Tag: getting things done

National procrastination week (No, you don’t get to procrastinate)

Did you know? The first full week of March is National Procrastination Week, supposedly an entire week dedicated to putting things off.   

Um… you know that is NOT what I’m going to recommend, right?  Instead, let’s look at how to get things done, even when the path is difficult!

I am a solo entrepreneur, which is a fancy term for a small-business owner who does EVERYTHING.  In the midst of delivering organizing services, coaching and offering presentations, I also need to plan and grow my business for the long term with new ideas and products.

 Lately, I’ve been wrapping my head around a remarkably daunting project (hosting webinars), and last week, I mentioned to a fellow business owner that if I was an employee in charge of this particular project, I would have fired me by now!

Sometimes, we just need to do what needs done!  Can you relate?  Either professionally or personally?   Got a project you’ve been dragging your feet about?

If you’re procrastinating, it’s time to figure out what exactly the problem is.  You need to do something, but:

You… Don’t know how.

  • Call in your experts.  Years ago, I spent time and energy worrying if I should become an LLC or an S or C Corporation.  What a waste of time.  I didn’t need to figure out, I just need to contact a trusted friend, my attorney Eileen Kerlin Walsh. She knew exactly what I needed and made it happen with a minimum of fuss.  The same strategy worked when I needed to update my website.  I didn’t need to learn how to build a new one, I called my expert, my webdesigner Claire at Aplify7,  and she made me look great with no hassle!
  • You don’t need to know everything, you just need to reach out.

You… Worry about the cost, monetary or otherwise, of working on a project.

  • Is this project worthwhile?  Explain out loud why you need to do this thing or meet this goal,  and perhaps that will help motivate you to act.
  • Sometimes action costs money or time or other resources, true.  But if you’re procrastinating around a business venture, or health care issue that you can’t seem to make the appointment for, or house repair that you’ve been avoiding, the better question is “Can you afford to NOT do this?”
  • While I wrote this, a friend reached out to me about trademark and copyright laws for protecting their business brand.  I don’t know the answers, so I asked my experts and of course, they stepped up! But this was a great example for weighing the potential high price of working with a knowledgeable attorney vs. the even higher cost of NOT acting and having your brand damaged.

You … Don’t want to, it may be uncomfortable.

  • Have you ever noticed?  We spend far more time dreading the unknown task than it usually takes to complete it.  I missed an article deadline recently for another publication, and I dreaded (and avoided) for days fessing up and letting the publisher down.  And they were kind and not bothered at all.  I spent far more time being uncomfortable about NOT doing something than actually doing something about it. Seems rather silly now.
  • Know yourself. We like to be comfortable, right?  So agree to be just A LITTLE uncomfortable, try just a small new thing, in the interest of progress.  Once you try something, it’s not new anymore.

You… Don’t want to start when there isn’t time to finish. 

  • Do you hear yourself when you say these things?  We tell ourselves we only want the finished project, but we never start?  That, my friend, is what we call a Contradiction.
  • Set a timer, focus on time dedicated and not completion of the task.  Some progress towards a goal is still progress, even if you don’t complete the project this time.
  • Acknowledge that Perfectionism and Procrastination often go hand in hand, and may be working against the actual completion of your project.

You… Don’t know how long it will take.

  • Yup, this one terrifies me. For example, I procrastinate about making phone calls.  Not logical or wise, I know. But my very real fear is getting stuck on the phone and not knowing how long the call may last.  But I can decide how much time to dedicate to a task.  Even if I won’t complete the task, I can still start.

You… Are just not feeling it right now.  

  • We’ve all been there.
  • Long ago, a client said she was waiting to wake up one morning and be suddenly motivated to exercise, keep her house clean, get a job, etc. And because she was paying me to, I asked the tough question “Has that EVER actually happened?”  And the answer was… uh, no.  So, we fake it until we make it.
  • Intentionally procrastinate for a few (JUST A FEW!)  minutes.  Set a 10 minute timer, step back, change your scenery, get up and grab a cup of coffee or tea.  Then get back to work!
 Rest assured, I am saying these things to ME right now, too!  Observe National Procrastination Week by actually getting over some procrastination!
To:

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Please contact me.

Call / text 708.790.1940
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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!

5 Ways to Find Productivity in Little Bits of Time

Since Chicago is a transportation hub, we have train and truck traffic in my neighborhood, and we hourglassget stuck by trains.  Drivers get justifiably aggravated with train traffic.  My Village of Evergreen Park listed the customer service number for a troublesome train line on their lighted marquee… right next to an intersection often blocked by those trains.  Genius!

