Category: Productivity

Productivity Series: What to Do With All the Receipts?

Last week, I started this Productivity Series with solutions for the desk dumping ground! A related question was “What to Do With Receipts? specifically receipts for filing business taxes?” I understand the connection  – I’ve seen dozens of desk cluttered with receipts!
Think about this.  Generally, we need to keep receipts for three reasons:
1. for the information contained on the receipt;
2. as a reminder of a next action to take; and
3. as a physical record of an action, in case you need to prove how money was spent.
Next, think about basic accounting. Money spent moves out of “Cash” and into a different category.  For example, buying a printer at Office Max / Depot moves money from my checking account into my office supplies / assets.
Reason #1: Manage the information contained on the receipt.  How much, to whom, for what?  And make it meaningful.
For example, my business recently spent $$ on:
  • a new printer and toner, a lamp and pens
  • advertising in the form of a charitable donation  / sponsorship
  • gas
  • day-care expenses
  • lunch at Panera
  • annual dues for my professional organization
  • UPS for shipping, on behalf of a client
Each expense I mentioned above would be listed under different Expense categories in my Quicken software.  Office supplies, advertising, Dues and Subscriptions, Meals and Entertainment, Automotive, etc.  These categories are pre-set in Quickbooks and Quicken, and you can also create new ones specific to your business. (I’m not recommending one type of software over another, just reporting on what I know).
Since my friend’s question was about Managing Receipts for Tax Time, I strongly recommend discussing category questions with your Accountant as you set up your system, to make tax time easier. 
Manage your bookkeeping regularly (and if you need help with this, I can suggest a few great people!).  My business books are simple.  I track my expenses and sales daily on a spreadsheet, entering it all into Quicken once a month with my bank statement reconciliation.  My next step is to streamline that process, and enter the daily info directly into Quicken.   Some businesses will need to do this daily, some can stretch to weekly or monthly.   Regardless of how often, We HAVE TO DO IT!
Once the categories are created, and your information for the year is entered, preparing for tax time is a matter of running your reports, and handing the reports and receipts over to your accountant
Reason # 2: Take The Action Required:
For example, in my list above, the actions are to input the information into Quicken, and then with the UPS expense, I need to collect payment from my client, for services rendered and also for the UPS expense.  When I manage my bookkeeping, I need to make sure the two items are entered separately – one for sales, and one for reimbursement.
Manage your bookkeeping, send the invoice, submit the expense report, etc.    JUST ACT!!!
After you record the information, and take the actions required, storing the physical records is easy.
 
Reason #3: Keep your receipts in a monthly folder.   This makes it easier to reconcile your monthly bank statement, and in the rare instance that you actually need to produce the receipt as proof of an expense, monthly files will make your items easy enough to find, without wasting too much time on filing.  Don’t bother with specific vendor files, chronological files should be detailed enough, since you’ve already recorded the information.
Wrap up your receipts with your tax returns, and store them for 4-7 years.  Random receipts for printer toner from 3 years ago should not be floating around your office!!
Imagine how clean your desk will be, with all the Receipts managed and easily filed away!`

Productivity Challenge: My Desk is a Dumping Ground!

Last week, I asked professionals to share their Organizing Challenges.  The first response was:

“My desk!   Working from home, I’m so busy keeping the rest of the house organized, everything gets dumped on my desk! (thanks MG!)”

Has this happened to you?  You’re ready to get down to business, but your motivation and energy drain away as you face a desk cluttered with

