Category Archives: Organization Tips

5 Reasons Why Blogs are Dying (Part 3)

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Every day this week I am going to write about the five main reasons why so many blogs are dying out.
1. Lack of Time / 2. Lack of Content / 3. Lack of Focus / 4. Lack of Response / and 5. Lack of Tangible Benefits

Lack of Focus

Most writers find it difficult to write about one main topic. Choosing a blog name and finding a niche is very difficult. That’s why choosing a focus will help you create a better following.

Narrowing down your focus (i.e. writing about basketball vs. just sports or reviewing bar and grills vs. just restaurants) is helpful because you can prove yourself an expert of your own niche. Start small and branch out eventually.

Choosing optimal keywords and categories and tags will help your blog become more search engine index friendly. This will help your blog to become more popular and inspire more targeted visitors to encourage real conversations.

This leads me to tomorrow’s important point: reader’s response whether in email form or comment form is validation and the lack of it is discouragement.

Can You See the Clutter?

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I came across a great article this morning in my inbox from Zen Habits. It talks about clutter, what it is, how to identify it and how to let go of it. I have come to look forward to those emails as I myself have been working really hard on creating a simpler, clutter-free lifestyle.

I guess my friends would consider me a minimalist. I don’t like knick knacks all over my house or all over my desk. Aside from my two computers, a phone, a printer and a notepad, the only other “decorative” thing on my desk is a picture of my sister-in-law and me on vacation. Actually, it’s not just a picture; it’s a picture on a pencil holder. See…less clutter. :)

At any rate, I really identified with this article. There are nine (9) suggested tips to help you identify whether or not something in your life, work or home is actually clutter. If it is, the article forces you (in a very gentle way) to honestly reevaluate whether or not it is necessary.

For me, going through this small checklist was more of an affirmation than anything else. That someone else out there was doing the same thing and coming up with the same or similar answers. Or perhaps, dilemmas. I have decided to make this an ongoing project and go through one room at a time throughout my office and house and start eliminating excess clutter. With winter and dare I say it…Christmas fast approaching, what better way to past the time and thus free up space, right?

I encourage all of you to read the article – Nine Quick Tips to Identify Clutter and see where you can perhaps de-clutter yourself. I promise you it’s a short read and can be read during your morning cup of coffee.

Before I go, I liked to share with you all my favorite step:

  • Is it nicely put away in an out-of-the-way place? One of my Secrets of Adulthood is: Just because things are nicely organized doesn’t mean they’re not clutter. No matter how tidily a thing is stored, if I never use it, why keep it?

Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it?

Disorganization-How Much Is It Costing You?

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Everyone at one time or another gets a little bit disorganized.  It happens to the best of us and there is nothing to be ashamed of.  But, there are several hidden costs that either we don’t think about or don’t even know about that are simply bleeding us dry financially.

For instance, all the small late fees you pay when you miss the due date on your phone, credit card or utility bill.  Those are just a few that you may notice, but what about the ways you don’t notice by being disorganized?

Take for instance your groceries.  If you generate a physical list (being organized), you most likely will have to only make trip.  But, if you go to the store with only a mental list (being disorganized) you are more likely to forget something, thus have to make an extra trip.  Gas is not cheap these days and having to make extra trips to the store will generate more costs, thereby draining your monetary funds.  What about during the dreaded tax season?  If you don’t have an organized filing system in place throughout the year for all of your receipts, you could potentially be missing out on some great tax credits for your business.  OUCH!

Do you realize that office distractions add up to an average of 2.1 hours per day for each employee?  If you have paperwork piled all over your desk, are consistently late for meetings or actually miss them all together because you can’t find the documents you need or you don’t have a calendar handy showing your appointments, this is a sure sign of disorganization.  But don’t give up hope! This is an area that can be worked on.  You don’t want to miss out on a great opportunity for advancement in your current job or on securing that new client!  Take charge of your situation and turn things around.  It can be done!

