Start 2011 With Goals Firmly In Place

Have you found yourself at that end of the year still wondering what you have accomplished? Without clearly written goals, it may be hard to identify what exactly happened within those 365 days. The best way to see results, whether good or bad is to have set goals to reach throughout the year.

I really didn't set any goals for myself until the last three months of the year. This forced me to set schedules and get work done in order to get the results I needed. I'm really proud of what I could finish. This has only encouraged me further to start the new year off with goals and plans firmly in place. I've already re-organized my spreadsheet, set monthly and daily goals while allowing for incidentals.

Don't shy away from goal setting and definitely don't put it off. It's a new year and a new tax season. The perfect time to align all work and family schedules.

Let's start this year off right and make 2011 better than 2010.

Saved by the Power Outlets

I’ve had a lot of running around to do lately and one of the conveniences of working from home is the benefit of taking your work with you. Usually when I work on the laptop in our own car, I am able to last until the battery dies. Being on the internet can drain the battery, and I may get about two hours out of the battery. However, just like with my cell phone, I have a hard time remembering to keep it charged.

Well, I had a test to take, and I had forgotten to take it before we left the house. I checked my email only to find out that I’d better get it done soon, or else I would fail. The last thing I wanted to do is mess things up and lose out on this opportunity. Well, I used the outlet in the Chevy Traverse and could finish my test on time. However, I don’t know what grade I received as of yet.

My kids think everything is so funny and had a good laugh at my expense. They just reminded me of the rule about waiting until the last minute to do things. See I created this whole plan on “Time Management,” but I have been “slipping” this month they tell me. However, I think it has to do with the holidays coming and getting ready for them and all. Nevertheless, I got to get it together, because they are having too much fun.

Day Four - When You're Away

Learning to prioritize when you're away is a challenge. When you go on a vacation you take time out to plan that trip. Do the same with the work you leave behind? Don't panic but prioritize. Make lists or piles and label according to importance.

It can be as easy as printing out your To-Do and breaking it up into smaller segments. Create lists and put the in order of importance, for instance,  Urgent, today, tomorrow, wait to next week and so on. Do only what has to be completed while you're away. The work will still be there when you return. Remember to avoid panicking and stressing yourself out.

You can also use Outlook to prioritize your tasks. A function in their tasks allows for you to color coordinate your schedule, and it helps with grouping your workload. You can update tasks for completion or percent of work finished. The tutorial below will help you get started with Outlook.

Stay on track with Outlook tasks

Day Three: Let's Combine Our Activities

Group all like items together. Look over the To-Do list and see what things you can combine to save time. This is essentially finding meeting your obligations by combining tasks. The combination of tasks in a particular period is considered time management. This is the beginning of reducing your workload and managing your time more wisely. What are some tasks you can combine?

You should now have a to-do list you update daily. Go over it and see where you can combine activities. Whether it's spending time with the family or writing out your blog posts for next week. For example, while on the phone look through your email or finish reading the mail. 

To-Do List	Combination of activities
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Day Two: Stop Waiting For Perfection

Are you still procrastinating? What could you have done differently? Where is room for improvement? How much time did you spend on any one task? 

The picture says it all. Not only that but it takes up so much of our time just to try and get to a place unreachable. Managing your time appropriately doesn't mean that you have to rush and end up with substandard results. Stop harping over whether it's done right, if you've checked and checked again, then most likely you're fine. Have someone else look over your work if you're still doubtful. But don't spend your day going over the same work only to realize that you've waisted valuable time.

It's easy to get caught up doing one thing because you're not sure it's right. Sometimes you have to set your current task aside and work on something else or take a break. However, "DO NOT" let it consume you. Learn to move on to something else. 

Answer these questions:

1. Are you guilty of finishing your work at the last minute or leaving it for another day?
2. Have you set up a time to schedule or plan your day?
3. From the activity yesterday can you figure out how much time you spend on various tasks throughout the day?
4. How often were you interrupted?
5. How do you deal with unexpected events?
6. Are the interruptions keeping you from completing your work?
7. Do you find yourself stressed over not meeting deadlines?
8. Are you making your To-Do list a priority?
9. When taking on other tasks do you prioritize what to do first?
10. Are you taking time for yourself?

