More Time Management Tips

One of my recent realizations about time management is that believing it to be a constant struggle does more harm than good.

Trusting the tools I use to track my busy life is the heart of the issue. If I know that my calendar and phone are synchronized and that I have not made decisions or commitments without using these tools….then at the end of the day I can put them down and stop fretting about what has to happen next, tomorrow or later in the week.

 

 It’s true that I can’t really control everything that might come up and disrupt my week, but it’s possible to feel supported by a system that will at least let me change course when needed, and remind me of what is most important. In fact, trusting my tools helps me make peace with the reality of life’s general chaos and my own limited control.

Designing your tool requires self-knowledge, not a pre-packaged system with a tabbed notebook and pages of instructions. There is no “right” way to do this, and it needs to be built based on your actual current schedule and preferences. If you’d like help with this, consider a time management session with me, and explore the possibilities.

In the meantime here are a couple other resources that might be helpful:

All in good time: when to save, stock up, and schedule everything for your home   by Tara Kuczykowski with Mandi Ehman.  This is a handy reference guide for some of the home management decisions you never knew you needed to make.

All in Good Time

And another possible tool:

 

The Online Cozi Family Calendar

I have not tried this tool myself, but it looks like a great solution for a busy family IF everyone is Internet savvy and willing to be in communication by emails or texts. The application has individual and shared calendars, action lists, shopping lists, meal planning tools and best in my mind is that you can also synchronize it with an Outlook calendar.

Naturally there are additional downloads like screen savers and apps for using it on your smart phone, including pre-made lists for shopping, cleaning projects, and so on.

I’d like to hear more about this if any of you try it!

If You really Must make a “Profit”

Getting rid of things that no longer serve you, in my book, should be a reward unto itself. That said, I know that many of you feel a strong need to make a little cash, if not recoup huge investements spent on dubious items. And then there is the situation of owning objects that really are worth something….how can you send them forth into the world knowing you’ve at least gotten some fair compensation??

Using EBay to sell a single object can be a rude surprise, it takes a certain amount of energy to understand the system,  watch the auction, package the thing and hope you actually get paid. I have not done this myself, only heard a few horror stories from eager, but now very cautious friends.

If you are looking at large collections of precious things, or a few very valuble items, I suggest letting the pros do it for you.

Professional EBay Sellers Alliance

EBay Consignment Services

EBay Selling Request

And this one might be the most helpful, find out what a “trading assisstant” is and how to locate one in Seattle:

 

EBay Trading Assistants

You can also investigate actual Estate sale managers, people that can come to you and assess the value of your treasures.  Some of them conduct a sale for you, and I assume others take on individual objects for a commission.

Here is one place to start:

Hannah’s Attic Estate Sales

 

 

 Look familiar?

Life Skills We Hate

There are other things that we love to avoid! One of them is really a basic life skill that few of us were really taught as kids or even young adults.

Taking care of financial paper and filing in general. Sorry.

You can use a body double for these tasks, but my tip for the month is to consider the words of an insightful Seattle based financial coach, Mikelann Valterra.

This is my paraphrase: Consider how much of your life is controlled by money and information. What percentage of your week is spent earning money and planning how to spend it?  How possible is it that this huge part of your life will just run itself? Things like banking via internet can be helpful, but trusting that a computer has your best interests at heart could be a recipe for disaster.

Mikelann proposes that in our modern consumer driven world, spending 30 minutes a week to keep track of the money you’ve earned and spent is the responsible and adult thing to do. Too much, you laugh?

OK, my personal trick is to spend an hour once a month with my credit card statement, bank balance and the ledger I keep for check and debit card. Why use a debit card if I have to keep a ledger? Because I really want to know where it goes. The once a month statement is often too late for me if I really want to control expenses and know what’s there for my upcoming travel and wish list.

Now here is hard question: Did you already opt out of paper statements?

Consider that if you didn’t ever like filing your paper statement, how likely is that you’re really going to keep track of your balance another way? And how much more INVISIBLE is it that way?   Naturally we are all different and if you do manage just fine with everything on-line, then you probably aren’t reading this anyway!

For the rest of you, take a look at Seattle Money Coach for more inspiration.

It will be more fun than me saying, “Just do it!”

