For repetitive tasks and projects, create forms to stay on track.
Do you have an area of your work where you reinvent the wheel each time you do it? Or do you have a regular type of activity which has multiple steps that you need to track?
Consider investing just a few minutes to create a form to help you manage it all. Here's an example: when someone asks me to speak to their organization, there are certain questions I need to remember to ask, steps I need to remember to do for preparation, and basic data I need to keep track of. Before I created a form to manage it, I found that little details could slip through the cracks and I'd find myself wondering things like, "Was I supposed to bring copies of my handout or did they say they'd make the copies?" Or, "Is this a dinner meeting where they'll be drinking?" (Because if it was, I knew I'd better make my talk more funny and leave off my fascinating data on post-industrial organizing structuralism and its effects on contextual paradigms.)
So what types of projects do you do that if you had a way to track all the little details, it would help you sleep better at night or during the mid-afternoon meeting? If the activity is too varied each time you do it, trying to force it to fit into a formula may make it more hassle than it's worth. But if it has basic components which repeat each time, start by jotting those down. Make a first draft of the form on your computer, knowing that as you use it, you'll want to edit it for the future.
Here's the key to making forms that work: Strike a balance between including everything you need to remember, with keeping the form as simple as possible. If you make it too complicated, you won't want to use it. One way to keep the balance is to put lots of blank lines in your form. For example, instead of listing all possible actions you might take, you might include just the ones that are givens, then put in blank lines below the givens where you add the other actions that this particular project requires. Consider putting the actions in a table, leaving an open column on the left for a checkmark when the item is complete, or notes for its status. Another important key is to differentiate between the info that you simply need to have, from the info requiring action. In my example, I had fill-in-the-blank lines for the name of the organization, my contact person, the date and time of the presentation, etc. Then I had the actions I needed to take listed with a box to check off when each was done, such as, make the handout, review the slide show, send a thank you after the presentation.
Karen Ussery, Organizing Specialist, Speaker and Author As seen on HGTV's
Mission: Organization (episode MSO-704)
Organized For Success: Organizing, Time Management and Life Balance Founder, National Association of Professional Organizers Arizona Chapter
visit
www.organizedforsuccess.com to take the "How organized are you really?" Quiz phone (602) 248-2884
