Consistency or Flexibility, Part 2: Lists

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About a decade ago, I sat beside a colleague prior to a meeting and watched her do what so many of us do frequently: make a list. She was making hers on a legal pad and, as I watched her flip the page and continue the list, I began to feel tired at the very thought of her list. I determined then and there that I'd never make a list that long.

Not very realistic, right?

Over the years, I've used lists in a variety of ways. Although my lists rarely approach the length of my colleague's, most are longer than I'd like.

Yesterday's was one of them.

Today, I once again found myself thinking about consistency and flexibility, mostly because my lists are consistently inconsistent. Some days, I create a master list and work directly from it. Other days, I move tasks from the master list to a calendar or schedule, assigning the tasks to specific days or times. Sometimes, I write down my Big 3 and leave it at that. The only thing that's completely consistent when it comes to my lists is that I always make one.

Over time, one of the things I've learned about lists is that different days call for different kinds of lists. Some days, I can't face the master list, so I go with the Big 3. Other days, when I feel as though I haven't accomplished much of anything, I use a backwards to-do list to set myself straight. Then there are grocery lists, holiday shopping lists, guest lists...the, ahem, list is endless.

Clearly, when it comes to lists, I come down on the side of flexibility because, in the end, making lists and using them is more important than what they look like, what I write them on or how long they are. And, since my memory definitely isn't getting better, I'm pretty sure the road to my future is papered with lists.

What are your to-do list habits?

3 Key Concepts for the I Need to See it Personal Style

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

For the past two weeks, I've been focusing my Thursday posts on the personal styles. Last week, I zoomed in on the I love stuff personal style, and the week before, I offered strategies for those who embody the I love to be busy personal style. This week, we tackle the personal style that best describes me.

I need to see it.

• Organizing: Make it visual. Whether clear, color-coded or quirky, containers that keep things visible and/or attract the eye are a hit with the I need to see it personal style set. Bridging the gap between visible and out of sight, out of mind, these containers help those of us who are visually motivated to create order out of chaos.

• List-making: Tangible reminders. Those with the I need to see it style often prefer paper planning to the convenient but out-of-sight electronic variety. Paper makes it easy to subdivide and color code. This summer, I'm trying out a notebook system with colorful tabs. This allows me to separate my lists by topic, but still keep them all in one place, as well as minimizing the pile-up of notes on my kitchen counter.

• Goal-setting: Write them where you'll see them. As much as possible, I try to connect my goals to my calendar. While "finish writing my novel" isn't a goal I will accomplish this week, "spend an hour writing" is, and, if I put it on my calendar, it's more likely to happen. Especially if it's one of my Big 3. 

If you're an I need to see it person, what are the key ideas you swear by? Share in the comments below!

Need more about this style? Click here to read the original post.

Still not sure which personal style describes you? You can take this quiz to find out, but don't let that keep you from trying out any of the strategies that appeal to you!

For printable information sheets 
about containers and the styles, 

click on the CHARTS tab at the top of this page.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Strategies that Work Across Styles

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about list-making style-by-style. Although organizing works best when we approach it in a manner consistent with our personal and organizational styles, some strategies work well across the styles.

My favorite strategies when it comes to big goals and long lists are the ones that help me focus on what I've accomplished. 

Big 3. This is a new approach for me, relatively speaking, born out of too many goals and too little time. Each day, I jot down three things I want to accomplish before day's end. In order for this strategy to work well, the goals have to be medium-sized. If they're too big, I'll end up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed; too small and I might just miss out on that feeling of accomplishment that comes from checking them all off the list. 

Give it 5. Have an overwhelming task? Set a timer for five minutes and tackle it. You won't finish, but you'll make a dent, and, once you get started, you just might keep going and get more done than you expected. Getting started is often the hardest part, and promising ourselves to work for just five minutes can help us clear that hurdle, 

Backwards to-do list. Some days, we have to make a special effort to focus on our accomplishments. Those are backwards to-do list days -- days when, instead of writing down what we need to do, we write down what we've accomplished as we accomplish it. A load of laundry in the washer? Jot it down. Dinner in the slow cooker? Add it to the list. One shelf in the closet reorganized? Write it down. At the end of the day, instead of having a partially checked-off list, we have a list of everything we've done. It's a small difference in list-making that can make a big difference in motivation.

And, make no mistake, staying motivated is a key part of the process when it comes to the marathon that is getting (and staying) organized.

Assessing the Big 3

Pixabay

About a month ago, I started using a strategy I'm calling the Big 3. Each day, I decide what three things are my top priorities for the day, and then I write them down.

And you know what? This one's a keeper.

If you're like me, you've tried any number of strategies when it comes to organization and time management, only to abandon some of them even before the ink was dry on the note you wrote to yourself. Some are too complicated, others too time-consuming. And then, of course, there's the biggest flaw of all.

The plan doesn't fit your styles.

I started the Big 3 because I have a tendency to never be satisfied with what I accomplish. I focus too much on what I've left undone, and not enough on what I've accomplished. Or, I swing from one extreme to the other, overdoing it one day and crashing the next. I needed a strategy that would even things out, helping me to establish a steady flow of successes. Successes are, after all, the foundation of STYLE.

I'm happy to report that, one month in, the Big 3 is working quite well. Some days, I've been tempted   to expand it to the Big 5, because, after all, if 3 is good, isn't 5 better?

Um, no. No, it's not.

