Blogger: Wendy Lawton
As you know by now, I’m an avid proponent of productivity systems. The weekend before last, my business/ organizational coach came to spend the weekend with me. This time it was to be a friend event, not a coaching session, but Becky cannot help herself. On Saturday afternoon she insisted we take some time to go over my new system.
Within a few minutes she hit upon a flaw that we were able to fix immediately. What a difference this one tweak made! Now everything is showing up on all my devices with appropriate due dates. Since she left I’ve been doubly productive without having had to add hours long into the night.
It reminded me of a blog I posted seven years ago. I think it bears reposting. Here it is:
A friend sent me a Susan Branch calendar. On the front is a quote I can’t stop thinking about: “I’m trying to arrange my life so I don’t even have to be present.”
Bingo! That’s what I keep aiming for. I’m looking for the auto-pilot method of work. If my systems are good enough— if I keep everything humming, if everything is filed, answered, acted upon, gathered, sorted, classified, organized and logged— won’t the magic happen whether I’m here or not?
Hmmmm. Probably not.
David Allen, the guru of productivity, says in his book, Getting Things Done, “It’s possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control.” He talks about elevated levels of effectiveness and efficiency. Did you catch all those terms: function productively, clear head, relaxed control, effectiveness and efficiency? Can you see my hand waving madly in the air? I want what he’s having!
Want the truth? Organization makes my life so much better, but the process is like herding cats. I just get the herd moving in one direction when two or three meander off. Just when I feel like my systems are humming along, I find a hole in my management of information or I find I’m memory-challenged in yet another area and need to develop a new tracking system.
I want to be sure to extract any sense of guilt from our discussion of organization. [guilt off] Developing and implementing your system of organization is an ongoing process. It takes time for a new skill to become a habit. Trial-and-error are part of the process. Have fun with it. Be creative. Look at it as challenge.
Rather than end on a positive note (that’s too easy), let’s talk about what not to do:
- Don’t make yourself crazy trying to attain perfection. Do the best you can and savor the incremental improvements. Celebrate progress.
- Don’t allow perfectionism to keep you from developing an interim solution. Maybe you can’t redesign your whole office at this time, but you can reorganize your file drawers.
- Don’t be afraid to call in help. Professional organizers might be an excellent investment for a drowning writer. It’s a bottom-line decision. If a professional could find you extra hours to do your more lucrative job, it doesn’t make sense to do it yourself. If not a professional, maybe you have a friend who is a master of organization.
- And as you get more organized and find extra hours in your day, don’t fill them all up with more work. We live in a culture that keeps trying to accomplish more with fewer people. We’re working harder and longer and saying yes to more projects than ever. Uber-productivity can become an idol in itself. Time and energy are finite. No matter how organized we become, we’ll still hit the wall when we’ve filled every nanosecond of our lives with work. We need to work smart and effectively, but unless we have time to live and dream, we’ll all shrivel. (And shriveled writers do not write good books.)
The nice thing about herding cats is that if we take the time to follow the occasional meanderer, we could just happen onto a great new discovery.
Can you share at least one tip that helped you herd the cats of your over-scheduled life or out of control work?
A Monk once told me this – You will not find God at end of your task list. He is waiting with old man down the street to whom no one any more listens.
* No worry about having to being present in your life, when you are present in life of another. All that is required is time, given unmeasured.
Not having said this well – what I am meaning to say is:
* Attend in heart and deed God’s work as first priority without holding back your time – and He will show you critical path to clear your own desk in way that leaves you refreshed.
Spot on, Andrew!
Good reminder, Andrew ~ said well. Thanks.
LOVE those!
God redeems the time I give to his work; that is, he makes a way for the important work to get done. Most of the time, it isn’t miraculous. I still have to put in the effort. But he supplies the clear head, the uninterrupted moments, the unexpected help.
* Here’s an example: I was going to grad school, one class at a time. My schedule cleared enough that one summer semester, I signed up for two classes. And that was when my husband was called to minister in a town 3 hours away. We moved, but I camped out at the old place, continuing my day job, all the household chores and my classes until the end of the semester. I drove up to be with my family every weekend. It all ate into my study time, but still it seemed to be God’s plan. I never felt less prepared for final exams. The professor handed out the list of seven questions. Three I knew well, four were a fog. And my prof said these glorious words, “Answer any three questions.” God redeemed the time!