  • Mail
  • School papers
  • Shoes / socks / clothing / dry cleaning
  • Legos (maybe that’s just me)
  • Receipts
  • Other people’s keys, wallet, phone
  • Office supplies or craft supplies
  • the list could go on and on …
Whether you work from home or in a more traditional office setting, trying to work at a cluttered desk can be a struggle.  Sometimes other people drop the stuff, and sometimes we ourselves do the cluttering.  Sound familiar?! Here’s what to do!
  1. When you sit down to work, spend the first 10 minutes of activity putting the dumped stuff AWAY, and the last 10 minutes putting your own stuff AWAY.  Most of us work better in uncluttered space, so that is a great place to start!   If you can do this every day, the piles will be progressively smaller, and you won’t need 10 minutes anymore!  Dedicate that small block of time at the start and the finish – seriously, set a timer if that helps!
  2. Make sure important things have a home.  For example, everyone needs a special place to put their cell phone, keys and wallet.  Establish a home for these important items NOT on your desk top.  Near it, perhaps, but not on it!
  3. Carve out “My Space” and “Public Space”, if you can.  For example, I recently rearranged my work space, and added shelves. I’ve moved the items that other people need to the shelves next to my work space instead of on the shelf over my work space.  In theory, this will cut down on interruptions and also encourage others to put things away!
  4. Establish containers for regular offenders, to direct stuff to other places:  An In-box for papers coming in; trash / recycling / shredding bins close at hand for papers going out; an errand bag for mail to mail or library books to return, items to drop off to other people, items to be returned to the store, etc.
  5. Act on your action items: In a client’s home office last week, most of the desk top was occupied by items that required action or an errand.  For goodness sake, ACT on your action items!  Invest an hour or two to take the actions or run the errands that will clear away those piles, then revel in the uncluttered space.
  6. Do you drop the stuff, or do other people?  If other people are the problem, set the example: Respect your own boundaries!  Clean off your desk and your own clutter, so the offending items are very noticeable when someone else drops them on your work space!

Keep you work space as sacred space!  Give it the respect it deserves, and expect others to do the same!

Back To School: Setting Up “After School” For Success

Back To School is a great time to review and update our time management routines, and the time window between 3 pm and dinnertime is a busy one!  Make positive changes this week, and  create a routine that works for everyone.  Here’s how:
Build in a little decompression time when you (or your student) arrive:
There are often rituals attached to this, like changing out of work or school clothes, and/or having a snack and a quick break upon coming home to help make the transition from work or school back to home.  A little down time gives our brains and bodies time to rest and then jump back into action!
Assess your afternoon and evening plans:  
Check the calendar for events or games, and the school Planners for work or homework assignments.  It is important to do this early, in case someone forgot something at school or the office – there may still be time to retrieve missing books or resources!
Assess tomorrow, too:  
Take just a few moments to look ahead to tomorrow’s schedule, too, and identify any potential snags or changes.  In addition, planning ahead can help avoid a 10 pm washing of the gym uniform or shopping for surprise supplies or snacks (is this just me?)!
Make Space for Homework:
Dining room table? Kitchen counter? A desk in each bedroom?  Establish a regular place for your students to complete their homework.  Keep in mind, too, that these days homework involves technology.  So in addition to a work space, comfortable chair and good lighting, make sure there is computer access, too!
Since tech is so important, as your student comes home with website info, log into and bookmark the various resource websites, create your accounts and then note usernames and passwords on a page or spreadsheet per student.
Create a Homework caddy:
We have a homework caddy basket on the kitchen desk that holds homework supplies.  Create your own, including but not limited to: crayons, markers and colored pencils; pens, pencils and highlighters; scissors, glue and tape; calculator, ruler and index cards (google “Homework Caddy” if you want more ideas).
Set Up Your Landing and Launch Pad:
What door does everyone use? Set up your Landing and Launch Pad at the favorite door. Hooks for outerwear and accessories, and some for backpacks and sports bags, too.  I have written many blogs about this topic, check them out here!
The key to Landing and Launch Success isn’t the space, necessarily, but the HABITS created around our comings and goings.   The most fabulous cubbies or benches or hooks or organizational tools in the world are a waste of time and money if we don’t create habits to use them.
EVERYONE can create a habit to:
  • Hang up coats and bags when they come in the door
  • Keep shoes by the door
  • Put keys and wallets and other important items in the same place every day
  • Take out and deliver-to-parents papers that require parental action every day
  • Place completed homework and books back in the back-packs when work is completed, and backpacks at the Landing and Launch Pad for easy departures in the morning
  • Review tomorrow’s schedule today and line up stuff accordingly (like band instruments, soccer uniforms) at the Launch Pad tonight

Dedicate some time and thought to your after school / home from work routine this week, and make your days work better for you and your family!  You CAN do this!  Have a great week.

