Home Back to Articles Shannon Seek Author, Organic Organizing December 2002 - Are You in Over Your Head? The Organic Organizing Newsletter | 5th Edition by Shannon Seek, BS, CPCC, CDS, Professional Organizer Annette was on the verge of losing everything in her business she had worked so hard to build. Like many of my new clients, she was in over her head and falling behind. Important details were slipping through the cracks. Her overwhelming to-do list not only buried her priorities, it often resulted in her getting nothing done or running around in circles. Changing her circumstances even seemed impossible because she "didn't have enough time." Annette had behaviors common to most people when they get in over their heads: saying yes to too many things seeing every task as equally important trying to do everything without outside help scheduling 100% of the day with out leaving any room for unexpected delays, events or tasks underestimating the time things will take forgetting to leave time to travel to appointments, shift gears, eat, and rest (I call this the James Bond Syndrome) Annette needed to get realistic about how she spent her time, which takes a tremendous amount of courage. Time is life. Letting go of our desire to do "it all" can be a challenge because it means making tough choices and taking responsibility for the results. Fortunately, for Annette there was no turning back, she saw the painful results of not changing. (continued, above right) Back to the top (continued) Here is what I recommended Annette do to take charge of her life: 1) list and prioritize to-do's 2) delegate whenever possible 3) decide how much time each activity will take, and multiply that by a minimum of 1.5 to get a more realistic estimate of time (Essential Action #8: "know your fudge factor" from the Organic Organizing Matrix sm/tm. 4) fill in the various blocks of time in on your schedule (to actually see what is humanly possible), and leave at least 25% of unscheduled time 5) give yourself permission to have no interruptions during scheduled blocks of work, especially if working against a deadline 6) leave 10-15 minutes between each block of uninterrupted time to return phone calls, check email or to transition to the next activity Once Annette applied these techniques, she immediately gained a fresh perspective and felt empowered to dig out from under. Her business has since flourished, as well as her personal life, and she continues to use this approach today. So if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, try taking these steps to get out from under. Have the time of your life. You deserve it. About the Author: Shannon Seek is available for private coaching, teamwork and presentations on getting more focused, effective and organized. For more information, please contact Seek Solutions at: findit@seeksolutions.com or visit her coaching & consulting website: http://www.seeksolutions.com Back to the top | Home |   | OOM Store |   | Info (Newsletter) |   | Contact |   | Privacy Policy | All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Shannon Seek, Seek Solutions, 1996-2004 Marin County, San Francisco Bay Area, California (CA), USA Tel +1 415-925-8856 www.organicorganizing.com info@organicorganizing.com