It’s back to school time! With three kids in elementary and middle school, this is a New Year of sorts for parents. Here are some tips to help you stay sane and productive: Back-to-the-Future. The first step in moving forward with back-to-school resolutions is to take a look back. What were the situations from the previous school year that could use improvement? Did your child often miss the bus? Did they have a hard time making the honor roll or even passing grades? Was everyone too busy to sit down for dinner together? Once you figure out what areas need improvement, it will help set goals for the upcoming year. Talk to your children. Whether your school-age children are in elementary school or high school, talk to them about areas they would like to see change, both personally and … [Read more...]
Best Practices for Scheduling Your Day and Setting Appointments Part III of III
21. Journal your meeting notes. Many people don’t know how to use the Journal feature in Outlook or even what it’s for! If you’ve ever accidentally clicked it, you’ll get a pop-up box that asks you if you’re SURE you want to turn on the Journal. Most people freak out and click NO. Next time, click yes. Open a new Journal entry, type up your meeting notes, put in the day/time of the meeting, indicate in the Contacts field who was at the meeting, and select a Category for the meeting name or project. When you select that Contact and click the Activities tab, you’ll be able to see the Journal entries (notes) from every meeting you’ve ever had with that person. You can also pull up your Journal entries by Category to review meeting notes as far back as you’d like. OR give your notes to … [Read more...]
Best Practices for Scheduling Your Day and Setting Appointments Part II of III
11. Keep your calendar up to date. It’s frustrating when your colleagues are trying to set up appointments, and it appears that you’re open, so they send out a meeting request to a large group. You respond, “Sorry, I have a conflict on that day/time,” to which they respond by banging their heads on the desk in frustration, asking, “Then WHY didn’t you have it on your calendar?” Truly, if an organization is going to predictably use shared calendaring to coordinate meetings, you must keep yours current. It’s fine to use a traditional paper method as well, but if you schedule something on your “other” calendar, make sure to update your electronic one at regular intervals as well. 12. Include travel time in a single appointment and put the actual meeting time in the subject. If your … [Read more...]
Best Practices for Scheduling Your Day and Setting Appointments Part I of III
Numbers 1-10 of 30 scheduling tips: 1. Determine if you really need to meet in person. How many times have you attended a meeting and asked yourself, “Why am I here?” Hopefully, you’ve started protecting your time from every person who wants a piece of it. If my clients want to meet in person, I charge a consulting fee. For telephone calls, no charge. Ninety percent of the time, a conference call will suffice. Extra travel time and expenses are involved when meeting in person, so avoid it unless dialogue and brainstorming are required. 2. Have meeting requests and responses go to your delegate, not to you. Don’t wade through all the responses; that’s why you have an assistant (if you do). Under Tools, Options, Delegates, select “Send meeting requests and responses only to my … [Read more...]
Laura Stack’s Top Thirty Best Practices for Scheduling Your Day and Setting Appointments
1. Determine if you really need to meet in person. How many times have you attended a meeting and asked yourself, “Why am I here?” Hopefully, you’ve started protecting your time from every person who wants a piece of it. If my clients want to meet in person, I charge a consulting fee. For telephone calls, no charge. Ninety percent of the time, a conference call will suffice. Extra travel time and expenses are involved when meeting in person, so avoid it unless dialogue and brainstorming are required. 2. Have meeting requests and responses go to your delegate, not to you. Don’t wade through all the responses; that’s why you have an assistant (if you do). Under Tools, Options, Delegates, select “Send meeting requests and responses only to my delegates, not to me.” Brilliant. 3. Create … [Read more...]
Closing The Loops
Today we feature guest columnist Monica Ricci. If you enjoy this article, I recommend you subscribe to her blog's feed: Monica Ricci's Your Life: Organized. Closing The Loops Several months ago, a thought whizzed through my head and it was "Life is a series of getting things out and putting them away." This is what I call "closing the loops". If you think of a loop, maybe you picture a circle or an oval. All smooooth and sexy, the curves... of a loop will never hurt you and the curvy shape is easy on your eyes. No, there's nothing about a closed loop that hurts! Now, contrast a nice smooth, wonderful closed loop with an open loop. Open loops are all those little things unfinished that you left for yourself to deal with "later". The remnants of breakfast from this morning that you never … [Read more...]
Three indecisiveness phrases, and when (not) to use them – Matthew Cornell
Today I'm pleased to feature a guest blogger and fellow productivity consultant, Matthew Cornell. He has interviewed me in the past and featured me on his blog. I've been following his good work and musings on productivity and wholeheartedly recommend you subscribe to his feed. by Matthew Cornell: Three Indecisiveness Phrases: I'd like to tell you about three phrases you and I use that actually mean the opposite, and, when used improperly, hurt productivity and weaken your mind (Gasp!) Fear not, I'll also share the only times they are OK to use. And I'll start with a biggie. "Let me think about it" This is a classic in being indecisive. Situation: Have you ever been asked for something or had an offer made to you and you answered "Let me think about it"? Typically what this … [Read more...]
Time is Money: the Sales Professional, the Clock, and the Pocketbook
Time is money. Guess which group of people utters this phrase most frequently? Commissioned salespeople. Hands down. It’s almost a rite of passage that you can’t be a salesperson unless you rinse and repeat daily. Salespeople know how to turn time into money: spend a majority of time on selling activity, namely generating leads, business development, and follow-up. Simple. What makes it so hard? All the non-selling activities that need to be done. I believe many salespeople have lost sight of the value of their time. They run for coffee, socialize with friends, check the latest blog postings, schedule personal appointments, surf the web…all which tends to increase when a sale is made…as if now they can relax a bit. As a salesperson, if you really want to get clear about if the … [Read more...]
How to Set Up an Effective Office Space in Your Home
I’ve worked full-time from my home since 1992 and can’t imagine doing it any other way. Whether you work full time out of your home, occasionally telecommute, catch up on work in the evening, or run a household, you need some sort of dedicated “office” space in your home. Offices can serve as the family computer center, a place to do paperwork, and the occasional work-at-home office. The first big question is where to locate your home office. Until the last few years, most builders didn’t catch on to the popularity of a built-in home office. If you have a computer, you probably need more than an antique writing desk in the living room. But if you only use your “office” to pay bills, write letters, and return phone calls, you can get away with a corner of the kitchen. In most homes, … [Read more...]
