Avoid time-wasters and make time for what you want

What are some time wasters in your life? Do you spend a lot of time playing on Facebook? Do you drive around town doing chores? Do you watch too much television?

A system to organize your life will help you make the most of the little time your life seems to have. By putting this system into place, you will feel more happy and free. We’ve talked about calendars and time before. Now let’s see if we can put everything together, make your life more organized and free up some time to relax, take a long, hot bath, read a good book or maybe even take a nap.

Take a few minutes to think about what you did today. You probably hoped to perform a series of tasks. Did you finish everything you intended to do? If not, you need some help. Make a schedule. You do not have to mark down every minute of the day, but a general idea of what you have to do. Think about how long it takes to do each task and make time for them all. If you don’t have time to do everything on your list, then be honest with yourself and remove/reschedule the non-essential tasks (you can always have a ‘wish list’ for the non-essentials). Figure out when you need to drive somewhere, eat your meals and walk the family dog. All of those things take time. When you are finished your calendar, you will see what you should accomplish in a week. It might vary from week to week, but one week is a good starting point.

The first thing you will notice is that you get a lot more accomplished than you thought. But, you can do more. Schedule times to do those relaxing things like reading. A few minutes to mentally refuel the tank go a long way toward your peace of mind. Make sure you eat when you should to avoid overeating when you should not. A good breakfast is not just brain food for your kids.

By scheduling time to do certain tasks, they will not snowball and turn into monster-sized jobs. For example, if you do laundry every Monday and Thursday you will never end up with a mountain of laundry. Taking small bites of work is a lot easier than waiting until the task becomes massive. 

Once your schedule is set, give it a try. See how close you are to the schedule for a week. Tweak it if necessary, for the following week. Eventually, you will come up with something that you can live with and help you manage your time more effectively.

Free Business Webinar

SPRING CLEAN YOUR OFFICE

Cindy Bernstein, professional organizer and owner of Aim 4 Order,

will provide effective methods to get and keep you organized.

When: Thursday, April ll, 2013
from 2:00 PM-3:00 PM

Click here for free registration

Biz Knows LLC

Providing Knowledge & Support for Your Business

www.tbebizknows.com

Clever organizing uses for smart phones

Millions of people use their smart phones to remind them of something. Whether it is an appointment, a birthday, bill due dates, changing your furnace filter or getting an oil change – these smart phone uses are quite common. With so many helpful apps available, there are some fantastic ways to make your phone work to assist in organizing your life.

Dropbox is an app that is gaining in popularity. It is a cloud application where any files can be stored in cyberspace. Photos, notes, word files, PDF files, anything that can be saved on the computer, can be saved into Dropbox. It is free up to 2GB and then paid subscriptions are available for additional space.

https://www.dropbox.com/mobile

Most drug stores now offer prescription apps to help with renewals and pickups. Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid have apps to remind you when you need to refill your medications. Take it one step further, and by using your calendar app, you can be reminded when to take the medications too.

There are apps for writing down thoughts or even recording them on all smart phone platforms. Sometimes an important idea comes to you when you are away from a pencil and paper. These apps allow you to make a note anywhere.

There are “to do” list apps and shopping list apps to help with your regular chores. You no longer need to write out a list and then promptly realize you left the list at home when you get to the store. Some of the shopping apps even allow you to cross things off the list as the tasks are completed.

Banking apps are extremely useful. You will never have to guess at how much money is in the account. Know your balance before you use your debit card. See if a check or charge has cleared.

Everyone loves to save money while shopping. Barcode apps let you comparison shop while you visit just one store. Scan the barcode into your phone and see how much the item is at other local stores or even online.

Another new use of smart phones is online coupons. Some stores offer coupons that are stored right on your phone. When you go to the checkout, simply go to the message or website with the coupon and show it to the cashier. The cashier can scan the coupon directly from your phone. There is no fuss. You do not have to gather and store coupons, just use your phone.

Pageonce is a financial app that helps organize bills and payments for you. Keep track of when bills are due and when you paid them last with this personal assistant in your phone. Avoid buying envelopes and stamps, you can even pay bills through this app.

If these apps are not enough, you can also track someone’s incoming flight, find your way when you are lost, check the weather, take photos and videos, check your stock prices, keep up with social media and so much more with your smart phone. Instead of just using it for fun, try downloading some apps that will help you organize your life. That phone might be smarter than you realize.