lists are boring

Do you harbour any other myths about lists?

Are you a list-maker?

Are your lists working for you?

Do you live in Gauteng?

Do you need some time out?

Bookings are now open for the live workshop I’ll be holding on Saturday morning, 13 August.

Click here to find out the full scoop and see how you can join me.

******************************************

I had so very many questions in the recent survey from readers wanting to know how I manage to do it all.

I’m not sure if I should be flattered that you think I do it all because I really don’t.

Yes, I probably do a lot because I’ve always had quite a bit of energy but there’s much more I don’t do.

Let me explain:

1. I’m very clear on my life purpose

I have a life mission typed out (not pretty or cute, just typed out) and I know my definition of success in life.

I also know my values. A quick secret – one of those values is not to have the laundry perfectly done (far from it), but it is to take consistent action.

Are you clear on your life purpose?

2. I’m best friends with “good enough”

For me, it’s better to have something done than have it perfect.

If you’re cringing at that sentence, let me tell you that I used to be you. Until I got coached on the fact that trying to get the last 20% of any project perfect usually takes more time than it took to do the previous 80%.

E.g. if I think of something that’s completely out of my comfort zone, making a picture collage in Picasa, it literally takes a few minutes to select some pics and group them in a collage. The playing with it to get the best configuration with the best background and font, etc, etc takes about 3 – 5 times longer than just the collage.

Of course, there is a time and place for prettying something up – maybe for your children’s birthday party *ahem* but for general sending out of occasional pics to family, it’s not necessary to be perfect. Good enough is more than fine.

Do you know when 80% is enough, or are you still stuck on perfect?

3. I have a To Not Do list

We all know there are 24 hours in a day and there is not enough time to do everything.

So it is key to know which things to leave on the To Not Do list.

In my business, I do only things that need my “essence” (for lack of a better word) and delegate the rest.

My virtual assistant, Patricia, uploads my articles to the directories and does everything on my to Not do list.

In my personal life, it’s important for me to cook from scratch (I like knowing what the “babies” eat) but I don’t peel and chop the veggies myself, the nanny and Pick & Pay help with that.

Can you see the difference?

4. I decide where I want to use my time and I don’t feel guilty about the other areas

Be intentional about your time usage. I watch (it’s on in the background) about 20 minutes of TV Mon – Fri as I change from work clothes, pack gym clothes and work bag, etc.

That’s it.

If you spend more time watching TV because it’s your relaxation, have at it. Don’t feel guilty.

I’ve chosen to do otherwise. Neither is right or wrong.

I do spend about 3 – 3.5 hours on the computer in the evenings, working on the business and connecting with friends through email/ Facebook.

I don’t feel guilty about that time because I know why I’m doing it.

Of course I procrastinate sometimes by surfing blogs too much but since I generally get things done, occasionally if I slip up, I don’t beat myself up about it.

How about you?

Where do you want to be spending your time and why? Are you intentional about it?

5. I take consistent action

Unfortunately getting things done is not going to just happen so you’ve got to take action all the time.

Whether it’s doing just one big forward leap or lots of little leaps, I try to take some action every day.

I’m fairly good at constantly reviewing where I am in relation to my goals – I don’t know if it’s because that’s just who I am or because I coach.

Confession – when I feel like I’m getting stuck (which happens about two – three times a year), I get specific coaching to help get me unstuck. There is nothing worse for me than that feeling of not moving forward.

I’ve been working with a new coach and one of my key goals for the next 3 months is to start and finish my book. So far so good.

Do you take enough regular action? Do you have a plan when you get stuck?

To end off, let me leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.

-Lin Yutang

One of my goals this year was to hire a personal trainer to get me to my goal weight.

I’ll be honest – I was really loathe to do it at first but I’ve now accepted that I’m the type of person who has to pay for accountability otherwise it just won’t get done.

Two months in and I’m not there yet but am making good, steady progress.

