Strategy Sarah

making it easier to get life + business done

31timesavers

What are you saving time for?

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What are you saving time for? (with a giveaway!)Now that we’ve spent a month looking at various ways and tools to save time, I’d love to take a step back and think about the why we’re saving time and what we’re saving that time for.

If your time is more streamlined, focused and efficient, what will you do with that extra time?

While you may already have plans earmarked for your newly found time, I’m learning that a focus on rest is much needed in my own life.

In a rather timely coincidence, my friend Cherie Wagner just released a new devotional: Rest: 30 Days of Exploring God’s Invitation to Rest.

Sign me up!

Last weekend, I had the joy of attending the third annual REVIVE Retreat, and Cherie spoke on several of the topics outlined in the book. I left the retreat physically exhausted (too much talking and late nights), but emotionally rested and recharged. Now, to keep that in real life (and add in a little physical rest also!).

From the introduction:

I’ve learned something about myself this year…I have a hard time resting.

I feel a constant need to go and do and accomplish and work. Margin is difficult for me.

…I’m not talking about sleep, as wonderful as that can be. It’s so much more than that. The kind of rest I’m referring to is a quieting of the noise of life which results in an awakening of the soul, a coming alive to the presence of our Creator, and an increased awareness to even the faintest whispers of His voice.

I can’t wait to go through  it myself  – I’m thinking a blog series may be in order. What do you think?

Even better, I’ve got a copy of Rest to give away! Enter below, with options for multiple entries, easy peasy!

And the winner is: Christiana! Thanks everyone for entering! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the 31 Timesaving Tools, Tips & Templates series! 

3 foolproof ways to schedule your time and get more done

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We’ve talked about creating a to-do list, and prioritizing that list, but how do you find the focus and time amidst all the distractions of the day?

You schedule your time.
How do you go about scheduling your time?

By time blocks

Block time out on your calendar for specific tasks. This means literally scheduling a meeting with yourself and including the project you plan to work on in that given time frame.

Many people find that a daily flow or routine of time blocks works well. In fact, a standard work day or school day is already a large time block dedicated to a particular task.

Within the work day, I find that blocking off my first 15-30 minutes or so for email, prioritizing plans for the day, getting mentally prepared for the day (and, let’s be honest, getting coffee!) set the tone for a great day. I also have several standing weekly meeting in particular time slots. This adds structure to my days, while still allowing flexibility within each day.

By type of project

If you know what time of day you’re most focused, you can schedule dedicated blocks of focused time when you’re at your peak, then transition to meetings or more mundane routine tasks when you know you struggle with having brain power. For example, I know that scheduling a heavy brain-focused work session on Friday afternoon is a recipe for procrastination and inefficiency. But it’s a great time to update spreadsheets, complete blocks of data and draft out a schedule for the following week.

By blocking your time by type of work, you can keep focus and flow even when you are transitioning between specific tasks.

With a different focus per day

This one is harder in a typical corporate career, but many entrepreneurs and freelancers have great success with it. The basic idea: Identify your key areas of focus and block off specific days of the week to work on those tasks. Michael Hyatt often talks about how he only takes appointments on Fridays.

One example:

  • Monday: Client communication + meetings
  • Tuesday: Strategic planning & reporting
  • Wednesday: Project work
  • Thursday: Content creation (i.e. blogging + newsletter + social media)
  • Friday: Miscellaneous

As a blogger or writer, an alternate would be to schedule separate days or blocks of time for writing, editing, photo creation, posting/scheduling, etc.

3 foolproof ways to schedule your time and get more done (including one of Michael Hyatt's strategies!)If you prioritize and guard your time, others will also. As a leader (employee, parent, entrepreneur, etc), what example are you setting for your team (boss, children, clients, etc)? If you have time blocked and allow interruptions, your team will feel that they need to do the same. Your example speaks louder than your words.

Yes, responding to communication in a timely manner is important, but most responses can wait an hour or two. There are very few instances where a response is needed that quickly for which you won’t have advance notice. And in that case, it’s clearly not a good time to block off for focused work.

How do you block your time? 

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

8+ of my favorite tools for communication

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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.  

11 must-do productively non-productive tasks

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This is also known as A List of Things to Do in Short Bursts of Time that Aren’t Urgent, but Still Move the Needle Forward.

What are productively non-productive tasks, you might ask? They’re quick tasks that can be taken care of in minimal downtime, as long as you’re prepared. Also, tasks that you can do while procrastinating on a larger task.

Hot Tip: Create a list of productively non-productive task ideas, so that when you have pockets of otherwise idle time, you have a list ready and don’t waste precious minutes figuring out what to do.

Wow! I've never felt so productive on my laziest days. These ideas are so quick and easy! #productivity #workingmom #timemanagement

Productively Non-Productive Tasks that take 15 minutes or less:

  1. Respond to a non-urgent email
  2. Read a blog post
  3. Write a card
  4. Make a phone call
  5. Schedule an appointment
  6. Sort one cupboard, shelf, box of stuff
  7. Send a friend a text message
  8. Pin / Tweet / otherwise schedule or post to social media (I like to go through posts and articles I’ve saved in Feedly)
  9. Do a super-quick review of your email inbox for emails that can be immediately deleted or filed
  10. Fold some laundry (tip: even folding 1-2 pieces of a load each time you walk by will eventually get you through a pile!)
  11. Read one page in a book (or more)

Enter your email address below to get your FREE Evernote template for Productively Non-Productive Tasks.

What additional ideas do you have for productively non-productive tasks?

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

Start how you plan to continue

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I started a new job last Wednesday, which means that I’ve spent the last week inundated with new information. Much of that is job-specific, but there’s also a whole lot of general information – where the printer is and how to print, how to book conference rooms, conference call phone numbers, email distro lists, etc.

Start how you plan to continue | strategysarah.com #31timesaversIt can quickly become overwhelming.

Since I got my computer as I was meeting with the person I was training with, I quickly opened up a Microsoft Word document and started taking copious notes. It didn’t slow down from there. By the end of the day, I had a solid 6 pages written, along with links to at least two dozen other documents and websites. And it was all jumbled together.

In a fast-paced environment, it’s tempting to think that you don’t have time to step back and get organized – the email keeps piling up and the information is coming in faster than it can be organized!

The single best thing I did was to take a few hours and set up all my systems and tools properly.

Start how you plan to continue.

If you don’t take the time to get set up right, your chances of going back and doing so quickly diminish. (Although, it’s never too late – now is better than tomorrow!)

I created a new Evernote account specific to the job. Why this never occurred to be before, I don’t know, but it’s brilliant. I don’t need to have all my personal info combined with my corporate work info – I can have two accounts!

I got shared file folders setup (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc). (I wrote more about that in this post -> One way to effectively organize digital information.)

I created folders in my email. (More on email organization in this post -> Why I don’t strive for Inbox Zero: super simple email organization.)

Hot Tip: Create the same folder structure across all your tools – Evernote, shared file drives,…

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Suddenly, the information was still flowing in at the pace of a fire hose, but was so.much.more.manageable with a system in place. I could quickly find information that I knew I’d heard, but didn’t remember (what’s the printer again?!).

Having a framework in place makes anything and everything you do easier, more efficient and allows you (and me!) to do a better job in a shorter timeframe.

I may still be looking up information that I’ll know in my sleep next month, but I can find it quickly when I need it!

Now, time to go tackle that email again!

Start how you plan to continue. 

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Do you need to step back and put an overall information structure in place? If you’ve already got a great one, what’s one tip you have for the rest of us to improve our organization?

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

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Disclaimer

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.