• December '03
• November '03
• October '03
• September '03
• August '03
• July '03
• June '03
• May '03
• April '03
• March '03
• February '03
• January '03

Greetings Philosophers,

Here again is your monthly newsletter designed to be read in a quick 2 or 3 minutes, giving you some ideas and tricks on getting organized, saving time, working more efficiently, and living more effectively. This is sent to clients and friends of Idea Mountain, but of course I hope that you forward it on to whomever you think might benefit.

Huge new experience
a passing

I've been surprised by the number of clients and readers who've noticed this didn't come out on the first of the month this time… thanks for that vote of confidence about the value of the newsletter. Well, as some current clients have heard, my mother died unexpectedly last month, and it's been a whole new experience in organization and efficiency for me. As the only child, I'm now taking over the finances of my father, dealing with all the aspects of running the house from 2 time zones away, and working to complete my mother's many projects. I'm happy to say that she had been reading this newsletter from the start, and had a lot of things more organized than I expected. Much more work and life experience will come of all this, but for right now, let me just point out what I've realized in the last month about organizing:

- Get the basics covered. Make sure things like medications, insurance, financial planning, bank account info, etc. are all in a place where your loved ones can access and understand them.

- Do it Now. Don't put off throwing things out and organizing that old pile of papers because you're too busy. After I worked on my parent's house for 3 days or so, I looked around and cried a bit because it finally looked the way my mother would have wanted it to. Don't wait, do it now.

- Get your 'Living Will' and 'last requests' stuff in order. How odd is it that last month I sent out that worksheet on getting organized for eventualities… and my mother had filled it out. It's at the bottom of the resources page: resources

- Talk to your parents, or your kids if you're the older one. Find out about the insurance policies, where the wedding license is, where the deed to the house is, where the safe deposit box key is. Write it down, put it in your PDA with a password.

Philosophy
The "green square"

I was recently invited to be a participant in San Francisco's Green Festival, where many different eco- and hippy-types were speaking about the importance of recycling, living more sustainably and all that. As I was going through their literature, I saw a piece about 'the green triangle'. Basically saying that there are certain positive activities you can do to help the three parts of the ecological fight for sustainable living. (read more at:context.org)
Anyway, from that, I took a new 'Idea Mountain' approach. The Green Square of Efficiency: Health, Money, Time, Work. The goal is to try and focus your activities on accomplishing something on at least 2 of the 4 sides of the square at any one time… and you'll find you probably touch all 4 without trying. Riding your bike to work helps you save money, improve your health, and saves you time since you don't have to go to the gym to workout later. Eating right helps your health, and allows you to better focus on your work, making you more money. NOT buying a new TV saves you money, gives you more time, and probably improves your health if you get outside more. You get the idea. When you're going through your day, think about what you're doing, then try and add another piece of the 'green square' to your activity.

Trick
Alphabetize with symbols

If you put a '@' symbol at the front of files (or memos/notes in outlook or palm, etc) they will show up at the top of your lists. Use that to get often referenced items up at the top. Of course, you can always do 'ZZ' in front of ones you want at the bottom.

Directive
Leave AOL, and other online information managers

As more and more people tell their friends and coworkers about this newsletter, I'm seeing a lot of aol, yahoo, and hotmail email accounts signing up. I know why that is. Those sorts of 'online' email and information management systems aren't sufficient to organize our busy lives anymore. Using those sorts of services is like having PO Box at the post office but never taking your mail out of the building. Imagine trying to organize your household finances if you had to stand around the lobby of the post office balancing your checkbook, replying to letters, reading your magazines. Get an information management system that allows you to work with your email, calendar and task list all at once… and of course, I would recommend a PDA (personal digital assistant) to mirror that system.

Offer Update
"Six Pack" the definite favorite

Last month I unveiled a number of offers focused on new ways clients could work on what's slowing them down with Idea Mountain. (offerings) The 'six pack', personal efficiency conversations over a month and a half was jumped on by a bunch of people, and I'm happy to say those folks are doing a great job at tackling their issues of clutter and time management. While the holiday season isn't always the best time to start a program like this, I hope everyone reading this is getting ready for the new year, and thinking about what organization goals they'd like to tackle. Think about the 'six pack' when you do.

Thought
The holidays

Finally, in what I suspect is becoming an annual tradition for this newsletter, let me say about the holidays: Give love, not stuff. Find time to be with your loved ones, your parents, your kids, your partners. Baking a pie together while good music playing is a better holiday gift than tromping through a mall to spend too much on some gadget that will break in 6 months. Turn off the TV, call those relatives, tell your family you love them. Give love, not stuff.

Take care, work well, keep in touch, Tys

November 2003

Hello Philosophers of Efficiency,

Here again is the monthly newsletter from Idea Mountain about time management, organization, and efficiency. It's designed to be read in 2 or 3 minutes, then filed (or forwarded to friends and coworkers!) so you can go about your day.

Odd Fact:
All creatures live through about the same number of heartbeats. A squirrels heart beats quickly, on average about the same number of times in its 7 year life that a human heart does over its life. Maybe taking deep breaths and relaxing more would help us all live longer.

Bragging, and learning:
My computer doesn't work, and it's such a gift. I had to ship my laptop off to Michigan to get repaired yesterday, and not having it in my office has done a great job of 'changing my paradigm'... Suddenly, grabbing that email first thing in the morning doesn't seem so important (now that it's not possible!) and, as I write this on my palm pilot with the foldout keyboard (see resource page for a picture) I'm sitting at a park table overlooking San Francisco on a beautiful fall day. The Golden Gate bridge is shining in the distance as humming birds, gold finches, and scrub jays hover around me, my dog wandering off to chew pinecones, and my creative thoughts flowing. I'm telling ya, getting organized and efficient definitely has its advantages.

The Big Organizer in the Sky
Preparing for the official 'deadline':
Advance Directives and Living Wills

Take a moment of downtime this holiday season to talk with your family about being organized about ...death. Everyone will have to deal with it, and having a clear understanding about how family members feel about wills, life support stuff, 'how you want to go' stuff, and all that will add to your organized life. For a discussion worksheet, go to the bottom of www.ideamountain.com/resources.html and print out the PDF of questions. It's a tough subject, but really, it'll make you feel better and more prepared. Like hiding a spare key for the house.

Two Paper Filing Tips:

1. If your files are bulging and it seems like too big a task to redo them all, just take out one folder a day, and for maybe 10 minutes, just quickly go through and see what you can toss. In a month or so, you're sure to be more organized.

2. On your hanging files --and yes, I do like hanging files-- attach the label to the *front* of the folder, not the back. It allows you to grab the thing you're looking for, and allows manila files and their labels inside the folder, without blocking the label.

