The Balancing Act

"The average office worker receives more than 200 messages a day via regular mail, email, express mail, mobile phone, landline, wireless internet, bicycle messenger, singing telegram, you name it. Background in information these days is like drinking of a fire hose. "

- Dr. Martha Beck

Did you know that a Sunday edition of The New York Times contains more information than all the written documents in the world during the 15th century? It is as if life is spinning out of control? The pace of life just keeps picking up! And with that job satisfaction is in decline.

In an Associated Press noted Marc Greenbaum, a 50-year-old professor at Suffolk Law School, that "I am personally happy, but I notice more people are more miserable. There is more pressure on them to produce more problems with maintaining a boundary between work and family, while maintaining a boundary between work and outside because of things like e-mail, voice mail and BlackBerry. They can not escape. "

According to the Families and Work Institute, over 47% of surveyed U.S. workers feel overwhelmed. In addition, describe 59% of Americans their lives so very busy according to an NBC News investigation. According to Dr. Richard Swensen, author of Margin: Restoring emotional, physical, financial, and extra time to Overloaded Lives, the average American spending a year in his life searching through desk clutter looking for misplaced objects. We work harder and faster than ever. Become more organized, can help reduce stress, save time and improve efficiency.

We celebrate National Get Organized Week the first week in October. Most people think of "getting organized" as a physical action - clearing piles of paper, put things away, etc. What many overlook is the mental part of getting organized. And we always say, organizing your physical environment without first clarifying your priorities is like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic!

Here are 8 tips to help you with the mental part of getting and staying organized. We encourage you to read through the whole list and then go back and choose two or three ideas to implement.

1. Understand the difference between urgent and important. If it's important, it can be a major priority for you. If it is urgent, it is time-sensitive, but it may or may not be important. Be sure you know the difference when they decide what deserves your time. Check out the time management matrix www.orgcoach.net / timematrix.html which beautifully illustrates the difference.

2. Find time for yourself. Schedule time away from your work and your family. Take this opportunity to tune in to what you want and need. Do not think you're selfish, you have a responsibility to themselves to take care of your needs. Studies show that productivity increases dramatically when you are well rested.

3. Check for balance between these four important areas of your life:

Welfare - care your physical, mental, spiritual and social needs

Family relationships.

Work activities.

Service - volunteering to be a good neighbor, practicing random acts of kindness.

4. Living your life in the present! Quit saying, "I will do this when I get around to it." I have yet to find one person who said on their death bed, "I wish I had spent more time in the office."

5. Increase productivity by planning your week and fine tune your working day. Drown time to deal with priorities. Important tips to remember when you plan your week:

Has scheduled time in the calendar to handle unexpected but important tasks.

Plan to work with creative activities during the time of day when you're at your best.

Schedule "protected time" to work on projects that require your full attention. If interruptions are eating you alive, shut the door and pray that people come back to see you at a specified time.

Temporarily disable the audio feature on your cell phone, pager and e-mail account. Pick and choose when you respond, and when it is appropriate to let calls go into voicemail.

Be realistic about your expectations. Do not set yourself up for failure by planning too much in one day.

Leave work at a reasonable hour so you have time for the three other areas of your life - self-care, family and service to others.

6. Reduce your stress by being underwhelmed. Here are a few tips to help you to avoid being overwhelmed:

NO is a complete sentence. Do not bite off more than you can chew. When someone makes a request, buy some time before answering. Says, "Let me think about it," or "I'm in the middle of something right now. I'll call you back and let you know." It will give you time to assess the situation and decide whether it is something you really want to do.

Delegate as much as you can. Focus your time on activities that you enjoy and do best.

7. Stay out of email jail. Here are a few tips to help:

Determine the frequency of checking e-mail messages. Some people choose to see it all day, and even use such devices as the BlackBerry when you're on the road, while others check for messages a few times a day. You're the only one who can decide what works for you.

Use F.A.T. (File, Act, Toss) way to keep your inbox from piling up. If a message should be filed for future reference, place it in the relevant e-mail topic, or contact folder. Place a red flag beside the items you need to act on, but do not have time to do right now. Immediately toss (delete or send) something you do not need to keep.

Remove your name from the subscription lists which do not provide value for you.

8. Set up your workspace to keep your focus on what is most important. Here are some tips:

Arrange your workspace so you have the most commonly used items close to Great things used less often in less accessible space.

Create a filing system that allows you to find things instantly. The # 1 reason people pile instead of file is a fear of not being able to find it when they need it. Visit www.orgcoach.net / PaperTiger.html for some ideas.

Create a tickler chains filesystem to remind you of important follow-up at the right time. The # 2 reason that people pile is a fear of forgetting to do something that is out of sight and out of mind. A good scraper chain system reminds you to follow up on the relevant date, and provides an alternative to "I'll just set it here, for now" pile.

Keep only what you plan to focus today on the desktop. Remove visual distractions from your workspace, so your attention is not drawn away from what you have chosen to work today! Everything else must be away until it is time for you to focus on it.