To organize life and manage time we have to aim to manage self. How we spend time that produces results (or lack of) is about choices, habits, and actions. Here are ten tips to get the most of your day and the results you want.

Make Deliberate Choices

Intentionally choose how to use time. Time can be used pouring out your strengths, passions, skills, and values, and not be wasted. Our choices can make it such so choose wisely.

1- Know Your Priorities- For least resistance align priorities based on who you are. What is really important to you? List 3-5 top priorities in order. Look at them daily. What goals are most important right now for long-term fulfillment?

2- Be Aware of Time Bandits- Monitor how you spend time for 24-72 hours. Notice where time is wasted or how it can be put to better use. EX: Run errands once a week versus daily trips. Notice distracters, those things that steal your focus such as phone calls, e-mail, things breaking down, etc.

3- Set your Mind on the Ultimate Result- Thoughts guide behavior. Focus negatively, and you may get discouraged and quit. The Wright Brothers focused on the end result, ‘what it takes to fly’, not being grounded. Choose your line of thought or your brain will take a shortcut and choose the thought pattern/ habit that is in place, whether or not it serves you. It is a choice! You can accept or reject a thought. Choose a positive, results-aimed mind set always!

Develop Great Habits and a Structure to Support Your Actions

Many people are busy, but without the structure and habits in place to get the results they crave. Know that great habits with structure support you to complete primary tasks. You then get results which lead to more freedom to do what you want (without the fear or guilt).

4- Have an Efficient Scheduling System- Whether using a pda, home computer, or a planner, it is critical to have a structure that supports your planning style. I love the planner systems at www.day-timer.com and www.franklincovey.com which provide monthly calendars, daily appointment schedule, space for daily notes, and more in one efficient hand-held planner.

5- Schedule Priorities First, Block Time, and Take Action- Block time for priorities first, then follow through. Focus on how great you will feel after doing it. Block time for various roles and avoid multi-tasking to maintain focus. Do not do housework during business hours. Set yourself up for success by scheduling high energy tasks when you have energy and low energy tasks later. Stay fully focused to complete priorities with excellence. Give full attention to one activity at a time.

6- Set Time Limits- Set a time limit when you begin a task then stay focused. This takes practice. Most tasks take longer than we anticipate, but it will save time. Most of us could waste plenty of time on e-mail, but can save a lot when we set a limit.

7- Plan a Day Ahead- For most, each day is different. It helps to plan your schedule the day/evening before. Then you can jump out of bed in the morning with a smile on because you know exactly what to do.

8- Create Daily Habits that Serve You- What daily action would make the greatest positive difference? Examples: Spiritual studies, go to bed or wake up earlier, watch less tv, read, make three new contacts, drink more water, do something you love, limit time for e-mail, write, organize, plan, create, help others, etc. Make it specific. Ask which daily habits uplift you and which hold you back then make a shift.

Be in Action on What is Most Important

Reaching goals means taking the steps that get you there… no matter what. You are either interested or committed. Life will get in the way. Fear will want to hold you back. It is a choice to continue in action on the important stuff, and rewards come when you do.

9- Do It, Delegate It, or Dump It- It is easier to stay in action on priorities when you leverage your strengths, passions, values, and skills. Learn in action and gain experience. Delegate what is not your cup of tea. Dump what is not that important right now. Block time to handle tolerations that drain your energy such as clutter, repairs, etc.

10- Simplify and Systematize- Put systems in place to make things easier. Consistently seek the more efficient way. EX: position employees to leverage their strengths/ passions, run errands weekly when stores are low traffic, when you buy something get rid of something to avoid clutter, organize the office at the end of each day, give everything a home so nothing is ever lost. Strive for efficiency.

 

To organize life and manage yourself for peak performance you have to feel your best. This means scheduling rejuvenation time regularly to enjoy what you love and what life has to offer right now. Implement these tips and raise your quality of life… StartingNow!

Beth Tabak of www.StartingNowCoaching.com is 100% committed to small business coaching and personal life coaching. She is also a speaker and columnist. Beth coaches big thinkers to be unlimited, stand out in the crowd, and experience the vastness of their capabilities. Come see all that is available to you and say “hello”.

As a kid did you love to play a game where you would all pile on top of each other and the bottom person would be yelling, “Get off, I can’t breathe”? Do you ever feel like the paper in your home is making it so you can’t breathe? Paper piles in homes and offices can become a heavy weight if not contained. Rules to breathe by:

- Do not let junk mail live in your home. Open mail over a trash (recycle) can. Do not entertain it.

- Set up a filing system with tabs on the hanging files for every kind of paper you have to keep. IE: To Read, Bills To Pay, Coupons, Receipts, Auto information, Household tips. I could go on and on but you get the idea, have a place for every piece of paper. You don’t have to file every time you touch a piece of paper. Place it in a basket and once a week file. Yes, it does take some self control but the benefits are marvelous on you and your home.

To organize your Home, Office, or Garage, Click here

- Do you like to say, “I am a piler,”? As long as that works for you it is okay. 1) Try a vertical file rather than laying the paper down. You can label the side of the file and it is easier to see and you can organize and separate by topics or need. 2) If you want to have horizontal files place a manila folder on top of a pile (you could cut it and have two from one). Write on the top of the folder saying what the pile is. Or you can buy folders that have tabs so you can slip several piles into one folder. This keeps your desk neat and tidy and you can find what is in your pile when you need it.

- One filing system that saves tons of time and is easier than pie is Freedomfilers. It is a system that uses color and is broken down into subjects. There is no need to file and re-file and purge papers using this system.

We all have bills to pay but that doesn’t mean we have to keep the paper around cluttering up our space. I recommend paying as many bills on line as possible. Banks and Credit Unions can electronically pay most bills, you just have to set up the information for them to be able to do the transfer. I had a client tell me her accountant said not to set them up automatically because if you ever close out an account it is hard to get it removed from the list. I have not had any personal experience with this. Notify the companies you get bills from that you want electronic bills, to discontinue sending paper bills.

Let’s say you still pay bills with a check; then as far as keeping the paper work for that bill that has been paid, like credit cards, utilities, mortgage and so forth I recommend after paying the bill only keep one month in your file after it has been paid. The following month toss that one you paid last month and file the current one. It is only filed until the next month. I think the best place to keep bills to be paid is in a hanging file in the filing cabinet labeled ‘Bills To Pay’. Decide on one or two days a month to pay the bills and pull out the file then and pay them, tossing the previous month’s bill.

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I recommend this as a way to keep a home office organized as it does away with tons of paper. If you can verify two different ways that you paid the bill there is no reason for you to keep the paper.

- One way to verify is with the new monthly bill; it will show you have paid it.

- You will have record of how you paid itcredit card, debit card, check, or electronically.

- Your financial institution sends verification that they transferred the money.

By getting rid of piles of junk mail and unnecessary paper in our homes it creates space and harmony within us and within our homes.

Marilyn’s bio

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems. Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find solutions to your organizing needs. She offers free tips in her blogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizing solutions.