Tips & Insights for Top Performance

The challenge of staying organized through busy workdays and life is a trial for even the best. There are TONS of books on organization strategies out there with many tips and tricks on how to master chaos and achieve a sense of order in your environment. The challenge is many are filled with concepts to adapt and are more philosophical with prescribed action versus a handbook with steps of HOW to get organized. I found this book, Exploring Productivity… , and like it for its “idiots guide” type approach, making it easy to pick and address an issue versus reading a whole book and feeling overwhelmed with evaluating how you might transform your whole system of operation (which if it gets overwhelming, you will not take any steps to change.) This is a great book to have on the self, easy to read and excellent to reference so that you can address and overcome whatever organizational challenge you may be having THIS week

To order this book, click here.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer,  Minneapolis, MN

Are you finding you have a lot to do, but never seem to have enough time?

1) Assess how you are spending your time. Here are a few common time eaters to watch out for:

• You have a long list of things to do and focus on all the little thing so you can mark off more things in an hour.
• You are straightening, cleaning or micro-working.
• You are spending hours on e-mail.
• You can’t find things and spend a lot of time looking and discovering things you have not seen in a long time.
• You spend social/idle time on the phone.
• TV, newspaper, errands & shopping (things that don’t contribute to bottom line)
• Maintenance items that absorb time
• Internet, computer games, chat rooms, etc

2) Identify your weakness. Look at what is holding you back from doing the really important things on your list. Some common reasons our “BIG” projects are not accomplished are:

• Lack of planning
• Lack of time
• Overwhelmed with the project
• Lack motivation
• Distractions/Interruptions
• Other priorities
• Emergencies
• Tired & frustrated
• Lack of resources
• Lack of clarity of vision
• Excuses (life)

3) Create a routines and strategies for how you operate.

• Simple and effective Daily Habits.
• 10 min. daily pick-up time.
• Keep a clean desk.
• Check e-mail 3x a day; limit time to 30 min. for each checking.
• Touch it once and put it in its place (file it, toss it, etc.)
• Pick one big project you need to do each day and complete it before doing anything else
• Keep a weekly plan of activities with the top 5 things you will do each day
• Keep regular tools as your fingertips (healthy snacks, water, books, Palm, etc.)
• Develop management systems – templates for things you do often.
• Block one hour a day for quiet time to focus exclusively
• Pick one news source & read as reward for task completed.
• Have a system to organize contacts, calendar and tasks (Outlook is a great tool)

Bottom-line.When you have systems in place and are neat and organized you can get more done. When you do what is important first, it will free your energy to have the big project done and also give plenty of time for all the little things. When you assess, identify and strategize you will easily maximize your productivity!