Today’s post comes courtesy of Insurance Agent, Joe Hailey. Joe is a client of Simply Placed and wanted to share his experience with a couple of the classes he’s taken and results received.

Those of you who have taken the GO System Seminar in particular will find the format in which Joe wrote the post meaningful. For those who haven’t, a book used in the course offers the following format for each chapter to keep it simple. “What?” is “What is the concept?”. “So What?” is “Why should I care?” and “Now What?” is “OK, now that you’ve got my attention, what do I do about it now?”

What?

I first took the GO System seminar in early 2007 followed by the “Multi-Tasking Makes You Stupid” workshop later that same year. The GO seminar is a rich potpourri of powerful yet simple productivity tips and techniques that one can implement immediately. “Multi-Tasking Makes You Stupid” challenges the widely-held notion that we must multi-task in order to be effective in this high-tech wired world and illustrates in very tangible ways how such multi-tasking may actually make us less productive. I repeated the GO seminar this past June for a refresher and found it just as beneficial the 2^nd time around.

So What?

The beauty of the concepts taught in these workshops is that by selectively implementing one or two high-leverage systems or behaviors, one can realize same-day, order of magnitude improvements in workflow, productivity, and stress reduction.  It isn’t necessary, nor is it encouraged, to try and radically change our daily routines all at once.

Now What? 

As demands on my time periodically ramp-up due to a perfect storm of high priority phone calls, email, unexpected drop-ins and high priority projects, the discipline and techniques learned through these workshops have enabled me to maintain focus and to be assured that important commitments won’t fall through the cracks.

Whether researching opportunities to improve a prospective client’s coverage or ensuring that current clients’ protection plans keep pace with life’s changes, the discipline and practices learned from Simply Placed give me confidence that my current focus is the right focus at that particular moment in time.

Joseph Hailey, Insurance Professional – AAA Insurance Agency

About the author: 

Joe Hailey is a seasoned insurance professional with AAA Insurance, the largest personal lines agency in the state of Washington. Joe provides expert advice on auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance, renter’s insurance, boat, motorcycle, and RV insurance. Joe’s primary objective, during initial and subsequent consultations, is to give his clients the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing that their families are thoroughly protected. His staff of licensed customer service representatives provide prompt, courteous service backed by 24-hour claims availability. The lessons Joe has learned from Simply Placed, and put into practice in his agency, have enabled him to earn a reputation for efficiency, effectiveness, and follow-up that’s the envy of his peers. AAA offers hard-to-beat discounts for its members and extremely competitive rates for non-members as well. Joe can be reached at (425) 456-3641 or by email at joehailey@aaawin.com.

Debbie is training to run her 2nd half marathon at the end of June.  She’ll participate in the Seattle Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon on June 26th. Way to go Debbie!!!!  The first thing Debbie did was make this a personal goal…she decided to commit to running a half marathon.  She shared her goal with important people in her life (to gain support and accountability) and now quite publicly (Do you think that will increase her chance for success? You bet it will!) After she decided to take on this task, she knew she would have to come up with a training schedule and a plan of attack to get in shape.  She then had to decide how she would ”work the plan.”  She is currently in the process of working the plan.  Debbie has a 12 week half marathon training schedule.  She has blocked off days, times and distances to run in order to get her body prepared for this task. She’s joined forces with a few others training for the same event to build community and create additional support. She’s running full force forward (pun intended) with her eye on the prize (she’s decided on a way to reward herself when she’s accomplished the goal).

Without setting the initial goal, creating a plan, blocking off time to do the work  and then working the plan, Debbie would most likely not do very well in this half marathon.  By taking the steps that she has taken, Debbie will be ready both mentally and physically and will achieve great results.

We hope you can see how these simple steps can help you whenever you set a new goal. 

1. State your goal.

2. Share your goal with others.

3.Create an action plan.

4.Schedule the tasks.

5. Work the plan.

6. Celebrate success! 

What are your favorite strategies for achieving goals and following through? We’re always looking for new ideas and inspiriation.

