Tag: time managment

Is It Time To Tweak Your Routine?

I feel like I talk all the time about Routines. I think about them often and how to make mine work better for me. And I spend a lot of time during presentations and coaching calls discussing the importance and creation of Routines for others.

Maybe I do talk about them all the time, though – after a brief review – I don’t seem to bring it up here on my blog space very often.

I am tweaking my own Routines this week and this month, and I thought I would bring you all along for the ride.

What are our Routines? Our routines are the set of tasks we set about doing on a regular basis – daily, weekly, monthly, etc. – that help us handle the essentials of survival and maintenance in our life and / or our work.

Routines:

  • provide structure to our days, should we need it;
  • ensure that essential tasks are completed as often as necessary;
  • help us stay balanced and make sense of life and work;
  • save us time, help us be productive, eliminate stress;
  • are a great foundation for anything else that needs to happen daily or weekly.

We create routines through repetition. Our routines are attached to certain times of day – “I get out of bed at 6 and take a walk”; or certain events – “I take a shower and change my clothes when I get home from a client appointment”. And our routines are tools – tools to make our life run more smoothly. Or building blocks, providing a strong foundation.

Routines are habits, but they can also be changed or improved as changes in life requires them to change. And let’s face it, life has required many changes recently.

I tweaked my routines back in March as my state’s shelter-in-place orders began, and I usually tweak my routines for summer, as school and kid schedules change, so I know it is time! I can sense a change, a need to review and re-establish my routines when things start to feel a little out of sync, just a little wrong. As though I’m wearing the right shoes but on the wrong feet.

So, how to make changes? Or create a routine from the beginning?

Start with Needs.

I need to take a walk every day for optimal health, I need to take my supplements. I NEED to do these things, but the WHEN is more flexible.

During the school year or when my husband actually has to drive downtown, we walk at 5 am. Lately, it’s more like 6:15. Needs remain the same, WHEN can change.

List out your needs. You can list all your needs for the day, but I will start with morning. My morning (anything between waking up and starting my work day) Needs may include, in no particular order:

  • take a walk;
  • take my supplements;
  • make my bed;
  • make sure I have something planned for dinner (maybe even start something in the crock pot);
  • pray;
  • shower and get ready for my day;
  • start a load of laundry;
  • water my garden;
  • You get the picture.

Your list may be longer or shorter, and may contain tasks my list does not. And that’s just how it should be.

Next, assign any specific times to your needs and then put them in a logical order. Looking at the example above, I might order them like this…

  • 6:15 am Take a walk;
  • water my garden (when I get home from my walk, since I’m outside);
  • shower and get ready for my day (because it’s hot and I’m sweaty after my walk);
  • make my bed;
  • start a load of laundry;
  • take my supplements (coupled with the dinner planning, since I’m in the kitchen);
  • make sure I have something planned for dinner (maybe even start something in the crock pot);
  • pray (I do this at my desk, usually when I sit down to start working);
  • 8 am Start my work day.

Perhaps you have different routines for different times of day. I have personal or house specific routines around dinner time and bed time, and they are created the same way – start with needs, move on to times and convenient bundling.

And perhaps a routine for your work day would help you be more productive? Same process!

I suggest both a daily and weekly routine for work place productivity. My day-to-day schedule can change – today was not a typical Tuesday (I started with a 1.5 hour coaching call and then sang for a funeral), but the first few tasks I complete every day when I sit down at my computer – check email, check business social media accounts, confirm tomorrow’s clients – are the same whether I start at 8 am or noon.

When it comes to a weekly routine, I find it helpful to assign tasks to each day, for example:

  • Monday – strategic planning, client care
  • Tuesday – write article and publish newsletter
  • Wednesday – update website and social media
  • Thursday – check in around presentations
  • Friday – billing and invoices

If this idea works for you, great! Fill in your own essential tasks instead of mine. Just like a daily routine, having a weekly routine around NEEDS, in this case the NEEDS of my business, ensures the continued health and productivity of my business.

So, how can you tweak your routines this week? Determine your needs for your self and your home and your work. Make sure the Needs that need to be met daily are added to your routines, and the same for weekly.

Choose the best time for your routine tasks to be completed. Are you a morning person? A night owl? Maybe you hit your stride late in the day?

Look around – is there anyone in your house or office better equipped to do a certain task? Maybe there are tasks you can delegate!

Put your tasks in an order that saves time or makes sense. Try it out for a week or two and make sure it’s working for you! And expect you will need to review your routines every few months to make adjustments accordingly!

I will be working on my own daily and weekly routines this week, too! I know we will all be better off after spending a little time figuring out the best way to spend our time! Cheers!

Ways to Find Ideas, Keep Them and Act on Them!

Ideas are everywhere, wherever inspiration strikes! But, how do we save them?  And then use them?

What is an idea?  Dictionary.com says “a thought, conception, or notion.”  To me, ideas are more than just random thoughts, they’re sparks of inspiration.  A thought can become a task on your to-do list (ooh, remember to buy milk, order that gift, or make that phone call), but an idea seems bigger than that, like the term the “big idea”.  So bigger than a thought, grander than a task.  An IDEA.

