Category: Time Management

The Gift Of “Completion”

The Gift Of “Completion”.  Done.  Good enough.  Followed-through. Tied up the loose ends.

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Give yourself and others the gift of “Completion” this week.  The gift of “Done”.

We all know what we are supposed to do, but we don’t always do it.  Go ahead and do it this week.

A client and her spouse challenged each other to complete the homework I assigned a month ago, before taking on more projects.  Completion.  Done.

“Completed” is powerful.  “Done” feels great.

I worked in a client’s home recently, and we discussed “Done” in terms of the items in her dining room awaiting delivery to other destinations (like donated books and a table destined for a co-worker’s art room).  She planned to have her teenagers drop off the items that day, to complete those final steps to clearing out their home space.

I ordered and picked up 20 more photo Christmas cards yesterday, went home, assembled them and sent them out.  Done. I balanced my business check book, updated my bookkeeping and paid my bills today instead of next week, to financially finish (almost) 2014.  I encouraged (nagged) my sons to finish wrapping their gifts so we could be done with the gift wrap.  I dropped off bags of donations, just to get them out of my house.  I went to my annual physical today. Done, done, done.   Whew.

Some days it seems that the last few steps of a project are the hardest to get motivated to complete (and therefore never seem to get done).  But please, push through those last steps, and then revel in Completion and Done.

“Completion” helps us breathe deeply, un-clutter our brain, feel lighter, look up and around, and think about something new for a change.

2014 is quickly wrapping up, and 2015 is almost here!  In what areas can you tie up the loose ends this week and next? Work? Personal?  Correspondence?  Small home projects?  What requires Follow-through?   Take time to wrap up those last steps and complete your projects!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

4 Basic Tips for Fighting Holiday Overwhelm

I love the holidays, but they can be overwhelming.  We’re busy enough on a regular day, but when we add the joy and pressure of the holidays, many of us leap straight to overwhelmed!  And I say “We”, because I’m there sometimes, too!

Sure, this time of year, even the mundane and day-to-day business of life can be elevated to something more meaningful if we put some thought into it.  On the other hand, completing big and impressive holiday prep tasks feels great, but not when we neglect ourselves and our lives to complete them.  “Hey kids, I finished your Christmas shopping on-line today, but I was so busy doing that, we have nothing to eat for dinner.”

So when we are feeling overwhelmed, at the holidays and any other time of year, we can benefit from taking a deep breath and returning to the basics.

Take Care of Yourself

Maintaining routines and taking care of our health is important any time of year.  But it becomes both more vital and more difficult around the holidays.  It’s more vital because more is asked of us, and who wants to get sick for Christmas?  It’s more difficult because there are so many conflicting demands on our time and efforts.

We traveled for Thanksgiving, and had a lovely time with family out-of-state.  And even though I know better than to neglect my routines, I….. over-ate, under-slept, didn’t exercise, and forgot to take my vitamins.  Not surprisingly, I hit the proverbial wall some time Saturday night, feeling blah but overwhelmed.

Today was a return to routines, with regular bedtimes, mealtimes and schedules, and I feel better already.  I also spent some time in the kitchen, making healthy meals and snacks for the next couple of days.

Make time for the daily habits that will maintain your health and wellness.

Take Care of Each Other.  We can get so caught up in the stress of the holidays that we lash out at the people who we are celebrating for, like our friends and family.  Remember Why we celebrate this time of year.

Take Care of your Home:

Even in the face of the busy holidays, we still have to do things like get dressed and go to work and take care of our families.  Just because I spent 2 hours on-line purchasing Christmas gifts last night instead of doing laundry doesn’t make the laundry any less important.  It just means I have more folding to do this morning, to make sure we have clothes for the week, uniforms for the high-schoolers, work clothes for me, etc. We still need to wash dishes, take out the garbage, sweep the floors, etc.  These few simple maintenance steps become even more important during this hectic time of year.

Take Care of your Business:

A radio commercial this morning called December a “wasted month”, professionally speaking.  Yikes!  Most of us can’t “phone it in” for an entire month, so remember to maintain your professional efforts this month, even though it’s so tempting to cut back and goof off, when all the world is a distraction.  My 11 years owning my own business have taught me is that my marketing efforts this month directly influence my success next month.  Stay the course this month, finish this year strong and start 2015 ahead of the game!

