entrepreneurs Archives

Jun 19

Happy Father’s Day

By Sherry Borsheim Announcements, Blog, Home Organizing, IABO Weekly News, Resources No Comments

Dear Simply Productive Community,

Welcome to all the new Members this week! Great to have you as part of our Simply Productive community.

Happy Father’s Day to all you amazing Dad’s out there who work so hard to provide for your family and then juggling work and family priorties. Take the day off and enjoy! You deserve it. I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would work longer hours so we could take these amazing vacations as I was growing up. Family vacations are some of my most cherished memories as a kid. Thank you Dad for being such an outstanding role model and for believing in me and my dreams!

The official first day of summer is June 21. Are you ready for a summer break? I’m sure you are. Take some time this summer to enjoy the outdoors and recharge yourself. It’s also the perfect time to get your home organizing projects crossed off your list. I want to help make it easy for you to get those home projects out of the way. All details are here for the new Home Organizing Bootcamp.

In Vancouver, we love the outdoors and when the sun shines, and we hope it will, we get out and enjoy it! Growing up, I lived in Penticton, which has two beautiful lakes on either end of town. It’s a summer destinatation hot spot with beautiful sandy beaches and hot summer days. I really miss the dry hot summer nights and the trips to the beach. So when the sun shines in Vancouver, I’ll be out enjoying it!

This week’s article, Part 1, is a case study on a busy family with too much to do and barely enough time to take a family vacation. Learn how this one simple tip transformed a family!

Enjoy the organizing journey,

Sherry Borsheim – President / Organizational Consultant
Simply Productive

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This “intro” was taken from our latest newsletter. Not getting our newsletter? Sign up by clicking on “Send My Kit” at the TOP of this page and you’ll also receive our FREE 7 Ways to Organize Your Workspace kit!

Not getting our newsletter? Sign up by clicking here clicking here and you’ll receive our FREE 7 Ways to Organize Your Workspace kit!

Jun 19

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Vacation Planning Made Easy! (Part 1)

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Free Articles, Home Organizing, Quick Organizing Tips No Comments

“Analyze your life in terms of its environment.
Are the things around you helping you toward success
or are they holding you back?”

W. Clement Stone

I remember my very first client and the day we were planning out her hectic family schedule. The kids were young and involved in a lot of after school programs, there was a birthday party to plan and a million other things to get done prior to the end of school year and before the family vacation. Her anxiety and stress levels were high and she just couldn’t see how she was going to accomplish everything prior to leaving on vacation. At this point she wasn’t even sure she’d be able to make all the vacation arrangements or get everyone packed. Taking a family vacation was just too stressful!

First Things First

Together, we began to plan out on paper everything that was on her mind. Getting it onto paper is the first step to reducing stress. Next, we prioritized projects and began making a list of things that could be delegated. There was a lot of complicated logistics and juggling of schedules that needed to happen prior to even thinking of planning the family vacation.

Batch, Priortize and Schedule Tasks

Once we had everything that was on her mind on paper, we batched and priortized her tasks. Then we began scheduling everything into her calendar. This would give her a more realistic time-line of when things needed to get done and how long tasks would take. We even customized her planner based on her lifestyle and how she wanted to use it.

The Family Packing List

After a few hours of planning, we took a short break and she mentioned that the family vacation was really stressing her out. She just didn’t see how she would be able to make all the arrangements and get ready in time. I asked her if she had a packing checklist for the family? The tears began to roll down her face. She said that she dreamed of having a packing list because she knew that it would simplify her life. But she didn’t know where to begin and the thought of creating one was just too stressful.

That was the day I realized that the simpliest of things can transform a life and reduce stress and anxiety for a person. What comes natural for me, which is organization, isn’t easy and natural for others. So I made her a promise that I would type up a family packing checklist for every member of the household and I’d help her every step of the way to make this family vacation extra special and stress-free! And that is exactly what happened – an outstanding family vacation!

Organizing is a Learnable Skill

One of the most rewarding moments for me when I’m working with my clients is when a highly creative, outgoing person who says they can never be organized, decides to make different choices. They develop new habits that support them and in turn transform their life. Then the positive impact that has on the rest of the family members becaues they teach the organizational skills to their kids. For me, that’s beauty and order at it’s best!

Stay tuned next week for Part 2 where I’ll help you simplify the packing process and another case study on vacation planning.

Mar 05

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Desk Organization: 5 Tips for an Uncluttered Desk

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Business Organizing, Home Office Organization, Organizing Paper Files No Comments

Desk Organization Tips to Clear Your Office Clutter

It’s the time of year again when we begin moving outdoors, taking in the crisp fresh air, and feeling a real sense of renewal!

