Tag: Information Management

What To Do this Monday for “Clean Off Your Computer Day”

The Second Monday in February is “Clean Off Your Computer Day”, designated by savvy IT people to clean old files off your computer – Embrace it!

If you’re thinking – “but Coll, I have unlimited storage capacity in the cloud, etc.” – I know.  And you’re right.  But unlimited capacity doesn’t mean you have to keep EVERYTHING,  and you should still organize what you have so you can find things again!

Here are my suggestions:

  1. Grab a note book, or open a new document in Evernote or Google docs.  These types of projects generate a lot of To-Do items!
  2. Clean up your actual computer:
    1. Turn off and unplug (if possible) everything.
    2. Locate and wipe off your computer’s fan(s).  My IT guy says this very important step is often neglected, and skipping it can hamper computer performance.  Keep your computer area de-cluttered to maintain good airflow.
    3. Grab your can of compressed air, and blow out your keyboard.  It’s amazing (and disgusting) what lands in there.
    4. Since everything is turned OFF, with an ALMOST DRY antibacterial wipe, wipe down your keyboard and mouse. I said ALMOST DRY, so if you do this wrong and screw up your electronics, I have 100’s of witnesses who read “ALMOST DRY” and who know I am not responsible.  Let everything dry completely.
    5. With a DRY and clean microfiber cloth, wipe off your screen.
    6. Since the compressed air is going to blow stuff around, use a slightly wetter wipe and wipe
      down your work area.  It’s typically a very germy place.
  3. I often get asked:  HOW DO I WIPE AN OLD COMPUTER SO I CAN RECYCLE IT?
    1. Every computer is different, so run a google search on “How do I remove the hard drive from xxxxxxxxxxx (brand and type of computer)”.  You will receive an instant answer involving a screwdriver and about 20 minutes of your time, and perhaps even links to you-tube videos to walk you through the process.
    2. Once the hard drive is removed, google E-Waste recycling in your area and get rid of the old computers, monitors and printers.
  4. Storage:  Back up, back up, back up.  External hard drive, cloud or both, take your pick. JUST BACK UP!
  5. Manage Your Memory Better:
    1. Operating systems are clever with their search capabilities, but you can still save time by setting up your system better now to find things later.
    2. When you search for something, sort documents in your hard drive in reverse chronological order, all the time.  Click on the “Date modified” column on your Documents Library page until your most recently used documents are listed at the top.
    3. DO NOT just have one large folder with everything in it.  Just thinking about that idea makes me cringe.  A single cluttered directory makes finding anything very frustrating.
    4. Use Naming Conventions and sub-directories when you save your folders and documents.  For example, my business sub-directory contains a folder called “Presentations”.  Within that folder, I have sub-folders for each type of presentation I give (so, Time Management, Kitchen and Menu Planning, Paper Management, etc.).  Within those folders, I have the actual presentation notes, but also the Handouts associated with the presentation, all starting with HO plus the presentation name, so I know which is which.  I use similar rules for naming other things, too, to quickly find files when I need them.
    5. My IT guy saves his documents first to large folders per Application.  For example, he has both a C:Excel and C:Word folder.  He suggests this strategy helps him find things faster.  Within those very broad “type” names, he then breaks down his files into categories.

Clearing computer clutter will help you save time and focus more clearly.  What will your clean-out your-computer day activity look like?

Originally published, February, 2014
Updated, February, 2019

Conquer Email Overload:  Do This, Not That

A coaching client asked for email suggestions last week, so I thought I would share with all of you! email

I’ve been researching a lot about email this week, in preparation for writing this article.

There are the “don’t open your email in the morning” people, who work on their chosen work for a few hours when they get to the office, and then check their email.

There are the “check your email all the time on your smart phone or device” people who do just that, too.

I’ve read about the “zero inbox” movement, but I don’t agree with it.  It uses sophisticated filters to move messages to folders, but folders don’t work for everyone, and just moving email around doesn’t actually complete the work.

There may be people like me, somewhere in the middle: I work virtually. I wake up and check emails just to make sure there are no schedule changes for the day or major crises to handle, then step away from it as I get my family and self and home ready for the day.  Then I step back to it when I can focus on working through what is in my various in-boxes.

Here are some strategies to help you conquer your own email overload!