5-Weeks-‘Til-Christmas Survival Guide

A Client sent me the original notification of this article from November, 2012.  She was clearing out her in-box, but wanted to review this list for her own holiday planning.(I edited it for this week!). I have been working through my own copy myself, and you may benefit from it, too!  Take some time this week to chart your course for the next 5 or 6 weeks heading up to Christmas!

In my Holiday Planning Class, the most well received hand-out is the Holiday Planning Weekly Checklist. I’ve shared it with clients, and one said she couldn’t believe that preparing for the holidays could be that easy. I won’t say “easy”, but “simpler, less stressful and better prepared” sound pretty great.  Here are some suggestions to make your season better, tweak these suggestions to fit your life.

Week of November 17

  • Appreciate your friends and family members, and all the good things in your life. (We had a brunch for friends yesterday, and I am feeling so grateful today!)
  • Finalize Thanksgiving Menu
  • Pantry-shop to get rid of clutter, and stock up on cooking / baking  supplies
  • Hang outside lights, don’t turn them on
  • Plan Holiday Party:  dates, guests lists and menus, and choose invitation and RSVP deadlines
  • Buy multiples of your standard hostess gift, like nice wine or candles.  Make sure it’s something you use, in case you have extra left over
  • Encourage kids and adults to purge and donate
  • Heavy clean and de-clutter, or make some calls for assistance!

Week of November 24:

  • Stock up on gift certificates for teens, stocking stuffers, teachers etc.
  • Take a nice family picture at Thanksgiving, when everyone is a little dressed up. Use it for your Christmas Cards!
  • At Thanksgiving, tell or email family about upcoming Christmas concerts, children’s programs and parties.
  • Buy Stamps, while you can still get Holiday stamps!
  • Stock up on cooking and baking supplies
  • Complete your Christmas Card list, and confirm addresses (keep a copy for next year!)

Week of December 1:

  • Take out the “First Out” Box.  Our “First-Out” box is also our “Last In” box.  It contains the items that are used for the entire Advent and Christmas seasons for us, like our crèche, some children’s books, our Advent Wreath and candles, etc. Set up just a few decorations now.
  • Stock up on gift certificates, stamps, and cooking or baking supplies
  • Order your Christmas Cards, or start your letter
  • Plug in or turn on Christmas lights
  • Complete out-of-town shopping / wrapping
  • Start Christmas shopping for local recipients
  • Find and clean holiday dishes and tins

Week of December 8:

  • Continue to stock up on gift certificates, stamps and cooking and baking supplies (spread the costs out over several weeks)
  • Finish teacher gifts, like gift certificates and cards
  • Check decorations; donate any that will not be going up this year!
  • Assemble and address Christmas Cards
  • Ship all out-of-town packages
  • Complete Christmas Shopping
  • Holiday donations, service projects

Week of December 15:

  • Finalize Christmas Menu, who is bringing what
  • Decorate the house, and buy / set up the tree
  • Finish shopping and gift wrapping.  Load into labeled bags or boxes, one for each of your destinations
  • Start baking cookies
  • Mail out your Christmas Cards
  • Take a breath, and take a break.  The house is decorated, your gifts are bought and wrapped, cards are mailed, travel plans are completed, and donations are made.  Sit calmly in your living room, reveling in the beauty of your stress free holiday prep and beautiful decorations.  Go to a party or 2!

Week of December 22

  • Last minute baking / cooking for Christmas Eve
  • Last minute grocery shopping
  • Relax! Go see the Christmas lights, have some holiday fun!

December 24, Christmas Eve:

  • Family Christmas Eve traditions
  • Make ahead dishes for Christmas Dinner, if possible
  • Lay out outfits for Christmas morning Mass

Christmas:  Thursday, December 25:  Enjoy!!!

Week after Christmas:

  • Invest in some sale priced Rubbermaid or Sterilite storage containers
  • Put your decorations away by category and label the container
  • Remember to put your “Last In” away last, so you can grab it first next December!