When I mentioned my intention to people, they’d say things like, “oh, but isn’t a personal trainer expensive?”

My answer is, “depends how you look at it.”

I like to think of this as an investment in my health and fitness.

But that got me thinking about the main 3 reasons why I need to have a personal trainer:

1. He challenges me to go further and do more

My natural style is competitive which is why I’ve always loved group classes. There’s just something about the energy of healthy competition that makes me push myself more and stretch my limits.

If I didn’t work out with a personal trainer, I’d never do the exercises I should, simply because I’m weak and feel pain at the slightest thing.

He tells me I can do it and is my cheerleader through the pain.

2. I pay a month in advance

This helps me to not be a slacker when I feel tired or not in the mood for exercise. Or if it’s raining. (Traffic in Jhb is terrible when it rains and any sane person would stay indoors)

I know that because I’ve already paid, I need to get myself to the gym and use up that money.

3. He teaches me to do the exercises correctly

This is a big one. There are many exercises I’ve seen and done versions of in my 8 years of going to gym.

Apparently for a lot of them, I’ve been doing them wrong all these years. Who knew?!

Working out with him means he is checking my posture and making sure I do exactly what I’m supposed to, and that all my muscle groups and joints are correctly supported.

In the two months, I’ve worked with Frisco, Sara and Kyle and they have all kicked my butt. I don’t like it at the time but I do LOVE the results of a flatter, trimmer, toned tummy and centimetres off all over my body.

Have you ever worked with a personal trainer?

How are you working towards your health and fitness goals?

Coaching challenge:

Do you recognise your stumbling blocks with your goals as I had to with mine? It doesn’t have to be health and fitness goals; any goals will do.

How are you going to overcome them?

Do you need accountability and support? If you have organising goals, Spring into Organising is just for you.

 

The other day on Facebook a friend updated her status and wrote about how she only seemed to be able to write her newsletter at night.

I commented and said something like, “at least you’re using your flow”.
Which brings me to the point of this post.

When you’re in the flow, see how long you can go if at all possible.

Let me give you an example that happened to me just last week.

I schedule my time throughout the week so that I focus on different tasks on different days.

On this particular day I was scheduled to write a blog post.

I wrote that one post but felt that things were flowing so beautifully that I extended the time to write another two posts.

All that in just under an hour.

So here’s the thing – no, the time wasn’t scheduled for the extra posts but I was in my natural flow.

It is purposeful time management to use the flow so that ultimately I get the tasks done quicker and much, much easier.

My question for you – think about things you do regularly.

Are there certain times of the day they feel easier? Could you incorporate this task into your weekly plan to capitalise on the flow?

P.S. My flow happened after I’d got back from the gym so maybe all that exercise was good for my writing muscles

When you think about Christmas, what do you feel?

Do you feel overwhelmed and just a little bit stressed at everything you have to do? Or do you feel excited at the idea of spending time with friends and family?

My best Christmases have always been when I’ve been organised, prepared and more importantly, when I didn’t leave everything right up until December.

Here are a couple of things to consider so that you have an organised Christmas this year:

Your vision for a great Christmas

Decide, together with your family, if you want to celebrate with many spiritual activities, spend time at home with just your immediate family, do lots of baking, etc.

Christmas cards

Will you be sending cards by themselves, or with a family newsletter? Or will you be sending cards at all? Do you have a list of recipients?

Christmas gifts

Will you be giving gifts this year? Are you making any gifts or are you buying them all? Do you have a gift-giving budget? Remember to budget for gift wrap, gift tags and, if necessary, postage to your loved ones who live in a different city.

Christmas Day

Where will you spend the day – with your parents or his? Or will the family gather at your house? Who will cook the food? Which recipes will you use? Do you know where to find them?

How far in advance should you plan?

Well, that depends on how much stress you can tolerate! Personally, I like to have gifts done by the end of October and cards by mid-November. That’s because I really don’t enjoy the stress of having to get the perfect gift with no time to spare. Add to that the crowded malls and you can practically see my blood pressure rising!

