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Don’t let things or people distract you into procrastinating

· Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

You wake up in the morning motivated and ready to tackle whatever it is you’ve been procrastinating on. Or maybe you’re excited about a new project. You drink your coffee, get dressed, and get ready to get to work. Then something happens.

Maybe you open your email, or worse Facebook and get sucked into spending the next few hours on your computer. Or maybe a good friend calls and asks you to go shopping. Or you get an alert that your favorite TV show dropped on Netflix. It doesn’t matter what it is, the point is that there are people and things that will try to distract you into procrastinating. If you let them.

Strategy – plan the night before

There’s a simple strategy you can use to keep this from happening. It’s to make the important project you’ve been procrastinating on a priority and working on it first thing every morning. The whole process starts the night before. Before you call it a day, sit down and make a simple plan for what you want to get done the next day. Identify the three most important tasks. This will be things that start to move the needle. Maybe they are all focused on one main project, maybe it’s several things you know you should be getting done.

Write 3 things down

Write these three things down. They don’t have to be anything big. In fact, I find it helpful if they are all items I can take care of in an hour or less. When you get up in the morning or get to your office, look at your list and work on these three most important tasks before you do anything else. Don’t look at the email. Don’t start playing on your phone. If possible don’t even answer the phone or attend meetings before these three tasks are taken care of. Make them your number one priority.

Don’t leave it to the end of the day

This alone will make a huge difference in how your day goes, how productive you are, and it of course keeps you from procrastinating on those projects. Putting them off until the end of the day when you’re too tired to do anything is no longer an option. Stop procrastinating: strategize, write 3 tasks down, complete them first thing in the morning and beware of things that derail your plan. Click To Tweet

Pinpoint what caused you to procrastinate

Aside from that, simply being more aware of what things, devices, and people tempt you to procrastinate is helpful. When you find yourself putting something off, look back and see if you can pinpoint what caused it. Then take action towards preventing it from happening in the future.

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, book a complimentary 30 minute coaching appointment to discuss how to increase your productivity and reduce your procrastination.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : procrastinating, procrastination, time management, virtual organizing

Stop procrastinating: 7 Hacks to motivate yourself to make progress

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

· 4 Comments

Ready to stop procrastinating and make some progress? Try one of these seven simple hacks to motivate yourself into action. Give them each a try over the coming days and weeks and find the ones that make the biggest difference for you. Whenever you find yourself procrastinating, come back to this list and employ one or several of these hacks. Your productivity will soar.

Tip #1: Pick Something Small

One of the big reasons we procrastinate is because something feels overwhelming. There’s too much to do, so we choose to forget about it for a little while. It’s a coping mechanism, just not a very productive one. Instead, pick one thing, something small that you can do right now to move you in the right direction. This creates momentum and forces you to take action.

Tip #2: Set A Time And Go

Another hack that works like a charm is to set a timer. Your phone has one built-in, as do most smart watches. Set it for fifteen or twenty minutes and chip away at a task you’ve been procrastinating on. This works just as well for decluttering your closet as it does for filling out those dreaded forms. If twenty minutes feels too long, start with ten and increase your time. Again, the goal is to start and do something.

Tip #3: Bribe Yourself

There’s nothing wrong with bribing yourself if that’s what motivates you. Work on a home organizing project for an hour and then watch an episode of your favorite show. Or promise yourself a walk or dinner out when you finish decluttering the living room. Come up with something that motivates you and go for it. Remind yourself of the prize at the end of the project whenever you’re tempted to put things off for another day.

Tip #4: Find An Accountability Partner

Find someone else who’s either trying to be more productive or beat procrastination themselves. Check in with each other daily. Share what you want to accomplish and what you will get done today. Knowing you have to report to someone else makes you take action. It’s also motivating to see the other person do the same. Try it.

Tip #5: Measure Your Progress

When you’re working on something long-term like organizing your enitre home for example, it can be tempting to procrastinate because it doesn’t seem like you’re making much progress. Instead, prove to yourself that you are getting closer and closer by tracking or measuring it. Make a chart, use a spreadsheet, keep a journal. Find a way to measure your progress and use it to motivate yourself to keep going.

Tip #6: Remind Yourself Of Your Why

There’s a reason you’ve decided to do that thing you keep putting off. Think about why you want to get it done. Is it so you feel less overwhelmed? So you can run around with the kids? So you can find the clothes you actually want to wear? Find out your why. Write it down and then keep it front and center. Look at it every day before you get ready to get to work.

