Time Will Tell - Tools that Organize your Thoughts & Time
Do any of these sound familiar?
- You have a great idea in the shower and then forget it by the time you’re dressed.
- A task you thought might take an hour actually takes three.
- You sometimes get so caught up in one thing that you’re late for something else.
- Prioritizing your schedule to address all your To Do’s feels impossible.
Solutions exist. I like things to be simple and easy to use so these three tools have passed muster. They are Aqua Notes, Time Timer, and Planner Pads.
www.myaquanotes.com says, “If you find that some of your best ideas and insights are generated in the tranquility and solitude of the shower...then AquaNotes® is for you! These waterproof notepads help you capture and preserve your ideas before they're forgotten!” The 40 sheet, refillable pad suctions to your shower wall and even comes with matching pen.
www.timetimer.com has a line of timers, watches, and applications that helps you stay on track. Set the amount of time you want to spend on a specific task and have a bright visual of the time gradually elapsing so you know when you’re getting to the finish.
www.plannerpads.com has both paper and electronic easy-to-use systems that help you organize, prioritize, and schedule in ways that make sense.
Even the websites are user friendly. Check them out. Let me know if you start using any of them and tell me about your experience.
Now Where Did I Put My...?
Does this ever happen to you? You’re carrying a few bags of groceries from the car to the house. Later that day, you’re in a hurry to leave again and your keys are nowhere to be found.
There are only so many things you can fully attend to at a time. When you’re engaged in a conversation, or have ten things on your mind something as “trivial” as where you set something down may shoot right past your short term memory.
My uncle Leon would have his glasses pushed up on top of his head. After looking all over the house for them, he’d offer me a quarter if I could find them for him. Easiest quarters I ever made. Like Leon, everyone misplaces things from time to time-you put your keys in your pocket because you’re carrying a few bags, hang up your jacket and later wonder where your keys are, or put the remote control down to get a snack then return and cannot find the darned clicker.
Two solutions:
1. Create places where you always (okay almost always) put certain items, like keys, phone, wallet, shoes. It’s kind of like having the address for them. Once you develop the habit, chances are you’ll find your items where they belong.
2. Calm down. For when you don’t put things where they belong, even if you’re in a rush, stop. Sit down. Close your eyes and breathe. Think about what you were doing when you last had the item. Recreate your steps. Do this as calmly as possible.
How do you decide where something “belongs” anyway? Where is the first place you generally look for the item? If there isn’t some place that seems obvious, pick a place a build the habit. I have a client who has to know where her keys are even if she cannot find anything else. Whenever she moves, the first thing she does is decide where “that place” is going to be for her keys. Even when she comes into the house with arms full of groceries, her keys always seem to land in their place.
Have you ever put something important in a safe place and then forgotten just where that place is? Again, having a special safe place that you use all the time can make a huge difference. Trust me. I still haven’t found two - hundred dollar bills I put safely away last fall.
Pop Up Thoughts
You know the scenario:
You’re in the shower, just got into bed, or out walking your dog and you think of an important appointment you need to make; or something you forgot to do; or that you want to call your mother/brother/best friend. These “must do” tasks are popping in at random times most likely because, A) you didn’t write them down in an appropriate spot, or B) you did write them down, but let them get pushed aside by other tasks or thoughts.
Having daily and weekly tasks lists, and using them, makes getting thing done in a timely fashion so much easier.
Here’s one way to go about it:
• At the beginning of each week, jot down the necessary tasks for the various areas of life—your home, health, work, family, and so on.
• Consider if the item is a project that can be broken down into smaller tasks. If it can be:
• Decide if the tasks are one-time actions, like dropping off cleaning, or require greater frequency such as responding to business calls.
• Prioritize the tasks by how important each is to accomplish on a given day or week, especially if a task is one step toward completion of a project with a due date.
• Look at your calendar. (You do use one, right?)
• Find appointment free spaces each day and plug in the tasks for the day at those times.
