ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! IN THIS ISSUE, WE WILL DISCUSS: page 1 NOVEMBER 2004

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NOVEMBER 2004 ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! IN THIS ISSUE, WE WILL DISCUSS: THE FIRST STEP TO A MORE EFFECTIVE YOU SORT FIRST, BUY LATER DISASTER LESSONS LEARNED PAPER OR PDA?

1 NOVEMBER 2004 ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! IN THIS ISSUE, WE WILL DISCUSS: THE FIRST STEP TO A MORE EFFECTIVE YOU SORT FIRST, BUY LATER DISASTER LESSONS LEARNED PAPER OR PDA? THE FIRST STEP TO A MORE EFFECTIVE YOU Do you find yourself working endlessly? You have been in your office for twelve hours, but feel like nothing has been accomplished. No matter how hard you work, it seems like there s more to be done than hours in the day. This is usually a symptom of poor time management skills. Without some structure for your time, it is next to impossible to be productive. While many books have been written about time management, there s a great first step that is always helpful. Start writing a time log and be honest about where your times goes. It is like when you are on a diet, you write down your caloric intake so that you can make sure to not eat more calories than you are supposed to. After about two to four weeks you will begin to see a pattern that shows you the following: How you spend your day How much time you are doing personal versus professional How much time you spend on the phone with friends and family versus business contacts How much time you spend surfing the internet How productive you are How unproductive you are What you can move around that will make you more productive during business hours versus personal time. For example, reading articles that aren t related to your job (or books) To see how long it takes you to actually get to your car, make you breakfast, lunch, and dinner How long it takes you to get ready in the morning How many hours of sleep you get, and how many you really need After writing up a time log you can start managing your day better. For example, you know that it takes you 25 minutes to shower and get dressed, 20 minutes to eat breakfast, 10 minutes to grab your coat and get to the car. This means you need to allot 45 minutes every morning to be on time. You can also decide to make back 10 minutes every morning by showering the night before, or by eating breakfast quickly and not relaxing with a paper. Use the time log to direct you. It will take a bit of time to work out a new schedule, but I guarantee you will not only be more productive, but less stressed. ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! page 1

2 SORT FIRST, BUY LATER A lot of times when we try to get something accomplished we think, if I had this new item I know it would help me out. It is the same for organizing projects. We think, if I purchase this bin, I will be organized. "Or, if I get this new purse that has pockets fororganizing my stuff in my purse, I will finally have my day together and know what is in my purse." The reality is that buying stuff won t solve your organizational problems. Before you can get organized, you need to downsize and figure out what is keeping you from getting organized. Then buy just the stuff you need to support your new organized habits. Below are some quick tips to help you on your way: Before you purchase that stylish new purse, analyze what you need to bring with you on a day to day basis. Ask yourself, Am I carrying too much? Do I have what I really need? What would help me feel more together? For example, my purse is large and can get heavy. However, everything I have in there I need and or use. Inside is my wallet, my checkbook, emergency allergy medicine, my keys, my pocket pc, my cell phone, a magic marker for packing, a pen, lip gloss, business cards and finally breath mints. I also make sure to never add anything to my purse and am constantly emptying out my wallet and filing receipts for tax purposes. That way I feel ready every morning, without the nagging feeling that I am forgetting something. Before you replace your wallet do the same thing that I recommended for a purse. I always feel bad for men because they can t carry a purse. They are also an inspiration in the sense that they only carry what they need because they don t have much room except the inside of their wallet and their pockets. If they do carry too much they look silly because their pockets are bulged out! Which brings me to storage facilities. Storage facilities are used for people that have just moved out of their old home and are looking for a new one, business owners that need to keep an excess of paper work because of legality issues, and business owners that have a large inventory of items that they use either to sell or store for later use. They are not for people that can t let go of things, or people who think they may use something in the future. If you are storing any thing that resembles the above description, get rid of it. You are spending thousands of dollars a year to store stuff, probably most of which you don t remember, will never miss, or never use again! Remember that clearing out a storage unit once is like putting money in your own pocket, every month, for the rest of your life. If you re having trouble doing it, hiring a professional organizer to help will pay for itself! I often work with clients after they have attempted to purchase closet organizers and find that they still have way too much. Often, the moment of realization happens when they open their closet doors and an avalanche occurs. Don t buy an organizer until you have sorted and purged! You will wind up back at square one. Be sure to make rules for yourself to keep things under control. For example, you might decide: When I purchase a new pair of shoes, I will to get rid of the old pair or If I wear a piece of clothing less than three times in a calendar year, I will get rid of it. That way you won t end up with a cluttered closet all over again. The reality here is that you will forever be sorting and purging. This is a never ending process, but once it s under control and you have rules of thumb to keep it that way, it is never this daunting again. Follow the rules above and you will see what a difference an organizing session can make! Bins I strongly encourage you to fight the urge to purchase yet another bin. Don t purchase ANYTHING until you have sorted, purged and come up with a plan of action for your new organization system. If not, you will have a mountain of bins of different shapes, sizes, and colors that make your contained items look even more chaotic. This is also an expensive way to keep your stuff. Your problem isn t a storage bin shortage, it s an overabundance of stuff! ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! page 2

