Time Saving Concepts

7 Tips to Manage Your Manic Monday

It’s All Sunday’s Fault!

Let’s face it. Nobody really likes Monday.

Monday is a drag.

But Monday sets the tone for the week. How we manage Monday quite frankly determines if we will get things done and reach our goals for the rest of the week, or if we will struggle towards attaining success.

So how can we stop Monday from being manic?

Honestly, Monday really isn’t the problem; it’s actually managing the transition of going from Sunday to Monday, or relaxed mode to work mode, that’s the challenge.

Bottom line? Monday gets a bad wrap, while Sunday gets away with murder! It’s really all Sunday’s fault! But not to worry. All can be easily overcome.

So what’s does Sunday got to do with it?

Many people view Sunday as ‘sacred.’ Regardless of your “thing,” whether it’s staying in your pajamas and watching the lifetime movie channel, watching your favorite political talking heads beat each other up, going to church, having a big family dinner, watching your kids play sports, or getting together with friends for football, next to Friday, Sunday has become the day of the week we most look forward to. So, it’s really not surprising that transitioning back to the daily grind is probably the most dreaded aspect of the week.

Who really,wants to go from PJ’s and football, to alarm clocks, rush hour traffic and the boss?

Not me! And I’m betting, not many!

But, if you’re not prepared for Monday and the week ahead, it just makes the entire transition feel even worse! Unless you’re in control of the Sunday/Monday transition, Monday could wreak havoc on your game!

If it’s Monday morning and,

the kids overslept…
there’s nothing to make for lunch…
and the suit you planned to wear for the big meeting is still at the dry cleaner…
you have no idea what’s on your calendar either during, or beyond the work day …

…your week probably isn’t going to start off on the highest note.

If your Monday’s are manic, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can turn things around, have a smooth start to the beginning of every week, get organized and in control without sacrificing all the things you’ve come to love about Sunday and the weekend.

Once you’ve stop fighting the stress and the irritation that comes by not being ready for Monday morning, you might even start to like Mondays! (OK, maybe I’m pushing it!)

Ready to get started?

All you have to do is get in the habit of creating a “weekly plan” by setting aside aproximately 1-2 hours preparing for the week ahead. Yep, that’s really all it takes! I prefer to take on this task Sunday morning before anyone even wakes up; however this can of course be done at any time over the weekend.

Create a Basic Meal Plan: Using the family calendar of activities, create a basic family meal plan of chicken on Monday, soup on Tuesday, etc. You’ll be able to defrost things ahead of time and plan specific meals based on time constraints and activities according to certain days of the week. Bonus: If the meal plan is on the calendar, and the items are defrosted, any family member can get dinner started; it doesn’t always have to be you!
Assess Weekly Lunch Item Needs: There’s nothing more annoying than having to run to the grocery store every 5 minutes. By trying to anticipate everything you will need during the next 5 days, you can hopefully avoid the time and inconvenience of an extra trip.
Check in with Family Members for Last Minute Needs: I.e. school items, personal hygiene, permission slips signed, etc. It’s the last minute requests that always throw our schedule’s out of kilter. “Oh by the way, Mom, I need blah blah blah for blah blah blah.” Nip that in the bud by also getting kids (and significant other) in the habit of thinking ahead and anticipating needs.
Create Your Shopping List: (Utilize Cozi’s Online organizer with built in shopping lists and a calendar that will help all family members do their part.) With one password for the entire family, you can keep a running shopping list and your kids/spouse can also add items through Cozi. See Go Get Organized post all about Cozi.
Sunday Shopping: Sneak out to do the week’s shopping early Sunday morning before anyone else is awake. This can of course be done at anytime during the weekend, but there’s something special about being at the grocery store before anyone else on Sunday morning! It’s one of my favorite times to shop.
Assess Laundry Needs and Requests: This will hopefully prevent crazed running around at the last minute looking for that blue top or certain pair of jeans. Oh, and also make sure all dry cleaning is picked up and dropped off! Also, setting out the next day’s attire the night before, including accessories and shoes, not only saves time but ensures all items are on hand. (I don’t know about your house, but in this house dogs have been known to steal shoes, and things are always missing when you really need them!)
Important Sunday Night Prep: Before you turn in on Sunday night, make sure alarm clocks are set, backpacks and briefcases are packed, and lunches are made.

