Welcome to The Weekly Simplifier, brought to you by…

Contents:

1.  A Note From Shawn
2.  Quote of the Week
3.  Article: Reduce Stress With This Simple Time-Management Tool
4.  This Week’s Simplification Tip
5.  In the News & On the Web
6.  Featured at ProjectSimplify.com
7.  Keep Smiling

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1. A Note From Shawn

Focus on the basics, or the ”skeleton” as our guest author Ruth Anderson refers to the essentials. So logical and yet we can find it so tough not to get dragged around by distractions. The quote from Einstein implies, for me, a dedication to the basics and to balance. More would be superfluous, less would be hardship.

The tip of the week addresses an uncomfortable situation—the need to restore balance when excess tries to become the norm. This brings up an important point: our inter-connectedness. When I do too much, or commit to too much, I’m not the only one harmed (an easy point to forget when overwhelmed). Those around me feel the effects of my stress and my broken commitments. Not a comforting thought :)  But hey! Life is a miraculous thing. Every morning I wake anew. Every morning I am grateful that I’ve received another opportunity to live, to give, and to dedicate myself to the basics.

Let it be easy!

Shawn Tuttle
Head Simplifier, Project Simplify

2. Quote of the Week

“I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.”
- Albert Einstein

3. Article: Reduce Stress With This Simple Time-Management Tool

guest article by Ruth Anderson

Do you feel frustrated and overwhelmed because you have too many obligations, errands, and lists to keep track of? Do important things sometimes fall through the cracks? You can reduce your stress and stay on top of important details by using a simple time-management tool that I call a “skeleton schedule.”

The skeleton schedule is simple enough to use on a regular basis, yet powerful enough to organize an entire week. It works because it reduces your scheduling to the bare bones – the minimum that you need to do to make your week a success.

To understand it better, consider the more typical approach to scheduling…

Suppose that you sit down on a Sunday evening and decide to plan out your week. Inevitably, you will end up with a schedule that is part high-priority and part “wish list” – in other words, alongside the things that really must get done will be an assortment of things that sort-of have to get done or that you’ve been meaning to give attention to (so why not this week).

A skeleton schedule, on the other hand, has an important difference: it includes ONLY the things that MUST get done… the appointments that are set, the to-dos with deadlines, the routine necessities that keep life orderly, and the things that – if left undone – will cause unwelcome or embarrassing consequences.

In short, it is a concise summary of the bottom line… the bare minimum that must get done in order to stay on top of things. Think of it as the backbone of your week.

With this time-management tool, you can begin each day by reviewing exactly what you will do to make your day a success. You can then feel free to use any remaining time for those other “wish-list” items – or for relaxation, hobbies, or time with family and friends. Benefits include:

* Reduced stress… At the end of the week, you can feel sure that you’ve covered what was most important – and everything else you got done was gravy.

* Less overwhelm… You can turn to your one-page summary at any time to get your bearings and review your priorities.

* Greater freedom… To make the most of the time that remains after the necessities are done.

A skeleton schedule is easy to make. To begin, choose a time of the week when you will routinely create your schedule (I recommend Sunday evening). Although a skeleton schedule could be created on a daily basis, it is far more effective and time-efficient to look ahead to your week as a whole.

Second, set up a scheduling format. Typically, a skeleton schedule for an entire week can be fit on a single page, using seven columns for each day of the week. A useful format has an appointment grid in the upper part of the page, and space for a daily list at the bottom. (For a free, downloadable sample of a blank skeleton schedule form, see the instructions at the end of this article.)

Third, transfer information into your schedule from your calendar and other places where you keep reminders… if you don’t have a good system for keeping track of such details, now is the time to set one up! I recommend using the skeleton schedule in conjunction with a monthly wall calendar and a set of four “tickler” files (one for each week of the month).

Finally, put any items that aren’t absolute “must-dos” into a list on a separate sheet of paper. During the week, you can refer to this list whenever you have extra time above and beyond your skeleton-schedule items.

As a business owner and parent starting a new school year, I will be making a skeleton schedule each Sunday evening to help me stay on top of a multitude of must-dos: field trip forms, soccer snacks, classroom visits, and project deadlines, together with business appointments and car tune-ups. This simple time-management tool may be the key to handling your busy days as well.

© 2005 Ruth Anderson
VANTAGE POINT Coaching & Consulting
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About The Author
Ruth Anderson

For a FREE copy of a blank “Skeleton Schedule” form, visit Ruth Anderson at www.vantagepointcoaching.com and click on “Free Time-Management Tool.” Ruth is the owner of Vantage Point Coaching & Consulting, and offers the unique “Introduction to Coaching” program and the “Create-Your-Own Coaching Project.” She can be reached at (ruth@vantagepointcoaching.com) ruth (at) vantagepointcoaching (dot) com.