Lastly, take a look at your appearance.  Yes, you make work from home, but do you really need to look like it?  You know the scenario…ratty hair, wrinkled pajamas, slippers.  That’s fine on the days you aren’t feeling well and don’t plan on leaving the house.  However, I would suggest getting dressed anyway.  It’s nice to know that we don’t always have to look our best when working from home, but we shouldn’t necessarily take it to the extreme.  Whether you believe it or not, this is also a sign of disorganization.  You never know who will come knocking at your door (UPS guy) or what last-minute errand or appointment you will need to make.  If you are disheveled, when you meet others, just know that will be your first impression.  Is that really how you want people to perceive you?  So, get up out of your comfy pj’s, slip on a pair of jeans, a nice shirt and comb your hair.  I guarantee you’ll feel better about yourself and that confidence will exude outwardly.

For more inspiration on ways to get more organized, check out Get More Organized Now.  This site has all the tips and tricks you will ever need to help you get organized in your personal life as well as your business life.  It’s been a life saver for me.  :)

It Can’t Be That Easy, Right?

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Get organized…what a daunting statement!  Well, not necessarily.  The Psychology of Being states that ‘organization is having a system for everything.  By utilizing these systems, or routines, you manage to run a household, you manage to be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, you manage to do everything that needs to be done and you manage to find the time to do the things you enjoy. The only way you can manage to do it all these days is if you are organized. And that means having a system. It’s really the easy way out, but so few people seem to be able to grasp it.’

I agree with that definition, but what I would like to focus this post on is how to get organized.  Contrary to what some may believe, it’s not an innate behavior.  Organizational skills may come easier to some, but organization is a learned behavior and one that everyone can master! 

Getting organized doesn’t have to be a HUGE deal.  You don’t need to buy expensive systems to help get you organized, nor do you have to make it such a chore.  In fact, if done in small doses, you might not even realize you’re doing it.  But when you look around your room, kitchen, home office, etc. and can see a light at the end of the tunnel…what a relief!  Right?

Here are a few things you can do in your daily life to help you become more organized.  My husband likes the term “sensuous” (sense you was).  Meaning sense you were already doing this, how about doing that as well.

  • Before taking out the trash, take a walk-through of your refrigerator and toss anything that is too old or expired.
  • Before leaving the kitchen after washing and drying the dishes, why not take a look under the sink?  I’m sure there are several items under there (like flower vases, perhaps) that should be…move them to their proper place.
  • I know that nightly television time is your time to wind down, but why not crank out those “thank you” cards while watching that rerun of “Grey’s Anatomy”?  I mean, come on.  How long does it really take to write a short thank you…a full commercial maybe?
  • We all have to grocery shop, right?  But when was the last time we cleaned out our cars?  Why not take the opportunity to toss trash, bring in that extra work-out outfit that’s not being used or make sure your emergency kit for the trunk is up to date, right after the last bag of groceries has been brought into the house?

These small additions to your daily routine may sound silly or even pointless, but they will make a difference.  Not to mention, they don’t carve out lots of extra time out of your day.  Little efforts each day to organize yourself now, will pay off later down the road. 

Are You Following These Habits????

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A few months back I came across an article written by Sarah Stebbins for “O” magazine, called “The 10 Habits of Highly Organized People.”  Now, I’m not normally an “O” magazine reader, but my mom is and she’ll mention articles of interest to me every so often.  As a matter of fact, I’m astonished she didn’t tell me about this one!  LOL 

At any rate, the article is pretty short and simple, which I happen to like, but makes total sense.  It’s relatable and easy to follow.  So many times when you read something about the habits of successful people, they seem so….unobtainable.  These don’t.   There are ten (10) insightful habits in all, but I’m only going to share a few of them with you.  The rest you can check out for yourself. 