Many of these tips are pretty simple; no rocket science involved! Sometimes just reminding ourselves of the little things we can do to make our lives easier is all we really need. I hope your next Sunday/Monday transition rocks!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

April 22, 2013 By Donnamarie Leave a Comment Filed Under: Cozi, Delegation, focus, goals, Monday, mornings, Organization, Organized Student, Organizing, Parent Tips, Planning, Productivity, Simplify, Systems, Time Management, Timesaving, To Do List

5 Simple Ways to Establish a Routine

Do You Have a Routine?

Not having a routine leads to scattered thoughts and half completed projects

Many people fly through life by the seat of their pants. Whether we’re talking about home or work, many people just aren’t routine oriented. Many parents openly admit they have to resort to screaming in order for their kids to do anything at all, never mind routinely. Small business owners said that it was sometimes difficult to stick to a routine at the office, particularly if they worked from home and in general, just starting a routine was difficult.

So why is having a routine or set of routines important? At the end of the day, routine is what we all really crave! And, it goes without saying, not having a routine can lead to scattered thoughts and half completed projects. Simply stated, routines save time. When you tackle a task without needing to give it much thought, the task becomes a habit. Routines are generally habits that are formed over time. When there’s no thought involved, the process is pretty much automated, taking less time.

There are many tasks and chores we can automate for business and at home. (Even if your business is at home!) Getting family members to make specific tasks routine also helps maintain organization at home and minimizes time wasted asking people to do things over and over. For kids, we know this takes years, but it’s worth it in the end. (My 18 year old son now makes his bed every day without fail, and without any reminders!)

Ah, but the trick is, how do you get the routine started in the first place?

Introduce young children to routines early–It’s never too early for kids to make their beds, keep their rooms tidy or put away their laundry. If you introduce these habits at 5, they’ll become routine by age 15.
Create a routine that’s attainable for yourself and write it down–Adjust as needed until you find the right plan that works for you and your schedule.
Add as tasks to your calendar and to the families calendar--Invite all family members to the appointment to make everyone accountable.
Use several reminder systems–Set a built in calendar reminder or schedule phone alarms for new routine tasks.
Follow the 30 day rule–Make it your priority to follow the routine for 30 days in order for it to become an automatic part of your day.

If you are seeking buy in from other family members, don’t just assume they are going to jump on board. You will have to spend extra time supervising your children (of all ages) or persuading your spouse to change or start a new habit; the key is not to give up!

Encourage them by showing them how getting into a routine will ultimately provide more time to do the things that are meaningful and important to them.

Do you have routine building ideas? Please share!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

April 8, 2013 By Donnamarie Leave a Comment Filed Under: Simplify

7 Ways To Stick To Your “Daily To-Do” List!

Ahh, the “To-Do” list

Yes, I’m always talking about it.

Truth is I’m a self proclaimed “To-Do” list junkie and list-writing freak, so the To-Do list is my best friend; it keeps my (undiagnosed) ADD in check, keeps me on task, and prevents me from doing things I shouldn’t be doing! (Checking facebook, checking email, cleaning the garage, organizing pictures, cleaning out drawers…..you know, all those things we get distracted by and sometimes gets us off track.)

But I have mastered sticking to my “To Do” list.

Are you ready to finally stick to yours?

The reality is a list is only a tool; it’s YOU who still has to change your habits and your ways. If you don’t stick to it, it’s not going to help you do squat!