I like to start planning at the beginning of October and I set myself mini-goals of compiling my card list first, then planning backwards so I write out a certain number of cards per week until they’re all done by my self-imposed due date. I do the same for gifts. I also wrap a few gender-neutral gifts just in case someone pops around with something for me.

It’s relaxing for me to prepare a beautifully-wrapped gift with a gift tag because I believe that presentation is part of the gift. Something I do that has saved me lots of money is I no longer buy Christmas gift wrap. Instead, I buy red and green coloured craft paper and matching ribbon. I can use the paper year-round with a different bow so that it doesn’t look Christmassy for birthday gifts.

This year, get organised for Christmas so you can welcome the season instead of dreading it.

On a scale of 1 – 10, how are you doing with Christmas prep right now?

We all know people that seem to be Super Organised.

They never forget birthdays, can find an email within seconds and know exactly where to find anything in their homes.

The actual definition of organised is being able to find anything within a minute or two.

This is from items in your home to an email, document or photo on your computer.

Shhhh – I have a confession. Some people say this about me too so I’m going to let you in on some of my own secrets and also those I’ve observed from watching other Born Organised people.

Super organised people:

1. Plan their lives

Set aside time every weekend to plan your activities, events and meals for the week ahead. Before you finish up your work for the day, take 5 minutes to quickly plan your main priority tasks for the next day.

2. Have a place for everything and everything in its place

Everything in your house should have a specific home. The goal should be that if anyone asks, “where do I find the _____?” you should be able to tell them immediately. I’m talking about paper too!

3. Have effective systems, and are willing to change systems if necessary

A system tells you what to do when something happens. For instance, as you run low or finish foods, they immediately go on your shopping list. That’s a system. If you have morning and evening routines, those are also example of systems.

4. Write things down

My pastor always says, “a blunt pencil is better than a sharp mind.” The truth is when you write things down, it clears your mind so you can focus on more productive and creative thoughts.

5. Declutter regularly

Make time to go through your clothes and other possessions and then get rid of anything you don’t love or use regularly. Make a regular date to also declutter your documents and emails.

6. Put things away

If you take just a few minutes to put things back where they belong (see number 2) every day, you always have a home that’s comfortable and ready for company. In the office, take two extra seconds to file or delete an email immediately.

7. Do regular maintenance

Preserve your organising systems by doing a quick touch-up when you see things start to go awry. It’s like touching up your roots every 6 weeks Don’t wait and let it get so bad that you have to totally rehaul your system.

Start building just ONE of these secrets into your daily routine every week until you create a habit and you too will be Super Organised

Marcia Francois is a time management coach and professional organiser who teaches busy women how to purposefully have more time, less stress and a more organised and fulfilled life. Visit www.takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

I am an unashamed goal-setter.

Some people don’t like to call them goals so call them whatever you like. I like to think about them as things you want to be, do or achieve.

I’ve told you before that I’ve been setting and achieving goals for about 13 years now so I have just a little bit of experience in the area.

That said, I won’t lie to you – there does come a point during the year (around August usually) when you feel like throwing in the towel.

Don’t.

That’s usually when you’re about to get a breakthrough but only if you do these 3 things:

1. Look through your goals list and note down your achievements

Recognising your achievements makes you feel like a winner. Even if you only achieved part of a goal, you’re still streaks ahead of where you’d be if you didn’t do anything.

E.g. If you had on your list to get your entire home organized and you managed to do (only) two rooms, FANTASTIC! You rock!!!

2. Ask for the necessary help

This is a big one and oh-so-difficult for a lot of us women.

I’ll confess – I also hate asking for help. It helps get you out of the “I can do it all myself” mentality and best of all, it propels you forward.

I have a blogging goal on my list that I’ve made absolutely no headway on for 8 months so I’ve hired a blog coach. There is no shame in asking for help.

