Want a Business organization and prioritization tip? Use Ideapaint on your wall.
Use this tip if you consider yourself a “visual thinker.” You might be a designer or artist. Idea paint is not paint at all; rather, it is a sealer that acts as a giant dry-erase board.
If you have ever had the occasion of “too many to-do’s” to the point of overwhelm, Ideapaint is a tool to help de-clutter your brain. And when your brain is de-cluttered, you feel better organized, can prioritize better, focus better, and get more done.
The brain spill. Often, I will have “so many ideas” that they cloud my head. When this happens, I walk over to my ideapaint wall, grab a marker, and start writing. Soon, I will begin drawing arrows and charts and graphs and numbered priorities. The act of standing, drawing, and writing frees up my brain.
Ideas and concepts redefined on your wall
Use color to help prioritize on the wall. Once you “spill out” your to-do’s, you can start to see them more clearly. It becomes obvious which ones need to be done first, and which can wait. You can use red for your top 3, blue for everything else, for example. Things that are a lower priority can be grey.
You can use this to organize your projects. My graphic designer used idea paint on his wall to organize his clients into “website clients,” “newsletter clients”, “social media clients”, etc. so that he could run through the list and remember various tasks and deadlines he had for each client. Yes, he could have done this via spreadsheet or through another method, but, having this on the wall was an easier way for him to “see” everything all at once and respond to his “visual thinking” tendencies.
Are you feeling the Push and Pull of Life…as if you were a piece of paper stuck in the back of a file cabinet? When the door is open you can see the light, then the door gets slammed shut again. You wonder, how do I put myself back where I belong? What do I WANT from my day?
In this Perspectives Podcast, Sue West, AD/HD and Life Management Coach, and I bring forth the important question of what you might really WANT from your days- a precursor before we discuss HOW to get it.
Barbara Sher said, “I could do anything if I just knew what it was.” And that is the title of one of her wonderfully written books. So do you know what it is you would want to do? That’s the first step, isn’t it?
So, the question (or questions) is, then, What do you WANT more of? Taking a step back, we have arrived at the WANT in the W+W+W+H = Woo Hoo! process. We’ve talked about What gets in your way, Why you want to design your day differently, and now we are hitting WANT. What do you Want from your day?
By focusing on what you WANT, it becomes easier to eliminate what you do NOT want. I’m providing the first example and Sue explains the second.
Here’s the first example:
Perhaps you WANT more time. This is a common reason people come to Design Your Days. Well, we all KNOW that there are only 24 hours in every day, period. So how can we “make” more time? We can’t. We can, however, choose what we do with each precious minute in a very conscious manner.
One of my clients wants more time so that she “feels less rushed and more balanced”. One first step in determining how to help her choose her activities in “making more time” is to take an inventory. What is she spending her time on now? Are those activities adding to her goals and/or life satisfaction, or are they draining it? You, the listener, can do this. Try this exercise with every activity you begin for one week. Ask, will this energize me or drain me?
ELIMINATING activities that are low value yields much time, if time is what you want MORE of.
Here’s Our Second example, from Sue:
“I want to spend more time on my business, because ultimately, my goal is to leave my legacy in the business I have built, not just to sell it, but because of the skills and leadership I’ve taught people who have worked with me, and because of the products and services we have provided. These things live on after us.”
And I also might hear from the same person: “I want more time with my grown children or with my grandchildren.” And “I want a less cluttered office space. The clutter holds me back from beginning my next chapter.”
So here, you might look at a typical week’s calendar and list of what you did, and simply guesstimate how much time you spent:
working on the business and not in it;
with adult children and/or grandchildren;
and on dealing with clutter (lost items, doing things twice).
How does this feel to you: is it enough, too much or just right for each of these important areas you’ve identified? You’ll need this to know where you are now, to know how much you need to shift your time. Without a starting point, how will you know you’ve arrived? Second question: what might be a “good enough” number of hours for the week or maybe even the month, for each of these areas? How much is “enough time” for you to feel that you’re getting closer to your goal? Remember that goals begin with smaller steps.
Want More?
