Long-term projects. Could you use some tips to help finish that project you started with gusto, which is currently lagging?
If you hit a roadblock (or two, or three) what are they—and does your team have ideas for overcoming those hurdles? Decide ahead of time how you will handle issues when they come up. Planning will prevent panic and help people stay on track.
Do you like to revisit your goals in the fall? I do! Fall is a perfect time to recommit to your goals for the year.
It’s a great time for renewal. The heat dissipates and fades into crisp fall weather, giving me a burst of energy.
When my main job was a work-at-home Mom, I had more leisure time. I often would watch Anne of Green Gables in September with my children.
I agree with her sentiment:
“Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.”
~L.M. Montgomery.
Do you feel the same way about fall and revisiting goals left unfinished?
I’ll help you out with those goals. Today I’ll share best practices for getting back on track with your goals—business or personal ones.
In January, I posted about SMART goals. Following the SMART formula works for many people like you and me.
I like to read over my goals at the beginning of each month and track my progress in each. Sometimes I am doing great, and other times I have dropped the ball or abandoned a goal or two.
I want to notice my gut reaction as I read through my goals. What ones am I most excited about? What ones cause an apathetic (lukewarm or tepid) or even guilty response? To try this yourself, look at your goals and jot down your primary response to each one.
Now is a great time to follow my call to action: take time to revisit your goals and recommit!
Which goal will you focus on first? This would be the one you’re most excited about at this time. Which goal is second priority, third priority, and so on.
When you set out on this yearly journey and created these goals, your mindset and ambitions may have been different. Also, some things may have changed at work or in your personal life. Consequently, you may decide to pick a different priority one goal.
For example, if you received a well-deserved promotion to a different position with more responsibility, the goals you had for your former post would be obsolete. You would need to create a new set of goals that correspond to your new job.
And personal goals would alter if a major change like having a baby or becoming empty nesters is your new normal. If you had a baby, (or are a new dad), the goal of blogging or writing 1 hour a day is unrealistic. For empty nesters, the goal of traveling once a month is now totally possible.
If you broke it into milestones, are you at milestone 3, for example?
Note how many milestones or steps you have left in your goal. It’s time to plan.
Then, take a few minutes to look at the next steps for your goals. When could you reasonably accomplish each step? If you are fond of a structured approach, you could even sketch out a timeline at this point.
Take into account how long each step would take, the time you have to work on your goal, and any resources you’ll need. Other people may be willing to help you, but they may not be available right away, for example. Factor that in when you create your timeline.
Say you are working on some professional development classes to further your career. When will you finish your current class? Also, do you need a break between classes? Be aware that in college programs, some classes are only available either fall or winter semester. It’s wise to check on class availability.
What motivated you to create that goal or objective in the first place? Better pay, more recognition, a promotion, personal peace of mind, or health?
What drives you now? Which goal are you most excited about?
I firmly believe that each of us will be more successful when we focus on some goal or objective we are passionate about. I don’t believe in forcing myself to accomplish something I’m no longer motivated to do.
That being said, I am my own boss and I set the direction for my company. When you have a manager or boss running the show, you do need to accomplish the tasks and projects they set out for you. In a perfect world, your passion and your profession intersect.
This is related to point #3. What resources do you need? Education, money, a mentor, experts within your company, time, and passion may play a part in reaching the objectives you’ve set.
Planning the steps in detail takes some time and thought. In fact, I’ve found it’s best, if your company permits it, to go off-site, turn off your phone and email notifications, and do a planning deep dive.
I know one company where the top admins go offsite for a planning session once a quarter. They see a huge benefit from this. (Company leaders are often the people who get interrupted the most onsite.)
The GM and her leadership team return with renewed enthusiasm for their projects and plans.
This is something I don’t always do. I just smile, give myself a nod, and fall into an exhausted heap. Just kidding!
When I finish something big, I do celebrate. I did a happy dance the moment I opened that cardboard box and gazed on my book Get Organized Quick!
It’s healthy to celebrate your achievements; when you work hard, you deserve it!
