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Archive for time management

Have you been putting something off?

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

· 1 Comment

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

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 : 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

7 Tips to Reduce Paper Clutter

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

· 16 Comments

Harry Potter Film Studio, England 2017

We use 20% of the stuff we own. Keep the 20% of paper that is important and discard the other 80% . Click To Tweet

1. Don’t allow paper to build up

Handle paper daily, don`t let it grow into a pile
Place all paper in one location, don’t let it travel all over the home
Open mail and discard the envelop and advertising
Schedule a time to file, make calls, pay bills etc

2. Make a decision on each paper the first time you touch it

If it can be done in 60 seconds or less to it now, otherwise R.A.F.T it
Set up 3 files, bins or trays and sort your paper into:
R – read later
A – action required
F – file
T – toss it / shred it now

3. Follow through on work

Each time you pick a sheet of paper put a small dot on the top corner.
Three dots or more means it is time to take action on that piece of paper.
If you are procrastinating about what to do, it probably means you are not sure how to solve the problem in the paperwork. Ask for advise, designate it to someone else, research the issue or break it into smaller parts you can complete.

4. Be ruthless

80% of what is filed is never accessed again, so 80% or more of the paper you receive on a daily basis can be discarded
Clear out your files once or twice a year
Remove yourself from subscription lists

5. Think before you print

File e-mails in a folder on the computer
Print only the selection of the e-mail or webpage you need

6. Store inactive files in boxes indicating a destroy date

7. Follow retention guidelines

Retain files as specified by your company or accountant
Put inactive files in boxes and place them in storage indicating a destroy date on the box
Clear out outdated files

For more great office organizing ideas read “Don’t Agonize Organize Your Office” by Diane A Hatcher

If you need help with your paper organizing book a complimentary discovery organizing session with me. Organizing Session

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 : Organizing Tips

Tags : files, paper, time management

An unwanted inheritance

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019

· 9 Comments

For children of parents who hoard, the mess remains after their parents pass away.

Newsweek by Hannah R Buchdahl

“Greg Martin wasn’t sure what to expect when his mother died last May, forcing him to return to his childhood home for the first time in nearly 18 years. The house, located on a pleasant block in San Diego, had always been cluttered, but now it was virtually uninhabitable. “There were piles as tall as me, six feet or so,” Greg said. “Where there used to be floor, there were trails—a foot and a half high, so you’d be walking on stuff.” Greg was forced to navigate through piles of magazines, papers, and books, plastic bags filled with thrift-store purchases, expired medicine bottles and literally tons of clothes. The only “living space” was a small pocket by the front door, where his mother, a colorful and fiercely independent woman, had collapsed shortly before her death at the age of 83. Greg, who has taken a leave of absence from his job, expected that cleaning out the house would take six months. It’s now been eight—and counting.”

Relatives are forced to put grief on the back-burner and the emotions that surface are usually anger, frustration, guilt and depression.

Books

This book can help you to better understand hoarding even if you are not a professional organizers.

Grey book cover with horaading pictures on the front

Everything A Professional Organizer Needs to Know About Hoarding by Judith Kolberg

Clutter Scale

It can help to get information so you better understand the situation. You can download a clutter scale at https://www.challengingdisorganization.org/clutter-hoarding-scale-

ICD

The Institute of Challenging Disorganization also has resources available and a directory of Professisonal Organizers that can help a family member who hoards.

Share your stories with us in the comments.

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 : Hoarding

Tags : decluttering, donations, Hoarding, time management

10 Hacks to help parents organize their children’s routines.

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, September 10th, 2019

· 2 Comments

You have successfully accomplished back to school organizing but the day to day chores are not getting done and you are feeling overwhelmed. Clutterbug has a great video, Organizing Hacks for Parents. Organizing your home to help your children become more independent means that they are able to complete tasks without your help. This will help daily routines and habits to be accomplished quickly leaving more time for family fun together.

Which hack worked best in your household?

Need some organizing help contact Mind over Clutter, julie@mindoverclutter, to help bring happiness to your home.

