Feature Friday is an occasional highlight of something that works in my home/ life.

I love menu planning.

It saves me such a lot of time and helps us all to eat healthier and shop better for groceries.

Here is my favourite little magnetic menu planning board (South Africans, I got it for R30 at Mega Mica about 3 years ago and it’s not actually intended for menu planning – I think it’s for kids’ homework).

I start off by cleaning the whole thing.

I then check my freezer and see if there’s anything I want to use up or if there are freezer meals that need eating.

Add those to the board.

Then I make sure we don’t eat any one carb two nights in a row (I like to switch things every night).

I only plan for Mon – Fri and on Saturdays and Sundays we fly by the seat of our pants.

Not really, I just felt like saying that.

We usually use up any leftovers or I’ll do the quickest thing which is a pasta.

Notice our meals are on top and the babies’ meals are on the bottom of the squares.

The babies eat what we had for supper the previous night since they eat at 5 pm and I’m not even home from work then. Except when we have spicy meals like curries.

And that’s it.

Easy-peasy menu planning.

I don’t consult a lot of recipe books except when I’m uninspired which is fairly rare because I do love food.

I have set myself a little goal this year though; I’m to try two new meals every month. Of course, all these new things are always cooked on the weekends which is the only time I have more than 30 minutes to spend in the kitchen.

Do you menu plan?

Do you cook the same things or do you like trying new recipes?

P.S. Are you joining me for Spring into Organising?

Apologies for those of you who saw the half-finished version of this last night.

When I clicked publish, WP decided to only publish the bit that you saw and when I found out, it was already way past my computer cut-off time

Here is the complete version, part two.

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I read TONS of blogs.

All sorts of blogs:

1. mommy
2. organising & productivity
3. business
4. leadership
5. home and decor
6. crafty
7. photography

I used to organise them by their categories.

This system worked okay, mostly, but if I ever skipped a day, immediately there’d be 120 and I’d feel overwhelmed before I even started reading.

And then, I felt like I needed to catch up so it wasn’t relaxing reading but guilt-filled reading.

Enough.

I thought about how I generally process my Google Reader and I read the blogs in this order:

1. blogs I always comment on
2. blogs I sometimes comment on
3. blogs that are pure inspiration and
4. business/ productivity/ leadership blogs

I took a deep breath and removed all the folders and tags from my subscriptions under Settings.

I then created new folders:

• always comment
• sometimes comment
• inspiration and reading
• business

I must tell you I love these changes because I’ve saved myself hours a week.

If I only have a few minutes I read the “always comment” folder or if I don’t have time to comment, I’ll choose something from inspiration and reading so I can just…read

If your subscriptions are all together in your Google Reader, and you’ve never categorised them, do try and let me know if it saves you any time.

Two questions for you:

How do you process your Google Reader?
Do your categories help you get through your reading faster, or not really?

PS Our winner for Clutter Rehab contacted me so third time’s a charm

PPS Have you signed up for 30 days of lists yet? This weekend is a good chance to get your book ready (don’t get caught up by perfectionism!)

There’s something so powerful about a central place to store all of your ideas, thoughts and to-do items.

You don’t feel distracted and scattered because everything is in one place.

Whenever I start feeling overwhelmed, I make a master to-do list of everything I need AND want to do.

My current list contains things I have to sent out in the mail, business projects I want to work on, and documents I need to update, like some e-books and coaching tools.

So why a master to-do list?

What’s wrong with the back of an envelope and millions of post-it notes?

1. Writing it all down frees up your brain for big picture thinking so you don’t have to concern yourself with remembering details.

2. It eliminates all the bits and pieces of paper, post-it notes, backs of envelopes, etc.

3. There is something about the act of actually putting pen to paper that seals things in your mind. If you’ve ever been on one of my goal-setting workshops, you know exactly what I mean.

4. Once you see it in black and white, you can deal with reality so much better rather than imagining how bad it all is.

5. You can choose the exact number of tasks you want to tackle every day (I don’t recommend more than 6) without feeling overwhelmed. Move these 6 tasks to your daily to-do list.

My challenge to you

* Download my paper-based master to-do list from my website or use Outlook if you like the electronic version. The method doesn’t matter much; what does matter is that you have a central place to collect your tasks.

* First brain dump everything – go wild, you can sort it out later.

* Now, make categories and then start attacking that list.

Happy organising!

Over to you – do you use master to-do lists?

