I am not a phone person.

By that I mean I regularly forget my phone at home for the whole day and it doesn’t bother me one bit.

I also mostly have my phone on silent so that I can choose when to receive messages and calls.

Call me weird but that works for me.

Anyway…

On Saturday I was doing the budget and I need my phone for that particular task.

I went to look for it and couldn’t find it anywhere.

I knew I’d had my phone in my last meeting on Friday afternoon but couldn’t remember using it after that.

So off I went to work (on a Saturday!) to look for the phone.

Well, I just walked into the building when I remembered that I’d received a text message after my personal training session on Friday afternoon.

Which means I couldn’t have lost it at work.

And so the whole trip there was a waste of time (and money, if I’m being honest).

But was it really?

I had to give myself a talking-to and told myself to just enjoy the quiet time in the car, driving through the quiet streets of Joburg on an overcast Saturday afternoon.

I love overcast days so this was not hard to do.

I put on a good CD (Air Supply) and enjoyed the drive home.

If you think I’m always Zen like this, you’d be mistaken.

But this is the beauty of blogging.

Beth’s post on not fretting in queues reminded me to be mindful in those moments on Saturday.

I still didn’t have my phone but stressing about it wasn’t going to get it to me fastern and I might as well have enjoyed the drive with my music.

Fortunately this story turned out well – my phone was on the window sill in the children’s bathroom and we found it on Saturday evening when they took a bath.

As we go through this very busy season, I hear lots of people talking about feeling overwhelmed. If that’s you, take a moment to look for something you can enjoy in those not-so-enjoyable moments.

Otherwise, if you’re ready to take action, I’m having a sale in my store. Everything (except one:one coaching) is 30% off if you use code HOLIDAY30 – have fun and remember this is for 48 hours only!

Do you find it hard to stay present in the bad moments? What is your strategy?

There are only 6 days til Christmas.

At this point you have a choice – you can stress and run around trying to do it all or you can let go.

When you visualise the two choices, which sounds more attractive to you?

What can you let go?

• the need to have a perfectly decorated house
• the illusion of super mom
• running around to the shops daily
• running around to lots of events
• hosting the perfect lunch or dinner
• your own expectations of yourself or others

Small business owners have so much to do every day – the business of your business (or what you’re actually paid to do), marketing, administration (emails, voicemails, etc.), bookkeeping.

The list goes on and on…

And that’s only one part of your life!

In order to have a balanced life, you need to manage your time correctly otherwise you’ll be stressed out, burnt out and frazzled!

Here are the top 3 things I do to make sure my small business runs smoothly:

1. Eat your frogs every day

Every day decide on a maximum of 6 things to do. Before you even put them on your list, ask yourself if they bring you closer to your business goals or not.

Then do the most important task first. It often seems like that one is also the most difficult task. Once that is out of the way, your day gets better, your energy increases and the rest of the day is a breeze.

This way, even if you don’t finish your 6 items, the most important tasks will always be done. I use this method for responding to emails too.

2. Remember Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Many times we don’t know how long something will take so we allow hours and hours for simple tasks. If you genuinely don’t know, then start keeping a time log for tasks you do routinely, like writing a weekly Ezine, daily blogging or posting to forums.

Once you have an idea of how long regular tasks take, set a timer when you do them in the future and aim to complete in that set time, every time.

I recently posted on Facebook that I was allowing myself 30 minutes for my monthly pile of filing. Yes, I missed the deadline by 7 minutes but if I’d allowed 2 hours, I’m 100% positive that it would have taken the full 2 hours too.

Do you know how long your standard tasks take to get done?

3. Have monthly, weekly and daily checklists

For anything you do more than once (or plan to delegate to a virtual assistant), make a list as you go along.

My monthly checklists have accounting and computer back-up, my weekly checklists have article submission and blog planning, and my daily checklists have email and so forth.

This is so that you don’t waste time having to rethink your steps of action every day, week or month, or worse still, you forget to do something important. I have a whole system for automating your business (Business Control Journal) as part of my Organise your Business system.