The Tyranny of Receipts

Another Reason to Break Free!

Keeping receipts is probably one of the most classic and avoidable clutter problems there is!!

There are only a few real reasons to carry these bits of paper around in our  wallets, pockets or purses.

What is worse, once we get them home they litter the desk top, accumulate in cute little baskets and flutter into the back of drawers, there to fade and become utterly unreadable.

Why keep them?? Here are the only reasons:

• they are proof of a tax deductible expense
• the purchase might need to be returned
• they are a record of a major household or personal cost

Any other reason is simply a desire to keep paper. If that paper has a home, great – but there is truly no other logical point to filing or storing these pesky bits of flotsam.

If you use a credit card, you have yet another record for proving a purchase or  remembering when you bought something. A filed credit card statement has a lot more uses than any individual receipt.

But, but, but, I hear the cries of outrage: What if I meticulously record the sales tax I pay all year from these receipts!!???

Ok, You win. How much time does that take and do you really do do it?

If you do, then I suppose you do indeed win.

But here is another reason to minimize the numbers of receipts you keep, and some unexpected information on HOW to get rid of them:  It turns out the the thermal paper most are printed on is very hard to recycle safely and that we should be putting all such paper in the TRASH instead.

The paper apparently will break down in a landfill with less environmental impact than when recycled!

Check out this article at :

The Washington Toxics Coalition

The Friendship of Clutter

By Deborah Berger  © 2010 Deborah Berger/All Rights Reserved

What if you couldn’t throw things out because, to you, they were alive?

That old towel you can see through?

The orange and green crocheted potholder you never use (the holes are too big so you burn your hands)?

The cracked plastic juice pitcher with the missing lid?   

You get the idea.

My “lightbulb” moment came when I was visiting Dora*, an elderly relative. Her son was trying to explain to me why Dora held onto piles and piles of what I could see only as “useless clutter.”

That threadbare towel was “an old friend” to this woman who had lived alone for a long time.

The hand-made potholder was infused with the warmth of the neighbor who made it.

The useless pitcher carried the memories of long ago church picnics — happy times.

Where I saw a room resembling an obstacle course, Dora saw nurturing reminders of friendship.

Where I saw needless chaos, Dora found comfort in the stability of things remaining where she had put them — yesterday, or a long (long!) time ago.

Where I saw cupboards overflowing with more empty margarine containers than she could possibly ever need, Dora was bolstered by knowing she would never “run out.”

Ninety-five years old, she knew who she was in her own home – the home where she was born! Her “things” reinforced her sense of belonging.

So I will tread more lightly now.

When I next visit Dora, I will focus my clearing out efforts only on safety — medicine dating back to the Reagan administration, hand lotion that has turned into a science experiment, canned goods that expired before my now adult son entered preschool.

If, to reach a window Dora wants open, I have to move a chair, I will put it back exactly where it was, even if to me that makes no sense. (This is easier because the 50-year-old dents in the carpet show me where it goes.)

I will tread very, very carefully, and understand that Dora’s cluttered but still livable world is precious to her.

Down the street from her crumbling house is an assisted living apartment building, with big windows, thriving plants, and nice wide hallways with hand rails. The apartments have well equipped bathrooms and small but well designed kitchens.

The residents seem happy, the staff friendly and competent. There are healthy meals, fresh fruit and vegetables, and lots of activities.

That’s what I see.

But not Dora.

To her, anywhere but her home is a dangerous, unfriendly, “foreign” place.

In what is likely to be the last decade of her long life, she knows what she wants and where she wants to be. She may forget the details of a doctor’s visit, but she knows where she is when she is home. The ghosts of her parents and other relatives inhabit that house.  Dora is sure that they are pleased she won’t change anything.

They know that she is honoring the past by living in it.

*Names and identifying details have been changed.

Hope for Hoarding

Last August I had the honor of meeting Debbie Fleming, a person ready to change her life.

She was selected by TLC’s show, Hoarding: Buried Alive for an episode showcasing her story. I was offered the role of her professional organizer and along with Dr. Travis Osbourn we supported Debbie in beginning to turn things around.

The real power of the experience for me was seeing first hand what happens when someone is open and honest about where they are. Yes, this was a frightening and daunting project for Debbie, but the cost of avoidance had surpassed even that prospect.