I confess, I enjoy getting stopped by a train, so long as it’s a brief stop.  It is a reasonable excuse for being a few minutes late – texting “Train.  Sorry.  Be there soon”, folks will understand.  And it’s a mini-break in the midst of a busy day.  I grab a productive few minutes to check email, make a call, send a text, clean out my bag or car, or just play a game of Sudoku on my Iphone. As an added bonus, I find having something to do while I wait distracts me from getting aggravated, too.

We all benefit from improved time management and productivity.  Productivity means getting things done, managing our tasks and time well, taking good care of our responsibilities and relationships.  It means taking care of business effectively, so we can move on to something else.  I prefer to work in large, uninterrupted blocks of time, but rarely get that luxury.  Subsequently, I work hard to make the most of little bits of time, stuck by a train or between appointments, tasks, obligations and fun, especially in the summer!

Ideas for Finding Productivity in Little Pieces:

  1. Recognize that large tasks are comprised of related small tasks.  For example, I have “Client Care” on my to-do list every Tuesday.  “Client care” consists of emailing, texting or calling 5-10 clients, to arrange or confirm appointments, or just check in, and can occur in little pieces around other appointments and activities.  Any 2 or 3 minute pause can be used for “Client Care”.
  2. Keep a detailed to-do list.  “Run Errands” is not detailed enough.  “1. Drop off donations; 2. Pick up order at doctor’s office; 3. Make banking deposit; and 4. Drop off dry cleaning” is detailed.  And with today’s personal to-do list in hand, you can accomplish these tasks around other blocks of time on your schedule.  An errand or two on the way to work, at lunch and on the way home.  Details are key.
  3. Set your brain on a task or a question, and be open to the answer.  At the top of my to-do list I write “Unique gift idea for wedding?”  Or “Creative blog topic for next Tuesday?”  I’m always amazed at the people or ideas that come to me when I do this, providing inspiration!  Perhaps song lyrics, a client question, an on-line article, even a billboard.  I could waste a lot of time and mental energy forcing ideas or I can just let them come to me in small pieces.
  4. Boost productivity and assign “time allotments” to your tasks.  Looking at today’s tasks, I assign 5-10-15-30 and 60 minute labels to them.  Then throughout my day, when I have a few minutes, I can reach for the 5 or 10 minute tasks (make appointment, confirm client, make grocery list) and complete them in those little bits of time.
  5. Create a habit of checking and re-checking your efforts during your day. Many times a day, I stop and ask myself if I am working on what I need to be working on.  Or, am I aimlessly following links on Facebook?  I am not suggesting that you can’t just relax for a few minutes – relaxing is necessary for productivity, too!  But I am suggesting that we relax for a few minutes, and then return to the task at hand.

Next time you find yourself stuck by a train, in line at Starbuck’s, or waiting for your kids to get out of practice, seize the moment.  Breathe deeply and gently stretch your neck from side to side.  Then think through today’s tasks and spend a productive few minutes.  These little bits of productive time really add up by the end of the day!

Dedicated to JS, thanks for editing with me!

Productivity Series: Use Accountability to Get Things Done

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(Originally published in 2013)

I work with an accountability partner and want to share how awesome the process has been.  But what is accountability?  An accountability partner?  And how can you benefit from the process?

Accountability means a “responsibility to someone or for some activity” (google).

We’re all interconnected, responsible TO many people.  I’m responsible to my kids and husband, my family, friends and community, and my clients and professional partners.  I am also responsible FOR lots of people and activities for this cast of characters.  They’re important and I take good care of these responsibilities.

I am the person to whom others are accountable.  Personally, for example, my kids are accountable to me to do their chores and their homework, and I’ll certainly tell them if something is left undone.  Professionally, my clients agree to work between appointments towards their organizing goals, and they report to me about how things are going, to ask questions and determine next steps.

As accountable as I am to others, I often ignore my own personal or business deadlines.  I’m the boss, so no one checks on my productivity.  The business is well run, the BIG stuff gets done, my clients are well served and my presentations are completed.  But long-range strategic tasks, important but not urgent, get pushed aside by immediate and urgent issues that come up.  I have lots of ideas, but lack the time or focus to make the ideas a reality.  Those strategic tasks get pushed further down the to-do list.  I needed to create accountability to get these things done.

Think about it – if you know a friend is waiting for you at the gym, you are more likely to exercise.  Or making an appointment for the plumber to fix your sink motivates you to clean the cabinet underneath before he arrives, right?

Enter…. Jan, my accountability partner.  She has experience with accountability partnerships and graciously offered to work with me.  Here is how we work:

  1. Once a week, Jan and I email, skype or meet in person.
  2. We talk for an hour or so, and we each determine 3 goals to work on for the next few weeks.  The goals are complete-able in the 2-week time frame.
  3. During the weekly conversations, we report how we are progressing towards our goals, brainstorm ways to get past blocks that occur, and determine goals for the next two weeks.