4. This Week’s Simplification Tip

Simplifying Commitments

Have you committed to doing more than is practical to fulfill?  Have you missed deadlines, forgotten appointments, or lost touch with the original reason for agreeing to help in the first place?  Have you committed to projects that you don’t necessarily want to do but just couldn’t bring yourself to say, ”No,” when asked?

If your actions are not supporting your committed word, it’s time to develop your skills of renegotiation and diplomatic disengagement — basically, it’s time to “deal.” Not only will this exercise relieve tremendous burden from you, it will help you regain respect of those you’ve ‘let down’, and it will show that you have respect for those people that you shouldn’t have committed to in the first place.

Renegotiation and diplomatic disengagement simply mean making the commitments Right. Right in the sense that you are engaged in a way that is appropriate for all involved.

How to begin? Give yourself the time and space to check in with yourself, free of those nasty “should”s and “could”s and “I used to be able to”s.

Take one commitment/situation at a time, writing each down on a piece of paper. Ask yourself the question, “what is the best role for me in this situation?” Write the answer down. Then ask, “what do I need to do to make this happen?” Write down the answer. This is your guide.

Contact the appropriate person involved for this commitment and schedule a time to talk. Tell them you have over-committed and are taking action to set things Right. Apologize. Explain what you feel is the best role for you (just read it off of your paper) and ask for their co-operation. Brainstorm a solution with them (i.e. find a mutually agreeable solution–do not ‘dump’ your responsibilities on them).

Many times this conversation will get you off the hook. If, however, for any reason your desired level of disengagement can not be met without hardship on others, renegotiate (you did commit after all!) Be realistic about what you can do and in what timeframe. Come to an agreement, and then do it.

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Adapted from: http://projectsimplify.com/musings/simplifying-commitments/

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5. In the News & On the Web

[In this section, we will highlight sites and pages of interest from around the Web, as well as news stories that relate to simplicity, time management, and organization when we see them. If you know of something in the news or on the web that should be featured here, let us know!]

In The News

Time Is On Your Side … If You Have Nothing To Do
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=9391
“Organizer to the stars” Cyndi Seidler muses on sleeping in, and the “scattered action” syndrome.

On The Web

50 Organizing Ideas
http://www.lifeorganizers.com/office/50-organizing-ideas.htm
Maria Gracia at LifeOrganizers.com offers a whole bucketload of ways to get more organized, with mini-explanations for each. It’s easy to scan quickly for the tips that resonate with you.

6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com

Testimonials Page

Testimonials are always great to get, despite the fact that the term makes them sound like a legal procedure. Really, “testimonial” is just the business world’s word for “praise”. Which is always great to get. :-)

We’ve received several handfuls of praise which we’re able to share with you– and they’re gathered together on our Testimonials Page (http://projectsimplify.com/testimonials).

Here’s an especially informative one. Mr. Rainey is on the short list to star in our first commercial. (Not really, but he will be, once we make the short list! ;-))

“Our new management team inherited a completed grant that required onerous reporting. It was the kind of project that–in a busy office climate–we never could manage to prioritize and get our heads around. We called in Shawn from Project Simplify and after a 20 minute initial meeting and passing her a pile of folders, she returned with our files organized, our relations with the grantor mended, and–most importantly–a stack of completed reporting forms ready for my signature. In a matter of days, her responsiveness, attention to detail, and sleuthing skills turned a looming nightmare into a resolved–and simplified–project!”

– Jason Rainey
Executive Director, SYRCL
South Yuba River Citizens League

Read the rest of our testimonials (and view a “photo testimonial”) here:
http://projectsimplify.com/testimonials 

7. Keep Smiling

from AttitudeFactor.com:

In 1973 Dr. Grossarth-Maticek gave a brief test measuring habitual feelings of pleasure and well-being to thousands of elderly residents of Heidelberg, Germany. Twenty-one years later, he compared the test scores with health status. The results (graph) were amazing: the 300 people who had scored highest turned out to be thirty times more likely to be alive and well 21 years later than the 200 lowest!

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Though the idea of improving your health prospects by changing attitudes may sound like a fantasy, experiments have shown that a small amount of training spread over a year can be amazingly effective. In 1973 Dr. Grossarth-Maticek, the creator of both of the attitude tests included in this site, also did an amazing experiment which proved just that. He randomly divided 1200 people who had scored poorly on his tests into two equal-sized groups. One group of 600 was given a self-help brochure and six, one-hour training sessions spread over a one year period. The other 600 were given no training or placebo training.

When the health status of the two groups was checked 13 years later, 409 of the people given the training were still alive versus only 97 of the equal-sized control group! If you think it’s too late for you to change, think again: the average age of the people in the experiment was 58!

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You can take both of Dr. Grossarth-Maticek’s attitude tests online at http://AttitudeFactor.com

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Thanks for reading - see you next week!