Ready for some very specific encouragement around getting organized today—and a fun story about shucking corn? I thought so. 🙂
First, let’s chat about the corn.
My sister-in-law sent me this video on Instagram, where a granddaughter shows her grandmother a “new” way to shuck corn that takes like a second and minimizes the mess. I haven’t personally tried this new method, but you can bet I’ll give it a shot this summer.
The best part of the video, however, isn’t the clean corn. It’s how EXCITED the grandmother is that she has learned something new…and how she wishes someone had shown her years ago.
As I watched, I thought about my life before STEP. (That’s our organizing program here, if you’re new!) I wasted SO much time spinning in circles, and I wish someone would have shown me how much simpler it can be.
So here you go—three very specific examples of how you can save time and energy.
(1) Instead of writing a long list of tasks every day and then forwarding the undone ones to tomorrow, any flexible tasks (that have to be done that week, for example), go on a Next Actions List. It’s a weekly list, organized by where you are while you are doing the task (phone, computer, home, errands, to discuss), and you chip away as you can. No rewriting!
(2) Instead of spending half your project time trying to find everything you need to use or reference, store all of those items in one place! Physical resources can go in a cubby together or on a specific shelf. Digital resources can be linked/stored in one folder or a section of a digital project manager. Then your time goes to DOING the project.
(3) Instead of working on 50+ projects at the same time and getting none of them done, choose just a few for the month and put the others “Next in Line” or “Someday.” This maintains focus and decreases stress!
None of this is rocket science, but when you actually DO it, your brain suddenly feels free, and you think, “AMAZING!! I am not going crazy after all!”
Are you ready to build all the parts of the STEP System? Click here for our YouTube playlist that will show you the details!
So grateful that you’re here!
xoxo
April
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Thank you, April, for this helpful and concise reminder! I want to thank you also for STEP. My life has become more simple and enjoyable since learning some of your methods, and even though I don’t implement perfectly, the progress has been HUGE, and I appreciate the help.
I will add that the timer is my friend. This morning I needed to tackle a paper pile, and didn’t want to (I never do…). I told myself, “Well, set a timer for 15 minutes to process this, and you can just stuff it back in the inbox when the timer rings. At least it will be smaller.” Can you guess what happened? I finished the pile with 3 minutes to spare!! So often, I build up a task to be worse than it is. What a good lesson for me!
Thanks!
Linda
Thank you so much, Linda! I’m glad this post was helpful for you, and I’m thrilled that STEP is having a positive impact in your life! Love that you are using the timer. Isn’t it funny how things can feel like they will take SO long, but the timer debunks that myth? So proud of you! Thank you for being here with us! (If you have friends who haven’t yet heard of LearnDoBecome, our free Welcome Kit is a good starting place, if you’re open to sharing! LearnDoBecome.com/Welcome ). Hope you’re having a great week!!