Happiness is…

Receiving an email telling you your blog is number 3 on the 50 best blogs to organize everything in your life list.

I am very honoured to be on this list!

P.S. It also helped to cheer me up when I was having a terrible day

Many people who come to me for time management coaching say they want to be more productive.

One of the first questions I ask is this:

“What does the word productive mean to you?”

And here’s where the fun starts.

Because I get so many different answers.

• my emails cleared daily
• my house cleaned more regularly
• to do my work fast
• to get my chores out of the way quickly so I can play with my kids
• and on and on

All very different answers.

For me it means “getting through my daily, weekly and monthly goals effectively so that I reach my big, life purpose”

So I want to hear from you – what does productive mean to you?

So I’m still working on letting go.

As I said, it’s very practical now but I will move onto bigger and more important stuff like feelings, commitments that don’t suit me, people that drain me, etc. once it becomes easier

I’m a firm believer in small steps.

I’ve also been trying to declutter my blogs in my google reader.

I started last week with 76 and I’m now down to 60. I should have left number 61 on but I wanted a nice round number

To put that in perspective, my comfort number is around 40 – 45. By that I mean I can get through them daily, I can comment on about half of them and I don’t feel like I’m just scanning.

Remember everyone doesn’t post daily so it’s manageable to me if I clear my GR daily.

I’m going to revel in that number for a few days and then see if I can get that number down further.

Yes, it was hard to let go of blogs especially since I’m so curious to find out what’s going on in other people’s lives.

Anybody else like that?

Some were easy – I probably followed them after reading one good post and now it’s all blah blah blah, but some were difficult as I’m still interested (like all the house, crafty and creative blogs I read) but I knew I had to make choices.

How many subscriptions are in your Google Reader?


And what’s your comfort number?

How would you like to start every day off on the right foot?

Wouldn’t you like to feel a sense of excitement as you start your day?

You CAN if you do something for just 5 minutes a day.

This is not some crazy statement – it really is true. I promise

If you spend 5 minutes every evening (or at the end of every day) planning the next day, your life will dramatically change.

So what do you need to do?

1. Grab a notebook or piece of paper

My Eat the Frog form works equally well.

The point is to have somewhere to capture your thoughts.

2. Ask yourself one of these important questions

* Which 3 – 5 things, when accomplished, will move me towards my goals?
* What is the best use of my time tomorrow?

3. Think effective, not busy

Busy means you’re doing LOTS of things. Effective means you’re doing the RIGHT things.

E.g. Yesterday, after I downloaded email, I had two choices – keep BUSY by reading newsletters and replying to all my blog comments & personal emails, or be EFFECTIVE by responding to a journalist who wants to interview me, and write my newsletter.

Guess which I chose to do?

4. Write down no more than 6 tasks

Mary Kay, one of the world’s most successful businesswomen, said that the secret of her success was to only tackle 6 tasks a day. If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me

I actually showed a client my own planner a few weeks ago. When I think I’m Superwoman and put down more than 6 tasks, I never get them all done. But when I put 5 or 6 tasks on my list, I get them all done.

Did you know you can spend time with me in a Virtual Organising Session? I show you exactly how I set up my own systems and we go through all the computer and email tricks you could possibly imagine. *email me if you’re keen*

5. Number your tasks in terms of priority

Only now (in step 5) do you number them. Don’t try and number them before you get them down – you might get stuck in analysis paralysis

You’ll hit the ground running the next day when you start on number 1 and move through your list until you complete number 6.

At this point you can relax and enjoy your evening knowing that you’ll have a productive day the following day.

For many, many more tips, check out I need more time – guaranteed to give you another 5 – 10 hours a week.

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.

I had a call yesterday from a producer asking me if I could be on a show last night as they would be discussing clutter and hoarders.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS! You know how passionate I am about decluttering

Big scramble to get Dion home to watch the babies just in case they decided to act up (Murphy’s Law, isn’t it?) while I was on the telephone.

And it was great – I loved all the people phoning in, telling us about their problems with hoarding, their family members’ issues or just what they thought about hoarders.

