  (See my blog about Procrastination.)

The first step to overcoming procrastination is uncovering the reason for it.  Once you ask yourself some delving questions.  Figure it out. Talk it over with a trusted friend or spouse. Once you uncover that, you can progress and deal with it.  I am not a psychologist, but this strategy has worked for me and my time coachees.

A recent client, pet trainer Kaye Geyler, needed to work on her business plan.  She just started her business several months ago and knew it was important, but couldn’t get herself to work on it.  The 30 Minute Rule worked wonders for her.  We decided the next steps she needed to take and she committed to work on it for at least 30 minutes.  It worked well for her.  She told me later, “Even if I don’t want to do it, I can make myself do it for 30 minutes.”

So, instead of procrastinating the business plan, she used the 30 Minute Rule to motivate herself to get started.

And here’s a little secret: once you get started on it, you usually get more enthusiastic and the ideas start coming, so you end up spending more than 30 minutes working on it, which results in more progress and gives you an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Failure to Schedule it

This is the easiest of the 3 issues to fix.  If you want to do a project, know how to do it, but aren’t getting to it, the solution is simple: just put it in your schedule. Pick a day and assign a time when you will get started on this.  Then put a reminder on your phone, computer, or planner.  You may need one day a week for this, or more.  It is helpful to get into a routine time for the job, like every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m., for example.  Soon it will be something you don’t need to remind yourself to do; it will be a habit.  Use this technique to create the positive changes you are craving.

Lacking time to do it justice

Another habit that sabotages getting projects done is talking yourself out of it.  You look at the clock and your morning calls have taken too long, so now you only have 35 minutes to work on it before your next appointment.  You have 2 options: work on the project using the time you have, or do a smaller task and rearrange tomorrow’s schedule so you can work on it then.

Kaye told me: “I don’t look at it as procrastination if I shuffle things around in my day or week because I am planning to do it (have a time set aside).”

Another client, Josiah Higgs, agreed. “Developing the commitment to do something at a particular time is important to me, but I can be flexible when I need to be.”  He knows that when he has a task planned, even if an emergency comes up at Medford Automotive, he will still get to it by adjusting his schedule to fit it within the next few days.

Even if you only have 30 to 40 minutes when you were planning to work on it for an hour, just start it. Apply the 30 Minute Rule.  Brainstorm, create an outline, identify next steps, make calls, etc.  What can I get done in this smaller bucket of time? Before you stop, also make a note of what your next step needs to be.

The Outcome

Kaye experienced success. Having a strong and specific plan is crucial to growing Rapport Pet Training.  She told me: “I did more with my business plan in April than I did in the past four months!”

You too will see results when you apply this technique.  What project or goal did you think of as you read this?  Apply the 30 Minute Rule and experience amazing results!

Let me know how this helped you by entering a comment!