  1. Do: Recognize that Email is our work, or at least part of it.  We cannot forgo email to do our work, at least not all the time.
  2. Do: Focus on Flow.  Work has flow, and email is part of your work.  So emails need to flow, too: Into your in-box, through your work process, and back out again, responded to or forwarded, then filed in a folder or trashed.
  3. Do: Be grateful for email.  I would never be able to do as much as I do, or communicate as fully with as many people, if I didn’t have email.
  4. Do: Decide when and how to handle your email.  Don’t be a victim of your email!  You. Decide.
  5. Do: Block time to process your emails.  And I mean to read, act and file them.  Here is my process, determine for yourself what types of emails get your attention first, second and third!
    • Log in, then delete everything you can, like all the ads or obsolete newsletters.  Better yet, un-subscribe from mailings lists you no longer need (I’m going to try something called Unroll.me).
    • Check for client correspondence, especially about today (usually important and urgent), which will impact my appointment schedule.
    • Check for presentation correspondence (important, not typically urgent).
    • If there are multiple replies to a conversation, read the most recent reply, which should hold everyone’s responses to date, and file or delete the rest.
    • Mark as urgent (a Star on outlook) the most important messages.
    • Move non-urgent reading items to their own folder, to be read later.  And carve out time every day or a couple of times a week to specifically read through that folder content.
    • Now that you have cleared the email clutter, go back and tackle the emails designated as urgent.
    • A couple of times a day, I also check my personal email, and my facebook messages, too, as FB is the chosen communication method for some of my clients.
  6. Do Not leave your in-box open all day, or have your devices set to send automatic notifications for new email.  DO limit your email-checking to fewer and more purposeful moments during the day.  I’ve changed my settings, and am working on the closing the in-box, too.  Remember, You. Decide.
  7. Do Not send an email message now to say that you will send an email message later.  Set an autoresponder, if you must, with an “email received” message.  “Respond immediately to your email” is one of the least useful tips I read this week in my research.

Take a deep breath, friend.  Think a little differently about your email.  Then get to work!

Our Home Command Center, more Command and more Center!

This week I want to share a small project that made a big impact in my kitchen – not too overwhelming and sooooo useful!

First, if you’d like, I wrote this a while ago, for more specifics:

ImageYour Command Center: Knowledge is Power

Your command center is the information hub of your home.  Perhaps it’s a desk, maybe just a kitchen counter or table near the door.  But everyone and every home needs one.

Calendars and schedules, contact lists and team rosters, incoming mail and bills to pay, school supplies and reference materials.  Yep, all of this can be in a command center.

I reworked ours last week.  It took less than an hour, and this is the after picture.  I wanted to post it first, since it is a nice visual, and it makes me happy.

The command center surface is not large (by design), but it is in the kitchen, the very center of our home. That keeps it front and center, accessible to everyone – but that also means that it gets cluttered, and when it does, I have to look at it all the time.  And that occasionally drives me crazy.  So here are the before and after pictures, and my comments:

  • Always start with a plan.  I know what I do and don’t like about our current arrangement, plus what I wanted the updated space to look like.
  • I cleared everything off, and wiped down the space.
  • I moved some books out that belonged on other bookshelves, and I Imageeven (gulp) got rid of the desk encyclopedia.  I kept the dictionary, thesaurus and bible, because I encourage my boys to actually look stuff up instead of asking Google.  However, the desk encyclopedia was mine.  From high school.  And that was a loooong time ago.  So it went away.
  • Before, I had trays available on the kitchen desk for each child.  Not surprisingly, while school papers and assignments moved in and out, other stuff just piled up.  So the sloppy side-by-side trays were replaced by a vertical tray.  Much better.
  • I powered through the school supplies, and ruthlessly purged what the boys don’t or won’t use.  Buh-bye.
  • The charging cords and surge protector still drive me crazy, but I’ve been keeping the cords clipped up when not in use, or in the desk drawer underneath.  And I received a very cool produImagect to review for an upcoming blog that may help with this, so more later…
  • I went with “pretty”.  I don’t always care what my organizing tools look like, but since this area is seen by anyone walking through my house, I invested in matching and attractive items.  Nice, clean lines.  Ahhhhh…. (that is a contented sigh, by the way)
  • A vitally important but often neglected part of a Command Center is the day-to-day attention and maintenance.  I made sure that only current information was present in the Command Center.
  • I recently read a suggestion, to have a “waiting” folder, with items waiting for follow up.  Like rebates, reimbursements, copies of applications, etc.  So I added one to our existing files.
  • So, in under an hour, I improved the look of the most lived-in room in the house, pared down and cleaned up our information, and cleared some clutter. Look around – Do you have a Command Center?  Is it time for an update?!  Give it a try! Image

Less Searching, More TIme, Less Dirt, More Focus? Must be Clean Off Your Computer Day!

Today is “Clean Off Your Computer Day”, designated by savvy IT people to clean old files off your computer – Embrace it!  I am a PC user, and not familiar with Mac, but some suggestions are universal, so read on for ideas to make your system work better for you!