The purpose of the Big 3 was to increase the likelihood that I'd not only accomplish what I set out to do, but also that I'd have time to do other things -- maybe even fun things -- as well. And the purpose of evaluating this strategy here and now is to expand on another principle of tailoring your solutions to fit your needs.

When something is working, don't stretch it to the breaking point. Adapt, if you must, but don't ruin a perfectly good strategy by pushing it beyond its limits -- or pushing yourself beyond your limits.

Like so many strategies, the Big 3 arose over time, in response to a problem I identified. In addition, I set it up so it would fit me and my needs.

Could the Big 3 work for you? Maybe.

But maybe it won't. Maybe it won't fit your styles, and you'll need to make adjustments. Maybe you're more of a backwards to-do list person, or maybe you survive on one big, long list that includes everything you need to accomplish for the foreseeable future.

Whatever you do, let your styles be your guide.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 of My Favorite Habits

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

It bears repeating that I don't write this blog from an expert point of view. Consequently, one of the benefits of doing so is that it keeps me honest, consistently spurring me on to bigger and better things, organizationally speaking. 

As I've often said, am work in progress. As such, I find myself working out my own solutions as I write this post and as I continue to look at my house in my life through fresh eyes. Along the way I've tried a variety of solutions to the organizational problems that plague to me. Some have fallen by the wayside, but others have stuck, becoming habits I rely on. Here are three of my favorites.

• Dealing with the mail as it comes in. I used to just dump the mail on the counter when I came into the house. I think this habit began when my daughter was small and I had a miniature human to tend to the minute that I walked in with the mail. Over time, this habit created a major mess, but it remained a really hard habit to break. What finally made the difference (in addition to the beautiful clear space that appeared when I finally decluttered the counter) was finding a solution to the mail counter that worked with my styles. Once I succeeded in doing that, (the solution was switching to an open-top file that simplified the process, and kept things put away, but still visible) it became just as easy to take care of the mail immediately as it had been to put it off. While I certainly can't say that the counter is perfect on a daily basis, it rarely reaches the epic disaster proportions that used to be  a common state of affairs before.
• Making the bed. I credit organizer Marcia Ramsland with this one. When I read in one of her books how big a percentage of the room it takes up, and how the room automatically looks neater just because of this simple act, I was sold. Some days it gets made later than others, but it rarely goes unmade.
• My Big 3. Admittedly, this habit isn't very old, but I can already feel it making a huge difference in changing the way I look at things. Accomplishing my big three gives me permission to relax and stop worrying so much about what I didn't do. 

How about you? What simple habits make your life easier?

The Big 3

Amazon.com

A long time ago, I read a book called, Write it Down, Make it Happen! I'm sorry to say that I don't remember the specifics of the book, but I credit it with my belief in the concept that writing down a goal makes it more likely you'll accomplish it. Research agrees as well. Not only do we do a better job of meeting our goals when we write them down, but we're also more successful at doing so when we go public.

Although I do a good job of writing down my long-term goals, I'm not as good with short-term goals, and, when it comes to daily goals, I tend to overestimate what I can accomplish. Then, I get overwhelmed, and stop writing things down altogether. 

Sometimes, structured procrastination saves the day and I accomplish stuff, even though it wasn't what I thought I'd accomplish when the day began, and sometimes, I'm satisfied with that. But other times, perfectionism takes over and I become annoyed with myself for not doing that perfect thing -- you know, the one I was supposed to be doing in the first place.

Last week, I decided to try a new approach that I'm calling my "Big 3." I can't take credit for this, but, unfortunately, I can't give credit, either, as I know I've read something similar in multiple places. I've seen various numbers bandied about, ranging from writing down just one thing (the most important thing) you want to get done on up to other magical numbers, but I've settled on three. If I write down just one, perfectionism overtakes me; I feel as though it must be done in its entirety (and to perfection) by the end of the day. In addition, checking only one thing off my list seems insufficient.  

Much too much pressure for something that's supposed to be working in my service.

Big 3 became a plan quite by accident. One day last week, I was feeling scattered, and I thought writing down three things I wanted to get done before the end of the day would help me focus. I did this late in the day, when I felt as though the remaining hours were slipping away, and I wanted to harness some productivity.

And it worked.

So I did it again.

And it worked again. 

Even better, I felt a release of pressure. Instead of my relentless to-do list nagging at me, I was taking charge of it. Showing it who was boss and doing away with the "shoulds."

Pixabay

With three things on my list, I'm okay with not getting them all done to completion, let alone perfection. Simply spending some time on all three leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment. And, if it turns out that I can squeeze in a few more things, that's good, too. In fact, I tend to plan the rest of the tasks I tackle around my Big 3, which leads to a more productive day, even when all of the Big 3 aren't fully completed by day's end.

I'm still playing with timing. Now, I tend to set my Big 3 at the beginning of the day, but I suspect that when things get busy, I might also readjust later in the day to try to use the early evening hours more efficiently. 

You might prefer a different number. You might like writing down the most important thing, and planning the day around it. You might like focusing on just two things -- one for early in the day and one for later in the day.

Whatever you end up with, remember to be realistic. Writing focused goals doesn't add more hours to the day or more spring to your step. If you're not in the mood to put something on the top of the list today and it doesn't have an immediate deadline, save it for tomorrow. 

Finally, don't forget to put the fun stuff on your list from time to time. I have a stack of to-be-read books that never seems to shrink because I don't make reading a priority. Yesterday, I listed reading as one of my Big 3, giving me an excuse to walk right past other tasks so I could curl up with my book. 

And check it off my list.

Dominican University of California