• At the end of the day, review your calendar and update your task list for subsequent days.
Learn from your task list. What got done? What didn’t? Do same things get pushed aside regularly? If you find you are continually avoiding tasks and carrying them over, that is a different issue.
Feel free to contact me for ideas and support.
Who's in Your Head?
Does this ever happen to you?
Before leaving for an appointment this morning, I checked my email one last time (just to make sure nothing urgent came in. Then, before I knew what I was doing, I opened one that had an intriguing subject line. Wouldn’t you know it, the article had information I was interested in pursuing. I clicked the link that took me to the website that had a list of “helpful resources.” As I scanned the list noting several articles and sites I’d like to check out the “adult voice” in my head reminded me that I had an appointment to get to and that the resources would still be there in the afternoon. Sometimes my eagerness to pursue something interesting gets the best of me. Fortunately, I have more than one voice in my head.
Eric Berne developed a theory of Transactional Analysis. He said we have three ego states – parent, adult and child. The parent state is the one that creates the "should” that make us feel so guilty. Everyone has this part and it can be relentless. Then there’s the child state. When we’re functioning from this place we’re either resisting the parent state, maybe even being oppositional, or we’re just into having fun. The place you want to come from is the adult state. When you’re there your decisions are not based on what you should do or what’s fun, but on what makes sense.
How do you know what makes sense for you at any given time? One way is to have a future check with an “if…then” conversation (yes in your head). i.e. “if I do this now here’s what is likely to happen as a result.”
You can develop the habit of listening to the adult voice in your head that suggests behaviors that make sense. This is really preferable to being cowed by the tyranny of “should“ or the voice that doggedly resists being told what you must do or be. Of course, it does take time to develop and maintain a habit. Having someone to hold you accountable will help you succeed.
You can do it yourself with commitment and a tracking sheet, find an accountability partner, or better yet, work with a coach.
Who do you know that would love a half hour phone coaching session as a holiday gift? My gift to you when you book your own complimentary session before November 30th.
Check out the Artful Coaching Facebook page for tips and information
And please do “like” us there!
Wait Your Turn
Does this ever happen to you? You have a thought, but before you can act on that thought another thought bumps the first thought and gets in front of it, and you start focusing on the second thought. Then as you’re attending to that new thought, you remember something related and start thinking about what to do with that. And you realize -- wait a minute, wait a minute, what’s going on, and you pause to gather your thoughts. You notice the first thought wandering around and you start to bring it back to the front before another interruption can occur.
This happens to many of us from time to time. It happens to people who are not linear thinkers with frequency. People who are creative thinkers, divergent thinkers, those with ADHD often have so many thoughts vying for attention at the same time that it can be difficult to prioritize and focus on just one thing at a time.
Like right now, I’m writing this article, but ideas for another writing project keep intruding, as does an impulse to take my dog for a walk, and wondering if the mailman has delivered the mail yet.
One possible solution involves using a timer.
* Decide on something you want to/need to do.
* Determine how much time that task might require and how much time you’re willing to devote to it at a particular time. E.g. This afternoon at 3 p.m. for 30 minutes.
* Schedule that in your calendar (if it fits, of course).
* Gather everything you need plus a note pad, and clear things that might be distractions.
* Set the timer for 30 minutes and commit to it. Really.
* Write anything that pops into your head as a different “to do” on the pad so you’ll remember it later.
* At the end of the 30 minutes decide what’s next, continuing with what you were doing if you haven’t finished, or moving on to another task that now has a higher priority.
If you’re thinking, “Yeah, sure, that won’t work for me,” you may be right. It’s only a possible solution. Try it. Make adjustments. If it works make it a habit.
Wait, Wait, Just One More Thing
Ever get pulled into an online story and know you don’t have time to read it all? Or see an intriguing headline posted on your landing page or on some other page you’re visiting? Maybe you’re working on a project and if you can just do that “one more little thing” you can put it away for the day.