The Subtle Difference Between Efficient and Effective

I taught a Time Management Workshop last week.  I asked the participants “Why do you think your company chose Time Management as your professional development topic for today?”  A gentleman answered “So that my coworkers and I could be more efficient with our time”.

This was a very good answer.  I responded, “‘Efficient’ is great, and I’m sure your company indeed wants you to be efficient, because of course, who wouldn’t?”   But I went on to explain that “Effective” would be an even better way to manage our time.

Those two words, Efficient and Effective, sound very similar, and may even be used interchangeably in regular conversation, but I learned long ago in a senior management seminar that they have different meanings.  I explained:

  • “Efficient” is used to describe the least use of our resources.  If we do a job efficiently, we will spend the least amount of time, money, resources, man power to get the desired result.  That indeed may be what a company is looking for.
  • “Effective”, my preferred choice, describes the BEST use of resources.  We might spend a little more time, more effort or a little more money on something, but the outcomes will be much improved and we will deliver a better service or product.  Spending a little more time helps ensure the job is done well, and won’t need repeating, which saves $$ and time in the long run.

To illustrate, I used the example of a Trip to Costco.  For a small amount of money, I can purchase a ridiculously large bag each of rice and beans (like 25 or 50 lbs), and a couple of 12-packs of canned veggies. Spending just a little time, I can make enough rice, beans and veggies to eat every meal for weeks.  Cheap, quick to purchase and assemble, and relatively nutritious.

Sure, I could eat this for weeks, but why would I want to? This efficient use of my time and money would be unappetizing and, after weeks, my health would probably suffer.  We can see how efficient isn’t always best.

If, however, I spend a little more time and $$ in my planning, shopping and prep, I could still shop and eat efficiently, but I could also eat more effectively, enjoy my food and better health.  By adding some variety to my shopping list and to my menu and spending a little more money, I could eat and live better, which makes that little extra outlay a more effective use of my resources.

We had a visitor last week from Germany, and we went shopping on Michigan Avenue for some gifts for her family.  She was amazed at how pleasant and helpful the store employees were. She mentioned that she was used to efficient and competent customer service at home, but the helpful and chatty people made the shopping experience enjoyable.  So, the associates we worked with managed to be efficient, but, more importantly, also effective and improved their customer outcomes by being friendly and helpful.  And we probably spent more $$ at the stores because of this, which improves the company bottom line.

So, sometimes our work calls for us to be efficient, to work quickly and cheaply and get the job done. There is nothing wrong with Efficient.  But for a little extra effort and resources, we could do our work well and improve our results or outcomes.  We can be efficient and Effective, which would be even better.  And Effective brings us closer to Excellence, which would be better yet.

What Are You Afraid Of?

A coaching client emailed me this question:

Good Morning, Coach Colleen!
Just touching base…
Not very successful in meeting last weeks’ goals.

Today I am asking myself –
What am I afraid of… if I was to let go of something?
I know what papers I want to toss or move – but I am holding on to something.
Hopefully we can move past this block.

My response (edited for confidentiality and content):

“Hmmmm….. what ARE you afraid of?”

We set goals because we want to achieve a certain outcome. We’re also aware there may be side effects from achieving those goals.  The fear of those side effects weighs us down.

  • This client has boxes of old papers to review and purge. She wants to wrap up the paper project before starting another. She has done great work in many ways, but reviewing and purging the papers in these these last few boxes feels scary, like she might let go of something important.
  • I heard the story of a client secretly afraid of an empty in-box. It seemed that if the in-box was empty, she wouldn’t have any more excuses for not doing the other harder, more emotionally painful tasks she’s been putting off.
  • A friend is worried that she’ll lose too much weight and then she’ll have to buy new clothes and it will be expensive. So she doesn’t even start.
  • I alternate between wanting to be super-busy and then freaking out because I’m so busy and can’t do all the things I want to do.

We all have fears, it’s how we face them – what we do with them – that matters.  If you ask yourself what you’re afraid of, your mind might not produce an answer.  If you’re feeling blocked, you can instead ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

As in, “I’m conflicted about a possible outcome. It could be good, and it could be scary. So what is the worst that can happen if I achieve this goal?”

