This time of year is always ripe with discussion about New Year’s resolutions. The change of the calander brings with it the compulsion to think about things that we want to change in our life. So we resolve to make big changes. But that isn’t me this year. I want to do more than make resolutions. I want those resolutions to result in the changes I am seeking. So it isn’t enough to make a resolution. A resolution by itself is like a wish or a dream. It needs action directed towards creating habits to really stick. Only when we change the actions that create the habits will be accomplish what we resolve.
I have been reading about habits this past year and I am going to do more research into this topic in the up coming year because I think our habits large and small ultimately make or break our success. Identifying and changing these habits is a difficult process. But new research has suggested that small changes in our habits are easier to create, which makes sense. So I suggest to create resolutions based on changing some small habits that, over time, can create momentum and bigger changes.
The thing that I am currently working on is organizing my workflow to get to a more productive place. I am a big fan of batching similar activities together and allocating a specific time to accomplish those activites. So I have decided that Mondays are administrative days. The picture above is the system that I am using to organize my administrative activities. One of the key components to this system is its simplicity. Only 3 spaces, each with its specific purpose.
- The dumping zone
- Bills to be paid
- Things to be scanned/filed
The Dumping Zone – At first I was a little leary of the dumping zone, but that has turned out to be the best part of the system. During the course of the week, piles of things come in – email, snail mail, receipts, bills, etc. etc. etc. Almost none of this is urgent and can easily just be dumped in the top to deal with on Monday. It is also a free zone for other people to dump things that they think I need to deal with too. But this is with the understanding that I only look at this pile on Mondays, which is probably soon enough. The key to the success of the dumping zone is that when Monday comes around, the box gets emptied. Every scrap or bit goes somewhere else. If it is bill to be paid, it goes to the second slot. If it just needs to be scanned or filed, it goes to the third slot. If it is needed for a project or other activity, it goes into another system for those things.
Bills to Be Paid – The second slot is pretty self expanatory. Most bills I have are handled automatically but this captures all of the one off things. I don’t empty this every week. But I do go through this every week and take out the things that need to be paid and put everything in chronological order of when it is due. Since most things are automated this isn’t really that hard to organize and review each week. What this does though is give me one place to accumulate the one off bills that are the easiest to forget giving me peace of mind that nothing is forgotten.
Things to be Scanned/Filed – The scanned and filed slot is the one area that I do let accumulate. I will usually spend some time on this on Mondays but it is never a priority. If I find I have bits of time during the week, I can easily work on clearing this out. It is a good activity for me when I have low focus or low energy. Key here is to not let it get too out of hand or have things sitting in there forever. This is a good task to delegate if you have that capacity.
So think about your own system of managing your workflow. How could you improve it? What things are wasting your time? What things could you batch together and what system would you need to hold items waiting to be processed? When you are setting up your system, think about making it simple to follow and be consistent. Overly complex systems never get built into habits and ultimately fail. Then work on making a habit of using this system.
What systems and habits do you want to develop this year?
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