Organized Diva

Don't Forget! 8 Methods That Help Us Remember Our Stuff

Losing things and forgetting events are frustrating if it happens regularly. We are surrounded by stuff that we need to remember. Where are the keys? What time am I supposed to pick up John Boy? I am at the store and I forgot my list...what did I need?

There are some sure-fire tools and methods to make remembering easier. Each requires that you set up the tools or apply the method, but that is really something that one can easily do. A little work now goes a long way to easing stress down the road.

1. Designate a Spot for Certain Items.

If you need to remember your glasses or your keys, set up a spot to put them each and every time. On your way out you can easily grab them and you're out the door in no time. Use this spot to also put things to take with you, such as dry cleaning, a book to return, a letter to mail, or your grocery list.

2. Make Lists

Put things you need to do on lists. Create an ERRAND list, a CALL list, an OFFICE list, or a HOME list. Put anything on these lists that you can do. Taking the time to create a list of what you can do in certain locations will save you tremendous time. When on the road visit all the places on your Errand list, be it the dry cleaner, the office supply store, or the pet store. When you have some phone time, call all the people on your CALL list.

Once your to-dos are on a list you will also worry less, since you know you will remember to take care of them.

3. Use the Calendar

Review upcoming events on your calendar regularly. See what is happening in the next few weeks. You can then quickly see that you need a birthday card for your boss' birthday or that your sister will be having her elective surgery soon.

4. Use Checklists

If you have recurring tasks you do regularly create checklists. An example would be a checklist for bills you need to pay monthly, weekly, or however often you pay your bills. List all who are expecting a payment and check them off as you send out payment. This works particularly well for credit cards.

Other types of checklists include home maintenance, car maintenace, home cleaning, bookkeeping tasks, or a job search checklist for interested potential employers.

5. Visualize

It you are a visual person, create a mental image for incoming information.

6. Use Mnemonics

A tool used by many to memorize large amounts of information is to create rhymes or acronyms. Medical students come to mind.

7. Improve Your Physical Well-Being

Good food, good hydration, and exercise improve your memory significantly. Proper nutrition and plenty of water have been proven to benefit your brain now and in the long term. Movement increases blood flow, which increases brain functions.

8. Get Plenty of Sleep

Make certain you sleep the required hours for your age. Most adults function best with 7 to 8 hours of sleep, but children need significanly more.

Source: Johns Hopkins Health

Mr. Obama, I'll Take One Happy Society to Go Please

It's official. Happiness is contagious. A groundbreaking Harvard University study found that happy people cause others around them to be happy. This happiness spreads within families, friends and communities.

Happiness leads to higher levels of creativity, better health, and higher productivity. The supportive effects of a happier, more optimistic community has a very positive effect on those who are experiencing troubling times.

Right now, happiness is not so easy to come by. Faced with a daily onslaught of dire news, it is no wonder that we are in a mental low. Luckily the study also found that happiness has a much higher infectious effect than unhappiness can have. Logically happiness should win out with just a little bit of attitude adjustment.

Obviously it takes a community of friends and families to forge toward happiness. During times of troubles it is all the more important to support each other. Happiness can be accomplished in very simple and small ways.

It also takes leaders that not only exhibit a positive outlook, but also actively take part in moving us toward a state of stability and happiness.

Source: Washington Post

Further Reading:

12 Ways to Improve Your Bad Mood Immediately

Why Goals Matter - Accomplished or Not

As the end of the year approaches, I'm finding some "sad" blog postings about goal-making in the blogosphere. Perhaps this is because, as we near the end of 2008, we suddenly notice that not all of our goals have been met.

However, unmet goals shouldn't leave you feeling dejected, because it is impossible to meet all goals. There are many reasons why goals haven't been realized: Perhaps they are further-into-the-future types of goals; perhaps they stopped applying to what you wanted; perhaps situations occurred that pulled you off track. The important thing is to not beat yourself up over it.

Update Your Goals

Don't throw out all of your goals. They represent your dreams, your wants, your needs, your desires. You can rewrite them to suit your current situation. You can delete goals you don't want to pursue anymore. Above all, you can add goals that mean something new to you.

Let Your Goals be Your Motivators

Your goals are here to represent your hopes and dreams. They should serve as your motivators. Don't limit or minimize them. Let them be as wonderful as you want them to be.

Don't Let Outsiders Determine What Your Goals Are

Another person's goal may seem silly to you. Your goal may seem silly to another. Don't let what others believe change your goals. Only you should change your goals. They are your motivators, not someone else's.