Marcia Francois is a time management coach and speaker who inspires busy women to break out of overwhelm, make the most of their time and take purposeful and focussed action so they have the time and freedom to live life to the full.

Visit  http://purposefultimemanagement.com  for your free Time Management Purpose Pack.

There’s still time to enter the giveaway for the Clutter Rehab book.

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I personally can’t think of many things that stress people out so much as the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Overwhelm can happen both in work, business or in your personal life.

The absolute best tip ever to start feeling less overwhelmed is to stop and grab a master to-do list or a piece of blank or lined paper.

I included a master to-do list in my Time Management Purpose Pack which you can get for free on my website.

Take 10 minutes and empty your mind my writing down each and every thing on the list.

Just try it – I promise you you’ll not only feel better when you’re done BUT you’ll also then have a realistic picture of what you need to do.

Hint – it’s often a lot less than you think.

If you think in categories as I do, then print one list for each segment of your life – I usually do one for personal, one for work and one for business so that you don’t have to rewrite the items at a later point when you want to work on one area.

This is just a small sample of the steps I take you through in my Break out of Overwhelm audio teleseminar.

It’s my favourite product of all time (yes, really) because I personally use it a couple of times a year when my life gets too hectic and I start feeling overwhelmed.

Here’s what one person had to say… 

The Break Out of Overwhelm seminar was terrific and really hit home with me!  I got sooo much out of it.

I learned a few very important things.  First of all, I hate to eat my frogs and yet they are so very important. Secondly, I have to say no and third,  I realized just how overwhelmed I really am. My health is at stake and sometimes I feel like I am in a total shutdown.

The analogy  you used to illustrate the overwhelm in our lives was great.  I now know how to apply “emergency first aid”!!!!  I also love knowing how to use my Organizing Personality to reduce my overwhelm.

The important thing here I believe, is that  I recognize the problem, I am facing the problem,  I just have to sort the alternatives I have.

So, as a result of the teleseminar, I have recognized my overwhelm,  set my goals, and already, after one day, I ate my frog.  I really got a lot out of this!!  You did a great job!

Mary Perlongo

New York

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One more thing before I go…

If you haven’t booked your place for the Inspired workshop yet, do so now. Bookings close in 8 days.

On a scale of 1 – 10, I was feeling like a 10 about 10 days ago. Once I made my lists (I think I had a combined total of about 65 items), I felt TONS better.

Today I’m a 2 because I’ve had a really good couple of productive days.

Where are you on the overwhelmed scale?

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.

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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

A few weeks ago I found myself going to bed at 12 – 12:30 every night. Or morning, as the case may be.

I couldn’t understand why, as life was quite normal, or so I thought.

Usually when I feel like things are getting away from me time-wise, I stop and take stock.

I have a couple of tricks – the same tricks I use with my clients – and this time I outlined a typical day in my life. In Excel

Do you know what I found?

Some days originally ended up having total of 24 hours (I think 2 of them) and the other days had 25, 26 and 2 days had 28 hour days.

I was trying to do way too much in a day.

It started because when I first went back to work after my maternityh leave, I was working a slightly shorter day.

As the children grew, my work day lengthened and I’ve been working a standard 8-hour day for nearly a year now but still trying to cram everything in. An extra 2 hours of everything.

Well, I worked that Excel spreadsheet and beat it into shape til all the days balanced nicely on 24.

I made sure I kept all my sleep time, all my reading time (these are the small and oh-so-necessary pleasures in my life) and I got even smarter with my business time.

For instance, I’ve always coached on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Saturday mornings, if I’m working with Australians or New Zealanders).

Monday is my writing day – blogs, newsletter, etc.

Wednesday is project day, whatever the current project happens to be in my business.

Seeing the evidence that I’m trying to do too much was a bit of a wake-up call for me and I’ve had to force myself to slow down a bit and lower my expectations of myself.

I’m not Superwoman and I can’t work a full day, come home and play with the babies, put them to bed, cook a meal from scratch, eat with Dion, do my business, blog, go to gym, etc, etc. every single day.

Some days I can go to gym but those are not the days I can cook from scratch.

It’s been freeing seeing the situation in black and white.

How about you though?

Are you also trying to be Superwoman?

Have you written down everything you try to do in a day and see how much time it all takes?

Let me know in the comments.

P.S. Thanks for all your great suggestions for the 40th gift. I think we’re going to go with an experience type of gift. I’ll have to do final investigation but I feel we’re on the right track. Now if it were me, I’d like a zipline experience in the Magaliesberg…

In the last 6 weeks 90% of the women who have contacted me have said they feel like they have no time for themselves.