Take steps now to make your holidays more peaceful and enjoyable!

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!

7 Motivation Boosters That Worked This Week

What is Motivation? Energy? Drive? Google defines it “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, or the general desire or willingness of someone to do something”.  Finding and keeping “Motivation” is a recurring theme with my clients and the rest of the world, too!

Below are 7 ways to increase our “desire or willingness to do something”, that worked for others this week.  Give one a try!

  1. Recognize the BIG DEAL OF MOTIVATION isn’t so big after all. It’s one simple decision. Yes or No. Left or Right. Up or Down.  From moment to moment, choose to do the productive thing over the unproductive thing, organized over disorganized, the healthy choice or the unhealthy choice.  Motivation shows up in little tiny steps in the right direction, as opposed to large sweeping gestures or drastic life changes.
  2. Change your Perspective.  Be someone else.  A friend hates filing his papers, and wants an assistant who would file for him. So, as silly as it sounds, once a week, he plays a little mind game, pretends to be his own assistant, and takes care of those mundane tasks that he dreads.  Knowing him, he may even send himself out for a cup of coffee as a reward.  If I lack motivation to take care of tasks, I might pretend to be my favorite concierge ever, Angelo, who helped me plan a girls’ weekend.  Step outside of yourself, be that helper for 30 minutes and take care of all those things you want to hand off to someone else.
  3. Accountability.  Here’s how: Agree with a friend to accomplish a list of tasks, and report to each other via texting or email when you accomplish each task (phone calls take too long).  The act of reporting our successes can be so motivational!  On the other hand, wanting to avoid the embarrassment of having to admit we didn’t accomplish something may be motivating enough to get us to accomplish the tasks!
  4. Tackle big projects in small pieces.  Perfectionist thinking says “I only want to start the task when I have time to complete it”, even when the task takes 10 hours.  And we rarely will get 10 hours in a row to dedicate to a task.  Try little pieces to move your projects along.
  5. Employ Hard Stops.  Hard stops go together with “little pieces”.  We hesitate to start projects because we have no idea how long they’ll take to complete. Try scheduling time to just work on the task, not necessarily complete it.  Set a timer, commit to stopping at a certain time, then STOP! And go do something else!  You’ll make progress in a couple of areas, and feel more motivated to get back to your tasks next time.
  6. Pay attention to people sapping your motivation.  Perhaps your boss, a needy friend, a cranky family member?  Even after you finish speaking with them, your brain mulls over the conversation, and your focus and energy are gone.  You can’t avoid them altogether, but you can take back your energy and focus.  Consciously decide to return to Yourself, Your Plan, Your Day.  I know, it is easier said than done, but it can be a powerful feeling, to take back your motivation.
  7. Pay attention to other drains on your motivation.  I worked with a client recently who mentioned she felt terrible every Sunday evening.  So the question is not “How do we take off every Monday from work”, but instead, “What do we do differently over the weekend that makes us feel poorly by Sunday?”  Poor food choices, staying up late, sleeping in?  What if our headache or upset stomach are from anxiety about the coming week?  Be aware, and take action.

So, the next time your get-up-and-go gets up and goes, try one of these ideas to give your motivation a boost!

I Bet Having A Robotic Clone Would Boost My Productivity

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Speaking with a client last week, we decided we need our own housekeeper to take care of stuff for us! But as I am unlikely to find an electronic Me any time soon, I need to accomplish my tasks as efficiently as possible!

I recently wrote about Finding Productivity in little bits of times (click here for the article: http://colleencpo.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/5-ways-to-find-productivity-in-little-bits-of-time/).  As I wrote that article, I recognized that several of the Errands / Tasks listed, “Post office, newspaper, library, make banking deposit”, could be completed electronically.  For example, I bank and pay bills online, receive subscriptions via my IPad and read books on my kindle.  Since then, I have worked to simplify my errands and tasks using technology.

Even before the Productivity article, we had eliminated a number of regular errands through technology or automation, and you can try these, too!

