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Clutter is the excess stuff in your life that takes up space on your table and countertops, in your closets, attics, basements, drawers, and filing cabinets, your hard drive, inbox and your to-do list. You expend energy moving it, rearranging it, cleaning around it, re-organizing it, and simply thinking about it. Clutter is a burden on your mind because you know it’s there and oftentimes you speak negatively to yourself because it’s there.

De-cluttering involves simplifying your home and office and surrounding yourself with only the things you love, need and want—eliminate everything else! Make a commitment to start eliminating clutter from your life and you'll see an immediate difference in the way you think and feel. Removing clutter allows for more space in your life, both in time and freedom. De-cluttering is an incredibly freeing experience because you're getting rid of all the things you don't need or want and don't have time for anyway.

Conquering clutter is an ongoing battle for most busy people. With life being so busy, piles accumulate, files seem to multiply, toys are overflowing from the toy box, and clothes are bursting from drawers and closets. Here are a few ideas to help you start eliminating clutter:

·   Sort through what you have and divide it into categories or piles.

·   Go through your (electronic and paper) files and discard old memos, reports, and articles that you've been saving “just in case.”

·   Make it a habit (for you and everyone else) to always put things back where they belong.

·   Do not bring junk mail into your home or office; get removed from as many mailing lists as possible. (Note: you can contact the American Direct Marketing Association, www.dmaconsumers.org/offmailinglist.html, to have them remove you from their lists for a nominal fee; you can contact the sender directly; and indicate that you don't want to be included on their mailing lists; or, you can indicate your preference for exclusion from future mailings when ordering a product/service, or filling out a warranty card, or making a donation)

·   Clip out and file the articles from magazines that interest you and recycle or discard the rest of the magazine.

·   Give away or sell unwanted toys and other items you (or your kids) are no longer interested in. (You know what they say about one person's trash being someone else's treasure!)

·   Load up a bag of clothes that don't fit, are out of style, or are just plain unflattering and take them to a local charity, shelter, or rummage sale.

·   Get rid of the little things, like clothes, furniture, and books, and it will be easier to get rid of the bigger things, such as an unfulfilling job or a relationship that really isn't right for you.

·   Assign a home to the things that remain.

·   Use bins, baskets or boxes and labels to store items and make them easily accessible.

·   If it seems like an overwhelming job to de-clutter, break it down into manageable parts. Do a room a day for a few days. Start with a hall closet. Start on the top shelf and do one shelf at a time so if you get interrupted and have to stop, you haven't made too big of a mess. Do a file drawer. Tackle your in-box. Just keep going one step at a time.

·   Once you've eliminated the clutter, prevent more from coming in.

You pay a high price for living with clutter in your life because it makes it hard for you to function at 100%; it keeps you stuck and keeps you busy looking for things rather than getting things done. Creating space contributes to feeling better physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Once you cut clutter you will feel lighter, think more clearly, be more organized and have more energy. You'll feel like there's less on your plate!

Conquer clutter by spending a half-hour to an hour each day for a week (or weekend) just clearing out stuff you no longer want or need. If possible, enlist the help and support of your family and work colleagues in this goal. Start small with one shelf or one closet and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment as you begin creating space in your life. Gain momentum and keep it going by preventing yourself from getting overwhelmed or quitting before you experience the results. Then, move on to the next area until you've gone through every room and space in your home and at work. By eliminating things you no longer need, you will spend remarkably less time looking for things and you will have the opportunity to reach your full potential. By organizing your space you will free up your creative energy and channel it into your work. You cannot be effective when your desk is piled high with papers, when your filing cabinets are hard to manage, and when you cannot find what you need.

One of my favorite techniques for clearing physical clutter is to start with boxes labeled: sell, give away, throw away, recycle/reuse, and keep. Quickly go through a filing cabinet, closet, or drawer and place items in the appropriate boxes. If you're really uncertain and afraid of discarding—create another box labeled with the contents and date. If items are not used within a year from the date indicated, reconsider discarding at that time. It's essential to shift your attitude to "it's okay to throw away" in order to conquer clutter.