Each of us have individual ways we celebrate; choose the reward that appeals to you. 😉
Remember my call to action? I’ll add one thing to it.
Take time to revisit your goals and attack the ones that excite you with renewed vigor.
What did you learn from this blog? I’d love to hear your comments here or on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Has setting up your home office during COVID-19 virus been a headache? If productivity has been an issue for you, I’ll share some organizing and time management hacks that will make a huge impact on your work.
What people working at home don’t realize: everyone has an inner productivity circle.
In fact, if you think about your home office as a series of circles radiating away from you (like the parallel ripples that radiate out when you drop a rock into a still pool of water), you’ll realize that what you keep close to you is important.
I first learned about this concept from my organizing mentor, Porter Knight. She talks about it in her book, Organized to Last. In it, she coined the term ‘concentric circles’.
I recently taught this productivity principle at a lunch and learn for a large local company. Several people were blown away by this principle; the idea that your work output increases when you only keep frequently used items within arms’ reach.
It makes total sense to me, if you spend less time getting up to use tools in the office, your workday will be more efficient. I will illustrate.
Circle 1: For me, the tools I use every day several times a day need to be in my inmost work circle of my home office. I should not have to roll my chair or even swivel it to get the items I use more than twice a day.
Items in my inner productivity circle: computer, mouse, planner or to-do list, pens, Post-its, stapler, tape, tool drawer, timer, hand lotion, drawer of important files, and trash can.
You may need additional tools like a 10-key, calculator, or specialized items for the work you do.
Circle 2: The next layer for efficient work at home would contain tools and resources you might use once a day. For example: file drawers, your tissue box, projects file, business card binder, cork board or whiteboard, speakers, etc.
Circle 3: The Third layer, the one farthest from you, would have things like resource books, archived files, office supply storage, camera equipment, supplies you travel to clients with, a briefcase or bag for networking events, etc. This layer holds supplies or archives used occasionally or rarely.
When I work with a client, we concentrate on creating open space around them in their home office, The problem with most work spaces is they have TOO MUCH STUFF cluttering their inner circle. this is true for many who are working at home.
Stuff that clutters up our desks: papers that need to be filed, projects, ideas, mail, Post-its, business cards, books, food, and personal items unrelated to your work or comfort are some of the clutter.
Did you know that clutter actually distracts from your work? Visual clutter, like stacks of paper, magazines, or too much in your inbox contribute to a state of low-level anxiety for some people.
Watch what happens when you clear off all the clutter from your desk and floor in your home office. I know every time I put all my papers away in files or project binders, I feel a rush of energy and am motivated to tackle the most important task of the day. Try it, you’ll like it!
Some people I’ve worked with are comfortable with one pile of work on their desk or a large inbox, and that’s fine. The important thing is to find what works best for you.
To help you even more, I’ll share a list of tips for staying productive while working at home. Time management tips like these are sorely needed in these unprecedented times when all the kids are home attending virtual classes because of COVID.
Figure out what your best focus time is. Do the work that requires the most brainpower then. If you’d like to pinpoint the time of day, email me and I will send you a quiz that will show you when you do your best work! jennym@efficientspacesco.com
If your spouse or kids are home during work hours, make sure they know not to disturb you. Close the doors if you need to. Put on headphones with some music that helps you focus. This has a dual job: to let people know you don’t want to be disturbed, and it keeps you from hearing background noise.
“Ambient sounds, especially with words, occupy about 5-10% of your intellectual bandwidth. By wearing ear protectors, you acoustically isolate yourself. This freed up bandwidth can now be focused on the desired task.
It’s a great deal. Just put on some earmuffs and you become 5-10% smarter.”
~ Peter Rogers, Straight A Stanford and on to Harvard
To be effective, make a plan for your week and then break it down by the day. I I start out with a ‘dump list’ then transfer the tasks to my planner, which uses a funnel-down system to help me choose which day to put each task. I use my planner for my to-do list, but a notebook or a sticky note works well to identify the most important daily tasks. For most people, having a daily purpose is a huge motivator. It’s satisfying to check those items off when they’re finished! I would be lost without my to do list. Most professionals who excel at time management use some form of a to-do list, whether electronic or paper. *I use the Planner Pad Organizer.