If you have a hard time following through on your goals, please let us know.  We would love to help you by creating a plan and keeping you accountable while you “work your plan.” Ask us about our packages … we’ll be happy to find the one that’s right for you and your goals.

On May 4, 2010 from Noon to 4:30pm the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce will be Celebrating Women in Business.  The keynote speaker, Liesbet Trappenburg will present “You are Not Your Job!  Creating Sustainable Work/Life Balance.” 

Debbie has been asked to be one of three break-out speakers for this exciting event.  Debbie will be teaching “Multitasking Makes you Stupid.”  Learn why multitasking is not an effective productivity strategy. More importantly, learn how to focus on one task at a time, working free of distraction, so you can consistently get more of the important things done in less time. You’ll be able to implement some new productive habits immediately so that you can work smarter, not harder and get results.

They are expecting 100 Sammamish businesswomen and entrepreneurs at this year’s event!  For more information or to register for this event, click here!

Please welcome our newest residential organizing teammates, Lynette Apley & Wendy Ayer.  Both Lynette and Wendy have been organizing for the past several years and we are very excited to have them as part of the Simply Placed team!

Meet Lynette Apley:

After 10 years as a media project manager at Microsoft, Lynette started professionally organizing in 2004.  She has experience with all types of residential organizing and particularly likes helping clients with kitchens, bedrooms, playrooms, and even vehicles.  She is comfortable with clients of all ages and has intermediate skills in American Sign Language.

Lynette is especially passionate about collaborating with clients to find a custom solution for them.  She enjoys creating systems and processes that work for each individual client – from organizing tools and products to space planning and room design.

Lynette is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and the Seattle Chapter of NAPO.

Meet Wendy Ayer:

Growing up as a detail oriented, organized person, Wendy has found her skills best used as a Professional Organizer.  Wendy loves that organizing not only makes life function so much easier but it also is like a treasure hunt.  She loves helping her clients find the special things that they consider treasures and making them useful again.  Wendy loves teaching you that each object has its own special place.  Organizing is like an adventure and Wendy loves the satisfaction of completing a project and admiring the finished result with her clients.  Don’t we all enjoy a good before and after moment? 

She has experience with all types of residential organizing and particularly likes helping clients with kitchens, bedrooms, playrooms, and craft rooms.  Wendy especially loves to teach kids how to clean and organize their space!

Life and work have been pretty “loud” lately. Business is thriving at Simply Placed and we’re doing some great things. Personally, I’ve had a significant event in our family, as my daughter prepared for and completed her Bat Mitzvah. That included a great deal of coordination and celebration with all the elements of planning a large event, including some guests in town.

I’ve been enjoying the quiet of time in my car when I’m commuting lately. Typically I would listen to music on the radio, perhaps the news if I needed details about traffic, the weather forcast, or just needed an update on what was going on in my community and the world. When I didn’t have the radio on, I would often listen to a book on CD. Filling my commute time in this way was both enjoyable and felt productive. Lately though, I’ve just been enjoying the quiet. No radio, no music, no news, no book.  Its been wonderful to just “be”. Rarely do we have this opportunity.

When and where are you able to enjoy the quiet? In a favorite spot in your home? On a walk or run (me, I need the music from my iPod to keep me running)? The public library? During a daily reflection or meditation practice? Yoga class?

When this post is published, I will be enjoying vacation (automation helping me pre-write and schedule this for posting). This down-time will help me recharge my batteries and return in a better position to serve clients, encourage the Simply Placed team, market our services, and be a resource to those who need me. I will enjoy the quiet on my vacation.  

Let us know how we can help you work smarter, not harder, to give you more time to enjoy some quiet in your life.

Are you working on establishing a new habit that will positively impact your organization or productivity? Does it feel like a lot of work? One strategy is to find ways to make it fun.

Make it fun - we’ve found this video example of how people will change their behavior if its fun. We see lots of possibility to apply this concept to the work we do with clients who want to be more organized and productive.

