How is CANADA doing? The stats are in...

Last November the POC (Professional Organizers in Canada) conducted a Marketing Survey to over 1200 people accoss Canada. Results of this survey indicate that 8 in 10 Canadians reported to being disorganized.

·          7 in 10 who said their workplace is disorganized: commonly said their desk was in the worst shape.

·          34% of disorganized Canadians said that "Time Management" is the most disorganized part of their life.

·          91% of disorganized Canadians feel that disorganization negatively impacts their lives. 

The good news: Professional Organizers are here to help.

Just because you don't know how to organize a desk, or know how to tackle the clutter in your home, doesn't mean you need to suffer any longer.   We will bring the plan, the products and our knowledge to you. 

It's ok that you don't know how to organize, that's what professional organizers are there to help you with. Just like you hire a accountant to do your taxes, a mechanic to fix your car or a massage therapist to get rid of aches and pains.

It suprizes me that not too many people seem to know we are out there to help, please forward this website to friends, family and associates in need.
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From my 20 Step Office Organizing Checklist, the task for this week is:
  •  Use shelves and cabinets to save floor space 
In the IDEAL Office there are 5 area of consideration, "Extra Space" is one of them. Get your copy of my IDEAL Office Guideline from the Business Solutions page.
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There was a very interesting and funny book that I read once called The Fermata. In this book a 35 year old office temp had the ability to stop time whenever he felt like it. Of course you can imagine just how much he could get done in short periods of time, yet, as far as I know this ability to stop time, does not exist. At least I can honestly say, I have never met anyone that has reported to have this skill.

So here we all are, all on the same time line, all subjected to having only 24 hours a day to work with. Factor in sleep, grooming, cooking, eating, traveling and working, and what do we have left? Well for most it's about 2-3 hours a day. That's about 8-12% of the day during an average work week. Not much is it?!

We all want our share of the cake though, don't we? We all want to be able to enjoy the time we have and make more time for the things we enjoy, right? So what price are we willing to pay? How about taking less time to sleep, less time to prepare healthy meals, or how about less time to work? What ever it is, there is going to be a trade off. 

So the question may now be, "What to do, and what not to do?"

Let's try to find this balance together…

First we need to know what is really competing for our time and we need to start be making a list. Create a master list of everything you need to do. 

When you have your list complete, you will need to break it down into order of priority. Factor in its value and its deadlines when considering just how important these things are to complete. Ask yourself, what is the worst thing that will happen if this doesn't get done?

Label and rank your items and make a too do list for each day. Give yourself some high priority, medium and low priority items to do each day. 

Break down complicated tasks into smaller bite sized pieces. Giving your self a large and daunting task to do all at once that you know you can't get done can tend to prevent you from ever starting it in the first place.

Add some fun to the mix. Work with a partner, turn on some favorite tunes and take breaks to step away for a moment or two so you can come back fresh each time. You can even try to play "beat the clock" and make tasks a bit of a game. (Try my 15 Minutes Elephant on for size) 

Enlist the help of others. Giving them clear instructions on what needs to be done and how. When doing this, be prepared for the fact that sometimes others may not do things as perfectly as you would have done. Remember, when there is room for slack, give up on perfection.

Put limits on what you say yes to. I talked about this in "Don't let Others Should on You." 

Have your cake, eat it too, yet save a bit for later.

 
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If your clutter is driving you crazy, try this on.  

It's time for the Olympics here in Vancouver, so why not take my Olympic Organizing Challenge and be a Gold Medal Winner in your own home or office?  
If your household clutter is making you crazy, here is my invitation for you.

   Here is what you can do to participate: 
Choose your challenge: Take a look around your home and identify areas that you want to organize and de-clutter.
Plan to succeed: Grab your note pad and make a list of your priorities and set some deadlines. (Start small if you like, perhaps only one or two specific tasks. Tip: be realistic and plan out your actions to make it happen.)
Submit your entry: ad a comment to this blog post that explains your commitment to your project, whatever it may be. (Start this post with the words: "My Challenge is:")
Participate actively: Every Saturday come and post an update and share the good news. (When posting the update, start your post with "My Update:")

   The Olympic Organizing Challenge will end March 31st.  

Award Certificates for GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE will go to the participants that enjoyed the best results and put in the most effort.

Need Help?
Just like any other service provider, professional organizers like me are here to help you save time and money. We can't always do everything by ourselves and sometimes we need help to stay on track and achieve our goals, and that's ok. If you have trouble getting started or staying on track, consider calling me and getting organized once and for all.     

Accept the challenge, enjoy the feeling being organized can bring. And please remember, to pass on this information to anyone you know that can benefit from a home, an office or a life more organized.  
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Stressed out?
Too much on your plate?
Having a hard time figuring out what your real priorities are?

There is an answer and you don't have to do it alone. C

all for rates and to book a consultation today!
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From my 20 Step Office Organizing Checklist, the task for this week is:
  •  Try colored folders to keep track of papers 
As a Professional Organizer I know many people tend to be visual. They like to see their action files clearly, so they can stay focused on what needs to be done.

There are many options to use color to make filing more fun. Colorful tabs as with the Freedom Filer System, colorful files as with the Rackitfile System and more. Just check out you local office supply store for idea's.

Tip: Be consistent with your choices. If you decide red is for action and green is for finance, don't use the wrong colors later on. Stay on top of your stock to make sure that when you need to create a new folder that you have the right colored folder to use. Otherwise the meaning gets lost in a rainbow of files later on. 