  • Our regular prescriptions come by mail in 3 month supplies.
  • Our vitamins and nutritional supplements come by mail every three months, too.
  • I upload digital photos to the Walgreens website and pick up the printed items in-store.
  • Since 2012, I shop for cleaning supplies and personal items directly with a manufacturer that is USA based, eco-friendly, cost effective and ships directly to me. (If you would like to hear more about this opportunity, I encourage you to call my friend Mary Damiani, 708-699-6538, who shared it with me.  She can help you understand the value, plus answer your questions.) I’ve saved time and money by NOT shopping in stores for these items! Once a month, I place my on-line order and my items arrive a few days later.
  • Last November, we subscribed to Amazon Prime through Amazon.com. We pay an annual fee but no shipping costs for Amazon.com orders.  The membership paid for itself by Christmas.  Now, instead of shopping in stores, I check Amazon – for example, my husband has been watching Amazon.com prices on a replacement electric razor, and ordered it during a sale last week, with free shipping, of course.

To save even more time running errands, since July, I have tried these, and you can, too:

  • Set up my IPad to download books from my library.  It’s free, easy and I read more now than ever!
  • Fully embraced my PayPal Reader, so that I can receive client payments on my smart phone.
  • Downloaded my bank’s mobile app, but decided for safety sake not to make deposits from my phone.  I am, however, exploring how to deposit checks from my home computer.
  • Established a credit card for my business, so that I can use electronic transactions more.
  • Ordered items on-line for pick up in actual stores, like Lowes or Home Depot.  I don’t have to walk around the store and find what I need, instead its waiting for me when I arrive.
  • Downloaded apps for favorite restaurants to view menus, order food and / or organize special offers.

There are still some errands and tasks I have to complete in person.  Dropping off our dry-cleaning, getting a haircut, trying on clothes, getting my vacuum repaired.  But when I do run errands, I plan ahead.  I know exactly where the vacuum repair shop is located, or I make a haircut appointment so I don’t have to wait.

So, look at your errand or task list this week.  Imagine how you could simplify your list and your life by taking care of some tasks electronically!

Other great blog articles I read this week re Productivity:

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/amazons-brick-and-mortar-store-shouldnt-come-as-a-surprise/

http://bennisinc.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/have-you-fallen-into-the-deadly-trap-of-time-management/

How to Cross “Organize My Medical Information” Off Your List!

October is National Organize Your Medical Information Month.  “Organize Medical Papers” is an often neglected task.  And if our health becomes an unexpected roller-coaster ride, we find ourselves struggling with our info AND a medical setback.

October is the right time to organize your medical info since employers offer their insurance enrollment period in November for the upcoming year.  Take this opportunity to look back and review, and look ahead and plan, and get those papers in order!

Remember, I’m a certified professional organizer, not a health care professional!   Always consult a medical professional for health-related questions.

Your Medical Information may include, but is not limited to:

  • ID numbers for your health insurance(s), prescription or dental plan, etc.
  • Lists of and information on current medications and supplements
  • Durable power of attorney for health care
  • Immunization or Medical records
  • Progress reports for various therapies
  • Information on acute (once in a while) or chronic (on-going) medical issues
  • Discharge instructions from current and past events
  • Correspondence with insurance companies re current and past treatment

First, purge old or obsolete information!  It’s clutter and can even be dangerous.  For example, keep only your updated prescription list, so no one confuses the old list for the new one.

You can purge papers if you won’t need them again, the information is no longer pertinent, or if the information exists elsewhere and you trust the keeper of the information.  For example, my three sons were delivered uneventfully by the same doctor at the same hospital.  That was more than 10 years ago, so I can confidently purge records from those events.  Remember, SHRED anything containing personal information!

Now that you have a better idea of what papers you have and what to keep, set up a system for your papers.

Make It Portable.

  • Purchase a 3 Ring Binder from your local office supply store for keeping medical information portable.
  • Take your medical binder to doctor appointments, so you have all the information you need at hand.
  • High Tech. The August edition of Woman’s Day offered suggestions to improve your health, and a handful of them were high tech:  Asking about on-line Patient Portals with your healthcare provider, or trying these mobile medical apps like PocketPharmacist or iTriage.

Make It Easy and Keep it Updated!