A To-Do list is an evolving, and never ending tool. You don’t just complete all your tasks and then you’re done. An extremely well maintained to do list is constantly being shuffled around, just like your life. Sometimes things you intended to do today need to get pushed to tomorrow, and sometimes things you were going to do tomorrow need to be prioritized and moved up to today.

Tip: Sundays are great days to work on your to-do list because it helps you to prepare for the week, move your tasks, appointments up, add new tasks that have come up and be raring to go on Monday morning!

Yes, it all sounds marvelous in theory, right? There is no doubt that sticking to your To-Do list can be challenging. You implement using a To-Do list so you can stay on task and reach your goals, however, it’s easy to get distracted and pulled away to work on everything BUT what is on your list!

Have you ever started working on just a little itty-bitty thing, not on your list you thought would just take “a sec?” Yep. Before you know it, it’s three hours later!!! Ugh.

So try these 7 Ways to stick to your to do list and see how much more you accomplish!

Always Have Access to Your List! -Having easy access to your list and keeping it visible promotes action. You know what they say; out of sight, out-of-mind! I use Toodledo! (More about this awesome tool in my next Cool Tool Wednesday!) This is an online to-do list that is also on my iPad and iPhone and they all sync-up whenever I’ve made a change to any one device or on my desktop. So my list is everywhere! Comes with me on my phone, in the kitchen on my iPad and in my office on my desktop.
Only ONE List, Please! –Don’t have multiple lists scattered everywhere, that only leads to chaos and will only make things confusing. When you have to add a task to your list and can’t access your device or online tools, use one long list to write things down for adding to your permanent To Do list within a few hours or by the end of the day. Having random lists all over the place only leads to tasks falling through the cracks because they didn’t make it to your master to do list.
Segment Your List!- In to things to be done today, tomorrow, this week, next week, this month, next month and some day. This is called the GTD system, and it is AWESOME! I use it for my To Do list and my in-boxes. Learn more about how to use the GTD system here.
Review, Revise, Revamp, regularly – You should have your list with you at all times. (This makes #1 possible.) And you should review your list every single day.
NEVER Go Off List –Continually go back to your list every hour to make sure you’re on track; make sure every task you begin is actually on your list! If it’s not, go back to taking care of what’s on your list. If it’s something important, well by all means add it to your list, but give it a proper priority and stick to the tasks you’ve already determined are your objectives for today.
Delete Non-Important Tasks, or Add to “Some Day”- Don’t hesitate to delete unnecessary or no longer relevant tasks from your list; goals change, priorities change.
Check Off Those Tasks! – Ahhh…doesn’t checking things off your list feel so good? Yes! Yes! Yes! (For me, it’s like a Harry Met Sally moment!) Checking off tasks, celebrates your accomplishments! Congratulations!

Now go! Stop reading this and stick to your list! (Oh, but please do share this with all your peeps, and feel free to add your two cents!)

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

April 2, 2013 By Donnamarie Leave a Comment Filed Under: Distractions, Every Day Tasks, focus, goals, GTD system, Organization, Organizing, Planning, Productivity, Simplify, Systems, Time Management, Time Saving Expert, Timesaving, To Do List

5 Steps to a Productive Brain-Dump!

Can you believe it’s almost April? With weeks and months flying by, planning is essential to being productive. Start your month with what I like to call a “Brain Dump” day.

What’s a brain-dump?

Well, it’s sort of like “brainstorming,” only a little different. Unlike a traditional brainstorming session, brain-dumping helps spark your creativity by freeing your mind of clutter. When you’re constantly thinking about what you have to do, where you have to be, who you have to call, and all the tasks, errands and mundane things in life we must do on a daily basis, who has time to be creative and innovative? It’s hard to get focused and productive when all these “things” are calling you and draining you of all your energy. Getting the things we have to do out of our minds and down on paper is a very effective and freeing action.

Drains can be in the form of every day tasks or larger projects that never seem to get done. Removing those “drains” will allow you to become more creative, innovative and productive.

How does brain-dumping work?

