Organize 365® Podcast

Once you have your tasks divided out by type, then it’s time to find new pockets of time to accomplish your to-do list!

Here are 10 ways I have been able to find more time in the last 10 years:

  1. Watch less TV.
  2. Limit my time on social media.
  3. Turn off my phone notifications.
  4. Shorten the amount of time I spend straightening up in the morning.
  5. Smoosh household tasks together.
  6. Skip household tasks all together on one day each week.
  7. Get up early or stay up late.
  8. Hire help and use that time on your focused work.
  9. Trade a day with a friend or use dates to knock out to-do's.
  10. Work faster and accept that done is better than perfect.

Listen to this week’s podcast to hear how I did – or didn’t - use each of these strategies in different phases of my life.

For all links to all the posts in the productivity series go here: 

 

 

Direct download: Org365-120.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Once you have streamlined and moved most of your household tasks to large chunks of time in your calendar, you can now start to use 5 minute snippets of time to knock off some of the repetitive routine tasks on your list. This opens up more valuable chunks of time to get done bigger - and more valuable - projects. 

 
I know it sounds kind of counterintuitive, but if you are always doing little tasks here and there, you never feel done. If you have a 4-hour time block set aside to do those tasks and can knock 30 minutes off during the week through six 5-minute chunks, you feel accomplished and organized!
 
Here are twenty tasks I do in 5-minute pockets of time to get you started thinking about what your twenty tasks will be:
  • Start a load of laundry
  • Empty the dishwasher
  • Fold a load of laundry
  • Clean off the kitchen counter
  • Do the dishes
  • Clean out a shelf in the pantry
  • Empty all the trash cans
  • Pick up toys in the family room
  • Collect all the towels and start the laundry
  • Vacuum a room
  • Delete email and voicemail from your phone
  • Change your furnace filter
  • Take items up or downstairs
  • Go through your mail and open it all
  • Write a thank you note
  • Book a doctor appointment
  • Refill soap dispensers
  • Clean out 1 drawer
  • Shred paper
  • Put 10 things away
Use those minutes you spend talking on the phone or waiting for people knocking off your repetitive tasks!

 

Direct download: Org365-119.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

All work is NOT created equal. Before you listen to the podcast this week, make a giant list of all the tasks you want and need to get done. Then listen in to discover how to re-organize your to-do list to get the most done.

There are 4 kinds of tasks that end up on my to-do list.  Here is a brief synopsis of each one:

1. Ideas - Oh boy, do I have a BUNCH of ideas! Instead of putting my ideas on my to-do list, I jot the idea on a scrap of paper and toss it into my Sunday Basket. Then every 2-3 weeks, I read through my ideas and 80% end up getting tossed in the garbage.

2. Repetitive tasks I can be easily distracted from while doing them - Laundry, dishes, bill paying, cooking, grocery shopping, yard work, etc. These never-ending repetitive tasks can easily be done while listening to a podcast or beside my husband or kids while chatting with them. I save these tasks for Sundays and evenings when the family is home.

3. Focused work - These are the big things on your to-do list that would make a difference in your home, family, or career, but they require silence and focused work to get them done. Often, these are the items that move from list to list because we don't have the time to do them. NEWS FLASH, the time is never going to magically appear. Sorry.

To change your life and get big things done takes prioritization and time. Start by finding 30 minutes a day to put toward your focused work. Just ONE goal. Then work your way up to 2-4 hours a day. This is NOT easy, but SO worth it! It will feel weird pulling that time from other areas, but once you accomplish one goal you will be hooked!

4. Thinking time - This is not a to-do on your list, but I find if I do not have any time for my mind to wander - while I am driving, walking the dog, or doing the dishes - I get cranky. I need time to think and dream about possibilities and solutions. I am an entrepreneurial creative type and we need lots of time to think. You might need some planned thinking time, too!

For all the links to all the posts in the productivity series go here: www.organize365.com/productivity 

Direct download: Org365-118.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Checklists save time and sanity! In this podcast I am going over the checklists I use for monthly tasks and remembering one time yearly to do's.

 
All the posts in this series will be linked at www.organize365.com/productivity 
See my specific checklists here: http://organize365.com/checklists/
Direct download: Org365-116-Monthly__Yearly_Checklists.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

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