Ideas for what, you ask? 

Anything!  Everything!  That is the great part!  We just have to be open, aware and seeking those sparks of inspiration.   What are you looking for?  Vacation ideas?  New business ventures?  Adventures?  Hobbies?   Better and different ways to deal with challenges or people?

Where are these ideas? 

I have come to realize that big ideas are rarely in my office, or waiting on my laptop.  To generate new ideas, I require new stimuli and information, or a different way of viewing things.  You can’t force creative ideas to come, but you can invite them.  For me, Ideas come to me when my mind is relaxed:  In the shower; as I drift to off to sleep; very typically in the car; or in my reading pile.  A few months ago, they were at the Museum with me and my kids.  My six year-old niece says they’re under the table.

So, if you are looking for ideas or solutions, go where the ideas are.  And if you are looking for new insight, go some place new, read something new or hang out with different people or in different places.

I have plenty of ideas.  For me the challenge is not finding them, it’s keeping them and then acting on them.  So, first things first –

  1. As an idea comes to you, Filter It.  You may come up with a great idea, but is it really something YOU need to act on?  The construction idea that comes to someone who is not a builder.  The song lyrics that occur to someone who is not a musician.   The hot and tropical vacation idea that looks beautiful in pictures, but then I remember I really hate to be hot. (!!)   I am not suggesting you abandon your big ideas, just determine if they are ideas You need to act on, or perhaps you can stick with your strengths, and Pass on the ideas to someone else.
  2. Make a Habit:  Write it down.  I get very frustrated when an idea disappears Aqua Notesbecause I didn’t write it down.  In positive terms, Writing down an idea makes that idea more likely to become an action.  Give your self opportunities everywhere and anywhere to capture your ideas.  I have pen and paper in the car, beside my bed, and even in the shower (thanks again, Steph and Lauren, for my Aqua Notes, seen here).
  3. Make a habit: Capture ideas technologically.  If you find inspiration on-line, there are all sorts of ways to capture those ideas, too: I have a “Pin It” button in my toolbar for posting images to Pinterest. and I can add gift ideas to my Amazon universal shopping list via another toolbar button on my Toolbar.  You can also save ideas to your Facebook timeline, or bookmark a website page for later.  Just set up your bookmarks with categories, to file the ideas for later.
  4. Make a Habit: Keep Lists, files or bookmark categories for different types JKs post it Ideasof ideas. Then make sure the new ideas get there.  These lists or categories could be “home improvements”, “recipes”, “restaurants”, “self-improvement”, “cub scout craft ideas”, etc.  Corral your ideas (like the colorful pile of post-its used by my friend Jan, seen here), and then disseminate them to their most useful list / destination.  And if the idea is a really great idea, or perhaps a time specific one (a seasonal weekend destination that’s available for only a few more weeks), add the action steps to your to-do list.   If it is a new restaurant to try, make a Date and go!
  5. Make a habit:  Review your Ideas periodically.  Once a week / month / year?  Make a habit of reviewing and prioritizing your ideas.  Pick an idea or two that is most important to you right now, and add the next action steps for that idea to your to-do list for today or this week.  It is October now, and the holidays are on the horizon, with all the Big Ideas that go along, so “Look at November and December Travel schedule” just went on my to-do list.

So, what are your Big Ideas?!  Make habits now to Find, Keep and Act On Your Ideas!

Time Management and Life Lessons at Cub Scout Camp

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I attended Cub Scout camp last week with my son, 5 othtree editer Cub Scouts and three other parents.  It was a great time, and I learned a lot, including some life lessons we can all learn from:

Keep the “Get Ready List” simple:

Imagine with me:  20 people sharing one “Kaebo” (restroom and shower house).  Now imagine the line to get in and out of the kaebo at 7 am, before our 7:45 am Flag Raising ceremony and breakfast.  Long line, short time frame, short attention spans.

Needless to say, the Get Ready List for the scouts and we leaders was very short.  Get up, get dressed, brush your teeth, use the kaebo if there is time.  That’s it.  Showering, cleaning up and anything else waited until later in the day.  Luckily (or not), personal hygiene is not a huge priority at a camp in the forest for 8-11 year old boys and their leaders.

Simplify your morning.  Keep the Get Ready list short and the directions clear.

Tell them, tell them again, tell them one more time.

You know that really short “Get Ready List”?  It still needs repeating, especially early in the morning and late in the evening.  For scouts, for family, even for co-workers.

Keep your message (whatever it is) simple, and repeat it over and over and over again.

Don’t wait until its time to leave to announce you can’t find something.

Get ready early so that you can spend time searching for lost items.  Planning ahead allows time for searching, whereas announcing for the first time that something is lost as we leave camp does not.  Plus, then your scout leader won’t get a furrowed brow!

Get ready early.  This holds true not only for flashlights and swim trunks, but briefcases and projects as well.