For the mundane, every day tasks, adding them to an automated, well maintained daily to-do list will remove that huge weight from your shoulders; you no longer have to “remember” what has to be done, you just have to do it! In this crazy age of distraction, it’s no longer feasible to have to remember everything you have to do, in fact, it’s almost impossible. Our brains are on overload. Every time you “remember” it’s always at an inconvenient time when you can’t do it, and then it sits in your mind, zapping your energy. You know what I’m talking about! Those things that pop up in your mind when you’re driving, at a meeting, upstairs, when that thing you have to do is downstairs, at your child’s swim meet, soccer game or other activity. It drives you crazy!

Brain-dumping also works for larger, non-mundane projects that we’ve been putting off, but are nagging at us all the time. For example, every time you do laundry, you walk past “the craft room.” That nagging voice always says, “you really need to get that room organized.” This has been going on for quite some time as you’ve been meaning to organize and UN-clutter forever. Every time you pass by you beat yourself up about getting to it, “someday.” (And if you do laundry every-day…yep that’s a problem.) Instead of a daily round of beating yourself up, a brain dump around organizing that room, creating a plan with specific weekly and daily steps put in writing and then entered into a to-do list will not only free your mind, but it will get that monkey off your back!

For those daily tasks, how many things do you have to remember every day? Here’s what my stuff would look like if it was roaming around in my mind:

Wake up, make lunches, breakfast, beds, laundry, work out, feed the dogs, clean dogs ears, walk dogs, give medication, check email, call the dentist, go to the dentist, food shopping, blog, networking meeting, take something out for dinner, plan dinner, make dinner, clean house, call a friend, buy birthday gift, send a card, pay the bills, go to the bank, research, social media, client work, swim practice, hair cut, nails done, interview, and so on, and so on!

Bottom line; if you don’t take time to put all your thoughts out of your head and down on paper, and create steps to turn thoughts into actions, you may be staring at this same tip on May 1, and thinking, I should have done that!

Don’t let it happen to you!

Follow these 5 steps to have a productive brain-dumping day around all those projects you never seem to start, or start and never finish.

1) Leave Your Office! Go someplace where you can relax and you can really focus.

2) Write down all the areas you know are draining you; this can be both personally and professionally. For example, oganizing a craft room, creating a social media editorial calendar, scheduling blog posts for the next 60 days, organizing all your photos online, etc. This will act as your master list to pick from each month, and you can always add more projects.

3) Choose one project. Now this is the hard part! I know you want to do it all, but trying to do it all at once is probably the reason why your list is so long! Unless you have oodles of time, one project a month will get you 12 projects done in one year, instead of 12 half completed, or scattered completion a year from now.

4) Now focus on that one project and list all the things that have to be done in chronological order.

5) Once you’ve completed number 4, assign each of the tasks a due date and assign a time of day, or once a week to complete that particular task. Add it to your to-do list with a reminder and assign it a goal. (i.e. Financial Goal, Get Organized Goal, Me Goal, Family Goal, House goal…)

Now that all those other things are written down and you know you will be getting to them over the course of the next year as you plan your monthly brain-dump, their less likely to be a source of stress or a drain on your focus.

Enjoy your brain dump!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

March 29, 2013 By Donnamarie Leave a Comment Filed Under: Brain Dump, Brainstorming, Clutter, Distractions, Every Day Tasks, focus, goals, Organization, Organizing, Parent Tips, Procrastination, Productivity, Purging, Simplify, Systems, Time Management, To Do List

It’s Cool Tool Wednesday!

Organize Your Family With the Cozi Online Organizer

(And Yes, there’s an APP for that!)

Some people are intimidated by the entire concept of organization. Some, poke fun at those who may have an obsession towards being organized, (uh-hem…you know who you are!) while others are just in awe of those who always seem to have it all together, all of the time! No matter where you fall, being organized is a skill we all need!

