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Get Organized

What is the best (digital) organization system?

By Sarah Leave a Comment

Have you read David Allen’s Getting Things Done (affiliate link)?  Many tout it as one of the best organization systems out there. I love the idea behind it, but the complexity of his systems overwhelms me. I know that I would only follow through with his suggestions for a week, or a month at most, before it all fell apart due to lack of maintenance.

Haven’t we all done this at some point? We develop a carefully thought out system or process. We spend a ton of time getting it set up. Then it falls by the wayside for one of a million different reasons: needs changed and the system didn’t, technology changed and we didn’t keep up, it was a more complex system than we actually needed, sheer laziness, etc.

How can we know ahead of time what the best digital organization system is – for our personal needs?

It’s simple:

The best organization system is the one that you will actually use. 

A few years ago, I had to admit that my own information management system had gotten a little out of control. I woke up one day and realized that I had stuff saved in Google Drive, Dropbox, random draft emails (on six different email addresses), in Asana, on scratch paper strewn around my house. I was also taking notes in Evernote.

At one point this worked. Sort of. There was at least a method to the madness. Eventually, it became clear that while it may have been working, it was only working well enough to get me by – not well enough to move me forward.

I had all the information I needed, but it was taking me way too long to find what I needed amid the clutter.

It was time for some digital housecleaning.  

Since this is common problem, I assume many of you are experiencing or will experience the same thing.

Organizing clutter doesn't solve the underlying problem. | strategysarah.com

Here’s how I started: 

1. Clean up and streamline a little bit at a time.

Based on my own past experience and from working with clients is that complete overhauls are much more likely to fail in the long term. My computer archives (and many of yours!) are littered with the dried bones of abandoned and half-implemented organization and filing systems.

Some of the time the systems never worked from the start. Other times, the systems worked well when first set up, but weren’t sustainable. (Side note: I love Debbie Roes’ blog, Recovering Shopaholic, and always gain insight that goes far beyond clothing. One of my favorite things Debbie talks often is that extreme changes backfire over time. Slow changes tend to be most successful in the long run.)

2. Organizing clutter doesn’t solve the underlying problem.

Getting rid of clutter does. I started with a few digital purges, and it felt great. Then I needed to clean up what’s left, get rid of some more clutter, and streamline a process that worked for me, at that stage in my life.

3. Choose one primary information system.

Come back next week and I’ll share my systems and tools ecosystem. (Hint: It involves Evernote). Interested in using Evernote as your organization system? I’m giving away a year’s subscription to Evernote Premium. Enter to win.

The best organization system is the one that you will actually use. The best organization system is the one that you will actually use. The best organization system is the one you will actually use. via @strategysarah

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What’s the number one organization tip or advice that’s worked for you?

What I learned from the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

By Sarah Leave a Comment

What I learned from the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying UpFirst of all, I’ve had a few moments of feeling like I’m the only person on the planet that hasn’t read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. That may be a slight exaggeration, but seriously, so many people have read it!

I’ve read several articles and blog posts, and while it sounded intriguing, I definitely wondered if I really needed to read it after I got all the basic tips from summaries.

My decision: If I could get it from the library, it was worth reading. I’m pretty sure the waiting list was around 200 when I put in my request, but it came up much sooner than I expected based on those numbers. Either that, or I’ve been busy enough that I have no concept of time (probably a little of both).

RELATED: Five simple reading strategies and where to acquire books

Feeling overwhelmed about how to organize and declutter? Ideas, tips and motivation to organize small spaces, kitchen, bedroom, closet, bathroom, office and more based on inspiration from the Konmari method, aka, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. #organization #declutter

If you haven’t read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, the basic premise is this:

Organizing (or tidying, as Kondo calls it) is a skill to be learned, but one that very few people are actually taught. And those of us who have been taught, or self-taught, are going about it all wrong.

She hypothesizes that once you learn how to tidy properly, you’ll only have to do it once in your life. Fairly radical. She also claims that she’s never had a client relapse.

Decide what to keep, and decide where to put it.

Then you’ll never need to tidy again. Simple and straightforward.

The emphasis on what to keep, rather than what to get rid of is unique. She talks about choosing based on what “sparks joy” when you pick it up. She takes a fairly broad definition of sparking joy – for example, a toothbrush sparks joy because it keeps your teeth healthy and prevents disease.

Woo woo…or not?

