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The Balancing Act - July 2011 Newsletter Featured Article
 
How do you get it all done?  This is a question I am frequently asked and I must say it’s not an easy one to answer.  Like just about everyone I know – it’s a daily challenge to get everything done; and you know what?  Some days, it doesn’t all get done and I’ve had to learn that that is perfectly acceptable.  This is something that isn’t always easy for someone like me who loves to cross things off lists, or use the delete key on items that have been accomplished.  I might be organized; but I am also human and there is only so much one can do.

After being posed this question by some clients and colleagues recently; I thought that it might be a good topic to write about – and share some of the strategies I’ve implemented to help me get it “most of it” done.
 

1.  Put on your plate what you can realistically digest.  The joke earlier this year in our office was that I had to upsize my plate to a “platter” because there was too much on it – but I knew that I would soon be “downsizing” it to a “dessert” plate.  This year has been one of the busiest years of my 11 years in business – as I was releasing my 8th book “Eliminate the Chaos at Work:  25 Techniques to Increase Productivity”; running the business, working with clients, speaking around the country, planning a fall wedding, getting a new puppy and serving as the president of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) – and of course trying to have a personal life!  I approached this year by first eliminating many “opportunities” that I had been approached about because I knew that realistically I could not digest one more task that didn’t relate to one of these projects.  In fact, I almost turned down the offer to write the book – knowing what my limits were; but after some convincing and discussion, I took my advice and asked for even more help at home and delegated even more than I had in the past; in order to allow me the time to write.  Some of what was on my plate earlier this year is now complete while other ongoing projects remain, so I am down to my usual plate and looking forward to one more round of downsizing a bit later this year!
 

2.  Plan.  When my colleagues asked me recently how I “got it all done” and fit my NAPO volunteer activities into the mix of my work/life balance; my response was this.  I am an early morning person and enjoy the first few hours in my office each morning to write, work on projects, do my volunteer work, etc…I like to do this while the phones haven’t start ringing yet.  I set aside the first 2-3 hours each day to dedicate to these items.  Some days I spend all the time on writing, sometimes it’s all volunteer work and some days it’s a mix of both.  Once I leave my office for a day of meetings and client work; I know that I can’t work on these items and therefore I commit my morning hours to these activities.  I plan certain activities on certain days of the week; typically at the same time – essentially creating a routine that works for me and then I plan other tasks around them.  What activities can you routinely plan on your calendar to ensure you have enough time to accomplish them? 


3.  Create systems and processes.  You will feel much more in control and be more proactive if you create and maintain systems and processes at home and at work.  You’ll spend less time looking for things, doing certain activities, looking for information and just getting things done.  What systems can you put in place to help make your life a little less chaotic?


Chaos4.  Just say “NO”.  This is a hard one for me, but I am getting better at it.  Here’s what I’ve learned….every time I say “YES” to something, I say “NO” to something else.  Recently I was asked to drive several hours to give a pro-bono talk during the wee hours of the morning.  In order to do this, I would need to leave my house the afternoon before, pay to stay in a hotel, give up an evening with my family and my new puppy, give the talk and then make the long drive home.  In the process I would give up two days of work with clients and spend several hours crafting a presentation.  While I’m sure there were plenty of great “marketing opportunities” at this event, it wasn’t something I could say “yes” to and feel good about, and so I had to say “NO”  It was difficult to turn this opportunity down, but I didn’t want to regret the time away later.  Each year I set aside 12 pro-bono talks for organizations – six of which are requests our office receives and six that I reach out to and offer to provide.  Several years ago we implemented this policy to help with my work-life/family balance.  I feel great about the 12 I provide each year and it helps other understand why I sometimes need to say “no” to these requests.

5.  Prioritize.  Your priorities may need to change daily and so the need to become flexible will be key.  If you don’t already have a “to-do” list, you need one.  I prefer the electronic type as opposed to the paper version.  You can read more about my recommendations in our October 2010 newsletter article “How to Keep Track of Everything”  While I’ve spent over a decade consulting with individuals and business on how to use Microsoft Outlook to manage their day, time and tasks, my new favorite “task” application is a cloud-based FREE application called “Remember the Milk”  In order to eliminate my own chaos and not become overwhelmed by everything on the  lists, I use multiple lists in this application – several for work and a few for personal items.  Some of my lists include:

  • Laura (my personal “to-do’s”)
  • Wedding (a place to record the final last minute details of our upcoming wedding)
  • Eliminate Chaos Daily (tasks that take more than 20-minutes that I can do on a specific day)
  • Eliminate Chaos Future (idea for project I may want to do, but don’t want to lose site of)
  • Marketing (marketing related projects for work)
  • Speaking (projects related to building my speaking business)
  • Website (specific projects related to updates and/or changes to be made to our websites)
  • NAPO (the association I am the immediate past president of - a place for me to keep track of my volunteer activities)


6.  Ask for help.   It’s OK to ask for help.  It doesn’t mean you can’t do something or don’t want to do it, it just means that you need help.  You can ask a family member, friend, colleague, co-worker or assistant - and sometime I’m sure you’ll be willing to return the favor.  What can you ask for help with this week?


7.  Delegate.  There are many tasks that you can and should delegate.  Determine what your time is worth and if you can pay someone to do time-consuming, repeatable tasks so that your time is freed up for you to spend more time with family or more time doing the work that only you can do.  For years I have encouraged small business owners to hire assistants (they don’t even need to work full-time) to take some of these tasks off their plates so they can focus on growing their businesses.  Try it – you might be surprised with the results.  I know for many of my clients it’s been an eye-opening experience they tell me they should’ve done a long time ago – or when I first suggested it!

8.  Admit you can’t do it all.  Hard as it may be, especially for Type A individuals, admit it; you can’t do it all and there’s nothing wrong with that.  This is where your priorities come back into constant play and you need to reassess what you can realistically do, ask for more help, delegate and maybe just say “no.”
 

Wishing you an organized and balanced life.
 
© Eliminate Chaos 2000-2011. All rights reserved.
 
© Eliminate Chaos 2000-2012. All rights reserved.