Tuesday Tip: Get Your To-Do List To-Done

A recent survey conducted by LinkedIn confirmed what many of us already knew. That daily to-do list you make often doesn't get done! And your profession may have something to do with it. Check out this brief article summarizing the findings. Since completing to-do lists seems to be an elusive task, here are a couple of tips to help turn your to-do list into your to-done list!

• Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. For your daily list, instead of writing down everything you have to do from now until the end of time, decide what are the top 3-5 things you must do today. Being realistic in terms of how much you can actually get done in a day will help set you up for success.
• Limit distractions. Distractions including email, phone calls, meetings or impromptu chats with colleagues are likely one of the top barriers to getting that list done. Do what you need to do to limit these or other distractions. Close your door, set times to check email, or schedule meetings with co-workers rather than chatting non-stop.
• Stay focused. While multi-tasking was once considered a required skill for most professionals, focusing on one task at a time when possible actually enhances productivity. Changing from one task to another only wastes time since you're constantly shifting gears.

Test out one or more of these tips to see if you can conquer your to-do list!

Tuesday Tip: Responsibly Recycle Your Electronics

Do you have old computers, cell phones, stereos and other electronics cluttering your home or office? This is one category of clutter that clients are often stuck on what to do with. The main reason is not knowing how to responsibly and securely get rid of them. Many of our household and office electronics contain personal data we don't want to just set free and we also have this sense that these 'hard' materials should be recycled but we don't know how, when and where. The good news is that there are companies that have dedicated themselves to solving these issues...both securely shredding your data and responsibly recycling the materials. One company we have come across in our travels is Metech Recycling. They conduct recycling collection events across the country, including several right here in the Boston area. In fact, there's one coming up this weekend in my hometown, Acton, MA!

Green Acton
Electronics Recycling Collection Event
Saturday, May 5, 2012
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Conant School
80 Taylor Road
Acton, MA 01720

Check out the Metech events calendar for more information and other events.

So take a huge step toward cleaning up your home and office by responsibly recycling your electronics today...or this weekend!

Keep a Lid on Your Inbox

Most people I know have trouble keeping up with incoming email in this information and technology-crazed world we live in. It's no surprise that this can quickly lead to an out-of-control inbox. Some people simply leave the majority of their email sitting in one big "pile" in their inbox, relying on the relatively good search-ability of today's email programs. While this works for some people, many corporate environments have storage limits that can lead to panicked deleting frenzies when you've hit the limit. Also, most people I know feel at least slightly overwhelmed by their over-stuffed inboxes. It's like a giant pile of papers on your desk - at some point you don't know what's in there and you don't know what you're missing, leading to missed deadlines, opportunities, and miscommunication affecting business and even personal relationships. But enough gloom and doom - you can stay on top of your inbox! Just like any other organizing task, there is no one right way to manage your email, but I can tell you what I do, which is a place to start if you're feeling overwhelmed.

1. Set a limit or personal goal for the number of emails in your inbox. My personal goal is 50. In an ideal world, your inbox would be limited to just incoming mail and perhaps action items (though I try to keep those in a separate folder). This limit helps me know when it's time to do a little extra maintenance (see below) to get things back under control.

2. Use folders to organize emails you want to save. I personally have 3 action-related folders, Action, Read/Review, and Waiting For, that help me keep tabs on active emails. Then I have a series of folders to organize emails I'm saving for reference. This means that I don't generally need to "search" for emails - I usually know where to find them. One word of caution, if you set up action-related folders, you must look in them regularly (likely daily) so you don't miss items you need to deal with. Just like any other habit, this takes time to get used to, so reminders on your calendar might be helpful for the first month or so.

3. Maintain, maintain, maintain. An inbox can "pile" up in just a day, so a regular (again, likely daily) maintenance plan is a must. To keep things under control, treat your inbox "pile" just like a regular pile of mail. Go through each item, one by one, and decide what needs to happen to it. The options are delete, reply, take action or save for reference. If you can take care of something with a quick reply, go for it. Otherwise, move action items to your Action folder to be taken care of at an appropriate time. If there's something you'd like to read, but don't want to get side-tracked know, throw it in the Read/Review folder. You get the idea.

Note: If you are starting from an overwhelmed place, my advice is to implement a simple system (like the above) immediately for incoming mail and also spend 10-15 minutes a day dealing with the backlog until you are cleaned up. Follow the same process described above. Often, old emails can be dealt with (and likely deleted) quickly because they are no longer relevant, so the clean-up may be faster than you think. Do yourself a favor and delete e-newsletters, etc. that are older than a few months - nobody has time to read everything they receive.

Bottom Line: Setting up some folders and spending just a few minutes a day to make sure all new emails are dealt with or filed is all you need to keep a lid on your inbox!