Change is inevitable – after all, nothing really stays the same.  But in today’s challenging times, it seems like we’re on “uncertainty” overload, never knowing what will happen from one moment to the next. Here today, gone tomorrow – or, at the least, very different tomorrow.

Uncertainty bring stress and confusion, and while most of us would be quick to say that we want less stress and more certainty in our lives, what we really want is less of a stress reaction to what life is throwing our way.

We can’t choose what happens to us – but we can choose our responses to the situations we encounter.  Let’s take a look at five different responses that people have to stressful situations. As you read through these five responses, you may want to think of a recent stressful event or news that you may have received, and see what your reaction to that event can teach you about how you habitually respond.  You may have one type of response at work, and another at home, or you may react differently depending on who else is involved.

The first, and unfortunately all too common response to stressful events is to suffer and be a victim to it. People who respond this way don’t take action. Things happen TO them – and though they may complain and be generally miserable about it, they don’t take any steps to do anything. They allow life to control them, instead of the other way around. This way of responding is certainly not recommended, and eventually, it will take its toll on one’s physical and mental health.

The second type of response is to accept it the situation, and to get some perspective on it.  Someone with this response may say “so what,” or perhaps get some perspective on the situation by asking if it will it matter in a year – or a week – or even in a day.

The third way to respond is to actually take steps to change the situation – taking action to bring it to resolution (or at least move toward resolution). This is a very powerful response, and one that many effective leaders employ.

The fourth way to respond is to avoid the situation. People responding this way make a decision not to get involved in a situation that they don’t see as concerning them, or upon which they can’t make an impact. For example, someone may choose not to get involved in a dispute going on within their office if it doesn’t directly involve them.

The fifth and final way that people generally respond to stress is to alter the experience of the situation. When we look at a situation differently, the experience itself changes. Changing perceptions is probably the most challenging of the responses, because we tend to be stuck in our own interpretations and assumptions about what’s happening, but it is also perhaps the most powerful of all.

It’s your world, and you can create it as you wish. Remember, what one person sees as stressful, another person barely notices, or sees as exciting and full of opportunity. How are you going to choose today?

(This was excerpted with permission from the E Factor Newsletter January 2009 - "Handling what life throws your way" © 2009 iPEC Coaching)

A report released this week based on a survey of 5,000 US households conducted for The Conference Board by TNS reported that only 45 percent of those surveyed say that are satisfied with their job. This number is down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. Unfortunately, there has been a consistent downward trend for a couple of decades now.

Similarly, the recession and its accompanying reorganizations, layoffs and corporate turns to outsourcing have been caustic to IT employee job satisfaction, as reported in a mid-2009 job satisfaction survey by the Corporate Executive Board, a Washington-based advisory firm. The firm surveys 150,000 workers each quarter, asking a battery of behavioral questions about their jobs. About 10,000 of those surveyed work in IT jobs, according to board officials. Job satisfaction has plummeted to its lowest levels in the ten years since this survey began.

In the past, prior to the Great Depression, people generally worked because they had to. Happiness was rarely considered or even necessary.  However, since the 90's, when the economy was good and people had more choices about their work, job satisfaction was important and even measured, sometimes annually, using tools such as employee satisfaction surveys administered by employers and independent outside firms.

Today, with unemployment at its highest, more hard-earning wages going toward health insurance and other benefits, minimal pay raises (if any), and a lean workforce people are making many concessions to stay employed. The bottom-line is ruling rather than the growth or satisfaction of employees. So, no wonder people reported feeling more dissatisfied with their work!

These figures are frightening! Employee dissatisfaction is costly to American companies because it results in multiple workplace ills, including declines in employee engagement, productivity and retention. As the economy starts heading in a more positive direction, many valuable employees will leave.

Inspiration for your SuperBusy day....

Last week I had the exciting opportunity to travel to Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando,  FL to watch my daughter and her cheer team compete in the Pop Warner National Cheer Championships.  Her team had gone from a very weak start in August to coming from .002 points away from the first place team at the Eastern Regional competition.  No one would have anticipated that this squad of 33 girls from 5th through 8th grade would be competing at the National level.