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 : Organizing Children, Organizing Tips

Tags : Back to school, family, organizing, routines, time management, video

Get your life reorganized

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, March 19th, 2019

· 2 Comments

Remember to donate items to charity and not to put them in the garbage.

Being organized is not about being perfect.

Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Organization creates efficiency and effectiveness, making your life and surroundings perform optimally for you. When you start organizing remember these tips:

Accept your limitations on time, space, energy and money
Be consistent, do a little at a time on an on-going basis
Acknowledge your successes. Success breeds success motivating you to do more.
Take it one day at a time

How do I decide where to start?

I tell my clients:

to start with the space that is bothering them the most.
sometimes you may need to start in an area of your home that you are going to use for storage. Organizing that space first will give you more places to store items that need to be removed from other rooms.

How do I start?

Get some boxes and bags for :

garbage
recycling
things to go to other rooms – put them in a container and take them after you are done working in the space your are organizing. If you leave the room you might never return
things to be returned to other people – put them in a container and return them to the correct owner after you organizing time is over.
don’t buy organizing products – wait until you know what you are storing, where you are storing it, and how much you have to store. Then you can the best container to hold the items.

How to I get the room looking nice?

There are 5 steps to follow:

Step 1 Sort

Sort everything in the room into categories. The categories depend on what is in the room. You might have:

electronics
books
tools
computer items
dishes
food categories
cosmetics
paper supplies

Figure out the categories of things you have in your room and sort the things you can see and then work in the drawers and cupboards

Step 2 Part with items

Part with items you no longer need and donate them to charity

Step 3 Assign a home

Find the best place to store the item , close to where you use them and so you access them easily. Things you don’t use very often can be stored further away and in less accessible places.

Step 4 Containers

Now is the time to get the right container to store the items. Anything can be a container:

boxes
wine boxes cut in half
magazine holders
jars
tins
plastic bins
bags

Step 5 Evaluate

Use your system and then see:

if you have things stored in the best locations
is it easy to get it out and put it away
does everything have a “home”Being organized is not about being perfect. Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Click To Tweet

How do I remember all this?

Easy it spells SPACE

S – sort

P– Part with items

A – Assign a home

C – Containerize

E – Evaluate

If you need some help with your organizing book a 50 minute break through organizing session . Click on the link to book your complimentary appointment, and speak with me to get helpful tips to get you unstuck. Organizing Break Through session

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 : Do-It-Yourself, Organizing Tips

Tags : organizing, organizing with children, SPACE, time management

Is procrastination stopping you from getting organized?

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, February 5th, 2019

· 3 Comments

Why don’t I want to do it now?

Is it boring?

Do it anyway and consider the consequence if you don’t do it.

Overwhelming?

Break it into smaller parts and do one or several parts at a time

Do I only have small blocks of time available but want to do everything from start to finish?

Change your mindset and make it a positive idea. Small blocks of time mean you only need to do a small amount of work

Am I tired?

Be aware of your circadian rhythms. Each of us peaks at different hours of the day. Before and after lunch is usually a good time to catch up on mundane activities

Do I fear failing or that it won’t turn out perfectly?

Fear of losing things,
forgetting things
not finishing things or
doing the wrong thing can generate a lack of action.

How to be Successful

1.If you are easily distracted keep only one project on your desk at a time.

2. Give yourself a time span to complete a project and don’t let your mind wonder from the task. Set a timer. When it goes off you change what you are doing or take a break and come back to the same task.

3. Try setting small goals and giving your self rewards, a coffee, a walk, 15 minutes on Facebook, call a friend etc

4. Think of how you will feel when the task is completed, pride, relief, satisfaction

There are more great ideas in a book titled “Don’t Agonize Organize Your Office”By Diane A Hatcher

Join Organizing Mind and Space to help you become intentional about getting things done.

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 : Attitude, mindset, procrastinating, productivity, time management

Give the Gift of Time

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, December 11th, 2018

· No Comments

Looking for a Gift of Time to give this Holiday Season?