Here are my suggestions:

  1. Grab a note book.  These types of projects generate a lot of other to-do items.
  2. Clean up your actual computer:
    1. Turn off and unplug (if possible) everything.
    2. Locate and wipe off your computer’s fan(s).  My IT guy says this very important step is often neglected, and skipping it can hamper computer performance.  Keep your computer area de-cluttered to maintain good airflow.
    3. Grab your can of compressed air, and blow out your keyboard.  It’s amazing (and disgusting) what lands in there.
    4. Since everything is turned OFF, with an ALMOST DRY antibacterial wipe, wipe down your keyboard and mouse. I said ALMOST DRY, so if you do this wrong and screw up your electronics, I have 100s of witnesses who read “ALMOST DRY” and who know I am not responsible.  Let everything dry completely.
    5. With a DRY and clean microfiber cloth, wipe off your screen.
    6. Since the compressed air is going to blow stuff around, use a slightly wetter wipe and wipe down your work area.  It’s typically a very germy place.
  3. I often get asked:  HOW DO I WIPE AN OLD COMPUTER SO I CAN RECYCLE IT?
    1. Every computer is different, so run a google search on “How do I remove the hard drive from xxxxxxxxxxx (brand and type of computer)”.  You will receive an instant answer involving a screwdriver and about 20 minutes of your time, and perhaps even links to you-tube videos to walk you through the process.
    2. Once the hard drive is removed, google E-Waste recycling in your area and get rid of the old computers, monitors and printers.  Many towns have permanent drop sites for such things as old computers and printers, TVs and almost anything else with a cord.
  4. Storage:  Back up, back up, back up.  External hard drive or cloud, take your pick.  This will be a blog for another day.  Just know you should be backing up your computer.
  5. Manage Your Hard Drive Better:
    1. Operating systems are getting cleverer with their search capabilities, but you can still save time by setting up your system better now to find things later.
    2. When you search for something, sort documents in your hard drive in reverse chronological order, all the time.  Click on the “Date modified” column on your Documents Library page until your most recently used documents are listed at the top.
    3. DO NOT just have one large folder with everything in it.  Just thinking about that idea makes me cringe.  A single cluttered directory makes finding anything very frustrating.
    4. Use Naming Conventions and subdirectories when you save your folders and documents.  For example, my business subdirectory contains a folder called “Presentations”.  Within that folder, I have subfolders for each type of presentation I give (so, Time Management, Kitchen and Menu Planning, Paper Management, etc.).  Within those folders, I have the actual presentation notes, but also the Handouts associated with the presentation, all starting with HO plus the presentation name, so I know which is which.  I use similar rules for naming other things, too, to quickly find files when I need them.
    5. My IT guy saves his documents first to large folders per Application.  For example, he has both a C:Excel and C:Word folder.  He suggests this strategy helps him find things faster.  Within those very broad “type” names, he then breaks down his files into categories.
    6. My saving method is categorical.  For example, I volunteer with Cub Scouts, Choir and Baptismal Prep Ministry.  Each of these important-to-me categories has its own sub-folder in my main drive, with a folder for each year or project, again to help me find my files quickly.

My clean-out-your-computer day activity may be deleting any documents more than 2 years old, or within category folders if those categories no longer pertinent (for example, “completed clients from 2012 and before”, etc.).  Clearing computer clutter will help you save time and focus more clearly.  What will your clean-out your-computer day activity look like?

Spend Your Screen Time Wisely

Did you Know?  September 18-24th is National  Turn Off Week , a challenge to Reduce your Screen Time on TV and technology.  

     I am blogging to the internet on my laptop, then sending a newsletter via email to suggest you spend less time this week on Screen Time and technology devices.  The irony is not lost on me!  So let me get on with this, so you can read and learn, then go and do something else!

     A Google search of “Turn Off Week” produced links from hundreds of organizations recommending less screen time for both adults and children.  Why?  As a society, we are spending lots of time, often too much time in front of Screens and technology.  Stepping away from the TV, computer and game screens enhances our fitness, health, nutrition, education and family time, just to name a few.  

     I like TV.  I have a handful of shows that I DVR every week, and watch avidly when I have the time, on my own terms.  TV is not bad.  As I start this article on a rainy Sunday afternoon, my hubby is watching football and the kids are watching a Red Box DVD downstairs.  We like TV.  But just this past week, it became evident we need to spend some more time on our school work; all three boys want to sign up for Fall sports; and the pre-teen wants to learn 2 (yes 2) more musical instruments.   Time for these activities has to come from somewhere, so Off The TV will go!

     I love technology.  I use lots of screen time for work and play.  But Technology is only a  tool.  It can educate, communicate, illuminate, entertain.  It can do lots of things, but it is a thing.  It exists to make our lives better.  So use this National Turn Off Week to make sure you are using your technology, and not the other way around. Consider Turn Off Week as a Time Management experiment, how to use our time and resources the best way possible.  

 Things to Think About and Try This Week:

