| |
| |
|
Organizing Information |
|
|
|
Finish in Style - Organizing Works!
One of my mother-in-law's many oft-quoted and wise declarations was "Finish in style." It has been on my mind lately, as I contemplate the end of another year, and the end of the first fifty years of my life. Based on my heritage, I fully expect to live another fifty years, so it seems appropriate to consider what I need to do now, so that I can finish the next fifty in style! In the meantime, it's not too late to finish this year in style! Make sure that your end-of-year celebrations focus on improving the quality of the relationships that make life and holidays truly meaningful. In his Strategic Coach Program®, Dan Sullivan advocates "The Four Refer ability Habits:" (1) Show up on time, (2) Do what you say, (3) Finish what you start, and (4) Say please and thank-you. Seems simple enough, and yet how often we are surprised when it actually happens. But did you notice something? All of these admonitions require organization! In my observation, one of the biggest advantages of organizing your life is to improve the quality of our relationships. Disorganization is a recipe for relationship destruction, frustrated searches for lost items, hurried departures and late arrivals, forgotten promises, and good intentions long abandoned, poison our quality of life. In her book, Delights, Dilemmas & Decisions, Maggie Bedrosian writes about a young man who gets on a plane in Los Angeles, and immediately falls asleep. After two hours, he wakes, stretches, rubs his eyes, and yawns. "Gosh, it seems like I've been asleep for a long time. How much longer till we get to Oakland?" "Oakland?" his seatmate questions. "This plane is going to Auckland." This story seems to emphasize another key factor required to "finish in style:" Make sure of your destination! (Or to put it in the vernacular of the day, identify your goals.) In this age of opportunities, choosing a destination is difficult enough in itself, but getting there through all the confusion that life offers is a real challenge. It seems to me that one of the major stumbling blocks to reaching our destination, is that we start, or feel guilty about not starting! Yet there is far more than is humanly possible, to complete. We end up wandering around on road after road, feeling exhausted and empty. In the end, we have little to show for our efforts but an empty wallet and a tired body. I often remind clients that a creative mind frequently has more ideas than the physical body can carry out. I'll never forget the impact of hearing Joyce Meyer; founder of Life in the Word Ministries, state that often she had to give up what was good for what was best. On the business side, one of the major contributors to the downfall of a business is the failure of management to clearly identify the target market for the products and services they offer, or conversely, to clearly identify what particular products and services will satisfy their target market. On the personal side, there is no doubt that it is good to bake cookies for the homeless, but if you end up snapping at the kids while you're doing it because you're way too tired, you might question whether that is the best action. If you are looking for ways to finish your year-- or your life -- in style, start by asking an age-old question, "What would you like on your tombstone?" A recent client answered with "She made a difference." This column marks the end of my journey as a regular columnist for The Get Organized News. I hope it made a small difference in your life. It's been a delightful experience, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with Dale and Chris, who do indeed practice the Refer ability, Habits - and who showed admirable patience when I pushed their deadline to the limit. I'm leaving to concentrate on my new software program, Paper Tiger, which I am committed to "finish in style," and prove once again - organizing works! © Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Organizing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Spruce Your Environment, Spruce Your Spirit After a long winter, this is the time of year to spruce up your environment with a good Spring Cleaning. It's amazing what doing this can do for one's state of mind. 50 Ideas to Organize Your Home "Organize" is a familiar word heard on many of today's popular decorating shows. Every family has its struggles with some type of clutter whether it is stacks of papers or a cluttered and cramped bathroom. Organizing Tips to Help You Conquer the Laundry Monster Laundry. You sort, you wash, you fold, you blink - and the pile of dirty clothes has grown all over again. The Natural Law of Attrition I'm cheap and proud of it.I use and re-use things carefully. Calendars and Personality Type I recently conducted a survey to look at the relationship between an individual's personality type and his or her organizing and time management style, and noticed that the majority of participants said they have a calendar system that works for them. As there are so many time management systems available, both paper-based and electronic, I thought it would be interesting to find out which calendar systems are most popular with each personality type, and asked my ezine subscribers and visitors to my website to describe their time management system, what they like and dislike about it, and their personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®). Clutters Side Effects: How the State of Your Home Affects Your Life Each area of your home has a symbolic meaning with which you resonate on a subconscious level. Clutter and untidiness within each of these areas causes constriction and inertia in the corresponding aspects of your life. 5 Tips to Banish Clutter From Your Life For Good Studies show that 80 percent of what we use comes from 20 percent of what we own. That means that 80 percent of the things in our homes are rarely or never used. Mental Clutter- Is It Taking Over Your Life? Chances are, most of you have a lot you need to get done.Oftentimes, there are projects on your to-do list that require SEVERAL steps in order to complete the task at hand. 10 Organizing Tips for Road Warrior Parents Parenting is always a challenge, but particularly so if your work requires that you travel. Don't be too hard on yourself or on them when you find it difficult. Organize Your Desk - Live Longer! It may seem far-fetched, but by organizing your desk, your bedroom, your kitchen, and all of the spaces where you spend time, you could be adding years to your life. In essence, stress can shorten your life. Time for a Clean Out Time has flown. It's been six months since you came back from your relaxing holiday over Xmas and New Year. How To Organize Your Paperwork Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?). 10 Myths of Clutter Clearing 1) It's easy to have a good clear out: Not always. For many people, breaking a life-time habit is really hard - everyone has a choice whether they want to make that break or not. Taking Care of You: De-Clutter De-Cluttering our lives can be an extremely liberating exercise. There are many types of clutter than can hinder us having the quality of life we want and deserve. Organized Living in a Disorganized World We are bombarded with so many factors that perpetuate disorganization. Computers, fax machines, cellular phones, and on-line services enable us to do more - and require us to do more. Organize (and Decorate) Your Home on a Budget with Baskets What's an item that can help you organize every room in your home, helps create the appearance that you're a tidy housekeeper (even if you're not), and perks up your decorating scheme?Need another hint?It comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials and can be found in many local retail stores, including craft stores and discount retailers, and at flea markets and craft shows and well basically it's a universal item found all over the world. You probably have one right now in your home. Memorabilia -- Use It or Lose It! What do you do with those special items that have been passed down to you? Put them in the hall closet and hope the door will shut? Probably not a good choice for several reasons. First, you are unnecessarily creating clutter; second, if the item is very old and unstable, you will further the aging process; finally, and most importantly, what's the point of keeping these special items if the only time you enjoy them is when you move or get the bug to clean out a closet! This summer my grandmother passed away and I was the recipient of many beautiful things, especially table linens. Managing Mealtime Madness It is 5:00 pm and Cindy has no idea what to make for dinner. In the process of searching through the freezer, she causes an avalanche of frozen foods to fall to the floor. Balance - And Other Things The Mexican VillagerThe American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. Clutter Crisis? Clutter costs you time, money, space, and peace of mind. Most of us complain about our cluttered desks, closets, bedrooms, kitchens, attics, basements, and even our cars, purses, and briefcases.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