Tip #7: Just Start

I’ve saved the best for last. It’s the easiest but also the most powerful. Hear this. Just get started. That’s right, sometimes all you have to do is just get moving in the right direction. Do something. Do anything. Even if it’s something super small. You get over that initial hump and start to build some momentum.

Comment on the hack that works best for you.

Need some help to get started? Book a 30-minute complimentary virtual appointment and let me help you get started on your mission.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

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Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : procrastinating, procrastination, virtual organizing

Stop procrastinating: Set a goal – Write it down – Get started

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, October 13th, 2020

· 8 Comments

Getting over procrastination takes action. Of course that is easier said than done. Today I’m going to share a simple three-step process with you that will help you get started and get more done than you ever thought possible.

Set a goal

It all starts with a goal. You have to know what it is you want to accomplish. If you don’t know what your goal is, it’s hard to know what you should be doing first or what you should be doing right now to move in the right direction. So what do we do instead? Anything other than the work we know needs to get done.

Your goal is simply putting what you know you need to get done into words. A good goal has defined parameters and a set deadline. That doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a simple goal we all strive to accomplish. We have to file our taxes by a specific date. You have a pretty good idea of what paperwork you need, what forms you need to fill out, and where you need to turn them in. You also know what your deadline is. In other words, you have a well-defined goal when it comes to filing your income taxes. And yes, I realized most of us still procrastinate when it comes to this particular task. That’s why the remaining steps are just as important as the first one. For now I want you to think about one thing you need to get done and turn it into a goal.

Write it down

Write it down. I don’t care if you find a random scrap of paper, use your favorite notebook, or type a note to yourself on your phone. The important part is that you put your goal into writing. This does two things. First of all, it helps you clarify what your goal is. You have to get pretty specific when you try to put what you want or need to do into words. Secondly, writing it down gives you something to look back on. It serves as a reminder and as a tool that you can use when you are tempted to procrastinate.

Set an appointment with yourself

Last but not least, it’s time to get started. That’s often the hardest part, isn’t it? You’re tempted to skip your workout until you lace up your shoes and get started. Once you’re off and running, it’s much easier to keep going. Once you have your goal written down, think about something you can do right now to move you in the right direction. Go do that. Then come back and do something else. Each morning, start by looking at your goal and challenge yourself to take action. Before you know it, you will have made some serious progress. And you’re starting to beat procrastination.A three-step process to stop procrastinating: set a goal, write it down, schedule time. You can do it Click To Tweet

Need help setting goals? Book a 30-minute complimentary virtual appointment and let me help you get started.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : procrastinating, procrastination

Forgive yourself for procrastinating in the past

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, October 6th, 2020

· 8 Comments

Are you a procrastinator? Many of us have the tendency to put things off and no matter how often we beat ourselves up over waiting to the last minute to pack for a move, declutter our home, or file our taxes and struggle to get it all done in time, we keep doing it again and again. If you’re ready to finally beat procrastination and get ahead of the game, you’re in the right place.

Forgiveness

Over the course of seven blog posts, I’m going to share my best tips and strategies for overcoming procrastination with you and we start today with – Forgiveness. I know it seems like a strange place to start, but it’s an important first step. Here is why forgiving yourself for procrastination should always be the first step.

There’s nothing you can do about the past except learn from it. Beating yourself up about not following the plan you made for reaching a goal does you no good. Quite the opposite actually. If you stress yourself out and engage in negative self-talk, you make it worse. Those feelings of anxiety will enforce your habit to procrastinate again the next time.

Forgive yourself for procrastinating so you can move on and practice some more. Click To Tweet

Try to do better

The next time you find yourself procrastinating, tell yourself that it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Say it out loud and then promise yourself to try to do better. Trying is the important keyword here. You’re working on mastering new skills and changing a habit. That takes practice, time, and of course failing again and again. It’s part of the learning process.

You may feel frustrated at times about your lack of progress. It’s normal. If you can, tap into that frustration and use it to motivate you. Vow to try again and do better. Look at your mistakes. What caused you to procrastinate this time? Learn from it and you will start to do better.

Learn from your failings and start again

Maybe there’s a big task and you started strong, chipping away at it a little at a time. Then you missed a day and another. That’s okay. Not great, but okay. You did well for a while. It’s good practice and maybe this particular experience taught you that you can’t allow yourself to skip more than one day on an ongoing project.

