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By Elaine, February 1, 2010 10:27 am

Over 5 years ago I learned one of the most valuable KICKASS Business Tips ever… No really I am not kidding.

I learned it from Cameron Herold who read it somewhere….and used the concept for himself with some…OK lots of success…check out his bio…and, at that very small conference that he happened to be at 5 years ago…actually he was not supposed to be there at all, he was the stand in speaker…he shared a very simple yet profound concept that not only changed my life but all the people I share it with.  Just in case I never said it personally…Thanks Cameron for that nugget.

That nugget is The Top 6 things I must do Tomorrow . It is a story about Ivy Lee and Charles Schwab.

Around 100 years ago, Charles Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel, wanted to increase his own efficiency, and of the management team at the steel company. Ivy Lee, a well-known efficiency expert of the time, approached Mr. Schwab, and made a proposition Charles Schwab could not refuse:

Ivy Lee: “I can increase your people’s efficiency – and your sales – if you will allow me to spend 15 minutes with each of your executives.” ….read the rest of the story

Over the years I have modified Ivy’s method and have come up with my own version, it goes like this.

• At the end of the work week take 15 minutes and think about your annual goals.
• Take a simple recipe card and write down 5 things you want to accomplish that feed into your annual goals.
• Any paper or files that are related to the 5 goals needs to be gathered together.
• Take those 5 things and put the most important on the top and organize the rest in descending importance.
• E-mail a copy of this list to yourself and mark it important.

What you have now is your game plan for the next week. Wow…you can actually relax this weekend knowing that you have a game plan. It is out of your head and on paper…what a stress reliever.

Oh and did I mention that they are the goals for the WHOLE week…not for a single day. So by the end of the week if you accomplish only the first 2 items you have tackled 2 very important tasks that add to your bottom line.

Now I have to ask…”Is that the most awesome KICKASS Business Tip Ever?”

As a side note here is my Top 5 for this week.

-Mail Organizing Connection Home Organizing Videos to Costco Head Office Buyer.
-Add Clutter to Clarity Lunch and Learn page to website and promote to 10 local companies, get testimonial from past clients for the page.
-Send E-Mail out to Professional Organizer Biz 101 participants regarding the schedule, payments and what we are doing each week.
-Add 6 Blog posts this week
-Finish reading “Made to Stick” and do a book review live on Ustream .

Please note that all these goals feed into my annual goals. This is not everything I will do this week as urgent things come up and to be honest you need to address some urgent stuff when it happens. If I accomplish one of these items every week for the next year I will have completed 52 strategic steps towards my goals. I would say that is better than nothing!

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By Elaine, January 26, 2010 8:29 am

Organizing Philosophy…

“Organizing is not about how it looks but about how it functions and feels”

Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting my “Clutter to Clarity” workshop at a Lunch & Learn to 7  amazing women. They love what they do, they love the company they work for and they admire their leader….to be honest so do I , she is quite amazing. That being said we got on the topic of look vs feel in regards to organizing.

As someone who is always talking, thinking, researching organizing I sometimes forget that there are 2 sides to this argument.

As the gals pointed out yesterday there are days that the “Boss” goes through the place like a tornado(not reallya tornado, but this is a great visual) because it looks awful and there are other days when it really doesn’t matter. Someone else also said that it feels so good when they can find what they need when they need it…..hmmmmm.

So it is looks or function and feel…or is it both?

I know that at certain times of the month(if you get my drift) I am crazy when I have clutter on my kitchen countertops and other times I could not care less.

What are your thoughts…looks or feel…or both? Please share…what do you think?

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By Elaine, January 18, 2010 2:26 pm

I challenge you right now to take 15 minutes to gather up all the bits of paper currently cluttering your desk, floor, chair…etc, and put it aside…together…in a folder…to work on at a time that is more convenient. By convenient I mean when you can take some uninterrupted time to Git-R-Done!

This gathering of the papers does not include client files or projects…they are THE most important things that you are working on right now…the things that you determined in your annual planning add to the bottom line.

I mean the notes, bills, receipts, invoices, and non-urgent mail…now, are you getting my drift!  Take it all right now and stuff it in a folder. Go do it…what are you waiting for.

Welcome back…feels good to have that control!

By doing this one simple task you will save yourself some VALUABLE  TIME in the long run, you would be less DISTRACTED by all the unimportant things that are messing up your workspace…the crappy stuff that you really don’t like to do, that really doesn’t get done often enough.

