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Archive for organization – Page 2

Getting your business organized

Planning and Organizing Ideas With OneNote and Dropbox

Posted on June 24, 2010
by Andrea J. Stenberg

I suspect I’m not terribly different from most entrepreneurs. I’ve got a lot of balls that I’m trying to keep up in the air. Not only that, I continually get new ideas. Some of them are crap, but some of them are actually things that I plan to implement. I’ve tried a number of ways to keep my planning, my projects, and my new ideas organized.

One of the things I do is use binders. Each project has its own binder, as does planning. This has been a relatively useful way to keep track of ongoing work (when the labels don’t fall off the binders).

New ideas were little harder to track. For a while I was doing the Post-it note method. Every time I got a new idea I’d write it on a Post-it note and stick it up on the wall next to my desk.

Use a white board for tracking ideasThis didn’t work for two reasons. One, after a while the Post-it notes just became visual noise; I just didn’t see them anymore. The second reason is the mental clutter they caused me. Although I can block out the content on the Post-it notes, I still knew they were there. Although I wasn’t consciously aware of it, it was causing me constant stress.

I moved away from the Post-it notes to whiteboards. Now whenever a garden idea I could just write it on the whiteboard. The nice thing about the whiteboard is it’s one continual surface so it’s less visually cluttering than Post-its.

However, the whiteboard method isn’t perfect either. It’s great for recording an idea as it occurs to me, but what do I do later? Eventually the whiteboard gets full. I needed some way to deal with the ideas.

Then I thought about Microsoft OneNote. This is a software program that comes as part of Microsoft office. I knew it was part of the package but hadn’t looked at it. Last week I decided to open it and take a look. I’m glad I did. Read More→

Business Basics, organization, Planning, Technology

I hate scheduling meetings

Posted on April 12, 2010
by Andrea J. Stenberg

If you have lots of meetings during the week – even virtual or telephone meetings – scheduling them can be a headache. The “you’re it” back and forth emails trying to book a time is a pain in the rear. I’ve been trying to find a way to make it easier. There are several online tools but each person has to be a member to use them. And they don’t always work so well.

When my RSS reader popped up with t Tungle.me I was skeptical. However, after watching the video I’m ready to give it a try.

Or you can watch it here.

I confess I haven’t used it much yet, but it’s very easy. The best feature, in my opinion is that users don’t have to have a Tungle account in order to schedule a meeting with me. And Tungle syncs with my Google Calendar so everything should work.

I’m still test driving this but I think (hope) it will cut down on the email tag for scheduling appointments.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Let me know what you think of this, or other tools.

organization, Technology

Tips For Effective Time Management

Posted on February 19, 2010
by Andrea J. Stenberg

By Janet Barclay

One of the greatest challenges many people face in business and in their personal lives is that there never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything they need to do, let alone finding time for things they want to do! They look with envy at those who are able to successfully fit work, family, personal, and other activities into their lives. The reality is that we all have the same 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year – it’s how we choose to spend that time that makes all the difference.daytimer woman small

In order to develop a time management system that will be effective for you, it’s helpful to start with some formal or informal assessments to help you compare the way you are currently living your life with the way you would like it to be. Identify the obstacles that are preventing you from managing your time effectively. Become aware of your biological rhythms to determine what type of activity you do best in the morning, afternoon, evening, and late at night. Explore your personality type preferences, and the way they affect the way you perceive and deal with time.

Depending on your specific challenges, some of the following strategies may help Read More→

Business Basics, organization

Post-It Note-itise: How One Entrepreneur Deals with Her ADD

Posted on September 29, 2009
by Andrea J. Stenberg

Last week I was watching a documentary about living with ADD. There was one scene where the hosts were standing next to a large wall entirely covered with Post-It Notes. I nearly fell off my chair laughing because as you can see, I completely relate to that particular symptom of ADD. postitnotes

Here’s how Post-It Note-itise works. Each time you have an idea for a project or a task, write it on a Post-It Note so you don’t forget it. Each time you have a deadline, write it on a Post-It Note. Break major projects into smaller steps and put each step on a Post-It Note.

If you are particularly anal in your madness, you can take five different colours of Post-It Notes – each colour representing a specific task or category of tasks – and use the corresponding colour whenever you write a new Post-It Note. And of course, you will need to create a legend to remind yourself which colour responds to which category – created out of Post-It Notes of course.

On the surface Post-It Notes seem like a perfect solution to the ADDer’s fear of forgetting something important. Once it’s written down, it’s not going to get lost in your brain. And there is a certain satisfaction in ripping a Post-It Note off the wall once you’ve completed the task.

However, there is a dark side to using Post-It Notes as an organizational system. Read More→

Business Basics, organization

Back to school – a new beginning for the entrepreneur

Posted on September 8, 2009
by Andrea J. Stenberg

Ah … the first day of school. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve headed off to class the day after Labour Day, September still feels like the true beginning of the year. Everything is possible.

And although I can relive the beginning of the school vicariously through my son, I also use this time to start fresh myself. The summer is mostly over; the mornings are cooler, the leaves are starting to turn and I feel less of the urge to take off for a day at the beach.

And even though I begin each January with a new vision, goals and action plan for my business, I often also use the beginning of September as a time to take stock of where I am. Am I still on track or am I falling short? Are my goals still valid or do they still need tweaking?

The beginning of September means there’s still a third of the year left to go. Summer vacation is over and if I put my nose to the grindstone I can still accomplish a lot by Christmas.

Although I have learned the hard way that my goals and vision are not something I can write down and forget, I still need some prompting to really take a hard look at what I’m doing. Read More→

Business Basics, organization, Planning
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