Planning on taking 15 minutes at the end of each day to clear off your desk, file, and put things back in their places? Do it while listening to your favorite tunes.

Stuggling with focusing on a high priority for a period of time? Call a friend or co-worker and let them know of your plans. Work hard and focus for the period you’ve decided is best for you and then call the friend or co-worker again to celebrate your accomplishment (and maybe find some other fun way to reward yourself for staying on task).

Limited on time but want to organize a space? Make it a game. Set a timer and work to “beat the clock” – organizing the space you’ve selected before the timer goes off. (I know, I know, this may work better for your kids, but you get the point.)

Watch the video above and then let us know what ideas you have for making organizing or productivity improvement fun. We’d love to hear from you and promise to share the responses with full credit.

How many of you have a reference filing system in place at home and/or in your office that’s working well for you?  A reference filing system creates a home for those papers you already took action, or don’t need to act on, but need to keep for your records.  Are you able to find the papers you need quickly and when you need them?  Is your system user-friendly?  Does your system encourage you to purge your files on a regular basis? 

There are several elements of a filing system that can make it effective. We have come to love and highly recommend the FreedomFiler, a great filing system for your home or home-based business filing needs.  The FreedomFiler has many of the elements we consider key to filing system success. Consider these when setting up your system:

• Have color-coded files for different categories such as (red for permant files, orange for administrative files, blue for tax files and so forth).
• Make sure your file cabinet or drawer has enough space in it.  An over-crowded drawer will rarely get used.
• Use clear plastic tabs and try to organize your files alphabetically.
• Create interior or sub folders when appropriate (ie. under the main folder “Auto Records” you may have sub folders for each car you own).
• Try filing your non-tax related statements, invoices, receipts, etc. by month instead of by vendor.  This makes filing very quick and easy and it also allows you to purge your files every few years.
• Get into the habit of filing right then and there.  The longer you wait…the larger the pile of paper gets which often leads to feeling overwhelmed and then the filing never gets done.
• Try to have your filing drawer close to where you open the mail or pay the bills.  You are more likely to file if you don’t have to go all the way to the basement storage room to do so.

If this sounds like the perfect filing system for you, we would love for you to attend our “End the Paper Pain: File, Don’t Pile” workshop coming up this Wednesday, March 17th from 6:30pm to 9:00pm in Sammamish.  During this fun hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to create a new, virtually maintenance-free filing system for your home or home-based business.  You will walk away with the system in-tact ready to use. 

Can’t make this workshop fit into your schedule this week?  We also offer one-on-one FreedomFiler Consultations where we can come into your home and set-up the system with you and begin to transfer your piles into files.  Contact us if you are interested in learning more.

Yesterday I read two interesting blog posts about the dangers of multitasking. They seem in line with what I’ve written before about the Myths of Multitasking.

One, written by my Accountability Partner, Jan Wencel, of Life Contained, references a statistic that equates the effects of multitasking while driving to that of driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .08 (the legal limit in my state).

The other, written by leadership and teamwork consultant and trainer, Mike Rogers, of SecondG.net references a British study that showed we lose the equivalent of 10 IQ points when multitasking. He shares that 10 points is more than you would lose if you were working during the day after a sleepless night, and more than double the points lost for smoking marijuana. Interesting!

So if you’re now convinced that multitasking may not be the solution you’re looking for to get it all done, try focusing instead. Do one thing and think about that one thing at the same time. Minimize or eliminate distraction. Avoid the “shiny objects”. Turn off your phone, your email notification, and anything else that buzzes, rings, rattles or calls for your attention while you’re working on a high priority task.

Let us know how that works out for you. We bet you’ll be more productive (and safer) as a result!

I don’t swear. Hardly ever. Its just not me. Yesterday morning though, the phrase in the title came hurling out of my mouth, just after my life flashed before my eyes.

