Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
With half a billion current users and more joining every day, Facebook is one of the best and easiest ways to get your name out to potential clients. Are you utilizing this tool to your best advantage? Whether you’re brand new to Facebook or have been using it for years, join us on Monday, August 2nd at 10 AM EST to learn how to make your fan page more compelling, launch a successful Facebook Ad Campaign, understand recent changes to Facebook, and take advantage of the #1 thing you must understand to win the Facebook Marketing game!
Our featured guest will be Shama Kabani–president of The Marketing Zen Group, a full service digital marketing firm that serves clients around the world. She has been dubbed the “master millennial of the universe” and “an online marketing shaman” by Fast Company, and was listed as one of Business Week Magazine’s ’Top 25 Under 25′ entrepreneurs in North America.
Register here: THE NEW FACEBOOK -GREATEST WEB TOOL!
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Maximize your marketing, Professional Organizer Business, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Classes, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench, Red Bench Program
Posted in Continuing Education, Grow Your Business, Marketing, Teleclasses, Time Management, social media | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
A few weeks ago at the POC Conference in Calgary I listened to keynote speaker, Les Hewitt, author of The Power of Focus. He was amazing and I learned a great deal listening to him. One topic that really resonated with me was habits and how they determine your future.
According to Les Hewitt, 47% of my everyday behavior is habitual and it’s extremely important to be aware of what habits are not working for me. I need to remember I can change any habit if I really want to. That’s the tough part.
So I made a list of my bad habits and one of mine was focusing on what I didn’t want. Isn’t that strange? To focus on what you don’t want, rather than what you do want. And I found myself doing it all the time. So since the presentation, I have been focusing on what I really want and its amazing what happens when you focus. Thank you Les!
So what are your bad habits and what can you commit to letting go of in the new year? We would love to hear from you.
A Red Bench offer continuing education for professional organizers and small business owners.
Tags: A Red Bench, Continuing Education for Professional Organizers, Professional Organizer Business, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Classes, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench Program
Posted in Goals, Grow Your Business, Time Management | No Comments »
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Is Your Life in Balance? Everyone feels the pressure of time management, especially a business owner. We have so much on our plates and it’s difficult to get everything done. Burnout is extremely common. How much is work invading your personal life, and how much of your personal life is affected by all the stress?
- Do you spend more time on work-related projects than anything else?
- Do you feel you don’t have any time for yourself — or for your family and friends?
- Does it seem that every minute of every day is always scheduled for something?
Angela and I have felt this way and we know we’re not alone. That’s why our next call is Reclaim Your Life with life and business Coach Cathy Clark. She has an amazing manner that helps you find peace and serenity among chaos. On the call, we will take a deep dive into life balance and what to do when life seems to spin out of control. Cathy will share with us how to determine what is really important, how to say no to tasks and activities that don’t support your goals and what steps to take to get life back on track. We will also discuss the ways in which we sabotage ourselves and how to avoid common balance mistakes. 
So if you feel stressed out much of the time and can’t remember when you had a minute for yourself, attend Reclaim Your Life with Life and Business Coach Cathy Clark.
Topic: Reclaim Your Life
Date: Tuesday, November 3rd
Time: 3:00pm EST (2:00pm CST, 1:00pm MST, and 12:00pm PST)
Register Now for only $29. Call-in details provided upon registration. You will also receive call handout materials and downloadable MP3 of the class. Free To Teleclass Members
Find more A Red Bench teleclasses here or visit us at aredbench.com.
Tags: Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Classes, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench, Red Bench Program, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Teleclasses, Time Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Recently, I’ve had a lot on my plate. I have two businesses that are in full swing, we moved in September so I had to pack, unpack and try and get settled in our new space, I went home to help my sister with her newborn (who is the most adorable baby on the planet – no bias of course) and I’ve been trying to carve out a little time for myself and my husband John.
So a few weeks ago I would say I had a melt down. It came after three straight weeks of 7am – 9pm days, I had not worked out or seen friends and had very little time with John. I was really struggling and just found myself frustrated by so much to do.