This is by no means unusual.

We all have many roles in life – if you’re a married woman and have children, you’re a wife, mother, homemaker, daughter, sister, friend, business owner, employee or boss, etc, etc.

What often happens is that you always tend to the more urgent roles and you and your personal time is usually the last thing on the list.

As a result, you start feeling resentful but also very soon you may burn out.

That’s the point when people usually contact me.

Which is great because I love working with people who are ready to take action and make changes in their lives.

So what do you do?

Do you just accept this as your lot in life while you have young kids in the house or what do you do?

1. Decide that you are also important

I never ever believe that we need to sacrifice the parts of us that make us feel most alive.

This is a mindshift change from mothers being the martyrs so take your time and work on this mental adjustment.

2. Identify a couple of activities that will work for you

Everybody is different so this is a personal exercise.

Some of my clients like to do pamper-type activities like a manicure, pedicure, hair appointment or massage.

Some others like to do creative things like sewing, mosaics, scrapbooking, painting and decorating.

Still others just want time, either by themselves to recharge (often the introverts) or with a couple of close girl friends to connect with their pre-mom selves again.

Are you seeing which group you fit into?

3. Choose the minimum response that will yield results

In my bestselling “break out of overwhelm” audio and handbook (sold as part of the Organise your Time system), I talk about always knowing your minimum responses.

When my twins were newborns, life was crazy. I felt like I had no time to do anything for myself as I was running around washing bottles, making bottles, feeding, burping, bathing, changing, getting the baby to sleep, and then the other one would wake!

During those crazy times, I was happy if I could have just 5 minutes to sit, drink a hot cup of tea in peace and eat breakfast. Seriously, my expectations were that low.

That was my minimum response.

Now, I expect hours every day to “do my thing” and I have it because I’ve set things up that way.

But I started very, very small.

See?

So what is the minimum response for you?

Now that you have those questions sorted out, start creating the time for yourself.

If you’re not sure what to do next or you can’t see a way out of your fog, I can help you.

This is my “thing” - I will help you intentionally craft out time for you to feel valued, honoured and fulfilled.

My free time is Very Important to me and I get that yours is too.

Contact me for a f.ree no-obligation, 15-min chat to see how I can help you feel human again

Otherwise, if your style is to do things by yourself, have a look at the Organise your Time system .

In just a few minutes you could be on your way to more peace and sanity in your life.

What are some of the things that you most need to feel fulfilled and happy?

This week’s theme is perfect for the busy time I’m going through right now: procrastination.

I’ve noted that the more stressed and overwhelmed I feel, the more I procrastinate. I tend to be a perfectionist as well, to keep some sort of control I guess, and as Marcia says in the lesson, it’s often the main cause of procrastination.

The tips she gives to break procrastination are all great, but my fave is to do the most unpleasant or difficult task first, or as she often says, to “eat the frog“.

I often tell myself, “eat broccoli first, dessert after”, which means the same: once the task you dreaded most is done, you feel proud of yourself and the rest seems almost easy!

I’ve recently noted something very similar in my professional life (again): I had the chance to have a couple days without my boss being in the office all day.

She’s a mayor’s deleguee and we work together all the time since we’re planning a very big event.

We work great together usually, but when she asks for something, “not now” or “I should be doing something else instead” is NOT an acceptable answer.

When she spends the day in my office, I usually don’t do much besides what she asks for. Anyway, last week she wasn’t there for two whole days. On the first one I thought “Oh, the day is long, I can start with some easy tasks, complete some filing and some “relaxing” to-do’s. I deserve some mini-vacation!”

Well, the days aren’t that long actually, and I can’t afford vacations, even mini ones! I ended up not having done much and feeling frustrated for “wasting” a day.

I didn’t repeated that same mistake on the second day when she was gone, and at lunch break I had already written 4 articles for the town magazine, updated the website for the 3 coming weeks and finished the programme for our big event so that it could be printed as soon as she would give me the green light!

I can’t tell you how proud and satisfied I felt compared to the first day.

Lesson learned: I will start my day with the most important and most annoying tasks first, so that if my day gets crazy afterwards, at least this part is done. Filing can wait (not indefinitely, but you get the idea! LOL)!

Take care!

Chloe, I love how you recognised your time challenges both with your boss’s demanding style and with your own internal distractions the first day, but most of all, I love how you self-corrected.

Fantastic job – I’m so proud of you.