When this happens you get time blind. This happens to us non-linear or divergent thinkers all the time. When you get very focused on and involved in something, it’s as if time doesn’t feel like its passing. In fact, you may not be aware of time at all. The downside is that spending that time “right now” can make you late for something you’ve already committed to doing.
Those fifteen minutes you spend reading an article on line causes you to walk out the door to an appointment fifteen minutes later, or have to skip something important, like maybe your breakfast. Wouldn’t you like to find ways to make time boundaries work for you?
It is possible to save online articles and bring them with you so that when you’re sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office, or on your lunch break at work you could read then.
Two options that help you save web pages for later reading are “Readability” and “Pocket.” The Readability site boasts “Readability turns any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer, smartphone, or tablet.” And at GetPocket.com you’ll find another version of the same option. The exact article is right there when you have the time to read it.
Now all you have to do it remember to bring your phone when you leave!
August is a vacation month for many. Are you someone who finds it challenging to keep up with your goals and habit during and after breaks? If so, it might be time for a coaching check in. Call for a coaching session if you feel your momentum flagging. Single check in’s only $25 for a half hour telephone session through August 31st.
“Getting Organized for Non-Linear Thinkers” -- six week classes are scheduled to begin again this fall.
Tuesdays –starting 9/8 from 7 to 9 p.m. through West Contra Costa Adult Ed
Mondays –starting 9/14 from 7 to 9 p.m. through Piedmont Adult Ed.
Check the school sites for registration information, and be sure to register early.
Three Wishes
Imagine that you're being give three wishes today. Would your wishes be about money, relationships, health...world peace? Would you want to be different in some way? Paul J. Meyer said, "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass."
If you imagined your wishes you've already accomplished the first step. Now, do you believe that you can have, do, or be what you're wishing for? How much to you really, really want it?
If there was no genie and having your wishes come true depended on you taking action, are you ready to make the commitment to working towards what you wish for?
Are you really ready to have the outcomes you'd get from having your wishes fulfilled? Then let's make it happen.
My wish is that you'd consider coaching as a resource to help you define your goals, create plans of action and, with ongoing support, accomplish what's important to you. Contact me to talk about making your wishes come true.
Do you have, or think you have, attention deficit disorder? Here's what Eden Tosch says about coaching:
"I don't know anyone who doesn't struggle with attention deficit these days. How can we not with all the bells and buzzers, expectations and commitments that most of us are trying to fulfill? For me, a small business owner trying to do everything I want and need to do, modern life spins my head around.
The ever increasing stresses of life requires some new way to get grounded and supported. There are a 100,000 coaches of various sorts out there. But until I started working with Sydney I found that life was draining and disrupting my ability to be happy and cool headed. The simple activity of having a weekly call with Sydney has helped me do things that I would never have been able to do without her! She uniquely understands how to guide inspired and overwhelmed people to deal practically with their reality!"
EdenAyurveda.com
facebook.com/EdenAyurveda
/Find out how coaching can work for you. Call me at 510 223 3882. Phone and Skype sessions are available.
Planning Saves the Day
Can using a calendar change your life? You bet it can. How would you like to design your days, weeks, and months so you can focus on the people and things that are most important to you?
Chances are that you have tasks in commitments around work, home, family, friends, health, finances, community, maybe personal growth or creative expression are high priorities for you.
Here's how you design your week. Think about each of the areas. What do you want to or need to do in each of the areas this week or this month? Some things you will want to attend to daily, like job or kids, some things maybe weekly like paying bills, and other things further out like getting together with friends twice a month. It might be possible to combine areas such as taking an art class or exercise class with friends, or being on a team that plays ball weekly.
Some things will be recurring and you schedule those first. Then put in the other more flexible things thinking of them as appointments. Check your calendar every morning and evening to make any updates or other changes and you're on your way to be in charge of your time.
Busy, Busy, Busy
Do you find time management to be a challenge? Does it seem you often have “too much on your plate?” Planning your day, your week, and your month might be the answer that gives you a sense of control over your time and your life.