  • In the front of the binder, keep a list with your physician and other practitioner’s contact information.
  • Purchase a clear set of binder pockets, to help you divide up the important info within your binder. Assign pockets for categories such as:
    • Prescriptions and prescription information
    • Copies of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and other pertinent directives
    • Discussion topics for your doctor, like recent lab / test / radiology reports, articles about new health care innovations, nutrition, supplements, etc., to discuss at your next appointment.
    • Pending insurance issues
    • This year’s paid medical bills and insurance EOB (Explanation of benefits)
    • Perhaps a folder per specialist, or per issue

Make it Personal:

  • Each family member may need their own binder! Thankfully, my family has unremarkable medical histories.  But every year, we fill out physical forms for my sons for school athletics and camp.  I keep a copy of each yearly physical form, to help complete the next one.  And as information changes, for example my son had oral surgery last December, I note that on my copy of the physical form.  The actual medical record exists with his doctors, but I now have an informal yet compete history for my own use.

Tell your family where the medical information binder is kept.

  • For example, our family recently faced some medical challenges, and my siblings and I all knew where my parent’s medical information binder was kept. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but we were glad to have the information!

Spend a little time with your Medical Information now, and feel better all year long!

Refresh and Restart For September

Recently, a friend – a fellow mom and business owner – wished me a Happy New Year, and that is really how I feel about September.  The schedule change, the life transitions, the brisk weather – I always feel renewed!  Use this time of renewal to clear mental and real clutter, and get a better handle on your time management, just like our students do!  Here’s how:


Re-Commit to Good Routines.

I love summer, but all facets of my life, personal and professional, benefit from Back-To-School consistency with waking and bed-times, meal times and nutrition, and more structured workdays.  Use this new season as an opportunity to return to routines that work, or tweak your routines and make them work even better!


Go to bed.  No, seriously.  Go to bed.

This is an uphill battle for me most days.  As a parent, I daily try to convince my teenagers to listen to their tired bodies and go to bed, instead of staying up late just because they can.  And personally, I wish I could say I get enough sleep, but sometimes I don’t. Most nights, I’m in bed at a reasonable hour, but some really great books have kept me up lately!  This week, now a little colder and darker outside, I will listen to my own tired body, close the book or IPad, and hit the pillow earlier.

We think better, work better, feel better and act nicer when we are well rested. Go to bed.

Remember the care and consideration you spent on that First Day outfit? 

September is a great time to take a look at your wardrobe, and make a few changes!  Cooler temperatures and Autumn colors have us shuffling through our closets in search of something to wear.  Take time to clean summer clothes, review and purge accordingly, and put them away into seasonal storage on a high shelf or in underbed storage. Shop in your closet for surprises (those great scarves I bought last Spring), and favorites. Refresh your wardrobe without leaving the house or spending a cent.

Re-new friendships and strengthen relationships!

I always loved going back to school because it meant I got to see my school friends more regularly.  We can learn from this as adults, too!  It is always a good time to reach out to a friend.  Whenever you find yourself wondering about someone and how they are, reach out!  And I mean via facebook, email, texting or a greeting card, in addition to the obvious “call them”!  Wouldn’t it be nice to know someone is thinking of you?  Your loved ones feel the same way.  Connect!

Out with the old, in with the new.

Out with the old:  It’s also always a good time to clear clutter!  This week I dropped off a couple of bags of donations, arranged donation of some old cell phones and cords, and sold used items on-line.  I cleaned out, cleaned up and made some space.

In with the new:  I love back-to-school for new gear and gadgets, but I don’t really need anything right now.  I did spend my morning clearing memory, installing updates and cleaning up my tech.  That’s all new!  And it feels great!

Learn something new.

Keeping up with your kids on a new technological gadget?  A language? A musical instrument? A cool new app, or a new way of doing something?   You-tube, google or your local library are all great places to imagine and explore new skills!  In addition, I already have a lot of new information right in front of me – I am working through my professional reading pile:  here’s irony, I have two time management books next on my pile, guess I need to find some time to read those!

With the new season comes meetings and events and an influx of new ideas to process and act upon.  It’s energizing!  Learn something new all the time.