‘…God redeems the time I give to his work…’ This resonated a lot. Days that I’d wonder how chores and reading would get done with prayer meetings in church, and it all just gets done…
When my children were living at home, we all had Google calendars and we shared them with each other. I color coded each so I could daily see all the weekly activities. Big help.
I also created a document that was a grocery list with printed headings that corresponded with the aisles at our usual grocery store. If someone used the last of any item or needed something particular, that list sat out on the kitchen counter at all times. Family members all added to the list and when I returned from the grocery store, I set out a new list.
(I am big on process and organization – in my former job I organized a move to Google Apps for Education – one of the first schools in the nation – and it revolutionized the organization there – everybody jumped on board EXCEPT the school board who continues to fumble around with inefficient and expensive temp fixes….you can lead a horse….)
This is a timely topic, no pun intended!
The most helpful thing for me is to let routines guide my time. The healthiest, most productive systems in my life have intentional routines. Not everything gets accomplished, but generally enough objectives that point to the bigger goal are met. I can feel at ease knowing that I am making progress in the given area.
Recently I was driving through the older part of our town. I am in love with the 100+ year old homes. Their appearances call out successful routine, maintenance, and intentional care over time. The day of this particular drive I was tired and feeling that there was way more left on my list for the day than I had hours. (Give me a day off and I tend to plan a little too much.) I saw a lady sitting on a porch swing reading a book. Immediately I thought that her work for the day was surely complete. She must have great routines. She was indeed ending the day by feeding her soul with something wonderful to read.
Thanks, Wendy, for mentioning David Allen’s book. I would love to hear about other books that authors find helpful with systems.
Also, your business/organizational coach sounds glorious!
* Preposition. Lay out tools and clothing night before, set workspace for immediate use
* Put up whiteboard, write Plan Of Day on night before.
* Set small, finite certain-succeed task first. Well-begun is half done, and springboard for daily morale.
“Well-begun is half done.” I like that, and so true. I’m a stickler for organization because it simply makes my life easier, although I’m actually not as organized as when my four kids were at home. It’s no longer necessary to alphabetize my canned goods so I can see at a glance what I’m low on. However, I still write my grocery list according to which aisles I shop first. I’m a speed shopper, in and out.
*Right now my biggest challenge is keeping my research organized. I’m old school, still using folders and a file drawer. Sigh.
Great post, Wendy. I can easily fall into the trap of thinking, “Oh. I have more time? Great! Let’s squeeze more in!” And yes, that usually ends up being a stress-inducing decision. I’m learning to set a few priorities for my day and to strive to completing those. Once that goal is met, I can do some relaxing. If I can, I move to the priorities that are lower on my list.
*I, too, have a calendar on my phone that has my entire family’s activities so I can plan around them/plan with these in mind.
*I have certain things I focus on doing on certain days. For example, on days I post a blog, I know I’ll spend more time interacting with the people who stop by to comment, and I won’t get as much writing done. I try not to stress myself out by doing too much.
*The other thing I do is to complete my tasks (especially writing-related) while my husband is at work and my kids are at school. I’m not always successful, but when my kids see that they are my priority, it makes relationships smoother at home, and they are a little more understanding on those occasions when writing commitments seep into family time.
Before I began writing, I always tried to have the house clean, laundry done, before the weekend so we could have a nice, relaxing weekend. Well, I’ve recently flipped that around to deep cleaning Saturday mornings. It takes some stress off of me through the week, and it’s hard to write on the weekends anyway.
If I did that, Shelli, I’d never write a single word. Working 50-55 hour weeks while raising children pretty well beat the Martha Stewart out of me. But I bet you’re house is a lot more ready for unexpected company than mine! On the other hand, mine is the house that makes full-time working women with children feel right at home and better about their own level of housekeeping.
* I like it that the Proverbs 31 woman is a business woman who feeds and clothes her family, but it says nothing about keeping the house spotless at all times!
Oops. I do know your from you’re. Should’a run spellcheck!
Carol, I’m laughing. I didn’t mean I tried to have a clean house before every time I wrote … I meant before I started writing more often. If I’m saying that correctly. Oh goodness … if I waited to write till my house was clean, I’d never get to write. So now, I kind of let the house go somewhat through the week–I mean, I do all that has to get done, like dirty dishes, etc–but I don’t clean-clean until Saturday morning. That’s what I’m trying to do anyway. Actually, I’m more that way while I’m writing that first draft. After that, I have more time for other things, like nasty cleaning. 😉
How about some contrarian advice from desk plaques I saw working at a research lab?
*Those of you with a tidy desk will never know the joy of finding something you thought was lost forever.
*Better a creative mess than tidy idleness.
*Here are a few of my own that are a bit more serious:
*If you spend too much effort trying to create the perfect place to be creative, you may only be able to create when you’re in that perfect place.
*A little bit of disorder in an otherwise orderly life is energizing in the present and prepares you to handle big disruptions in the future.
*Show me a workplace in perfect order, and I’ll show you a workplace where nothing new and exciting gets done.
*Embrace the messy middle to reach the perfected ending. On the pathway from perfectly formed caterpillar to magnificent butterfly lies the messy transformation within the cocoon.
*In physics, the Second Law of Thermodynamics can be simply stated as the disorder (entropy) of a system spontaneously increases. Energy must be input to increase the order in one place, and the place where that energy comes from must become even more disordered to provide the energy to make order where we want it. It’s a losing proposition.
*Don’t let the mess make you feel like you’re not doing what you should. Who are we to challenge the Second Law? That said, I think I’ll go tidy up my kitchen now.
Reminding of caveat from Richard Bach –
“Organization can ruin anything.”
Also Matt 6:28-9, what Jesus said about lilies of the field.
Colored binders and file folders. Each project gets coordinated by color. I’m a simple gal. 😉
* I don’t claim any organization for my kitchen, though.
I also use binders – one for each book with a WIP cover photo and title I print out and slip into the clear pocket on the front. Files on my computer are ordered in a method similar to Cynthia’s system, but with dates. Once I have more than one draft, I file those in a separate folder so I don’t become confused about which copy I’m working on. Did that once and it was frightening.
I have a relatively foolproof way of keeping track of draft versions. I include a date in the file title. I’ll work on one file for a week or two, then save with the new date and start editing on that one. If I do a major rewrite of a section, that gets saved with a new date. This leaves a trail of older versions that I can go back and consult if I want to.
I also backup each day’s work to a flash drive before I shut off the computer for the day. I’ve had a hard drive die on a laptop (a truly horrible noise as it fails!), and I got into the habit of backing up important work the moment I finished it and even at key intermediate points after finishing something like a complicated slide in PowerPoint. You can never have too many backup versions while a work is in progress.
I got rid of the cats.
It almost sounds too simple to mention, but I want my book files on my computer to show up first in the list of file folders. So I put a 1 in front of every book’s file folder, and every subsequent document related to that book. My files are numbered:
1 An Endless Christmas
1 All My Belongings
1 As Waters Gone By
1 Song of Silence
etc.
Then, when I’m searching for the book file, I’m not scrolling through dozens of folders to find it alphabetically, or having to use the search function and remember exactly how it was worded. (I intend to merge some folders soon, too.) And when I add new documents, I can find them more easily. My next task is going to be streamlining the numbers of documents and numbers of folders.
I do this too. I even do this on my phone contacts. 🙂
So if you tell someone they are number 1 in your book, they shouldn’t take it as too big a compliment?
What a great idea. I’ve only written three books, but I created a folder just for these books. And then there are folders (chapters, research, characters, marketing). This helps me narrow down where to look for things. 🙂
*Love your idea, Cynthia.
I have a set that are labeled 2 also, so they’ll show up right after the batch of 1’s in the list/layout. They’re all folders related to my day job. Then everything else is alphabetical. However, now that I think about it, I could prioritize some of them, too, with numbers. Taxes will be number 2,447-something.
Laughing Out Loud, Cynthia. Loved that. 🙂
Yes, Cynthia, I’ve done that as well! Then, within the folders for each book, I have other folders: Research, Characters, Marketing Ideas, etc. Sometimes, I even have folders within those folders if it seems helpful.
“No matter how organized we become, we’ll still hit the wall when we’ve filled every nanosecond of our lives with work. We need to work smart and effectively, but unless we have time to live and dream, we’ll all shrivel.” AMEN to that!
An organized work flow on the devices sounds a lot like math, never was my forte’. I’ve not made much progress in this area, but it sure seems like what I need. I waste more time than I should searching for things. My computer-whiz son, who works in the industry, just shakes his head. I think he thinks I’m hopeless.
I do get part of it right. I look to the Father to keep me focused. It helps.
Thanks for setting the goal out there. It’s something to work towards.
Organization has always been a challenge for me. There are two things that help me get through my day with a steady calmness.
1. I make my time with God top priority. Before I start working and during breaks, I stop to acknowledge the Lord, inhale the gift of the moment, and commune with Him through prayer and Scripture reading.
2. I use a notebook calendar that breaks my day down to hours. When open, I can see my entire week and adjust as necessary.
These two tips keep me focused on God, which reminds me I’m responsible for the time I’ve been given, and on the tasks I have committed to. I schedule in down time and avoid overcommitting when I can look at my whole week, and when I’m refreshed and spiritually focused.
An easy way to not get lost in file and folder names is to sort your directory display by date. In File Explorer (the little file folder icon at the bottom or accessed from the Windows right click menu at the far lower left), if you click on “date modified” at the top, it will sort everything chronologically. This is very helpful when you are doing backups of just what you worked on that day.
Wow, thanks, Carol. took me a bit to find it on my system, but would never have known to look for it without your comment. ‘Twill help immensely when trying to find that latest draft.
You can click on any of the headings to sort. I find the docx, ppt, pdf, jpg, etc, sorting by type is useful as well if I’m looking for images or the ppt file into which I pasted all the images I want to have handy as I write a particular novel. I’ll have 50-slide powerpoint files filled with images that help me visualize and describe for my historicals.
Thank you, Wendy, for reminding us to “celebrate progress.” Your testimony on how much of a difference a small tweak can make has got me brainstorming about my own clutter. First I’m also going take the advice Cynthia Ruchti offered in her comment. I love simple. And then I’m going to ask my file-organizing-expert son to help me too (thanks Wendy).
My KISS (Keep it simple, sister) suggestion is to initial anything creative you write on a scrap of paper; cause if you find something surprisingly clever on a crumpled note one day, you can’t use it as your own if you’re not sure you wrote it. Always initial those silly scribbles. I also save notes in a basket and draw 3 circles on them labelled T, F, B. I check off the letters for Twitter, Facebook or Blog when I’ve used a Wendy Macism on a particular social media site. It’s a quirk that works. 🙂
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
Oh, Wendy mac, you are speaking to me. I am guilty of the scrap of paper system way too often. If i can’t force a notebook system instead, at least your suggestions will help the scrap-system be more productive. Thank you.
I learned to say ‘no’ and not apologize for it.
I gave up trying to impress people with my “servant’s heart”, when I realized what *I* was doing was trying to be accepted into a club of people who kept adjusting the height of the bar to suit their own pious whims.
When I stopped saying yes to things I didn’t feel the need or urging from God to do?
My life became much happier and MUCH more productive.
Me, too! Jennifer, when I first surrendered my life to Christ I was taught that a good Christian is always willing to serve. I said yes to please people and discovered I was saying no to God in the process. The closer I got to Him, the more secure I became in His love. I didn’t have to be codependent anymore. Hallelujah! Those chains shattered, Sister! Then, I got into the habit of praying for God’s direction, not His stamp of approval on my plans. When I say yes, it may be hard to do but there is peace in depending on Him and surrendering to Him. When I’m keeping Him as my top priority, He aligns my priorities with His will. I just have to retract my claws and resist the temptation to control things. It’s an ongoing learning process. I love you, Sister. To God be the glory!
I’ve gone paperless as much as possible, and it has helped tremendously. Some things I scan but still keep the hard copy of, like a contract. But other items now never even reach the printer. When I find a blog post I want to keep for future reference (like several I’ve read here), I simply clip it to the proper file in Evernote. Another option would be to email it to yourself and keep it in a special email folder. Piles be gone!
I was raised by parents who weathered the great depression and consequently, saved every-thing (e.g., rubber bands from the newspaper), sorted it (Sunday’s paper used heavier rubber bands), re-used it, I often feel cursed at the habit of throwing away almost nothing.
But I’ve found that writing research or plotting notes on the back of the colored papers than come in the weekly ad mailer can lead to problems. Did I write that needed fact on a pink or a yellow sheet? And sometimes, that paper is never to be seen because someone else in the family cut out coupons from the other (less important!) side.
With an aim to spend less time searching for misplaced information, I’m trying to break this generations-old habit of extreme frugality and buy (and use!) some color coordinated notebooks. I’ve implemented this with devotional reading. (Celebrating progress! Thanks for that reminder, Wendy.) Now to expand the practice.
Don’t forget. The nicest thing about herding cats… are the cats! and I should know, being the owner of seven and the author of three cozy cat mysteries. Black Cat’s Legacy, Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer and Black Cat and the Accidental Angel… There’s my commercial for the day.
Love this blog. Don’t comment much, but read often… Thanks for all the good advice.