Wednesday, December 30th 2015
It's amazing how many things can change in a year. Normally at this time of the year, I have a lot of extra time to kill. Time to get organized, plan, think about the next year.... This year I am super busy. I am working on so many projects, I have so many quotes to work on, new customers I'm setting up, it's pure chaos and yet I feel more organized and productive than ever before.
I am still working on my goals for 2016 as well as my business plan for 2016. Amazingly they're not exactly the same thing. I talked about goals on Monday, I think they're more related to personal dreams and interests. My business plan is more focused on business which will help me reach some of my personal goals.
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?
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!
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.
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 think that's enough for today. I will write more asap. My list is a work in progress, so I'm trying to share my thoughts as I get them organized.
MW
Copyright 2015
It's amazing how many things can change in a year. Normally at this time of the year, I have a lot of extra time to kill. Time to get organized, plan, think about the next year.... This year I am super busy. I am working on so many projects, I have so many quotes to work on, new customers I'm setting up, it's pure chaos and yet I feel more organized and productive than ever before.
I am still working on my goals for 2016 as well as my business plan for 2016. Amazingly they're not exactly the same thing. I talked about goals on Monday, I think they're more related to personal dreams and interests. My business plan is more focused on business which will help me reach some of my personal goals.
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?
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!
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.
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 think that's enough for today. I will write more asap. My list is a work in progress, so I'm trying to share my thoughts as I get them organized.
MW
Copyright 2015
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