Using the weight loss example, what’s the worst that can happen?

  • We feel some discomfort with being hungry or sore from exercising, until our body adjusts (we can survive that, no biggie).
  • We lose weight and then have to buy new clothes (not really so bad).
  • We lose so much weight we look like one of those crazy skeleton people on the news (not really very likely, now is it?).
  • We work out so much we look like those freaky body builders (also not too likely).
  • There is the unlikely event that losing weight could cause other health issues, but the list of health benefits outweigh the fears.

In the case of this client, what’s the worst that can happen if she let go of the wrong papers?

  • Someone may ask for the information (sometimes the answer is “No, I don’t have that paper anymore” and sometimes we have to go out and find the answer again. Neither is too scary).
  • She may forget about it (if the paper represents something important, she will be reminded in other ways).
  • Again, the benefits of completing this paper project, and freeing up space in her house and schedule exceed the fears.
    017

This afternoon I found this quote while working at a different client’s house, took a picture and texted it to my client. I loved her response:

“Wow, doing 365 things a year could make a person become ruthless [her goal is to objectively and ruthlessly purge her papers]! And then nothing will scare them!”

So face those fears, and make those lists. I bet what you fear isn’t so scary after all!

Small Business Week: Run Your Business (and Life) Like A Boss

The first full week of May is National Small Business Week.

I respect and admire my fellow Small Business owners.  We’re small but mighty!  Yet, for every day that we are doing great things in big and small ways, we also struggle. You know it’s true:  if you have a small business, very often you are all departments – bookkeeping, accounting, IT, marketing, manufacturing, legal affairs, strategic planning – rolled into one (or perhaps a few) busy and occasionally overwhelmed individual.  It’s the same on the home front, too – we fill many roles in our homes and families.

This week, as a busy woman and Small Business Owner, I am reminded, and also challenge you, to Be the Boss.  To Be The Boss, we need to:

  • Stick with our strengths – Know what SPECIFICALLY WE ARE GOOD AT, and focus on that;
  • Know what department / individual / outside source can help us with the other areas in our life or business listed below; and
  • Be willing to ask for help / delegate.

To Be the Boss, We need to know and stick with our strengths.  Professionally, I am great at Organizing, and teaching others how to be organized, too.  That’s where I need to spend my time, in the areas where I am an expert.  Consider this, if a client required plumbing skills or financial planning, we would call in other experts.  Having me do tasks I am not good at would be frustrating all around, a waste of my time and my client’s time and $$.

To Be the Boss, we need to realize that as a huge corporation or a solo-professional like myself, We all need support in certain expert areas, like:

  • Accounting
  • Financial Planning
  • Bookkeeping including Payables and Receivables
  • Legal Affairs
  • Marketing
  • Graphic Design / Printing
  • Web Site Design / Maintenance / Social Media
  • Advertising
  • Manufacturing
  • Distribution
  • Sales
  • Customer Service
  • IT / Tech Help
  • Administrative duties
  • Human Resources
  • Strategic Planning / Board of Directors

Consider this: a few years ago, I spent too many hours researching and considering the pros and cons to the different types of legal structure for my business – S or C corporation?  LLC? Sole proprietor?  An hour with an expert, namely my attorney, cleared up my confusion.  I didn’t have to become an expert, I could just ask the expert.  Since I started my business, I have learned a lot and met some really amazing people. Looking at the above list of support areas, now I can say I have experts working with me – a CPA, lawyer, financial planner, graphic design house and printer.

Be the Boss, and know when to ask for help.  Maybe you are good and even great in some of the support areas above. But if you spend time on these support tasks instead of the Expert tasks that only you can do, it’s time to Be the Boss, and find others to help you.  What tasks are you willing to let go of completely, or delegate to others?

For example, I need to focus on delivering Organizational Services and Presentations (what only I can do).  And I like running the business of my Business. So I’m considering what personal / home tasks I can streamline or outsource to professionals, while I focus on my strengths personally and professionally.  Support services for our home life could include:

  • Lawn maintenance
  • House cleaner
  • Laundry service
  • personal shopper / concierge service / errand running
  • child care
  • occasional pet care / dog walking
  • The list is endless, and there are people to do all sorts of tasks for us!

