Here are my goals for 2016, my updates for each goal are in red.
Wednesday, December 30th 2015
Here are some of the ideas I want to implement.
1. Instead of just setting objectives for the year and then forgetting about them, I plan to review my plans every week. I have a meeting every Monday at 9:30 am, which means I'm home later than usual, as I don't have to leave my house until 9. I have been spending that time checking my work emails, sending out quick responses and follow ups needed. I've decided, that starting next Monday, January 4th - I'm going to spend that time reviewing what I accomplished last week and what I plan/need to accomplish in the week ahead. How can I make this week more productive than last week? What worked and what didn't?
I would say I did about 75/25 on this goal. Meaning, I did it 75% of the time.
2. Having a calendar system that works without a lot of stress. I use a calendar on my phone (whatever came with the phone), and an Outlook calendar at work that is attached to my work email. Here's the problem. I can't get them to automatically sync. I can go in and push all kinds of buttons and eventually it sort of syncs, some of the items, but not all and I'm never quite sure how I did it. Yes, I know I'm not the techiest of people. I'm trying out the Google Calendar this week. Here's how that's working so far. Once I installed it, it automatically synced everything from my generic phone calendar. However, when I signed onto Google Calendar on my desktop (I had to look up how to do that,) it's not syncing up with the Google Calendar on my phone. I've tried googling that, but so far haven't found the answer. If anyone knows how to do this, please fill me in!
Ugggh.... Still need to figure this out. I spend time every month trying to make my calendars sync. Then of course I add things to both calendars and sometimes it finally syncs and duplicates itself. I may need to just stick to paper calendars or just accept that I'm going to have to take the time to add things twice. Eventually there will be a way that works better.
3. Read a book or two on being more productive. Here's the thing, I'm a huge reader. I read every day. They're just not self help or business type books. I read fiction and non-fiction - but they're stories. I could read all day, everyday - but it doesn't help me with my goals or plans. It does help me relax when I have time to read. I tend to read during my lunch break or before bed. Anyway... There are so many books about productivity that I am going to make time to read a couple. Here are some of the books on my list. (really, they're on my Amazon wish list)
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- Today Matters by John C. Maxwell
- Fire Your Boss by Stephen Pollan (I bought this many months ago and still haven't read it)
- Knowing your value: Women, Money, and Getting what you're worth by Mika Brzezinski
- Getting things done by David Allen
There are many more, but those are some to give you an idea of what I mean.
I'm about 50/50 on this. I still enjoy my fiction much more than I enjoy reading self help type of books. My mind wanders too quickly. However, I did start something on my FB page where I find lists of things I want to read, but have trouble focusing on and posted them on my page. For example, 63 way to build self confidence. I posted one of the ways each day for 63 days. I figured I can't be the only one who can't sit and read these whole lists and absorb it in one reading. Turns out, I'm not because I've gotten lots of positive feedback from friends and a ton of hits on the posts.
4. Take effective breaks during the day. Some days I walk into work and don't come up for air until I leave at 4:30. Those days are productive, but leave me feeling drained. I was in a meeting a couple of weeks ago, our speaker, Sandra Roszel, taught us 7 one minute exercise that can help you feel better mentally and physically. These ideas are helpful for everyone.
- Check in; become aware of your posture, breathing, and tension
- Tap into your joy; think about something that makes you happy or look at picture of something that makes you happy and tap your forehead. If you're feeling tired, tap on your cheekbones and breath.
- Morning Affirmations; For example - "Today is going to be a great day!" say it out loud and say it every day. You can even say affirmations for other people.
- Breath; take a few deep strengthening breaths
- Move; Get up and walk around the office for 1-2 minutes.
- Smile, hum, or laugh. Sometimes I will just pull up a video or jokes that make me laugh (on my phone). It's nice to take a moment to relax your mind. Jokes that always make me crack up are those autocorrect text messages. You can find them on google. I sometimes laugh so hard I'm crying.
- Evening Gratitude; buy a journal or notebook and get into the habit of writing down 3 things that you are grateful for on this day. Once you start this, you will get into the habit of looking for things throughout your day. They can be small things too, like I got all of the laundry done today. Sometimes that's a huge accomplishment.
Ok, I really struggled on this. I'm not good at taking breaks and am still working on this. I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a timer that I can put on the other side of the room that forces me to get up. When I've used my phone, the timer goes off, I just turn it off and keep working, thinking "I'll stop in a minute." Doesn't happen. Sigh.... Work in progress.
