Best Results Organizing

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential. 

~Ellen Goodman

Depending on your life and lifestyle, you may be rushing towards this Friday’s finish line of a holiday season, or you might be counting the days until things get back to normal in the real world and the television schedule. Blogs left and right are walking you through surviving the holidays in an organized way, but Paper Doll is already looking ahead…

Just ten days left before 2010 dawns. (Do you remember when you were partying like it was 1999…because it was 1999 and you weren’t entirely sure that the Y2K you’d been laughing at would really be a bust?) It’s amazing how slowly a day can pass in childhood, and how quickly a year in the grown-up world (of life or business) can come and go. 

If you can find a break in the coming week, it’s the perfect time for a little quiet introspection about the accomplishments of the past year and the hopes and goals for the one to come. And the clues are to be found in the papers and Post-It’s and floozies that are likely stuffed in your current year’s calendar.

Too often, we jump from our post-holiday food comas directly into our shiny New Year’s challenges without really thinking about what lessons we’ve learned. So, let’s think of this exercise as organizing our thoughts for the new year…with a little help from the paper (and/or digital imitations) in our lives.

Settle in with a cup of cocoa, eggnog or warm cider, grab your 2009 daily planner or digital gizmo, your NEW 2010 planner, a blank legal pad and a clear head.  (So perhaps no “adult” eggnog this time around, eh?) Review your calendar, going day-by-day (trust me, not all 365 of these are info-packed), starting back on last New Year’s Day, and take note of last year’s:

1) Successes — We tend to dwell on the mistakes we made or the times we let things fall through the cracks. There are rarely medals or trophies for the small victories of life, but these are sometimes the sweetest and deserved to be savored.

Each time you find one of these successes, write it down, and keep the list handy. In fact, if you don’t already have a SUCCESS folder, either in your filing system or on your computer, create one now. You might even keep two sets of success reminders, one for your business files and one for your personal life.

Business successes may range from awards to notes of appreciate from clients. Personal successes might be represented by a number badge from that race for which you trained hard and finally finished, or a lovingly-crafted masterpiece from your child that lets you know you’re getting it right.

Were there things you were loathe to do but you accomplished them anyway? (These could be life-affirming things, like conquering a fear of public speaking, or life-sustaining things like learning to give yourself injections.) Were there skills you acquired or tasks you performed that you never, ever thought you’d be able to handle, things that still leave you gobsmacked when you realize you actually did it? That calendar shows you, in black and white (and maybe some glorious marker colors) that you are more than you can imagine yourself to be! Don’t close the old book without acknowledging your achievements.

It’s always good, on those rainy, ego-bruising days to have someplace to go for a reality check and appreciate our good days. Go into the new year emboldened by the the strides you took in the past year, and build on these triumphs.

2) Surprises — Every January 1st, we should start the year by planning for all the events (in person and online) we can anticipate. It’s just simple organizing to put things (like tasks) in their homes (the right dates).

But there are also unexpected events that can either break you or make you. Did a charitable organization call you at the last minute to fill in for a speaker at an annual event or to provide a gift certificate for a silent auction? Were there business opportunities you didn’t take because you weren’t comfortable with the lack of lead time? Did you have to buy cookies at the grocery store at 6:30 a.m. because your child “forgot” to tell you that she’d volunteered you as Snack Mom for that day?

Looking back on the calendar to see who called, who begged, who desperately needed you…can help you face the possibilities next year has to offer.

In business, get the jump on guiding “disorganized” groups and approach them to secure speaking or promotional opportunities while they’re still in the planning stages. Be an early bird and use last year’s surprises to build on the coming year’s successes!

For your family, keep a batch of slice-and-bake dough in the freezer, a short stack of funny but tasteful birthday cards tucked in a file folder or with the stationery, and a hidden stack of singles (because you can pay for pizza delivery via credit card when you’re cash-poor, but it’s tacky to tip the delivery person in pennies and Green Stamps).  If bills you only pay twice a year surprised you every time they popped, make a notation on the calendar every month, on the same date, to pay yourself (in a cash envelope or separate online account) so that the money will be there (no surprises!) when you need it.

3) Opportunities — Did your local newspaper keep printing news wire service articles about your profession instead of contacting you for a local interview? Does a member of one of the networking groups where you lurk casually offer up posts on a subject for which you have greater expertise, but since you neglect to post, nobody thinks to ask you?

