Get Organized Pittsburgh

If you are trying to change any habit-set your self up for success by taking less on during that time.  We have been focusing on lateness and procrastination lately but this can help with any behavior change from smoking to getting exercise!  Reducing stress at that time increases your will power to succeed.  Stress often makes you resort to those old ways of dealing with things instead of trying new ways. 

So clear the decks and plan successful change by giving yourself a little break to do so.

Free Tele Class to Teach You How to Be on Time

Do you feel the need to squeeze as much activity as you can into each day?
Do you view “unproductive time” as time wasted?
Are you pleased when the day goes by quickly?
Do you regularly under estimate everyday tasks like getting ready for in the morning or driving to work?

If you answered “yes” to 2-3 of these questions, you would be labeled a “producer” in Diane DeLonzer’s book, Never Be Late Again. I must admit that I clearly fit this label! A producer’s battle cry is ” If I hurry, I can…”. Producers are optimists/gamblers. Their thinking is, checking these last two things off me list is more important that being a 100% certain that they will be on time. The rationalization is that they can cross those items off and if EVERYTHING else goes perfectly…they could still be on time. Well, we all know what happens. Producers schedule things tightly to avoid the dreaded down time. We grumble about how BUSY we are and forget that WE are the ones who over-committed! We live daily with this driving desire to GET IT ALL DONE! Here is a little secret…you are NEVER going to get it ALL DONE! So take a deep breath and try some of DeLonzor’s techniques to make a change:

When you feel your self saying, “If I hurry….” replace that with “I am being realistic or optimistic….”
Practice saying “NO” so that you are comfortable doing only things that are important.
Prepare to wait. If you don’t like waiting have something to do!
Practice transitions. Use alarms that make you stop what your doing to turn them off–and you have just started a timely transition!

You are not alone! Many of us are so overwhelmed with to-do’s and commitments and distracted by multiple media streams competing for our attention that I think it is like “Self Inflicted ADD”. There are so many things competing for our attention that we lose track. The first line of defense is to slow down and unload some of the things that distract you.

If this doesn’t help and you find that this is a life-long problem it is time to face it and use tools to set yourself up for success. I often recommend electronic calendars/organizers to clients who suffer with these time challenges. Having these features incorporated into a smartphone really helps. First of all, it is a fact that people learn to use their phones! The more features that are integrated into a phone the more these tools can help. They also sync with your computer, so that if you lose the handheld phone, the data is protected.

Using alarms to keep you on track really helps.  It may feel silly at first, but if it works do it!  When transitions are the problem set alarms that require you to actually get up to turn them off.  Moving out of your space is a big component to get you up and able to transition to the next step.  Setting up a reminder rich environment with minimal distractions is the key.  Accepting this trait to be part of how your brain works and putting systems in place will empower you to start making the changes you need to succeed.