I suggest that you have some self-care items on your lists too. I read every day for pleasure and aside from a 20-minute planning session for the week ahead, I take the weekends off.

If you start implementing these 3 tips on a consistent basis, I guarantee that you’ll free up at least two hours a day.

I’d rather spend an extra two hours with my family; wouldn’t you?

Marcia Francois is a speaker and time management coach who helps small business owners break out of overwhelm, make the most of their time and get important projects done. Visit http://www.takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

There’s a little-known secret that, once understood, will absolutely change the way you run your life.

That secret is playing to your strengths by using your natural energy cycles.

When you work with your energy cycles instead of against them, you save time because you do things faster, with more clarity and with greater focus.

Quickly grab a piece of paper and answer these four questions:

1. Are you a night owl or an early bird?

If you’re a night owl like me, then plan your life so that you start the day off slowly and work up to your peak. Or vice versa.

2. When do you do your best creative work?

I don’t know if the real creative types will agree with me but I think that any form of writing uses the creative side of our brains.

When I need to do some writing, I’m generally great first thing in the morning (well, for me…) or very late at night (9pm onwards). If I try to write from lunch-time onwards, it takes me at least double the time, if not longer.

When I leave the project and do it at one of my prime writing times, the ideas flow easier and the quality is just better.

3. When do you do your best logical/ reasoning work?

This involves things like budgeting, playing with spreadsheets (that’s what I call it to make it seem more fun!), working with numbers, etc.

Figure this out and as best as you can, try and schedule these kinds of tasks when that side of your brain is awake and kicking!

4. When do you prefer to exercise?

Um, never Okay, let me rephrase: if you had to exercise, when would be the best time for you?

This usually works the same as number 1 but if you find that if you’re stuck, lacking motivation or just feeling overwhelmed, you might want to add in some exercise to jump-start yourself.

This week’s coaching challenge

a. Pick a task you’ve been procrastinating on or that you just can’t seem to get going with.
b. After you’ve identified the type of task, work on it at a different time of day.
c. Get it done

You can do it!

Marcia Francois is a speaker and time management coach. If you want to break out of overwhelm, I’ll show you how to get more organised and save time by getting the right things done. Visit http://takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack worth $37.

So many readers write in with this question: “how do I deal with overwhelm?”

A few weeks ago, I was dealing with my own overwhelm.

I had many meetings day after day after day (which means you get behind on the office stuff), my normal business activities plus I had to re-write a LOT of the copy for the website. All on deadline!

Add the stuff of life like cooking, cleaning and gym and you can see why I felt overwhelmed.

Doesn’t it feel good to know you’re not alone?!

We all have our own stories but the FEELINGS are exactly the same – a sense of being out of control and a to-do list a mile long!

So what did I do to cope?

1. Make a list

I printed out 10 of my master to-do lists (get yours in your Organising Success Pack) because it felt like I had hundreds of things to do.

I used one page for each project – website, clients, etc…

The amazing thing was my imagination was much worse than reality because I only needed 4 of those 10 pages Honestly, it does help to see how bad it really is, or isn’t.

2. Ask yourself a key question

When you feel overwhelmed, it’s important to realise that “this too shall pass” and to CONTINUALLY ask yourself this question:

What is the MOST important use of my time right now?

Remember, it’s not about being busy, but about being effective!

3. Cut out all non-essentials

Once you have the answer to the question in number 2, it’s easier to cut out the non-essentials.

Let go of the minor website changes and the email responses to your blog comments. Rather answer only client emails.

When the busy period is over, re-look at those non-essentials and REALLY question whether you even need to add them back into your life.

4. Focus and eat your frog

Now that you know what is MOST important, switch off cell phones, email, etc. and get it done.

If you have to do a proposal for a company, do nothing else til it’s done. That’s so that even when your day is done and the to-do list is still half a mile long, at least you have a sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT in having completed that most important task.

5. Categorise and batch

Once you’ve eaten your frog, and you still have energy, then categorise whatever’s left and tackle those items in batches.