  • Make peace with imperfection – I know this is a hard one, but I promise you, you’ll get the hang of it.  As long as you put forth your best effort, that’s good enough!  Striving to be perfect is exhausting and boring!  Besides, a little imperfection never hurt anyone, right?
  • Schedule regular decluttering sessions – Why wait for a build-up?  Do you like feeling overwhelmed with stacks of paper everywhere?  Try scheduling 10-15 minutes of your time, say at the end of your day, going through your office, sorting through your mail or finally going through that pile of magazines on the floor that seems to continue to grow.  Even the littlest of things that you can put away in their rightful place will help you feel more at ease.
  •  Separate emotions from possessions – Ever heard of the term ‘pack rat’?  Most of us know of someone or is that certain someone who can’t seem to get rid of anything because it reminds us of something or someone else.  Sentimentality has always been my weakness, however, I have learned over the years, that most of the material items I was holding on to were just that…material.  My memories won’t fade if I let go of that old sweatshirt from my father nor will my feelings for my husband fade away if I get rid of the dried up flowers from our anniversary.  There are memories attached to these things, yes, but honestly, I don’t need them and they are just taking up space.  So, I let them go.
  • Never label anything “miscellaneous” – This one rocked my world!  Who doesn’t have a file somewhere labeled miscellaneous?  Do you know what all is in that file?  I sure didn’t.  But, the habit makes sense.  If you go through this folder, you’ll find either things you don’t need or things that should be filed elsewhere.  The article suggests making specific groups and then sorting your files that way.

I don’t know about you, but these habits are extremely easy to understand and follow. I love personal growth articles that only take a few minutes to read and motivate me for personal change.   I am looking forward to re-reading this article again and putting those thoughts out into the universe.

Having Calendar Issues? Try These Tips!

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As many of you know, I am in love with the Microsoft Outlook calendar.  It’s functions are endless and for me, putting everything I do in one central location has been a tremendous help.  I can track the time I spend on all my work projects, schedule my available time for household errands and still see where I have free time for me.  Yea!!! 

I recently came across a great article from The Crabby Office Lady, who wrote about some unique tips for the Outlook calendar that I thought were worth sharing.  Here are just a few:

  • Change the time periods in the Calendar grid – You can change the default setting for 30-minute time slots to 5-, 6-, 10-, 15-, or 60-minute time slots by right-clicking the actual calendar, click “Other Settings”, and then click the number you want from the “Time Scale” list.  I chose the 15-minute interval since that works better for me.
  • Quickly change an appointment into an all-day event – Once you are in the calendar, switch to “Day” view and drag the appointment to the day heading.  This works great for when the cable guy will be at your house anywhere between the hours of 8-5. 
  • Quickly switch to viewing by month in Calendar – Click in calendar and then press ALT+EQUAL SIGN.  Loved this tip!  Talk about quick!

There are several other Outlook calendar tips from The Crabby Lady that I did not share with you, as well as tips ranging from silly thoughts on life to office and work tips that are great.  The added humor she uses puts things into perspective nicely.

I hope these tips have come in as handy for you as they have for me.  Enjoy and happy scheduling!

Mind Mapping: Draw Your Conclusion

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Mind mapping is an activity that might be very familiar with those who understand that they are visual learners, though it could help many of us.

Think about a story you read as a child.

Do you remember the words on the page?  – or -

Do you remember the pictures that you were able to build in your mind with each of the author’s details?

Because most of us retain pictures, even if they are mental ones, I am convinced that we are all “part” visual learners. Mind mapping could be a very effective way for us to develop a more efficient process to develop our ideas. Students, entrepreneurs, and group leaders can use this tool to learn, develop business plans, and even break down group projects visually.

An Example of a Mind Map

Figure 1: How professionals, students, and you can use a mind map.


Figure 1 is a sample mind map that I put together as a visual aid to show (1.) who might use mind maps and (2.) what they might use them for. The stars represent a way that might be most obvious to start mind-mapping.

How to Start Using Mind Mapping

When you begin to work with mind maps, it is important to keep it as simple as possible, and build on the skills you develop. I used a free program called FreeMind. This is a program from SourceForge used to create, view, and save mind maps in XML and HTML. There are many programs available to draw maps like this. However, all you really need to start drawing a mind map is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a central idea.

Mind Mapping for Business

In our very complex business world, we are surrounded by graphical representations of all kinds of information. We like pie charts, interactive menus, and even things as simple as before and after photos to show off our work. How are we using visual aids to develop our business? Mind mapping could be a great tool to develop and break down plans pictorially.

For example, if you have a small project that you can divide into two parts, you could create a mind map for each part. You could visualize when certain events needed to occur, and build on specific details that you think of later or after speaking to a client.

There are two very important questions that still need to be asked before deciding if drawing a picture is even helpful.

1. Does it help us retain what we’ve learned?
2. Does it really help us develop our ideas?

Pictures Help with Retention.