DISASTER LESSONS LEARNED Written by Jeff Sleicher Sept 15th, 2004 With the recent devastating disasters in Florida caused by Mother Nature, I think that now is a good time to remind people about

3 DISASTER LESSONS LEARNED Written by Jeff Sleicher Sept 15th, 2004 With the recent devastating disasters in Florida caused by Mother Nature, I think that now is a good time to remind people about disaster preparedness. I have a number of friends and family in Florida who have been affected by the three hurricanes. After finally getting through to most of them on the phone, after weeks of trying, I have learned yet another important safety item have a communication and meeting plan. Here is what I personally think are good communications and meeting plans. You should have at the least three people as emergency contacts for you and your families. One should be a neighbor or someone within a few blocks of where you live. A second contact should be about 100 to 200 mile away, and a third should be in another state and at least 400 miles away. They each need to have each others phone numbers and addresses. Here s why. In most disasters there is a loss of power. Lost power usually affects and also contributes to a loss in telephone communications. It can take weeks for the power and telephone services to be restored. And don t count on that trusty cell phone either; the cell towers may be damaged and they too run on power. Loss of communications is one of the main contributors to the confusion that follow a disaster. After a disaster telephone connections often work only to call out to a distant location using long distance. The neighbor may not be able to call you directly, but they might be able to contact your distant contacts. You then can also contact your distant contact and get at least some information. Most importantly, everyone can call the distant contact, instead of jamming your own telephone lines. This same principle of three applies to locations too. You should have at least three established meeting places planned ahead of time. If you are, say, at work when disaster strikes you need to know where to go to meet others. Again, I recommend one location not too far from your home, with in a half mile or so. A second location should be about 15 to 20 miles away and the third around 100 or more miles away. Try to pick the locations that will have lots of possible routes to get to them. You don t want to be stuck on the one road that leads to you meeting spot. If you get to the first location and cannot stay or think you may have missed them, leave a message there that can t be missed, and proceed to the next one. Here is an idea that is easy to do right now. Make a series of identical small cards, about the size of a credit card, which you can keep in your wallet or purse. I made mine out of a cut up manila file folder. If you want to get fancy, will print up to 250 business cards for free make one up with all your information on it. Give one to each person in your family and also send them to your three emergency contacts. On one side of the card you print out the name, phone number and address of your three emergency contacts. On the back side you print out the emergency meeting locations with some simple directions or road names that will get you there. Home security when you need to leave in a hurry, what can you do to make your home more secure? First, unplug the garage door opener. Power failures and then the restoration of power can open your garage door. Lock all the doors and windows. Don t rely on your home alarm service either, long power outages and no phone service will make them useless. Turn off the natural gas at the meter. If your neighbors are staying, ask them to keep an eye on the place for you. Put valuables somewhere they cannot be seen if someone looks through the windows. Disaster Lesson Learned Continued on Page 4 ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! page 3

