Getting Organized to Achieve Goals

Hi Everyone - Unfortunately I was unable to make the call on Monday, but I will be listening to what was discussed on the recorded session this week. I wanted to make a blog contribution this week with some helpful tips. For me, in conjunction with losing weight and staying healthy, another goal of mine is to stay organized because it helps me to achieve other aspirations and goals. I hope that the following reminders are useful for others (Betty Robinson):
Be Your Own Time Master
With our to-do lists ever-growing, assigning tasks to our calendars can be a simple way to manage time and reduce stress. The simple act of writing down the things we need to do releases us from having to remember it all "upstairs." Here are some tips to help you successfully manage your tasks and calendars:

• Be realistic about how long each task will take
• Learn to say "no"
• Delegate: when you authorize others to take over some of your activities, you free yourself to focus on where you can make your best contribution.
• For those little things that take only a minute or two (such as putting away your dirty dishes) sometimes its best to just do them right away.
• If the task will take 15 minutes or more, choose a specific time in which to do it. Schedule an appointment with yourself. You may need to communicate to others that you are unavailable due to scheduled work.
• Without a place to "assign" tasks, you'll always be in a reactive mode. Use your calendar diligently. Do things on your time, when you are ready. You are in command.
• Don't double-book yourself or plan your appointments too close together. Planning for delays will keep you calm and allow you to enjoy the current moment. Forget about multi-tasking sometimes to simply enjoy the pleasures of each task you do.