Tag Archives: prioritizing

Energy Management vs Time Management

“I just don’t have time to . . . . . “  Go ahead, fill in the blank.

Ever said that?  I’ll be you have.  I know I have.

But is it time we don’t have or energy?  If we managed our energy better, would our time management improve?  If we managed our time better, would our energy improve?  What could we accomplish if we managed both just a little better?

Earlier this year I started with a new client.  She said by noon her energy was totally zapped and she just couldn’t get anything done throughout the day, creating a tremendous amount of guilt and anxiety.  Having ruled out health problems, we started to look at her routines, really focusing on where she was spending her time and energy.

Here are just a few examples of what we found:

  1. Nine months ago she became an empty-nester and no longer had the time or energy commitment of children at home. She hadn’t decided on what her next chapter was going to look like (volunteer? go back to work? go back to school?), so now she had all this time on her hands without a clear strategy on how to use it.  She woke up without a blueprint for the day, so the day just slipped away.  At the end of the day, she felt guilty and unfulfilled.  Not having a good time management plan drained her energy.
  2. She didn’t have a good, consistent sleep pattern. She went to bed late because she was easily distracted and didn’t make it through her day’s “to do” list until 1:00 – 2:00 AM. She got up early to see her husband off for the day, but since she’d only slept for about five hours, she was running on empty in the energy department by noon.  Her poor time management the day before affected her energy management the following day.
  3. She loved to shop, consequently spent a lot of time either in stores or online looking for the “perfect . . . .” Again, fill in the blank.  So instead of buying one thing that was “good enough,” she bought several hoping to find “perfect.” This created both a time and energy management problem since she would spend hours returning items she purchased that she wasn’t going to use.  Not creating a boundary around the energy expended looking for “perfect,” resulted in a time management situation when hours were spent coordinating returns.

As we reviewed her routines, we continued to find situations where poor time management affected her energy and situations where she was expending an enormous amount of energy on an activity that in the end had an impact on her time.

To better manage both her time and energy, we created some structure around how she wanted to manage both.

We started with:

Creating a structure that included time for sleep, exercise, meal preparation, social interaction, and mindfulness.

She made a commitment to get in bed by 11:00 PM at the latest.

She didn’t know if she was a Zumba or Yoga girl, a runner or a hiker, a golfer or a tennis enthusiast, so some self-exploration when it came to an exercise routine was necessary.

Because of poor time management and the diminished emotional need to feed “the family,” she and her husband subsided on a significant amount of take-out.  Recreating her vision of “family” as just the two of them, changed her perspective on the value of daily meal preparation.

Because of the previous time commitments for the family, she’d reduced her social interaction in her local community.  Looking for opportunities to become involved in the community, recreating some social connections that may have fallen by the wayside in the day-to-day rush of household management, provided an emotional high that had been missing since the kids moved out.

She included mindfulness in her regular routine.  Focusing on living in the moment, not rehashing the past and living in an undefined future, can provide a great amount of peace and clarity.  Mindfulness can be anything from meditation to a simple walk in the park.  Whatever brings your mind into the present is extremely valuable to mental and physical well-being.

Creating balance and structure has been extremely beneficial for my client to manage her time and energy.  Where might you be out of balance in the time and energy department?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

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International Coach Federation

 

 

 

 

Professional Resource Member

 

 

 

Coach Approach for Organizers

 

 

 

 

Institute for Challenging Disorganization

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Balance: Self Value vs Stuff Value

Balance is a tricky thing.  Too much of one thing tips the scales in the other direction and we get totally out of balance.

But balance is not just about stuff vs space (although stuff vs space is a huge issue for a lot of people).  For some interesting information on how much stuff Americans have, here are some statistics from a recent CBS Morning show.

There are 50,000 self-storage facilities in the U.S., more than Dunkin’ Donuts (8,500), Subways (28,000) or McDonald’s (14,027) combined.*

And that’s just for the stuff we CAN’T fit inside our homes, where there’s more “stuff” piled in closets, bedrooms, garages and basements.