As organizers, we teach people how to manage their time, but it’s an ongoing process. Sometimes, I feel as if I am supposed to be perfect and not have a bad day or make a mistake. Well, I am here to say even organized people make mistakes – we are only human. Even though my life is pretty balanced; I dedicate evenings and weekends to myself, my family and frieds; things recently got a little out of control with so many outside forces. When that happens it’s important to re-assess the situation and figure out what’s working and what’s not working and fix it right away. Click here to read my plan of attack:
- I blocked out time in my calendar for myself. This is in addition to evenings and weekends because that’s not usually just for me. I have had a tough time getting to the gym and that’s really important to me. Exercising is now on the calendar as an appointment with myself.
- I asked John if he could cook one night a week. I love to cook; its my release from the day and we make dinner nearly every night. I use my Meal Planning Made Easy System to plan meals for the week making dinnertime and grocery shopping simpler. That said, it would be so helpful for John to get dinner on the table once per week – he picked Thursdays!
- I more clearly defined when I will work on each business. Having two businesses, I have two of everything. Two websites, two newsletters, two blogs. I now have dedicated time in my calendar to work on Savvy SOlutions and A Red Bench seperately so I don’t feel as if I am working on both all of the time.
- I let go of a few responsibilities and activities that were not necessary or bringing value to my life. I am a busy person and I want to contribute and be involved with as many things as I can. But sometimes, I get involved with too much and I found myself not enjoying a few groups and associations. I’ve let those go, guilt free!
Sure as organizers we are organized, but that’s doesn’t mean I don’t have to manage our time just like everyone else. The difference is, I actually took the time to figure out what wasn’t working and fixed it. Something to think about for you and your clients.
So if you feel stressed out much of the time and can’t remember when you had a minute for yourself attend our next business class called Reclaim Your Life with Life and Business Coach Cathy Clark or purchase our audios called Time Management is Broken and Do More With Less Time. Both will help you prioritize and use your time wisely.
At A Red Bench; we bring the experts to you!
Tags: A Red Bench, Business Training, Christa Wagner, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Classes, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench Program
Posted in Grow Your Business, Teleclasses, Time Management | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Yesterday, I gave a workshop called Simplify Your Life and Kick Start Productivity for the staff of Langara College. At the workshop, I shared Five Organizing Tactics to implement to start living a more organized life. One of them was “Manage Your Email” and the topic turned into a really healthy conversation about email overuse.
Nearly every attendee was complaining about how much email they had; they said it wasted their time and bogged them down from getting the more important tasks accomplished. This is all true, which is why we must learn to manage our email to more effectively.
A question that came up was what to do with all the “Thank You” emails you receive. You know the situation, it happens many times each day, when you send something to someone and they respond just to say “Thank You.” Or even worse, when you send a group email (which should be avoided at all costs) and everyone responds to say “Thank You.” These are very common after an event of some kind, like a holiday party. Everyone agreed the emails were polite, but completely unnecessary and just adds to their already full inbox.
I shared with them two tools you can use to reduce the amount of “Thank You” emails you receive. You can implement this yourself and with your clients. Of course, this may take some training and you will want to let your recipients know how these tools work so you all can use them properly.
- NRN = No Response Necessary: Place these words or this acronym at the bottom of your email, near your name or closing. It implies, the person only has to read the email, but does not have to respond.
- NTN = No Thanks Necessary: Place these words or this acronym at the bottom of your email, near your name or closing. It lets the recipient know you do not expect a return or thank you email.
Email has the potential to be a great tool, but with its overuse and abuse, its more of an annoyance than anything else. We need to train each other how to use email effectively so we can start to use this tool in a more productive manner.
If you would like more information on Email Management listen and learn how to manage you inbox. Purchase our A Red Bench Teleclass called Detox Your Inbox. A Red Bench provides training to professional organizers.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Email Overload, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Classes, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench
Posted in Organizing Skills, Time Management | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
We are so excited that our bridge line is nearly full for our Free call on Monday, August 10th called How We Get The Right Things Done (Without Going Crazy.)