Your Goal Does Not Have To Be Achieved in One Year

A goal, however grand or small you make it, can be accomplished with many steps. Achieve your goals through bite-sized projects and actions that you can take over time.

Even if your goal is not met at your next milestone, you will see you have moved toward this accomplishment. If corporations can set 1-year or 3-year goals, so can you. In fact, you can set goals to be met at an indefinite time period.

A goal only matters if it matters you. DivaSilke

Free New Online Productivity Tools for the Organized Diva

There are some very interesting and promising productivity tools that have sprung up on the internet. Because they are all free, you can test and see if any suit your needs:

Springpad is a new, free tool that works as an online notebook. You can add notes and generate lists on notepad pages in notebooks. You can create task lists, informational lists, appointments, assign priorities, drag and drop items, set reminders, and capture images. You can organize your contacts with maps and even restaurant reviews online. Because Springpad is a web-based program, it interfaces with other web programs, such as Google and Yelp.com.

MiniTask is a quick and easy new task manager that displays all your tasks in one simple window. You can group tasks, drag and drop, use shortcut keys, and set alarms. This tool is free, although a donation is requested.

A more complex task manager is TiddlyDu2, which incorporates projects, goals, tasks, reminders, and contacts into a wiki-type environment. There is a steeper learning curve involved. This is free as well.

On another note, the first issue of Productive Magazine has been published and is available for free online.

Quick Tip: Moving Past the Overwhelm

That feeling of overwhelm hits us all, no matter how organized. I will sit and stare into space or at my task list and not know what to do next. Sure, there are plenty of things I want or need to do. However, I literally draw a blank - What do I do next? I call it being frozen in time.

I have spent the last few years devoted to conquering my overwhelming moments. Being frozen still happens occasionally, but then only for short time periods. Rather than reviewing my goals, projects, and priorities, I just ask myself:

What 3 things are my biggest energy drains at the moment? What is sapping the life out of me because I think about it more than other things? What would change my life immeasurably if I took action on it now?

These energy drains can come from your task lists, your project lists, or just from walking around your home or office. It probably won't be hard for you to identify these energy drains, since we've all got them.

Then write down 3 to 6 simple action steps toward getting rid of these energy drains. Be certain the actions are specific and doable, no matter how large or small the energy drains are. Then do them.

Voilà! Instant Motivator. You have now accomplished more than just those actions. You have made progress on 3 things that bugged you the most. You have most likely also made progress on tasks that have a higher priority in your life. Most of all though, you have moved past that feeling of overwhelm.

9 Basic Ways to Turn Tasks into Doable Actions

There is no question about the fact that I have a plate full of things to do. As a practicing GTDer for years now, I have a neatly set up system that I follow to make certain that all of my tasks are actually doable next actions.

I have my to-do lists set up in an organized fashion á la GTD (Getting Things Done), where everything is neatly organized into lists by contexts or location. Most of my tasks belong to projects. My projects relate to my roles, responsibilities, goals, and visions in life. It is a rather tidy package that I must say I work at diligently.

But, as all productivity fans know, actually making the task lists doable is a practiced art form in and of itself. I have often looked at my task lists without clarity. They can seem fuzzy and unclear. What do I do next? What in total do I really have on my plate? What do others expect from me and what am I waiting for from others?

There are some basic ways to make certain task lists actually consist of next actions that are doable.

1. Know the difference between a project and an action. An action is one identifiable and doable task. A project, by contrast, consists of more than one task. For example, "organize the office" is not an action, rather it is a project consisting of several actions. It is not telling you precisely what to do. Don't include projects on your action list; in fact, keep a separate simple list of projects you are actively working on.

2. Make certain your action is the very next action. Don't put on your task list something that you cannot do until you have finished another action. Make certain your next action list only includes actual NEXT actions that are doable.

3. Make your next actions specific. You need to be able to see on a dime what an action on your list is telling you to do. Change your next action from "organize the office" to something exact, such as "sort a stack of file folders alphabetically." The action needs to be concrete and specific. If you want to delve further into organizing your office, then do so. However, you need to have a clear and concise starting point.

4. Limit your action lists. There are only so many things one can do in the next few weeks. Limit your lists to actions that you plan on doing in the next week or two. It is best to keep future or subsequent actions in a project file or on a future list. The goal is to keep action lists as simple and clear as possible.