With emails, you can take one of 3 actions: File, respond, or delete. Try not to think about it too much! It doesn’t have to be complicated. The general rule of thumb: if it takes 2 minutes, do it now. (From Getting Things Done by David Allen)
Also, have folders for emails or email categories. Organize them by topic, project, or individual names. A person wastes 6 weeks annually searching for lost documents or because of unorganized folders for the one project they need. Be consistent about filing them. It helps so much when you need that information later!
Have an inbox for paper, and clear it daily.
Have a “hot spot” for today’s most urgent project. Personally, I prefer a clear file folder standing up in a vertical file sorter. My home office file sorter holds 5 files. Also, put your to-do list in plain sight and review it each morning before you start.
Definitely prioritize projects based on their ROI and on the deadline or due date!
If you tend to distract yourself: ahem… yes I do that! I find that setting a timer is very helpful. This works well if you are easily distracted by “bright and shiny” new emails. Say your purpose for opening your email is to write one necessary email and then close the email so you can focus on a project. Set a timer for 15 minutes before you open your inbox to avoid getting “sucked in” by your email. This really works! (I keep my timer within arm’s reach in my home office.)
“One way to boost our will power and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us.” ~ Daniel Goleman
If texts, incoming emails, Zoom pop-up, or calendar notifications have alerts that distract you when you are trying to focus in your home office, make sure to turn off those alerts for the hour or 90 minutes when your project needs your full attention. (Before you do this, check your calendar to make sure you don’t have a meeting or scheduled phone call.) If you are not sure how to do this, ask a tech-savvy friends! Or link to the article I provide at the end of this post.
Delegate email deletion and unsubscribing from sites to your kids or grandkids (it works great!). Also, make sure to limit spam by having good firewalls in place to limit what gets to your inbox.
For information you want or need to keep, have it scanned by someone you can delegate to (an assistant, tech-savvy son/daughter, grandchild, high school student) and file or organize it into files. Make sure and have the helpers to do it at a time when you’re doing something low-focus, like responding to emails. That way the interruptions with questions won’t affect your productivity in your home office.
Use these 10 tips to achieve more and reach your business goals!
Related posts: 5 ways to keep distractions at bay: https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2015/02/5-tips-distractions-bay/
New Habits: you can do anything for 30 minutes: https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2014/05/30-minutes/
How to get an extra hour of productivity daily: https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2014/02/extra-hour/
How to turn off distracting notifications: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-distracting-desktop-notifications-turn-windows/
I’ve been thinking a lot about productivity this month. Multi-tasking has been on my mind; I am not a fan.
Multi-tasking, to me, means doing two activities at the same time, or alternating between them in short succession, back and forth, back and forth.
In fact, the other day I took a phone call while cooking dinner and talking to my 14-year-old son. Sound familiar? I bet it does. No one got my full attention, and dinner took longer. I’m sure my son didn’t feel heard, either.
I tend to multi-task in the office too. Sometimes it works; most of the time it doesn’t.
Two pertinent questions to ask before you multi-task: Will multi-tasking actually save me time here? Or will it divide my focus and cause my work to suffer?
Do you see why I am not a fan? Like you, I’ve gotten myself stressed out by multi-tasking when I shouldn’t have.
There may be other options that work for multi-tasking, but to me it is not worth it.
“Stop multi-tasking. No, seriously—stop. Switching from task to task quickly does not work. In fact, changing tasks more than 10 times in a day makes you dumber than being stoned. When you’re stoned, your IQ drops by five points. When you multitask, it drops by an average of 10 points, 15 for men, five for women (yes, men are three times as bad at multitasking than women).”
This is from an interview with Tony Wong, a project management black belt whose client list includes Toyota, Honda, and Disney, to name a few. He’s an expert in keeping people on task. (From blogger Ilya Pozin.)