Perhaps a little voice in your head has said:
• “Planning takes too much time.”
• “Life is too unpredictable.”
• “I’m never sure how much time it takes to do something.”
Consider that every minute that you spend planning will save you four to ten times that amount of time in execution. So at the end of each day, look back over your calendar (you do keep one, right?) and see if anything was unfinished that needs to be moved ahead, or if there is some new task that needs to be scheduled. Update the calendar. Then, as you begin the day, review your calendar and see if any email, phone messages, texts, etc. have come in that will require a bit of calendar shifting. Do the same at the end and beginning of the week and the month.
As you work with your calendar be aware of your priorities, not just at work, but in the other parts of your life. Make sure your schedule has time booked for relationships with the people and things that are most important to you and help you live a meaningful life.
To Buy or Not to Buy...A Very Good Question
Sale! This weekend only! Prices slashed! Best prices of the season! 
How can I possibly resist offers like these? Why look at those things. They're wonderful. What great boots. I love that lamp and mine is so old. A new phone with no contract, I'd better get that, my phone has a cracked screen. Oh yeah, and gifts for the family. My nephew is into....
And so it goes. The proverbial "bright, shiny objects" have led to a whirlwind of impulse buying. The credit card now has a really scary balance and the enjoyment of new things is tempered by the anxiety over paying for them.
Are there solutions? Absolutely.
Do:
Make a list of all the people you really must have a gift for.
Look at how much money you realistically can spend.
Decide how much you can spend for each person and if there's any left for yourself.
Think about what kinds of gifts fit your budget.
Consider things you can make yourself.
Don't:
Go to stores and holiday fairs credit card in hand and ready to buy things that appeal to you.
Shop with friends who have way more money than you have and can spend freely.
And here's a tip, if you don't wait until the last minute you can start gathering things through the year and storing them so you have your own cache of gifts.
Still not sure you can manage. Find someone who will help you set limits and hold you accountable. Maybe a coach.
Ten Tips to Keep Up During the Holiday Season
The days are getting shorter as we approach winter, and you might feel like there's just not enough time in the day to get everything done; especially during the holiday season. Is it possible to keep up? Or even get ahead? Here are some tips.
1. Look at the dates of the big holidays you celebrate. What do you typically do for each of them. Think about how long the preparations have taken in past years and schedule start dates for the tasks.
2. Do you have to do everything yourself? Consider what you can delegate and let others take care of those things.
3. Are the items on your list tasks "must do" or just "it would be nice to do." Focus on the must do items.
4. How much time can you free up to do the things that are actually important? Is watching television or hanging out on Facebook really necessary?
5. Plan each day every morning. Think about what tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
6. Learn to say no. It's okay to set limits.
7. Less is more. Think about what is enough and what might be more than necessary.
8. If things feel overwhelming just pick three things you will do that day and put your energy and time into doing them.
9. Give yourself credit for anything and everything you accomplish no matter how small.
10. Get plenty of rest no matter what.
Think of being the person who designs your life.
Need help? Contact me for a complimentary half hour phone coaching session before 11/30/14.
Group Coaching for People with ADHD and Other Non-Linear Thinkers
Have you considered ADHD coaching, but thought it’s too expensive? Or too inconvenient and time-consuming?
Here’s the solution—Group Coaching
• 6-weeks – the next session begins Tuesday evenings, October 21
• Each session = 90 min. sessions
• Group limited to 8-10 people
Total Fee: $150.00
Web special – 30 minute coaching session prior to the first session
Each group session will include discussion of a specific ADHD topic and explore strategies to manage the issue.
Contact me: Sydney Metrick to sign up
510 223 3882 Sydney@ArtfulCoaching.com www.ArtfulCoaching.com
And check out my new video series on YouTube
Addressing ADHD: A Whole Person Approach
Addressing ADHD: A Whole Person Approach--video series
• Are you someone who fears the clock? Does it seem like you don’t have enough time to do what needs doing?