  1. Remind everyone (including yourself) that Turn Off Week is a positive choice.  Replace screen time with family activities, game night, hikes and outings, etc., to reinforce that Real Life is more important than screen time.
  2. The first step to positive change is always awareness.  Need to start small?  Just pay attention to how much you and your family uses technology, and determine if you all could improve your lives by cutting back on your screen time.
  3. Use tech tools to manage your tech.  I love these ideas, for managing your Tech Time, from a Real Simple article, April, 2011:
    • “MacFreedom.com disables all roads to the internet for an allotted amount of time”;
    • “RescueTime.com  tracks your every on-line move and provides easy to read, painfully revealing charts” telling you just how much time you really spend on Facebook or shopping on-line; and
    • “LeechBlock, addons.mozilla.org, blocks certain websites either perpetually or during specific periods, to help you focus you and your family’s time better.”
    • Also, we can set our Direct TV parental controls to allow TV viewing only at certain times of the day, and on certain channels.  I will re-set our viewing hours to between 6 and 8 pm unless I lift the block with the secret code (we’ll see how that goes!!).
    • On the other hand, we can record shows on the DVR for the kids to watch later, so they are guaranteed to have something they want to watch when they do finally sit down to do so. 
  4. Set a limit for how much screen time you and your children use every day.
    • My MIL used TV tokens with her kids, and introduced the idea to my boys one week over the summer. Every day each child receives 3 tokens, for ½ hour each of TV time, Wii or Nintendo.  They can lose their tokens for minor offenses, or they can save them up if they want to watch a movie on the weekends. 
    • It was amazing to watch my 7-year-old become a savvy shopper when it came to “spending” his tokens.  He might turn on the TV, consider what his choices were, and then decide to turn it off because he didn’t really like the choices.  Before the tokens, he would have just sat there and vegged out. 
  5. Be mindful.  Decide when and what to watch, or when you will check your email or smart phone.  Then Do what you plan to do, and Move on.  Get on Facebook, check in, get off, go do something else.  Be mindful when you are using your technology tools, but also be mindful and appreciative of your family and the day around you.  

For Life:  Reduce Screen time with a few simple guidelines: 

  • Keep TVs and computers out of the bedrooms, especially children’s bedroom, for safety, better sleep, better focus, and more family time;    
  • Don’t eat in front of the TV or computer (a challenge for me on days when I work from home); and
  • Set guidelines, like “No cell phones in the bedroom or at the dinner table”.  Neither my teenager nor we parents need our phones where we sleep, since we should neither send nor receive texts at midnight!  We can choose when to answer messages and texts, and hopefully raise awareness in others as to what is appropriate or not. 

     So, our plan?  1. We’ll all work on using our Turn Off Time wisely, for the cool activities we want to do instead of mindless TV viewing, and 2. I am going to work on my own screen time, to focus on people and not technology when we are all together.  I will check then ignore my email first thing in the morning on my iPhone, but wait to turn on my computer until the boys are off to school and I am ready to really work.   And I’ll let  you know how it goes, in a week, via technology again!   And let me know if you have ideas or suggestions for how to spend your Turn Off Week!

High-tech Your Papers

      Technology exists to make our lives simpler.  Review your current practices,  and ask yourself: Is there something you can do to simplify your paper management?  Use technology or tools to make things better!

     What we are really talking about when we discuss Paper Management is Information Management.   It does not matter how the information came to you, via paper or electronically via your computer.  There are rules that can help.  Here are a few suggestions for Information Management.

1.  Papers often represent tasks to be completed, so carve out time to get things done.

  • Sorting papers into actions only takes things so far.  You also need to act!  I use Taking Care of Business Tuesdays to get my work done (click here to read my blog on TCB Tuesdays!).   Tuesday mornings are dedicated to working my organizing business, and the business of running my family.  Bill paying, data entry into my planner, follow-up phone calls, maintenance, etc.
  • There is no magic in TCB Tuesday, you can pick any day of the week you want.  Just set aside time to complete your action items.   
  • If you can’t set aside time regularly to get things done, try creating a physical in-box to collect your papers.  It can’t be too big or expand too far!  Once the in-box is full, you have to commit some time to Take Care of Business!  The in-box can be a box, a hanging vertical folder, an attractive magazine holder, etc. 

2.  Choose the Right Name for Your Files:

  • Regardless of what type of information you have, be it Paper or electronic, you still need to file data by date or category, to be able to retrieve the information again.
  • Use Naming conventions to name your folders, either paper or electronics.   “2011 September Income and Banking” or “2011 September Paid Bill Receipts”.  
  • Standardize your naming, then your paper systems and your computer drives will work together.   

3.  Knowing what to keep and what to toss is still important.  If you don’t expect to retrieve information, you don’t need to keep it.   Unimportant, unnecessary information is still clutter, whether it is in paper form or memory space. 

4.  Start with current information, and create the habit of regular saving, maintenance and scanning (more on this in a moment!).  Once you are keeping up with new and current information, then start with older papers.  Do not start with old and neglect the new. 

Technology Solutions to Paper Management

  1. Create Less Paper:
    • Request information in electronic form.  From your bank, your professional organizations, your children’s schools.  Anything we can receive in electronic form saves trees and keeps those papers from piling up. 
    • Automate your banking and bill paying, on-line through your bank.
    • “Print” electronic receipts and emails to PDF form instead of on papers.   A PDF is like a photograph of your information.  You can’t manipulate the info, like you could in a Word document, but you can save the information.   We “print” our e-information, then save it to a folder on our computer, using those naming conventions.
    • If you don’t have a PDF writer on your computer already, Google PDF programs.  Three to look at are Primo PDF (free) , Cute PDF Pro (cheap) and Adobe Acrobat (not cheap).  
  2. Manage the Paper and Information You Have:
    • The Fujitsu ScanSnap scans all papers, even double-sided ones, into your computer to let you keep the information while getting rid of the papers.  A great idea!
  3. Above all things, if you choose to scan or electrify your papers, you must have reliable back-up for your data.  Make backing up your data a habit, or subscribe to a service that does if for you.
  4. Suggestions from my techies are external hard drives; NAS (network attached storage); Amazon S3; and Carbonite, with the services more highly recommended for safety.  The services cost money, but will manage technology updates on their own.