Block scheduling. I've tried unsuccessfully to set my calendar this way. I'll pick dates that I'm going to do a certain task and somehow they don't get done at that time. They'll usually get done that day - but the time varies based on what's going on in my day. I'm not quite sure how people stick to the time they say they're going to do something. If I walk into my office and have clients needing me, they're going to come before anything else. However, in thinking about this. I do like the idea of giving myself time limits on my to do list of tasks. For example. If I have to make x number of calls today; set an hour of time, where that is all I do and once I'm done, I can move on. Instead of scheduling the exact time I will get something done, I can prioritize my to do list for the day in order of importance and set time limits. Once I've taken care of customers that need me immediately, I can move on to task #1, giving myself the allotted time to get it done. Once it's done, I can check for voice mails or emails that again need my attention and then start on task #2. And so on. I'll give this a try and evaluate how it's working after a month.
Not doing well with this either and one of the major goals I'm about to focus on is learning how to stop multi-tasking. I feel like I do well at it, however I keep reading articles and books that say otherwise. Stay tuned for my 2017 goals on this one.
Networking, business cards, and keeping in touch. I've downloaded an app called CamCard. I will get all of my business cards scanned in and organized once and for all. I will add to my to do lists everyone that I need to contact whether by phone, email, or mail and make sure I set a blocked amount of time to get this done.
I would say I'm 50/50 on this.
Keeping all of my notes in one place. I think what will work best for me is to keep a spiral notebook on me at all times. I write notes constantly at meetings or at home or when I'm in my office and I find myself carrying around folders of random notes on different pieces of paper. Then, it's hard to get it all organized into one place. I know there are apps for this, but I am still a little old fashioned in liking paper and handwriting my notes. I also feel a little rude in meetings, using my phone, it feels like I'm texting or checking emails and not paying attention, when really I'm taking notes. This will especially help me because I'm not in once place all day or everyday. I spend about a third of my time networking, a third of my time working from home, and a third of my time in my office, it's hard to keep everything together, so I'm hoping this will be a better solution.
At some point during the year this strategy changed to an app I learned about called Workflowy. I'm just programmed to write notes on random pieces of paper and that's ok. I just put them all in one folder and several times a month I type the notes into the Workflowy program.
(Here's my prior post about the app: http://mariewhite617.blogspot.com/2016/04/organizing-your-notes-thoughts-lists.html)
People have been so amazed at how "organized" I am because of this app and I've had a few requests to teach how the app works to others. 👌
This last one might be a little strange to some and normal to others. I've bought a little calendar to keep at home where I'll keep track of what I wear each day. The reason being, I attend a lot of meetings and see a lot of the same people. Some meetings are once a week, others are once or twice a month. It's a little thing and most people probably wouldn't even notice, but it's something that bugs me and I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I wore to each meeting the last time I went.
During 2016 I found an app called Journey. (Here's the post where I talked talked about it: http://mariewhite617.blogspot.com/2016/03/oganization-with-apps.html) I've done pretty well using the app. I would say 80/20. There are days I forget for sure and then I'll go back and type in what I wore or take a picture of the outfit hanging in my closet, but for the most part I've done pretty well.
These were my main goals. However, there were many organization ideas that I put into place that made my year flow smoothly. My folders, the systems I put into place in my office, my email organization, my new apps. I have been able to stay on top of everything and not let tasks (large or small) slip through the cracks.
Now that I have an assistant at work, my 2017 goals are going to be stretched. Stacy's first week with us was super productive. I love how she already knows what she's doing and learns new ideas quickly and without hesitation. She's great with customers, she knows insurance, and she's a team player. I could not have asked for more.
I know I lacked on my blog at the end of 2016 and I will work harder to do better next year. However, I think this blog was one of my greatest accomplishments in 2016. In reviewing my year I read through my entire blog and was amazed and so proud of some of my posts. You go through life living in the moment and focusing on this week, next month, etc... you sometimes need to look back and reflect on what you've learned, what you've accomplished, and what you still need to work on. I wouldn't have had such a clear picture of that if I hadn't written this blog.
Have you reviewed your 2016 goals yet? If not, here are some ideas to help you reflect before you begin planning your new year.
Until next time when hopefully I will be posting my 2017 goals.
MW
Copyright 2016
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