This is an example of short term and long term retention; the two ways that visual aid can help us recall information. I watched a television series on HBO called “The Alzheimer’s Project” this last winter; and I remember a nurse was asking each of three elderly Alzheimer’s patients (on separate occasions) to remember three words that were unrelated. Then the nurse would ask them a couple of more questions, and finally ask each patient to repeat the three words that she had told them only a few minutes before. Only one lady remembered all three. “Do you wanna know how I remembered?” she asked the nurse. “I made a picture in my mind of a table, and then imagined someone put down a penny, and then someone put an apple on the penny.” She was right; the three words were apple, table, and penny.

As I was writing about this past memory, I did not have to watch the television show again to remember this part. In fact I even recalled the three objects without looking up the show. (Except I must confess, I remembered the items as apple, table, and quarter.) I recalled this situation that I saw once, months later because this little lady helped her audience by giving them a really great tip. In its most basic form, she shared the wisdom that a picture (mental or not) can help us recall information. She represented how it can help with short-term memorizing, and I am a real life example of how those pictures can become longer term memory retention.

Developing Ideas in Groups

Mind mapping can also be used in groups to start planning projects. In her book, “The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings Briefcase Book”, Barbara J. Streibel describes a term called “displayed thinking” which is mind mapping as a group. Its purpose is to represent analytical and creative ideas in picture form using symbols, colors, and arrows to represent related pieces of the plan. She states that it as an “exploratory tool, rather than analytical,” and “spatial rather than linear”; and continues to accurately describe it as similar to storyboarding. Storyboarding is also used by many web developers to plan visual layouts of graphics and websites.

Conclusion

There are lots of ways to learn and remember information. Mind mapping is another way to represent and develop your ideas. It will not work in every situation. However, there are many situations where drawing a picture can help us work out problems on paper. The trick is to start small and then develop this skill just as you would develop any other, with practice.

Mind mapping is more effective the more personal you make it. Use symbols that make sense to you and bold text that are the most important or plausible ideas. Next time, when your clients or teammates don’t understand your plan or explanation, try drawing them a picture!

Organization is a Tricky Thing

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Organization can be a tricky thing, not to mention a daunting task.  However, if it is done in steps, you will not only feel a weight has FINALLY been lifted off your shoulders, but you will feel more balanced when your project has finally been accomplished.

A great point to remember is, what works for one person, may not work for another.  Each person’s organizational system is or will be different; just like a person’s personality.  The trick is to come up with a system that works with you and your natural abilities or habits so as to assist in you in being at your best, whether for your clients or for your friends and families.

I came across an article in the Lifestyle section of MSN awhile back and found it to be spot on.  It offered up realistic tips on how to get and maintain being organized.  I have laid out the basic tips for you and added my own little thoughts; however, if you want to read more, I encourage you to click on the link above.

  1. Custom-design your system = This is something that you will have to put some thought into.  What works best for you?  What goals are you trying to achieve?
  2. Think kindergarten = The old adage “everything has its place” seems to come to mind here.  Make sure documents get filed in their rightful place instead of lying on top of your desk or your to-do-lists are next to your computer or typed up on sort of project management system instead of scattered throughout your office.  Centralization seems to be the key here.
  3. Organize the basics first = Start with areas that are accessed the most often, like a briefcase, which can end up becoming a “junk drawer.”  Once the most accessed areas have been tackled, move on another area…one step at a time.  As you start to see “the light at the end of the tunnel”, the more motivated you are apt to feel.
  4. Study yourself = Find out when you are at your most productive and utilize that time period to your advantage.
  5. Learn your concentration threshold = Tailor your schedule/tasks around your attention span.  If you know you have a big project coming up, cut it into smaller parts accordingly.  Make sure to intersperse those break times as well.  This will help with the wondering minds.
  6. Hire a pro or find a friend = If all else fails and you still feel overwhelmed, as for an outsider’s perspective.  Their ideas could be the difference between success and failure.

For more inspiration, you may want to visit Julie Morgenstern’s site.  She has written several books on the subject of organization and time management.  Her site also offers tips that can further assist you with your goals.

The best advice I ever received was to stay positive.  I think this advice works well for organization and time management, too.  Success and accomplishments will abound, if you just stay positive. 