There’s always something new to learn whenever we fail at something or slip back into a bad habit. At the very least we figure out that something isn’t working for us. Maybe you do better with three or less to-do’s per day. Maybe you need twenty-five so there’s always something to check off. You won’t know until you try.

Forgive yourself for procrastinating so you can move on and practice some more.

If you need help to get back on track with your project try a virtual organizing appointment. Virtual organizing allows me to support your organizing projects by providing planning, coaching and mentoring while both remaining safely at home.

Book a 30 minute complimentary virtual organizing appointment.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Julie can coach you to break-free of the physical or emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : procrastinating, procrastination, time management, virtual organizing

Understand how sleep cycles and time management can improve your productivity

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

· No Comments

Man in blue shirt with a coffee cup in each hand sleeping on one of the cups on a brown desk

Most people need more sleep than they realize

Some people say they don’t need very much sleep. Recently a super sleep gene was found. Only about 5% of people have it. It allows their body to cycle through the REM and non REM sleep cycles more quickly so the person feels more rested in a shorter amount of time. Unfortunately, about 30% of people report only needing 4 hours of sleep a night. So about 25% of those people would benefit from more sleep. Harold Taylor is a time management expert. He publishes a newsletter, Taylor Time Newsletter. The August edition has a great article on sleep and time management.

by Harold Taylor Work Smarter is more about Timing then Technology

What are sleep cycles?

When we sleep, we do so in approximately 90-minute cycles throughout the night, each cycle consisting of five stages – four stages of non-REM sleep (about 75% to 80% of our sleep time) and one stage of REM sleep (about 20% to 25% of our sleep time.)

The first REM stage begins about 90 minutes into our sleep and then the cycle begins again about every 90 minutes until we wake up.

Scheduling your worktime and projects

What most people don’t realize is that these 90-minute “sleep cycles” run through the entire day. We obviously don’t sleep during the day if we have slept sufficiently during the night, but the cycles become waves of high and low energy and are referred to as ultradian rhythms. Our internal clocks are critical to our personal performance as well as our health and well-being. Our body has many internal “clocks,” each operating independently but in constant communication with one another.

In a few of my books and articles and all of my seminars, I talk about scheduling projects in 90-minute segments.I recommend that people find their high energy time in the morning and start working on their top priority items for about 90 minutes Click To Tweet

I have always known that I was more productive working in sixty or ninety-minute chunks of time, and I suggested all kinds of reasons for it – such as it was the maximum amount of time I could work without having to be interrupted or even interrupting myself. But I never knew until recently that ultradian waves of high and low alertness had actually been identified. One study of young violinists back in 1993 revealed that the best violinists all practiced the same way – in the morning in three segments of no more than 90 minutes with a break between each segment. The same thing was noticed among other musicians as well as athletes, chess players and writers.

I recommend that people find their high energy time in the morning and start working on their top priority items for about 90 minutes. Then take a break of about 15 or 20 minutes before starting the next task. Following the second 90-minute work session there should be a break of at least an hour before resuming. (This could be lunch and a brief walk.) It will take time to get into the right pattern. You have to listen to your body to determine the best start time and the actual duration of your high-alertness cycle.

Breaks are important too

You don’t necessarily have to take a coffee break, go for a walk or do stretches during your breaks as long as you switch to a different type of task. There are three basic types of activity – mental, physical and emotional. If you have been working on a mental task requiring intense concentration such as writing a business proposal, a switch to cleaning your work area, filing or checking messages on Twitter or Facebook for twenty minutes might be just as relaxing to the mind as a twenty-minute chat at the coffee center.

Use your natural body rhythms to be more efficient

The problem is that people have been fighting their natural body rhythms by feeding it coffee and other stimulants and therefore developing inefficient working habits. They have likewise short-circuited their natural sleep cycles with late nights, artificial lighting and stimulating electronics.

Contact www.taylorintime.com to subscribe to his newsletter

Virtual organizing allows me to support your organizing projects by providing planning, coaching and mentoring while both remaining safely at home.

Book a 30 minute complimentary virtual organizing assessment to help develop your productivity. https://mindoverclutter.as.me/virtualorganizingassessment

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : Business, procrastinating, sleeping, time management

Have you been putting something off?

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

· 11 Comments

Here is an excerpt from a great article on why we procrastinate and tips on how to stop procrastinating.

“You know how it goes. One part of your brain says –

“Stop procrastinating. Just get on with it. Finish it!”

But then another part screams-

“But I don’t want to!”

