Don’t over commit yourself. It’s better to do fewer things calmly and accurately. Tomorrow is another day.
Archive for Organizing Time – Page 2
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.
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.
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.
Struggling to find time to weed the garden? Try using 15 minutes a day to tackle whatever weeds you can pull in a quarter hour. By the end of the week you will have invested over an hour of weed pulling!
If you have to drop something off somewhere, leave it in your car. It’s so much easier to drop something off when you’re in the neighbourhood, instead of making a special trip.
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.
If you see a gift or card that you think is just perfect for someone in your life, buy it. When the time comes that you needto buy something for that person, you won’t have to race around looking for something inspiring.
We just celebrated my son’s birthday with a big party at an indoor carnival. Despite having the party outside of our home, there was still a lot to do. Most importantly, you have to start planning early. These venues are booked far in advance of the actual celebration. So, what do you need to consider when scouting around for a party location? Here are a few things you will want to keep in mind:
· Is there a dedicated party room?
· Is there a sink in the room?
· Will you have to share the space with other patrons?
· Is food provided, or do you need to supply your own?
· Will you have access to a fridge?
· Will there be a staff member assigned to look after your party guests?
· Where are the washrooms?
· Is there somewhere for coats, presents and loot bags to be safely stored?
Answering these questions will let you know if you’ve found the right place for your party and exactly how much will be left for you to sort out before the big day.
For individuals managing ADD, learning to manage time can be an ongoing challenge. Professional organizers and ADD coaches often encourage the use of timers to make sure hyper-focus doesn’t cause the swallowing of hours and hours of time scheduled for something else.
Here’s an idea I created for a young client whose tremendous creativity sent me searching for an alternate timing device. Create a set of playlists for yourself on your mp3 player for various lengths of time. One might be 5 Min Playlist, another 10 Min Playlist etc. When you have a task to complete or a job that you need to focus for a designated time, plug in and turn on your playlist that matches that period of time. It may take a couple of attempts before you figure out the genre of music that works for a 10 minute end-of-day-get-stuff-off-the-floor task versus a 30 minute I-really-have-to-enter-in-my-expenses-today-if-i-want-to-be-reimbursed-this-month type task.
Have fun with it – its a perfect personalized tool to support your time management.
