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Archive for Organizing Time

notebook on desk with clover leaf

Planning and Luck Meet Each Other

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 17, 2021

notebook on desk with clover leafI had a feeling this would be quite a week. Last week was National Procrastination Week. The daylight savings switcheroo always creates a hiccup. St. Patrick’s Day and Small Business Development Day are both March 17. March 20 brings in the first day of spring. Meanwhile, Twitter Day is March 21 and Passover and Easter are right behind. So naturally, it was time to write about planning and luck and their relationship.

Struggling with this blog post, I headed out for a mind-clearing, fat-burning, sunshine-worshipping walk. Then I saw the hawk. He soared high overhead then swooped in so close that I thought I might be breakfast. His graceful dive was awe-inspiring. He reminded me of Lori, my university residence door-mate. We would dress up in white coveralls and she would swoop around, arms spread wide in wing formation, reminding me to soar, to be as free as an eagle. Suddenly, I was transposed to those heady university days and I knew exactly how to write this blog.

In early August 1985, Lori offered me a trip to Vancouver. I was just three months home from living more than two years in Papua New Guinea—and floundering. I said that I would accompany her as far as Edmonton, then called the Director of the Master’s Program to which I had just applied and told him I needed an interview with him. He thought I was crazy to TELL him I wanted an interview, so he agreed. Five days later, I was sitting in his office following an adventure that only Lori could have arranged: station wagon arranged; sleeping in tents in fields; cassette tape playlist created specially for the trip; seeds, sprouts and bagels in the cooler.

I was sitting in his office having announced that I needed to be in his program. He asked me if I planned to hang around until he decided to accept me, IF he decided to accept me. Then he announced that I was completely crazy when I said that I was bussing back to Toronto and needed just 24 hours of banking time and I would be on a flight back for the first day of school. I only had two hours between that interview and the bus departure in which to check out two potential places to live that were miraculously still available two weeks before school started in the busy university/government town.

Within a week, I had received his phone call telling me to book my flight. I landed at 6 am for class at 8:30 and rolled in with my suitcase in tow. As Director, he was first on the agenda of the first day of first year. And he told the entire class how crazy I was. The program was on the 13th floor of the building. I had sat in seat 13 on the flight. I’d committed to renting a room in a house with 13 in the address. Planning and luck?

Even St. Patrick might have applauded my crazy luck.

Before you, too, jump to the conclusion that “She’s just plain lucky,” consider another option—one you can use so that when your own call comes in, people will claim you are just as lucky. Only you will know the planning and action that you put in place behind that luck.

You see, when I got wind of the fact that there might be a spot in that Master’s Program, from an astute and very clever Admin Assistant, Sarah, who answered my first phone call, I made sure that I would be ready. If there was going to be a lottery draw for who got it, I would have a ticket. I hustled around the province (this was before the internet, cell phones and Zoom remember) and arranged my transcripts, wrote the GMAT test hundreds of miles away, and assembled letters of recommendation and all the other items the school required. All the requirement were sent off to the Director within two weeks of my phone call to super helpful Sarah.

I worked hard, but mostly I stayed on top of implementation. Focussed on action, I created a task list and I knew that I just had to tick off every item on the list. If I could get the package to him within two  weeks, it would be on his desk when the intake committee had to decide how to handle a slightly higher than average decline of admission rate. That’s when Lori called. So off I went to Edmonton.

I completed my Master’s in Health Services Administration and convocated in November 1987.  Only a handful of us did. Perhaps there was an element of luck, but I maintain that the secret of my success was that I stayed focussed on implementation and action. Ruminating on problems wasn’t going to get me that spot on the dais in front of the Dean as he held my hood and my certificate of completion in his hand.

I offer you the same strategy. Where planning meets opportunity is where luck shows up.

I AM Evolution Coaching Organizing Strategies Organizing Time
Tags : organizing strategies, Planning

Time Tamer Tuesday – 5 Steps to Time Management at the Office

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 14, 2017

Time Management at the Office

Time Management, The Illusive Goal

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that time management was actually possible? Do you wish you could get more done at the office?

Unfortunately, despite all attempts otherwise, none of us can manage Time; that is the reality.  It continues to tick away – 24 hours in each day, 60 minutes in each hour and 60 seconds in each minute – each and every day of the year.  We can, however, manage ourselves.  We can manage ourselves to do more with the time we have available. Manage your behaviour around getting things done, and time will seem way more friendly – almost like you did manage it. Here are 5 steps to get help you out.

Step 1 – Commit to Behaviour Change as a Time Management Strategy

Start by committing to managing yourself in order to get time management under control.  Set the intention to become more productive with  your time.  With a commitment to your own behaviour change, time management becomes less illusive.  Make a pact with yourself to take responsibility for doing more in less time.  While time is not to blame for what you can’t get done, only  you have control over what you CAN get done.  So take back control.

This is the toughest step.  Get firmly planted in this direction, and the rest will seem much easier.

Step 2 – Identify Your Top Priorities and Tasks for each Day, Week, Month and Year

Time Management at the Office, Set Goals

You likely already have annual priorities identified as part of your annual planning, goals, performance objectives or other performance measurement or company planning strategy.  Are you an entrepreneur?   Have you got your business objectives lined up for the year/quarter/month/week?  Great.  Now turn them into goals for the month, week and day.  What do you need to get done by the end of the day, week, month, and then the quarter, to accomplish your annual goals?  The priority tasks for today will feed into your priority goals for this week.  The same is true for the month.  By the end of this week, are you a quarter of your way to your priorities for the month?  What has to be finished to get there?

