Getting organized is no easy thing these days. But I would argue if you want to get ahead of the ball, or sometimes just keep treading water, it is imperative to get organized. Otherwise, you sink.
Go through a typical day. How many tasks do you have? What are the three most important things you MUST get done? Are there any deadlines? Do you have to file forms for insurance, a car, mortgage, medical, work, a contractor coming to your house, your retirement planning account? Just writing those questions burns me out.
We all face that type of paperwork, if not daily, then on a weekly or monthly basis. If you put it off, it hits you in an avalanche of deadlines and you yank your hair out and your mind swims in continuous circles.
Beyond the daily home tasks, many that my wife covers, which I’m always grateful for, there comes work and your outside interests. If I fail to put a week at work together effectively, nothing gets done, it affects my performance and my personal bottom line.
Fun stuff becomes less fun the more you have to plan for it, get it on your calendar, or go online to pay for an upcoming event of some kind. Do the credit card thing. Make sure it fits in everyone’s schedule. Send notes to the attendees. Get it on your personal calendar. Send a reminder a few days before you attend the activity.
We all have to be our personal organizational managers, and it’s extremely hard because not only in our work environments do we have our jobs to do, but we also have more and more paperwork that wasn’t part of the bargain 20 years ago. A typical day for me during that era would have included writing stories, calling news sources, going through my in-box, editing copy, attending Congressional hearings, and researching issues. At the end of the day you were done.
There were no reports to fill out. Electronic data transmissions were just getting started. At the end of the day, you could leave your job behind. It didn’t intrude mentally or electronically.
Electronic reminders today are probably one of the most critical success factors in getting organized. First, you have to make sure you capture whatever upcoming activity needs to be scheduled. Give it the appropriate time. Figure in traveling if you have to drive there. Consider bad traffic patterns. Then comes the most important part: Reminding yourself that the event is coming up. When do you want to be reminded? A day in advance? A week in advance? Four hours in advance?
That question is HUGE. It determines where you place the event in your brain space and what you prepare beforehand, and helps get you mentally ready to address the group you are working with.
Beyond the electronic calendar, I’ve found it tremendously helpful to still do some things the old-fashioned way: Writing down a daily “to-do” list or sometimes even jotting out a weekly list. This refreshes your memory and focuses your attention.
One of the forgotten steps of getting organized (which ultimately leads to better professional results and personal relationships) is the follow-through. OMG, as the cliché goes, the world is paved with great intentions.
So stop talking about it. Do it. Get done what you said you’d get done. Then move onto something else.
You may need to fix your work later or change something to meet a client’s demands. That’s okay. You followed through, you met the deadline, you provided them the info they sought.
Follow these tips and you’ll find you’re ahead of the ball instead of behind it. There’s a lot to be said for that.
Go through a typical day. How many tasks do you have? What are the three most important things you MUST get done? Are there any deadlines? Do you have to file forms for insurance, a car, mortgage, medical, work, a contractor coming to your house, your retirement planning account? Just writing those questions burns me out.
We all face that type of paperwork, if not daily, then on a weekly or monthly basis. If you put it off, it hits you in an avalanche of deadlines and you yank your hair out and your mind swims in continuous circles.
Beyond the daily home tasks, many that my wife covers, which I’m always grateful for, there comes work and your outside interests. If I fail to put a week at work together effectively, nothing gets done, it affects my performance and my personal bottom line.
Fun stuff becomes less fun the more you have to plan for it, get it on your calendar, or go online to pay for an upcoming event of some kind. Do the credit card thing. Make sure it fits in everyone’s schedule. Send notes to the attendees. Get it on your personal calendar. Send a reminder a few days before you attend the activity.
We all have to be our personal organizational managers, and it’s extremely hard because not only in our work environments do we have our jobs to do, but we also have more and more paperwork that wasn’t part of the bargain 20 years ago. A typical day for me during that era would have included writing stories, calling news sources, going through my in-box, editing copy, attending Congressional hearings, and researching issues. At the end of the day you were done.
There were no reports to fill out. Electronic data transmissions were just getting started. At the end of the day, you could leave your job behind. It didn’t intrude mentally or electronically.
Electronic reminders today are probably one of the most critical success factors in getting organized. First, you have to make sure you capture whatever upcoming activity needs to be scheduled. Give it the appropriate time. Figure in traveling if you have to drive there. Consider bad traffic patterns. Then comes the most important part: Reminding yourself that the event is coming up. When do you want to be reminded? A day in advance? A week in advance? Four hours in advance?
That question is HUGE. It determines where you place the event in your brain space and what you prepare beforehand, and helps get you mentally ready to address the group you are working with.
Beyond the electronic calendar, I’ve found it tremendously helpful to still do some things the old-fashioned way: Writing down a daily “to-do” list or sometimes even jotting out a weekly list. This refreshes your memory and focuses your attention.
One of the forgotten steps of getting organized (which ultimately leads to better professional results and personal relationships) is the follow-through. OMG, as the cliché goes, the world is paved with great intentions.
So stop talking about it. Do it. Get done what you said you’d get done. Then move onto something else.
You may need to fix your work later or change something to meet a client’s demands. That’s okay. You followed through, you met the deadline, you provided them the info they sought.
Follow these tips and you’ll find you’re ahead of the ball instead of behind it. There’s a lot to be said for that.