Confessions of an Organizer

Posted August 29th, 2011 in Best Of Posts, Clutter Control & Office Organization, Entrepreneurship, Solopreneurship, Micropreneurship, Mindset & Energy Awareness, Small Business Ownership | 0 Comments

  1. Seriously, I hate technology! I know it’s supposed to make our lives easier, but I find it makes things more complicated. All things in moderation.
  2. I love my label maker and it definitely servers a purpose, but perfect labels and file folders with matchy-matchy colors make me a little nauseous!
  3. My desk has piles on it. Lots of them. I make them go away regularly, but in the midst of creation or switching between client work, the piles…they do grow!
  4. I’m not a die-hard minimalist, but clutter-free IS awesome! There’s something about minimal furniture and clutter that helps me breath better.
  5. There IS energy in getting organized. Seriously. That breathing thing? You’ll do it deeper and more often in an organized space. Pay attention to it, because our breath is as important as the blood flowing through our veins (literally and physically, the two are as one).
  6. I can organize anything. For almost anybody. But it’s their responsibility to keep it that way. Most people forget that when they are wailing in the phone, “I need you to get me organized!”
  7. Getting organized is a singular even. Keeping organized is an ongoing habit. It’s hard to create a new habit – but once you get it, you get it.
  8. Being an organized person is a learned skill. See #7.
  9. If you’re overwhelmed (with anything) the first step is to break the overwhelm down into big bite sized chunks. The devil is in the tiny details – and that’s where most people get STUCK.
  10. People moan and complain about their lives being so complicated. I want to shake them by their shoulders and show them that they’ve created the lives they are living and they have the ultimate power to change them. Whether they will use their power or not…that’s an entirely different story.
  11. Many times, I don’t get my clients perfectly organized. We don’t implement all this amazing technology to make their lives easier. We don’t buy a bunch of organizing bins and totes (although that is WAY fun when we do). Mostly, we simplify. We take away rather than add. We discard. My clients learn to become discerning about what they let in their lives (or into their bodies, their homes and offices, their cars, their email boxes, or their computers). It’s a glorious day when my client calls and tells me they unsubscribed from a bunch of crap or loaded up their recycle bin, or decluttered their desk, or activated their power by using the word “NO.”

Glorious, I tell you. Just glorious!

Time to get thee organized? Ready to exercise your “Power of No”, calm your Monkey Mind, and create a clutter-free world? Call me! It’s time. (704) 553-8082 or angie@mattsonbusiness.com.

Seth Godin is promoting my business

Posted July 8th, 2011 in Clutter Control & Office Organization, Entrepreneurship, Solopreneurship, Micropreneurship, Mindset & Energy Awareness, Small Business Ownership | 1 Comment

Ok, well not MY business specifically, but definitely the services I provide. You can read the whole post by Seth here.

In a nutshell, he says, “Go find a geek. Someone who understands gmail, Outlook, Excel and other basic tools. Pay her to sit next to you for an hour and watch you work. Then say, “tell me five ways I can save an hour a day.”

I am a little offended that he called me a “geek” though. ;-)

Seriously, though. When was the last time YOU audited how you work?

If you’re ready to save an hour a day, FIVE hours a week, and up to 20 hours a month, it’s time to call me.  William McKee from Knowmad did and here’s what he had to say:

“I like to be organized but have a hard time keeping up with everything while also running a growing business. In only 30 minutes, Angie helped me get past some of the mental blocks I had in place which were holding me back. She offered creative ways to handle the flood of incoming information and deal with the backlog of unprocessed email. Her enthusiasm in helping others get organized is contagious. This is vital counsel for every knowledge worker learning how to be more effective and enjoy their job more.”

It’s important to note here that William already was a pretty organized person. But he knew he could do better! An outsider’s perspective, an audit of his workflow (as Seth Godin called it), made a huge difference in his stress level — and he freed up time to focus on making MORE sales (which is his #1 priority in business).

You can read other notes from satisfied (and organized) clients here.

Ready? You know you are. Because feeling overwhelmed, drowning in email, dealing with administrivia, and being not nearly productive enough on those REAL priorities…you’re OVER it.

Give MBS, Inc. a call: 704/553-8082 or angie@mattsonbusiness.com.

Delegation Secrets

Posted June 20th, 2011 in Clutter Control & Office Organization, Delegation Tips & Tools, Entrepreneurship, Solopreneurship, Micropreneurship, Small Business Ownership | 1 Comment

When deciding to use a Mobile or Virtual Assistant, one of the hardest things to do is get started! Maybe you can’t decide what to delegate. Or you don’t have any written instructions for the things you would like to delegate!

It’s helpful to begin a list of what an MA or VA can do to help you.

Start paying attention – what are the tasks you don’t want to do? What are the tasks you know in your bones you should delegate? What aren’t you good at – but muddle through anyway? What are the tasks you’re doing that suck up your precious (and expensive) time?

If you’re stuck making a list, engage a friend or some other business owners. Start talking to each other and brainstorming what sorts of tasks you would like to have someone else do. At first, you might get an exasperated, “I have no idea!” Keep talking – soon, you’ll have a list as long as your arm.

Start with categories:

  • General Administrative Tasks – filing, data entry of business cards, returning phone calls, doing research, managing your calendar, making packets or photocopies
  • Bookkeeping – data entry, filing, tracking A/P or A/R
  • Specific Tasks – writing/editing letters, simple desktop publishing, more involved research, transcribing meeting minutes, running errands

Next, ask yourself these questions to elicit more ideas for things to delegate:

  • What project or task can someone else start?
  • What project or task can someone else keep moving forward?
  • What project or task can I have someone else finish up?
  • What’s on my “I wish list?” How can my assistant help me with these items?

One word of caution – we are all looking for quick answers and quick fixes – but delegation isn’t always a quick fix.

You need to remember to (1) train (2) review and (3) verify. You can’t simply hand over work and forget about it – especially in the beginning. Give your MA or VA time to ask clarifying questions. Provide structure for them to ask questions during the project. It’s helpful to set a time-limit at first, too. For instance, you hand over a project with some directions (written or verbal). Give your assistant a 30 minute limit. After 30 minutes, both of you should review the work/progress to make sure the assistant is working in the right direction. If not, give helpful feedback, redirect, and move forward again with a time limit. Check again. After you feel the assistant has the task firmly in hand, set ‘em loose with a clear description of the deliverable (the end result).

Still stumped on how to get started with delegation?  Call us at MBS, Inc. We can help you with time mapping, delegation checklists, and more! (704) 553-8082 or angie@mattsonbusiness.com.

Article originally published at EzineArticles.com: http://EzineArticles.com/6357655

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