Organizational Extra: Getting Organized at Work

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Whether you work from home or out of the home, it's easier to be efficient when you're organized. Or, so I hear. Right now, I'm in the middle of numerous projects, and if things go on this way much longer....let's just say I'm looking forward to having time to implement these tips from Rice University.

Admittedly, some of them are a little Type A, but many of them are good, especially if you can find a way to style-ize them.

Personally, I'm in favor of anything that makes work easier.

Enjoy your weekend.

Three Keys Thursday: 3 Keys for Getting to a Goal

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause

Typically, I'm a global person, but sometimes, I charge through life with my blinders on and lose sight of the big picture. On Monday, I came face-to-face with the reality of a deadline I'd set for myself, and it became clear that continued procrastination would not work if I wanted to meet that deadline.

Neither would a global approach. It was time to take stock, break the remaining tasks into action steps and move forward. I needed to do away with distractions, structured procrastination and anything non-essential and focus on moving toward my goal.

When you get serious about achieving a goal, the best way to reach it is to create a plan. The steps I used aren't rocket science, but following through on them involves both discipline and motivation. Because the goal is important to me, I expect that I'll be able to find both, at least most of the time.

Want to get from here to there? Try this:

Lay it out. Clearly state your goal and think about what lies between you and its successful completion. What are all the things you have to do to get from here to there? Write them down (or type them up), breaking things down into logical chunks, each of which requires as few steps as possible (ideally one). When I prepare for class, for example, I need to:

• create my presentation (including what I call an orientation slide); 
• create and/or copy any handouts and
• upload the information for my students.

Although creating the presentation is a multi-step process, this is something I do all the time, so "create the presentation" is a logical chunk. I separated out the orientation slide only because when I neglect to state it specifically, I sometimes forget to do it. Similarly, uploading the information may require more than one step, but everything is going to the same place and, since I tend to do it all at once, that's a logical chunk for me.

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Break it down. Once you decide what needs to be done, you need to decide when you're going to do each thing. With class preparation, I tend to devote a chunk of time to doing it all, but with other tasks that include multiple small steps, I might allocate different tasks to different times, checking each off as I accomplish it.

Stick to it. Allocating specific times for each task, as described in the step above, is the first step in doing this. Blocking out times for each action step is like making an appointment with yourself. If you're really serious about reaching your goal on time, you'll make the same effort to keep the appointments you set with yourself as you do to keep those you set with someone else. If you wouldn't skip a dinner date with a friend because you're tired, you owe yourself the same courtesy when it comes to the tasks you've put into your calendar.

Do I do this all the time? But of course...not. But when a goal is important, setting the proper course is just as important. Otherwise, you're likely to find yourself sitting by the side of the road, admiring those who made it to the finish line.

The Art of (Structured) Procrastination

I am a procrastinator. It's part of my makeup, part of my writing, part of my life. And so when I found John Perry's The Art of Procrastination in a local independent bookstore, I snatched it up. Humorous, self-deprecating and thought-provoking, it's a fun read -- one that pokes fun at the habit, but manages to analyze its pluses and minuses as well. So, this semester, I made it required reading for my first year seminar, and on the day I introduced it, I even wore my "Structured procrastinator" tee shirt.

Perry's premise is that structured procrastinators actually accomplish a great deal while they're procrastinating. We know what we're supposed to be doing, and while we're putting off doing that thing, we do other things instead. In the end, we get a lot done, even if none of it is what we're supposed to be doing.

I first read the book over a year ago, but it wasn't until last week that I realized one of the things that has cemented my structured procrastination habit.

Parenthood.

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Being a parent makes you a structured procrastinator. Oh, okay, it helps if you already have the procrastination gene (if there is such a thing), but I suspect that even the most task-oriented person can get sucked into structured procrastination while waiting for her children to do...whatever it is she's waiting for them to do. We learn to fill tiny pockets of time with quick little tasks in order to be efficient, but the irony is that what begins as an effort to not waste time becomes a habit that does exactly the thing it set out to avoid.

Provided it doesn't get out of hand and keep us from accomplishing things that are important, structured procrastination is actually a pretty good idea. We get little things checked off our lists, and sometimes the little things are a warm-up to the big stuff. And sometimes, the big things -- especially the big ideas -- need time to simmer before the answers bubble up.

Stop by tomorrow for a three keys post on what to do when the procrastination -- no matter how structured -- isn't working.

Organizing Extra: Martha Stewart Tackles Fall

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Leave it to Martha Stewart to organize things I never even thought of organizing. In light of the emergence of fall weather here in Pennsylvania, I thought I'd share some fall organizing tips. In honor of the temperate weather, some organize things inside the house, others make suggestions for outdoors.