Daily tasks are the key to keeping the productivity up.  Keep your daily priority tasks simple and short.  Now write them down.  Start with a verb to direct your action.  Rather than writing “Managers’ Report” write “Collect data, analyze and write Managers’ Report”.   Writing down goals helps set the intention and for many of us, helps lodge those goals into our brains to help keep us focused and pointing in the right direction.

Step 3 – Book Time in your Calendar to accomplish the Tasks

For time management book tasks into your calendar.

Each task takes a certain amount of time.  Estimate this to the best of your ability and book the time to accomplish the task into your calendar.

There’s a funny thing about tasks we want/need/should get done, especially some of the tougher ones.  If we don’t book time and protect that time, everything else, on everyone else’s priority list, has the opportunity to get

Step 4 – Commit to the Time Scheduled – and Let Everyone Know

Your time is committed; tell the people around you.   Close your door.  Ask not to be disturbed.  Put your phone on silent.  Turn off your email alerts. Turn off all your alerts except for any related to risk management that require you to drop everything and respond (are you on the Code Blue Team?).  This often takes some practice.  With time, however, people will come to understand that you commit to your time and expect them to respect that.  And they will love that you get stuff done.  Your boss knows that managing these boundaries helps you to get stuff done for her/him.  Reports are on time.  Your staff recognize that you get stuff done for them.  Schedules are on  time.  You approve vacation requests quickly.

Nice.

Step 5 – Commit to Running Productive Meetings

You’ve got a meeting to run?  Set an Agenda.  Send it out ahead of time.  Be clear on what you are trying to accomplish.  Remember, other people struggle with time management as well.  When you are clear on the agenda, people you meet with are grateful.  Stick to it your agenda.  Finish the meeting just as soon as the agenda is accomplished.  While we are all interested in someone else’s successes, their celebrations and someone else’s venting their frustrations, if all that isn’t on your agenda, it will have to wait for some other time.  You run a focused and productive meeting.

 

With a commitment to managing yourself, identified priorities, time booked for your key tasks, protection of your time and productive meetings, time management at the office is no longer illusive.  At least it will feel like you managed time.

Office Organizing Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : organizing strategies, productivity, Time Management, Time Tamers
plan time to get important things done

Minutes to Plan – Time Tamer Tuesday

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 1, 2016
plan time to get important things done

We can’t manage time, but we can plan to get important things done.

You are busy.  Learning how to better manage time is high on your To Do list.  You just never seem to get there.

Time Can’t be Managed

The reality is you can’t manage time.  It ticks away at the same pace whether you are prepared for that meeting, unprepared for that exam or running early or late to your client’s home.  Time moves at the same pace.

Plan Time

Being even just slightly more prepared for the day will help you achieve more focus and purpose.  And with that, you can accomplish much more.

15 Minutes to Plan

At the end of the day, spend 15 minutes writing down the top 3 things you want to accomplish tomorrow.  You’ll wake up with purpose and focus.

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Goals, Lists, Time, Time Management, Time Tamer Tuesday, Time Tamers

How Many Synonyms Does Planning Have?

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 31, 2015

Life comes at us all at about 150km/hour in my estimate. Occasionally a little faster; sometimes a little slower. Usually, pretty fast.

Being organized is being prepared to respond to what’s coming at you no matter how fast it arrives. Anticipation, preparation, planning all work the same way when it comes to organizing for life’s challenges.

Take tax season for example. I know today, 30 days before most of our taxes are due, that next year on June 15th, 2015 my business taxes will be due. I have more than a year to prepare myself and all the bits and pieces associated with tax submission in order to submit on time, or depending on your circumstances, early.

Tonight, on the other hand, I have no idea what time everyone will be home for supper and in fact, I’m not even sure anyone will be home for supper. So I have about 5 hours to figure out how to handle that challenge. My solution, a stash of nutritious freezer foods that even my 12 year old can safely prepare for himself after swim team training session.

Home Organizing Organizing Challenges Organizing Time

Time Tamer Tuesday – Tax Tips

Posted by Carolyn on
 August 14, 2012

Categorize your tax information when you receive it.  Compiling all the data required for your tax submission will be a lot easier. 

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Bills, Taxes, Time Management, Time Tamers

Time Tamer Tuesday – Save the Size

Posted by Carolyn on
 August 7, 2012

Children’s feet grow very quickly.  Next time you walk past a shoe store with your child, pop in and have his/her foot measured.  When your mom calls to say she found some great children’s shoes on sale she would love to buy for your children, you’ll know exactly what size to tell her to buy.

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Children, Time Management, Time Tamers

Time Tamer Tuesday – Lighten up on the Commitment List

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 31, 2012

Don’t over commit yourself. It’s better to do fewer things calmly and accurately. Tomorrow is another day. 

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Time Management, Time Tamers

Time Tamer Tuesday – Use the Down Time

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 24, 2012

Line up to check out?  Subway slow?  Buses busy?  Keep a notebook with you so you can jot notes for other projects, thoughts, lists or activities while waiting.  Ideas often come to us while our brains are supposed to be concentrating on other things.

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Time Management, Time Tamers

Time Tamer Tuesday – Lay Out the Work Out

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 10, 2012

Headed for a workout in the morning?  Whether you go to the gym or hit the pavement/park for a run or bike, lay out your gear the night before – all of it including clothes, socks, shoes, gloves, keys, phone, shower gear, work clothes and anything else you need to take.  You’ll be primed when you wake up and can go on autopilot until the endorphins kick in.

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Fitness, Time Management, Time Tamers

Time Tamer Tuesday – Schedule those Loads

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 3, 2012

Take advantage of the time delay features on dishwashers and washing machines to get chores done when hydro rates are low, but you’re busy with more pressing matters — like homework, bedtime, or reading a good book. 

Organizing Time Time Tamer Tuesday
Tags : Kitchen, Time Management, Time of Use, Time Tamers
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