The very first step for me was to clean up my very long Business master to-do list.  I deleted duplicate and completed ideas.  Then I sorted the list into short-term ideas, mid-term ideas (1-3 months out), and long-term ideas (3 months – years).  Now I can choose 2 or 3 ideas to complete every two weeks.  This first step was awesome in itself, to help me clear mental clutter and focus on my short- and long-term business goals.

The weekly conversations have been great for keeping me on task and working towards my goals.  I like and respect Jan, and since I have to admit to her my movement or procrastination towards a goal, I make sure to have good things to report!  I keep my weekly goals at the bottom of every day’s to-do list, as a reminder.  We may not make progress daily, but we both admit to looking at and acting on our accountability list the day before our weekly call, to ensure we have progress to report!

An unanticipated benefit of the process is my very clear list of accomplishments from the last 6 weeks.  Just looking at that list motivates me.  In summary, so far I have: tweaked my technology set-up, coordinating my IPad, laptop and IPhone with Evernote and Skype; cleared my DVR cache and created more time to read professional work; cleaned up my banking by updating my checking account and on-line banking for my LLC, and installing a credit card reader on my IPhone.

Don’t let me add to your to-do list!  But, if you find there are important but neglected goals in your life that you REALLY want and need to get to, think about accountability and finding a partner to make things happen!

Secrets for this Week: Goodness, Strengths and Action

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time_universe_6This week brings the Winter Solstice.  In this hemisphere, it will be the darkest time of the year, with the least amount of sunlight.  We may already feel the darkness in the regular stress of the holidays or in the turmoil happening in our world.

Peace of Mind is my business name, but also my purpose, to bring Peace of Mind to my clients, so here are 5 suggestions to help you through this busy, hectic and potentially dark week:

Put Goodness into the world.

There are people suffering out there, and I wish, oh how I wish, I could take away the pain.  But I can’t.  But there are things I can do.  I firmly believe, and am reminded daily,  that if we put Goodness out in the world, it will come back to us.  That is not the reason to put Goodness out there, though, just so it comes back to you.

We should consistently put Goodness into the world because it is needed, regardless of if it comes back to us or not.  We must keep the faith, be kind to others, hold on to hope and be the light in this dark week.   There are always glimmers of love, joy and hope, if we just keep our eyes open.

Lower your expectations.

Most weeks, my message includes “Of course you can!”.  And “Of Course You Can!” still holds.  However, Christmas is quickly approaching, so now is the time to get things done.  It may be time to lower your standards, ditch perfectionism and finish!

The first rule of organizing is “Don’t organize what doesn’t need organized!”.  If you are strapped for time, energy or resources this week, focus on what you absolutely have to do and let the rest go.  Looking around my garage last week, I noticed enough accumulated E-Waste to warrant a run to the recycling location in my town.  But do I need to go the week before Christmas?  No.  I stashed my Christmas decoration storage containers back in my crawl space, and recognized that I do need to tidy up in there and purge some stuff.  But not this week!

Stick with your strengths, and stick with what you know.

I like all of you, and sincerely want you to have all that you need.  I hope, for your sake, that you do not need a handmade gift from me.  That’s not going to happen.  No hand knit sweaters or scarves, not crafts of any kind.  I can sing you a song, I am very good.  And I can bake, oh boy, can I bake.  I stick with my strengths.  No handmade gifts.  It’s just better that way, trust me.

I was speaking to a client on the phone last week (hands free of course) when I drove past two Jewels to shop at my usual one.  She asked me “Why?”  My answer was “it’s quicker to stick with what I know”.  Stopping at a new store to fill a lengthy list takes a lot longer than driving the extra block to go to the store I know really well.  I can get through MY store very quickly, and I know the speedy checkers and baggers.

This is not the time to take up quilting, open up a wood shop or try new recipes for Christmas dinner.  Stick with your strengths, with the familiar, and save yourself time, energy and aggravation this week.

Keep your routines (if they are good) to maintain health and well-being.

Take your vitamins.  Take a nap.  Wear a scarf.  Drink lots of water.  Get good sleep.  Exercise if you can, meditate if you like.   Take the time to maintain your health and well-being.

What good will it do you to make it to the holidays with all the right gifts and foods and decorations if you are too sick or tired or miserable to enjoy them?  Eat healthy food, get some rest, stay hydrated.

Choose to Act.

All the planning in the world is nothing if you do not choose to act.  If we have enough energy to do other stuff while avoiding our work, then we have the energy to do our work.  But we have to choose to act.

So, what’s it going to be?  I am glad you read to the end, but now it is time to get moving!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a lovely week.