So, whether you own your own business or not, you, too, can run your Business and Life Like A Boss by sticking with your strengths, knowing what you need, and knowing when to ask for help!

In honor of Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday today, here are Jefferson’s Ten Rules

Jefferson’s Ten Rules

  1. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
  2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
  3. Never spend money before you have earned it.
  4. Never buy what you don’t want because it is cheap.
  5. Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.
  6. We seldom repent of having eaten too little.
  7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
  8. How much pain the evils cost us that never happened.
  9. Take things always by the smooth handle.
  10. When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

I post this with the utmost respect and appreciation.

Organizational Truth #42: When we want to break our habits, that’s when we need them the most.

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Organizational Truth # 42: When we want to blow off our good habits the most, that’s when we need them the most.  Routines and good habits help us restore order to our disorder; bring focus to our scattered brains; and prime the productivity pump when our motivation has run dry.

I was reminded of this Organizational Truth last night.  We had a truly great weekend; participated (ok, walked) in a local 5K for a really great non-profit organization; visited with guests and friends at our house and at a party; had a fabulous evening downtown with dinner, great friends and a concert of one of our favorite bands; and sang at Palm Sunday Mass.

Come Sunday night, I was very tired.  I’d earned a Sunday evening of laying around, and I could easily justify abandoning my usual Sunday night prep-for-the-week hour.  But I also deserve an organized, productive and less-stressed week.  So, even though I really wanted to blow off my routines, I knew they’d serve me well and that I needed them more than ever.  I took a breath, and got to work.  I:

  • Cleaned up from dinner and started the dishwasher.  Again.
  • Had the 10-year old pack his lunch for today, unpack his bag from camping (oh, add that to the list of fun), and get his backpack ready for school.
  • Started laundry. Again.
  • Tidied / swept the bedrooms, collecting random laundry items and stuff, and emptying trash as I went; and then the family spaces as well.
  • Wiped down the bathroom surfaces and floor, and emptied trash.
  • Checked my email accounts, and ruthlessly deleted anything that I didn’t need.
  • Checked my Evernote To-Do list, and deleted or moved to Monday everything from the weekend.
  • And THEN, I curled up with my new book. (Insert contented sigh…)

Truth be told, this isn’t the blog I had planned to write today.  But when I woke up this morning to a tidied house, the kids mostly ready for school and a clear vision of what I needed to do this week, I appreciated the great value in my Sunday night maintenance hour that prepared us for our week.

HOW, you say?  HOW to maintain your habits when your Get-Up- and-Go got up and went?

  1. Set a timer to keep you moving.  Use your smart phone or a kitchen timer, set it for your allotted time, race the clock to get your routines / habits done, then go do something fun when the timer sounds.  I use timers all the time, for myself and with my clients.
  2. Set a timer because then you know you get to stop soon.  This can help us get and stay motivated, too!
  3. Crank some tunes.  Seriously, it helps.  Not so much when I’m writing a blog or coaching phone clients, but staying on task while plowing through emails, assembling marketing materials or working with clients?  Oh yes, we need music!
  4. Enlist aid.  Get help from the humans around you, or phone a friend to chat as you fold laundry or wash dishes (hands free, of course, so you don’t drop the phone in the sink), to make the mundane routines more enjoyable.
  5. Decision making slows us down and trips us up. Determine what YOUR Getting-Started / Making-Progress / First-10-Minutes-When-I-Sit-Down-At-Work Routine looks like.  Write it down, pin it up, make it simple.

So establish routines and good habits, and then use them all the time, especially when you don’t want to!  You’ll thank yourself later!

Our Brains Get Tired. Help Yours With Better Schedule Management!

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My brain has been very busy lately (At a recent presentation, the speaker said we average 60,000 thoughts in a day!).

At brainhome, we’re adding two sport team schedules to an already busy schedule, plus potential summer activities.  Professionally, I have more clients now than I ever have before.  These are wonderful challenges to face, but they’re a lot to juggle!  So we’re reviewing and re-vamping our schedule management to accommodate.  I recommend periodically reviewing your scheduling practices, at work or at home, to make sure your own process is working as well as possible.