Not everyone is born with the ability to organize, plus we now live in a world with a constant barrage of overwhelm and upheaval; our weeks and schedules constantly changing. Being organized is very important but it does not come easy for everyone. It’s a skill that must be taught at both home and school, plus reinforced with the right tools and practices.

So, how do we keep up? And how do we teach our kids to manage in this new digital age? It’s actually quite simple as the tools we have available at our fingertips today are nothing short of amazing. They are the tools I used to dream about as a teenager working tediously on my monthly “what to wear” list. Yes, I said that out loud. I’m admitting to the world my anal preoccupation with the list. A sickness? Maybe. But if you’re salivating just thinking about the possibilities, than you, too may have that organization bug and I promise you will not be disappointed with today’s spot light on a great organization tool.

Some time ago, a friend introduced me to Cozi. I’ll admit, at first, I wasn’t a huge fan, however I just didn’t realize all of Cozi’s capabilities. Now, I’m like…OMG, why haven’t I been doing this all along?

So what is Cozi? Cozi a FREE online organizer that helps you manage the family schedule and organize shopping and to do lists-all in one place. Especially designed for busy families, (and what family isn’t busy? Hello!) Cozi is accessible from any computer, smart phone or device. Oh, and did I mention ist’s FREE? It doesn’t get much better than this! The best part is Cozi is shared, you only need one account for the whole family.

If you’re an organization and check list freak like me, you’ve probably already left this post to check out Cozi. (I don’t blame you, that’s exactly what I would do!) But if you’ve managed to stay with me, I’m here to tell you dreaming of organization lists on your phone that can also be shared with your family and sync with your other devices, is no longer just a fantasy! Cozi brings you just about as close as you can get to organization perfection–did I mention it has lists?

Below are all the reasons why Cozi really rocks!

Online family calendar

Manage all family schedules in one central calendar that syncs to your phone and any device. No big calendars on the refrigerator that are pretty useless when you’re not at home! Right?

View individual schedules, or the whole family all at once in a color-coded calendar.
- Get an agenda email for the upcoming week sent direct to the inbox of any family member.
- Use it as your regular calendar, or import Internet calendars, including personal iCals (Google or Yahoo calendar), or public iCals (sports or school calendars).
- Use Cozi’s recurring schedule feature to enter any regular weekly or monthly activities. (i.e. swim team practice, band practice, girls night out-just sayin’!)
- Sync Cozi with Microsoft Outlook or use the Cozi family calendar gadget to get your appointments right on your desktop!

To Do Lists

If you’re still using sticky notes to maintain a to do list, um, there’s an App for that! This is one of my favorite features of Cozi (if you couldn’t tell!) as it allows me to set my kids chores. No nagging or arguing. The rule is, take care of your chores on Cozi right after school in order to keep your phone privileges. (It’s all about the phone privileges!)

Here’s what you can do!

Create a shared or individual to do list for anyone in the family.
Easily reorder items by priority and add headers to organize. (I create days of the week headers and simply just re-order the list on a daily basis.)
Have kids check off their chores as they complete them. (What a beautiful thing!)
When you add a due date any item, it appears on the family calendar. (Magic!)
You can print, email or text a list to any family member. (No such thing as forgetting anymore!)
Cozi also has pre-made checklists for everything from school morning routines to vacation planning. (Just a little slice of heaven!)

I thought it didn’t get much cooler than that, until I discovered……

Shopping Lists

Where there are lists, I will follow. With Cozi, gone are the days when your kids (or spouse) say “we need snacks” or “we’re out of ketchup!” Now, they can just add it to the appropriate Cozi shopping list. Cozi shopping lists are in one central location and accessible by anyone in the family.

Create lists for all the places you shop; i.e. Safeway, Walmart, Costco, etc.
Send your list by email or text to anyone in the family.
Add ingredients to your shopping list from any recipe in your Cozi Meals recipe box.
Have all family members create their own holiday wish lists!