3. When you do start making progress, celebrate

I’m one of those people who talks to herself. Not in my mind, but out aloud. If I’ve done good work, I say to myself, “I did an awesome job today.” The first time my one colleague heard me, he couldn’t believe it.

But I don’t think there’s anything wrong – in fact, if you don’t pat yourself on the back, who will?

Doing these three things will start giving you momentum again and put you in a place of progress.

When you keep steadily on, you’ll be sure to reach your goals.

I would love to help you and be your cheerleader as you achieve your goals.

Your action steps

1. Be brave and choose just 3 things that you want to still accomplish this year
2. Book your Success Strategy Session now.
3. Tell yourself you’re awesome!

If you’d like help creating a life you absolutely love, contact me about my coaching services.

As we approach the end of the year, it always seems to get more and more hectic. I thought I’d share some strategies with you that I start off using with my time management coaching clients.

In fact, recently one of them told me, “I can’t believe it; I actually have a life again”.

This was after we started incorporating some of the principles I’m sharing with you below.

1. Block out any appointments

Don’t only block out the actual time of the appointment; add “getting ready” time and travel time before and after the appointment.

I used to find myself constantly rushing to a regular morning meeting until I realised I wasn’t factoring in the 5 minutes I had to walk from my car all the way to the meeting venue. Since I added this time, I’m always the first one there, waiting

2. Do high priority items first

I call this the “Eat the Frog” principle. They’re also commonly called big rocks. Big rocks are items of high value and importance.

For a business owner, it could mean working on an income-producing activity and for a stay-at-home mom, it could mean planning your menus for the week.

3. Add in your routines

Do you have an evening routine and a morning routine? We talk in detail about these routines on my Simplify your Life e-course. Routines help your day run smoothly because they’re done on auto-pilot.

Some people do a load of laundry every day. This is part of their routine. If they don’t do this for a couple of days, life can get out of control very quickly. What are your routines?

4. Don’t forget buffer time

Buffer time helps when an appointment runs over or the traffic is bad. Or when something just takes longer to do than you anticipated!

Depending on the situation, you might want to leave 15 – 30 minutes after each appointment or activity so that you’re not frazzled when things inevitably don’t work out exactly as you planned. This is besides the travel time.

5. Add in some fun

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Fun means different things for each of us. Whether it’s time to exercise, do some crafts or read, add some fun into your day, every day.

Fun also means rewarding yourself appropriately when you are disciplined with those BIG ROCKS I mentioned in number (2).

Now print this article, start with point 1 and work on it faithfully for a week. Keep adding another point every week until you too, like my client, can breathe again

Marcia Francois is a time management coach and speaker who helps busy women break out of overwhelm, make the most of their time and take purposeful and focussed action. Visit http://takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

If you’d like help creating a life you absolutely love, contact me about my coaching services.

Life is such a whirlwind, isn’t it?

If you’re anything like me, it often seems like the weeks go by in a blur of activity…and then it’s weekend again.

Or the weekends go by so quickly and when Monday comes around, you feel like you’ve just started to relax and the week is upon you once again.

The problem with this is that we never have a sense of peace, calm and control. A feeling that we are directing the course of our own lives.

I go through patches of hectic too so I thought I’d share some of the systems I’ve set up to make our lives easier:

Household calendar

We have one household calendar in our kitchen where we mark off any commitments like church, other ministry commitments, meetings, gym, socials, and so on. The nice thing about this system is that we can see when we’re too busy by all the writing. I also mark off the recycling pick-up days, when the meter reader is due and of course, things like birthdays.

I couple this with diary planning for the week ahead. I look at my diary on a Sunday and put in my appointments for the week. I also add any tasks that I need or want to work on, like writing articles, e-courses, newsletters and so on.

Meal planning

I love meal planning because it saves me time. When I say this to people, some think I’m crazy because “how can all that planning save you time?”

It’s quite simple – a twenty-minute planning session on the weekend saves me time from Monday to Friday, when I need it most. No more standing in front of the open fridge wondering what to make for supper.

