Last week we discussed that if one wants to achieve success, it is necessary to plan and to be organized. I left you with the task of writing down your answers to some key questions. Hopefully you have done that. If not, I urge you to do so.
Now, on to more steps to success.
5. Make use of filing cabinets and portable plastic file boxes for each project. Keep the files clearly labelled. Portable file boxes are excellent to keep items at your finger tips and to save you much time. For instance, for years I have done church bookkeeping. The binder and file folders I use were in a drawer in our dining room, the weekly counting sheets, cheque and deposit books were in cloth bag stored under a table, the calculator was on my desk upstairs, the pens, pencils and erasers were scattered, and finding the stapler was always a challenge! My desk is too small for doing the bookkeeping because I need room to spread everything out, so I usually work at the kitchen table. Gathering everything together was enough to lead to major cases of procrastination and, ultimately, failure to have the bills paid on time or the monthly reports ready for the board meetings! Although I have portable filing boxes for other projects, it had escaped my mind to create one specifically for bookkeeping. I remembered, “organization leads to success” and decided to take the time to get organized for success with bookkeeping. Now, after 36+ years of church bookkeeping (I am a slow learner at times!) I have a portable filing box on wheels that I can roll anywhere I want to work. The cloth liner of the box has many pockets and compartments, and, a file folder section. It is now equipped with absolutely everything I need and those items are not shared with the office or any other activity. These are “for bookkeeping only” purposes. Wow, what a time and sanity saver!
In regards to be organized for success, no, not all goals will require a filing cabinet or portable file boxes. Perhaps you just need a journal to jot down notes and plans, or a box with index cards on which you record information or steps of action. The importance of putting your goals on paper is that it literally puts those goals into black and white – or technicolour if you wish to use a computer for your journalling and are creative. If your goals just swirl around in your head over and over and over, that may be just where they stay – in your head! Recording them is a concrete step of action that you need to take.
6. Whether your project will require a full office, the kitchen table as a work surface, or just everything in a portable file box used at a TV tray, being organized is essential! Stake out your working station and make it yours!
7. Follow the rule of “a place for everything and everything in its place.” ALWAYS put everything back into their right place so you can find them the next time.
8. When I used to write out and attempt to follow a rigid schedule, I was always defeated by the end of the first month (week!). Life always happened differently than planned and the plan book was a scratched out mess!!! Flexibility allows me to have clearly defined goals with flexible dates where practical. On a wall in our upstairs hall we have numerous charts listing in minute detail in point form every step we need to do in order to complete specific projects. We sometimes put target completion dates in pencil beside the individual points and the name of the project. Pencil is easier to erase when “life happens!” Some steps will have the name of the person who will complete the step. As we complete a step, we cross it off as a visible reminder of progress. This process helps to keep nightmares at bay so that you do not spend sleepless nights trying to sort out what needs to be done next.
9. Flexibility is important. However, do not use flexibility as license for procrastination. The best ideas and plans will be lost if you fail to include time in your schedule to accomplish them. Never dismiss the wisdom of, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!”
10. YOU CANNOT DO EVERYTHING OR GO EVERYWHERE! Determine what is important to you and your family, then prioritize your tools, resources, time investments, and activities to accomplish your goals.
Organization leads to success and is always an ongoing process. So ready or not, head into or continue on with current endeavours with a sense of excitement and anticipation of what you will accomplish with God’s help.
==================================================================
By: ©February 2008, updated and expanded April 2010, Maxine McLellan, author, motivational speaker, owner of JOY Center of Learning in Ontario, Canada .
Recommended Resources available from JOY Center of Learning, http://www.joycenter.on.ca
• Family Buried Alive. . .Help on the Way! – a practical and humorous guide to getting your home, schedule and family organized.
• Organizing for Success Charts – charts for organizing your home maintenance, schedule, homeschooling, packing lists for trips – all reproducible and can be personalized
Tags: organization, organizing for success, steps to success