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Full Disclosure: I don’t like to waste time
• I walk the line between organization and OCD
• My house is not all that neat – but I know where everything is• If you want a clean house, have a dinner party
• My grocery list is in Excel
• I do things in a logical order – work, cleaning, errands
• I organize what I can amidst the chaos
David Allen: “Getting Things Done” ®
“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWG9M2E/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
Write down everything that’s in your head –brainstorm, no editing
“Do I have to write it all down?”
“No, just the stuff you want to get done.”
If it’s something you naturally do –i.e. wake up, brush you teeth –don’t write it down
Exceptions:
• Calls/email/organize
• Billable hours
If something is only going to take 5 minutes, don’t write it down - just do it
• Start a separate “big project” list –break big projects into parts –what has to happen today to move the project along?
• Take off the Cs
• Pull meetings from your calendar into the week – how much time do you have left?
• What has to happen today? Tomorrow? What can wait till Thursday? Plan your day looking at meetings within the week
Look at your big list and prioritize – A, B or C
• Check if done
• Dot if in process
• Arrow if you move the task to another day
• X to take off the list
At the end of the day:
• Use pencil to keep your calendar clean – dates change
• Review your calendar on Sunday -Monday plans come from Friday and from what’s due this week
• If you’re working with a team, review again at the end of the week to discuss plans for the next week
Use one calendar for meetings, due dates, and to set up blocks of “task time” for yourself
• Call notes, meeting notes, contact info, billable hours
• Keep a pad of paper in your bag and by the bed – add those notes later to your planner
Keep all of your notes in one place – in your planner
• Paper planners combat the suck of the Internet
• Work without going to your desk
• Re-writing a task = incentive to do it or delete it
• Keep track of what you are waiting for as well as what you are working on
• Use uniform ink
• At the back of my planner: travel docs, contacts, passwords, business cards
Paper versus e-calendars, planners
Use an monthly index at the front of each month for easy reference later to find meeting notes, contact info
In order to get more done, you are going to have to make some sacrifices
In order to write, I cut:
• TV
• Movies
• Novels
• Magazines
• Travel $s
Cut things that take away your time and your energy
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow
“People who learn to control inner experience will be able
to determine the quality of their lives.”
https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en
• You know you’re in flow when time slips away from you
• Flow is focus
• The trick behind flow is prioritizing the essential you and spending time there
Leo Babauta: Zen Habits
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is
the axis on which the whole earth revolves.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
http://zenhabits.net/about/
• Do what you love first in the day
• Don’t like a habit? Create a new one
• Test yourself; try things that are hard
• Clear the clutter
• Pack light
• TMIs
If you are a boss, a good part of your job involves being in meetings and being interrupted
• If you want to get tasks done, schedule time with yourself• Do not bring your phone into your “Task
Time”
• Wander around with your direct reports – that’s where you hear the good stuff
• When you have formal meetings: short, walking, with a tight agenda is ideal; face the FOMO
Files v. Piles
• If something is on your list, trust that you’ll do it – you don’t have to “see” it on your desk
• Go through your “in process” folder on Sundays
• Go through your “hold for info” folder at the end of the week
• Sleep
• Eat healthy food
• Take stretch breaks
• Meditate
• Get outside
Get this into your planner –track it if it helps!
Take care of yourself
Want to learn something?
• Be curious - ask questions; become an expert at what you do
• Take a class; listen and participate as if you need to teach the class
• Talk to strangers
• Read books
• Write out a list of 50 things you want to do before you die
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
• Be a strong, reliable brand; don’t make promises you can’t keep
• Be pro-active – if you’re missing something, ask for it
• Build your brand everyday, with every task
• Be 100% reliable
• Don’t waste anyone’s time – run on train time
You are your own brand“What is your tagline?”
How do you stay organized?
Janie Downey
C0-founder Catalog University
207-233-3339