MindoverClutter.ca has 3 hour packages designed to help with any number of tasks in the home and office. Considering purchasing an:

Gift a gift of time to someone who is busy

Income Tax Receipt Organizing Package
Holiday Cleanup Package
Streamlining Your Office Package.
Organizing for the New Year

Packages can be designed to fit the individual needs of the person receiving the gift. Purchase your introductory gift package in 2018 for $150.00. Contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca to purchase your clutter free gift of time.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook – Join my Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer

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Categories : Special Days, Special Events, Time Management

Tags : gift giving, gifts, Holidays season, time management

4 Organizing tips for getting rid of piles of paper

Posted by Julie Stobbe

· Tuesday, November 6th, 2018

· 2 Comments

A lovely colleague sent me this first tip. Marie Mushing runs a networking group called People in Connection

1.Make the area a showcase

See what working with a professional organizer can do for you? Professional Organizers rub out junk. Where there was once chaos and huge piles of paper, is now a showcase. Thank you Julie! Replace the junk pile with something pretty as I did, then you won’t want to pile junk on that again. Great motivation to keep the filing done!

2.Prevent drop zones from forming

If you have an empty flat surface it sometimes calls to people, “to fill me with stuff.” To prevent that area from becoming cluttered put a large object or two in that spot. It will make the area feel full and then you won’t drop things there. With only 2 larger objects, it is easy to pick them up and dust and clean. If you use a number of smaller items it may make the area harder to clean.

3.Designate a paper collection spot

Assign a place to put papers that need to be read, filed, signed etc. Place a tray, lovely baskets, eye catching red container etc in a convenient location. Why red? Red is a high energy colour, it increases your heartrate, your eye is drawn to red items. Buy using a red basket it can help to make dealing with paperwork a high priority activity. Keeping paperwork consolidated in one spot makes it easier to find and work with. When paper is all over the office or house it becomes visual clutter, causing anxiety, the release of cortisol and you feel stress. Cut the visual clutter, collect the paper in one spot, and complete the tasks.

4.Avoid the L word – later

Piles of paper will continue to build up if you leave them for later. Later will never come. Schedule time to deal with paperwork: schedule time to read, file, and reply to paperwork that generates more work. Schedule these activities according to your level of energy at different times of the day. Scheduling reading after lunch at a low energy time of the day may not be productive but scheduling file after lunch maybe perfect because it gets you up and activity. Scheduling time at the beginning of each day to concentrate on work generated by email, letters, documents might work well when you are able to focus on single tasks. Remember not to multi-task.

Schedule time for paperwork

If you’re interested in learning how colour can affect your productivity, this guide is free and you can find it here .

What tricks do you use to help you complete paperwork?

Related articles The truth about multitasking

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 distracting 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 – Join my Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Archive for time management

Ziegarnik effect

Procrastinating, why do you do it?

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

You can minimize destractions:

You can minimize visual distractions:

You can set-up a work schedule:

Resist the temptation to interrupt yourself

No Wifi, oh no

Plan your time

Manage yourself

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

1. Don’t allow paper to build up

2. Make a decision on each paper the first time you touch it

3. Follow through on work

4. Be ruthless

5. Think before you print

6. Store inactive files in boxes indicating a destroy date

7. Follow retention guidelines

If you need help with your paper organizing book a complimentary discovery organizing session with me. Organizing Session

Newsweek by Hannah R Buchdahl

Books

Clutter Scale

Share your stories with us in the comments.

Which hack worked best in your household?

Being organized is not about being perfect.

How do I decide where to start?

How do I start?

How to I get the room looking nice?

Step 1 Sort

Step 2 Part with items

Step 3 Assign a home

Step 4 Containers

Step 5 Evaluate

How do I remember all this?

If you need some help with your organizing book a 50 minute break through organizing session . Click on the link to book your complimentary appointment, and speak with me to get helpful tips to get you unstuck. Organizing Break Through session

Why don’t I want to do it now?

How to be Successful

Join Organizing Mind and Space to help you become intentional about getting things done.

Looking for a Gift of Time to give this Holiday Season?

1.Make the area a showcase

2.Prevent drop zones from forming

3.Designate a paper collection spot

4.Avoid the L word – later

What tricks do you use to help you complete paperwork?

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