The Holidays: More Stressed than Blessed

Whether your holidays are stressed or blessed, you may have planned for them to be that way. Perhaps that bears repeating: Whether your holidays are stressed or blessed, you may have planned for them to be that way.

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Make Your Extra Hour Multiply

It may be later this year, but autumn still brings that extra hour when clocks "fall back" to non-daylight savings time. For many, it is an extra hour of sleep. But what if you could make your hour multiply for you?

You can.

Start Here

Begin by recognizing when you are most productive and energetic. It doesn't matter whether you are a morning person or a night owl, simply acknowledge when that time is. Early birds will use their extra hour in the morning; owls will use it at night.

Even more good news. You only need 15 minutes of that hour to make it multiply for you. If you are an early riser, you will get up 15 minutes earlier. If you get going when the sun goes down, you will stay up 15 minutes later.

Choose a target

The next step is to choose a task that needs doing. In this age of information, dealing with paperwork is a necessary task both at home and at the office, so it's a good place to start. And by the way, this technique works equally well at either location.

Step 2: Tools

The only tools you will need are a timer and 'homes' to put your papers in. Shirt boxes you may have on hand or can pick up from the dollar store work especially well because of their size. You can also use in/out trays, whatever is easiest and most accessible for you. Since your goal is to ADD time to your day, keep the acronym ADD in your head as you go through your papers:

Action-does the paper require action on my part,
make a payment, make a call, file etc.?
Delegate-does someone else need to take care of this?
Dispose-does it need to be shredded, recycled or trashed?

The timer is your best friend! It not only gets you started, but it gives you permission to stop. It will hold your hand and keep you focused for 15 minutes. At the end of that time, you must stop until tomorrow. The only rule about choosing a timer is that you want something that you can set for 15 minutes.

Ready?

For 15 minutes, you are going to attack that stack of papers, mail, magazines, etc. You will look briefly at each and toss it into the appropriate 'home.' Remember that you probably won't get through the entire stack in 15 minutes. That doesn't matter. What matters is that you will be able to see progress.

Stop

When the timer goes off, stop. You want to start and stop while you still have enthusiasm. That enthusiasm will motivate you to repeat this process tomorrow and the next day and the next. If you try to tough it out, you will leave defeated and frustrated and will not want to return.

Speaking of another day, schedule your next time to work on this. Write it in your planner. (If you don't have a planner, get one.) You won't do it if you don't schedule it. Writing it in your planner means you are committed to ADDing time to your day.

Use these 15 minutes for the rest of 2008. When this process becomes habit, you'll find that although the papers keep coming, you are in control.

More ideas

To do lists: I strongly encourage people NOT to write do to lists. Instead, start a Done list. For example, a done list might say November 10, worked 15 minutes; November 11, cleared off top of desk, etc. This will help you realize that you are 30 minutes further into your task than you were a couple of days ago and help you hold onto the success.

Before and after pictures: Take a beginning picture before you start. Then another when there are only a few piles left or you can see the corner of the desk. The idea again is to encourage yourself that you are making progress.

Tickler file: One of the best assets for managing daily papers, whether in the office or home, is a tickler file. It gives you a temporary place for paperwork until action is needed and just as importantly, rescues you from your visual and mental clutter. A tickler file keeps thoughts and ideas from clogging your brain. When you know all the important stuff is in the file, your brain can focus other things. A tickler file is safe place to keep pending project notes, school forms, bills and statements - essentially every paper taking residence on your desktop.

Purchase a Tickler file online now.