Offerings:
Beginner Personal Digital Assistant- aka "actually use your Palm pilot"

Idea Mountain will again put on a telephone conference class teaching beginning Palm™ use and integration. November 11th, 4pm pacific time. Sign up is a 3 step process: 1. email that your interested 2. pay the $39 via paypal or credit card when you get the request. 3. phone number to call at the start time and powerpoint slides are emailed to you. Class is limited to 5 people so questions can be answered. (If you can't make that time but want to hear about the next one, let me know.)

Idea Mountain of Personal Solutions 6 pack:
As I've been working with a number of clients 'virtually', via email and phone, talking through their specific organization, priority, and time effectiveness issues, I've found that a lot of getting organized and getting more efficient has to do with motivation, changing philosophies, and knowing the tricks. From that work, I've developed a good 'package' program that you might be interested in. Six 1 hour telephone conversations about your goals in organization, what solutions are possible, and how best to implement them. Once a week for a month, then once a month for two months. It allows you to learn new ways of organizing your work and your stuff, try things out, and feel the motivation and speed of implementing ideas without the expense and time of an 'on-sight' organizer. $480

Some Quick, Basic Philosophy bullets:
(seems like every client I work with needs to hear this stuff, more than once. Here it is again)

- Do it Now:
if something takes less than two minutes to do, do it now. If it'll take longer, plan it.

- Keep like with like
if you are filing, organizing, or just walking from room to room, work on putting things that are similar together.

- Don't keep things that can be found elsewhere
don't print out pages of the internet, keep magazines or newspapers that are kept at the library or online, and don't buy tons of stuff in bulk... let the store *store* that stuff for you, and get it when you need it.

Empty your inbox
don't keep stuff in your inbox, but file, delete, act, or schedule stuff.

Keep in touch, work well, Tys

October 2003

Greetings, philosophers of Efficiency!

This is the next email installment of the efficiency newsletter to clients and friends who are working on moving through things that are slowing them down. As always, I'll try and remind you of some of the basics of organizing, and bring some new ideas, all while keeping this under a 3 minute read... so you can file it (Forward it if you want, please!) and move on in your busy day.

National Holiday
October, celebrating Organizing!

Not only is the first week in October GO Week (Get Organized), a holiday that I'm sure was 'discovered' by the professional organizing industry, but it's October 24th is 'Take back your Time Day'. As the seasons change and our society turns itself back to school in earnest, it IS a good time to roll up the sleeves and finally get to those projects that have been sitting around. GO Week promotes this by trying to get people to get started on at least something, and once that happens, you often find you can keep going.

October 24th as 'Take Back Your Time Day' is a holiday promoted by the "Simple Living" people, people who have officially dropped out of the rat race and are focusing on living fully while less franticly. They point out that as Americans working our many houred workweek, by October 24th we've put in the typical work YEAR of Europeans.

Think about that as you come home from work on that Friday... That if you were European, you could take vacation until January first!

Little Quotes to Ponder
I hear different things said at different events throughout my month, and I had to write about two:

"Mediocre consistency is better than sporadic brilliance."
I don't know who said it first, but this was in regards to business marketing, though I've decided it could be used in many different situations. Volunteerism, politics, friendship, gardening, cooking, communication... Not poetry though. This goes back to my idea last month of 'done not perfect'. A lot of my clients come to the conclusion that often, it's just not worth the struggle, and it would be easier to just stop doing X than to keep dragging stuff uphill.

"If we just take a moment to appease the God of Organizing..."
I know this sounds all "San Francisco", because it is, but I was struck when another business consultant said this. Making the connection between centering yourself, doing a little something every day, and giving organizing the importance of ceremony makes a lot of sense when looking at how to tackle big organization projects, or instituting new habits.

Advice
Password Planning

You should have two passwords. One frivolous one that you use to set up accounts with superficial online things (i.e. amazon, yahoo, chat rooms) and one unique financial one. I suggest the two be related in a way only you would understand. I like the 'favorite number' plan. Pick a 2 digit number. Let's say 56. Your frivolous password could be 5656. Then your unique one could be Fifty65six, or any other combination like that. Sometimes you'll be forced to do 8 digit passwords, and you can do 56565656, or fifty656, or something else. You don't have to write anything down because they are always going to be some combination of that number, yet you have a secure password.

Article
How Bus Management Can Teach You Things

I was reading a City Planner's guide to bus maintenance (I know, I'm weird) and I had an 'ah ha' moment. You can see the whole article here:metromagazine.com , it was called, "Nine Ways to Reduce Garage Costs", but that's not the point. I liked how their nine points could translate into how reduce time wasting costs. Here's my reading of it:

1. Ready-line inspections
-- Think ahead about how potential small problems might turn into big ones, and try and deal with them before they turn big. If a pile starts on your desk, get to it before it turns into a mound.

2. planned maintenance
-- I'm a big fan of the weekly or monthly review, but also, remember to back up your computer files at least on a monthly basis, do any software updates, etc.

3. standardized equipment
-- One bag, put in the same place. Shoes that go with more than one outfit. Content management systems that all work together (e.g. Outlook and the PDA, not yahoo mail, a blackberry, and a paper calendar) get standard stuff, and get to know them well.

4. Optimize the lifecycle
-- "Over-running parts and components to the point of absolute failure always costs more in the long run, not to mention the high cost of unexpected downtime." Think about that with technology as well.

5. repair now, not later
-- Again, don’t put off dealing with a small organizational issue now when it could get bigger later.

6. don't just change parts
-- This is my 'don't try and buy your way to organization' .. Often, people want to buy a new gadget, get new shelves, find a new organizing software.. When what they need to do is look at the whole system and what the real problems are.

7. review inspections sheets
-- Not only the weekly and monthly review, but look at where you're at when the end of your workday comes. Do you still have 35 tasks undone? Have they been sitting on the list for a week? Why is that? Are they unimportant, or are you just avoiding them? Why? Maybe they can be deleted.

8. inventory control
-- Less is more. Declutter, get less stuff. It gives you more room to live.

9 reliable rebuilding
-- (This is a stretch, but) sometimes, it makes sense to do a full overhaul of your organizational systems rather than just try and spin your wheels in the current system. Complete overhauls take time, and energy, and are often where professional organizers are called in. It'll save you time and money in the long run.

Philosophy
Success? Who wants that?

As I work through systems and solutions with clients (and my own projects), I’m finding that sometimes successful organization means you have to do the stuff you're meant to do. This of course, can be a scary thing to realize… that we’re often waiting on something – the next PDA, a new filing cabinet, until the basement is cleared out. -- before we actually get into doing *the real work* of our career, our plans, our goals for the future.