I was on a early morning run, enjoying a light drizzle, some clean air, and the fact that I was almost done. I went to cross a street, as a car approached. I waved, a gesture meant to thank the driver for letting me (a pedestrian) pass, and also to ensure that he saw me (I was wearing a bright red top also, by the way). Apparently, not only was this driver distracted this morning, but he was also in a HURRY. As he approached the intersection, he sped up, and entered it without paying attention to anything around him. I threw on my brakes (stopped running suddenly) and let out a scream, just inches from his bumper as he slammed on his brakes, finally seeing me. He rolled down his window and said “uh, sorry”. I was shaking, frightened, and furious. Because of the adrenaline surging at the moment, my heart was beating so fast, my breathing was labored, and I walked around the back of his car. As he sped off to __________ (get to work on time, get more done in his day, beat his boss in to the office, fill in the blank) I yelled “slow the *&%# down” becuase that’s all I could think of at the time.

As I walked the rest of the way home, still shaken by the experience, what I wanted to say to him was, “would it have been worth taking a life to save a few minutes”? Of course not.

This is an extreme illustration of something I think about and talk to my clients about often. Just when we feel like we need to speed up in life, to work faster, to hurry up and get more done, to crank more out of the day, is just the very time we would benefit by slowing down. When we’re feeling pressured by deadlines looming and are frantically “acting”, we’re not as effective as if we stepped back for a moment and created a well thought out plan (and then acted on that plan). When our desk is cluttered and papers are everywhere and we just keep adding to the mess because “who has the time to put this stuff away, I have work to do”, is the perfect time to block out 20 minutes, organize, regroup, and then forge forward, when you can really focus on the task at hand (not to mention save time in finding what you need).

So the next time you’re running late, or facing a deadline, or just feeling like you have so much to do, take a deep breath, slow down for a moment, regain control, create a simple plan, organize, and then move forward more productively. Also, as a public service message, drive safely!

As promised in our post earlier this week, here are our favorite guidelines around delegation and outsourcing:

Delegate things others can do faster than you, better than you, more economically than you, or that cause you great stress. You’ll free up your time to do the things that only you can do.

There are certain things that only I can do for myself; like go running.  No one else can go running for me (or if they did, I certainly wouldn’t realize the benefit!).  There are also tasks in my business that I love to do and that are highly profitable for the business, like group training. If I can delegate other tasks to someone else, so that I have time to run, or so that I can teach a productivity workshop for a company, then I make the best use of my time and I benefit or the business benefits.

I used to spend about 10+ hours a  month on book keeping tasks. I was slow because this wasn’t my area of expertise and frankly, I didn’t really like to do the book keeping.  I decided to hire a bookkeeper. My book keeper is able to do those same tasks in 2-3 hours per month. So I’m saving 10 hours of my time per month. Additionally, I’m only paying for 2-3 hours at a fraction of the rate I bill clients for the consulting work I do. What I can make in the 10 hours I save, by working with clients, far outweighs what I pay for the 2-3 hours of service. This is a no-brainer. 

Another great time to outsource is when a task causes you stress or anxiety.  If cleaning your house is a dreaded task that causes you to be overwhelmed and stressed out, it would make sense to hire a house cleaner to come in and do this task for you.  This way you have freed up some of your time to do something you truly enjoy and you reduce your level of stress!

It also pays to outsource when you are not the expert.  Hiring a Financial Advisor, a CPA or a Lawyer are really good examples of times to outsoure.  If you are not well educated or the expert in these areas (or do not want to take the time to stay on top of these or other industries), you could end up making a very costly mistake.  It is best to outsource from the beginning.

Lastly, it is a good idea to outsource when you are trying to learn something new for the first time.  For example, if you want to learn how to get a good workout in 30 minutes, it would be a wise investment to hire a personal training for a short period of time.  You will be able to learn an exercise routine that can help you long term. You might even consider working with a Professional Organizer to help you clear clutter in your work space, minimize distraction and learn new productive habits that would allow you to get more done in less time. Another wise investment with a big ROI! (Hint Hint!)

What’s your favorite task to delegate or where do you see the biggest ROI with outsourcing?

Let us know if you have any questions about delegation or outsourcing and as always, let us know if  we can be a resource to you.