CenterForProductivity.com

Category: Popular Posts

  • Get your life back into FLOW


    I believe that deep down, when we need more work-life balance, we have a desire for order in our lives. Order allows us to feel calm and less stressed. When this happens, not only do things click into place around you, but you actually feel it. I call this achieving FLOW. You know you are in FLOW when you Feel Light, Organized and Whole.

    FLOW happens when you have a system that works. It brings results with minimal resistance. Things just happen…

    Like I said, you know when you have the feeling of FLOW. If you aren’t sure how you feel, then quickly ask yourself what your FLOW Meter is saying right now. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being high. If you are a 4 or 5, great! Keep doing what you’re doing.

    If you gave yourself a 1 – 3 rating, then its time to figure out some alternatives so you can feel the positive FLOW of life again.

    Here’s a four step process to get yourself back into forward momentum. Take out a sheet paper and actually write down your answers. Our minds process better when we see the options in front of us.

    1. Focus on the problem. Ask yourself, “What is stopping my FLOW?” Get clarity on the actual problem.
    2. List your options. Assess your alternatives and ask, “What can I do differently?” We always have alternatives. If you need help, ask someone you trust for ideas.
    3. Outline your resources. Step back and think about “Who or what can I use to help?” Contrary to how many of us think, you don’t have to do it alone. It could be people or tools.
    4. Work on the plan. It’s not enough to think about when and how to make a change – take action! You have to get started,

    So when you find yourself zig zagging around, think FLOW. Stop to consider ways to get back in FLOW.

    Let me know how this works for you!

     

    Image attribution: Rod Allday via Wikimedia Commons

  • A clutter-free desk: 5 Steps to getting your paper organized

    The average executive wastes six weeks per year retrieving misplaced information due to messy desks and files, according to The Wall Street Journal. That’s a loss of $9,221 or, 12.3% of earnings for managers earning $75,000 a year. Professional organizers can help people like you clean up your act – starting with the desktop!

    A clean desk is not the sign of someone with nothing to do, nor is a messy desk the mark of a busy manager. Most of us can think and be more productive when sitting at a clean, well-organized desk.

    Here’s how to manage your files, organize your desktop and reduce stress so that you can better handle administrative tasks, which will help you become more productive.

    1. Define your objective and schedule time. Set a goal you can easily achieve in two hours or less. It’s best to tackle the top of the desk and save the desk drawers and bookcases for later.

    2. Start with a clean desk. Remove all the clutter from your desktop. Put everything — work papers, magazines, receipts, piles of loose business cards — in a box. Return coffee mugs to the kitchen. Are you starting to feel good about your progress? Now, you will be motivated to continue.

    3. Establish “homes” for items. Create “Action Files”, using bins, hanging folders or stacking trays. First, set up “In” and “Out” baskets. Label files “File”, “Read”, “Pay”, “Do” and “Pending”. Computer users should add “Enter”. If necessary, divide these categories even further. “Read” can be “Read-Urgent” and “Read-Important”. “Pay” can be “Pay-Business” and “Pay-Personal”. Get the round file (wastebasket) ready!!

    4. Sort the papers in the box, a small pile at a time, until the box is empty. “Clutter is postponed decisions,” says Barbara Hemphill, author of Taming the Paper Tiger. You can be proactive by deciding what to do with all your “stuff”. How? Just move each item into its new place or “home” based on what the next action is. Use your new Action Files. For example, unpaid bills go in “Pay”. Paid receipts go in “File”. Wait until the folder or stacking tray is full, then do all your filing at once. If no action is required, toss it. If you’re afraid you might throw something away that you’ll need later, save your trash for seven days. If you don’t need anything after one week, throw the bag out. Put desktop tools such as staplers, pencil holders and tape dispensers in your desk drawer. Limit family photos to one or two. Put plants on the floor. Your aim is to reduce visible clutter on your desk. Don’t answer your phone during this project, listen to soft music instead.

    5. Reward yourself. Finished? Good job! Instead of a sugary snack break, take a short walk or read a book. You can be proud of your accomplishment.

    With the right attitude, getting organized is easy. It means an end to missed deadlines, lost information and loss of control. If you still can’t face cleaning your desk alone, or you want a coach, call or email us today.

    Let me know how this works for you!

    (This was originally posted in 2002.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: blupics

  • Get Yourself Ready For The New Year

    We often focus on the year end tasks surrounding our small business. (Read our business related article.) Getting yourself ready is just as important and probably even more beneficial in the long run. In a small business, our personal lives are so tied to the business that the overlapping areas are often gray. Here are 10 tasks you can do to get prepared.

    1. Write a family holiday letter, summarizing the major events for the year. People really do like to know what you’re up to. Keep it light and fun and only about a page or two long. This also provides a history for your family files of what happened this year. Put a copy in your family scrap book.

    2. Start or update a blessings log (or whatever means something to you, like accomplishments or thanks). Just seeing a positive list of what you’ve managed to do will help reduce a total focus on the negatives.

    3. Get your family budget in order. Decide what major home improvement or decorating projects you want to do. Decide what vacations you will go on. Having a money plan is so important!

    4. Choose your intentions or goals for the upcoming year. What do you personally want to accomplish? Type them up and assign dates you’d like to aim for. I go one step further and choose a theme for the year. It is my “Year of <whatever>”. This helps to keeps me focused and is easy to remember. Some previous years have been titled “Year of MY choices” and “Year I Become a Writer”.

    5. Create or reassess your personal mission or purpose statement.

    6. Get your files in order or have a file cleanout day. Paper can be so overwhelming if we don’t have a good system established.

    7. Clean out your closets or garage and donate to your favorite charity by December 31st. You get the write-off and they get use of your items. A win-win for all!

    8. Decide if you need to lose weight right now, not after the holidays. It may help your willpower to say “no” to a few cookies or that eggnog. If you want to join a health club, look now. There will be less crowds and pushy salespeople, plus you may get a better deal.

    9. Get a gift wish list together. Look at what you need more than what you want. If you don’t “need” anything, consider choosing your favorite charity people can give to in your name. Or, like my family is doing this year, go on a day trip to spend time together. You’ll remember the experience far longer than the stuff.

    10. If you’re having a hard time focusing and you know you need to regroup, consider going on a personal retreat. I do mine in October and have a favorite hotel right on the beach in Laguna Beach, CA. I can really hear myself think when alone and at the beach!

    So, what did you do to get ready for this new year?

    (This was orginally posted in 2005.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Maurice