Ziegarnik effect

It may not be anything major, but the task keeps niggling at the back of your mind. It can leave you feeling unsettled, slightly annoyed and stressed. Here’s the thing: you can’t be fully at peace until you complete the task. Why? Because the Ziegarnik effect is in full swing. The Ziegarnik effect is the tendency we have to worry about something we have started and haven’t yet finished. But if you can just get it done, your brain will breathe a sigh of relief. You will feel lighter. Chances are you will have turbocharged energy levels too.”

Read the entire article at http://learningfundamentals.com.au/blog/how-to-motivate-yourself-at-any-time/

Procrastinating, why do you do it?

There are tasks or projects that needs to be completed and they are getting put off to the side and nothing is being done. Many times the problems is that you don’t know what to do. Break the task or project in smaller pieces that so you can start on the things your know how and complete them. As you continue you will find the parts you are not sure how to handle. When you have determined the part that is outside your knowledge, ask for help, do research or delegate to someone with that expertise. Let procrastination be a trigger to look at the situation as a problem solving question instead of an activity you don’t like to do.

For tips and articles to help you organize your mind and space join Julie’s Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : Attitude, productivity, time management

Is your work environment keeping you from working?

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

· 8 Comments

Here is a short excerpt from an article by Harold Taylor. Harold Taylor is a time management and productivity expert.

Change your environment in some way to offset your natural inclination to avoid doing things you don’t like.

You can minimize destractions:

turn off your cellphone,
disengage voicemail,
turn off email alerts and
close your office door at specific times while you work on your priority projects.

image by Jason-Salmon

You can minimize visual distractions:

remove all clutter and other potential distractions from your immediate work area
including any in-baskets, they give you an excuse to chat with the person dropping off paper
don’t have family photos or memorabilia in your line of sight
face a blank wall, not a window or open doorway.

You can set-up a work schedule:

Work on projects for 60 or 90 minutes at a time – maximum.
Then change to another type of work for 15 minutes
Work on a project for 60-90 minutes
Then take a 30 minute break, doing something completely different from your previous work
Work for 60 monre minutes on a project

If you find that’s too long to postpone urges to interrupt yourself, shorten the work sessions. You can always increase them gradually later. Between sessions you can check email, return phone calls and grab a coffee. Work in short sprints rather than attempt marathons. Research shows that it takes a lot of energy to practice willpower.

Resist the temptation to interrupt yourself

Do what you can to develop a work environment that makes it easier to resist the temptation of interrupting yourself or others, checking email constantly, grabbing for your smartphone whenever there’s a call or being distracted by other things.

To subscribe to his monthly newsletter on Time Management go to www.taylorintime.com

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Julieorganizer Facebook – http://facebook.com/mindoverclutter/

Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space https://www.facebook.com/groups/1881280812154271/

What to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

https://mindoverclutter.ca/what-does-a-professional-organizer-do/

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Categories : Office Organizing, Time Management

Tags : Attitude, Business, time management

My favourite time management technique

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

· 12 Comments

No Wifi, oh no

My favourite time management technique is to know when I will have a WiFi connection and when I won’t. Yes, there are still times and places when I can’t get WiFi. Use data? Not me. For those time I plan to have work with me to do when I am unconnected. You might think, “when does that ever happen”, more often than you think:

When I arrive early at a client’s home
When I arrive early to pick up someone
When the person I am pickup arrives late
When the client is late
When the distance between appointments and returning to the office will cause me to waste time commuting, I find a quiet location to work instead of wasting my time driving.

Plan your time

I will have a book along to read to do some professional education, mail to open or start on my e-mail that I downloaded before I left for the call. Sometimes I am reviewing a speech I am presenting, signing holiday cards, planning my week/ month or getting in my exercise by going for a walk. Using these small expected or unexpected amounts of time well will make you more productive. I learned this technique by trial and error. I found myself sitting around waiting with nothing to do when my children were involved in activities. I quickly realized that I was wasting a lot of time and needed to plan my “spare time” as well as my work time to be able to get everything accomplished without using my family time or free time to get things completed.

Manage yourself

Time management is not about managing time it is about managing yourself. There are traps we fall into that cause anxiety and stress because:

we are late,
we don’t meet deadlines,
we miss meetings,
we are unavailable for important personal events

Determine what “traps” cause you to miss mange your behaviour making you late. Are they:

doing one more thing that makes you late
underestimating how much time you need to get ready and leave ( the house, for a meeting)
thinking your time are more important than the people’s time who are waiting for you (to arrive, hand in a report), they won’t mind waiting
procrasting on projects, reports and committments instead of looking for a solution to be able to complete the task on tim

I can help you manage your time and streamline your routines to increase your productivity. Give me a call or text 905-321-1616

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Julieorganizer Facebook – http://facebook.com/mindoverclutter/

Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space https://www.facebook.com/groups/1881280812154271/

What to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?

https://mindoverclutter.ca/what-does-a-professional-organizer-do/

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Categories : Time Management

Tags : Business, productivity, time management

Organizing your goals for the new year.

