March is the new January

Where are you with your new year's resolutions?  In early 2014 I wrote about the value of making resolutions regularly, instead of once a year.  I stand by that statement today as I am writing this entry.  I have not blogged in several months for lots of great reasons (some might say excuses), but the biggest one is that I have been busy. I am sure you have been busy too.

Now that I am partnering with The Container Store, I have been immersed in the annual elfa sale that started on December 24th and didn't end until March 2nd. Also, The Container Store's de-cluttering audience is much bigger than mine was when I was on my own, so when I partnered with them my traditional de-cluttering season business went to a whole new level of  crazy busy.  All that on top of co-chairing a school fundraiser and my training and coaching clients.

However, my new year urges to purge, clean, start fresh and re-organize were no different than yours.  I finally had to tell myself to just wait until March to address my own closet, filing system, office, etc. I wasn't going to be setting myself up for success, if I continued to put those tasks on my to-do list. I was just going to ignore them. Now that March is here, I am a little lost on where to get started. I feel a little (ok, a lot) overwhelmed. So much has stacked up in my "to-do-in-March" box/list. Where do I begin?

I had to sit down today and give myself a coaching session, take a little bit of my own advice, and most of all just get started. In case you are in the same boat as I am, or maybe you have not been as diligent as necessary to keep up with your new year's resolutions, I say March is the new January. Why not start today?  Does it really matter when you start, as long as you actually start???

Here is what I told myself.  I learned and lived this process back when I was teaching Franklin Covey courses.  I know it still works for me, maybe it will work for you too.

1. Make a master list of things you need or want to do.
This includes actual tasks, work, home improvement items, summer planning, filing, creating organizational systems, research you want to do and anything else remotely on your radar screen.
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2. Label each item with an A, B or C.
A - needs to be done today or in the immediate future
B - can wait for a few days, but need to get it on your radar pretty soon
C - no real rush, but you want to do it

3. Then you prioritize all of your A's. 1 - do first, 2 - do next, 3, do after 2, etc.

4. Schedule the A's, B's and C's on your calendar.  Obviously, the A's should come first. The B's and C's can follow as your schedule allows, even if those items are scheduled a month out. If they are that important and you don't have time to do them right now, then schedule a time to do them later. This goes for everything from paying the bills to going to yoga.  If it is important to you - give it the time.  

5. Honor your schedule. This is the hardest part. Set a schedule and stick to it.  Something is going to come up at work and you are going to be tempted to skip the yoga class, or something comes up at home and you are tempted to skip filing the box of papers or doing your taxes.  If you have to skip it, you have to reschedule it.  Then, you are honoring your schedule.  You'll get to a point where you realize it is easier to just do the task, then it is to reschedule AGAIN.  If you find that you are rescheduling the same task many times, I encourage you to ask yourself why it is on your to-do list. It obviously isn't critical, right?

 I am excited that March is here and I appreciate the white space on my calendar. I am looking forward to sprinkling in a few of my top priorities every day. How about you?

Need some help? Feel free to contact me directly to set up a Take Control Coaching session. meredith@upanotchconsulting.com