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7 Steps to a Functioning Closet

1. Consider visibility, accessibility ad flexibility when planning your closet design. 

2. Measure carefully the height, depth, width, and also for the entrance to the closet too.

3. Inventory what you have and what you need more of. Hanging space, shelves, shoe racks, etc.

4. Remove the things you can do without and put seasonal clothes away, preferably in close and accessible storage.
 
5. Shop for what you need. Talk with a closet designer to get ideas and determine costs for special installations.

6. Put it back together, containerize and label any baskets or show boxes properly.

7. Respect it, maintain it and love it.


4 More for the Kitchen Drawers

1. Designate just one drawer to be a "Junk Drawer." For items like batteries, flashlights, tape measure, paper pad and a pen for example. 

2. Sort and Purge the contents once every 6months to a year. Try to keep it for truly important things, not just a free-for-all junk collection as the name would suggest. 

3. Use drawer organizers to separate and store "like" items. 

4. Keep your flatware near the sink or dishwasher and your cooking utensils near the stove.
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Well, there you have it, a picture of me and my cousin Tiger. We were hanging out in California one year.

I just happened to find this photograph as I was doing a little housekeeping recently. 

I thought I would post it and share it as it, is a good thing to honor good memories and this holiday was a great time for me. I even enjoyed riding a Harley through Beverly Hills on this trip. Although I won't post that picture as it was rather unflattering.
 
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Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting the important things done and is this starting to stress you out? I think a good many people feel like this much of the time, as most of us could agree information comes at us at high speed and many demands are made on our time and resources. This goes for just about everyone, from busy mom’s to busy business owners alike.

Here are 6 tips to help with planning time better and get more out of your busy week.

1. Get up early.

Remember the old saying “early to bed, early to rise”? Well I find that for me I enjoy getting up before my fiancé as I can quietly work on tasks alone for an hour or so, and get a good jump start to my day. I can also take a few moments to get prepared for whatever I need to do that day.

2. Use the time matrix to stay on top of priorities.

The gift of the Tiger Tables, which is based on the Time Matrix concept, that I give to everyone in my Tidy Times community is a tool I use myself much of the time, especially when I feel I have more on my plate than I can handle. Sometimes I just use a blank sheet of paper to make my list using the matrix concept, showing you it doesn’t have to be pretty to be effective. If you struggle to know what to do next because there are so many things you have going try using this regularly and see how much clearer your priorities become.

3. Use Sunday night as a time to strategize.

Spend about 15-30 minutes on Sunday night to look over your appointments and tasks for the coming week. Perhaps book the time with your significant other too so you are both aware of what is going to be happening in the week and can find solutions together should any conflicts in timing arise.  

4. Get realistic about time and block what you need.

The funny thing about time is how our perception can be skewed about how longs things will actually take us. If it’s something we enjoy we tend to think we can do it faster and not block enough time, and if it’s something we hate we think it will take to long and may put it off. When planning your tasks try to think of how long each step of the task will take and don’t forget to account or interruptions. Giving yourself a buffer will give you room to breath and if you do find you finish the task early you can always work on something extra in between times.  

5. Use a timer to stay on track.

Sometimes I can get so involved in something I just can’t break away. If I know I can push off something else that is not a priority I don’t sweat it too much yet if I really need to be careful about getting to the next task or appointment on time I break out the good old egg timer from the kitchen. This handy little device has saved me from myself on many occasions, not to mention how helpful it has been from preventing me from burning my food as well.  

6. Group errands and like tasks together.

Like with objects, grouping like things together makes good sense. So rather than running out for this today and that tomorrow, work your errands around so that you can get more done in less time. As they say “Kill two birds with one stone”. Oh gees, I hope I don’t get into hot water with fellow animal lovers over that one. It is after all just a figure of speech. For example when I know I will be in a certain part of town for work during the week I plan a visit to shops on that route for my needs in the upcoming week or days after.  

So now that you have these 6 tips I have shared with you may be thinking that you have some great ones to share also. If you wish to share your time management strategies that work for you I would love to hear them and I’ll bet so would the rest of my readers.

Send your suggestions in 500 words or less, how they work for you in your life and in your business and perhaps they will show up in a Time Management issue of Tidy Times.
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Do you have too many emails and can’t get to everything, yet don’t want to leave your co-workers and clients hanging wondering if you even opened their email? Then like with the mail you should open and decide on each message right away and preferably over the trash.

If you find yourself reading all your emails in a row and then afterwards re-reading the important ones and only then respond or perhaps sometimes letting hours or days pass before returning them or forgetting about them altogether try applying the “one-touch” rule.

For example, if an email comes in that requires no return mail and no follow up file it away in its appropriate folder or delete it immediately. Or if something comes in that requires you to take action soon, yet not at the very moment, make a calendar or task appointment to remind you to take action when you know you will have time, and then immediately following this file away the email into it’s appropriate folder. Here is where spending time to set up good folder systems within your email to find the emails again when you need them will become imperative.

For emails that regularly come in yet you know in advance that they will not require your immediate attention and can be put off until you require the information, such as newsletters or the odd report, set your email with a “Rule” to file away the email into the appropriate folder automatically. You can then look at it when you have time or even set a reoccurring calendar appointment to remind you to check it when you know you will have time to do so.

If you do get an email and the sender is in need of a response sooner than you know you will be able to give an appropriate one, try not to leave them stranded, wondering if their email was overlooked or forgotten, and send them a brief note as to when they can expect a proper answer. At least this way they will rest assured you have acknowledged them and will be more apt to wait patiently until they hear from you again.

As things are easier said then done, be sure that you set an appropriate reminder for yourself to get back to people when you said you would. Give yourself a bit of a buffer if you feel you need it too, because as they say “It is better to under promise and over deliver than to over promise and under deliver”.

For more tips and information on email management and email etiquette start by checking out the “Top 26 Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette” http://email.about.com/od/emailnetiquette/tp/core_netiquette.htm
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