The CBS segment speaks to the stuff vs space conundrum with an interesting question: why do we park $10,000 cars outside when we fill our garages with stuff of largely no value?

Nearly all my clients struggle with the self value vs stuff value balancing act.

A client spoke to a situation at their home.  His comment to me: “my wife asked me a while ago to clear out the garage so she could park in it.”  When I inquired what “a while ago” meant he admitted it had been 18 months.  It was clear he was prioritizing the stuff value in his garage above the his wife’s self value (her request to be able to park in the garage). The prioritization realization created a perspective shift.

Another client comments regularly about how her closet (stuff) drives her crazy (self).  It is packed.  She could easily get by with half of the items in her closet and still be considered one of the best-dressed women I know.  If she eliminated half the stuff she would feel the benefit of open space, organization and clarity (self value).  For years she’s been prioritizing her stuff over herself.

And then there is the client who tries to cram too many commitments (stuff value) into his schedule resulting in limiting his time with family and friends (self value).

What’s your balance of self value vs stuff value?

* Note:  This is a direct lift from the CBS segment.  No, the math doesn’t work, but it’s close.  🙂

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here for 15-minute organizing tips.

 

 

 

www.organizetosimplify.com

 

 

 

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

 

 

 

International Coach Federation

 

 

 

 

Professional Resource Member

 

 

 

Coach Approach for Organizers

 

 

 

 

Institute for Challenging Disorganization

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Step five. Step three. Step one. Nope.

I watched a sitcom the other day where one of the characters introduced the family to her new dog.  The look of confusion on their faces indicated having a dog made absolutely no sense.  But then she explained:

Step 5: She had a dog because .  . . .

Step 4: . . .  she was going to have a fenced yard.

Step 3: . . .  in the house that she was going to buy with her $50K paycheck.

Step 2: . . .  for being a surrogate.

Step 1: . . .  after passing her medical exam.

Some of you may have also watched this show and know exactly where this is headed.  This particular character had lept all the way to step five without ever passing through steps one through four.  Unfortunately, her plans fell apart at step one because she didn’t pass the medical exam.

How many times have we jumped all the way to the end of the process without working through the important steps along the way?  I know I have.  As a matter of fact,  I almost did it again just last week.

I heard that Google My Business is a great marketing venue.  I got very excited and started the process to create my Google My Business page.  But wait, I’m in the process of rebranding my business (new direction, new name, new client base, etc.).  How could I create Google My Business exposure without my new business name defined, my new website up and running, my rebranded logo, etc.   See what I almost did there?  I was too many steps down the path without having completed step number one . . . creating my new business identity.

Leaping over process happens with both my organizing and coaching clients on a regular basis.

My organizing clients rush out and purchase pretty bins and boxes before they know what they are keeping (purging is step one, containerizing is way down the line).

One of my coaching clients came to me with a big goal: quit my job and move to a foreign country.  Great, let’s move in that direction but don’t purchase an airline ticket before all the other pieces are in place.

What big goal are you working on that require multiple, necessary steps along the way?  How do you keep yourself from stepping over the important parts of the process?  Leaping to step five before completing steps one through four can be counter-productive, frustrating and a challenging use of resources.

If you need some help breaking those big projects down into manageable pieces, ask a respected colleague, friend, family member or any other support structure for some assistance.

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here for 15-minute organizing tips.

 

 

 

www.organizetosimplify.com

 

 

 

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

 

 

 

International Coach Federation

 

 

 

 

Professional Resource Member

 

 

 

Coach Approach for Organizers

 

 

 

 

Institute for Challenging Disorganization

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

 

Important vs Urgent

I feel fortunate and blessed to have created a work-style and life-style that supports a flexible schedule, but the past couple of months have been a whirlwind of guests and travel that has my head spinning . . . and my “to do” list expanding by the day.

