May 9th
Did you know that the average person thinks around 60,000 thoughts each day? (Actually, it’s more complicated than that, but never mind.) According to Sharon Melnick, clinical psychologist and life coach, the key to success and accomplishment is to make sure those thoughts are directed positively, towards your goals. On her blog, she recently wrote about how to let go of things you obsess over.
The situation unfolded the way it did. That’s now a fact. But when you explain to yourself why it happened that way, you have made the situation to be a confirmation of a long held belief you have about yourself (e.g. I am not good enough; I’ll always be a “B+” kind of player; I’m a loser”, etc.)
To start moving forward, what you want to do is start to trace “what it means about YOU” that the situation happened the way it did. Write down on a piece of paper the explanation(s) you tell yourself for why the situation happened this way. With each answer you give, dig a little deeper to answer the question “and what does that mean about me?” This analysis will lead you to the root of what is making you ‘hold onto’ the situation. You want to see if you can come up with a personalized meaning that confirms your deepest fear or doubt about yourself.
The next step, of course, is to analyze the problem more objectively and stop blaming yourself… Easier said than done, of course, but that’s no different from most good advice.
May 5th
Back when I was in college, I was never particularly systematic about keeping track of homework assignments—I’d scribble notes to myself on various scraps of paper, or sometimes on my hand—but it seems today’s students are better organized.
Claire from Gig Harbor, Washington, recently wrote in to suggest that we add a column to the Academic Minister for writing down assignments… does anyone else agree? How do you keep track of your homework?
April 7th
Great post on Unclutterer about taking a good stern look at the knick knacks in your life… They lend interest to a house and give their owners pleasure, but when do they outlive their value? Here are the questions you should ask:
1. Why do I own this and choose to display it?
2. Does it represent who I am right now and the mood I want to create in my home?
3. Do I care for this object the best way I can care for it, or is it really just clutter?
4. Will my place be a better sanctuary or place of relaxation without this object in it?
April 2nd
Amateur professor and self-declared “findologist” Professor Solomon created a simple twelve-step method for finding things you’ve lost. According to him, “There are no missing objects, only unsystematic searchers.” Now Professor Solomon is making his 67-page book, “How to Find Lost Objects,” available online as a free PDF download. It may sound a little wacky, but many of his ideas aren’t far off the mark… I especially like Principle 6:
It is possible to look directly at a missing object and not see it. This is due to the agitated state of mind that often accompanies a misplacement. Go back and look again. It may be staring you in the face.
In college, I once combed through my entire dorm room piece by meticulous piece in search of a missing ID, only to find, when I got back around to my desk, that it was sitting right there in plain view, on top of my computer.
February 25th
Every once in a while, people write in and ask us to create virtual editions of our planners that are accessible online.
It’s something we’ve definitely considered over the past few years, but there are a couple of reasons we’ve never moved forward:
1. The layout of a paper planner wouldn’t translate well to a Blackberry or a PDA.
2. There are already plenty of low- or no-cost virtual planners out there.
3. Software design is obviously not our expertise in the first place.
The way we see it, there are still plenty of people out there who appreciate using paper planners—the smooth feel of the paper underhand, the physical pleasures of writing, the convenience of being able to flip through actual pages and see what lies ahead… As long as they’re around, we’ll continue to do what we do. Which is not to say we’re not constantly trying to think up more efficient layouts to help people organize their days!
Personally, I use a combination of paper and virtual methods: my Outlook calendar, with its automatic appointment reminders, is perfect for an absent-minded writer who sits at her desk for hours and loses track of time. On the other hand, I have no interest in owning a PDA (I’m already too addicted to email), and my paper planner is perfectly portable. Do I sometimes wish I didn’t have to record my appointments twice, or was able to look them up online? Sure. But there are plenty of practical chores I’d rather not have to do, either, and doing them hardly kills me…
February 18th
Human brains aren’t designed for extreme multitasking.
That is the conclusion reached by a research team lead by Dr. Edward Awh, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. The team found the average person can only focus on four things at once. Some people can do more, some less. The study found that despite claims to the contrary, young people can’t do more things at once than anyone else.
The study also found the complexity of things people try to remember doesn’t matter. The subjects fared the same when asked something simple, like the colors of tiles; or something intricate, like the design of Chinese characters.
In real life this means you can most likely only focus on four things, regardless ofwhether they are things that don’t require much thought–like following the car in front of you–or complicated things, like reading a book.
The influx of new technologies and entertainment devices into the workplace encourages multitasking. But if you can’t crunch numbers on a spreadsheet, listen to an iPod, answer email or a text message and check your cell phone don’t blame yourself - evolution hasn’t caught up to the times.
February 11th
A couple weeks ago we received the following suggestion by a visitor to the Quo Vadis website: “Have you ever considered making a planner ‘Specifically Designed With The Truck Driver In Mind’?”
This product will greatly help drivers in their daily routine, where they can record daily records to reflect back on their maintenance, deadhead mi., trip routing, advances, fuel stops for each trip, po#, pick up ID# and so on. There is still a need for simple products instead of high tech products.
I’m not sure it’s ever occurred to us that truck drivers were interested in our planners, but I’ll second the suggestion that simple products can still triumph over technology. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a small set of shelves on eBay, and the UPS package they were mailed in had a typo in the address—the ZIP code was off by a single digit. Everything else was correct, and what’s more, that wrong ZIP code was all of 7 miles away from my house, in a different part of Brooklyn.
Ok, I thought; no problem. I’ll just call UPS and sort it out.
So I called, every day, for a WEEK, and was told, variously, that the correction had already been made, that the local center would call me back, that the package had been lost, that it would be there within a few hours, etc. Meanwhile I followed the tracking number on the UPS website and could see that it would go out for delivery each day, only to come back every night undelivered (fortunately, there was no street by the same name in that other part of Brooklyn). In the end, I had to ask the sender to ship another package, while the first one was returned to her as “undeliverable.”
So much for sophisticated logistical systems—a map and a pencil would have sufficed!
January 28th
How many programs are running on your computer as you read this? How many icons are scattered on your desktop?
If your answer is “too many to count,” you may want to check out a recent article over at Slate about a new kind of software called zenware, or clutter-management programs “that introduce much-needed traffic calming to our massively expanding desktops.” Zenware works by trying to minimize or hide the applications you don’t need as you work, thereby focusing your attention on the task at hand and minimizing distractions.
For reviews of some of the most popular programs, read the rest of the article or check out these other links.
January 17th
Here’s a bit of entrepreneurial advice that anyone can put to good use: instead of making a simple “to do” list to keep track of all the things you need to accomplish, organize your tasks into meaningful priorities or categories that will help you structure your day.
January 14th
Here’s one last post from Karen while she’s off on her vacation…
The mission of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization is to explore, develop, and disseminate to professional organizers and related professionals organizing methods, techniques, approaches and solutions that will benefit chronically disorganized people.
May we suggest… a Quo Vadis Agenda Planning Diary! It is a good organizational tool to help people plan and set priorities, and eliminate clutter and chaos.
