The “U” in FOCUS stands for:

Use a planning tool

Dwight Eisenhower said, ” Plans are nothing, planning is everything.”

In other words, it’s not about what you are going to do, it’s about what you have planned to do.  So set up some type of planning tool.  There are many varieties to choose from: white boards, wall calendars, paper planners, pdas and smart phones just to name a few.   Use what works for you.

Set aside time each week to plan your schedule, not just your time sensitive appointments but time allotted for your projects, your family and, most of all, time for yourself.  Make sure to leave margins in your schedule too. These are gaps of time that allow for things like travel time, meetings that run late, and last minute errands. Remember we have already discovered that you can opt out of a few things…. To be productive also think in terms of time blocking.  This means using chunks of time for similar tasks.  For example:

1. Run all your errands on the same day instead of going one or two different places each day.
2. Set up a specific amount of time to spend checking email and being on the internet.
3. Make all your phone calls in one chunk of time, instead of spreading them throughout the day.

If you need help finding a planner or learning how to do weekly planning, I’m here to help!

The “O” in FOCUS stands for:

Opt out of a few things

As you go through your week be on the look out for things that crowd your life but do not bring value.

My mentor, Barbara Hemphill, always said  that a productive environment is “an intentional setting in which  everything around you supports your goals and who you want to be”.  Sit with that for a minute. ….   Now look around your desk, your home, your emails and what do you find there that does not support your goals and who you want to be?  Here are a few examples of things I have found that don’t bring value to my life:

1. Subscribing to a blog feed that I never read
2. Getting an weekly email that had quotes that I never found useful
3. Magazines that I never read
4. The weekend newspaper
5. A networking group that met in the evening

This short list is an example of how, over a period of time, we fail to see the things that are not useful.  While we do not “see” them, they do add to the mental clutter of our minds.  Seeing the weekend paper, for example, stack up on the entry table makes me feel guilty for not taking the time to read it.  I also feel the neglected newspaper is a waste of natural resources if I am not using it; after all, trees were cutdown to make that newspaper.

In order to focus, we must opt out of a few things.  These things may be in the “background” of our day to day life and we may not pay much attention to them.  However, they are still in our peripheral. If we want better focus and more time in our day, we need to get rid of the unproductive things to make room for life.

So, I’m curous. What can you opt out of this week?  Post a comment here.

I’m tired of hearing that old cliche “There’s not enough hours in a day!”

News Flash:  There ARE enough hours in the day if you focus! I will be posting 5 tips, distinct actions, that you can implement to improve your focus. And just to be crafty, I am making “FOCUS” an acronym to help you remember.

The “F” in focus stands for

Forget multitasking

Multitasking is not an effective way to focus your energies.  It actually will slow you down.  Many people brag about multitasking (namely moms who have a million things to do).  But multitasking just gives you a false sense of productivity.  ” Those who multitask are actually less efficient than those who focus on one project at a time”, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Here’s my analogy of multitasking.  Stand at a light switch on your wall.  Now turn it on….

Turn it off

Turn it on

Turn it off

Turn it on…

Not only is that annoying but it will eventually make your finger tired too.  In this analogy, your brain is the light switch and your tasks (or areas of focus) are the light and the darkness. Your brain does not really do to things at the same time, it is literally switching back and forth between the tasks. You are losing precious time in the switching back and forth.

Have you often thought that you could be more productive if only your office were better organized? Well, you are right! Here are a few statistics:

• Americans waste 9,000,000 hours per day searching for misplaced items. American Demographics Society Magazine
• The average desk worker has 36 hours of work on his or her desk and spends 3 hours per week sorting piles trying to find the project to work on next. The Overload Syndrome by Richard
• The average United States executive wastes six weeks per year searching for missing information in messy desks and files—this translates into one hour per day. The Wall Street Journal

Join me for Organize Your Office – Virtually!
In just 6 hours, you can finally get your office organized! Get those piles of paper and stacks of mail under control. You’ll learn the steps to get your office back in working order. Get more done every day, have time to make those extra sales calls, pay your bills on time, know where everything is and how to access it. Whether you are an employee, a small business owner, or just wanting to manage your home office – use this workshop to become more efficient and productive!

Register for the Free Preview Calls on either

March 27th or March 30th!