If these struck a chord with you, we know you’ll get much more benefit from our Design Your Days workshop. Our next public workshop is coming right up- on Tuesday March 18 from 9 to 11 am at the Academy of Design and Decorating in Peterborough, NH. Register here. Or you can check our Facebook page, Design Your Days, which will point you in the right direction.
In the next podcast we dig deeper into the WANT question. What do you want more of, or less of? Be sure to listen and see how to get both of these! We will continue to move through the Design Your Days process. At the end of about 12 podcasts, you will look back and find that we’ve provided an excellent overview of our process.
Have you ever thought WHY you want to save time? I mean, REALLY ask WHY? To clarify, I’m not referring to “so I can fit more in” or “so I can be more efficient.” Are those good reasons? Well, they are not bad. But, when it comes to lasting change; truly enduring habits…your WHY needs to be pretty strong. In fact, a stronger and the deeper “why” correlates directly into your likelihood of success when looking to change habits.
To illustrate, Sue West and I have created a Podcast- Why Oh Why? We will show you two examples of a Shallower Why and a Deeper Why to get your “head in the game.”
Sue: Of course! When we walk you through our W+W+W+H = Woo Hoo! Process, we start with WHAT gets in your way.
Then…we turn to WHY. This will often trip people up, because it’s often *not evident* what the why REALLY is. We THINK we know, but….then, we go a little deeper. The deeper we go, the more we contemplate and become totally honest with ourselves, the stronger our why. The stronger our why is, the higher our chance at truly Re-designing our days for Lasting Change.
Whew! What the heck does all that MEAN, anyway? Let’s look at a couple of examples, the shallow why and then a deeper why version.
Carol: So, back to our WHY conversation.
Sue and I will each provide an example of a Shallower Why and a Deeper Why. See if you can hear the Difference.
First, an Example of a more shallow why:
I want to redesign my day to become more productive, and sell more. When I sell more, I earn more. When I earn more, I will enjoy more business success and therefore be happier.
Now, and Example of a Deeper Why:
The money I earn allows me to fulfill my purpose in life. My purpose and passion is to live each day spreading light and love to those around me. I am uniquely skilled and gifted as a kitchen designer. I create beautiful and practical living spaces. But it’s more than that…I enhance people’s lives in the process. When a person lives in an environment that suits their needs and desires, he or she experiences peace and joy. A joyful, peaceful person thinks clearly. That person experiences inner calm and is better able to absorb the chaos life throws their way. That person may think “out of the box” and choose to turn a potential pitfall into an opportunity.
Therefore, I want to redesign my day to allow myself to serve my customers at my highest and best. When I do that, I will do my best work and it will improve not only MY life but the life of those I serve.
Do you hear the difference?
Why do you want to save time?
Sue:
So my example of the “first level” of WHY:
My client I’ll call Jennifer wanted support around time management to get more done at work, to deal with interruptions more effectively and some other frustrations around her productivity. She has AD/HD, Lyme disease and a few other issues.
And my same client, when we coached around what this was really about – the deeper or second level of WHY:
Her life feels too complicated, for the first time ever. Her friends have been saying for years she has too much on her plate, but she did not want to acknowledge what turns out to be quite true.
At mid-life she wants more time with her husband who is about to retire.
She wants to create more time to be with her daughter and grandchildren.
She has a very strong value and strength in traditions of family – our roots – and the desire to honor this, plus create future history with where she is today.
She’s a philanthropist with her “time and treasures,” as well them. She wants to make the world a better place because of all she is grateful for.
So the BIG question is “so what” or “why” … as you answer your WHY question, keep asking the “so what” or “why” question. Keep going until you hear the deeper ‘why’.
Carol:
In summary, although both the more shallow and the more deep why’s are both VALID, the deeper you go, the more likely you are to sticking to your new plan. When the going gets rough, it’s easier to remind yourself of a point that truly resonates with you- on a deep level.
Sue: If these struck a chord with you, we know you’ll get much more benefit from our Design Your Days workshop. Our next public workshop is coming right up- on Tuesday March 18 at 9 am at the Academy of Design and Decorating in Peterborough, NH. Register HERE.Early bird discounts are available before February 21 on a space available basis. Or you can check our FB page, Design Your Days, which will point you in the right direction.