5. Separate your action lists into contexts. Different actions require different locations or tools, which GTD calls contexts. For example, I currently have 6 contexts under which I list my actions. Some people have fewer and some have more contexts. The point of context lists is to know what actions you can do in whatever location and with whatever tools you have handy. 

agenda - anything to discuss with others
errands - anything to do while on the road
office - anything non-computer but office-related
pc - anything that requires a computer
home - anything personal at home
waiting for - anything that you are waiting for

6. Keep your action lists updated. It is necessary to have updated next action lists. Mark actions you have completed, add new actions, delete actions you will not do. The point is to keep your lists updated.

7. Be very familiar with your action lists. Review your action lists regularly. You need to have a feel for what you are focusing on in the next few weeks. There are items on your lists that are important to your personal and family life, to the boss and to your career, to the now and to the future.

8. Have your action list at hand. This point goes hand-in-hand with points 6 and 7. A task list is doable if you have it in front of you. It doesn't matter if you have a task manager that is on the internet, on your computer desktop, in your phone, or in a paper planner. The point is to have it with you. You can make print-outs, synchronize later, or take your planner with you.

9. Customize your action lists to your needs. Action lists are, believe it or not, intimate personal parts of you. They reflect what you want to accomplish in your life, be it for your family, your career, or your enjoyment. Create doable next actions with verbiage that works for you. Put your doable next actions into the contexts that fit your life. Use the action tools that you work best with, whether electronic or simple paper.

The Power of Emptying Your Mind to Capture Your Thoughts

There is real power in emptying your mind of everything in your head and putting it onto paper or digital. Emptying your mind brings you mental focus and clarity.

Find ideas locked in your brain by prowling around the recesses of your mind. Go through your home life, your work life, your family life, your relationships, your personal self, and anything else. As you capture your thoughts, you are writing down your commitments and ideas. When you revisit what you have written, you will see all different parts of yourself.

Now divide these thoughts into four main groups: What you need to do in the next weeks; what you may or may not do in the future; what you are expecting from others; and finally a simple reference list.

Because you have recorded your complex life, your head no longer needs to be swimming with the need-to-do's, would-really-like-to-do's, waiting-for's, the maybe's, the down-the-road items, and the hope-I-don't-forget's.

It's amazing and freeing to see everything on paper or digital. It gives you the clarity that you didn't have before:

See Who You Are Right Now

1. Having an overview of your responsibilities and commitments

2. Visioning your role in relation to others

3. Visioning where you are in your life

Identification of What You Need to Do

1. What is on your schedule?

2. At what physical locations will you be?

3. What are your time constraints?

4. Will you most likely have low or high energy mentally and physically?

5. What fits in best with your commitments and responsibilities?

Identification of What You Can Change

1. What fits into your roles and responsibilities?

2. What works for your goals and visions?

3. What can you put on hold for now or perhaps indefinitely?

4. What do you want to add to your current or future actions?

5. What can you delete from your life now or later?

6. What personal behaviors will you need or want to change?

Personal Power through Focus

By organizing your mind onto paper you have a tremendous overview of your life. Your life and its potential are brought into focus. It may not consist of everything you want right now, but it gives you a starting point towards achieving more. You will finally see that you have many, many wonderful options now.

Further reading:

Taking the Next Step: Why We Do One Thing Versus Another

Recommended book:

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (David Allen)

Taking the Next Step: Why We Do One Thing Versus Another

Our daily life consists of many decisions, where we move in one direction versus another. What brings us to this next action we have decided to take? Are we reacting or have we planned this? Is it our internal purpose or an outside influence that is determining this? Are we sure or confused in our final decision?

The decision we have to make can be as simple as whether or not to eat ice cream, for example. As a health-conscious but good-food-loving woman, this is something I grapple with regularly. Sometimes I am stronger; sometimes I am not. But what is the pivot point that gets me to a decision?

How do we decide the next action?

The whole concept of productivity, or shall I say the mastery of productivity, ultimately rests on the moment we make action decisions. Some of the movers and shakers of productivity thinking are David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (GTD), Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and Tony Robbins teachings

Next action decisions are based upon who you have defined yourself to be.

As a person who has tried all three of the above-mentioned methods for many years now, I mostly make my next action decisions based on the GTD methodology. It doesn't matter how much you base your life on a productivity system, the final decision to act is made from a composite of who you are:

• Purpose: What is your purpose in life?
• Vision: How do you envision your life in the next 3 to 5 years?
• Goals: What do you want to accomplish in the next 1 to 3 years?
• Roles and Responsibilities: What are your current roles and what responsibilities?
• Active Projects: What projects are you currently working on?
• Next Actions: What is on your next action or to-do list?