It took discipline, commitment and dedication not only on the part of the girls but their parents, coaches and most of all, the instructors.  Unlike many of the teams competing at this level, we did not have professional choreographers but local HS seniors who wrote and taught the show, then tweaked it following each competition based on the judges’ feedback.

The girls worked together but most of all, to the (sometimes) frustration of the coaches and instructors, they had fun. One of the coaches, Coach Patty, always had an inspirational message. By the end of the season, each and every girl could quote the 2-3 she used most often. The one that stuck with me is “What you put into it is what you’ll get out of it.”

How often is this true in our lives as well? Sometimes we do things half-way or incomplete; often times we don’t put our heart into what we’re doing but instead go through the routine motions to complete the task-at-hand.  The cheerleaders were constantly being told to refine their movements, sharpen their jumps, hold their stunts and articulate more loudly and clearly.  Then, when they hit the competition floor each time, it all came together with precision and pride. Although they goofed off at practice, when it mattered they always pulled it together.  My saying from my competition days as a baton twirler was, “ Practice like you will perform”.  This was rarely taken to heart but when they did, it brought tears to our eyes.

In the end, when the announcer said, FIRST PLACE, the Hillsborough Dukes, we knew that what they put into it is what they got out of it. They gained friendships, skills, sportsmanship along the way to being National Champions. The focus was on performing at their absolute best and that’s what they did!

So, what will you focus on so that you can give it your all?  When you put your best effort into the task-at-hand, what rewards will you reap??

Make the Most of your Extra Hour

Many of you will be gaining an extra hour this week as we roll the clocks back an hour. Some say we're losing an hour but I think of it as gaining an hour (“Spring Ahead...Fall Behind!”)  Fortunately, I'll be on vacation so, in essence, I'll have an extra hour of rest & relaxation.  The extra hour comes while most of us are sleeping; many choose to therefore sleep in and enjoy extra snoozing.  However, with most of us usually pressed for time and dreaming of an extra hour in our lives, what will you do with your extra hour this weekend?  And, how can you consciously create at least an extra hour every day to better manage everything on your plate vying for your time and energy?

Here are 40 tips to help you gain more time each day.  Feel free to adapt them to best fit your unique situation. I hope you enjoy your extra hour this weekend and use these ideas to start gaining time every day to focus on your top priorities!

1.      Awaken earlier

2.      Get to work before everyone else to have some uninterrupted time

3.      Have periods of time blocked when you allow no interruptions

4.      Use barriers such as a closed door, headset, or something similar to provide a clearer boundary

5.      Get your toughest task out of the way first

6.      Work within your natural rhythm - work hardest when you're most mentally alert

7.      Restrict TV watching, Internet use, email and on-line social networking

8.      Put blocks on your email inbox

9.      Process email in batches instead of constantly interrupting your train of thought

10.  Stop allowing others to waste your time

11.  Avoid casual conversations while working

12.  Use your commuting time wisely to study, plan, listen to educational or motivational tapes, or catch up on calls (with your hands-free phone!)

13.  Keep everything better organized

14.  Use your lunch hour to catch up on things so that you have more time in the evening and on the weekend

15.  Delegate both authority and responsibility whenever possible; empower others!

16.  Spend less time on unimportant tasks (phone calls, emails, talking, etc.)

17.  Think things through prior to beginning a new project or task

18.  Before each task, ask yourself "Is this really necessary?"

19.  Get a better night's sleep

20.  Skip desserts or after-dinner cocktails

21.  Stop taking smoking breaks

22.  Use your wait time wisely

23.  Multipurpose by combining tasks that are done in the same area or closely related; avoid multitasking

24.  Be prompt for all of your appointments and insist others do the same for you

25.  Outsource work you don't do well by hiring specialists

26.  Read quicker

27.  Find or create shortcuts for repetitive tasks and processes; use templates

28.  Prepare your morning items the night before (clothes, briefcase, lunch boxes, cell phone, keys, etc.)

29.  Avoid interruptions and distractions

30.  Don't make a mountain out of a molehill - avoid making a big production out of small tasks

31.  Keep a list of contact details for all of your important contacts (doctor, lawyer, accountant, mechanic, bank, family members, neighbors, emergency services, school personnel, insurance brokers, etc.)