So, my challenge to you this week is to use the technology available to clear those papers and get on to more important things! 

On a personal note, I wrote this blog while out-of-town for the holiday, picking the brains of my two favorite techies over lunch.  Guess I was using my technology to get things done, too!  Thanks this week go to my husband and my brother-in-law, for technology advice!  You two rock!

Don’t Just Pile, Act then File!

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     This week’s article is inspired by Mary and AnneMarie, so thanks, ladies, for the inspiration.   And thanks to all of you who offered comments and insight in the Pile vs. File debate, via email or Facebook.  And the responses also inspired a future topic (perhaps next week) of Cool Tools and High-Tech Solutions for your papers.

     Most of the folks who responded feel they are both Pilers and Filers of papers, meaning they pile papers for a while and then file them, with a variety of time frames, from “once a week” to “whenever I can’t find something”.  And a little pile of work to be done is Ok, but please, not too many piles!

     This month’s Real Simple reported that 83% of HR managers “say the appearance of an employee’s workspace affects their perception of the employee’s skill level and professionalism.  Want to be a go-getter?  Then go get those dirty coffee cups and messy piles of paper.”

     I find the challenge with paper is that each piece of paper represents something else.  This post-it note is not just a piece of paper, it is a place holder that represents a phone call to make, a letter to write, an action to take, a past event, a loved one.   There are 3 types of papers:

  • Active: Papers requiring action:  Bills to pay, forms to fill out and return, coupons, receipts for returns, articles to read
  • Passive:  Papers we need to hold on to for a prescribed time, perhaps to refer to or not, then purge: receipts, paid bills, kid’s activity schedules like soccer or baseball rosters
  • Archive:  Papers we need to keep forever, like mortgage papers, tax records (for 4-10 years, depending on who you talk to), birth certificates, wills, passports, etc.

Why Do We Keep Papers?

  • We haven’t completed the actions they require.
  • We think someone will care about them in the future.
  • We haven’t gotten around to doing anything with them, or it didn’t occur to us we could toss them. 

 Why Do We Pile Papers Instead of Filing Them?

  • We’re afraid if we put something away, we’ll forget where it is or that we even have it.
  • We don’t like or trust our filing systems because they are too complex, or too basic, or they were not created by us for us.
  • We don’t feel like filing, because we don’t see why it matters.  Or we are busy, lazy, got called away, the files are far away, the drawer is broken, we need to clean the old stuff out of the file cabinets before we can put the new stuff in, and that job seems too overwhelming, too, yada, yada, yada.  I do this for a living, I have heard lots of reasons why people don’t file.  The reasons against filing are legion.

 Why Does Piling Paper Cause Problems?

  • Piling papers vertically makes retrieval of information difficult or impossible.
  • Gravity.  We can only pile things so high before they topple.
  • There is only so much horizontal space in most homes
  • Visual clutter is distracting
  • Piling papers puts all papers equal, regardless of importance, type of action, value, etc.

 Why Do You File Papers?

  • Well, to counteract all the problems listed above, of course!
  • Filing things away makes finding them and everything else easier.  Papers stay where we put them.  And then we can see the beyond the clutter.   
  • File folders and holders hold paper vertically and are open at the top, maximizing space and allowing viewing and retrieval.
  • Maintenance is so much easier than catching up.  A few minutes daily is much easier than a monthly paper mess!  I am very proud of those of you who answered that you are both a Piler and a Filer. 

 First Things First:  Set yourself up to Succeed:

  • Sit down with a shredder, recycling bag and 10 minutes on the timer.  Power through your piles, re-sorting your papers into Action, To File – Passive, To File – Archival, Recycle and shred. 
  • Now that you’ve sorted your Papers, Jump In!
  • Active Papers:  Active Papers are the only papers you should have on your desk right now.
    1. Try a new way of holding your Active papers, like a standing file folder on your desk. (No Piles, remember?!?!)  
    2. Break down your Active Papers Pile into types of actions to take: title manila folders “bills to pay”, “forms to complete and send back to school”, etc.   
    3. Break down the actions into little tiny steps, if necessary.  I read an article about a woman who needs to file her expense reports more quickly. 
      • Currently:  Her expense receipts get stuffed in her wallet until it is too full, then she takes them out and piles them on the desk until the pile falls.  A couple of times a year, when the spirit moves her and / or she needs the money, she files her expenses. 
      • New Requirement:  Her employer now requires a 60-day-or-less turn around.  If she wants to get paid, she has to step up.
      • Her folders now live in a holder on her desk, and walk her papers through the reimbursement process.  They are entitled: receipts to expense; receipts to copy; copied receipts to submit for reimbursement; reimbursement requests sent; and Reimbursed Expense requests and proof of payment, 2011.
    4. Schedule time to actually act on your action items.  If you don’t dedicate time to Action items, they will never get done.  Monday morning are my Action mornings. 
    5. Once you act on a paper, ask yourself again what the next action is for that piece.  It could be Return to School, pop in the mail, give to someone else, recycle, file, etc.  Papers need to keep moving!
  • Passive Papers: Stand and deliver
    1. Once you decide a paper gets to stay in your files, spend time every day or every week filing things away.  I have spent lots of blog time on Paper Management issues, so click here for pertinent links to topics like categories, filing systems, etc. 
    2. Archival Papers:  File forever.  These are the easiest papers to deal with because you don’t see them often, and there aren’t many of them.  Unless you have 30 years of accumulated passive papers, which leads us once again back to maintenance. 

     I like filing.  I like the feeling of accomplishment, of Done-ness.   I like clutter-free, visually peaceful space that comes from filing.  I use filing as the final act of closure on my work day, before I turn off my computer and go do fun Colleen / Mom stuff.  I never have much to file, and my folders are convenient to put things away.

    I challenge you, this week, to look differently at your pile of papers.  Do a power sort and purge the easy stuff, then Act on your Active Papers and file the rest.  You can do this, I know you can.  And you will be amazed at how much better you work when the piles are gone!

No, Really, Balancing Work and Life

1 Comment

A reader requested information on organizing time and space as we work from home.  I’ve written this response over two days, between baseball games and dinners with friends, mulch and laundry, so SZ, you are not alone in this struggle!   

The Act of Balancing
I hear the term “Work-Life Balance”, and it puzzles me.  “Balance” is a tenuous and fleeting moment as a thing tips one way to the other.  “Balancing”, on the other hand, is active.  It is the movement of a thing back and forth between two sides, and seems a more attainable goal.  Judge the big picture and determine how your day or week went, instead of momentary balance.  Here are ways to make Balancing simpler:

Know your self and your family.
I am not very useful after 8 pm, as my brain is tired.  However, as crazy as it sounds, I find inspiration at 6 am (and my house is quiet!).  Early mornings rock!   That is how my body and brain work, and I have learned to embrace it.

 S.Z., you asked “Do I work now or run to Target?”  The answer is “Both, just not right now”.  In my case: 

  1. I can go to Target….
    1. Alone right now, while my kids are in school;
    2. With them after school; or  
    3. Alone after school, if my oldest child or hubby are home. 
  2. I can Work….
    1. Now, while I am alone in my quiet house. 
  3. Once everyone is home, it is much more difficult to focus or make calls uninterrupted.  Personally, I protect early morning, school time or nap time for work, and leave the errands and house tasks for family time.  Work now, errands later.
  4. Work is an “external motivator” (I’ll write more on this topic some day!).  An external influence (employer, publisher) requires accountability from you, to get your work done.  The laundry doesn’t require accountability, at least most days, and it also does not pay well!  So sometimes work wins. 

Focus & ReFocus:
Make a list of 3 things that absolutely have to get done today, regardless of whether they are work related or personal.  Do these three things first, in case your day does not go as planned.  

Re-assess at 2 pm.  I don’t know about you, but mid-afternoon, my concentration and energy fade.  It is a good time to take a breath, take a break and look at my list for the day.   I check my 3 important items and make sure they are done or in progress.  If they are not, I re-focus on getting them done, so I don’t lose my day to distractions.

I use timers.  All the time.  I’ll dial in 20 minutes and focus just on clearing my in-box, then move on.  I use one while I do home tasks, too, setting it for every 30 minutes or so as a reminder to re-focus and move on, if I have gotten off-track. 

Ditch perfectionism, and accept that you may not start and finish a big project in one day.   For those of you, like me, who work in 2 or 3 hours blocks, here is an example:  Day 1: Plan and start your project; Day 2-3: Write or work on it in blocks, for 2 or 3 days; Day 4: Edit; Day 5: Publish or complete.  Again, this buys you time if things don’t go as planned.

Open for Business:
Make a Clean Break between work and family life.  I have a friend who leaves the house every morning at 8, buys a coffee and comes back home through a different door to help with the transition to his work day.

A successful start today relies heavily on how you ended yesterday.  At the end of each work session, leave yourself notes or a task list for tomorrow.   Here is a recent blog on this very topic, The Last 10 Minutes.  

Dedicate your first 10 minutes to routine tasks,  to set the stage for getting things done.  A friend suggests starting the day with a couple of short and easy tasks, to ease into the work day.   Having a routine for your work time is invaluable, too.  I have lots of ideas for my business, so many in fact that sometimes it is difficult to concentrate on just one.  Starting with mundane tasks like a quick email check, Facebook post, and update of my work hour spreadsheet helps me settle into my rhythm and transition into a more complicated task.