This is the point that EVERYONE facing change has to meet and get beyond.

I offer these photographs as an inspiration to anyone thinking that things are just too hard, or too much.

I think they say it all!!

Facing up to Email Chaos

Facing up to Email Chaos   

We all know it: email is one of the biggest log jams of modern life. There are some simple and powerful ways to apply basic organizing tools to managing the constant flood of information.

Remember the Four Basic steps?

1.  Sort FIRST

2.  THEN Purge

3.  Contain things in appropriate places

4.  Maintain it over time: Does it really work?

Well, just when you thought  these were the answer, I have to change the order slightly for email!!

This is because the process needs to be streamlined and get you back on track with what matters.

Before you can apply this technique you’ll need to set up folders that actually reflect the kind of mail you KEEP. This is best done by looking at what you already have filling your in-box. The trick is make enough folders for the topics so that you know how things relate, but not TOO MANY folders either!

Too many, say over 20, and you waste time hunting. Group topics and use sub folders only if you are comfortable with the techniques you’ll need to FIND them! Once you have a system of folders that cover the range you can sit back and address the in-box.

A rule of thumb proposed by David Allen is that it should take you 30 or 40 SECONDS to determine what has to be done about every piece of email.Take note: Not actually Answering it, just deciding if you have to!!

I figure a minute might be more realistic. Let’s assume you have 50 messages – get used to the fact that processing your email might take an hour.

Here is where the order of organizing steps changes:

1. Purge first: Scan all new messages and DELETE all the junk or things you recognize as not important enough to act on.

2. Get ready:  I know you want to open and read all the ones that look “Important” first. Instead you might flag them to come back to. Take a breath and:

3. Open each email and within 30-60 seconds decide if it even needs ANY action. If NOT and you want to keep it…MOVE IT to a folder related to that topic. Get it out of sight!!

4. If it does require a reply or action,  and it can WAIT, close it right away and move on to the next one. If you can fire off a reply in your allotted minute or so, do it and then MOVE the message to it’s folder. Remember you’ll still have your reply in your sent items to come back to! This is for non – crucial messages…..

5. Every time you come across one that tempts you to take immediate action that would take you more than 5 minutes and  distracts you from processing the email…. take a breath, flag it and continue until you know how many actual ACTION items you have.

Email Steps:

Have good folder system in place

Delete junk right off the top

After a One Minute Assessment:

Move non actions items to folders

Defer actions until you know what you have

Answer or act on what really requires attention!

And last….Move all completed messages to a folder!

An Experience with Identity

Many thanks to a long time client of mine who recently shared this thoughtful description of her de-cluttering experience:

I’ve been doing de-cluttering and re-organizing all year, but just today I started a project I had been putting off for a long time. There is a 4-drawer file cabinet out in my garage that is full of carefully organized hanging files, many of which I haven’t accessed in years.

This is way beyond financial statements and tax receipts. I have kept files on many, diverse topics of personal interest, topics related to science, art, history, people in the news, current events, philosophy, economics, etc., etc. I have stuff going back to the 1980′s and 1990′s: old newspaper clippings, magazine articles,  printouts from the Internet, theater programs, annual reports, and lots of old publications related to my former career.
Throwing out these paper files feels a little like throwing out pieces of myself. I look at the paper in the recycle bin and I think, hey, do I still exist?

Have I been diminished as the recycle stash grows?

This is such a weird struggle, totally in the realm of the mind.

Going through these files, I see myself as if I’m looking at a character in a movie – all these files defined my persona based on my interests and preoccupations at the time. Many of these topics continue to interest me, but I know I can go to the Internet or the public library if I need to research something.

There is no need to keep this kind of stuff in my living space once I have “digested” it, not unless I’m going to access it repeatedly for some reason. I certainly would’t want to pack most of this, if I were moving to a new home.

This file purge activity is both disturbing and liberating. Maybe it will help me re-invent my life….

David Allens “Blended Stacks”

I just read this on David Allen’s Newsletter and tried to “share” it, but could not find a way…. so I am passing it on to you via my blog. His systems might be the answer for you, or not, but the concepts here are right on:

The Numbness of Blended Stacks

You will experience an unnecessary level of mental fatigue and numbness in your environments and organizational systems by simply mixing up things that represent different agreements with yourself.