My own example is the ‘high finances’ stuff. I know I should be thinking about buying a home, dealing with some of that mutual fund stuff, ‘managing the portfolio’, etc… but something in me throws up road blocks so I don’t have to realize what I’m losing/saving/missing. You’re probably familiar with this feeling… having the ability to create the perfect excuse NOT to do something..

Why do I bring this scary realization up? I think it’s important for us to realize there are many reasons why we’re not always organized.. or why we’ve put it off. Sometimes dealing with those issues will make the organizing seem like a breeze.

Take care, take deep breaths, manage your schedule, and keep in touch,
Tys

September 2003

Greetings Philosophers!

Here again is your monthly newsletter about time management, efficiency and organizing, designed to be read in 2 to 3 minutes, filed, forwarded, or deleted without taking up space in your inbox.

As always, as my clients and friends, I look to you to ‘spread the word’ about Idea Mountain, so feel free to forward this to people you think might benefit, and who might need to hire an organizer.

Online Tool
www.keepmedia.com
A rule I have with clients: “don’t be the library!”… I’ve often seen people who collect articles, magazines, old newsletters, even newspapers because there was something interesting in there. I always argue that you can find that same information, usually more updated, on the internet. Well, now there’s an official site you can work with. keepmedia.com For $4.95 per month or $60 per year you have unlimited access to archives of a huge selection of magazines. No more filing old magazine issues.

Phrase to Look Out For:
“I still need to go through that”
So often what I do as a professional organizer is help people make the judgment call about what to throw out and what to keep. Most of those decisions are easy to make, even for the person who has put them off. It’s the ‘putting off’ that’s the problem. I find that to 'go through it' really means, not doing something now, but being unwilling to make the commitment to dismiss/trash it. Be honest with yourself the next time you say that phrase. Do you *really* need to go through it, or would it be simpler to just toss it. Remember also that putting it aside to ‘go through it’ means storing it until your ready, and then spending that time when you could be doing something you like to do.

Discovery
Emailing to categories in Outlook
I love it when I learn something new about technology I already have. I know not everyone getting this is an Outlook user, but I have to tell of this little success. I was trying to email a big group of people the other day, and you may be familiar with the program enough o know that unless you have a distribution list set up, you need to type in names or scroll through the whole list to add people to the email you want to send. Since I have my address book organized by categories, I was looking at specific sorts of people I wanted to send to, and I started highlighting them while viewing my address book by category (when looking at contacts go to view, current view, view by category) I then clicked on the ‘new message to contact’ button on my toolbar, and it created an email with all those people in the ‘to’ field. I love it when it all comes together like that.

Another new Tool
The Google toolbar
http://toolbar.google.com/
toolbar.google.com
This feature, if you don’t have it already, is the best free pop up blocker I’ve found yet. It puts the ‘search box’ from google on the top of your browser screen, and also has a form filling tool and the great pop up blocker. It’s cut down about 90% of that junk.

Looking for advice
Sponsor?
I recently met a motivational speaker who had a corporate sponsor… and this corporate sponsor wasn’t one you would think of right away when you think motivational speaker..it was an office supply company. But it got me thinking about how I’d like to partner with some businesses that would somehow tie in to efficiency, organization, and, importantly, non-materialism. What do you think? Should I try and find one? And which one?

Examination
Why am I putting that off?
If you push a task back again and again.. Ask yourself, why is this task not 'do-able' for me? What other parts of this task need to happen before I can do it? Or was my judgment about the importance of this task wrong when I put it on today's calendar? After a few times of pushing off a task, try and break it down to smaller parts, and put them separately into the calendar again.. Sooner or later, that project is going to be a series of tiny easy to do tasks, or something that's not worth doing.

Philosophy
Done not perfect
As a board member of my local chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (hireanorganizer.com) I learn from a number of different types of organizers about how they view projects, organizing, and getting things done. As you might imagine, everyone in that group has a different perspective.

One of the best phrases to come from a big group of ‘busy-body-know-it-all-types’ (just like me!) is ‘Done not perfect’. I think this comes from a long knowledge of how one can spend an infinite amount of time planning for every contingency, editing for every possible perspective, or spending hours and hours organizing something that doesn’t really need it. These different wise organizers will remind each other as they are working on projects that often it’s better to get things done than to have them be perfect. Anyone who’s worked on a committee or edited a marketing piece knows what I mean. Sometimes disorganized people are so stuck on how hard it would be to make a situation perfect, they never get started at all, let alone just get something done.

I realize that my high school English teacher wouldn’t be happy to hear me advocating for this, but sometimes you should just say to yourself as these other professional organizers do: ‘done not perfect’ and move on.

Work well, relax more, and keep in touch,
Tys

August 2003

Greetings Efficiency philosophers!

I hope your summer is going well. This is the monthly installment of time management and organization tips and ideas and philosophies, designed to be read in 2 or 3 minutes so you don't have to have it kicking around your in box. You can read it, file it, *forward it to friends* or delete it and move on.

Updates on Resources

The Idea Mountain website has had a lot of work done recently, including adding a ton on new thoughts and ideas to the resources page.. When I'm working with clients on streamlining their paperwork and lives, we usually end up looking at personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other gear. I now have all that stuff in one simple place. Check out the resources page when you have a chance.

Organization Tricks The repeating reminder: send a thank you card!

I have a repeating task in my Outlook/palm system that shows up every 4 days. It's to remind myself to send a thank you note and/or a card to the people in my life. Now, every 4 days, a task pops up and tells me to send out one personal note and one business thank you note. We've all heard how important it is to write these things, but we never get around to them, or remember to do it. Now you can. Just set your repeat option on your Outlook/palm to be every 4 days (more or less if you want) … Or figure out something else you want to remember to do regularly.. Water the plants? Buy flowers? Call your mother?

Answers Internet Searching

I know this sounds so simple, but I'm amazed how often I find when people are consulting with me that the answer can almost always be found by simply popping some keywords into Google. Get good at using the simple search parameters to find what you need. Don't put, "Where's the best place to get my VW bug fixed?" but put "San Francisco" + "auto repair" + Volkswagen + beetle + "guaranteed work" and see what comes up. Then pop the name of the garage in again, with + review + BBB + "customer concern" and check on them. It usually takes about 2 minutes to answer most questions.

Trick that every Professional Organizer will Agree with: "Open the Mail over the Pail"

don't touch that junk mail twice! Get it right into the recycling bin.

Mantra "I have enough"

Again and again, I find that most people who feel disorganized and overwhelmed need to gain a different perspective on 'sufficiency'. This last month I worked with a very well off client and a very very poor client. Both seemed to need me to tell them that they had too much stuff.. And that buying something else wouldn't help the problem. I grit my teeth when I see these catalogues and magazines selling more stuff to try and simplify your life. You don't need anything else. You need less. Try getting up every morning, as you're slipping out of bed and say out loud, "I have enough" Enough stuff, enough clothes, enough time, enough sleep, enough energy. We live in a world of abundance. Don't let our consumer culture make you feel like you don't have enough. You do.

