Strategy Sarah

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10 useful things you can do in the next 5 minutes

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One of these days is none of these days. – Mark Twain

How often do you have small pockets of time that seem to disappear on you? What if you had a list of easy AND useful things you could do in 5 minutes per day (or less!)?

Lucky you, it’s right here! After all, it’s always easier to have an idea ahead of time what you will do that’s useful or productive in your pockets of time than to try to come up with ideas in the moment.

I just did #2! Great list of easy and useful ways to use 5 minutes per day

1. Write a status update of your written goals.

If you’re already reviewing your written goals every day, take once a week or once a month to write down a written progress report. This can be as simple as 1-2 sentences, and can be written anywhere easy. The purpose is two-fold: To have a record of your progression and to reinforce the value of your goals by physically writing down the current status of each goal.

2. Review your calendar for upcoming meetings, events or appointments.

How many times have you looked at your calendar only to realize that you have a meeting coming up that you forgot to prepare for, forgot to plan childcare for, or wanted to do a few things before it happened? Taking a quick glance at your calendar for the next day (or few days) can make a dramatic difference in how you prioritize your immediate time.

3. Read an article relevant to your professional or personal life.

I use Feedly and keep a list of news sites and blogs categorized by type of information (Business, Parenting, Food, Friends, etc). When I have a few minutes, I can quickly scan categories and/or headlines and read where I need the most encouragement.

4. Do a short workout.

There are a number of different apps with short workouts, or you could simply jog in place or walk up and down a few flights of stairs.

5. Drink a glass of water.

They say it’s good for your heath.

6. Take a series of deep, calming breaths.

I’m no expert, but taking a long, deep breath in and slow-exhale out really does relax and ground me, especially in the midst of busy or stressful times.

7. Text or email three friends.

So easy, and yet one so many of us (myself included!) don’t do if it’s not a conscious thought.

8. Clean out your handbag, desk drawer or any other single surface/drawer/cupboard.

This always takes less time than I think it will. Having clean, uncluttered surfaces is an instant mood lift.

9. Read a few pages in a book.

I keep physical books at my desk and bedside, as well as the Kindle app on my phone to that reading a page or two in pockets of spare time

10. Secure your passwords.

I started using LastPass several years ago, and it’s saved me more time than I can count not having to re-look up or reset passwords. Signing up for a LastPass account is quick (less than 5 minutes!), and you can add passwords as you go, a few minutes at a time – no need for a massive project.

Which useful idea will you take action on today? 

Need more ideas? Read 10 more tips here.

Why you should always set a timeframe

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Now that you’ve created a few different to-do lists, it’s time to tackle time. As in, using a timer.

We have an endless variety of timers in our house. There’s the bedtime timer, the naptime timer, the dinner time timer, the time out timer, the “it’s time to leave” timer, the “we’re done watching shows” timer – you get the idea.

A timer separates the emotion from the task. A timer also adds structure to our day and routines.

This tip will revolutionize your to-do list and make it so much easier to get more done in your busy days. #timemgmt #timers #moms #tipEven as an adult, it’s easy to say, “Oh, just one more [minute][snack][post][chapter].” This can lead to procrastination, over-indulging or never doing what needs to get done.

I am truly terrible at estimating the amount of time it takes to do a particular task. Particularly for tasks I loathe, I vastly over estimate the amount of time it actually takes.

(Please tell me I’m not the only one who has spent hours dreading cleaning the bathroom, only for it to take a mere 10-15 minutes once I just do it.)

Even when it’s tasks and projects I want to do, I tend to overestimate how much I can get done in a given time frame.

A simple solution: Include an estimate of how long each task will take directly on your to-do list.

This allows you to see up front where you have overcommitted yourself or where you have more bandwidth.

For example, the day that I had what seemed like a reasonable number of tasks – until I listed out the estimated time frame – and I had 6.5 hours of work slated for a 4 hour block of time. No wonder I always feel behind!

An added bonus is that if you are consistent with estimating time for each task, your time estimating skills will quickly become much more accurate.

On tools

While any old timer will work, I tend to use the built-in timer on my iPhone most frequently. Occasionally, I’ll also use the stopwatch if I’m not sure how long a task will take and want to track the total time.

 

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

Productivity and the Daily 6

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My favorite Mary Kay principle is the Daily Six. Yes, I read her biography, and loved it. I highly recommend it as a good read. And yes, anyone who knows me in real life finds this highly ironic since pink and makeup are not me at all. And even crazier, I was briefly technically a Mary Kay rep – but that’s a story for another day.

Making the Daily Six work for you

Productivity and the Daily Six |strategysarah.comThe basic gist is that every day you list out the six most important things to get done that day. Work through them one at a a time and don’t work on anything else until you finish that item.  For many of us, this isn’t as easy in reality as it is in theory. As a stay (work) at home mom, I had to adjust a little bit. The idea of solely working on one of my six until they are completed didn’t really work with small children underfoot. Similarly, in many office settings, it’s not possible to work straight through tasks without interruptions from colleagues and clients. Here are five tactics I use to make the Daily Six work for me both as a work-at-home mom and as a traditional office professional:

1. Do not include routine daily tasks

I have taken the tactic of my six being six non-routine things that I need to do each day. Usually it is errands to run,housecleaning, repetitive work tasks, recurring meetings, etc. I know some people who have “shower and dress” as part of a to-do list (regardless of methodology), but that never makes my list since it isn’t something I struggle with or am in danger of not doing.