I’ve encouraged my time coaching clients not to multi-task, because it makes everything take longer and it divides your focus, meaning you do crappy work on three jobs at a time instead of great work on one job.
Here’s an example of an author multi-tasking and actually WASTING time instead of saving it.
“Yesterday, I tried to edit some chapters, submit a Bookbub ad, and update my profile in Draft2digital. I jumped around for an extra hour, and my Bookbub ad ended up timing out, so I had to do it over again today. That was a good hour wasted.” ~ Frank Morin
Yes, that’s my husband, who is a writer, and a programmer. He’s an Indie author, so he not only writes the books, he markets them as well.
Another example from a Mom, we’ll call her Tammy: On a weekday, 2 of her sisters had come over with their children, so they had 10 kids at her house. Tammy was multi-tasking by making muffins and feeding the kids lunch when her son reminded her he needed a ride to orchestra. After preparing lunch for the adults, she resumed muffin making and chatted with her sisters. As she was mixing more batter, she got a phone call from her son. He had been waiting for 30 minutes to be picked up! She said, “I felt so bad for forgetting him!”
There’s the crux–multi-tasking distracts us, which leads to forgetting some of the most important people in our lives. That in turn leads to guilt, especially for parents. Remember, next time you’re tempted to multi-task while with your family, see how relationships deepen when you give them your full focus.
Next time you are inclined to multi-task, ask yourself a few questions: Will it actually save me time? Is one of these tasks mindless or repetitive? And if the answer to one of those questions is no, resist the urge to multi-task!
Resources:
@Ilyaneversleeps
Planning is a great tool for you to grow your business or your career. Why is planning so important? you may ask.
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail – Ben Franklin
Let’s invert that statement: Be sure to plan, and you will SUCCEED.
When you take time to plan, you ARE more in control of your life. You know what you have coming, and you get noticed as a doer; someone who gets things done.
And planning doesn’t take long! 30 minutes is plenty of time. So, plan for success!
For example: When my husband Frank came back from a writing conference, he had so many ideas for marketing his next book that he was having trouble keeping it all straight, and he was stressed about it. As I do with my time coaching clients, I suggested we sit down and brainstorm all the ideas he wanted to put into place and schedule them.
He said: “That helped me prioritize, categorize, define and lay out a game plan for the next 3 months, which is critical for a successful book launch. Now I can focus on my work and not get distracted by unknowns. I can work with more confidence.” ~ Frank Morin, Author
When I don’t plan, things go haywire. A few weeks ago, I was getting ready for a last-minute trip. I hadn’t planned on Monday. Big mistake. I almost missed my call with my business coach, which I’ve NEVER forgotten before. And I was so distracted that day I missed a reminder text from my Aesthetician, so I missed my facial, and probably annoyed her. I felt frazzled and definitely NOT together. Not a good feeling, because I like to have my ducks in a row!
Source: www.moneyunder30.com
Tip 1: Figure out what your best focus time is. Do the work that requires the most brainpower then. If you’d like to pinpoint the time of day, email me and I will send you a quiz that will show you when you do your best work! jennym@efficientspacesco.com
Tip 2: Limit distractions. If you spouse or kids are home, make sure they know not to disturb you. Close the doors if you need to. Put on headphones with some music that helps you focus. This has a dual job: to let people know you don’t want to be disturbed, and it keeps you from hearing background noise.
“Ambient sounds, especially with words, occupy about 5-10% of your intellectual bandwidth. By wearing ear protectors, you acoustically isolate yourself. This freed up bandwidth can now be focused on the desired task.
It’s a great deal. Just put on some earmuffs and you become 5-10% smarter.”
~ Peter Rogers, Straight A Stanford and on to Harvard
Tip 3: With emails, you can take one of 3 actions: File, respond, or delete. Try not to think about it too much! It doesn’t have to be complicated. The general rule of thumb: if it takes 2 minutes, do it now. (From Getting Things Done by David Allen)
Tip 4: Set up folders for emails. Organize them by topic, project, or individual names. A person wastes 6 weeks annually searching for lost documents or because of unorganized folders for the one project they need. Be consistent about filing them.