I hope fall is as lovely where you are today as it is here.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Ways to Survive a Six-Day Week

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause

Last Saturday, I spent the day at the York Book Expo. Though I was only manning my table from 1-4, I spent the morning getting ready and, by the time I got home, I was wiped out. Though the day was a good one, it was a total write-off in terms of accomplishing anything I usually do on a Saturday.

Some weeks are like that. No matter how valuable or enjoyable the activity, "losing" one day out of the week can put us behind schedule, leaving us feeling stressed out in the week that follows as we try to "catch up."

When this happens, it's helpful to remember to do a few things as you tackle your "six-day week":

Breathe. Tension and stress do absolutely nothing to help us accomplish our tasks or reach our goals. In fact, they often do just the opposite. Breathe, try to relax, and tackle one thing at a time.

Triage. I'm not a medical professional, so my understanding of this term is limited to my extensive experience watching television medical dramas. Fortunately task triage is much less intense than triage in the emergency room, and boils down to three questions: Who matters most? What matters most? and What has a deadline?

I know, I know -- they all matter. It all matters. But you know what? It doesn't. Some tasks and some people take precedence. To quote Stephen Covey, "Put first things first."

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Stop worrying about what you can't control. This includes other people being miffed because you didn't do what they wanted you to do. It's hard enough to make decisions about what comes first without trying to second guess other people's interpretations of your choices. And often, they're trying to make the same hard choices you are...which means they aren't even thinking about what you're doing.

I know. Easier said than done. The ideal situation is to have just the right amount of stuff to do each day with none that carries over into the next day, and for there to be seven fully available days in each week.

But if that happened all the time, how would we appreciate it when it does?

Does Your I Love to Be Busy Style Need a Makeover?

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From the beginning, I've identified myself as an I need to see it/drop and run person. Walk into my workspace, and within fifteen seconds, both of these will be evident. In my world, any organizational system without a visual component is doomed by the double whammy of two styles that feed one another.

And while I encourage those taking my styles quiz to claim one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style, many of us have traits of the other styles as well. For me, the style that lurks in the background, arguably creating the biggest problem of all, is the I love to be busy personal style.

I haven't talked much about the I love to be busy style, except to suggest keeping systems simple and subdivided. Like many I love to be busy people, I have different bags for different activities, allowing me to grab what I need and go where I'm going. Many of these bags have subsections so that things that go wherever I go (car keys, wallet, phone) can be dropped into their respective subsections -- usually the same one every time -- so I can find what I need when I need it. Keeping all of my necessary materials together in one place (and separate from those for other activities) is key to managing my busyness.

Early on in the process of naming these styles, I love to be busy was called I like to be busy; the name change came about as a way of keeping style names consistent. But you know what? I don't love to be busy. And, the older I get, the more question whether or not I even like to be busy. Sure, I love (word choice intentional) having a wide variety of interests and activities -- that much is true. But lately, I've been craving a break from the craziness -- a life with a little less busy and a little more balance.

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Once upon a time, I did love to be busy, and I took great pride in keeping all the balls in the air as I juggled multiple activities. When I was single and first starting out professionally, busy meant the opposite of lonely -- something that I suspect will be true again when I'm retired for real -- but for many of us in the process of raising families, busy means tired. Overwhelmed. In need of balance.

If you truly love to be busy, more power to you. Keep the organizational systems for your activities simple and separate and ready to go at a moment's notice. Revel in your ability to juggle, spin plates and keep track of everything.

But if you, like me, are finding that your verb is changing, or maybe you even have a love-hate relationship with busyness, maybe it's time to consider re-organizing your time just as you would your stuff. Just as we take a look at our possessions and decide what to keep and what to get rid of, so should we take a look at our calendars and find ways to let go of the clutter. Maybe we should consider using the idea of one in/one out not just with purchases (getting rid of something old when you buy something new), but with activities as well. Or even putting dates with ourselves into our calendars so we're not left without time to take care of ourselves.

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Organizing is a balancing act. With possessions, we balance stuff with space. With activities, we balance stuff with time. Our society seems to think that busier is better, but is it?

If too much stuff can tip the scales into disorganization, might it be true that too many activities can tip the scales into exhaustion?

How busy do you really want to be?

Organization Extra: Life Editing

Photo: Tat via Morguefile

Graham Hill lives in 420 square feet of space -- by choice. In his TED Talk, "Less Stuff, More Happiness," he shares three guidelines, all in under six minutes:

• Edit ruthlessly.
• Small is sexy.
• Make multifunctional.

While this TED Talk may cause palpitations in I love stuff people, it's worth watching if only to see the 420 square foot space, and the cool things he used to make it work. And while it may be hard to edit ruthlessly, the other half of his advice in that area was to stem the inflow, something that many of us find much easier to do.

Organization is important. It's also much easier when the amount of stuff we have fits well into the space we inhabit. Personally, I'm still working on that, but when I watch TED Talks like this one, I'm more motivated to do some of that ruthless editing.