How to get more done: "the ol' Eighty/twenty rule"

Most of us find that once we get something started, a project ends up being much easier than we thought it would. And once something is 'down on paper' or started, it gets very easy to see where the next step is. It's always that first step that's a doosey.
We're all familiar with the 80/20 rule in various things.. Well, getting things done is another arena for it. We spend 80% of our energy being nervous/worried/lazy about a project and 20% doing it. I know I'm guilty of it too. I've managed to figure out some tricks to get myself going though.
When something comes up on my task list, I try hard the first minute I see the task in front of me to at least take a stab at some part. (writing down a couple bullet points for an article I have to write, for example) Then even if I run out of steam or time, the next time I see that task, I've already got at least something to kick around. Heck, half the time I just think I'm going to start something and I end up finishing it before I realize it.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Success Story
The lost Stylus.

I was at an outdoor concert last weekend, and had a great time. Friends had reserved a picnic table and we were listening to some great performers in the warm Sunday sun. After a while though, I felt a few good ideas rumbling around in my head, and since I had carried my backpack with me, and it always has all my 'gear' in it, I as able to pull out my Palm with the foldable keyboard and start typing away. I actually managed to do quite a bit of work in preparation for the week without feeling like I was actually working, since I would have been twiddling my thumbs otherwise.
Well, when we packed up to go, somehow my little stylus from my Palm didn't make it into the bag, and I didn't discover this until the next day. And, in my infinite minimalist wisdom, I had long ago given away my extras. Never Fear! I would like to think that, because I'm an organized guy, I knew that I must have dropped it at the park near the table… so I hopped on my bike and zoomed down there (getting a good workout in the process) and sure enough, I walked right over to the spot, squatted down and there it was.
Didn't take me more than 10 seconds. I biked home with a smug look on my face. "I find the harder I work, the luckier I am." --Thomas Jefferson

Article and Ask

If you haven't yet received my latest article, "Organizing for Today, Tomorrow and the Next Day" and want a copy, email me, and I'll zip one over. Also, as readers and clients of mine, you're my best source for future clients. If you have someone or some business you think might benefit from being more organized or learn time management techniques, let me know, and I'll do all the follow up.

Work well, keep in touch, and keep it simple,

Tys

July 2003 Hello to all Philosophers of Efficiency!

Here again is the newsletter to clients and friends of Idea Mountain, designed to give you insights and solutions in a 2 to 3 minute read, so that you can then pass it on to others, file it, or delete it from your inbox. (Because we all want an empty inbox at the end of the day) First, let me apologize for my email bouncing in the 2nd and 3rd week of June. I was traveling in Europe (more on that below) and it turns out my email account can't hold more than 1200 emails at a time on the server. Don't despair about spam, the day will come when our email providers will do all the filtering for us. If your provider has a feature like that now, start to use it. Most of my thoughts this month come from traveling, and/or from experiences that I've had that I don't want you to have.

Here's a rule you should put in place:

No Drinks By the Computer.

In mid May, I spilled about a fourth of a cup of 7up into my laptop. I immediately unplugged it, shut it down and turned it over to drain as much as I could. This, I was told, saved me a lot of pain. However, the keys of the laptop still had 7up on them, and they began to have minds of their own.

The Alt and Ctrl keys were particularly rebellious, which meant that programs would start, stop and turn off while I was working. This went on for a couple weeks while I negotiated the possible solutions with friends, local computer hacks, and Dell. I was told by Dell that to send it to them would cost me something between $350 and $650. Finally, I ordered a replacement keyboard from Dell, and did it myself. Cost: $15.95 and $8 in shipping. Effort: 6 little screws and about 5 minutes. Lesson: don't always take the first solution, and don't drink 7up by the computer.

Thoughts

What does it mean to act now when you get so much incoming stuff?

Much of what getting organized is all about is making decisions and setting priorities. The hard part about this is to be able to manage your life in a way that doesn't put off doing these things for too long. That's why in organizational and efficiency work you always hear about 'systems'.. something that allows you to make little decisions all the time, keeping things clear for the big opportunities.

Many people feel they don't know a good system, so they let things go until they're overwhelmed. Systems are important, and finding them and helping to start them is how I make a living, but it's really about the individual making those moment to moment decisions: "do it now, do it later, throw it away, keep it?"

Here's my simple answers to those questions:

- In most cases, it'll take less time to do than to think about.

- if it's a big project, set aside time for it on your calendar..if it's not important enough to put on the calendar, don't do it.

- With stuff, get rid of it. With information, keep it. (digitally, of course)

Most people aren't honest with themselves when they're in this process.. They want to believe they will make a better decision later.. or that they will get around to that special project, or that they will use that thing (why is it so often a piece of exercise equipment or a thing to organize something?) someday.. Be honest with yourself, and your organization. Do more with less.

Teleclass coming up soon

Having gotten a great response from my peers at the National Convention of Professional Organizers, I'm going to turn my presentation on Palm OS based PDAs I did there into two separate tele-classes.

One will be a beginner class, going over every aspect of using a Palm Pilot, and the other will be more philosophical, a bit more about 'integrating the PDA into your life' and furthering the tricks and add-ons available. Cost per 70 minute class will be $49. July 8, 6:30pm pacific will be the first one. Email me with 'beginner' or 'intermediate' in the subject line to learn the specifics.

Things I've learned from traveling:

(and an example of the sort of stuff I keep in my PDA... I not only have a 'what to pack' list that includes exactly how many pairs of socks to take, but I also will keep this list handy, so that when I'm thinking about my next trip, I'll be sure to look at it.)

- Do more research about the region you're going to, and, I have to admit, a guidebook about sites, towns and activities. but don't always take the advice written there... just use them as a resource.

- Check the compatibility of your electrical adapters before leaving.. make sure you have ones that fit all your plugs.

- Ask people for information. What restaurant, where's the hotel, where to get bikes to rent, which bar to go to..

- Traveling with more than 4 is good for conversation and fun, but difficult for planning, no matter how good a friends you are. It's difficult to travel in a large group. The group needs to decide on what sort of things they want to do ahead of time.. and the members of the group need to put energy into making their priorities happen. ---understanding ahead of time everyone's motivations for going on the trip or what makes a vacation good for them (i.e. good food + good friends, soaking up sun, visiting historical sites, etc.). Maybe also knowing what they would consider to be a bad vacation (e.g. sitting around all day, or driving around a lot, etc.) if there is a particular activity, site, or event that someone wants to explore, they should take it upon themselves to gather the information & details (directions, cost, times, etc.) to facilitate making it happen. If they're not willing to do that, they have forfeited the right to complain.