4 DISASTER LESSONS LEARNED Continued From Page 3 Evacuation plan have at least three different directions and routes to get away, even if it means going through your neighbors back yard or through a forest. Fire, flood or weather can come at you from any direction, so have a number of escape routes. Special needs - a list of the items that you can not do without, like personal medications, your glasses and your address / telephone book. Here is my top 10 list of what to have in an emergency. In a devastating emergency basic survival often becomes the simple way of life. You should put together two or three of these kits. There are three places you may need to keep emergency equipment and supplies, your home, your car and where you work.you need food, water and a safe living environment. You can make a simple kit of the below items and keep all the contents in a small plastic box. I recommend putting the cloths in a series of plastic ziplock bags so they stay dry. You should also have a large tarp or tent as an extra item at home, this may become your living environment if the shelters are full. 1. Bottled water. 2. Canned food (& can opener). 3. Flash light and extra batteries. 4. Matches. 5. Spare clothing set head to toe, hat to socks and shoes. 6. Rain coat and rain hat. 7. First aid kit. 8. Pocket Knife. 9. Paper dust mask. 10. Safety goggles or ski goggles. PAPER OR PDA? Before PDAs like Palm devices and Pocket PCs were prevalent, I used a paper planner. I put everything into this planner and was successful at staying on track and completing to-do lists. Then the world of PDAs came along. I was resistant at first, but became hooked. One of the biggest things I noticed was the lightness of my bag. I had everything in one place. I could edit contact information without messing up my planner (I didn t like using a pencil because it rubbed away). What I wasn t used to was not seeing everything all at once. I couldn t see my to-do list in conjunction with looking at my daily appointments. Being a visual person, this really bothered me. I tried using the tasks link but rarely kept up with it. What worked was putting my to-do list into my calendar. Are you using a new palm pilot or pocket pc, but it doesn t feel right? This may be occurring for a couple of reasons: A PDA should be used the same way your old planner was used. You may hear that a palm or pocket pc is used to keep your personal appointments and contact information. The truth is it can be used for everything. You should be putting all of your daily tasks in there. You can store them as notes, tasks, unread messages in your inbox, or as appointments in your calendar. Don t feel like you have to follow the rules use whatever is most natural and useful to you. Continued On Page 5 ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! page 4

PAPER OR PDA? Continued From Page 4 You are a tactile person and like the feeling of writing things down. For example, you tend to write phone numbers down on scraps of paper or on a sticky note.

5 PAPER OR PDA? Continued From Page 4 You are a tactile person and like the feeling of writing things down. For example, you tend to write phone numbers down on scraps of paper or on a sticky note. You make your grocery list on a pad of paper that you forget while you are on your way to the store. You like to take notes at speaking events and workshops, but tend to forget where they are afterwards. Your palm or pocket pc is a perfect place to put these things. You can write on the pocket pc, use a collapsible key board or write in their script. This is a win-win situation. First of all you have all of your notes in one place, so you know where they are. Secondly, you can still get the feeling of writing things down. 1.The electronic version has alarms to keep you on task. This especially helpful for people who are easily distracted. 2.It is less weight on your neck and back. I have heard countless complaints that a planner con tributes to these pains. 3.It allows you to check , find your way out when you are lost, and play games when you re bored. You don t get all that in a paper planner! 4.if you lose your paper planner you re in deep trouble. If you lose your PDA, then as long as you have been plugging it in to your PC to charge every night, you have an automatic back up on your computer. You don t always have your PDA with you, or you sometimes find that information is somewhere else. This one is just a matter of forming new habits. Think to yourself. When will you have your PDA with you? Business trips, or all the time? If only for business, then don t plan to have all your personal friends numbers there! If you want them both in your cell phone and in your PDA (and your cell phone does not talk to your PDA), then commit to typing it in both devices when you first get the information. Believe me, you ll never get around to transferring all the information manually between them. Another option is to add Franklin Covey software for your palm or pocket pc to make it more familiar. I haven t used this software much, but it claims to make your PDA act more like a paper planner. Even though it can be a difficult transition, I advise my clients to stick to electronic if at all possible for a few reasons: LESLIE STRAKA Cell: Fax: leslie@personworks.com ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE! page 5

Homeschool Student Control Journal Parents keep away

Homeschool Student Control Journal Parents keep away Copyright 2015 All rights reserved; FlyLady and Company Inc. Used by permission from www.flylady.net For Students only; Parents Stay Away! This little