Take your to-do list and use letters in the margin, like P for phone, E for email, etc. Then pick up the phone and make all your phone calls in one go. You save energy because you prepare once instead of 5 different times in the day.

And THAT is how I dealt with my overwhelm.

Next time you feel overwhelmed, try these 5 steps and get rid of that overwhelm at once.

Marcia Francois is a time management and business organising coach who helps small business owners make the most of their time. Visit http://organiseyourbusiness.com for your free 7-part audio series, 7 tips for time-strapped business owners.

With the change of season I seem to want to nest more. I suppose it’s part of making your home feel more comfortable so you can hibernate.

So I’m nesting.

I’ve commissioned a painter to come and paint the outside walls, an old chest of drawers (some of you are snickering but seriously, that’s how non-DIY both of us are) and my study.

With all of this and active babies and work, work and more work, it’s no wonder that I’ve started feeling like I need to organise my life again.

What?

You thought I’m always ultra-organised?

I am mostly… but like with you, my life also gets off track now and again.

The difference is that I recognise the symptoms quickly and I know how to get things running smoothly again.

These are the four things I put into place when life feels hectic:

1. Make my weekly menu plan

When your meals are organised, life goes better. Or is that just in my house?

Seriously, we love food and we like to know what we’re eating. It’s really not that hard when you keep a list of recipes everyone enjoys and check your pantry to see if you have the ingredients.

2. Make a master to-do list

This is still the best way to quiet the overwhelm and the noise in your head. It’s also usually much less frightening than the noise.

Often I’ll feel like there’s “SO MUCH” to do and when I actually make a list, it’s only about half of what I thought.

Case in point – I felt like I had such a lot on my to-do list for May but when I made a list, there were only 18 items.

3. Choose no more than 6 items to add to my daily to-do list

This is where most people lose the plot.

They try to do those 18 items all in one DAY and wonder why they feel demotivated and like a failure.

I spread out things so that one day I may have only one really big item while another day I could do three smaller ones.

4. Eat frogs first

Eating the frog means doing the thing you most dread, first.

You should eat the frog daily. I even eat my business frogs weekly. That means I do the hardest, most difficult items on my business to-do list on Monday and Tuesday so that it’s plain sailing after that.

Your organising challenge

1. Commit to do ONE of the things above to get your life running smoothly
2. Make a note to add another thing each week until they’re all part of your monthly rhythm.

Tami in Oklahoma says

My whole life is unorganized. I start decluttering/organizing one area, get distracted, and go to another area. Only creates messes!!

Tami, I totally get you!

You start organising your pantry, get to the baking goods, realise you’re having guests for tea, so start making muffins and before you know it, half the pantry is on the floor and the kitchen is a mess of flour and chocolate chips!

My suggestions are:

1. Make a project list with SMALL steps

When I feel overwhelmed, I use my master to-do list to note down everything that needs doing. Some people also like to mind map it.

I start big and then narrow down. So I might use one list for the kitchen, one for the bedroom and still another for the home office.

It’s very satisfying to tick off little projects as you get them done.

In the kitchen, you might have a list like this:

• kitchen table
• kitchen counters
• pantry – shelf 1
• pantry – shelf 2
• pantry – shelf 3

2. Use a kitchen timer

Use it not only in the kitchen but wherever you’re working on a project

3. Set the timer for shorter periods than you think

If you set it for an hour, you’ll probably get distracted sometime during those 60 minutes. I like to set mine for periods of 15 minutes as it forces me to concentrate. Also, I can do a drawer, a shelf, a pile of paper very easily in 15 minutes.

4. Reward yourself regularly

Have a cup of tea when you’ve completed an hour’s organising or if you finish a whole room, buy a book you’ve wanted for a while.

How do you overcome Big, Shiny Object syndrome?

Here’s more on how you can break out of overwhelm.

Why this teleclass?

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably inundated with messages from all over the internet.

And all the social media’s not helping either – should you facebook, should you twitter, what should you do?

You’re overwhelmed with everybody telling you what to do and and which system is the Next Best Thing to follow to make a gazillion dollars in a month

Instead of moving forward though, you feel so overwhelmed that you become totally paralysed with indecision.

