The truth about multitasking

Brain research indicates that you can have several motor programs running at the same time. (Your Creative Brain by Shelley Carson, 2000) so you can steer your car, talk to passengers and adjust your rear view mirror simultaneously. Unfortunately you can only focus your conscious mental attention to one of these things at a time. You can multitask physically, but not mentally. What you are really doing is switching your attention rapidly from one task to another. When you physically multitask at work, you may feel you are more effectively using your time. But both your efficiency and effectiveness will decrease. We think sequentially so we should work sequentially.

Sheryl's Interview with Life and Style Editor, Caroline Dohack

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/jul/01/order-from-chaos/
 

Order from Chaos

A local organizing expert shares insight into common hurdles that keep people from getting organized.

By Caroline Dohack

Sunday, July 1, 2012

 Sheryl Ruedebusch wants you to know that being organized doesn't mean your home or office has to look like a set from the Container Store website.
"I think it's worth repeating: Good organization is 90 percent mental as you get your habits right and 10 percent physical — containers, software and furniture you get into your life," Ruedebusch said.
And what good organization entails varies from person to person.
"There is no one-size-fits-all. To me, good organization means everything in my life has a home and, if I need it, I can find it quickly to use it, to share it, to consume it, whatever the case may be," Ruedebusch said.
But when it comes to getting organized, many experts believe there are six major issues that impede progress.
"That doesn't mean everybody deals with all of them or deals with them all the time," Ruedebusch said.
By identifying which issues are at play, people can start to work toward a better organized system.

HANDLING INCOMING ITEMS

Daily life throws a lot at us. There are papers, emails and voice messages.
"Paper can include books and magazines. Paperwork seems to be a struggle, even though we are in the digital age. … We are a society where we have electronic gadgets that can get at us seven days a week, 24 hours a day," Ruedebusch said.
What often happens is those things start to pile up, either physically or digitally.
"It's coming to their computers. They have these saved emails that go on for hundreds," Ruedebusch said.
Ruedebusch said the root of the problem seems to be indecision.
"To combat that, I ask people to consider quick decisions, one of five," Ruedebusch said.
Those decisions are:

• Discard or delete the item.
• Delegate it to another person.
• Take immediate action.
• File for reference.
• File for follow-up.

To keep the follow-up items in order, Ruedebusch keeps a set of folders, one dated one through 31 and another labeled January through December. Items to be dealt with in the near future go into one of the numbered files; items that need to go on the back burner are filed into the appropriate month's folder.
"If people do that, they will find that the things aren't piling up on the counters or desktops or other various pieces of furniture in their personal or professional lives," Ruedebusch said.

PRIORITIZING

For some, disorganization is an almost existential problem.
"Many of us struggle with 'Everything is important, and if everything is important, nothing is,' " Ruedebusch said.
When working with clients who have difficulty prioritizing tasks, Ruedebusch said it is not uncommon for procrastination to be an issue.
"I'll say, 'When do you have to do something with this?' Often, people say, 'Tomorrow.' "
To help assign priority to different tasks, Ruedebusch said to ask the following questions:

• How difficult is it?
• What is it going to cost?
• How much time does it take?
• What is the impact? Does it really help anybody?

"Giving a value to those four things helps them think that way. It's amazing what people can do if they've been careful and identified priorities," Ruedebusch said.

USING TIME RATIONALLY

But even if you have a good list of priorities, there's only so much time in the day.
"When you look at that list, maybe at the bottom of the list there is something that looks like, 'I just don't feel like making that phone call or writing that letter. I'm going to go down below here and play with some email.' You have to ask yourself: Is that really a rational use of your time?" Ruedebusch said.
If using time rationally is a challenge, Ruedebusch recommended figuring out how long each job takes and blocking out the appropriate amount of time on the calendar.
Ruedebusch likens time management to the Weight Watchers program, which helps people stay on track by having them record everything they eat. It can seem a little tedious at first, she said, but it helps a person make note of areas where they struggle and, over time, develop new habits.

MANAGING PROJECTS

Ruedebusch said that often, big projects are haphazardly organized.
"What I try to do with" clients "is identify: 'What are the things we're looking at in this project? Do we have to manage communications between people? Do we have to look at costs and budget? Do we have to look at a timeline?' "
Ruedebusch said a binder with subdivisions for different tasks can help manage big projects, but a spreadsheet can help with smaller projects. Ruedebusch said to make columns for what tasks need to be done, who is going to complete them and when they must be finished.

PERSONALITY

Ruedebusch said some personality traits can actually hinder progress.
She listed perfectionism as an example.
"It's natural for many of us to want to get everything perfect. Then we learn there is no perfect, but we look for what I call continued sustained excellence," Ruedebusch said.
Ruedebusch added that perfectionism isn't necessarily a bad trait but said it can make some aspects of organization uncomfortable.
"You have to recognize your personality type or style" when putting a new system into place, Ruedebusch said.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ISSUES

Sometimes, personality traits can cross over into an extreme territory, Ruedebusch said. Although she is not trained to make diagnoses, she said she is aware some psychological issues can impede progress.
"If someone feels they're freezing up on productivity, it may be that they need to seek help," Ruedebusch said.

Reach Caroline Dohack at 573-815-1727 or e-mail cedohack@columbiatribune.com.

Food for Thought: Be Aware

 

Studies have shown that Multitasking 

dramatically decreases your Productivity. 

Try Uni-tasking!

Food for Thought

Always ask yourself...