Other blogs on Time Management:  168 Hours A Week, 1440 Minutes a Day  and Taking Care of Business Tuesdays

A few words about Space:
I love my office space when I am home alone.  however, my lovely work space is in our family room, and once everyone is home, I feel a little crowded.  I love my family, but my focus disappears as my family appears.  

We need to choose our work spaces wisely.  I work best with lots of light and a pretty work space.  We have space in the basement or in my bedroom, but I don’t want to work underground or where I sleep.  I recently lobbied for desk space for me and my laptop on my hubby’s desk in the quiet living room, away from the TV, door, etc.   He said yes because he is a kind and generous person, and even cleaned it up for me.  And if I still have too much background noise from my people, earphones and my IPod are very handy (SRC, thanks for the reminder.  I’ve got Tracy Chapman on right now!)

We’re part of a global community of workers, providing each other with inspiration and ideas – Please share your comments regarding the Work/Life Balancing Act.  Meet you in the break room later!

The Day the Bags Come Home

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Summer relaxes our daily routine, and brings opportunities to work on organizing projects.  Paper is always an issue, but working on kid and school papers in the summer offers the rare opportunity of cleaning papers off the desk or kitchen counter, and having them stay gone for a few months!  Yeah!!

     In less than 2 weeks, it will happen.  You know, IT.  That Day, the one where the contents of your child(ren)’s desk and classroom comes home in bags from school.  Ugh.  But we can handle this, I promise!  When the bags arrive, take half an hour and WITH YOUR CHILD’S ASSISTANCE:  

  1. Purge garbage immediately. 
  2. Review school supplies, set aside those items that can be used all summer or next year, and trash the rest (knowing you all will want some new things for Back-To-School. 
  3. Set aside the rest in a bin or bag, and put a date on the calendar for another hour with your child to review it.  If you are feeling really inspired, tackle this step right now, but we often want to go play on the first day of summer.

In a few weeks, when that scheduled hour arrives and you have both gained distance and perspective on the school year, decide what papers stay and what papers go.  The school papers fall into 4 or 5 categories:

  1. Tests and assessments: SAVE A FEW, especially the official reports from state testing.  And you can keep really big and meaningful projects, like book reports or essays. 
  2. Achievements, awards and progress reports: SAVE MOST, and just the last progress report if it is cumulative.  And there probably won’t be more than 10 or 15 of these.
  3. Daily school work and home work:  TOSS!
  4. Art and craft projects: TAKE PICTURES of big ones THEN PURGE the projects; save a few small ones.  If you struggle with all the Art, try: Creating a gallery on a clothes line strung across the bedroom with clips for papers; Creating a magnet wall with magnetic paint and a border, and clean it off once a month; buying a grouping of inexpensive frames, and swap out pictures every week or month.  Your little Picasso is wonderful, of course, but not every piece is a masterpiece.
  5. Other business of school (unless it is about the next Academic School Year): TOSS!

ACADEMIC BINDER:

     The important stuff in the first 2 categories goes into the Academic Binder.  Each child has an Academic Binder begun in preschool, with testing assessments (MAPS and ISATS), end-of-year grade reports, class pictures, award certificates, event programs for band and choir, special notes from teachers, etc.  My oldest recently completed an application for entrance into National Junior Honor Society.  He had to list awards and service projects from the current and past school years.  All the information he needed was in the Binder and it was huge help in putting together his application.  He enjoyed flipping through it, too.  When we start applying for high school honors and scholarships next year, we’ll be ready to go!

(Click here for a past blog on creating Binders)   and (Click here for past blogs on more Paper Management Topics)

Daily School Work and Art:

     My middle son would keep every paper he ever touched if I let him (But I don’t).  Some rainy summer day, we will go through this year’s school papers and whittle the big pile down to his true treasures:  reports or essays, big projects, math tests that earned him his math medal, etc.  We’ll wrap the keepers with a rubber band, or in a 9×13 envelope labeled with name, date and grade.  We’ll take pictures of any large or 3D art projects, and keep just the pictures.  We have a plastic box on the shelf with past years bundled in it already, and this year will be added to the top.  We have yet to review any past years, but he likes to know we kept some stuff and I respect his wishes (with limits).

Stuff as Treasures:

     Boundaries and limits are needed in the amount of papers and treasures you keep for your child.  With babies, we want to keep favorite outfits or toys or books, and keepsakes like greeting cards and growth records of course.  As the kids get older, they start to generate more keepsakes, like handmade mother’s day cards or pre-school papers, and they start to value stuff on their own, like event tickets or “treasures” like toys or balloons, etc.  Now that my boys are older, they choose to keep or toss their own stuff, in addition to stuff I deem necessary to keep, like grade reports and programs from their shows and concerts, and things.

