Newsletter Archives

• Put $$$ signs in front of your tasks to help you prioritize the high pay-off tasks. For example, finishing up a project that will put you in line for a raise is usually a $$$$ project. Straightening your files, on the other hand, can likely be relegated to the one $ sign category. Of course, if your files are so out-of-control that you can't get to that big project, you might reverse the $$$ signs on any given day. How you prioritize is completely up to you.
• Write your list on a tiny Post-it note to get a realistic sense of what you can accomplish in short timeframes.
  For instance, as a working parent, I've found that in the evenings, I can really only expect to do one or two things besides making dinner, checking homework, giving baths, etc. And so, I write those one or two things (like making a phone call or signing off on school paperwork) on a tiny Post-it. In the past, when I had a longer list, I would just get frustrated, which ruined the tiny bit of "quality time" I had between nagging the boys to finish dinner and nagging them again to brush their teeth!
• Put time estimates next to each task. On a lined page of a planner, "Call Mary Jones" can take as much space as "Plan Ad Campaign," but obviously one task takes way longer than the other. Putting the amount of time it really takes to do a task can help you get a better view of your day.
• Take the dread out - as well as the fear, anxiety and resentment. You know that thing you've been meaning to do, but never get around to doing? The problem may be that there is some unresolved issue getting in the way. Give yourself a few minutes to think about what the problem is, or call a friend, colleague or coach to try to talk it out. There may be legitimate reasons why you haven't been able to go forward and you may need some help or guidance before you can take the next step.
• Hit the "Easy" Button. A while back, I picked up a red "Easy" button at Staples that I keep on my desk. When I do something particularly stressful, I hit the button and hear the voice say, "That was easy," and I usually realize that whatever I did was a lot easier than I anticipated it would be.
• Reframe Your List as a "Can Do" or "Get to Do" List. While this can seem a little "Pollyanna-ish," it's good for most of us to remember that the stressful things on our daily lists are mostly the privileges of living in a prosperous society and being healthy enough to do normal tasks.

This last tip hit home for me recently. An acquaintance of mine is in the hospital with Stage IV cancer. I recently got a group email to her circle of friends saying that she needed someone to do her laundry since she didn't have any family nearby to do it for her. I sent along a small check to help out with the laundry and ordered her a week's worth of new underwear for her as a gift. But the gift came to me a few days later when I was up to my ears in about eight loads of post-vacation laundry. Although all that laundry was a daunting task, I realized how lucky I was that I could do it at all... and that it was the end product of a week of fun with my husband and kids. Not that the realization turned me into a laundry-lover, but it did help me stay a little more positive.