1.  Where will I put it?

2.  How will I find it?

Missouri University: Business and I.T. Skills

http://hrs.missouri.edu/training/all-employees/adult-education-classes/business-and-it-skills.php

Focused, Organized, and Productive


Instructor: Sheryl Ruedebusch
Columbia Area Career Center

Getting and staying organized is no longer a luxury...it's a matter of survival! Join Sheryl and learn from her 20 plus years of experience  in continuing education in the field of Professional Organization. She will empower and energize you to get more organized and joyfully productive.  Fee includes workbook and supplies needed to implement Sheryl's proven strategies. Ask about adapting this class into a corporate training for your large or small business. (3 Hours)

Smart Strategies Help Savvy Shoppers Come Out on Top

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/nov/27/smart-strategies-help-savvy-shoppers-come-out-on/

By Caroline Dohack

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Even those who find shopping to be an enjoyable pastime can find themselves in a retail-induced funk as they work on finishing (or, ahem, starting) their holiday shopping.
Sheryl Ruedebusch, a local professional organizer, said good planning saves time, money and, perhaps most importantly, your sanity.
“Stress is a primitive guiding system, fight or flight. We get angry or run away from it. That is the reason we want to set up a system, so that we can approach the holidays with less stress and make more intelligent decisions,” Ruedebusch said.
Part of intelligent decision making starts with a smart budget.
According to The Bank of Missouri, you should take your current savings, income and other expenses when coming up with your budget.
Noreen Perrotta, finance editor at Consumer Reports, said to also examine what you spent last year.

 “It’s probably a good idea to review what you spent last year and how you spent it, see how that compares with your list this year. If you had additional people, you’re going to spend more. It wouldn’t be realistic to think you could spend the same amount and buy for more people unless you really charge for bargains or scale back what you spend per person,” Perrotta said.
Perrotta said to include some space in your budget for unplanned-for expenses, such as new lights for the tree or a bottle of wine to take to a party you are invited to.
“We suggest you add 10 percent to your budget for the things you’re not remembering as you are setting it up,” Perrotta said.
After the budget has been established, Ruedebusch likes to make a spreadsheet to plan and manage her shopping list.
In the first column, “list all the people you think you need to purchase a gift for,” Ruedebusch said. “In the second column, look at spreading out the dollar amounts. In the third column, write ideas for those various people. … Leave a fourth column for you to actually check off when those things are done.”
Ruedebusch likes to leave space in that fourth column to jot down additional ideas that might come to mind later.
To get ideas, Ruedebusch said to start skimming the inserts in the newspaper.
“See what is on sale out there and get an idea of what” marketers “think people are doing,” Ruedebusch said.
These inserts also are a good place to compare prices and decide where to shop. Additionally, some smartphone apps make on-the-go comparing easier. The Shop Savvy app, for instance, allows you to scan barcodes using your phone’s camera and pull up not only the price of the item in the store you’re visiting, but prices from other stores as well as online retailers.
As you go, pay attention to how you’re paying for your purchases. As Consumer Reports points out, you’re less likely to go over budget if you use cash or your debit card, and if you use cash you might be able to negotiate a discount because the store won’t be charged a transaction fee for running a card. Still, credit cards offer the best protection against fraudulent charges on a lost or stolen card, according to Consumer Reports.
The Bank of Missouri recommends saving receipts and adding them up at the end of the week to evaluate where you are in your budget — according to Consumer Reports, shoppers responding to their annual holiday survey went an average of 16 percent over budget in 2009.

A few more money-saving tips:

 Ask for a better price. According to a Consumer Reports survey, only 13 percent of electronics shoppers said they tried haggling in stores. These shoppers saved an average of $82 on their purchases.

“It’s probably a good idea to shop at less busy times if you want the opportunity to haggle. If you’re in a really crowded store, it’s hard to get somebody to talk to you and they might not want to get in a bidding war with you. Be polite. Make some suggestions why something should sell for less, like maybe you were researching the prices and you noticed a store down the road has something $10 less and you have proof of that,” Perrotta said.
Avoid the store credit card. Many stores will offer you a one-time savings for opening a store credit card. Consumer Reports points out that often these have a high interest rate — 20 percent or higher — so to avoid them unless you can pay off the balance in one chunk.
Don’t bother with the extended warranty. “Most products don’t break down within the warranty period. A defective product will break down within the warranty. Most will last for a reasonable amount of time and what you pay for the warranty will be more than or the same as what the repair will cost, and given the rapid obsolescence of most products, people are looking to upgrade anyway by the time something breaks down,” Perrotta said.
Still, Consumer Reports points out that a plan that extends technical support and repairs might work for someone who isn’t tech savvy. Also, a plan for theft or accidental damage for laptop, netbook or tablet might be a good idea.
The gift card is not a great go-to gift. Consumer Reports surveys show that a quarter of people who received a gift card still hadn’t used it 10 months later. Some gift cards have extra fees.
Double check the store’s return policy. According to Consumer Reports, most stores give you 90 days to return an item, though some items such as electronics, software and DVDs have a shorter window of time. Additionally, some stores charge restocking fees, sometimes as high as 15 percent of the product’s cost.

Shop online. “It’s easier. You don’t spend any gas on it. You’re less likely to be distracted by the beautiful ornament display where you’re going to buy something for yourself. If you get hungry, you just go to the kitchen and get yourself a snack. You don’t have to go to the food court and drop several bucks,” Perrotta said.
Additionally, many companies offer free shipping during the holidays.
“There’s also free shipping day, which is Dec. 16. Online retailers will agree to ship for free with delivery guaranteed by Christmas Eve. To check for participating merchants, visit Freeshippingday.com.

Reach Caroline Dohack at 573-815-1727 or e-mail cedohack@columbiatribune.com.

Food for Thought

My favorite definition of a chaotic or disorganized state of affairs is postponed decisions.