Do you procrastinate?
Have you ever thought about why you do so?

This week’s theme couldn’t have come at a better time for me.

I have a 5 day long music festival to organise for the very first time (needless to say we’re starting from scratch!) at work for the end of June.

As if this wasn’t enough, I also had a FET (frozen embryo transfer) planned at the beginning of July. My body started to act weird and this weekend I was sure I would never be able to get the FET done this summer and that I would have to wait until September. Knowing that, you’ll understand why I got a terrible score at the stress test included in this week’s lesson when I filled it in on Sunday night: I got 22 signs of stress, which means that I am 20% effective. Only!

Luckily, my FET issues got solved on Monday and I might have less stress signs if I’d redo the test today. But this didn’t solve everything, by far!

Here are the main stressors I’ve identified, and the solutions I’d like to apply:

AT HOME:

• Infertility: not knowing what will happen, not controlling things. Solution: maybe see a therapist to help me deal with the emotional side of this process. I can’t control the situation but I can control my attitude towards it!
• Being overweight (well… obese, to be honest!): I feel bad about myself, guilty, always tired. Solution: sleep (it’s a big factor in weight loss, even if often underestimated), eat more good food (eating less of the bad ones doesn’t work with me) and exercise some. That last one might not be done right now considering my crazy schedule, but it’s on the list nonetheless!
• Feeling that I do a lot of chores compared to DBF (even if it’s not completely true). Solution: express this feeling (he can’t read my mind!) and simply ask him to help me.
• Money worries. Solution: live frugally by cutting the last few extras, create and follow a budget.
• Guilt for not doing enough, perfectionism. Solution: admit that I can’t do it all, give up on some things/activities, declutter my (self-imposed) obligations.

AT WORK:

• Too much work. Solution: delegate, wait before saying yes and make sure that I can do something properly and without stress before accepting it.
• One of my bosses’ interruptions and sense of urgency. Solution: plan for interruptions and make “real work” on other times of the day, when I know she won’t be around.
• Not feeling recognised and respected. Solution: take my distances, this is “just” a job!

Okay, I know some of those solutions are easier said than done, but listing the things I want to work on is the first step.

I will start taking action on the items that I can manage in this crazy time without adding too much extra stress to my life.

For example, finding the time to exercise wouldn’t be easy and would do more harm than good. But getting to bed earlier to get more zzzzz in is totally doable and would help tremendously. It’s a cost/benefit balance that I need to find!

Do you have any ideas that would help me defeat my stressors? Please share! And take care!!

Marcia here – I’ve answered Chloe in the comments. Join your voice to mine.

Ah, saying no… quite a program for this week, isn’t it?

Well, to me saying no is something quite difficult to do.

Not because I can’t say no, but because I don’t say it in a good way.

I’m very strong-minded and I have a sharp tongue, and if I don’t pay attention I can be very rude. Knowing that, I was especially interested into the tips that Marcia would give in this week’s lesson about how to say no in an effective and good way.

Strangely, “NO” can be very positive and “yes” can be negative: “When you say yes to one thing, you always say no to something else”, says Marcia.

And the opposite is true. Saying no to something that isn’t aligned with the life your pursue is saying yes to your true goals and aspirations.

The things I want to say no to are the following:

• accepting extra work that isn’t my responsability, especially when there is nothing good in return,
• tolerating when someone is unfair and disrespectful to my work and, consequently, to me,
• doing extra work without even being asked to.

Once again, the professional area is the one I’ll be focusing on, as I feel respected in my private life.

What I liked most about this week’s lesson is that the last page focus on enjoying life. It helps realising that, when you say no to some unimportant, negative, useless things, you have more time, more energy and more life to spend doing important, positive things, that make you grow and feel happy.

The next month will be extremely busy at work, and we’ll have an infertility treatment right after that (frozen embryo transfer), so needless to say that it’ll be a stressful time.

Remembering to enjoy life will be more important than ever, and I’ve already scheduled some fun events: a maternity photo session with a pregnant friend of mine, some pages I want to scrap, a lunch with my friends.

All those steps will make the stressful period easier to go through.

Take care!
Chloe

Hi, Marcia here

Chloe, I love how you’ve already scheduled lots of fun events to keep you focussed and looking forward. Fantastic!!!

(you’ll see exactly why when you read tomorrow’s newsletter )

All the best with your FET and with saying no to things you want less of in your life.

Over to you – how easy is it for you to say no?

PS Sam’s had sick kiddos and will be back once they’re healthy again