Fuelled by Coffee

My LSTT method - Later, Sooner, Tomorrow, Today. In my last blog I talked about managing our overburdened email inboxes and how to keep the demands on our time and energy down to more manageable levels. Now, I’m turning my attention to physical papers. There are tons of books on how to get things done, time management, organising and the like, but all of them require time to put them into practice. I have developed a quick and dirty way of triaging my workload and piles of paperwork which sit on and around my desk from time to time so that I get the important things done first. My LSTT method – Later . Sooner . Tomorrow . Today – lets you get your overwhelm under control and create order out of chaos. It works with physical paperwork and also for task lists if you are feeling overwhelmed. If you have a bullet list of jobs, then break them down on separate pieces of paper (laundry, baking, shopping, dog trimming, phone calls, etc) or create your own list on your laptop or other ...

I’m continuing on my theme this month of being organised. Quite frankly, it is easier thought about than initiated. It is extremely hard to remain organised. I laughingly think of myself as being fairly adept with technology and these days we’re really not supposed to have stacks of paper all over the place, as most of our correspondence, documents and other information travels to us through cyberspace and doesn’t require being printed out. Hah! I look at my desk at this very moment, and I am surrounded by papers – folders, files, envelopes, notes, notebooks, magazines, the list doesn’t end. Some I’ve brought in to my space of my own volition, but still more comes from my Post Office mailbox, from helpful others who want to show me something or leave me a book to read. I subscribe to a monthly business ‘subscription box’ – and it is absolutely the best sub-box I have ever received. It always includes a business book, so this has increased my TBR pile. I explained in my last blo...

FOUR THINGS I DO TO KEEP ORGANISED - Years ago, before I ran my own business I only had to manage my employment obligations, and when it came to my personal activities I had a close friend who had a brilliant memory. We used to do a lot of out of work activities together and she would know at the drop of a hat where we needed to be at any given time, so I got out of the habit of keeping a personal diary and relied on her to tell me what I was doing. Things changed enormously when I started my own business and I suddenly had to keep track of my own appointments and also design space for my own self-development and business growth. After some experimenting I chose a combination of an online calendar – Google Calendar – and some other aids to my  memory which help me organise my day and my week. I honestly can’t tell you how important my calendars are to my daily life and to help keep me organised and on track. I’ll take you through my routines one by one. You may find one ...