If you did it today it would make you more effective and productive in your Home Office. You would feel in control of all that paper that is laying around. Gosh darn it you would be using basic Time Management and Productivity principles.

If you did take the time to do this today you would have just created the “5 Minute File”.

I always like to try these new ideas out first before sharing, so at the start of the month I created my own “5 Minute File”. A very plain white folder with a label that reads “5 Minute File”. I gathered all the loose papers that did not relate to important client stuff and filed it away….and totally forget about it…that is not the intention of this file. My first mistake was to file it away in my side desk drawer.

So the tweaking began…I am an out of sight out of mind kinda gal….Yes I am “Visual” I need to see what I have on the go. So the file has now moved from the desk drawer to the table behind my desk with all my current files.

Gathering and creating the folder was just the first part. Getting to the task at hand is another issue. I have scheduled a time slot in my week to tackle the “5 Minute File”, it will be on a day that I am focusing on non client related stuff and I am giving myself a reward for completing this CRAPPY task…because to be honest I would rather do anything else than do this paperwork stuff…so believe me you are not alone. What I do know is that not doing it is not an option. So by batching all these quick 5 Minute Tasks into one session I am using my VALUABLE time more effectively and I am Gittin-R- Done.

I hope this “5 Minute File” works for you as well as it has been working for me.

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By Elaine, August 24, 2009 7:43 pm

For 30 seconds today I missed “The Office” I once knew.  Not the TV sitcom , but the place I used to hang my hat 11 years ago before I chose the WAHM lifestyle and traded in my office with the big window for an office in my home.

I had the pleasure of taxiing one of the kids to a 9:00 am Doctor appointment at the local hospital. On the way there he asked me ” What were you thinking Mom when you made this stupid early morning appointment”. ….I could go into more about the conversation but that is for another post. …. While he was in with the Dr and I was enjoying the stillness of the waiting room I could hear the place awaken to a new fresh Monday morning. My Spidey senses were on overload.

* The first thing I noticed were the two gals having  a Monday morning catch-up chat.  I love people watching, it is somewhat of a sport for me.  They were rehashing the details of their weekends and then with such ease they moved into a conversation about work, and what was happening in “The Office” that day. Office relationships can be tricky( just watch any episode of  “The Office” if you don’t know what I am referring to), however the body language I was watching was warm and comfortable.
* Next it was the smell…..the smell of coffee brewing and clean floors. Yes, obviously the cleaners had been busy on the weekend. You would think that the coffee would have got to me but no…it was the smell of clean.  As odd as this is to admit I find the smell of clean to be an aphrodisiac and I know for a fact that I am not the only woman who feels this way. Especially when I did not have to do the cleaning. My hubby also knows this fact and uses it to his advantage.
* The sounds intrigued me like the various parts of an orchestra. First it was the conversation, then the musical clanging of the keys as someone was opening their office after a weekend, the screech of the hinge on the heavy door opening onto another week of work. What brought me back to the present was the familiar sound of  the computer logging on to a day at “The Office”.

This is when I was jolted back to reality, remembering the Sunday night anxiety and the Monday morning dread that I left behind so many years ago.  Now I am not saying that everyone experiences this but I did many years ago and that precipitated my decision to change the way “The Office” looks for me. All of this happened in a flash…probably only 30 seconds of time.

This is what my Office looks like today. It is a place that incorporates my skills, knowledge and talents…and my sense of humor. A place that brings out the best is me most days and allows me the freedom to live a lifestyle of my choosing. My Office has a computer (my lifeline to the work) that on any given day could be in the Dining Room, the Kitchen, on the back deck or on a good day it could be in the dedicated office. I exchanged a  9 to 5 work day for the flexibility to wake up and start as early as 6:00 am so I am finished before the kids are up. My office relationships include the company of my 3 children, all their friends, and my husband on his week off. It also involves friends that span the globe and with amazing technology like Skype at my disposal I can connect with them any time. The regular pay I used to get has been replaced with an interesting pay schedule that can be compared to a Feast or sometimes a Famine.

In the evolution of work we have more flexibility than ever before. People work full time, flex time and part time. Companies are hiring people to work from their home so they have 24/7 support in countries spanning the globe. More people than ever are leaving regular jobs for the freedom of entrepreneurship. The workplace has certainly changed dramatically in the past decade.

What does your office look and feel like? Why not spend some time making your office an extension of who you really are, enjoying the benefits of working the way that works best for you.