            So, try for a sweater box size of keepsakes per year (OR LESS), regardless of what is in the box.  We keep less and less these days as keepsakes, but my boys accumulate their own “stuff” now.   Are you keeping things for you to review in 20 years, or for your child to review in 20 years?  There is no wrong answer, but if you think you are keeping things from them, ask yourself what you would want to keep from your own childhood (tip: NOT piles of old homework papers).

      As you keep papers or other treasures, WRITE A NOTE about the paper or item and leave it in the box for your child to read when he or she gets older, so you both remember in 20 years why you kept an item.  We like to see some things from our childhood, but we don’t want to be burdened with an attic full of things we don’t remember.  And always remember that activities and time spent together will be more important to your child than any stuff you may keep.

So, block out a little time in the next month to review those kid papers, purge most of them, and set some aside as to keep and treat as treasure.  And enjoy a few months with a clear kitchen counter or in-basket!

Emergencies Happen. How to Offer and Ask for Help.

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     Even an organized life can get complicated sometimes, and emergencies happen.  Not just big emergencies, like towns getting washed or blown away recently by tornadoes or flood waters, God bless those people, or major life altering events.  Even life’s little emergencies can rock our worlds. 

     Sometimes these events happen to us and sometimes to people we know.  And I am always moved and humbled by how people persevere in the face of adversity, and how others lend a hand to those in need. 

      The best time to think about “What to do in an emergency” is when you are not actually in an emergency.  In times of trouble, you and your loved ones are most important.  But clarity, focus and perspective are some of the first things to go when life get complicated.  I have a hard time asking for help, but I also struggle with how to help others in their rough times.  What does Help look like?  Here are some suggestions:

Have A Go-To Plan, for you and to help others:

  • I use checklists because in crunch times, stress goes up and my focus goes out the window.
  • We have Packing check lists for travel for the kids, the adults, air-travel, car travel, etc. 
  • One of my favorite tools is a 3×5 laminated index card with Going Out Of Town tasks on it (wash dishes, close all windows, water the plants, etc.).  I walk through the tasks every time I leave town, so I never wonder if I unplugged the coffee pot or closed the windows.   I use a dry erase marker to check things off (and I will share this more fully in a June blog!).
  • Make sure someone else has a key to your house.
  • Have a standard Drop Off meal:
    • I have a pasta casserole that I have dropped off to dozens of houses over the years for friends and family who could use a meal.  I will call ahead and ask not “if” they would like the meal, but when.  As in – I am bringing over dinner at 5 pm, do you want it hot and ready to eat, or ready to chill and eat tomorrow?
    • During a family tragedy a few years ago, my sister-in-law stopped by with breakfast – bagels, cream cheese and fruit.  Great idea, and so appreciated. 
  • Trip to Jewel for Basics:  This list is on an envelope with cash in it, waiting in the drawer:  Skim Milk, Wheat Bread, 10 bananas, 1 3 lb bag red gala apples, cookies and snacks for lunches.
  • Remember Phone Trees?  Some communication can happen via email, or Facebook if the info is not too personal.  But the most important part is creating the contact list ahead of time, of who should be contacted in an emergency.   Just like the ICE contact in your cell phone, also have a ICE email list in your address book.

Know your strengths and weaknesses, and be specific in your Request or Offer.

  • Families with kids:  Request or Offer to
    • Take over car-pool duties this week
    • Have younger kids over for a play date
    • Ask for or offer day care services
    • If you have older children:  Send them over to help a friend to fold laundry, mow the grass, walk the dog, take out the trash, etc.
    • Your emergency:
      • Know what only you can do and what can be done by someone else or not at all.  What can only you do, and what can be delegated?
    • Someone else’s emergency:
      • If you need me, I will offer you skills I possess.  Organizing, cooking, transportation, kid and pet care, prayer and music.  Please don’t ask me to paint your house or organize your photos.

Focus on Survival and Maintenance. 

  • Let Progress go, at least for right now.  When I prioritize most days, I make sure survival is covered (food/clothing/shelter), then move on to Maintenance. 
  • When we are in emergencies, or helping others with their emergencies, we have to go back to Survival.  Click here for a related blog from 2010:  Quick – Where are your Keys?  Your Cell Phone?
  • The second level priorities are for Maintenance:
    • Laundry, scheduling, school, transportation, etc.  
    • What is necessary to maintain your current life should you be called away or knocked flat with an illness, etc.?  What are your roles?  What do you specifically do at home?  Keep those “Bills To Pay” in one location, known to you and at least one other person.  Share enough info to maintain your bills and banking, food prep and management, laundry, home maintenance, etc. 
    • Keep up to date with your contacts and address info, in one central location.  I carry my phone, but it is synchronized with my laptop daily, and my hubby has access to the laptop and our schedule if I am gone.

       So in a quiet moment this week, say a prayer for those facing emergencies right now and be grateful for all the good things in your life.  Then, grab a notebook or sit down at your computer and think through some of these questions and jot down ways you can ask for help next time you need it, or offer help to someone in your life.  

      Here is a great link to Real Simple, some handy check lists / sheets to print up and keep, for you and for others to use.