How will you choose to embrace the new season this week?  Let’s Go!

Work Now, Play Later.

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Work Now, Play Later.

Most of you know that we should Work Now and Play Later.  Some of you may even do it on a regular basis, or as a matter of routine.

But it still bears repeating.  Work now, play later.

Whatever your work is.  Professional work, homework, working out. Volunteering, parenting.  Housework, yard work or any other phrase that ends in the word “work”.  Maybe all of the above.

Work Now, Play Later. 

Work now because sometimes life gets in the way.  Sometimes WE get in the way.  And sometimes something really great comes along unexpectedly.

Work now and play later because sometimes life gets in the way. 

 

  • Emergencies or accidents happen.
  • Technology fails us.
  • The power goes out. The wi-fi goes with it.
  • The hospital calls.
  • The car breaks down.
  • The alarm doesn’t go off.
  • A loved one needs you right now.

 

Work now, because sometimes WE get in our own way.

  • We’re tired or hungry or unmotivated, and waiting until later just means we’ll be more tired and hungry and less motivated.
  • We forget the instructions to tonight’s assignment, and if we wait, it’s too late to ask a friend.
  • Someone is waiting for your part of a project, so they can start their part.
  • The job takes a lot longer than we expected or even scheduled for it.

 

Work now, because we just never know what great thing could come along.  Working now and playing later means we can:

  • Do a good job and still have a chance to relax later.
  • Say yes to the impromptu dinner invitation, or concert tickets or spontaneous weekend away.
  • Play longer later.  Or take a nap.  Or read a book.  Or go out with friends.  You name it.  Work Now, Play Later.

 

Working now and getting things done means there will be more time to do fun things later. 

Do Future-You a Favor, and Leave a Recipe!

I was at a professional event, and an IT guy mentioned leaving himself a recipe.  After a moment, I realized he was not referring to food, but to a note-to-self, a recipe, a map for his future self to follow to complete a recurring task.  I chuckled at the reference, but I use and absolutely recommend the practice of leaving recipes!

Recipes are great tools for those often-but-not-too-often tasks, the ones that are regularly scheduled but with large gaps of time between, like quarterly or semi-annually.  We do these tasks often enough to remember part of the process, but not often enough to make them a habit.

Let me give you a couple of examples, of the awkwardly scheduled tasks and the Recipe Solution:

  • Once a month, I post my upcoming presentations to Facebook and also to the NAPO-Chicago website.  I wish I could say that I quickly and confidently complete these tasks from habit or memory, but I can’t say that.  Every month, I have a moment of panic, trying to remember if I’m supposed to post to my personal FB page first, and then share to my Professional page?  Or is it the other way around….. and when I send the info to NAPO, did the contact person say PDF not Word?  Hmmm… Or Word not PDF….  Then the panic passes and I look at my note on my IPhone that tells me Professional then personal, and Word not PDF.   Whew.  Once I check my notes, my recipe, the process takes all of 15 minutes.  Done. 
  • I helped with an annual event last week for our school district.  Wisely, we recapped just hours after the event, writing up notes of successes and challenges, while all the details were still fresh in our minds.  We’ll add those wrap-up notes to all the other notes for the event.  Next May or June when we start working on next year’s event, the process will go that much more smoothly. 
  • Approximately 5 times a year, I have the opportunity to teach a class at Moraine Valley Community College.  I love teaching at MVCC, I always meet the nicest people.   And my contact person is very kind.  But she has to be getting tired of me, since for the first 4 classes, I missed some detail of the grading process and held up my students’ grades.  Each time, I have added details to my Recipe, like my log-in info and the correct screen to enter attendance, etc.  I really hope I’ve got it right this time, I’ll find out when I teach my next class in September!
  • Even my father-in-law’s habit of writing the oil filter size and oil weight for each car he has owned on the cabinet door in the garage is an example of a Recipe.  When it comes time to change his oil, he is reminded of what he needs.

Save yourself the scrambling, the head scratching, the moment of panic. Do Future You a favor, take some notes for those awkwardly spaced recurring tasks and leave yourself a Recipe!  Future You will thank today’s You!