“Mind your business”

July 3, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Helping kids get organized, Organizational Exercises, Planning impacts on your health, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, tips to stay healthy

When you “mind your business,” you’re doing a couple of really important things.

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Getting started on team work

June 24, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Productivity tips for work Big project ideas, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, organizing big projects, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive

I’m starting to work heading up a big project that involves dozens of people in a mix of locations. This weekend, I felt immobilized by the volume of work and information I need to understand, and by the number of people I need to connect and work with.

It’s one thing to get yourself organized. It’s quite another to lead a large, highly efficient team – especially when you’re joining a team that’s used to working in a certain way and you’re the newest member.

So what do you do? I start by brainstorming a list of everything that’s knocking around in my head that needs to get done. Continue reading →

Feel gratitude for everything

June 10, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, forming a new habit, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, working on big projects, Working with your guides

My daughter, Samantha, graduated from Duke a couple of weeks ago. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was the commencement speaker and gave a great talk. I love that we have guides everywhere. When you’re open to new ideas, a hot morning in a football stadium can turn into a cool well of inspiring thought.

Here were a few of my favorite take-aways from Mr. Cook. Continue reading →

Mapping your energy

June 3, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, figuring out my life work, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, working on big projects

If you’re trying to bring more energy into your life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans prescribe making a fun, mind map in their book Designing Your Life.

It starts off easy! Think back on a time when you felt energized and engaged with life. Continue reading →

What’s the best part of your day?

May 22, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, Using a planner

I love this exercise from Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. You do stuff everyday. Some of it you choose to do. A lot of it you have to do. Each day your energy flows around your tasks, sometimes up and sometimes down.

If you want to have more up-energy, try tracking your energy flow for a week. You can either set up an activity log, or better yet, just mark up your planner. At the end of the day, look at each thing you did and check off or highlight things that raised your energy.

What’s cool about us is that we’re all different. A high-energy part of your day could be: Continue reading →

Relaxing into a schedule

April 29, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting up a planner, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner, Tips on using a planning calendar Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, forming a new habit, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, How do I use a planner?, how to get organized, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, working on big projects

If you’ve been thinking about doing something cool, set a deadline and put together a schedule. A deadline is effective even if it’s something only you know about; when you write a due date on a calendar you’re making a written commitment to yourself to get something done.

A cool benefit of having a schedule, besides meeting deadlines and getting stuff done, is the peace that comes from deciding what you’re working on and when you’re going to do it. You may feel like a schedule limits you. I would counter that when you schedule something, you quiet your brain and the idea stops nagging at you.

“Are you going to work on me now? Now? Now?”

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The 8-week Sprint

April 22, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Getting started, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Tips on using a planning calendar Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, forming a new habit, getting organized, getting things done, Getting work done, how to get organized, How to stay focused, Organizational Exercises, organizational tips, organizing big projects, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, working on big projects

A friend at work recommended a blog about how to get stuff done. I checked it out and read through a long, long, long post about why I should pay the blogger to help guide me through an 8-week sprint to get a creative project done. I read – and read, and read – and thought, “I don’t need a coach. I just need to do the work.”

Here’s the plan I came up with for my 8-week sprint. Continue reading →

Two tricks to stop procrastinating

April 1, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Working with your guides Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, Defining who you are, figuring out my life work, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, tips to be more productive, Working with your guides

I run the adult programs at our town library, and one of my favorites is a new Songwriting Workshop. The leader, Jud Caswell, has mad skills at being able to hear what someone plays and sings, then offering bits of advice that seem small but that help immensely.

Last week, Jud offered this advice to stop procrastination in its tracks: Continue reading →

Getting things done by adding levels

March 25, 2018December 9, 2019 organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused Big project ideas, Changing habits, Decision making, forming a new habit, getting things done, Getting work done, How to stay focused, organizational tips, organizing big projects, Prioritizing tasks, tips to be more productive, working on big projects

“Action leads to insight more often than insight leads to action.”
– Dan and Chip Heath, The Power of Moments

In The Power of Moments, the Heath brothers have some great ideas about breaking big goals into small parts – and rewarding yourself along the way. They compare this to video games where you feel accomplished each time to go up a level.

Let’s say you’ve always wanted to learn to play that guitar you’ve had hanging around for years. In a standard scenario, you know to break big goals into small parts so you make a plan to:

Tune up the guitar.
Find a great book on how to play.
Find some online class options.
Commit to practicing for a half-hour, 3x a week.
Block out time this week and get to work.

This plan works great for the first week or two, but then it gets a little boring and you start to skip practice time. And before you know it, the guitar is banished to its case, collecting dust at the back of the closet. Continue reading →