Honestly, I find more great features at Cozi every day. In fact, I learned even more about Cozi just writing this post! (Like about the pre-made checklists! How awesome is that?) No more return trips to the store, or forgetting about chores. I can create a quick shopping list while sitting at a traffic light, or sitting in my kitchen on the iPad. If I’m running short on time, I can quickly email or text a list to hubby to pick up on his way home from work.

Cozi is our families little secret helping us stay organized and on track! Try it! You will <3 it!

Now Go! Get Organized..or Go Home!

Cheers,

~Donnamarie

March 27, 2013 By Donnamarie Leave a Comment Filed Under: APPS, Delegation, focus, For Parents, mornings, Organization, Organized Student, Organizing, Planning, Procrastinate, Productivity, Simplify, Systems, Time Management, To Do List

Time Saving Concepts

7 Tips to Manage Your Manic Monday

It’s All Sunday’s Fault!

Let’s face it. Nobody really likes Monday.

Monday is a drag.

But Monday sets the tone for the week. How we manage Monday quite frankly determines if we will get things done and reach our goals for the rest of the week, or if we will struggle towards attaining success.

So how can we stop Monday from being manic?

Honestly, Monday really isn’t the problem; it’s actually managing the transition of going from Sunday to Monday, or relaxed mode to work mode, that’s the challenge.

Bottom line? Monday gets a bad wrap, while Sunday gets away with murder! It’s really all Sunday’s fault! But not to worry. All can be easily overcome.

So what’s does Sunday got to do with it?

Who really,wants to go from PJ’s and football, to alarm clocks, rush hour traffic and the boss?

Not me! And I’m betting, not many!

But, if you’re not prepared for Monday and the week ahead, it just makes the entire transition feel even worse! Unless you’re in control of the Sunday/Monday transition, Monday could wreak havoc on your game!

If it’s Monday morning and,

the kids overslept…

there’s nothing to make for lunch…

and the suit you planned to wear for the big meeting is still at the dry cleaner…

you have no idea what’s on your calendar either during, or beyond the work day …

…your week probably isn’t going to start off on the highest note.

If your Monday’s are manic, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can turn things around, have a smooth start to the beginning of every week, get organized and in control without sacrificing all the things you’ve come to love about Sunday and the weekend.

Once you’ve stop fighting the stress and the irritation that comes by not being ready for Monday morning, you might even start to like Mondays! (OK, maybe I’m pushing it!)

Ready to get started?

Assess Weekly Lunch Item Needs: There’s nothing more annoying than having to run to the grocery store every 5 minutes. By trying to anticipate everything you will need during the next 5 days, you can hopefully avoid the time and inconvenience of an extra trip.

Important Sunday Night Prep: Before you turn in on Sunday night, make sure alarm clocks are set, backpacks and briefcases are packed, and lunches are made.

Many of these tips are pretty simple; no rocket science involved! Sometimes just reminding ourselves of the little things we can do to make our lives easier is all we really need. I hope your next Sunday/Monday transition rocks!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

5 Simple Ways to Establish a Routine

Do You Have a Routine?

Ah, but the trick is, how do you get the routine started in the first place?

Introduce young children to routines early–It’s never too early for kids to make their beds, keep their rooms tidy or put away their laundry. If you introduce these habits at 5, they’ll become routine by age 15.

Create a routine that’s attainable for yourself and write it down–Adjust as needed until you find the right plan that works for you and your schedule.

Add as tasks to your calendar and to the families calendar--Invite all family members to the appointment to make everyone accountable.

Use several reminder systems–Set a built in calendar reminder or schedule phone alarms for new routine tasks.

Follow the 30 day rule–Make it your priority to follow the routine for 30 days in order for it to become an automatic part of your day.

If you are seeking buy in from other family members, don’t just assume they are going to jump on board. You will have to spend extra time supervising your children (of all ages) or persuading your spouse to change or start a new habit; the key is not to give up!

Encourage them by showing them how getting into a routine will ultimately provide more time to do the things that are meaningful and important to them.