Good luck and I look forward to your organizational tips!

Policies for Time Management???

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Many of you may not know this about me, but I am an avid Real Simple magazine reader. The magazine contains tons of tips to help simplify your life, whether it is for work or home life. Then I came across an article, “How do you say no to people who want too much of your time?” answered by Julie Rottenberg, who is Real Simple’s etiquette expert and it really got me thinking. Julie talks about having policies in place to help manage our time.

Hmmm….Policies for time management? The concept sounds pretty silly to me. But, the more I thought about it, the more I really liked the concept. In our daily lives we are constantly bombarded by things or people who require more time and attention than we may have to give at any given moment. Julie Rottenberg calls them “Time Suckers.” Some examples may be: 1) Running into an old friend while on your way to meet a client, 2) Constant requests to join various groups or clubs for which you either have no desire or time for or 3) Television on “for noise” while working at home. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been caught up in all three of these examples at one time or another, as well as many others. It’s called life. But that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

So, I have decided to do an experiment.  I am going to create and implement a few policies and for the next 30 days I will try my best to follow them.  Here is what I’ve come up with as starters:

  • I have a standing play date for my son every Thursday.  I am going to create a recurring appointment in my Outlook calendar for the next month for this and come rain or shine, I will keep that appointment (that is of course, if my son stays healthy).
  • My hours of operation are supposed to end by 5:00 pm PST.  However, I tend to put certain small tasks off until later in the evening, like sending out daily reports to clients.  I am going to create a daily reminder in my calendar that will alert me at 4:30 pm PST each day to start wrapping up all work related tasks and projects.  This will not only force me get those reports out on time, but will show my family that I mean business when it comes family time.
  • When I run my errands throughout the week, I inevitably run into other moms that I know.  I say “hello” to be polite, but keep going.  I know that if I stop, I’ll get caught up in a conversation that I won’t be able to get out of.  My goal here is to not only wave hello, but to acknowledge the person in a way that lets them know that I do want to get together, but not at that particular time.  Then call or email them later in the day with some dates/times I do have available for that long overdue chat.

What policies can you enact today to help get your time management under control?  Let’s do this together and see what our results are in 30 days.  Good luck!

Virtual Assistant Friends Learning from Each Other

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photo by Renjith Krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotosDotNetA few weeks ago Kena, Jen, and I all got an email from another virtual assistant, Darlene Victoria of A Virtual Perception. A Virtual Perception is the audio podcast that provides business resources (and more) to Virtual Assistants and other business professionals.

We were invited to do a podcast interview regarding our virtual assistant group blog! We were all so happy to be invited to share our purpose for writing about our work at home life!

To download the podcast and get links to the services referenced in this podcast, see A Virtual Perception’s latest blog post: Episode 57: 1 Blog + 3 VAs = Awesome Results

To hear the interview while reading this post you can play here:
[audio http://mypodcastharmony.com/avpnew/podpress_trac/web/1043/0/avpep57.mp3]

This turned out to be a fun conversation among all four of us virtual assistants who shared the common bond of building our virtual businesses while balancing a home and personal life. We each have our own story and our own struggles. The highlighted point of this podcast was that even though we have never actually met, and in traditional business we should even be in competition with one another, the truth is that when we work together we can build so much more.

Darlene also asked each of us some targeted, niche specific questions:

Kena was asked for advice about Facebook fan pages for business. She also shared some really great advice for those of us who are working with clients who have us virtual assistants run their fan page.

Amber (that’s me! ; ) schooled everyone on keywords. I also wrote up a little virtual assistant keyword cheat sheet to provide a bit of visual aid and remind you of some of the most important places to use your keywords.

Jen was asked to share a bit about organizing your virtual office. She gave some great tips that anyone can use like how to go paperless!

The Work at Home Life bloggers are virtual assistants who came together to write a group blog to help other internet companies grow their businesses as we have. If you have a team of virtual assistants that you trust and know their quality of work, you may want to consider starting a group blog of your own. It’s amazing what we can learn from each other.

A special thanks to Darlene Victoria from A Virtual Perception for asking us to be a part of one of her professional and educational podcasts!

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Helen Keller