In the next podcast we will move to the WANT question. What do you want more of, or less of? Be sure to listen and see how to get both of these! We will continue to move through the Design Your Days process. At the end of about 12 podcasts, you will look back and find that we’ve provided an excellent overview of our process.
CAROL:
If you cannot attend our March session, we offer the Design Your Daysworkshop to YOUR group of business owners, so please contact one of us for more information and to get us on your schedule.
Fall = busier. Enter multitasking. It’s the way to do more things in less time, right?
Maybe not. Recently I read an article by Melissa Balmain entitled Confessions of a Recovering Multitasker. Melissa writes,
“imagine my surprise at learning that, technically, [multitasking] does not exist. We can’t think about two tasks at once. Instead, our brains ping-pong between them wasting precious seconds of time and causing errors to pile up”.
In the day, no matter how hard you try, does it ever seem possible to get through everything that you set out to do in the morning? Do you attempt to do two tasks – or more – at once? Perhaps the reason for the failure is BECAUSE you are trying to do multiple things at one time.
In her article, Melissa writes of a phone conversation she had with a good friend while also trying to make dinner and the ensuing result was a burnt meal and a conversation that she could not remember. I myself have had phone conversations such as these, where my attentions are distracted so far elsewhere, that it barely registers that my friend is telling me something that should require my undivided attention. So, clearly, my efforts to try and accomplish more things in less time were fruitless, and just like Melissa, I was left feeling guilty and unaccomplished.
So what’s the solution? If we can’t multitask without the results being more unproductive than not, how on earth do we accomplish all that needs to be done? The answer, counter-intuitive to many, is focusing on one single thing at a time. Try this experiment and let me know how you do. When you begin a task, such as writing a “typical” report that you write, estimate how long it will take. Write down your start time. Go about your business in the normal manner, answering calls, emails, etc. as you are doing the report. Write the end time. Now, another day try this again with a similar report. Write down your start time. This time, commit to shutting off your email and turning off your ringer. Do not answer anyone who comes in unless they are in a true emergency situation. When you are finished, write down your end time. What is the difference? How does the first report on the first day compare with the estimate? How about the second day and the second report? Statistics and “real life” experiments that I have conducted show an average 50% time savings with single-tasking. How did you do?
Are you ready to save about half your time to have an ultra-productive fall? Relax, take a deep breath, and do things one step at a time.
Most people I am running into these days are lamenting the end of summer.
One woman I saw at a networking event told me she wished August lasted forever. Yes, perhaps. When we live life fully, though, we have fewer regrets. My work helps empower people to achieve more each day- so that those truly important items ARE done- and that includes enjoying summer YOUR way. Sue West and I are back: Listen here: Get Ready for Fall – August 9, 2013 or read on.
Sue: Where did the summer go? I am hearing that question a lot.
Carol: Right. Most people I know perceive summer as if they were still a child…it can somehow seem “endless” since it can be void of structure. Sue: Yes…and if we are lucky enough to have a certain amount of freedom from “the regular grind” in summer, this affords our brain to recharge and come out more creative on September 1st. So let’s Design Our Fall!
Carol: Hi, this is Carol Williams, productivity coach at EpS, Efficient Productivity Systems.
Sue: And this is Sue West, Life Transitions Coach and AD/HD specialist
We have joined together as the Design Your Days Duo
90 minute workshop with a recipe for success
for this series of audio interviews to give you short, “use today” pieces of advice, in 5 to 8 minutes. If you like this podcast, please LIKE our Facebook page for tips on your newsfeed several times a week.
Carol: Last time we talked about the ‘Summer Shoulds.’ We talked about how to re-frame those summer days, to determine what you Really Want out of those days. Now, we are wrapping up summer and looking at fall. The Back to School ads are out in full swing, and the August air brings a twinge of a chill into the air. Thoughts turn to sweaters, soccer, and Halloween. Perhaps this impending season change evokes a feeling a sense of a new start.