Do you make notes on your to-do lists or calendar pages to act, but never follow through? Do you save flyers because you want to take a workout class, join Weight Watchers, meet a friend of a friend of a friend whom you think you’d really like, but get nowhere?

Get inspired. Be motivated enough to ask someone else to help you be more motivated. Use last year’s unexpected happenings or desires to guide your planning for the new year to share your expertise or experiences.

If you’re in business, develop a genuine relationship with your local/regional/professional newspapers’ editors and reporters, and actively post on the social networking groups you frequent, whether that’s Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or whatever new comes down the pike. Schedule days each quarter to send press releases and network with local media; schedule time each day/week for active online networking. Treat marketing (i.e., finding clients) as a task of equal importance to working with clients by making your plans firm, and in writing.

Call a friend (or even someone you don’t know that well) to make a plan to attend the annual Home Show (for which you’re still saving last year’s flyer), train for a half-marathon or attend a class together. If whatever “it” is showed up in last year’s calendar or papers, but you never acted on it, here’s a chance to get ahead of the game and chase your dreams!

You’re much more likely to accomplish goals for which you’ve set aside time in your schedule. Treat these opportunities as a way to boost your mental, social, professional and physical health, and carve out time far in advance, as if you were scheduling a doctor’s appointment.

4) Recurring Events — Did you keep missing recurring teleclasses or monthly in-person meetings because you somehow found yourself otherwise booked by the time the activity rolled around? Did you keep canceling on someone (or many, many someones) because you were using multiple calendars, or going off the appointment cards stuffed in your wallet, or trusting your memory?

Review your old calendar for last year’s conferences, Chamber of Commerce meetings, client sessions, PTA meetings, annual expos and trade shows, industry-specific events, etc. and find out the dates or patterns (e.g., third Thursday) to get a handle on when and where they fall.

Note the dates for your kids’ school breaks and teacher’s conferences, and even though you won’t be notified of the exact dates for beyond this school year until the new school year starts, make notes to remind you they’ll be coming, so you can plan for sitters, activities, etc. You can’t be sure when your kids’ friends will be having their birthday parties based on last year’s social events (because even though the birthdays don’t change, the activities and the circle of friends do), but even having a running list penciled in regarding what might pop up helps you flesh out whether you’re likely to have a heavy month or a flexible one.

Schedule fixed recurring activities for the whole year; you’ll be far less likely to have conflicts if your schedule is blocked off. (Don’t forget to schedule payment deadlines for things you can’t afford to miss, like quarterly estimated taxes or loan payments — you’ll have fewer financial surprises if they’re marked in your schedule, perhaps in a bright color.) 

Schedule some vacation time to make sure you make plans to nurture yourself. If you don’t already have your first 2010 dentist appointment and your annual doctor’s appointment scheduled, call now. When you get your hair cut, have your calendar handy to schedule your six week (or whenever) follow-up, so you know it’s not conflicting with anything (or everything) else in your life. Paper Doll knows that nothing, not even a paper cut, ruins a mood like a bad hair day.

5) Rekindled Connections — Every year, business prospects cancel their first appointments and continuing clients fail to schedule (or reschedule) follow-ups. Friends have to cancel the rare lunches you do get to schedule because of conflicts or illness. Time marches on, and though we’re all more connected on the web, we’re less connected in person.

Review your calendar for clients who simply wandered away, and use the new year as a pretext to get back in touch via newsletter, email or phone call. Let these lost souls know you’re still eager to do business with them, and share the details of anything novel or exciting going on in your business that can benefit them.  Even if they’re not ready to hire, letting them know they can subscribe to your blog feed or connect with you on social networking sites may be just what’s needed to keep you in the forefront of their minds.

As you carry over birthdays, anniversaries and other recurring dates, note the missed connections–the crossed out parties you never attended, the coffee dates they had to cancel–and let the people who brighten your life, even if infrequently, know you’re thinking of them. To many friendships go without rekindling out of fear there will be awkward silences; the truth is, where circumstances (and not personalities) divided you, the same old silly jokes will bring you back together.

Before you (literally) close the book on 2009, review the experiences you’ve had to see what opportunities may lie ahead–at work, at home, and in your dreams.

Enjoy and celebrate!  Happy holidays and (almost) happy new year!