•  Look back over what you did yesterday and prioritize your day.Plan out your day for tomorrow. Come back and share what you were able to accomplish on your list. Try to stick to it and remember to prioritize. 

Day One: Stop Procrastinating

It couldn't get any simpler than this, just stop procrastinating. However, we know this is easier said than done. Overcoming procrastination is something most of us battle with daily. Some of us do this at a minimum and still manage to complete their workload. Then there are the ones that are probably like me and procrastinate so much they feel as if they accomplished very little if anything at the end of the day.

Procrastination is defined as the act of procrastinating, putting off or delaying an action until a later time.

Some suggestions to battle procrastination:

• Use the To-Do list - Don't just write it but refer to it repeatedly. 
• For example, I have taken to updating my to-do list daily by either adding more or taking off what I've completed.
• Manage your email, set times when you'll check and answer messages. 
• I get around 300 emails a day, and if I stop and check and answer my emails all day I can spend more than three hours just catching up on messages. 
• Prioritize what you have to get to immediately and what can wait. Take advantage of your email programs. Google has a filter option where you can have emails feed into a folder. They also have a filter that marks emails important and separates them from the others.
• Don't just organize your work schedule but also your home as well. 
• Being a mom of seven and working from home can get hectic. Learning to fit in my house, work and schooling has become more than necessary. To-Do lists work for the home as well.

Day One: Workshop Activity

1. Write down everything you do today, and how long it takes. This may seem crazy, but this is where you'll first begin to see what you do all day. It'll also give you an idea of what you can do differently. 
2. Think about why you procrastinate? We all have a reason.

Come back and share what you've found out about your day. What do you think of your daily activities? What have you discovered about yourself and procrastinating?

You can also join the discussion on blogfrog workshop. Click here to join the community.

Post the banner onto your blog. You can also tweet about it using #timemgmt

Do you have good time management skills?

How often do you find yourself running out of time? Weekly, daily, hourly? For many, it seems that there's just never enough time in the day to get everything done.

Managing your time will help you to gain control. This workshop is designed to help you work more effectively. Do you find yourself working on this, that and the other and not getting anything really accomplished? With effective time management, it helps you manage what you will work on, when and where. This gives you a sense of feeling as if you have added some accomplishment to your day.

On October 4, 2010 we'll have an interactive workshop that will help you identify and manage your day more effectively. The results will point you to the specific tools you need to use to gain control of your time, and start working efficiently.

Please join the workshop. Here's the outline of what we'll cover:

Day One - Procrastination
Day Two - Why Wait for Perfection
Day Three - Let' combine our activities
Day Four - When you're away
Day Five - Keeping to your schedule
Day Six - Managing your time effectively
Day Seven - It's Okay to Say No
Day Eight - Making Use of Technology
Day Nine - Managing your Social Networking Time
Day Ten - Setting your Prime Time

We'll use Blog Frog to host the workshop. Click here to join the community.

Post the banner onto your blog. You can also tweet about it using #timemgmt

Strategies for Time Management Free Workshop - Week of 10/4/2010

This is a 10-day segment I decided to put on for next week. We are all responsible for managing our time. Whether it's with getting our children to school, our homes organized, business or school. Making arrangements for our daily activities to minimize interference and remain on a task can be essential for productivity.

I've found that there are some technologies that can assist you in managing your time more effectively. At the same time, there are many strategies that have been used for years that remain effective.

I'm guilty of just going with the flow of my day. No real plan in sight and feeling as if at the end of the day I've accomplished very little if anything at all. So I've worked to develop this program to help with time management strategies. We'll evaluate your time management skills and preparations and manage your time more effectively.

As a mother of seven this is definitely something I needed to help make my day a successful one.

Here's an outline of what we'll cover:

 Day One - Procrastination
 Day Two - Why Wait for Perfection
 Day Three - Let' combine our activities
 Day Four - When you're away
 Day Five - Keeping to your schedule
 Day Six - Managing your time effectively
 Day Seven - It's Okay to Say No
 Day Eight - Making Use of Technology
 Day Nine - Managing your Social Networking Time
 Day Ten - Setting your Prime Time

We'll use Blog Frog to host the workshop. Click here to join the community.

Post the banner onto your blog. You can also tweet about it using #timemgmt