Get Organized
Right now, life can become chaotic. You may have been lucky enough to take a long vacation—only to find yourself inundated with work when you return. You may also be dealing with getting kids ready for school and all that entails including scheduling around sports, and all manner of extracurricular and family activities.
For some people, using a paper calendar, family chalkboard, or online planner works. Some use Google calendar for business and personal activities. Others prefer Apple products and the basic iCloud calendar app. Both are great because they usually come with your computer or phone operating systems, and you can track all of your “to-do” lists and automatically sync with all of your devices.
There are also many free web-based tools for scheduling business meetings or any type of group activity. Doodle works well to coordinate with three or more people no matter their location or what calendar they use. You simply create a poll inviting people to mark their availability, and anyone can respond with no sign-in required. It also lets you change your availability and automatically informs those you have invited so you don’t have to constantly update them.
If you need something more hi-tech that can handle lots of complexities, there is no shortage of apps and planning tools that suit all sorts of different circumstances. The key to using all of these tools is picking one that you like and using it for as many activities—both business and personal—as you can. I also suggest writing down your passwords and keeping them in a place where anyone who needs them can easily access them!
How to Stay Motivated
The downside of these management tools, devices, and programs is that they only really work if you keep up with your emails and notifications! Sometimes that becomes a chore in itself.
These ideas can also seem overwhelming, so you probably need to do things to keep motivated. For some people, this might mean walking away from computers and screens, even for a short time. You may use that time to take a walk, read, cook or bake, do a puzzle, get a massage, or just do anything for yourself that you enjoy. Others might need to call a friend just to talk, or to commiserate about how hard it is to stay motivated. Those who prefer using technology can take advantage of the many calming apps including one called Calm or listening to curated selections of calming music. There are also apps and podcasts that offer inspirational sayings or daily meditations.
But…what if there was a better way to decrease or even eliminate the chaos?
Consider Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA)
Sometimes you just need someone to help you research the best organizing tools for your particular circumstances or someone who will set the systems up and manage the information for you. That someone might be a VA. Our VAs provide services that include scheduling, email and calendar management, and making appointments for personal or business, and a range of things in between. Contact us if you’re ready to learn more.