Only problem is there wasn’t nearly enough time to chat with each person long enough.

Thank you, Kaya FM, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the show and look forward to the next time!

P.S. This whole deal made me think about hosting an Ask the Organiser call for people on my mailing list. Do you think that’s a good idea?

I’ve decided to do Project 365 this year where you take one photo a day.

As you know, I do like baby steps

I’ve already posted my first 9 days and there are some organising pics but if you do want to subscribe and you only want to see the organising pics, then click on the word organising under LABELS.

Here’s the new blog – http://marcia-project365.blogspot.com

Is anyone else doing this photo project?

I read an absolutely fabulous post over at Beth’s place the other day called The Christmas Police.

What a great reminder to simplify!

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with all there is to do, STOP.

• You don’t have to buy more gifts.
• You don’t have to do more baking
• You don’t have to send out Christmas cards even if you’ve received some.
• You don’t have to decorate your house to match your neighbours’ houses.
• You don’t have to put up another tree.
• You don’t have to go to that party you don’t want to go to.

Just relax and BE.

After the initial bout of slight panic, it’s strangely freeing to go against the grain!

Give yourself permission to STOP and enjoy what you have done (even if it’s nothing). Nobody enjoys being around frazzled people, especially at this time of year.

Which is exactly why I’m avoiding the malls in Johannesburg… although I decided on the red daily planner and wouldn’t you know? They only had ONE left when I went last week so I snapped it up!

What do you need to give yourself permission to stop doing?

P.S. Mine is in the comments

• I make a list of everyone I want to send a card to.
• Gather all the cards from my storage box
• Address them all – I store the addresses in Outlook
• Then when the cards are sitting on my desk with all the addresses peeking at me, I’m more motivated to actually write out the messages and get them done.
• I try and write a few every day so that all the writing doesn’t become a burden. I don’t believe in just saying “To ________ From _________ ” so I try and put a bit of effort into it.
• I took 10 with me to the hairdresser’s last week and while the colour was on my hair, I managed to write out 6.

In South Africa, people aren’t really big on giving Christmas cards. Or maybe that’s only in my circle???

This year I took about 40 from my stash (I buy them at half price just after Christmas every year) and I think 10 were for people in South Africa; the rest are being sent overseas.

Do you send Christmas cards? What’s your strategy for getting them done?

We all know that between kids, shopping, work and gym, it is often a challenge to keep the car nice and clean. It doesn’t have to be an impossible task if you put some or all of these ideas into practice.

Here are 10 things I do to keep my car clean, tidy and organised.

Clean

1. I don’t allow any messy, greasy food in my car and I only eat fruit that won’t mess. This rule applies to me and to other people.

2. I don’t allow anybody to smoke in my car.

3. I also have some wet wipes in my cubby-hole to wipe my hands from the fruit. I then use the same wet wipe to clean my steering wheel, my dashboard, gear lever, etc. It’s called repurposing.

4. To keep your car smelling nice, leave a plastic refill bag of fabric softener under your car seat. The smell permeates the whole car and makes it smell lovely.

Tidy

1. I keep some plastic bags in my cubby-hole so that I can throw away apple cores, bits of paper, etc. This bag leaves my car every weekend or once it’s full, whichever comes first.

2. I also have a special plastic bag for my umbrella. There is nothing worse than wet-car smell from horrible, wet umbrellas.

3. In the boot (trunk) of my car, I keep a box so that my shopping bags don’t move around. Inside the box, I keep a couple of fabric shopping bags.

Organised

1. I have a notebook and pen in the actual car mainly to write down when I fill up with petrol but also to make notes so I don’t forget things. If I’m driving and I remember something I have to do, I quickly make a note of it at the traffic light.

2. When you fill up with petrol, note down the number of L and then you can work out when you next should fill up. Now, if you don’t get the same consumption for a number of times, then you should get your car checked out at the next service.

3. I also like keeping a magazine in the car. When I’m kept waiting somewhere, I can use the time constructively to catch up on my reading.

Now it’s your turn

Please share your favourite tips in the comments