2. DO include tasks that are not second nature, or that you want to improve

 Occasionally I do list things like reading to my son, but only when I feel I’m not doing a good job at that without it being on my list. For me, exercising is highly likely to not get done without being on a list to cross off, so it is often part of my daily six.

3. Plan ahead and only put tasks on today’s list that truly need to be done today. 

I use Evernote to organize my Daily Six, and I have a note for this week’s to-dos with a section specifically for each day, and a separate list for longer-term to-do’s that aren’t planned for today. This allows me to add everything I think of to the list so my declining brain power doesn’t forget, but also prioritize what should make the top six for today.

4. Let the tasks not on today’s Daily Six go

Today was an at-home day. I didn’t fold the laundry, organize the Tupperware cupboard that is driving me crazy, or scrub the toilets because they weren’t on my Daily Six. If I’m feeling totally like an over-achiever, I may do some of those extras tonight, but I can also be guilt-free about not doing them because they weren’t on today’s Daily Six. (The laundry and toilets are definitely on tomorrow’s Daily Six; we’ll see about the Tupperware cupboard.)

5. Recognize that you won’t get all Six done every day. 

This last point is huge for my Type-A personality. Becoming a mom has helped forced me abandon start to let go of my sense of failure when I don’t get everything on my to-do list accomplished. The reality is that there are days where all Six won’t get done. And Mary Kay herself talked about not beating yourself up, but putting the leftover items at the top of tomorrow’s Daily Six and moving forward. Whether it was kiddo-craziness, work emergencies, sheer laziness or just life happening, everything won’t always get done. Tomorrow is a perfect day to hit re-set and start over fresh.

Have you used the Daily Six or another productivity system? What struggles or advice do you have regarding productivity, particularly with young kids in the house? 

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

 

How to keep brilliant ideas from disappearing

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How to keep brilliant ideas from disappearing | strategysarah.com #31timesaversI have had a brilliant blog post…many times. I usually draft these brilliant posts or ideas in my head as I’m falling asleep, in the middle of the night, in the shower, or while I’m driving. You know, all inconvenient times to write things down.

I would be a multimillionaire if only I captured and followed through on executing all of the ideas I’ve had. (Wouldn’t we all?!)

What I need is a system and a process to ensure I can capture these ideas as they occur, and not rely on my faulty brain to remember half-baked ideas at some unknown point in the future.

It’s taking action in the form of capturing the ideas.

What are some ways to capture ideas?

  • Keep a notebook by the bed.
  • Keep bath crayons in the shower. Why not take notes on the wall?
  • Take voice notes while driving. (the audio note feature in Evernote is awesome)
  • Take text notes on a smart phone (or old fashioned note pad) while out and about.
  • Take a picture of an object or place that inspired an idea. You can also take pictures of the shower notes so they don’t get washed away before they’re used – and so you can reference them while at a computer.

Notes and ideas can be captured anywhere. The next step is crucial:

Have a consistent way to intake and process your ideas so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Set aside specific time each day or week to process your ideas. Systematically go through each place you have taken notes and then either:

  • Do the action item
  • Schedule a specific time to do it later
  • Delegate it to someone else or
  • File for reference.

Since I use Evernote for almost everything, I created a template to capture notes with either text or audio. Enter your email below to get the Brilliant Idea Log.

What’s your favorite place or tool to capture notes? How often do you process notes and ideas? 

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

Characteristics of a great checklist

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The Checklist Manifesto is currently at the top of my (mental) Favorite Books list. As a process/project/operations manager, I love it’s sheer practicality.How simple is your checklist? | strategysarah.com #31timesavers

How simple is your checklist? | strategysarah.com #31timesaversGawande, a doctor, takes a look at error rates across industries, focusing particularly on the medical industry, where errors have high consequences.

He takes a playbook from the airline industry, which has very clear standards and checklists for every little thing. A large percentage of these are rarely used, as they pertain to obscure and specific malfunctions and errors.

I’ve written many checklists and process documents in my 12+ year career, and I feel like one read (and copious note-taking!) barely scratched the surface of what I intend to review and implement in my own work.My biggest aha moment that is so simple it’s a “Duh, why didn’t I think of that?!

What’s the point of your checklist?

Gawande talks about the difference between a READ-DO and a DO-CONFIRM checklist. They’re fairly self-explanatory. With a READ-DO checklist, you follow the checklist as you go as a guide to make sure you follow every single step. A DO-CONFIRM checklist is used as a final check after a process or task is performed, to ensure nothing is missed. DO-CONFIRM checklists are performed at set pause-points in a given process, and ideally only take 30-60 seconds to review.

The concept of a DO-CONFIRM checklist was eye opening to me, as I think I (and many I’ve worked with) have always viewed a checklist as a READ-DO document. A READ-DO document is easy to discard as too much work, or irrelevant, or something that adds time, but doesn’t add value.

Key questions to ask when creating a checklist:

  • Is there a clear objective?
  • Can the checklist be simplified any further?
  • Is every step clear and unambigious?
  • Have you tested (and revised) the checklist in real-life (or as close to real-life as possible) situations?
  • Will the problem or process be measurable improved by use of the checklist?

If you’re interested in a detailed checklist for creating your checklist, Dr. Gawande and Dan Boorman of Boeing’s official Checklist for Checklists can be downloaded here.

What area(s) of your life could use checklists or improved checklists?

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

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.