The past couple of weeks I’ve been feeling pretty darn guilty about all the stuff I’m not getting done.  Some of it is personal, but much of it involves things I really, really want to accomplish to support my business and clients.  After beating myself up a bit, I revisited the Urgent vs Important grid (thank you Stephen Covey!) to help me through the “what to do now” decision process.

Important & Urgent: Things that really, really need to be dealt with right now (house on fire, etc.).

Important & Not Urgent: Things that need to be done, but don’t need to be done right now (long-term planning, etc.).

Urgent & Not Important:  Things that probably never need to be dealt with, but take up our precious time (telemarketer calls, etc.)

Not Urgent & Not Important:  Not only do these things not have to be done right now, chances are they don’t need to be done at all (watching videos of dancing cats on Youtube, etc.)

With the limited amount of time I’ve had in my home and office the past couple of weeks, here’s how I broke down a few of the outstanding items on my “to do” list:

  1. Pay bills:  Important & Urgent
  2. Complete coaching homework required for certification: Important & Urgent
  3. Listen to teleclass before it expires: Important & Urgent
  4. Ironing:  Important & Not Urgent
  5. Office Filing: Important & Not Urgent
  6. Unsubscribe from unwanted e-mails: Important & Not Urgent

I generally don’t put Not Important stuff on my “to do” list, so two of the categories were easy to eliminate.

Granted, there were a lot of other things on my list, but these represented hours worth of things I wanted (not needed) to do.  The result:  #1-#3 got done; #4-#6 will be saved for another day.

Suffice to say, with my list prioritized, I’m feeling much better about getting the important stuff done, leaving the other “not urgent” things to be tackled at another time and focusing on being thankful that I have the ability to spend time and energy traveling and enjoying our guests.

How do you prioritize your “to do” list?

 

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here for 15-minute organizing tips.

 

 

 

www.organizetosimplify.com

 

 

 

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professional Resource Member

 

 

 

Coach Approach for Organizers

 

 

 

 

Institute for Challenging Disorganization

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD.

Urgent vs Important

UrgentImportantMatrixThis morning as I was getting ready to head out on vacation I  realized, yet again, that my “to do” list was longer than the hours I had left to do get everything done.  What’s a girl to do?

Many times in both my career and personal life I’ve fallen back on the Urgent vs Important grid (thank you Stephen Covey!) to help me through the “what to do now” decision process.

Important & Urgent: Things that really, really need to be dealt with right now (house on fire, etc.)

Important & Not Urgent: Things that need to be done, but don’t need to be done right now (long-term planning, etc.)

Urgent & Not Important:  Things that probably never need to be dealt with, but take up our precious time (telemarketers, etc.)

Not Urgent & Not Important:  Not only do these things not have to be done right now, chances are they don’t need to be done at all (watching videos of dancing cats on Youtube, etc.)

Here’s some of what was left on my “to do” list as of this morning and how they ended up getting categorized:

  1. Prepare house/pet information for sitter:  Important & Urgent
  2. Homework assignments for Coaching Class: Important & Urgent
  3. Listen to tele-class before it expires: Important & Urgent
  4. Ironing:  Important & Not Urgent
  5. Office Filing: Important & Not Urgent
  6. Yard work: Important & Not Urgent

I generally don’t put Not Important stuff on my “to do” list, so two of the categories were easy to eliminate.

Granted, there were a lot of other things on my list, but these represented hours worth of things I needed to do, in addition to my regular job.  The result:  #1-#3 got done; #4-#6 will be saved for another day.

Suffice to say, with my list prioritized, I’m feeling much better about my preparation for the trip and possibly may have just a couple minutes to watch dancing cat videos!

How do you prioritize your “to do” list?

 

Going on vacation? Then BE on vacation.

DTS 06.15.14 iPhoneSeveral of us will be heading out for a long weekend or vacation over the next couple of days.  We’ll be in the mountains, at the beach, or possibly just hanging out BBQing and having fun with family and friends.  Wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, take this time to connect with the people around you . . . not your electronic devices.

