photo credit: Sarah G…

Routine can be a helpful mechanism for getting repeating tasks done on a regular basis, but it can also trick you into blind cooperation with the past. Do all of your repeating tasks still matter? Are there others you’re doing only sporadically that could be scheduled for better reliability and efficiency? Should you be delegating some of those tasks, if you can?

Why not use a few moments this morning to review your to do list, your calendar, and your mental checklist of habits for anything that might need some freshening up. I just read through mine and noticed that I don’t have a time scheduled regularly to review our client list and projects and make sure we’re not overlooking anything we should be doing. I’m going to go schedule that now.

In other words, perhaps: don’t let the everyday craziness get in the way of a stable routine, but on the other hand, don’t let routine get in the way of your creativity.

Happy Monday!

photo credit: sylvar

I once heard organizational guru Peter Walsh http://www.peterwalshdesign.com/ say, “When everything is important, nothing is important.”

He was counseling a woman who had lost control of her possessions. All of her things were out on her front yard, and she somehow laid hands on her deceased father’s wallet which had been crammed in the back of a drawer. It was full of pictures of her and her siblings, as well as handwritten notes and other mementos. Bursting into tears, she begged to be allowed to keep it, even though she was in a boot camp of sorts to save her home from clutter.

Walsh reminded her that she had not even known the wallet was there for over 20 years. It made no sense to hold onto it. “But,” she cried, “this is so important! Please!” Gently he pointed out to her that she had not treated this item any differently than she had treated anything else in her house, from random domino pieces chewed up by dogs to moth-worn scarves from her kids’ childhoods 40 years ago. That’s when he laid it on the line. “When everything is important, nothing is important.”

Unlike any other related advice, this stuck with me from the beginning. We so rationalize our attachments that often we lose our ideals to the idea that everything is important. I’ve had multiple experiences over the years where I felt pressure to push someone else’s goals, priorities, or even values up the totem pole in the interest of my own pereceived success.

There is no end to the parade of people who need you to believe that what THEY want from you is important. The question becomes, what is important to YOU? Which of the things you have filed away and stuffed into drawers – literal or metaphorical – are truly important to YOU?

photo credit: DeaPeaJay

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like there’s just too much to do. Oh, that’s not just me?

I also feel like the tools and systems I use to manage it all sometimes fail me, or I fail them, or whatever, and it all feels too complicated. That sound familiar too?

Why not start this week by finding the simplest approach you can take to managing your time and priorities, and seeing how far that gets you? Whether that means writing on a sticky note or two in your workspace to remind you of something you really should be working on and getting done, or busting out a good old fashioned notepad and pen to make some lists, or shutting off Twitter and closing your email application so you can concentrate on something for a block of time, or even perhaps all of the above, try something incredibly simple and see how it works for you.

And then let us know in the comments how your new, simple approach worked for you. Happy Monday!

photo credit: Mr. Kris

This is one of my father’s favorite sayings, and it came into play for me last week as I put closure on a frustrating event.

I have been very excited about becoming a dues paying member of an out-of-state organization that supports nonprofits. They do what they do better than anyone, and though I’m not in their state I thought being a member would bring enormous benefit to my local work. I paid my online application fee and anxiously awaited my membership packet.

It wasn’t long before I realized something was awry. I couldn’t register for their upcoming conference, so I gave my new friends a call. Alas, it appeared they were trying to figure out how to break it to me: They were planning to refund my money. Since I was not with a nonprofit organization in their state, working with me would be outside of their mission and therefore detracting from what they were set up to do.

Honestly, I was stunned. It had been too long since I had interacted with an organization that knew how to put cash aside for allegiance to purpose. Though I was disappointed, I was impressed by their creativity when they suggested I associate with one of their state’s organizations (a former employer) in order to complete a discounted conference registration.

I took my refunded membership fee and made a donation to my former employer who had offered to help me out. I also have never felt so good about paying full price for a conference.

Too many people are too quick in this economy to just accept money. If it corrupts your organizational integrity in any way, let it go. And if you find yourself with some unexpected cash this month, reach out to the nonprofit of your choice. They will be thrilled to have it, and you may find yourself thrilled to give it.