Sue: We have 4 tips for you today to help you with this transition. We’ll look at What Gets In Your Way of having a fall that works for YOU.
First, losing your adult children to college or to their first apartment can be the emotions which get in your way. Your kids are graduated from high school and this is your first Fall without them at home; they are off to college.
So, first things: Set up a schedule or Skype time when you can stay connected or get on Facebook. Be where they are. Second, set up some dates with friends, with couples, and even go on a retreat by yourself. Fill your time, at first, with activities, if you think you’ll have a difficult time.
After a while, though, it’s not about how to fill your time until they return home. They’ll be changed when they do. So now is a wonderful time to review what YOU love to do – hobbies, volunteerism, perhaps start a new or another business. What do you want so that you can expand your life?
Carol: The second tip is “don’t forget soccer”.
Soccer is fun, but don't forget it's a time commitment
Last year, I found myself driving all over New Hampshire for my oldest son’s soccer games. I did not realize how much dedication this was going to take on my part. So this tip, really, is all about taking your “sideboards” into account when Designing Your Day so that you are not surprised when they do, and they will, impact your day and your available time. So, if you have children, take a good look at what activities they will be involved in and how that will impact your time. When you receive the game schedule, take it out, and transfer all those games, including prep and driving time, to your calendar. You’ll be glad you did.
Sue: If you have AD/HD, transitions into different seasons with their different schedules are especially challenging. Switching gears is just a struggle. But there’s definitely hope.
Take some time and try this exercise. You can sit quietly and visualize, or take a walk, or sit down and write about it. What you’re going to do is imagine it’s the first day of your new schedule – you might be grand babysitting, or getting your own children back onto a Fall schedule.
Imagine or write down every step of your day, from what time you wake up to what you wear – very specific so you can sense the whole experience and almost live it. Write out your routines for the morning, routines for the evening. And start using them a week or two before your new schedule starts, to give yourself some practice time and some stress-free time to get used to a new schedule.
Carol: The last tip is also child related. If you have a child or children at school, the likelihood is high that they will get sick since they all get back together, the weather gets colder and doors get shut tightly. Plan a little flexibility into your schedule. Have a plan B ready for when little Johnny wakes up with a fever.
Plan for inevitable illness
Take a minute and think back to last fall when crisis hit, how you solved it, and how that worked or did not work for you. You can plan for it now, which will take off the stress in the moment when you have another parent to drive, when you have already set yourself up to work from home, etc.
Sue: To wrap up, we just provided 4 examples of What might Get In Your way when designing your day in the fall. In the next podcast we will dive deeper into these “stuck” places, and as we wrap up 2013, we will continue to move through the Design Your Days process. At the end of about 12 podcasts, you will look back and find that we’ve provided an excellent overview of our process.
If you want don’t want to wait for 12 podcasts…come join us on Friday Oct 18that the Center for Health Promotion in Concord for the next Design Your Days Workshop. Check our Facebook page for registration information.
If that date does not work, we offer the Design Your Days workshop to YOUR group of business owners, so please contact one of us for more information and to get us on your schedule.
Do you ever feel like you have one foot on either side of a crevice? Do you dance, do you jump, do you fall through? If you’ve ever felt conflicted, listen and/or read on, to get clear in 9 minutes. From Sue West and myself, the “Design Your Days Duo!”
Sue: “I really want to focus on my growing business that is my passion. But I need to pay my bills. I feel stuck.”
Carol: “I sell equipment that earns me a good living, but my true business dream is not much more than that- it’s just a pipe dream at the moment. What should I do?” Carol: Do any of these sound familiar to you? If so, you have found the right place. This is Carol Williams, Productivity Coach at EpS, Efficient Productivity Systems.
Sue: And this is Sue West, Life Transitions Coach and AD/HD specialist
We have joined together as the Design Your Days Duo for this series of audio interviews to give you short, “use today” pieces of advice, in 5 to 8 minutes.
Carol: Last time we spoke about Clarity as it relates to becoming better organized and shared some A-HA moments when our workshop participants began Designing Their Days. When we get clear, we open ourselves up to the possibilities that are often hidden just below the surface.