• Is losing and forgetting and issue for you? How many times have you lost your keys? Cellphone? Umbrella? Mind?
• Are you terrible at delegating — whether to other people or to technology?
• Is procrastination an issue for you?
• When you do begin a task, are you likely to get sidetracked?
• Are you more likely to focus on your failures and overlooking your successes?
• Have you been criticized by others for your behaviors?
You may have Attention Deficit Disorder--ADHD. Coaching is one way to get the support you need to address your challenges. But there are others. Find out what other professionals have to offer in the Addressing ADHD video series on YouTube.
www.artfulcoaching.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
Struggle with Keeping Track of Payment Due Dates? These 3 Easy Fixes will Change all of That!
Is the thought of looking at your bills and getting on top of your business payments overwhelming? Have you neglected looking at your statements? Are you so behind on bills that you don't even know where to start? Or when you do finally start you get side-tracked and completely forget to tackle your upcoming or missed payments?
Don't worry. You're not alone. Hundreds, if not thousands, of creative entrepreneurs have a hard time getting a handle on this side of their business.
The money side. The paperwork side. The so-called structured, linear, organized side.
For some it's because it's hella boring and they'd rather be doing anything else. But for others, it's because they haven't found a flow, routine or ritual that helps them complete these tasks while still honoring their artsy, non-linear qualities.
If you happen to be one of these people, possibly working with ADHD, be kind to yourself. Being an entrepreneur is the best personal development crash course you'll ever put yourself through. And if you plan on being an entrepreneur for life, plan on being in this course until the cows come home.
But, in order to remain being an entrepreneur and continue doing what you love, you have to put effort into finding a flow to pay your expenses that works for you and your habits.
If you know that you have a hard time remembering due dates, schedule 20 minutes to calendar all of them in your phone. And if you really want to master this, set the due date one week ahead of schedule in your phone.
If you'd rather pull your hair out than regularly track your expenses to make sure you haven't overdrawn your account, take 5 minutes to log in to your bank account and set up daily text alerts with your daily balance and every time an expense hits your account.
I'm a true believer in the power of automation so that we don't have to rely on sheer will to get things done.
Most of us fail when we rely on willpower. And that's ok. Because the moment we realize our shortcomings and stop beating ourselves up about it, is when we can design an environment that supports our success.
And if keeping tabs on your expenses has been a difficult area for you to master, here are three steps that will set you up for life-long success.
1. Write a list of all of the expenses to run your business on a sheet of paper. I like to use bright colored markers to make it fun.
2. Next to each item, write the due date.
3. Take out your phone and type in the expense one week before the due date. Set it up so that it alerts you monthly.
Of course, it goes without saying that you have to take the step and pay the expense when the alert pops up on your phone. Or if you know you won't do that, set it up for automatic payment. Done and done.
Wishing you financial success and happiness,
*Muah*
Miss Danetha
Your BFF- Helping You Keep the Money You Worked Your Tail Off to Get.
Learn more about managing your finances from Danetha at her site: www.MissDanetha.com
Planning Saves the Day
From taking a trip to making a cake from scratch, planning is important. The planning process is the same no matter what you apply it to.
First comes the Inspiration--"I think I'll bake a cake for an upcoming occasion."
Then Planning--"Looking in the recipe book I see I need flour, eggs, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, oil and vanilla. I'll also need a two bowls and two nine inch round pans.
The Preparation step requires obtaining all the ingredients and supplies, setting them out with the recipe and getting yourself ready to bake.
The next step is to execute or mix the ingredients, pour them into the pans and bake for a specific time.
Evaluation follows. With a cake this means inserting a toothpick to see if the cake is baked through. The final evaluation is in the eating.
Forgetting to plan or prepare can result in failure or extremely creative last minute juggling. Sometimes the "saved by the seat of your pants" approach turns out well, but more often--not so much.
Five minutes planning can save lots of time in doing and bring about a far greater likelihood for success.