32.  Create routines for you and your family

33.  Set a reasonable deadline for each task

34.  Use a checklist for routine or recurring tasks

35.  Post due dates and expiration dates in your planner or on your calendar

36.  Hold regular meetings with your direct reports and your boss

37.  Plan time buffers in your schedule

38.  Stop procrastinating - eliminate the urgent from your to do list

39.  Address issues before they balloon into big problems

40.  Improve your mental arithmetic

I know it's tough to break bad habits. However, it is necessary to make sacrifices so that you can be more successful at personally and professionally. Experiment with the ideas above, feel free to add your own, but to avoid overwhelm, try just one tip at a time and practice it until it becomes a natural part of your daily routine.

If your workload is rapidly increasing, you are not alone! Most people complain that there’s “Too Much on their Plate!”. Each time I visit corporations, associations, or non-profits I hear the same level of overwhelm, frustration and stress. It's funny though that everywhere I go they tell me that they have it the worse, stress is at its highest and they are working under the poorest conditions. Problem is that this issue is widely prevalent!

As downsizing continues, many employees are given additional responsibilities without any being removed. The workday keeps expanding and the expectations are increasing. Deciding what needs your immediate attention may be a huge challenge. Determining priorities is difficult because often they keep changing.

So, what's a super busy person to do to better manage everything on your plate??

Start by doing a quick inventory of all the tasks you perform daily and determine which can be...

·       eliminated

·       combined with something else

·       delegated (upward, downward or laterally)

·       changed in frequency from daily to weekly or even less frequently

·       automated

·       stopped altogether

·       less than perfect

·       avoided

·       covered by someone else who attends

Then, after off-loading or eliminating some of your more mundane tasks, seek opportunities for more challenging assignments, more visible projects, or more critical tasks to the bottom-line. This can boost your career satisfaction and performance!

Energizing programs are available for your workplace or professional association. Contact The Priority Pro for more information.

Too Much on Your Plate should never be an excuse that prevents you from ongoing personal and professional development. Continuing your personal development despite time and energy challenges will help you gain a competitive edge in the market while being confident and more highly employable.

So, despite the challenges, here are a few suggestions to help you continue your development:

1. Listen to educational and motivational programs.

You can turn your commute time, exercise time or even dog-walking time into life-long learning time. This is an incredible opportunity to help you stay focused, motivated and to help you advance your growth. Many books and audio programs are available for download to your MP3 player.

2. Attend seminars.

Regular attendance at educational seminars and professional conferences that is focused toward your goals virtually guarantees your personal and professional development. Experts in your field are an excellent resource to help enhance your skill set, stay on track, keep you motivated, share the latest research and trends, and offer you new insights, strategies and ideas. Stay after the event to meet the speaker in person and ask questions that can help move you toward your goals. Consider purchasing speaker materials such as books, workbooks, CDs, etc. or getting on the speaker’s mailing list or in their community to the most up-to-date information.

3. Network everywhere.

Seek to meet people everywhere you go! Introduce yourself to at least three new people at every function you attend. Be a resource to others and get to know them so that you can also help them succeed. Think of ways you can joint venture, send them business opportunities and build alliances with them. Arrive early at events to better position yourself where you can meet the most people. Practice purposeful communications with specific objectives for every event you attend. If you can, find out who will be attending and get the attendee list whenever possible.

4. Speak publicly.

Offer your expertise at conference and other key events to help position yourself as an expert in your field. A speaking coach can help you overcome fears while developing skills and confidence. Toastmasters International (personal development organization to help you become a better speaker and leader) may be available in your area so that you can attend meetings as a way of meeting new people and developing your speaking and leadership skills further.