Sue: Today we are going to address 2 questions- because those questions, or questions like those, could pertain to you. If you are a creative entrepreneur, or, if you think you want to be a creative entrepreneur, you might have those questions locked up inside.
Carol: When we work with someone in the Design Your Days framework, we ask, What Gets in Your Way? This is the first step in seeking clarity. If you think about the questions above, they are really pointing to WHAT might be getting in each person’s way.
Sue: Let’s start with the first question. Growth, new passions but then ah, yes, reality strikes.
Try a couple of important ways to direct your thinking: (1) a reality check on the financial gap (2) Where’s the passion, really? (3) Focus – defining that more clearly and (4) Stuck – and how you’ll know that you’re beginning to get Unstuck.
Here are questions to answer which will help you figure out how to create enough time for your business, and also get your bills paid:
Get clear on what amount of income you need to pay for things you NEED, not want. This gets you two important pieces of information: What’s the financial gap between your business income and your bills. But also it asks you to put some “skin in the game,” by identifying if there are things you think you need in your business or in your life, but really, they are “wants,” not “needs.” Liz Pullam Weston writes about this practice. This is the reality picture. And keep track – especially if you’re not now – even of cash or debit out of pocket. Most people spend more than they think.
Get specific and clear on your passion: What are you passionate about, in particular – what facets or activities? Are there other creative ways to deliver on the passion or use similar skills, but in a part time paying job? Think chapters or phases of time. Can you do something else part time, for pay, which helps with the bills. It’s the combination of part time and growing business that might help your situation.
Get clear on what you mean by “I want to focus.” How is it that you are “focusing” now on your business? What does focus look like to you – the number of days or time of day? Look at the time and the activities. Are they payoff activities? Again, this is where tracking can come in; keep it simple, but effective. What can you do differently, do less of, or do later on, if the activity is not, today, making you income? Saying “no, not now” is not the same as saying “no, forever.”
Talk with others or with a coach and figure out whether you are maximizing the time you DO have on your growing business.
When you think you are stuck, how “a little less stuck” would feel – how would you KNOW that things ARE improving. Do you have a plan of ANY sort, so that you know when you HAVE made progress, when you ARE headed in the “upwards” direction, so that “stuck” begins to feel “less stuck.”
Carol: Thanks Sue…great ideas. Now, on to the second question. This person sells equipment, and that person makes a good living from selling it. But- boredom can prevail when your job does not excite you. When the passion dips, productivity often dips too. Procrastination enters- and sales can plummet. How can a creative entrepreneur follow his or her dreams while earning a living? Do we all need to be “starving artists?”
No. The trick is to keep your passion alive, while continuing to earn your living. This does not mean “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” Have you ever heard the saying, “yes, you can have it all, but not all at once?” Tracking progress can really help, and here are some ideas as to how that could happen.
Bookend your weeks. At the beginning of your week, map it out. What one thing can you do to move your creative project forward? Can you block out a couple of hours on Wednesday night to do x, y or z? At the end of your week, evaluate. How did it go? Did you do it? If not, why not? Could you have changed anything? Learn, and move on.
Bookend your months. After 4 or so weeks of bookending, what has been done? How far did you THINK you’d get, versus how far you actually got? Learn, assess, move on.
Bookend each quarter. After 3 months of doing steps one and two, you should have a little data. You may be much further ahead, or much further behind, than you thought you might be. But goals that are measured are far more likely to be achieved. Think, pause, and measure for success.
Carol:
As a reminder, you are listening to a podcast series. We’d love your feedback. If you have a question you’d like answered, please visit our new Facebook page called Design Your Days. If you’d like to add yourself to the successful professionals we help go from good to great, contact one of us to get started with personal coaching. We’ll help you become more AWARE, and kick off the transformational process of Designing Your Days.
We are also the co-creators of the Design Your Days framework, which we teach in workshops, so if your group of business owners is ready for us to speak at your group, please contact one of us!
Please LIKE us on Facebook as Design Your Daysand/or contact us individually through websites:
