​If you’ve ever had the chance to attend a professional conference, you know what a rewarding and renewing experience it can be to learn new things and network with people in your profession from all around the world.
 
At this year’s conference of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, I met organizers from as far away as China and Australia!

​In addition to being a geographically diverse group, the organizing professionals I met are varied in the types of organizing they do and the ways they run their businesses. Some organizers have lots of employees while others are solo-entrepreneurs. Specialities include home organizing, business organizing, photo organizing, digital organizing, time management, and more.
 
Now that Kate Bosch Professional Organizing is in its fourth year in business, I decided to focus on conference sessions that would enable me to run my business smoothly while it grows so I can maintain the level of excellence that my clients expect.
 
The connecting theme of these conference sessions was “process.” The emphasis was on defining and refining your processes so that what you do becomes more automated and things don’t fall through the cracks.
 
Thinking about processes can help you be more organized in your home, too. A session called “The Boring Stuff” emphasized using checklists to manage processes. If you know how much I love Wunderlist, you know this resonated with me because I run my life with to do lists. A checklist is just a repeatable to do list.
 
Use a checklist for processes that involve a series of tasks, such as daily routines. You might create a checklist for your children of things they need to do when they get home from school (hang up backpack, put away lunch box, eat snack, get out homework, etc.) or a checklist for yourself to streamline your morning routine.
 
If there’s something you do frequently that involves a list of items to remember, use a checklist. For example, create a packing checklist to ensure you’re never caught without essentials such as charging cables, contact lenses, or (gasp!) underwear. You think you’d never forget something so basic, but it’s the mundane stuff that we sometimes overlook. A checklist solves the problem.
 
The session on using Customer Relations Management (CRM) software taught me that, before you create the checklist, you need to evaluate your processes to make sure they are good and streamlined. If you have a messy process, then continuing to do it will just frustrate you.
 
Let’s use the example of the child’s after school routine. You want your child to hang the backpack on a hook, but maybe the hook is too high. Or perhaps the child usually comes in through the back door but the backpack cubby is near the front door, so it’s not convenient. These impediments cause a messy process, and a messy house! So solve the problems first (e.g. move the hook lower), then implement the process and checklist with your child. Customize your household processes so they are convenient and efficient for you.

​The conference session called “Run Your Business Like a Badass” was all about creating an Operations Manual. You might be asking yourself, “How could a corporate operations manual lecture possibly relate to home organizing?” Simple! If you are managing a household with lots of people, an operations manual might be just what you need to get everyone on the same page and keep the house running smoothly.
 
Consider creating operations manuals to use as communication tools to share processes and information with family members or others. Here are some ideas for household operations manuals you could create:

• Vacation Manual: If someone is taking care of your home while you’re away, you could list all that they need to know and do.
• Home Maintenance Manual: Information about appliances, home repair resources, and maintenance schedules.
• Emergency LIfe Manual: This manual, stored in a secure location, would contain information such as passwords, medical directives, and important documents. The Big Book of Everything is a great example of this type of manual.

 
Streamlining your processes at home can help you stay organized, keeping your home tidy and running smoothly.
 
First, evaluate your process by taking a look at what you’re doing to see if steps can be eliminated or if there are stumbling blocks that are getting in your way. Once you know your process is a good one, use a checklist or write up an operations manual to make it easy for you to maintain the process. Periodically reevaluate and update the process and adjust it as your needs change.
 
Do you need help creating and evaluating a process? Schedule a Video Chat Strategy Session with me! We can discuss what’s not working in your home and your routine, then we’ll construct a plan to get you back in control. Afterward, you’ll receive a written report of your strategy -- an operations manual!
 
What process in your home or life could you streamline?

GOAL
What’s the difference between a resolution and a goal? A resolution defines an action you’ve decided to take, but a goal is the reason WHY you’re taking that action. An action can produce multiple goals. Here’s an example:

Resolution: I will open the mail every day.
Goal #1: Eliminate the giant pile of unopened mail that accumulates on the kitchen table.
Goal #2: Pay bills on time.
Goal #3: Save money by not paying late fees.

Keeping your goal in mind motivates you to continue doing the thing you’ve resolved. Even if you slip a little bit, remember your goal and keep inching toward it.

OUTLINE
Having a goal is great, but without a plan of action you won't get very far.

The outline is the map that leads you to your goal.

Step 1. Define and write down your goal, either on a piece of paper (sticky note, notebook, calendar, etc.) or somewhere in your digital world (a list app, document, notes app, etc.). Don’t forget to write the “why” of your goal (e.g. Open mail daily and don’t let it pile up on the kitchen table so my family has a place to eat dinner.) to keep your eye on the prize.

Step 2. Brainstorm and list all the actions you could take to achieve your goal.

• Open mail every day.
• Put recycling bin near where I open mail, so it’s easy to toss unneeded paper there instead of on kitchen table.
• Make a Bills to Pay folder and hang it in a prominent spot on the wall near where I open the mail so it’s easy to put the bills there instead of on the table.
• Set a reminder on my phone to look at the Bills to Pay folder every Tuesday.
• When paying a bill, sign up for autopay and paperless options to reduce the amount of mail.

I’ll bet you could come up with a bunch more actions, right? Do a brain dump of all your ideas.

Step 3: Put the actions in order.

1. List the most crucial action at the top: If I don’t do anything else, at least I must do this.
2. Next, list the most doable actions or the steps you can take right away.
3. Give yourself a timeline framework by listing due dates, frequency (e.g. little bits to do each month), or recurrence (e.g. every Tuesday) next to the actions.

Now that you have your GOAL and your OUTLINE, you can GO!

What do you want to achieve this year? I’d love to hear your goals!

NOTE: This is an update of my 3/5/18 post.

​Do I have a deal for you today! My colleague, Maryann Murphy, has written a fantastic book to help you be more productive and organized: Stop Wasting Your Precious Time. The paperback will be out in early April, but right now you can get the Kindle version for only 99 cents. Such a deal!
 
Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/2oyaWIe.
 
I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of the book and I loved it! I started implementing some of her suggestions right away and was able to clear my “Action” file in record time.
 
This is definitely not one of those organizing books that I’m going to find among your piles of clutter, where I usually find the Marie Kondo book or another comprehensive “this-will-change-your-life” organizing book. Maybe you had high hopes when you bought those books, but I think they are overwhelming for most people.
 
Why will Stop Wasting Your Precious Time not get buried on your bookshelf? Because this book is really a handbook or instruction manual that is packed with actionable strategies. You’ll want to keep this out on your desk so you can refer to it whenever you find yourself stuck and unable to overcome a productivity obstacle.
 
What I love about the book is that Maryann gets right down to business without wasting the reader’s time with a lot of filler and background information. She doesn’t over-philosophize about why you waste time; she just outlines effective solutions that you can implement today to see immediate results.
 
The best way to use this book is to turn to the table of contents and select the chapter that relates to your worst time-wasting challenge. Are you in information overload, are you forced to sit through unproductive meetings, or do you procrastinate? There’s a chapter for each of those problems and several more. So choose a chapter, select one or two of Maryann’s strategies that you think will best help you, and work on putting them into practice. She guides you every step of the way, making it really easy to develop new, anti-time-wasting habits.
 
Although subtitle of the book “60 Easy Strategies for Eliminating Your Biggest Time Wasters at Work,” this book would be useful to just about anyone who’d like to be more productive: students, stay-at-home parents, retirees, or volunteers.
 
So go and claim your copy of Stop Wasting Your Precious Time by Maryann Murphy and then let me know:

• What was your favorite strategy?
• What strategy or idea surprised you?
• What was the result of implementing one or more of the strategies?

​Do you, your children, or your coworkers have trouble staying on time with tasks?

Try using a Time Timer, an innovative timer design that shows a visual representation of time elapsing that's easy to see at a glance.


Use a Time Timer for:

• Tackling your email inbox in a set amount of time
• Sticking with set homework and break times
• Giving children a concrete understanding of time
• Seeing how quickly you can finish a dreaded chore
• Staying focused during a task
• Sharing speaking time during meetings
• Being punctual
• Any other time-related task you can imagine

Best of all, there's a Time Timer for everyone because they come in lots of sizes, several colors, an app, and a desktop version.

[Full disclosure: I'm using a Time Timer on my computer desktop right now so I don't dawdle the night away fine-tuning the details of this blog post!]

Yesterday, I did a spot for our local NBC-10 station about the latest organizing craze, Swedish Death Cleaning. Click here to read the article and click below to watch the video!

Want to save a little money, reduce your errands, and cross some tasks off the list of things you have to remember (but always forget)? Use Amazon Subscribe & Save!

Most of us already use Amazon to order all kinds of household goods, but by using the Subscribe & Save feature, you can group items you need to reorder into scheduled deliveries, saving as much as 15% on each item.

