Save time, Organise your files

Don’t you find yourself spending hours looking for that file you created on your computer, or this document that you must re-print and can’t find?

December is here, it is time to de-clutter your desk, your thoughts and your computer.

Your computer should be organised as your desk or office in files:

• create as much files as subjects you are working on,
• create as much sub-files as needed depending on your needs: for example, accountancy will contain the sub-files 2008, 2009 etc.
• make sure your files are properly named. If I have many files with the same name, instead of adding 1, 2, 3 ... I end the name with the date of its creation, starting with the year (10th December 2009 will be: 20091210), then your files appear in the right order and you know at a glance which one is the last one

Adopt the clear desktop policy:

When you work on something, even if it is just a test,

• save it immediately in the right place with a proper name,
• don’t just abandon it on your desktop for later, as you won’t have time afterwards to put it in the right place, and worth of all, you might not find it when you need it.

Try it and let me know if it worked for you.

How to reduce your to do list

You have your goals planned, but when it comes to the day to day operation, you don’t know where to start ! Or worse, you have a 4 pages to do list !

Here are few tips to see clearer on your day to day tasks and reduce proscratination (a nice word to say to postpone a task from a day to the next and never perform it).

Lets first check what is on your to do list:

• thinks to do now of which few are very Urgent and Important.
• thinks to remember to do later
• thinks you will never do, and keep adding to your list.

What is for a later date should be clearly identified as such and added to your calendar at the right date.

The aim of this is to free your mind, so that you don’t feel insecure on the day to day operation, with the feeling you forgot this important task.

If you use a paper calendar, just divide each page vertically in 2 and add on the left side what is “to do” on this date. If you use a computer agenda, create a “Todo” agenda, and add the event for the right day.

When you come to this date, either you do it and strike it out, or you don’t do it and reschedule it to the next day (or a later date).

If you have reschedule a task 3 times already, no need to reschedule, you won’t ever do it (hard to admit, but so true).

Try it, and let me know how it worked for you.

Stay on a Chair is not healthy, so what ?

You are just back from Holidays and feel fit and ready to go ? But after only the first day of work, you start to feel the pain in your back and your whole body.

Why ? Probably because you had a bad position, or because you spend much, too much time in front of your computer. But moreover, It is just not healthy to stay in a chair without moving during 2 or 3 hours.

The solution is quite simple:

• take a short break every hour,
• stretch your arms, stretch your legs, stretch your feet,
• make few twisting movement with your back,
• make few light head rotations,
• grab a glass of water or a cup of coffee.

I know it is not always easy, particularly if you are working from home, as you may loose track of time, but 5 minutes can make the difference. It will not only improve your back, it might boost your concentration as well.

Try it and let me know if it made any difference for you.