1.  Limit accessibility.  We truly don’t need to be accessible 24/7.  Unfortunately some of us have trained people that we will respond IMMEDIATELY when we receive an e-mail or text.  Unless it’s a true emergency, our response can wait until after dinner or the fireworks display.

2.  Take it IN; don’t just take pictures.  Sometimes we get so focused on making sure we “get the shot” that we don’t enjoy the experience.  How many times have you watched something from behind your iphone only to never look at the video or picture again?  Leave your iphone in your pocket or handbag and enjoy the experience.

3.  Facebook isn’t always your friend.  “Everything in moderation.”  Never has a quote rung so true.  Although Facebook is  great for sharing really cool and important stuff with our family and friends, every meal and mile of our vacation doesn’t need to go on Facebook.  Be especially cautious of tagging people without their permission, not everyone wants their lives shared with the world.

4.  Don’t, don’t, don’t let your electronic devices distract you when you are driving.  In Washington state it is currently illegal to:

  • Talk on the cell phone without a hand’s free device.
  • Operate a wireless device (including cell phones, tablets, ipads, etc.) while “operating” a motor vehicle.  Not only does this mean while driving, but also includes the time we are stopped in traffic or at a stop sign or stop light.

The cost of ignoring the law:  $124.  Not only is electronic distraction dangerous, I can think of a lot of things I’d prefer to do with $124.  New shoes, anyone?

So, when you take your summer vacation . . . BE on summer vacation.  There will be plenty of time to reconnect with your electronic device, but there may not be a better time connect with the ones you love.

 

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The Power to “To Do” Lists

 Green Checklist I recently spent four days at the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference (yes, there really is such a thing!) in Los Angeles. It was an incredible time, filled with camaraderie and education, and I came back with a four-page “to do” list.  Most of the items on the list were reminders of things I wanted to do to advance my business (networking, refining e-mail lists, update website, etc.).  Some of the items on my list were more in support of personal growth (research meditation, try some white noise apps for better sleep, etc.).

When I made the list, I was motivated.  Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to work the list, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the process of  working through “to do” lists.  What works; what doesn’t work.  How to measure success; how to not get frustrated. How to re-frame “to do” lists into “things I want to do” lists.

I hope some of what I learned will resonate with you also.

Re-frame how you think about the list.  The first thing I needed to do was to re-frame the way I thought about my “to do” list.  I needed to make my list more pleasant, less chore-like.  Yes, there were critical tasks on my list, but there were a lot of things on my lists that I just flat out wanted to do.  So, I’ve renamed my list “Things I Want To Do” (TIWTD) vs just “To Do.”  I also put a beautiful picture of crashing waves at the top of the list, changed to a softer font style,  and incorporated a beautiful light blue font and line color.  Now looking at my list makes me smile not cringe.

Do a brain dump. The first step to putting together a TIWTD list is to do a brain dump of anything and everything that comes to mind.  It may be as small as “call Mom” or as large as “plan a trip to the Grand Canyon.”  Whatever it is, the chance it will get done is much greater if you document it.

Is it a task or a project?
Sometimes frustration sets in when we can’t check items off our list fast enough because they are too big or too daunting.  Generally, those items are projects not tasks.  For example, to some people “Change car oil” is a task because they do it themselves and they have all the tools and supplies to get the job done.  For others, this same item may be a “project” as it entails the following tasks:

1.  Find a mechanic.

2.  Make an appointment.

3.  Find a friend to drive them to/from the mechanic.

Each of these items are a “task” that need to be completed as part of the larger “project.”  Breaking larger projects down into tasks will help motivate you through the process.