5. Be a leader.

Develop innovative and creative thinking skills. The most successful people think strategically and take risks. Forward-thinking people are much more likely to arrange training, and thus capitalize on their investment.

Learn how working with a professional certified coach can help maximize your potential!

Visit http://www.nrgcoaching.com

The Top 10 Tips for Utilizing Time More Efficiently

By Natalie Gahrmann, Work & Life Success Coach/Professional Speaker/Author

Time is a priceless treasure. Treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one. You cannot make six minutes out of five just because you managed your time effectively. Each day you are given the gift of a new day, 24 hours. Utilize it the best way possible and don't let it slip through your fingers. You cannot ever replace lost time. You can't buy time or save time; you can only spend time…once it's spent it's gone!

1.      Prioritize

              Determine what's truly important to you. Schedule those items and activities first and then schedule everything else around it to the extent you can (noting some things are scheduled at precise times and there is less flexibility). Don't cancel the important (not urgent) activities for any reason.

2.     Plan

              Planning is a crucial skill when you want to accomplish something. However, it's often the first thing forgotten when things get hectic and busy. Planning magnifies time by providing direction and enhancing productivity. Life is simpler and easier when planned out.

3.      Delegate

              Anything you're doing that could be handled by someone else could be delegated. If you look at your time in terms of dollars you can compute how much your time is actually worth. Then, you may be more willing to delegate the more routine tasks, chores, etc. and free your time and energy for your top priorities and high-level work.

4.      Set Goals (Have Strong Intentions/a Vision/Direction)

Establish specific goals on a daily basis to help you decide what you want to achieve with your time and to set targets that will lead you to achieving them more regularly. Setting goals may be very effective at raising your self-confidence by focusing on progress. In addition to having increased performance levels, goals will keep you more highly motivated.

5.      Structure Your Day

As individuals, we all have peak performance times. Learn when it's your best time for greatest productivity, quiet thinking, exercise, etc. and arrange your day accordingly to maximize your personal advantage. Each person has an 'ideal' work style that operates as a function of who they are, their body and personality type. Begin to understand and honor that style in you and you'll be more effective as a result.

6.     Value Your Time

If you demonstrate by your words, actions and commitments that your time is important to you, others will recognize how you value your time and will show more respect of it. On the other hand, if you don't value your time, don't expect anyone else to. By valuing your time, you are in essence valuing your self. One important thing to remember is that the only way others will respect your time is if YOU respect your time.

7.     Replicate Yourself

No, you cannot actually duplicate yourself or add more arms and legs but the fact is, you can find someone who is just as good as you in a given task. You can also automate or systematize some of your routine tasks. Replication is about increasing your results without expending more time and energy.

8.     Get Organized

Have a place for everything both in your office and in your home; it pays off in less wasted time searching for something you just can't seem to find. Over the years, studies have shown that people working with a messy desk or work area spend an average 1.5 hours per day looking for or being distracted by things (at just minutes at a time!) In addition, create a (centralized) list of what you want to get done. Manage the activities and projects you can control; clearly distinguish between what is and is not actionable. You can also group activities that can be done simultaneously or on the same trip out. The key is to focus on about 6 activities you wish to accomplish at the start of each day and to keep your list manageable.

9.     Become Fully Focused in the Moment

By focusing on what you are doing you permit yourself to get absorbed in the activity, be more relaxed and increase your creativity. Fact is, when you allow yourself to become totally focused on what you are doing at the moment, a freer flowing momentum occurs and you actually get the job done faster and easier. Be deliberate in how you use your time. Make the present perfect rather than splitting your attention.

10.  Eliminate Time Wasters

Yes, we all have them in our life---interruptions, distractions, poor planning, ineffective behaviors and attitudes, over-commitment, etc. Rather than letting time control you, take control of your time and your life by incorporating some of the tips listed above. Take personal responsibility for creating stronger boundaries and communicating them to your colleagues, bosses, significant others and family.

Get more tips and strategies at http://www.nrgcoaching.com!