My Top Tips for an organised Happy ‘New Year’!
Happy New Year! Don’t worry you’ve not just woken up from a 4-month sleep, it’s still September but for many of us working parents it certainly feels like New Year but without the hangover!
I’ve often thought of September as a time for new beginnings with the days getting shorter and cooler, there just seems like a big shift in the calendar, more so I think then when we slip from Christmas into January. The kids going back to school, or in my case starting school for the first time, means there’s a return to routine – so now it’s time to get stuff done!
Here at The PA Portal, it’s definitely a ‘Happy’ New Year. With Michelle Dowsett, joining me as an Associate I’ve been able to put those strategic plans in place and I’m delighted to say I have signed 4 new clients in as many weeks. So, stuff is definitely getting done around here!
But the stuff can only get done properly with some expert organisation. One of the things I love about a ‘New Year’ mentality is that it’s time to restock, reorganise and relook at your life, be that at home or in your business, to see where you are investing your hard-earned time and money, and whether it’s worth it. And if it’s not, then reorganise it!
I’m a born organiser and I love to look at ‘chaos’ and bring a sense of order, but I know that not everyone is. So, I’m going to share a few tips with you that hopefully will help you harness that fresh ‘New Year’ focus – these can be equally applied to your work and your personal life. I hope they will give you some order and balance back.
Top Tips for a More Organised Life
- Write stuff down – no one can remember everything, so don’t beat yourself up if you forget stuff. Make sure you keep a notebook on you, or in key locations at home or in the office. Studies have shown that writing rather than using electronic devices help us remember more, but I still find apps like Evernote handy to have on my phone. So, when an idea, thought or memory pops into your head you can act there and then. If you write it down, you are statistically more likely to remember it.
- Make a schedule and set deadlines – We all have busy lives, so we need a calendar or schedule. I always favour an electronic diary over paper, but if paper works for you and you keep it with you all the time – then you can get by. I support a lot of my clients to block out time in their diaries to get ‘task’ done. Calendars are not just for meetings, they are there to help organise your time, diarise your breaks too – we all need them. Then stick to these schedules, that’s the absolute key part. There is no point making a deadline or time slot if you’re not going to work to achieve it.
- Don’t procrastinate – Some of the most influential leaders in our world rarely procrastinate, they just get it done. If you know you are slow to make up your mind and have spent more than 5 minutes trying to decide on something, move on to the next thing. Come back to it with fresh eyes and then make a final decision. Did you know procrastination is also bad for your health according to Inc.com?
- Declutter regularly – Since we’re now so good at diarising to get stuff done, how about diarising time to have a declutter? Be it a big clean at home, a desk tidy, clearing down old electronic files or clearing out the shed, if you delegate some time to do it regularly it won’t be such a chore. Stick on some tunes too and the task will be done in half the time.
- Delegate responsibilities – If you really can’t find time in your diary to schedule everything in, then it’s probably time to say ‘No’ to more stuff or to delegate to someone else. A lot of my clients know they need to delegate but aren’t sure where to start. So, I ask them to keep a list of the tasks that they do which take more than 30 minutes in an average week. Then highlight the things they don’t like doing or don’t need to do themselves. This is the start of the delegation list and the start of a more organised and stress-free life.
If you would like some more ideas on how to start your ‘New Year’ on a high then I’d love to share them with you, so drop me an email today ann@thepaportal.co.uk