- Have a standard group operating procedure about waiting…in case something goes wrong: Plan A, B and C. for example:

Plan A: meet you at the café at 3

Plan B: (standard OP) if you're not there in 1 hour, I'm going to go to ___

Plan C: (standard OP) if we don't connect there, see you at ___ tonight/tomorrow

- PACK LIGHT. Melissa (as of this trip, my fiancé) and I had 2 smallish backpacks, one each. At the end of the journey, we filled one day bag with gifts, etc.. but we zoomed through the trip (well dressed, by the way) because of the lightness of our bags and flexibility of our clothing. We would wash items as needed in hotel sinks, letting them dry overnight.

- learn enough of the local language to ask for directions and advice, and to understand the answer

- an important European resource is the listing of rural Bed and Breakfasts: in Spain, it was 'tourisme rural' in France it was 'chambres d'hotes' , in Italy (though we didn't need it) there was another one.. and I remember the list my father and I used in Ireland, so I'm sure most Europe has these listings.. once you have those booklets, you're totally set.

- driving in Europe makes sense if you're traveling with more than just yourself.. the train was not as 'rich' an experience as it might have once been. It was much nicer to be able to take little rural roads and stop where you wanted to.. .and for the price, gas and renting wasn't that bad.

- if you have more than 3 people, mobile phones make sense, for safety and coordination.

- book the first night(s) hotel well ahead of time. You don't want to have to think about it right away.

- Confirm your flight the day before leaving. The airline industry has become less reliable again, and you need to do this. On international trips, ask the airline before you leave home for a phone number to confirm the return flight from the country you're in.

Have fun, get things done, and work smart,

Tys

June 2003 Greetings Philosophers of Efficiency!

Here again is the newsletter about getting things done and working through what’s slowing you down. Designed to be read in 2 to 3 minutes so that it doesn’t have to sit around in your inbox, but you can read it and then act on it (forward it, file it, or horrors! Delete it)

Preview

New Resource

A bit of self-promotion: Idea Mountain has a new fledging page of resources and ideas for doing things more efficiently. www.ideamountain.com/resources.html It’s not fully ‘published’ yet, but I wanted to let you in on it. Check out the Identity Theft page particularly. More on that below. If you have suggestions for this page, I'd love to hear them.

Philosophy

Creating a conversation of sufficiency

Last night I was at a fabulous lecture done by Lynn Twist, one of the founders of the Hunger Project. The title of her talk was 'Scarcity is a Myth', about how our culture has always had this idea that 'more is better'.. and how instead we should be thinking about how we have more than we could possibly need. I got many ideas from her lecture (she's got a new book coming out in September) but I wanted to share this idea of creating a conversation of sufficiency.

We always are thinking about how we don't get enough. The minute we wake up we think, 'that wasn't enough sleep'... 'I don't have enough time' .. 'I don't have enough space'... 'I need more!' If we always think this way, we'll never reach a point of satisfaction.. of sufficiency. My charge to you today is to start working on that idea, and start by working it into your daily conversations. Wake up tomorrow and no matter how much or how little sleep you got, say to yourself, 'that was enough'.. Look around, start to appreciate the things you have.. or better yet, get rid of most of it, and truly appreciate the things left over. I think you will begin to find, as Lynn said, 'what you appreciate, appreciates.'

Facts

Why Get Organized? So you can avoid Identity Theft:

It is estimated that 700,000 to 1.1 million people became victims of Identity theft in 2001.

- Identity Theft Resource Center

In 2001, the FTC's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse received roughly 85,000 complaints of identity theft, beating out all other categories

- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

On average, victims of identify theft and fraud spend 175 hours researching and tracking the crime, 23 months correcting credit reports and $800 in out-of-pocket expenses to restore their financial standing

- Joint study of victims' experiences by the PRC and the California Public Interest Research Group

Of the top complaints lodged to the Consumer Sentinel, the Federal Trade Commission's complaint line in 2001, Identity Theft dealt with 42% of all complaints.

- Federal Trade Commission, January 2, 2002

A Florida Grand Jury estimated that the average identity theft crime costs the business community about $17,000 per victim. Applying an estimate of 700,000 victims, that means that businesses lost $11.9 billion from identity theft in 2001.

- Identity Theft Resource Center

In 2000, identity theft cost financial institutions $2.4 billion in direct losses and related expenses, such as technology and consumer education.

- According to Consulting Firm Celent Communications

Check out: http://www.ideamountain.com/idtheft.html

Comment on Modern Life

Anti-technology

When people actively avoid technology (not getting a cell phone, not checking email, not having a PDA) what they’re really trying to do is manage their solitude. Striving for that ‘peace of mind’ is an excellent goal, but avoiding the tools that make living in this modern world possible is not the best way to go about it.

Constant solitude is unavailable except to those who choose to be ‘off the grid’.. or at least off the normal tracks of life.. Unless you have a career that doesn’t need electricity (blacksmith?) or are fully and totally retired from interacting with people, you will have to deal with interruptions to your solitude.

The difference I would strive for is instead of rejecting the tools of technology, learn them and use them to *manage your solitude*. Having a cell phone doesn’t mean you have to answer it. Email gets away from those who don’t understand how to manage it, or don’t have systems in place to deal with what comes in.. When you want to be 'on', be on, when you want to be 'off', be off. Don't lock the door of communication simply because once someone knocked who you didn't want to talk to.

Book Review

The Not so Big House, by Sarah Susanka

Check out: http://www.notsobighouse.com/

This great book by an architect from Minneapolis, MN does a great job of talking about the importance of designing your home the way you live.. She talks about keeping things organized and simple, using light, space, and artistic elements to create the next movement in architecture. Check out all the cool resources on her website.

Fast Tips:

time management tips and choices

- Get rid of your TV. You’ll immediately have more time than you know what to do with. And really get rid of it, don’t just say you’ll not watch it… that doesn’t work.

- Find information online. “To Google” is becoming a regular verb. Before you spend time on hold waiting to get a price, tech advice, or to make a reservation.. throw the key words of your question into google, and see what comes up.

- Slow down and take more time between things. If you arrive collected and ready, you’ll actually get more done and feel better about it.

- Finish what you start. Everything from carrying the laundry all the way to the hamper to really working through that report that needs doing… you should focus on completing one thing before moving on to the next. This includes hobbies and dishes.

- Look at your task list before you leave home and before you leave the office. You’ll remember more.

- Keep Like with Like. When you're organizing, keep the things that are like one another near one another. You'll know where to look for them next time.

Keep in touch, keep it simple, and work with effectiveness.

Tys

May 2003 Greetings Philosophers of Efficiency!

