Are you over-organised?

I used to think there was no such thing as too organised.

I was wrong - I have met Over-Organised and it is not a pretty sight!

Before I get ahead of myself, let me ask you, "Why do you organise?"

Generally, people organise their lives to save time, save money, for a feeling of peace and harmony in their homes, etc.

So if your organising is costing you these things, then I say you're over-organising.

Let me give you some examples:
1. If your stuff has to be JUST SO and it means that your husband and kids can't leave a thing out of place otherwise the MOMMY MONSTER comes out, then you're over-organising.

2. If you spend hours categorising and making folders and sub-folders in your inbox, and it takes you 15 minutes to find anything because you have to remember exactly how you filed it, then you're definitely over-organising!

Remember, the point of being organised is to save time.

So avoid complicated systems that you AND YOUR FAMILY can't use easily.

Does any of this sound familiar? Are you over-organised? What are you going to do about it?

A cool timer - Journal feature in Outlook

I just wanted to quickly share something that's been working GREAT for me with keeping focussed while I'm working (and playing) on the computer.

It's the journal feature in Outlook.

All you do to activate it is click on the green Journal button to open. Then open a new Journal, and click Start Timer. Then the little clock starts ticking.

When I start blogging, for instance, I turn the Journal on and start the timer. The mere fact that that timer is ticking away keeps me on track and focussed.

Since I've started using this, I realised, for instance, that I write very quickly but it's the uploading of photos to blogger that takes all the time :)

I am getting a lot more done on project work because I know how much time I have allotted to do something, and so I just dive in and get it done.

It also gets rid of the perfectionism monster because I don't let myself waste time thinking about the perfect word; instead I just write from my heart and hope my readers get what I'm trying to say :)

And if you're competitive like me, you can make a game out of it - say, how many emails can you get through in 30 minutes?

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

I know that Suzanne uses the Journal to keep track when she's on the phone with a customer services rep. Oh my - if I did that yesterday, it would have racked up 48 minutes to Telkom to report the fault on our telephone line!

Does anyone else use the journal and HOW?

WAIT - before you go, please weigh in here too...

I'm of two minds as to whether or not I should participate in the bloggy giveaways thing next week.

Honestly, I don't know if there's any real purpose because (I may be wrong) it seems like it's just a "grab as much as you can" fest :) Hey - I love sales as much as the next gal!

But 1) you get a ton of traffic for 2 days and then back to normal 2) most people don't ship outside the US so I don't even bother to participate (except in the blog header competitions!) 3) I don't know if other businesses actually get an increase in sales?

I really would LOVE to know what you think, but especially if you have your own business, then please weigh in (you can stay anonymous if you want :))

For more tips this week, visit Shannon's Works for me Wednesday blog carnival.