Hi Jill !
Jill, might I venture to say that the TO DO list was getting lost in the shuffle because it was *one piece of paper* ? I usually recommend that my clients use a full pad....preferrably a spiral note pad. This way the list remains intact, is portable, & easily referenced when needed. It is also easily identified amidst the rest of the papers.
I did have a problem w/misplacing my own pad when I was w/certain clients, due to the vast array of papers they had in their collection - even my pad blended into the background :). I resolved this problem by purchasing a canvas jacket for my spiral pad...in bright royal blue ! Now, no matter who I work w/my pad sticks out like a sore thumb :)
I see you have several messages out here - so maybe I'll chat w/u again! Good luck & don't forget to cross off those TO DO's on your list as they are completed...it's personally quite satifying to see the progress one makes during the day ! :D
Julie
Hi Julie,
I am now using a steno pad for my To Do lists. It's works great! The spiral binding keeps it from getting lost in the shuffle of papers when it just lays on the desk and the hard cardboard backings allow me to stand it up beside my monitor on the shelf so I can almost always lay my hands on it whenever I want. Great idea! (Now why couldn't I have thought of that one myself!)<g>
Thanks again.
Jill Dubois
Hi there Jill !
GREAT hearing from you ! Very GLAD to hear the steno pad works so well for you...& salutations for giving it a shot so quickly !
I'm really glad to hear you are *so motivated* ! :D
BTW Jill: Don't beat yourself up on this one...believe me the most simplistic solutions are sometimes the ones often ignored by many people....& we Professional Organizers, all take great pride in coming up w/solutions that *really work* for people !
Aloha
...& Happy Organizing !
Julie Signore
The PHOENIX Organizational Consulting Service
Maui, HI.
Hi Jill, My colleague Julie Signore gave you excellent input about to-do lists. I would like to add one slight embellishment for your consideration. I have found that using a highlighter stroke through each completed item allows that item to still be read once it is done, often triggering other ideas upon later review and/or the ability to see a phone number clearly next to a notation to phone someone. It also provides a vivid graphic at the end of a day or week of what HAS been accomomplished, giving yourself a great pat on the back for what IS done. The color highlighter changes over time, depending on mood <s>. A yellow highlighter brings sunshine with all those completions, pink is a softer message, green may be a phase where I'm focused on increasing revenue, and like that!
I'm delighted to see your active participation in this forum and encourage you to keep asking questions.
Paulette Ensign Organizing Solutions, Inc. Bedford Hills, NY '110 Ideas For Organizing Your Business Life'
Paulette
I really liked your idea of highlighting things that are completed. Sometimes something so obvious like that would never occur to some of us. That is a great timesaver, and I especially liked the different colors not so much for mood, but for things that need follow-up or things that I've assigned to someone else to do.
Maureen Robinson - Legal Services Institute
Hi Maureen,
Your point is well taken about color coding completions by function. That is certainly a concept employed by many of us in both to-do lists and calendars, not to mention filing systems of all kinds (even the Rolodex). The one caution in all of this is the 'KISS' principle -- kee p it simple, sweetheart! For any color coding of systems, be sure to put a key/legend SOMEPLACE to indicate what the colors are indicating. This keeps YOU from straining your own brain to remember, and allows for multiple use of a system by other people.
Thanks for your participation in this forum. Keep asking questions and adding your own input!
Paulette Ensign Organizing Solutions, Inc. Bedford Hills, NY '110 Ideas For Organizing Your Business Life'/exit
Hi Paulette,
I love the idea of color highlighters to mark off completed tasks on my To Do list! I like being surrounded by color--it naturally lifts my spirits. I started just checking off completed items with a red pen, but how boring!!!!
Thanks for another great idea!
Jill Dubois
Hiya, Jill
Another thought about to-do lists, in general: I often find that much of my own action items can be listed i
terms of a week, with only certain time-sensitive things HAVING to be done on a certain day. Thinking in terms of a week feels more realis tic and relieves a lot of pressure, especially when I know the odds are pretty high that I'll get most of it done before the week is out... gives me a lot more flexibility!