Here's the monthly newsletter from Idea Mountain about time management, organization, and living your life with more clarity. I try to keep it down to a 2 to 3 minute read, so you can read it, take action items from it, and file it away without having to keep it in your inbox too long.

This issue is a bit later in the month as I was at the National Conference of professional organizers in Denver, where I was lucky enough to give a seminar on 'integrating your PDA into your life' and where I saw a lot of new ideas and solutions for organizing. Here's some thoughts:

A Practical argument: Needing to see.

Often times I work with clients who aren't willing to move to a PDA or to a small paper planner because they feel they need to 'see the whole month' or to 'have their whole task list in front of them'. I've even got one client working out of his house who wants to put a dry erase board on one whole wall of his living room to keep things in front of him. I have two reactions to that:

1. Remember that with your PDA, you are syncing that to something on your computer (as readers know, I like MS Outlook) these 'desktop versions' have printable views.. Of a whole month, of a day, a list, etc. If you feel you absolutely need to have a month view in front of your face or on the fridge, just print that out. (after you've added all your appointments, of course)

2. But I would argue that in fact, 'having it in front of you' is a mistake. Just like all things, we get used to what is in our visual landscape. Disorganized people often don't even notice the big pile on the kitchen table it's been there so long. Companies put 'inspirational messages' up on their walls… how often do you think employees are reading those messages? Every day? Once a month? Once? What happens when you're away from the fridge, or the living room wall.. How do you do a quick review of your week, your goals.. Or make an appointment without pulling the fridge out of your pocket?

Instead, use your Information Assistant (IA) to plan, remind, and review what you're doing, and what you have to do. Get used to using it on a daily, hourly, basis.. Not the living room wall.

A Philosophy: Less is More

This not uncommon phrase was repeated often at the conference of organizers… the San Francisco Chapter even sold T-shirts that had it printed on the front. Why is this such a mantra of organizers? I recently worked with a client who had, over years of travel, had collected an amazing amount of souvenirs from different places.. To the point where there was nowhere to sit down in the house. After much discussion and work, we put most in storage, and left a few key, highly prized items in strategic, eye-pleasing places in the house… and you know what? Those items took on much more significance for this client. We honored those items more by not overwhelming the 'memory bank' of emotions from all those other souvenirs. Focus on the important things, let the other stuff go.

A Goal meeting solution: Having a Priority Buddy

Many times after we 'get organized' and get everything in one place, all tasks written down… we slip, and those lists get away from us again, until they're too daunting to even look at. We only have ourselves to answer to, and we let ourselves get away with too much… even with the greatest organizational tool.

Solution? Get a priority buddy. Find a friend or business associate (the kind you can share intimate plans and goals with.. Or maybe share a bet with?) and plan to connect-- meet for coffee, breakfast, or just talk on the phone or email-- once a week or once a month and swap priority lists. This forces a number of things: you've got to look at what you can do, want to do, and how you'll do them, and holds you accountable to that other person. I would recommend a bet… as we are often motivated to 'not lose' more than we are to relax our own goals. The bet should be framed so that if you don't accomplish your priorities, you pay. Make it something motivating, but not outlandish… And don't let your friend slide!

Extra tip: swap backup CDs of all your data... in the case of a disaster, you'll have a back up saved with them.

Review: A Habit list:

Collect all information you can when you receive it... just heard about someone's birthday? put it in your calendar... someone give you their cell phone number? get that in the address book.

Plan for reasonable travel time. Most of the reason we're late, rushed, and stressed is we try and make up time between places. Look at things reasonably, don't figure you can speed to give yourself 5 more minutes in bed... the speeding doesn't work, it's dangerous, and makes you stressed.. plan travel time wisely, and once you're on the road, don't rush to catch 30 more seconds..

If it takes less than 2 minutes to do, do it Now! (the golden rule of organizing)

Look at your IA before you leave... anywhere. You probably forgot something that's written in there.

15 minutes a day and 1 hour a week for planning your future and looking at your past performance will save you hours and hours over time.. Do a daily and weekly review.

Take deep breaths, have fun, smile... Keep in touch, Work hard, live strong.

Tys

April 2003 Greetings philosophers!

Here's another newsletter to clients and philosophers of efficiency and effectiveness, designed to build your mountain of ideas, inspire you to keep things organized, and to be read in under 3 minutes, so it won't sit in your inbox. Read it, take it in, then file it, forward it, or delete it.

**Please forward it whenever you can, as I'm always looking for referrals and better ways to get the word out about professional organizing!

Techno shortcut:

Email lists

If you are sending out emails to the same group of people more often than 3 times, it makes sense to take a moment and create an email distribution list. (As my clients know I like) Outlook has this simple feature that can simplify your email sending.. And of course there's Yahoo Groups that people can opt in or out of as they wish. In Outlook, use the shortcut ctrl+shift+ L, or just click on the 'new' button, and scroll down to 'distribution list' . I use this feature for email groups like: college buddies I want to keep up with, people I'm planning a European trip with, my friends and relatives I don't see often and so I send a monthly newsletter to, Different organizations I run or am a part of..

Something to ponder:

Notice when you have ideas

I used to have a theory that porcelain actually had the power to suck thoughts from your head. When you were in the bathroom, you'd have these great ideas to save the world, but the minute you left, you'd forget them. For a while I kept those kiddie soap crayons in my shower so I could write ideas right on the walls. When you have a great idea, notice where you are… is it totally random, or do you tend to have those ideas in similar situations? As you start to be aware of this, use this knowledge to 'kick start' your thinking if you hit a block, or can't get started on something. Just remember to take an 'idea capturing tool' (PDA, notebook, etc.) when you go to your 'idea space'.

Living with elegance and purpose:

The religion of coffee

I've come to the conclusion that one of the last vestiges of 'natural' or 'earthly' spiritualism we have left in our culture is coffee. There once was a time when people were closely tied to the earth.. Its seasons, its products, its power. Humans gave thanks, and kept in touch to the earth in ceremonies and in harvests. As we've become more powerful, we've lost that sensitivity. The one place I see a vast majority of our culture still tied in that same way is the coffee ritual. We all take a moment in our day, find these carefully harvested and roasted beans, add water, and then make it our own.. With sugar, etc., then we hold it carefully in our hands, and already start to feel different as we bow our heads and feel the warmth and power of this natural thing. It's social, yet individual. Remember this as you order your next coffee. Take a moment and connect with the earth.

Uncluttering ideology:

Like Wardrobe, Like Kitchen

We all know (don’t we?) the standard of the closet clutter: if you haven't worn it in a year, you shouldn't have it in your closet. Well, take a moment and turn that stern eye on your kitchen. How many times have you used that popcorn popper in the last year? What about those other two woks? The waffle iron? Either you'll come away with a less cluttered kitchen, or you'll remember how much you want to make crepes on that fancy pan.