And having your home and workspace organized helps immensely to welcome that wonderful freshness back into your life.

Check in with your Goals

Now is also the perfect time to assess where you’re standing with the commitments and goals you made to yourself in January.

Did you set out to be more active this year?

Be on time for meetings and stay ahead of deadlines?

Or maybe you set out to be better organized by finding great desk organization solutions?

Take a close look at your workspace and honestly answer these 3 questions:

Where are the piles accumulating?
What items don’t have a home?
Is your Inbox on your computer overflowing with 100’s or even 1000’s of emails?
Am I still in desperate need of office organization tips?

Your answers to these key questions will give you the clues for where you should start with these desk organization tips for your spring cleaning.

Why Wait to Spring Clean?

Welcome in the fresh air and get a head start this year
with our free Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist!

Download Here!

With these tips below, I recommend tackling one or two per day as to not overwhelm yourself right off the bat. It may start to feel really easy and freeing but remember to ration your energy so you can keep motivated and get your organizing done all week!

Most people only use 20 percent of what they have, 80 percent of the time. So with that in mind, let’s get moving and clear up your workspace!

Desk Organization Tips in 5 Easy Steps

Tip 1: Start with the Visible Piles First!

Period.

We can’t get to what we can’t even reach yet!

With our goal being to make a dramatic, visible result, we need to start with the visible things first.

Tip 2: Always Work in One Area at a Time

The goal here is to clear Command Central and create dramatic, visible results immediately. Starting with the top of your desk first.

What most desk organization tips won’t say is that people usually start with hidden piles in boxes or drawers, then after 2 hours they find themselves having not accomplished anything.

So to avoid this, grab 2 boxes and put every single piece of paper on your desk into box #1. Use box #2 for other desk things like pens, office supplies, books, and whatever else you have on your desk.

Now pick up the top piece of paper from box #1 and use the F.A.S.T. Principle™ – File it, Act on it, Schedule it, Toss it.

Handle each piece of paper in less than 60 seconds. Get rid of any decor items that you no longer love or that clutter up your desk.

Action Tip: Play your favourite music and set a timer for 1-2 hours.

Try to imagine when you walk into your office the next day. How will it feel to have a clear desk?

Likely like you’ve lifted 100 pounds off your shoulders!

Now let’s continue this desk organization process by tackling the piles on the floor using the F.A.S.T. Principle™.

Remember our time constraint for pieces of paper. There’s no time for lengthy evaluating here. The object of the game is to get this done as fast as possible.

Getting organized is a clarifying, cleansing way of connecting to what’s really important to you. You should enjoy the process and reward yourself along the way for all of your hard work!

Tip 3: Create Zones in Your Office

Action Tip: Beware of the hidden costs of clutter. It costs your time, money, and space to take care of the things you don’t use. Now play your favourite music, set a timer, and get down to work for a couple hours!

Think of your work area as having different activity zones. Consider how you move things across your desk, what items you use most frequently, and what relationships certain materials have with different desk activities.

Command Central zones could be:

An In Tray for incoming mail
An Out Tray for outgoing mail
To-File Tray for papers to be filed
Project file zone
Reference file zone
Resources zone

Action Tip: While advancing through these desk organization tips, group like activities or functions together, then label them and their areas for quick, easy access.

Tip 4: Conquer the Email Traffic Jam

Mismanaged incoming emails can become a significant drain on productivity. The more emails pile up, the less useful it is to the user and company.

On the other hand, an empty Inbox is a delight to look at!

It reminds us we are fully caught up.

Did you know that the real purpose of an Inbox is to serve as a temporary resting location for information and requested actions BEFORE they are read by you?

Our Inboxes are not a catch-all for everything we’ve ever received, and they’re also certainly not a replacement for our information filing systems.

Apply the F.A.S.T. Principle™ here with each email.

Tip 5: Organizing is a Process, NOT a Destination

Action Tip: Only keep what you love and currently use on a regular basis!

Congratulate yourself for taking action on these desk organization tips this week and for clearing off your desk!

You’ve made some serious changes and that is definitely something to be celebrated.

Do keep in mind though, that organizing is a continual process of re-evaluating. You still need to evaluate what your goals are, what activities you currently enjoy, and what you don’t enjoy anymore, then edit accordingly.

Continually ask yourself these questions:

Does it work?
Do I like it?
Does it work for others?

Action Tip: Be willing to adjust your systems as your professional and personal lives evolve. Don’t worry about mistakes along the way, it’s just important to keep learning!

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