She does get a little out there, with her take that possessions and dwellings have feelings and should be treated accordingly. A little crazy. However, maybe it’s not so much of a stretch. I live with toddlers, so we regularly deal with possessions as if they were animate objects with feelings. And pretty much every children’s book, show or movie has at least one animated character that doesn’t actually have a personality or feelings.

I was expecting to think she was crazy for that part of the book, but honestly, the woo woo feelings part was more understated than I expected based on reviews. Maybe I’m more in tune with my inner woo woo than I realized. I’ve heard several people talk about how she talks about socks needing to rest, and while she does say that, her rationale made sense. The logic is that socks folded over on themselves are stretched out and that causes the socks to deteriorate faster than they would laid flat and then rolled together. Fair enough.

Can you really tidy once and be done?

While Kondo speaks of the importance of tidying all at once, she also says the one-time process takes an average of six months. Of course, the Type A in me immediately things, “Well, if she says all at once, then I should get it done in a week!” Hmm…maybe that’s part of my problem?

My biggest (but still minor) complaint about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is that Kondo spends a great deal of focus on clothing, papers, and then has a very broad category of “miscellany” that includes pretty much all household items. My kitchen and garage have far more clutter and disorganization than my clothing and papers.

Once you ponder her claim that tidying is as much a mindset shift as a physical act, and the fact that she advocates spending six months tidying, her claim of no relapses makes more sense. If I were to spend six months straight systematically deciding what to keep based on what sparks joy, and then designating a specific home for each item, that would likely be long enough to truly go through all the items I own and fully curate them, as well as enough time for the new mindset to become a fully ingrained habit.

Of course, as with anything, there will be routine maintenance, but if a tidy mindset is in place, the routine maintenance will be a natural rhythm of life, and a major overhaul won’t ever be needed again.

With roughly six weeks until we move, I’m going to try a pass at tidying. The garage is clearly not my realm, so I’ll leave that one alone, but I’m committing to tackling my paper clutter and my kitchen.

Does clutter plague you? Have you tried Kondo’s method of tidying with any results?

8+ of my favorite tools for communication

By Sarah Leave a Comment

8+ of my favorite communication tools | strategysarah.comWe live in a super connected world, but you already knew that. I don’t know that my children know what a landline is. We’re working through the difference between speakerphone and Facetime. At the risk of sounding really old – back in my day, call waiting was a really big deal!

Given our seemingly endless options for communication, how do you stay in touch? Here are 8+ of my favorite communication tools:

Slack

Slack is a team communication app that absolutely rocks. You can set up public “channels” or chat streams for your whole team, individually message anyone in the Slack team, and set up private groups with specific members.

In the workplace, this has been a phenomenal way to engage the team in both the serious/practical, as well as the ridiculous (#random channel, anyone?). The number of .gifs in my email inbox dramatically decreased as soon as we implemented Slack in my last workplace.

The ability to create new private groups for each project we worked on was also fantastic – no more, “Wait, did I tell that person?” Highly recommend. Best of all, the FREE version has been robust enough for everything I’ve used it for.

iMessages

A tried and true classic. When I converted to a MacBook a couple years after converting to an iPhone, the idea that I could have iMessages on both my computer and phone was awe inspiring. If I respond to your message lightning fast, it probably means that I’m at my computer. I assume that Android has something similar.

Skype

An oldie but a goodie. I do have to admit that since I use FaceTime for video calls (which I pretty much only do with the kids and geographically-distant family), I rarely use Skype anymore. Skype also has a chat feature, which I’ve never gotten into, but I’ve got friends that swear by it.

FreeConferenceCall.com

Conference call with anyone, anytime, for free! I love the ability to record calls for future playback. Occasionally, I’ve noticed some spottiness in the calls, but for the price, it can’t be beat.

Voxer

Voice chat with one or multiple people, all on your own time? For a busy mom, this means that I can hear my friends’ voices, but don’t have to answer the phone immediately. I also love the ability to send a voice message and get a text message back – because sometimes you’re just not in a place to talk out loud (hello, toddler bedtime routine).

Google Voice

The ability to publicly share my phone number but not have it actually be my phone number? Yes, please. Also, visual voicemail (aka – getting your voicemails as a text) = gold. I’m notorious for not checking voicemail, so the ability to get a text or email with the voice dictation is great. Granted, it’s often only about 60% accurate, but it’s typically enough to decipher the gist of the message and respond accordingly.