Final philosophy:

Recently I've watched an across the street neighbor clear out their house. They've probably lived here on my street for 30 or 40 years. There was an older man who died about a year ago, and now I believe his wife has finally decided to move to another location, probably a smaller home. I watched (first last summer, soon after the man died) as either friends of the family, sons, and/or hired help filled up five (5!) dumpsters -- the 20 foot long, 6 ft high kind-- to the brim with stuff from the house. As this happened, and in fact, is still going on.. I could see down into the dumpster from my home.. Nothing that was thrown away was of any real value.. Remember, I can spot something worth saving, and believe in getting things to Good Will.. But really, none of the tons (!) of stuff that went into that dumpster was worth anything. Imagine that house, filled that full, all those years.. It's a huge example of how stuff is so unimportant.. Even stuff we feel is important now… when you die, your family is just going to come in and clear it all out.. Think of this as you work to unclutter your life.

Work well, keep in touch, be effective,

Tys

Here's another newsletter of philosophy and ideas from Idea Mountain, which is designed to bring motivation, ideas and solutions to your hectic days. It's written to only be a 2 minute read, so you can take it in, then file it away, delete it, or better yet, forward it to others and move on with your day.

Philosophy:

Why are we striving to be more efficient all the time? Do we just want to do more work? Do we just like to be moving all the time? No... we want to be in control, and ready for anything. As I work with people about how they should approach their work and their organizational systems, I'm beginning to come up with a platform... We want to strive for the connection point of three influential cultures. We are trying to bring together the meditative Zen readiness of the Asian cultures.. the deep appreciation for culture and 'slowness' of the Mediterranean cultures.. and the technology and 'can do' culture of the United States. Put another way, we are looking to have the calm, 'awareness' of a martial or meditative artist who can "be".. we are looking to have an appreciation of family, of life, of 'living in the present' common to cultures of the Mediterranean.. and we want to find great solutions and technology to help us accomplish those things. See if you can look to these models for living and take a bit from each to 'live like the philosopher'..

Suggestion

Simplify your accessories-- have one. Have one bag, and keep all your typical accessories in it. Car keys, phone headset, camera, sunglasses.. and keep that bag in the same spot all the time.. ideally near your work station(s) [where you sit- desk at home, desk at work] As you make this a habit, you won't need to look in different places every time you need something. And you won't have to think to remember things. If fashion dictates to you that you need to switch up bags or briefcases regularly, do it all at once, the night before. Don't try to juggle a couple at the same time. If you need more than one (gym bag and office bag) try to carry the smaller one in the bigger one.

More "have one" philosophy: have one email address. Have one phone number. Have one calendar. Have one place to put the mail. Have one place to keep 'future reading material'...

PDA reminder Hint

Don't use the calendar as a reminder, use the task list. There are things out there we need reminding about, usually on a monthly basis, sometimes on a weekly basis. 'Pay rent', 'wash the car', 'call mom'.. whatever it happens to be, people tend to put them into their calendars - "Monday, 3pm, call mom" or "30th of every month" or "second Tuesday" and then use the repeat feature in the PDA. The problem is that that event comes and goes.. and disappears whether you do it or not. Yes, there's the little alarm that goes off, and the notice that pops up.. but if you're away for a day, those can pile up.. and they get ignored when you get back.

PDA organization

I recently taught an 'Intro to Palm' quick seminar, in preparation for my big talk at the national convention of Professional Organizers, and one thing that came out of that was that I should share my own list of categories for my memo/notes. These will be different for every person, but take a quick look to get an idea of the ways in which you should try and group your information... remember: don't go overboard creating too many specific categories.

Business Notes

this is current business reference material.. everything from ideas for a new 'elevator speech' to chapter for my book I'm thinking about.

Notes

this is the goofy category.. wine to try, books to read, Simpson quotes I like.."but Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! and we could buy things we want, like love"

NOPNA notes

As I mentioned, being on the board of a neighborhood association creates a lot of little facts and articles that you want to keep. I tend to write newsletter articles at the coffee shop, and this is where they end up, as well as agendas, minutes, plans, etc.

Old Business

Stuff that is definitely business related, but no longer needed 'at my fingertips'... actually things like presentation notes from two careers ago, margins in sales, etc.

Old Notes

This is another sort of 'backwater' spot on my PDA.. but, as I said, it's not making the thing heavier in my pocket, so why not? When I take a quick note (e.g. a clients office measurements for shelving and computers) after I've used that info, I drop it in here.. I never know if I might want to reference that again, but I certainly don't want to search through it when looking for my wine list!

Personal Goals

This is the touchy feely Franklin-Covey stuff. values, things to do in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, etc. It used to be where I kept 'what I'm looking for in a partner'.. when I was single

Political Notes

Again, being involved in community politics in many different ways, I end up taking notes, but usually no one organization takes up that much space to warrant its own category, so I created this one to house them all.

Reference

I love this category. I have my weights and measures notes here (which is bigger, a quart or a liter?) the Declaration of Independence, open swim times at my neighborhood pool, a list of what I pack when I travel... tons of stuff.. all the stuff that if I didn't have it written down, I'd go to the internet to find out.

Security Notes

This is the category where I keep all the notes that are password protected. Lists of important numbers, passwords --usually written in a code that I can understand but others couldn't, even if they were able to see the note! I used to keep notes on women I dated in this category.

Texts

song lyrics, a play I was in, notes from books, old emails that were so good I wanted to carry around, etc.

Travel Notes

As I mentioned when going over the calendar... travel plans come in via email. I cut and paste flight times and info into the calendar item.. both to and from.. but I also copy the whole thing into a note and put it in this category. That way I can beam or email it to someone else very easily.. and if I can't find, or somehow delete or miss the calendar item, it's still 'backed up' here.

Offer:

Finally, I always want to encourage you to spread the word about my services, and about the ways people should get organized. Feel free to ask any questions that might make sense to have in this newsletter, and of course let others know there's a professional organizer who can help them gain control, save time, and do things more efficiently. Send me an email address (yours if you like) or a friend who could use the help, and I'll send out my quick and short 'Golden Rules of Getting Organized and How to Get Started'.

take care, work smart, and keep in touch,

Tys

Greetings Philosophers of Time and clarity!

Here again is the monthly newsletter with ideas and thoughts about getting, and staying organized from idea mountain. Designed to be read in 2 minutes or less, then filed or deleted so it doesn't sit around in your inbox. Take a moment now and see if there's anything in here that might give you a new clarity on effectiveness.

Tricks:

1. Time Analysis:

Many of us don't realize where we lose time... I hear a lot of people say they are as organized as they can be but just wish they could have a few more hours in the day to get things done. Well, the only place you're going to find that time is within your own schedule... so have you really looked?