Tip 5: Have an inbox for paper , and clear it daily.
Tip 6: Have a “hot spot” for today’s most urgent project. Personally, I prefer a clear file folder standing up in a vertical file sorter. My file sorter holds 5 files. Also, put your to-do list in plain sight and review it each morning before you start.
Tip 7: If you tend to distract yourself: ahem… yes I do that! I find that setting a timer is very helpful. This works well if you are easily distracted by “bright and shiny” new emails. Say your purpose for opening your email is to write one necessary email and then close the email so you can focus on a project. Set a timer for 15 minutes before you open your inbox to avoid getting “sucked in” by your email. This really works!
“One way to boost our will power and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us.” ~ Daniel Goleman
Tip 8: If texts, incoming emails, skype pop-up, or calendar notifications have alerts that distract you when you are trying to focus, make sure to turn off those alerts for the hour or 90 minutes when your project needs your full attention. (Before you do this, check your calendar to make sure you don’t have a meeting or scheduled phone call.) If you are not sure how to do this, ask a tech-savvy friends! Or link to the article I provide at the end of this post.
Tip 9: Delegate email deletion and unsubscribing from sites to your kids or grandkids (it works great!). Also, make sure to limit spam by having good firewalls in place to limit what gets to your inbox.
Tip 10: For information you want or need to keep, have it scanned by someone you can delegate to (an assistant, tech-savvy son/daughter, grandchild, high school student) and file or organize it into files. Make sure and train the workers to do it at a time when you’re doing something low-focus, like responding to emails. That way the interruptions with questions won’t affect your productivity.
Use these 10 tips to achieve more and reach your business goals!
Related posts: https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2015/02/5-tips-distractions-bay/
https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2014/05/30-minutes/
https://efficientspacesco.c.wpstage.net/2014/02/extra-hour/
How to turn off distracting notifications: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-distracting-desktop-notifications-turn-windows/
Procrastination is like a leaky faucet.
Procrastination –it’s a killer. It slays good intentions, New Years’ resolutions, and big-picture goals.
When is the last time you procrastinated? What did you put off? I procrastinate blogging, big time. Other people procrastinate cleaning out their pantry, their sock drawer, their shower, whatever. Oh yeah, I procrastinate cleaning my shower, too. Since we’re being honest…
The point is, if you want to stop procrastinating, you MUST figure out what the root reason is for your Herculean procrastination efforts. If you find yourself cleaning the fridge (assuming you work from home) just to avoid having to call someone back or write a proposal, there is a reason for that. Because cleaning out the fridge is a nasty job, so you must be desperate to avoid something.
Sometimes you procrastinate because you don’t have enough information. An example: If I need to call someone, but first I have to look up some information online, I may put off the phone call every time I think of it because I have not made the time to go online and find out about the XYZ product they want for their desk. So if the task has too many steps, that may lead to procrastination.
Sometimes you procrastinate because you don’t have the skills to do a task. Example: organizing. Many people berate themselves for not knowing how to organize their miscellaneous drawer at the office, or their files, or their pantry. Whatever the chore is that you’re putting off, it may be that you simply don’t possess the skills to accomplish it. That’s when you call in an expert, like me. If you had a leaky faucet and your water bill goes up, it makes sense to hire a plumber to fix that leak, right? The same goes for organizing. How many hours are you going to waste looking for those post-its or envelopes which you wrote a potential client’s phone number on? Not only do you waste time looking for it, it also distracts you from the productive flow of work because you get flustered and possibly upset with yourself, which can cause you to “lose your place” in the day’s work.
Sometimes you procrastinate because you just don’t have the desire to do a task. That’s how it is with my shower. I love my shower. It has 2 shower heads. But it is HUGE and it takes 20 minutes to clean it right. So I hire my kids to do it. They’ll do my shower for a nominal fee. That makes me happy.
So three of the reasons you procrastinate are: Lack of information, lack of skills, lack of motivation. Find the root cause and you are on your way to fixing whatever is holding you back.
Please contact me to continue this discussion…
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