Why? Because

  • We’re all are busy people.
  • Our brains gets tired sometimes, thinking all those thoughts.
  • New tools come out all the time to help with scheduling, and to do tasks better with less hassle.
  • We need to make sure that the important (family, school and work) commitments are accounted for before we add anything else to the schedule.

If you could benefit from a scheduling review, too, here’s what to do:

  • Get buy in from all concerned parties (we’ll call them stakeholders). Why?  We (children and parents, co-workers, teammates, etc.,) all need to be part of the process.  Giving all the stakeholders a say in the schedule encourages ownership and responsibility, collaboration, creativity – getting lots of brains working on a challenge can be a great way to generate new and better ideas!
  • Consider how stakeholders prefer to communicate. In our family and in my business, some people prefer phone calls and others prefer to text.  Facebook is a chosen method for some people, and still others prefer email.  If a client or family member reaches out to me via phone, I try to respond in kind, at least until I can convince them to text me instead (my own personal preference!).
  • Have stakeholders commit to the new system and keeping their info up-to-date.
  • If you have more than one schedule to manage, use technology.  Why?
    • Technology is portable and pervasive.
    • We all can have access to the most current updates.
    • Technology allows accessibility from many devices.  For example, I can invite my teenagers to events via GoogleCalendar, and they can manage the invitations and their calendars from their IPods or tablets.
    • J.T., try Doodle.com for scheduling those meetings with fellow professionals
  • As with any new strategies, allow time to move along the learning curve.  For example, I am learning Google Calendar so my family can use it, but I fumble around sometimes.  Accept that you may have to run two systems – like paper and MS outlook, or MS Outlook and GoogleCalendar – at the same time for a while.
  • Sometimes the best way to establish a schedule is still face-to-face.  We just had a family meeting yesterday morning, to check in with upcoming travel, events and school projects.  We used GoogleCalendar and brought our devices to the table, but we still need to actually speak.

So look at your own scheduling strategies, and try one of these if it’s time for a change!

Spring Stirs My Soul! 9 Actions to Organize Your Spring This Week!

It has been a long and cold winter, friends, I know.  We’ve spent so much of the last few months inside, perhaps feeling closed in and cluttered.  And yet, I feel the stirrings of Spring in my Soul, regardless of what the thermometer says outside!

This week, I am energized to act!  To move forward, to lighten up, to re-fresh!  If you are feeling the same, here are 9 Things You Can Do This Week, to look back and wrap up winter while looking ahead and embracing this new season!

  1. Get outside.  Breathe deep and see the sun.
  2. Clean out your car.  Throw out the trash, drop off the bags of stuff destined for somewhere or someone else.  Then go to the car wash, and wash away the months of salt and dirt.
  3. Take down the outdoor Christmas decorations.  Come on, people.  It’s time.  If you need help, I can rent you a teenager.  But you can probably do it yourself.  Just do it.
  4. Put stuff AWAY! Christmas decorations, suitcases from travels, sports gear from last season, cardboard boxes from puchases – PUT THEM AWAY!!  If I had to choose an overall theme to most of my client hours last week, it would be “Just finish!”.  You’ll be so happy you did!
  5. Put away the really heavy sweaters and scarves – you know you’re tired of them!  I am, too.
  6. Open the windows.  Just for 30 minutes.   Exchange your old house air for some new fresh air!
  7. Spend the week Pantry shopping. Use up the food you have in the fridge, freezer and cabinets before you hit the grocery again.  Clear space and save money!
  8. Make your maintenance appointments now for April and May.  Need work done this Spring?  Get on the painter or plumber’s busy schedule now.  Carpet cleaners, yard guys, the air conditioner check?  I know there’s still snow on the ground, but you can schedule these now for the months to come.
  9. Clear the decks.  I just spent 9 minutes (yes, I set a timer) and cleaned out random things from my garage.  I now have two bags of donations to drop off, plus a bag of things for the E-Waste recycling drop off and a full recycling bin.  It looks and feels so much better in there now!

What are the breaths of fresh air stirring you to do this week?  Go Do It!