Paulette Ensign Organizing Solutions, Inc. Bedford Hills, NY '110 Ideas For Organizing Your Business Life'
Hi Paulette,
I agree with your thoughts on a weekly list of tasks. For the most part, many of my tasks can be accomplished over the course of a week. Some things such as reservation phone calls, meetings, etc. do naturally have a definite time schedule. Those are the items that I have started using the SkedEzy program for. If I know that I have to make a call at a definite time, I program that info into SkedEzy and it beeps and flashes a memo screen in front of my face to remind me of the appointment. This probably works so well for me because I spend 90% of each work day in front of the computer.
Hi Jill,
Glad you liked my suggestion about a to-do list for a week. About your request for a way to store your CD's, you may want to check in a new catalog developed especially for organizers and their clients called Lifestyle Organizers. Call 1-800-291-8146, and tell them it was my suggestion for you to request their catalog. There were a couple of possibilities in there, and just don't know what you'd consider ugly an d what your space can STILL hold, and what dollars you are interested in spending. Good luck! Paulette Ensign Organizing Solutions, Inc. Bedford Hills, NY 110 Ideas For Organizing Your Business Life
Jill,
If I may...another little tip for your TO DO list. I'm sure you've heard it before, but try prioritizing your to do list with "A", "B", and "C"...."A" being the top priority. Then *big drum roll*, do the A's first! It's usually much easier to do the B's and C's. But A means pay-off, which means even if you only accomplish 2 things at the end of the day, at least they were the most important things. This is such a little thing that makes such a **huge** difference. It takes a bit of an effort to get into the habit, but boy does it work! You won't be left wondering why you didn't accomplish anything at the end of the day either!
Have fun :)
Janet Parsons,
In Working Order
Cincinnati, OH
Hi Janet,
I never thought about prioritizing my To Do list. I figured just getting it actually written down and locatable (is that a word?!) was making real progress. I believe your suggestion is the natural next step in my growth towards being a truly organized business person. I have a tendency to just start at the top of the list and work my way through to the bottom, but sorting each task into priorities makes more sense in the long run.
Thanks again for your input!
Jill Dubois
Jill,
Try this. Put each "to do" item on a separate sheet out of a steno pad (the space below the heading for follow up notes).
Then divide the sheets into two groups "Urgent" and "Non Urgent", and then divide these again into "Important" and "Unimportant", giving you four groups in all. O.K.so far?
Now take the "Unimportant/Non Urgent" pile and put in the waste bin, you will never get round to these, so why clutter the desk! Then get stuck into the "Urgent/Important" pile, and work at this until *finished*, then the the same with "Urgent/Unimportant", ('cos if you don't do those today it may be too late tomorrow). Now take a break (you have earned it), and then settle down to those *important* long term projects.
p.s.I keep each pile in a clip marked "Important/Urgent" etc.
p.s.s. If you find time on your hands you could rescue that pile from the waste.....
Bob.
Hi Bob,
I like the labeling system, but I need to keep the pad intact. This whole thread started because I have a problem with desktop paper clutter. With the steno pad, I can keep all my To Do lists together in one place and when feeling down about not getting anything accomplished, I can just look back over the lists of tasks that HAVE been accomplished. It should help jog my memory, too, about whether or not I really did do something or make a certain call or whatever.
I think I'll take your labeling system and colorize it--use red for urgent and important, green for not urgent but still important, etc.
Thanks for the idea!!!
Jill Dubois
Class Reunions Ltd.
pmfji, but why on earth should anyone take the time to finish all urgent and unimportant jobs before getting to work on the important but non-urgent ones? For me, at least, urgent and unimportant is a seductive time-sink that keeps me away from stuff I really want to do that's not so pressing. I think at least half the urgent/unimportant stuff--maybe all of it--should be JUNKED!
Hi,
I find myself needing to jump in at this point once the discussion hit the urgent/vital, etc. etc. level. Although the not urgent/not vital items, can, indeed be 'time sinkers', I firmly believe there is a great need for balance in our lives, and that there is a point of diminishing return of effectiveness when such balance is absent. So, I think the non-vitals and non-urgents DO have a place, eve n in the busiest schedules as a way of taking a breather while still being in motion, an opportunity to re-charge the battery for the headi er stuff after the often quasi-mindless activities that can sometimes be called non-vital, non-urgent. And, THAT comes from a person known to often be a 'Type-A' personality!!! Don't forget in the midst of living life to remember to be kind to yourself, too. There's more mileage in it that way, both in distance and quality of performance, in my opinion.
Paulette Ensign Organizing Solutions, Inc. Bedford Hills, NY
110 Ideas For Organizing Your Business Life