When you have the chance to nap, take a nap.  Same goes for using the washroom.

I loved my little tent in the woods.  My cot was comfortable, and the evenings were cool and great for sleeping bags!  But the cicadas, occasional mosquitoes and rain interfered with our sleep some nights.  A quiet half hour in camp one afternoon afforded the best nap ever, with the sound of the wind in the trees to put me to sleep.  When you can nap, do so.

And did I mention the line at our bathroom door?  We (at least the women) got in the habit of using the nicest Kaebos around camp whenever the opportunities presented themselves.

When you find a teaching moment, teach.

There are lots of really cool teaching moments in life, but especially at Cub Scout camp in a national forest.  Nature, life, character building, life skills, etc.  And luckily, when life’s pace slows down a bit, we can seize teaching moments as they occur, and really connect with each other and ourselves.

Slow down.  Slow way down.

Camp was Monday to Friday, in a national forest.  My car was parked at least half a mile away from our campsite except for move-in and move-out. We walked a lot, everywhere.   had limited wi-fi and cell signal, and no laptop.  We had a consistent and clear routine as our daily schedule, and nothing else on the to-do list.  It was lovely.

I can’t take you all to camp with me, but we can all learn good things about life from my experience.  Let me know which lesson resonates with you the most!

Productivity Series: Give Yourself the Gift of Routines

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I pondered this article while I started laundry this morning.  After grabbing coffee and jotting down notes, I jumped in the shower and puzzled over the closing paragraph for an article I am writing for my church’s newsletter.  I quizzed a son on spelling words while I started dinner in the crock pot and cleaned up the breakfast dishes.  After I dropped off the kids and ran my Monday errands, I sat down, booked clients and confirmed presentations via email before heading out to a client appointment.

This article is not about how organized I am.  It’s about establishing Routines and getting things done.

Let’s define a Routine, so you can start to identify and improve on yours.  A Routine is a set list of 5 or 10 habits, tasks, etc. that you complete every day to maintain your life.  Tasks for personal hygiene, household maintenance and nutrition may be included.  Your morning and bedtime routines may contain tasks like “take a shower, brush your teeth or wash your face”.  Perhaps you (or your kids) make the bed in the morning, and put laundry clothes in the hamper.  Basic maintenance – Done.  In addition, perhaps you like to meditate in the morning, or call your sister or exercise before dinner.  Every person’s routine will look different.

Call your daily maintenance tasks a “Routine”, “Daily Habits”, whatever you want.  Class participants and clients have resisted the word “Routine” because it sounds too rigid or too boring, and they may be right. But Routines are a great way to lead busy, productive and less stressed lives.

Establishing Routines moves mundane tasks out of our active thinking brain, leaving more room for more interesting things.  This morning, maintenance tasks were completed through my daily routine, and I was able to work on other things.

Because a Routine is a list, we can manipulate it, choose the order or time for the tasks, and tweak the list to make it work well.  Please note, a Routine is not your to-do list.  Routines are for the things that have to happen every day, and should quickly become automatic habits.  Unless “go to the post office” or “update your website” are things you do every day, they should not be considered part of your Routine.

Decision-making is the single biggest time waster when it comes to getting organized.  I have a client who agonizes over when to shower.  Every day.  “Getting up” and “getting moving” are not synonymous in her book.   We’re working on this, though, because puzzling over this simple and obvious task very morning is a terrible waste of her time.

This week, Create or Improve your Routines.

  • Think carefully about what you do, what you want to do and how to make things better.  Make your decisions about what to do and when, and then stick with what you decide.
  • List what has to happen every day.  Perhaps it is just looking back at your morning, or evening, or the hour after you get home from work, and listing the tasks you complete in that time.   In no particular order, you might have
    • Shower
    • Floss
    • Open mail
    • Make bed
    • Put away laundry
    • Take out trash
    • make dinner
    • Take vitamins
    • Feed the dog
  • Now look at the list, and make some improvements if you would like:
    • Group common tasks, save yourself some steps and cut out duplication
      • Using my random list above, you can group the dinner / trash / vitamins / feed dog tasks all together in the evening, if you’d like, to save yourself steps and help you focus
      • Perhaps make bed and put away laundry go together, too, as you tidy up in the morning
    • Determine if these tasks are happening too often, or not enough.  Maybe put away laundry is a few times a week, as is take out trash, instead of every day.
    • Add things that are not yet happening.
      • I never miss my morning cup of coffee, so I try to take my vitamins as I brew my first cup in the morning.  I’m not always thinking straight at that time of the morning, though, which is why I am still inconsistent about that.
      • I have taken to committing to take them before I leave the house in the morning, though, and have gotten better about that.
      • So far, I am still remiss on taking my vitamins every day and exercising on a daily basis.  And until both of those items happen automatically, I still have them on my daily to-do list.

To sum up, Make good decisions once, and save time forever. Look at the maintenance tasks you complete every day, put them in a good and logical order, make them habits (give habits 3 weeks to take root), and move on to something more exciting!