Facebook Messenger + Facebook Groups

I wasn’t sure what to think when they separated Facebook Messenger app from the regular Facebook app, but it’s grown on me. I also didn’t see the point of Facebook Groups…until I logged into it. Both apps help me to be more purposeful with my time, and eliminate the “I went on to post to one specific group, and 45 minutes later I still hadn’t done it!”

Any other social tool out there

Too many to list, but there’s really no excuse for not being able to find and connect with someone these days. That’s both super scary and super helpful. No matter what the movies show, “I lost your phone number” just doesn’t quite fly.

Which of these tools do you use and love (or not love)? Any others you’d add to a must-use list?


This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.  

How to use technology & still rest on vacation

By Sarah 1 Comment

A totally crazy tip to truly rest while on vacation: Delete any and all social media and email apps from your phone. Delete anything else that isn’t directly relevant to enjoying your vacation.

Secret: All those apps are in your account. You can re-download them when you get home with no issue.8 essential apps to use while traveling

8 essential apps to use while traveling

But Sarah, why not just shut the phone off?

Great question.

Depending on the vacation, shutting the phone off entirely may be a great way to go. For others, keeping the phone on can save time and make the vacation more enjoyable – without being tied to your phone for typical daily notifications.

On our most recent vacation, I used my phone a considerable amount, but not for anything that was draining to me (just the battery, haha). We were in the greater Los Angeles area and had a general idea of what we were doing or where we were going.

By strategically using apps, we could stay flexible with planning (code: have a very minimal plan and make it up as we went – that’s adventure, right?). Here’s what we used:

Essential Apps to Use and/or Install While Traveling:

  • Google Maps (or Apple Maps, if that’s your preference)
  • Yelp
  • A web browser (to look up those awesome restaurants and shopping, etc)
  • Evernote or another Notes App – where you have lists of all the places to go and things to do stored ahead of time.
  • Transit App – A friend just told me about this one – I haven’t used it yet, but have heard it’s amazing. It will show all types of public transportation and the best way to get where you want to go.
  • Best Parking – This one shows parking lots and garages nearby, whether or not they’re open and current rates. I use this one in my own city when I need to park in areas I’m not super familiar with.
  • Kindle / Oyster – For obvious recreational reading purposes.
  • A relevant airline-specific app. Fly Delta was great for checking in and keeping up to date on our flight status.

As a bonus, I had limited wi-fi access, so the temptation to download apps I was missing was much much lower than it would have been. There was one time I caved and logged onto Facebook from a mobile browser, but overall did that was pretty good.

Have you had success shutting off your phone on vacation? Or have any additional apps that are essential while traveling? 

This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.  

Use incognito windows

By Sarah Leave a Comment

Do you use the Incognito Window in Google’s Chrome browser? Somehow I missed this for way too long after I started using Chrome.

The Incognito Window gets rid of all cookies, logins, or anything identifying you to a website. You’re, you know, incognito.

I use the incognito window daily, for all manner of reasons.

Three ways to use incognito mode

  1. When working on client projects and needing to log into a web-based application, and you’re already logged into as yourself (like any social media account).
  2. To see your blog (or a client’s blog) the way any user sees it, not how you see it when logged in.
  3. When you don’t want a search to be influenced by past search or recommendations. Or to see if you’ll get different coupon offers on many retailers’ sites by being a “new” guest, rather than a frequent searcher.

Using incognito windows saves time spent logging out of any and every app or site, and avoids, “Wait, which user am I logged in as?” or “Is that really what they’re seeing, or is that a setting on my end?

Save time and stress using Google's incognito mode | strategysarah.com #31timesavers

To open an incognito window in Google Chrome select File -> New Incognito Window. Learn more about incognito windows directly from Google.

How can I tell if I’m in regular mode or incognito mode? When you’re incognito, you’ll see a sneaky dude in a hat and sunglasses in the right top corner of your browser window.

Have you used incognito mode? What other uses do you find helpful?


This post is part of 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates, read the rest of the series here.  

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Welcome!

Sarah ParsonsHi, I'm Sarah and thanks for joining me! I believe that as working moms, we don't have to be exhausted trying to have it all. Sure, we juggle a lot. That just makes us expert project managers, problem solvers and simplifiers. And if you feel like you're not an expert at any of that, well, you're in the right place. It is possible to manage our time well and thrive - at work, home and play. Let's do this!

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The views expressed on this site are those of Sarah Parsons only, and do not represent those of any employer or client past or present with whom I have worked.

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