Take a week and use your organizational tool (ie. PDA, planner, notebook) and examine what you do all day. A good way to start is to take a look every hour at what you did in the last 60 minutes. It should only take 30 seconds to jot down the 3 to 5 things you did: 'responded to email', 'talked to coworker', 'stared into space' ... include lunch, breaks, sleep, everything. Find out where it is that you are really spending those 168 hours a week.

Once you have a real picture, ask yourself if that is how you *should* be spending the time. If it's not, see if you can figure ways to improve.

2. Better Email

I've written before about writing emails that take things to the next step... don't waste an opportunity by asking the recipient to get back to you.. see if you can 'close the deal' in the one email.. "unless I hear that the time doesn't work for you, I'll meet you at Joe's at 1pm" that sort of thing. Well, here's another, 'kinder, gentler' trick.

When CC'ing people in your email just to keep them in the loop, write out cc: bob on the TOP of the email, in the body of the text. Yes, everyone can see that in the heading.. but only AFTER they open it. The person you CC will really appreciate knowing *up front* that this is a CC email, and not something they have to respond to. One complaint I hear constantly from supervisors is that they get flooded with email that's only CC stuff, but they have to read it to find out.

3. Information is Gold

remember, in the digital age, grabbing every bit of information is ok, as long as it stays digital. Any time you work with information; phone numbers, emails, lists, links, ... grab it, and store it. It won't take up space in your digital world, and you never know when you might need it. Get good at using your software's search functions, and you will always know more than the next guy.

Mantra:

"I am... at peace"

They're finding that stress reduction exercises, meditation, and deep breathing is more and more important. We don't all have time to go to Yoga every day like we'd like... try this:

Find 5 minutes, settle in your seat with good posture, hands in your lap, and take a deep breath, saying to yourself on the in-breath: "I am..." and on the out breath: "...at peace." you can focus on the breathing, the words, your posture.. whatever.. just try and find that calming moment every day.

Paradigm shifters:

1. People ask me what is the one thing to change your life from a passive one to an active one, and I've got to say. .. give up your TV. Without a doubt, this one thing will end up saving you time, energy, and out and out give you a better lifestyle. yea yea, you hardly ever watch. I hear that all the time.. but it doesn't work. You have to get it out of your house.

2. (this is mainly for the SF folks) Give up your car for a week.

People have a strong unnatural dependence on their cars in this country, often when they don't need to. Many can't imagine life without the car.. and I'm suggesting trying it for a week. Your sense of the City changes, the sense of distance, of what it means to travel through a neighborhood... and you begin to see different solutions that you didn't notice before. Give up your car for a week and see what happens. It might end up saving you a lot more than just some gas.

Reference Pages:

While I might write up one of these things myself, I thought I'd send out some links to various sites that run down the decisions associated with choosing a PDA. The most important part is deciding what YOU need, not what features are out there.

mfseminars.com idiopathic.com pdaed.com

Further writings:

I recently wrote an article for the Bay Area's National Association of Professional Organizers newsletter. It looks at the difference between hiring a personal assistant vs. a professional organizer. If you're interested in seeing the article, respond to this email and I'll send over a copy.

Bragging Point:

A friend and client of mine was written up in Inc. Magazine back in September and it's finally online. The reason I bring it up here is that he's being written up as a consultant/coach/philosopher of effective planning! And this is the guy who hashes his thoughts out with me! You can see the article if you want at:

Inc. Magazine Sept Cover story

Until next time, stay motivated, focused, and have fun,

Tys

Here again is another installment in the productivity news, designed to be a quick two minute read full of ideas and thoughts that you can put into action right away, and then file, so you don't clutter up your inbox.

As we move into the new year, folks tend to start thinking about goals, new habits, and resolutions. While I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions (why only think about improving one day a year?) since it's in the air, I want to touch on some fundamentals.

Use a Tool, Trust the Tool, Review the Tool

Clutter can be looked at a number of ways: stuff laying around, too much of anything in too small a space, or anything not complete. Generally the anxiety from being disorganized comes from that 'incompleteness'... especially when we try and keep those open-ended things (projects, ideas, tasks, promises to ourselves or others) in our head, instead of in an organization tool.

All my clients know I believe in digital solutions, since they are so much easier to manipulate and update.. but the fundamental thing is to have a tool, an Information Assistant, an 'IA' that you put everything into... reminders, appointments, tasks, ideas, goals, values, info.. everything. If you think you can remember everything about your life, you're either totally fooling yourself, a Savant, or not living a full enough life. And if you're not living a full enough life, it's time to write down some goals in your IA to become more engaged in living. Use the tool. Take this moment of the beginning new year to put *everything* in it.

Look at the list like this:

what has to be done next? this week? what projects am I doing? What do I want to remember this month? What do I want to do this year? what do I want to be doing in 2 years? what do I want to do in 5 years? what am I doing with my life?

Once you have everything in the tool..you will start to trust it.. which is the next key step. You won't be organized, or anxiety free, if you don't know where everything is, all the time.. and if you keep a couple things in your head, or feel you have to juggle different systems, you won't be having fun... use it, and you'll trust it, and then you'll use it more.

Finally, and probably most important, review what's in your IA at least once a week. Set aside a specific time (put a reminder in your IA!) and really go through it... this will help you remember all the things you need to, and help you be 'in the minute' and aware of what you want to do, and what you have to do.

***

At a recent Professional Organizers meeting, I heard about the CHAOS theory: That's the "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome" ... don't let chaos run your life.

***

Here's a great tip for those of you who have the resources but may be looking to have more quality time: The Daily Concierge is a service here in San Francisco (and perhaps there's others around the country) that does those annoying little errands that can take up so much of your life. You still have to organize your life, but they can do the piddly things.

Check them out at: dailyconcierge.com and tell them you're a friend of Idea Mountain.

***

Organizing tasks in Outlook

As many of my clients know, I believe MS Outlook (combined with a digital "IA"-- information assistant) can be a fully integrated tool for organizing.

One of the many aspects of Outlook is the Task list... and if you don't customize it, when you put all your tasks in there, the list looks daunting, because it shows every task at once. So, here's a way to customize it so you only see today's:

Turn the future ones white:

when looking at the task list, go to View

current view

customize current view

click on automatic formatting

click on Add

name it "not due yet"

click on condition

click on advanced tab

under field, choose "all task fields" then Due Date

under condition, choose 'on or after'

under value, write in 'tomorrow'

click on Ok

then, click on Font

change the font color to 'white'

click on Ok

click ok

when looking at the task list, go to View

current view

customize current view

click on Group By

choose 'complete'

click ok

Now get today's done!

Take Care, Work Well, Set your Sights High, and keep in touch,

Tys