On this teleclass you’ll learn…

• how to recognise the symptoms of overwhelm
• what type of organising personality you are…and how to work with your style to get your focus back
• some of my favourite tools (practically free) that help me focus
• how to break out of overwhelm (when all the noise in your head gets too loud) by doing the absolute minimum you need to do to get you moving forward again
• how to eliminate info product overwhelm… so you know which ones to follow to get the results you want
• how to get your mojo back (in other words, get the confidence to quickly get you back on track)
• how to go from just a lovely idea to a project actually done and off that eternal to-do list

“I used to spend my days always working on email and never getting anything done. Thanks to Marcia’s suggestions, I now can’t believe everything I get done in one day!

It’s allowed me to have a very successful business while working only 15-20 hours per week. I love that her techniques have given me the freedom to spend time with my sons and husband.

Thanks to her business organizing strategies I have doubled my productivity which has in turn doubled my business income. Thanks Marcia for all that you do!”

Jennifer Haubein

www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com

The nitty gritty details

Date: Tuesday 24 March

Time: 12pm EST/ 6pm South African Time (GMT+2)

Your time: click here for your time zone

What do you need: Pen and the handout I’ll be sending you

Format: Simulcast – both by webcast and telephone – so if you have a computer and internet, you can participate.

Investment: $37

I loved the clarity of your teaching and you have given me confidence that I can do more. You helped me realise my potential and the timing and ease of use worked very well.

The info you suggested was new to me as before, I’d only picked things up from others as I needed.

Tina Hodges
Sheffield, England
http://creatingwholeness.org

So how does this work?

• Once you register and pay, I’ll send you the access information and the handbook for the day.
• On the day, either call in on the phone (it’s a US number) or wait and download the link afterwards.
• If the time doesn’t suit you, register anyway because I’ll send you the recording within an hour or you can listen in via the replay link.

Let’s recap. What do you get …

• LIVE teaching from Marcia Francois, time management and organising expert
• LIVE group coaching
• Handout
• MP3 audio download after the live call
• this is part of your Gold VIP Inner Circle membership. Try it for a month and if you don’t like it, you can always cancel

All this for only $37

Here’s what people (just like you) are saying …

Your system helped me realize those places where I could streamline my processes even further to help increase my productivity and give me more time.

Thanks, Marcia!

Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
Online Promoter for Authors, Speakers & Writers
www.keybusinesspartners.com

Sometimes, when you’re not very far along on the Journey to Organisation, you may start feeling overwhelmed.

There are SO many places to start so you become indecisive.

Should I start in the kitchen? Should I start in the study? Should I start in my craft room? Maybe I should tackle the kids’ rooms?

HELP!

Okay, okay, re-lax…

Here’s what I suggest you do:

1. Grab a piece of paper and go to one room. Do not leave until this is done.
2. Draw a circle in the middle of the page and write the name of the room you’re in (let’s just say you’re in the office, since this is what I love organising).
3. Then draw spokes like the rays of the sun for each section in that room that needs to be organised – e.g. desk, bookshelf 1, bookshelf 2, etc.
4. Now look at each individual area and draw some more spokes off of each main spoke. For the desk you may have…top of desk, drawer 1, drawer 2, under desk, and so on….

Now you have a visual plan of EVERYTHING that needs to be done in a particular area.

Then you tackle each of those sub-spokes until all the little sections are done. As you finish a section, cross it off in a different colour.

The thing is, those little bits can easily be done in 15-minute segments and before you know it, you’ve sorted an entire room.

At least then there’s one room you can call a sanctuary - and then the next, and the next…

If you’re a more linear thinker and don’t like the “messy” nature of mind maps (for many years, I didn’t either but I seem to be “breaking loose” these days), may I suggest that you print out the master to-do list on my site under Free tips and downloads. Use a different page for each room and simply list all the areas, one after the other.

Everything is still contained on one page, just in a linear, logical fashion. You’ll still start working on one room at a time.

This works for me. Has this post helped you? Leave me a comment and let me know how you prevent overwhelm.