We all have a sense of our purposes, goals, or responsibilities, whether or not we have identified them independently or by using GTD, Covey, or another system. Once you know yourself and are more comfortable with your inner self, small or big decisions will come more easily. That is where a productivity system is invaluable.

Can our decision be simple?

Getting back to our simple ice cream decision. If your goal is to be healthy for your family, your decision could be to get the low-fat frozen yogurt instead of the creamy ice cream. If your errand list is overloaded, you may opt to forego your usual trip to the ice cream parlor. If your vision in life is to experience more, you may decide to go out of your way to get your favorite ice cream.

The point is to be comfortable with your decision. It doesn't always have to be the perfect decision to be the right decision. But, as you can see, it can fit into so many different parts of your life. It is just one moment of thousands of moments.

One Final Note

I am not saying that you should apply my preferred method of GTD to decide whether or not to eat ice cream - unless you really want to, of course.

Yahoo Impresses with Updated Calendar

Yahoo has unveiled their new updated calendar with a new, sleeker look and many upgraded features. You can set and receive reminders by phone or email, drag and drop events, and create to-do lists. Flickr integration lets you personalize your calendar by adding photos.

Yahoo Calendar has enhanced their group sharing features and has designed it to work more smoothly with Yahoo Mail and other calendar applications. The calendar is still in beta stage, so expect some future Yahoo developments, such as more integration with online networking and information services.

Further Reading:

Readwriteweb.com Yahoo Announces Major Update to Yahoo Calendar: Leverages Zimbra Technology

7 Reasons Why Recurring Tasks are Important for a Meaningful Life

We continuously have to repeat the same tasks in life. Again and again and again... Sometimes it seems to be a never-ending loop of recurring tasks, yet they are the glue that keep us together. We see this at work, in our homes, and with our families, friends, and colleagues.

There are many times where I stop and ask myself, do I need to do this again and again and, if so, why? Therefore, I thought that I would list some of the main motivators for most of our recurring tasks:

1. Active Life Maintenance
   
   First and foremost, recurring tasks help us maintain our lives professionally and personally. Regularly taking care of ourselves and what is necessary, no matter how often we have to repeat these tasks, help us keep our lives in good shape and healthy. They also allow our families to feel that life is stable and in control.



2. Reliability and Trust
   
   Knowing that certain things are taken care of regularly frees up everyone's mind. Since you are are reliably taking care of required tasks, you trust yourself and your children, family, and friends trust you. In return, you are most likely receiving the same. Importantly, this also includes the trust you receive at the office from your boss and co-workers.



3. Greater Stability
   
   Trust and reliability immediately lead right into stability, which is something that we all crave. Only through maintaining a certain stability in our daily lives, can we breathe easier and feel more comfortable in taking on new situations and adventures. Your family, friends, and co-workers are also more comfortable in joining you on different endeavors.



4. Improved Relationships
   
   Being dependable may not be the most exciting adjective to describe you, but it is very valuable nonetheless. Family, friends, bosses, and co-workers will feel more comfortable with you, because they know you are taking care of the tasks with which you are entrusted. Which inevitably ends with improved relationships with all of your favorite people.



5. Enhanced Self-Motivation
   
   Something we all know is that by repeating tasks we become better at them. The more often we repeat the important daily jobs, including the parts in our home life, the quicker and more efficiently we can take care of the recurring tasks anywhere. That alone should give you a good sense of self-motivation to accomplish almost anything.



6. Personal and Professional Growth
   
   Knowing that the basics are taken care of, will free up your mind to pursue other things more freely. You will feel more able to take on new projects or adventures. This leads to both personal and professional growth. Something not only you but everyone else around you will benefit from.



7. Great Time-Fillers
   
   If nothing else, recurring tasks are great time fillers. You can do them in between projects when you have a bit of free time or if you need to change your focus on something else. Taking on one or two of your recurring tasks, even the smaller ones, will often fit in your schedule when you least expect it. They can also be great team projects with family and friends, bringing you closer together on family goals.

Further reading:

7 Little Habits That Can Change Your Life, and How to Form Them (particularly points 1. and 7. ) at zenhabits.net

Handling Recurring Next Actions at tools-for-thought.com