Do you have routine building ideas? Please share!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

7 Ways To Stick To Your “Daily To-Do” List!

Ahh, the “To-Do” list

Yes, I’m always talking about it.

But I have mastered sticking to my “To Do” list.

Are you ready to finally stick to yours?

The reality is a list is only a tool; it’s YOU who still has to change your habits and your ways. If you don’t stick to it, it’s not going to help you do squat!

Tip: Sundays are great days to work on your to-do list because it helps you to prepare for the week, move your tasks, appointments up, add new tasks that have come up and be raring to go on Monday morning!

Yes, it all sounds marvelous in theory, right? There is no doubt that sticking to your To-Do list can be challenging. You implement using a To-Do list so you can stay on task and reach your goals, however, it’s easy to get distracted and pulled away to work on everything BUT what is on your list!

Have you ever started working on just a little itty-bitty thing, not on your list you thought would just take “a sec?” Yep. Before you know it, it’s three hours later!!! Ugh.

So try these 7 Ways to stick to your to do list and see how much more you accomplish!

Segment Your List!- In to things to be done today, tomorrow, this week, next week, this month, next month and some day. This is called the GTD system, and it is AWESOME! I use it for my To Do list and my in-boxes. Learn more about how to use the GTD system here.

Review, Revise, Revamp, regularly – You should have your list with you at all times. (This makes #1 possible.) And you should review your list every single day.

Delete Non-Important Tasks, or Add to “Some Day”- Don’t hesitate to delete unnecessary or no longer relevant tasks from your list; goals change, priorities change.

Check Off Those Tasks! – Ahhh…doesn’t checking things off your list feel so good? Yes! Yes! Yes! (For me, it’s like a Harry Met Sally moment!) Checking off tasks, celebrates your accomplishments! Congratulations!

Now go! Stop reading this and stick to your list! (Oh, but please do share this with all your peeps, and feel free to add your two cents!)

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

5 Steps to a Productive Brain-Dump!

Can you believe it’s almost April? With weeks and months flying by, planning is essential to being productive. Start your month with what I like to call a “Brain Dump” day.

What’s a brain-dump?

Drains can be in the form of every day tasks or larger projects that never seem to get done. Removing those “drains” will allow you to become more creative, innovative and productive.

How does brain-dumping work?

For those daily tasks, how many things do you have to remember every day? Here’s what my stuff would look like if it was roaming around in my mind:

Bottom line; if you don’t take time to put all your thoughts out of your head and down on paper, and create steps to turn thoughts into actions, you may be staring at this same tip on May 1, and thinking, I should have done that!

Don’t let it happen to you!

Follow these 5 steps to have a productive brain-dumping day around all those projects you never seem to start, or start and never finish.

1) Leave Your Office! Go someplace where you can relax and you can really focus.

4) Now focus on that one project and list all the things that have to be done in chronological order.

5) Once you’ve completed number 4, assign each of the tasks a due date and assign a time of day, or once a week to complete that particular task. Add it to your to-do list with a reminder and assign it a goal. (i.e. Financial Goal, Get Organized Goal, Me Goal, Family Goal, House goal…)

Now that all those other things are written down and you know you will be getting to them over the course of the next year as you plan your monthly brain-dump, their less likely to be a source of stress or a drain on your focus.

Enjoy your brain dump!

Cheers!

~Donnamarie

It’s Cool Tool Wednesday!

Organize Your Family With the Cozi Online Organizer

(And Yes, there’s an APP for that!)

Some time ago, a friend introduced me to Cozi. I’ll admit, at first, I wasn’t a huge fan, however I just didn’t realize all of Cozi’s capabilities. Now, I’m like…OMG, why haven’t I been doing this all along?

Below are all the reasons why Cozi really rocks!

Online family calendar

Manage all family schedules in one central calendar that syncs to your phone and any device. No big calendars on the refrigerator that are pretty useless when you’re not at home! Right?