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

· 16 Comments

When you hire me, I don’t come to your office or home with the Mind over Clutter organizing system, install it and then leave. I come and see what is working for you and how you do things so I can find solutions that work for you, how you think, feel and your lifestyle. I want you to accomplish your organizing project so you meets your goals.

January is usually the time for goal setting and so I want to present three ways of setting goals.

Pick one area and improve it

I am a person who is motivated by a fear of failure, I don’t want to fail, so I am a cautious. My system of setting goals is to look at my business or life and see where I think it could be improved, what types of skills I need to improve so my business or life will improve. I pick one thing and then work on it all year to get better at it. For example I didn’t like social media so I decided to start working at becoming better at it and setting up a system that works for my day and philosophy about the importance of social media. I picked a platform, got good at it and continued to add more and more platforms. I organized workshops on Twitter and Google+, I listened to webinars. A vague plan works for me because I am self motivated, I am not a procrastinator. I read an interesting article by Ravi Venkatesan about the importance of learning new things, “What skill will you acquire this year? What new activity will you start? Perhaps learning to play a new instrument, going on an adventure or taking on a new role- anything that causes you to move out of your comfort zone and allow new neural connections to form” would be a good new year’s goal.

S.M.A.R.T Goals

Set goals that you can attain

That vague framework of deciding what you want to do to improve your business or life would not for everyone. We are all different. So there is a goal setting system called SMART. You pick a specific goal, with measurable outcomes, that are achievable, realistic and timely. When you use this system of goal setting it gives you a step by step plan to follow. For example with my social media goal, if it had been a SMART goal, would be something like

I will learn how to post on Facebook,

S (specific) – I will post 3 times a week, one original content, one a picture, one comment on someone else’s post

M(measureable) – Did I post 3 times/week?

A (achievable) – I have that much time in my week

R(realistic) – If I only have to do it 3 times a week I will not become frustrated and stop

T(timely)- I have 3 mornings a week when I can do these posts. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

This will work for some people who like to have a step by step plan and follow it. It can cause problems if people stop following the plan they may give up and not start again or some people may feel like it is too rigid.

Turn desire into intention

Be intentional about your plan

I read an article that reveals a simple trick that doubles the chance for success of obtaining goals. Earlier I commented on what motivates me. Sometimes we say, I need to motivate myself to get working on…., In this article it says motivation is not the key to reaching your goals it is intention .

A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology divided 248 adult into 3 groups exercise groups.

Group 1 had to record how often they exercised during a 3 week period
Group 2 where told “ most young adults who have stuck to a regular exercise program have found it to be very effective in reducing their chances of developing coronary heart disease. ” ( motivation to exercise) and had to record how often they exercise during a 3 week period
Group 3 recorded when and where they would exercise (intention to exercise), they were given the same motivation as group 2 and they recorded how often they exercised during a 3 week period

Results

Control group 1 38% exercised at least once per week
The motivated group 2 35% exercised at least once per week
The intentional group 3 91% exercised at least once per week

We all have some level of desire or will power or motivation but what turns desire into action is a written plan for implementation. When you have a goal to do something, record when and how you will do that behaviour or activity. It will be the environment that triggers you to do your new behaviour or activity and not motivation or will power.

These are just 3 systems

Having an all encompassing vision or
Setting SMART goals or
Intentionally deciding when you will do something and blocking off time

that can help you establish new behaviours to accomplish a goal for 2020. Pick the one that works for you.

Set goals to help you move out of your comfort zone, learn new skills and grow. Click To Tweet

Want help in 2020 to get your Mind and Space Organized, join my facebook group full of free tips

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook –Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

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Categories : Mindset, Psychology of Organizing, Time Management

Tags : goal setting, New Year's Resolutions, resolutions

5 Tips for getting the food onto the table

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

· 11 Comments

Y0u might be using an app to help you plan your meals and make your grocery list or paper and pen. Here are a few tips to help you take that plan and make it happen. The easier it is to get the meal onto the table the less likely it is that you will eat out.