The most obvious case is where there are stacks of things that include items that have actions associated with them and things that just need to be filed or tossed. Often this is true of piles of reading material,  magazines, junk mail, email printouts, copies of articles, etc. Most people do not make a clean distinction, visibly or psychologically, between what they still tell themselves they should read, and what should be stored, routed, or just thrown away.

Similarly, thick project folders, tabletops and databases have often lost their value as operational tools in people’s lives. The majority of what’s inside project and client folders is reference and support material. But they also often include things that potentially have Next Actions and Waiting Fors associated with them, untracked in other control systems.

When your systems do not obviously distinguish between various actions required or desired with the contents, your brain will still feel obligated to make that sort every time it sees it. That’s way too much trouble, especially when we’re in the heat of daily battle, so the brain has to shut down rather than doing the detailed re-thinking required. Numbness ensues. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to go selectively numb – it tends to cut off the source of inspiration and enthusiasm as well.

With a proper segmentation of the nature of our “stuff”, it is amazing to notice the immediate change for the better in clarity and energy. This is the beauty of the GTD Workflow Diagram in helping you walk through that distinction. With a little effective categorizing, you can stop having to keep thinking about having to be doing so much work!

“Chaos isn’t the problem; how long it takes to find coherence is the real game.”

-Doc Childre and Bruce Crier

2010 The David Allen Company. All Rights Reserved

Please visit us on the web at <www.davidco.com>, email us at newsletter@davidco.com, or call 805-646-8432.

The David Allen Company
407-F Bryant Circle
Ojai, CA 93023
(805) 646-8432

Accomodations & Transport: Newsletter Excerpt

Accommodation: Only you can decide how much you like the unknown and the thrill of the hunt. Or perhaps like me, you’d rather spend time looking for dinner than a place to sleep. Each to his own! I prefer to do all my accommodation booking online. If they don’t respond to email I look elsewhere. Yes, that limits me and on some trips I am willing to forgo this if I have a specific recommendation. It’s easier if you separate the hotel process from everything else and dedicate time to doing city by city web site reviews. I create bookmarks in a browser for each place and keep track of which hotel had the great private terrace. After writing one email template asking for a room it’s easy to fill in the dates and send it out over and over. Typically I try to contact 3 or 4 possible places in each location, selected from The Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide and Rick Steves. I find these three sources offer a great range of options. Once the replies start coming back I pick and choose. It can be quite time consuming to fill out the online reservation forms, so plan ahead and do it when you feel relaxed and inspired. Even better, if you can email directly and ask actual questions you will often get better rates than those spelled out in the web site!

Transport Options: On a trip to Croatia I learned that sometimes the ferry just doesn’t go where we thought it would and the itinerary over several days had to change. When you’re working out how to get around, keep in mind that you may not have the most current information. Schedules are easier to get with the internet, but think carefully before committing to tightly timed transportation. Most trips will lend themselves to a number of options. Trains, buses and other local public systems can be perfect in some settings, and for others you may need to have your own car. The feel of the trip can be largely defined by this choice. On a trip with a leased car we had the leisure to leave town at a moment’s notice and just tossed stuff in the trunk and on one using trains we had to manage time differently and consider carefully what fit in a rolling suitcase.

Connections and Resources: Your trip may in fact be all about seeing people, family, renewing connections or making new ones. Remember to ask other travelers for their favorite stories and be open to unexpected opportunities. I’ve made amazing long lasting connections by being willing to meet people in strange places. One friend told me about her favorite place to buy traditional Hopi Kachinas on 2nd Mesa, in Arizona. The experience of meeting the shop owner and his advice on where to stay changed the direction of the trip, and his hilarious edits in highlighter to my regional map has become a staple of my personal travel lore.

Infrastructure: Getting an International drivers license, finding the perfectly balanced suitcase, figuring out if your phone needs a special card, how many spare batteries do I want for my camera? These are the pesky tasks that convince some folks to just skip traveling. I treat them as small hurdles, and when one gets done I celebrate. Take notes about how you solved it, and next time it will be even easier.

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