I schedule deliveries every 3 months, but you can choose the schedule that works for you, from monthly to every 6 months.

Some of the items I put on my list are things like toothbrush heads (every 3 months) and refrigerator filters (every 6 months). Why? Because you're supposed to change those things on a regular basis, but I could never remember when I'd last changed them. Now, I change them when the new ones arrive. This also saves space in my house because I don't have to store them (or remember where I stored them!).

Here's what's currently on my Subscribe & Save list:

• Printer ink
• Toothbrush replacement heads
• Refrigerator filter (every 6 months)
• Under-sink water filter (every 6 months)
• Mascara (check out my post about how often you need to replace makeup)
• Face wipes
• Body wash (I love this simple one from Aveeno)
• Gum (Yes, really. I love Ice Cubes gum and it's cheaper on Amazon.)

Basically, anything that you use up on a consistent basis, don't want to spare space in your home to stock, need to remember to replace regularly, and want to save money on is a good candidate for your Subscribe & Save list.

What ideas can you come up with about what to put on your Subscribe & Save list?

.August is right around the corner and, for parents of school-age kids, that means back-to-school time.

Get your family ready with this handy, printable checklist from Smead. If you prefer not to print it to cut down on paper clutter, just save the PDF file on your computer or phone. It's a pretty thorough list, so you won't forget any pesky little tasks.
The checklist breaks down the tasks by when they should be completed, so you can simply glance at the chart to see what you need to do this week or this month.

[NOTE: One thing I disagree with on the timeline is buying supplies 2 weeks before the start of school. Most parents know that stores begin featuring back-to-school supplies in July, so if you wait until mid-August, stocks will have been pretty depleted. Why not get that task out of the way as soon as possible?]
 
Using a checklist like this will make it easier to get ready for school while still holding onto the summer fun.

​Do you listen to podcasts? They make excellent commuting companions and workout buddies because the time seems to fly when listening to something entertaining and educational.
 
If you want some extra inspiration and information for your organizing journey, try the Keeping You Organized podcast by Smead (maker of innovative home and office organizing products). The podcasts are 15-20 minutes long and cover a wide range of organizing topics such as paperwork, time management, and decluttering.
 
Find the Keeping You Organized podcast in iTunes or on the Smead website.
 
P.S. If you like podcasts, two non-organizing related ones that I enjoy are How I Built This, which profiles entrepreneurs and innovators, and The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, which tells surprising stories about people and events you thought you knew.

Do you get confused trying to remember all of your passwords for various websites?
Do you keep the same, simple (easily-breached!) password for every site so it's easy for you to remember?
Do you write down passwords in a book or keep hard copies of passwords in files?
Do you never update your passwords because it's too hard to remember new ones?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should check out a password manager such as LastPass.

After a couple of years of using my own complicated password system and having to manually update all of my passwords on a quarterly basis, I finally decided to give LastPass a try. After a brief learning curve, I now find it very simple to create, store, and update complicated passwords to any site I log onto and to use LastPass across all of my devices. You can even use LastPass to share password access to designated sites with family members or coworkers.

Organize your passwords with a password manager!

(Click here to read why The Wirecutter picked LastPass as the best password manager and here to read their opinion as to why everyone should use a password manager.)

​“Put it away right away.”
 
That sounds annoyingly goody two-shoes, doesn’t it? Well, never mind that. This little mantra works for me!

I say it to myself to get me through those moments when I just “don’t wanna.” (Can you hear the whine in my voice?)
 
I say it when…

I’m tempted to dump the mail on the kitchen counter instead of taking, seriously, one minute to sort it into recycling, action, and filing.
 
I’m tempted to drop the action and filing items onto my desk instead of just slipping them into the appropriate files. Why? To save 20 seconds?

I’m tempted to leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher or the sink full of dirty dishes, when really I can have those dishes put away in about three minutes.

I’m tempted to toss a pen onto my desk instead of putting it back in the drawer. (Later, when I can’t find the pen in the drawer, I accuse all of my family members of stealing my favorite pen!)

I’m tempted to leave the folded laundry in the basket because haven’t I done enough already by washing it, drying it, and folding it? But if I leave it in the basket tonight, it’ll still be there waiting for me in the morning – so just put it away right away!

Every time you’re tempted just to be lazy and drop whatever it is wherever you are, say to yourself, "Put it away right away!"

Your home, office, or room (Hello, my teenage daughter!) will stay so much tidier and putting things away will become an ingrained habit, making it easier to maintain a less-cluttered environment.