I have started to listen to Making It All Work, by David Allen. Yes, I said listen as I downloaded the audiobook. It’s a great way to “get things done” (hehe), no really I can listen as I drive. I am already well into chapter 2 and here are the first nuggets I have harvested:

• GTD (Getting Things Done – the methodology) is not just about email and filing solutions, it has underlying principles that you can use in all areas of your life.
• GTD is not a system, but a systematic approach. Therefore you can adapt it to your “system”.
• Before beginning to organize something, you must capture and then clarify. David Allen recommends starting with what he calls a “reality inventory”.
• Change often evokes stress. Are you confident that you can deal with change?
• GTD works for everyone. As we all desire more freedom, not more work.

David Allen – Making It All Work

David Allen is well known for Getting Things Done- his best selling productivity book that has helped millions. He has now published another book called Making It All Work. It is the new success building tool kit for 2009! Click the link above to hear David Allen give an interview about this amazing new book!

Talks about:

• what’s on your mind: the bottlenecks and the holding tank
• being responsible to manage what’s going on in your head
• being addicted to stress
• the need for mental intelligence
• 5 things you need to do to get control
• 6 horizons of focus

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I deliver tidbits from Making It All Work!

Are you tired of not keeping up? Do you feel like you walk into your office and it resembles a construction zone instead of a work station? Do you feel like you never get enough done each day? Are you worried you’ll forget a meeting or appointment? Are you inundated by an avalanche of emails? If you have made these comments or you feel you just can’t seem to get ahead these days, then this is the teleseminar for you!

The focus of this call is to give you tips to help you be more effective in your work environment. Did you know that when managers were surveyed, 49% felt they are often unable to handle the volumes of information received, 38% wasted substantial time trying to locate information and 47% said that the collection of information distracted from their main job responsibilities?

• How to set up your work area to be more efficient.
• How to control your email, rather than your email controlling you!
• Discover a simple tool to help you be more effective during your work week.

The format of this teleseminar will be interview style. Barbara Davis, life and business coach, of www.uncoverbrilliance.com will have a one-on-one discussion with yours truly- Natalie Conrad. To register for the teleseminar please go to http://www.uncoverbrilliance.com/teleclasses.htm.

As a solo-prenuer there is so much to be done, so little time… yada yada yada. If you are a business owner, you certainly know what I mean. While customer follow up is paramount, so is delegation. I finally relented and hired a Virtual Assistant (VA) a few months back. Talk about relief (and I’m not talking about anti-acid here)! I have slowly been able to release certain tasks to my VA, only to find out that she does it better than I would. She loves sitting at the computer, pounding away on the keyboard while I’m networking, marketing, and meeting with my clients. She gets the work done efficiently, expediently, and excellently. So much so that I was inspired to host a teleseminar about the wonders of the Virtual Assistant. This teleseminar will be held on September 17th at 4pm PST. For more detials, visit my website at www.organizedhabits.com.

Have you heard of TimeBridge? I stumbled upon it this month and have opened an account. I love it and there is no fee! It’s at www.timebridge.com.

TimeBridge is an online calendar where clients, friends, and yes – even family can see your availability to schedule time with you. It doesn’t matter if you use Outlook or some other calendar software on your computer to capture your appointments, TimeBridge will work with it! TimeBridge shows your availability, not your business… the other person just sees shaded areas that are marked “busy”. You can send them an email and give them 1 – 5 dates/times that work for you and they then confirm through TimeBridge. They do not need to be an end user of TimeBridge to use it. You receive an email confirmation of the appointment, but that’s not all. The day before said appointment, you BOTH receive a reminder email, automatically.

What does this mean?

• For me it has eliminated that phone tag, trying to book an appointment or meet with someone, only to go back and forth trying to find a good date/time match. For a meeting, I can list the conference call number or the address where the meeting will be held. It even has a map feature, when you type in a physical address for the meeting.
• For my family, they can see when I have evening appointments and can then guestimate the time I should arrive home.
• For my clients, they can go to TimeBridge to book their next laser coaching call or see my availability to book another appointment with me. Since I must confirm any appointment made, the client is certain that I got the information.

I have added this link to my email signature so that anyone and everyone knows how to schedule with me. So go to www.TimeBridge.com and check this out – remember it’s free!

Happy scheduling!

http://www.timebridge.com/mytime/natalieconrad