Assign an estimate of how long you think the task will take.  A lot of the items on my post-conference list were tasks that could be accomplished in less than five minutes (e-mail individual colleagues I met at conference, confirm client appointments, print handouts, etc.).  Other tasks would take more time (research 501(c)3 annual meeting requirements, create mailer for ADHD therapists, etc.).  Once I’ve assigned a timeline to each task, I can quickly assess which ones to tackle based on the amount of time I have available.

Prioritize the list.  It’s important to put those items that will move you forward personally or professional at the top of the list.  There are items on my post-conference list that don’t need to be a done for a couple months; others need to be done now in order to move my business forward.  Identify the priorities and start there.

Set aside task time.  It’s critical to set aside time to work through your TIWTD list.  Even those five-minute tasks need to have dedicated time for them to get accomplished.  Make and keep an appointment with yourself to work through your list.  I find it helpful to set a timer and eliminate distractions just as if I were having a meeting with a client.

Also think about items that you can do outside your office and take supplies with you.  For example, you can make dentist appointments while you are waiting to pick up your children from school or you can text the babysitter while you are waiting in line at the post office.

Let it go.  Sometimes we put things on our list that become unimportant and unnecessary with time.  When you identify those items, it’s okay to just scratch through them and move on.  Let them go!

I wish you luck in moving things from the “Things I Want To Do” list to a “look what I got done” list!

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Member Color - Web  National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

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Time Management: The Power of “No” vs “Yes”

????????????????????????????????????????24 hours a day. 7 days a week. That’s all we get. It’s finite.

How much do you value your time?

As I get older, I’m more aware that time really is finite. I can’t make more of it; I can only use what I have more wisely.

I used to think I could do it all.

I used to think that if someone asked me to do something, they really need MY help, not just help.

I used to think if someone asked me to join them at an event or to chair a committee, the request was an honor and privilege and that it would be rude to say “no.”

I don’t think that way anymore.

As a general rule, we are all people-pleasers. We want to say yes. We want to help out. We know our contributions will mean a lot to people. But, for every “yes” comes a commitment. It may not be much, but any “yes” takes precious time and energy that could be utilized another way. Time and energy that could be used to support our family, our faith, our job.

If you are already feeling overwhelmed and you can’t decide between “yes” and “no,” ask yourself the following questions.

1. Does this obligation fill you up? Does your brain say “I just can’t imagine NOT doing (insert obligation here).” It could be anything: a trip, a sporting event, serving on a committee, a new challenge at work.

a.  If you get excited just thinking about it, then “yes.”

b.  If not, then “no.”

2. Does this task have to be done?

a.  If it has to be done and you’re the only one that can do it, then “yes.”

b. If it doesn’t need to be done, and/or you aren’t the only one that can do it, then “no.”

3. Are you just doing just because you’ve always done it? Sometimes we are stuck in a rut, and we just don’t know how to back out of a perceived commitment. Let’s use the example of a Book Club. Maybe it doesn’t fill you up anymore, but people just expect you to participate. Chances are the Book Club will get along just fine without you and you will alleviate some stress and gain some time. Refer to #1.

4. Are you doing it just because people expect you to do it? Just because you’ve always run that report, brought in donuts, made that first pot of coffee, doesn’t mean you still have to. Possibly the report doesn’t need to get run, most of us certainly don’t need those donuts, and someone else can make the coffee. Refer to #2.

I say “yes” a lot.

I love the Therapy Dog work I do. When someone asks if I can come for a visit, I say “yes.” It fills me up.

I love helping my clients, even if they are hard to fit in my already-crammed schedule. I say “yes” more times than not.

I love taking my grandson when the kids have conflicting schedules. It’s not always convenient and sometimes I have to shuffle my schedule, but it’s always rewarding, so I say “yes.”

Saying “yes” can open us up to many great adventures, opportunities, and experiences, and that is wonderful. But, every time you say “yes” to a commitment that takes your time and energy and doesn’t fill you up, you may have to say “no” to something that would.

24 hours a day.  7 days a week.  That’s all we get.  It’s finite.  Use it wisely.

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

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