And you can still be spontaneous within the plan. I plan meals for the working week but if I don’t feel like a particular meal that day, I change it around and cook another day’s meal.

For example, if it’s very hot and I planned to have baked potatoes with a topping, I’ll postpone that to another day and make a pasta salad instead.

Regular decluttering and organising

I tackle an area in our home every weekend. Let’s face it – if we’re constantly buying things and bringing them into our homes and lives, clutter is constantly building up unless we get rid of some of it.

It doesn’t have to be a huge exercise. While you’re busy cooking or baking, you can sort out a cupboard or two. I don’t trust my oven timer (it is erratic) so I stay in the kitchen whenever I bake to make sure my muffins don’t burn.

I then use the time constructively to sort out the cupboards, plan my menus, write out my shopping list, etc.

When you factor in just 15 minutes’ decluttering and organising every weekend, you can easily maintain your home if it is already organised. Of course, if your house is nowhere near where you’d like it, I would suggest 15 minutes every day.

Launch pad

Do you know the place in your house where you dump your bags as you enter? Flylady calls this a launch pad. I like that term because it reminds me of action.

We have an interesting, little corner in our entrance hall that I use for my launch pad and my husband uses another section near the kitchen.

Mornings are one of the worst times in most families – you can’t find your keys, wallet, bag, etc. Frantic running around and screaming happens and that is just not fun.

The point is that we use our launch pads to ready ourselves for mornings. Every evening I pack my handbag, work bag and keys, and they are all left here. In the mornings all I do is grab and go. Literally once I leave the bedroom, I walk to the fridge to get my cooler bag with my lunch, kiss the babies good-bye, grab my bags from my launch pad and I’m out of there.

Now, over to you.

Which of these systems can you implement to make your life easier?

Share your favourite systems with me.

© Marcia Francois 2007 – 2010

Marcia Francois is a speaker and time management coach who helps busy women break free from overwhelm. Visit www.takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

These are just a tiny sample of idea you get when you book your one-on-one session with me. If you liked these ideas, you’ll love working with me privately. Book your session now.

There are two types of people in this world – those who like lists and those who don’t.

This post is for those who don’t like lists

lists are boring

A list is only as boring as your imagination! You can and should put some fun things on there too as well as tasks to do.

I recently started putting things like “finish James Patterson book” on my weekend lists because all I was doing was chores. I loved the change so much that I now regularly put fun things like “phone _____ for a lovely, long chat” and “paint fingernails” on my lists just to jazz them up

lists are a bind because they have tons of items on them

Well, that depends on the type of list. A master list and a checklist often do have tons of things on them but a daily to-do list really should have no more than about 6 items.

I’ve shared before how when I only have 6 items on my to-do list, I get through them all easily but when I try to be SuperWoman and add lots more, I get even less than 6 done! I showed a coaching client my diary once and she was amazed.

When you find the right list, your life will change

No, no, no! The list is only the tool.

I used to subscribe to tons of productivity sites and really, many of them were all about the perfect tool. A tool is exactly that – something to help you get something else done.

Many people are so intent on creating the perfect list or finding the perfect planner that they get into an analysis paralysis mentality.

Because when you’re obsessing about the perfect to-do list, you stop actually doing the things on the list, right?

The truth is it doesn’t matter what you use as long as you get it down somewhere – whether on a post-it note, in a gorgeous notebook or in your phone.

So how am I doing with my lists?

I still use a weekly list and take off up to 6 items (sometimes a lot less) to do in a day.

My new  favourite thing is doing a mind-map list for my weekly planning. I do a spoke for each area of my life – husband, babies, house, work, business, health and fitness, etc. And then, off each spoke, I make new mini-branches with things I have to do.

Do you have any other beliefs about list-making?

Do you make lists? What works well for you?

P.S. There are some lovely lists (standard ones and mind maps) waiting for you in the free Organising Success Pack