by Mary Andrews
It’s all about time…Organization….and the pursuit of happiness.
It’s easy to get all worked up over everything that needs to be done, in fact, it can become so overwhelming sometimes, that nothing gets done at all.
Ready... set... Categorize your needs…
........................Food: shopping, preparation…
........................House work: daily & weekly…
........................Outdoor chores: maintenance, lawn, garden…
........................'Children/animal care: feed, clothe, play, exercise…
.........................Relationship: quality time
.........................Scheduled Outside activities: church, clubs,
.........................Work: email, blogs, website, writing, marketing
Prioritize what is important and what isn’t.
When I first started my website, I had an arm long list of subjects to present. After about a week of killing myself trying to figure out how to do what I wanted, I found myself coming to loathe the thought of touching the computer.
This is not a good thing for a writer, so one day I got up and deleted three of the pages that I had not yet started working on. Lo and behold, my website looked so much better! I could actually announce that my website existed.
And you know what? I can still add those pages any time I want.
Schedule your time.
My mother raised seven kids with all that entailed, belonged to a bowling league, became a girl scout leader and a boy scout leader (at the same time), and kept an immaculate house. I marvel at that accomplishment even more than the fact she survived us.
I asked her once how she handled everything. She told me she kept to a schedule and a semblance of order prevailed.
Cut your chore time down by dividing them up per day. (Laundry on Monday, shopping on Tuesdays, yard work on Wednesdays….for example.) OR, do them all on one hell-or-high-water day, if you can.
Use ergonomics—design factors, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort. (dictionary.com)
For instance, cook two suppers at a time and tomorrow’s will need only reheating. OR set a crock pot up for tomorrow’s supper while you cook for today. Tomorrow, you plug it in.
Prepare school lunches the night before. Supper left-over’s making for a hearty lunch for anyone with a microwave at work.
Check your email during your kids’ favorite shows….
Back in my child rearing days, I would put the kids to bed and could write after 10:00pm. To optimize my available time, I would pour a Pepsi and play the same music over and over each time I sat down to write. Good ‘ol Pavlov was right. To this day, when I play that music I get creative…and crave a soft drink (same principle works for going to sleep, doing housework, exercising etc).
If you are working at home, set some rules.
As a writer, let others know that when your hat is turned to the front, you are at work. Tell friends your work hours. Establish a work area and make it inviolate (nobody uses your equipment).
And finally: NEVER FORGET TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
It is amazing how hard we can be on ourselves—how easy it is to negate our own accomplishments. When I used to run reset crews in stores, I always made it a point to gather my people together and tell them to look at the results of their day's work before quitting time.
If you are working at home, remember to be kind to yourself. Who knows, maybe as a happy employee you'll become even more productive.
...........** for more 'me sightings' check out http://www.freewebs.com/mary-andrews/ **
It’s all about time…Organization….and the pursuit of happiness.
It’s easy to get all worked up over everything that needs to be done, in fact, it can become so overwhelming sometimes, that nothing gets done at all.
Ready... set... Categorize your needs…
........................Food: shopping, preparation…
........................House work: daily & weekly…
........................Outdoor chores: maintenance, lawn, garden…
........................'Children/animal care: feed, clothe, play, exercise…
.........................Relationship: quality time
.........................Scheduled Outside activities: church, clubs,
.........................Work: email, blogs, website, writing, marketing
Prioritize what is important and what isn’t.
When I first started my website, I had an arm long list of subjects to present. After about a week of killing myself trying to figure out how to do what I wanted, I found myself coming to loathe the thought of touching the computer.
This is not a good thing for a writer, so one day I got up and deleted three of the pages that I had not yet started working on. Lo and behold, my website looked so much better! I could actually announce that my website existed.
And you know what? I can still add those pages any time I want.
Schedule your time.
My mother raised seven kids with all that entailed, belonged to a bowling league, became a girl scout leader and a boy scout leader (at the same time), and kept an immaculate house. I marvel at that accomplishment even more than the fact she survived us.
I asked her once how she handled everything. She told me she kept to a schedule and a semblance of order prevailed.
Cut your chore time down by dividing them up per day. (Laundry on Monday, shopping on Tuesdays, yard work on Wednesdays….for example.) OR, do them all on one hell-or-high-water day, if you can.
Use ergonomics—design factors, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort. (dictionary.com)
For instance, cook two suppers at a time and tomorrow’s will need only reheating. OR set a crock pot up for tomorrow’s supper while you cook for today. Tomorrow, you plug it in.
Prepare school lunches the night before. Supper left-over’s making for a hearty lunch for anyone with a microwave at work.
Check your email during your kids’ favorite shows….
Back in my child rearing days, I would put the kids to bed and could write after 10:00pm. To optimize my available time, I would pour a Pepsi and play the same music over and over each time I sat down to write. Good ‘ol Pavlov was right. To this day, when I play that music I get creative…and crave a soft drink (same principle works for going to sleep, doing housework, exercising etc).
If you are working at home, set some rules.
As a writer, let others know that when your hat is turned to the front, you are at work. Tell friends your work hours. Establish a work area and make it inviolate (nobody uses your equipment).
And finally: NEVER FORGET TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
It is amazing how hard we can be on ourselves—how easy it is to negate our own accomplishments. When I used to run reset crews in stores, I always made it a point to gather my people together and tell them to look at the results of their day's work before quitting time.
If you are working at home, remember to be kind to yourself. Who knows, maybe as a happy employee you'll become even more productive.
...........** for more 'me sightings' check out http://www.freewebs.com/mary-andrews/ **
2 comments:
Mary, you must be a very organized person. I come across organized, and perhaps I am when it comes to writing, but my home...tornado hit it and I'm sticking by that.
Loved your article but especially your 'be kind to yourself'. Yes, we do need to remember how to appreciate all that we do.
Lea
Thanks Lea.
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