ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS PROMOTE HEALTH

Did you know that doctors around the world have now accepted the health benefits of leading an organized life as a medical fact?

WebMD addresses the problems of people who are feeling tired and unfocused in their work environments. One simple solution is recommended. They suggest that the unfocused person stop whatever task they are presently working on and clean up and organize their desk.

This one task, offering just a little more organization, brings a burst of unexpected energy.  Afterwards, it is surprising how much easier it is for these people to go back to focusing on their routine tasks.

APPLYING WHAT WORKS TO OUR OWN LIVES

We are simply taking this suggestion for organizing the desk one step further and applying it to organizing our personal lives, as well as our work lives.

I would like to suggest that this task of organizing our lives becomes even more important as we grow older.

Eventually, all of these baby steps for organizing will gel into lasting life-long habits that help to make us all happier people……right?

Let’s step out and see what works for us.

We have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.

TAKE THINGS ONE BABY STEP AT A TIME

The baby step for this week is to begin to develop a daily habit of using a good calendar and a good personal planner as efficient tools for life organization.

The key word here is “use” not “buy.”

If you buy a calendar and a planner but do not use them you are simply wasting your time and money.

At first, the purchasing of a good calendar may sound like a silly suggestion since I’m sure each of us probably already have at least five-to-ten calendars just lying around the house right now.   It is possible that we even check some of them from time to time.

That last part of my last statement is the key point!

Checking your calendar DAILY and USING it as a routine tool for staying organized is very important.

DAILY USE IS KEY

Are you REALLY in the habit of checking your calendar for appointments, tasks and to-do lists every morning?

This little task requires discipline; but it is necessary.

Just take that first step and begin to do this with whatever tools you have available and on-hand.  See how it feels and notice what works best for you and what is missing as you go through the process.

Checking your list of Things To Do is a must for an organized life.

Develop this habit and it will help you tremendously.

You need to start somewhere; sit down and write out that “To-Do” List.

DON’T FORGET TO WRITE DOWN YOUR LIST

Oh; I see; possibly you ARE already doing this……..but HOW are you doing it?

Do you REALLY write down those things that you need to remember during the day as they pop into your head; or are you trying to remember about two million random facts a day and forgetting to write them down on your calendar?

This will eventually cause you to be overwhelmed and stressed.

You will eventually burn out.

KILLING THE KAROSHI MONSTER

There is a word used in Japan called “Karoshi” which is literally translated to mean “death from overwork.”

Don’t put your brain on karoshi!

The major medical problems caused by karoshi are heart attack and stroke due to stress.

By properly using a good calendar and a working personal planner you can eliminate the constant stress of having to remember every little detail of every little thing you need to know for a healthy, happy, productive life every day of the year.

In this little one organizational step we can eliminate a whole year’s worth of constant stress.

We are not going to let that karoshi-monster take over our lives!

USE THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO LIVE BETTER

King Solomon made a very wise statement when he noticed that “there is a time for everything under the sun.”

Let’s move on to getting our calendars and personal planners and using them every day.

Once you develop the routine habit of USING these two tools (an actual physical personal planner that contains your daily calendar on paper and an
on-line personal planner that keeps and organizes your more formal personal calendar,) you will never want to go back to living without them.

There is something wonderful about having everything all laid out, well planned, and scheduled in advance in an easy-to-use and orderly calendar.

There is a huge amount of satisfaction that comes from having one place that lists appointment times, contains your sorted to-do lists, and schedules your chores and daily tasks as well as your leisure time in the available-time frame of the hours of your daily life and even does it in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.

Suddenly your day becomes so much easier to manage.

Soon we will discuss the best calendars and personal planners in the market.

Until then; resolve to kill that karoshi monster and get him out of your life!