Here is what we will share on the class:
- How we run multiple businesses, projects and streams of income (without going crazy).
- How we carve out time for what matters most.
- Our PERSONAL CHECKLIST of what YOU can do to take back your time, right now!
- How you can decide what is most important this and every week.
- We will also share the one action that has made a huge difference to our business and personal life.
Register here and let us know what you think after the call. We look forward to working with you!
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Professional Organizer Courses, Professional Organizer Education, Professional Organizing Training, Red Bench, Red Bench Program, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Teleclasses, Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
We had a fantastic teleclass with fellow organizer and email expert, Lauren Halagarda, recently. It was called Dexox Your Inbox and one of the questions was whether she recommends using email folders for archiving. Now with all of our teleclasses you have to take the expert’s advise as just that – advice. You can take it or leave it, but do give it some thought. You have to listen to the teleclass to understand the entire context of her recommendation, but interestingly enough Lauren does not recommend archiving your emails using folders.
She says “saving email is only helpful if you can find the email and the folders become overwhelming and confusing.” Lauren recommends after processing your email, and she provides a process to do so on the teleclass, to archive emails in one folder. Then use search sofware to retrieve information quickly. She reviewed various search software tools on the call including her preferred software recommendation.
Now, I know for many of you this may be a big change and seem like and odd recommendation. I know for myself, I do like having a personal folder, a folder for my organizing company and one for A Red Bench. I can still use the search tool she recommends making retrieval easy. But as I was listening to her I started thinking about a recent client who is an attorney and has to save every client communication. Having one folder will help her tremendously, because right now she cannot stay on top of archiving them and the volume does not allow her to find anything.
Think of your own clients where this one folder recommendation, along with a search tool, could save them time and frustration. To purchase Detox Your Inbox, visit the Audio Recordings page of our website and consider attending a future A Red Bench Teleclass.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Detox Your Inbox, Email Overload, Lauren Halagarda, Reduce Email
Posted in Organizing Skills, Teleclasses, Time Management | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
I will be the first to admit that I was reluctant to get a Facebook account, but after a few friends (and you know who you are) peer pressured me into it, I took the plunge. It’s now been six months using this tool and I have to admit I really like it and am enjoying it. Now, just like anything else Facebook can take over your life and it has for many people. You have to monitor the amount of time you are dedicating to Facebook and have some idea as to why you’re using it. Is it just for fun? Are you using it for business too?
So we all know Facebook can kill productivity if you keep it open all day, so I’m not going to even go there. From an organizer’s perspective close FB when you’re not using it and use a timer to avoid overuse. On the flip side it has helped me in a few areas that I think are important to mention:
- It has greatly reduced my email. Thank goodness for small favors, something has decreased the amount of emails coming into my inbox. Of course I love to hear from friends via email, but who has time to email back and forth all the time. Using FB I can touch base with them as often as I want in a much more social way. I can comment on something they said and its appropriate to only say a few words rather than go on and on.
- I can check as often or as little as I want. With email, because its in my inbox, I feel obligated to respond to everything. Don’t you? Using FB, its not the same and I can check in and out with much less pressure.
- Staying in better touch with friends and family. Of course, this is obvious, but when you live as far away from home as I do it’s so nice to be able to connect with people on a regular basis. Just yesterday I was “IMing” with my cousin who is in New York. I can see what she’s up to for the summer and we started chatting. It was great and I feel connected to her and others in a much more genuine way.
Like anything else, FB can become one more thing to do so if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. If you want to learn to use Facebook more effectively, be on the lookout for the Audio Recording being released fro our Social Media TeleSummit. And if you are going to embark on this new phenomenon, keep a watchful eye on the clock. 10 minutes can turn into two hours in no time. Give yourself some guidelines and have fun with it!
Click here to find me on Facebook.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Facebook, social media
Posted in Marketing, Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
I hear people say all the time they wake up in 
the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep. When I ask them why, they tell me they have so much running through their heads and they just can’t relax their brain. I am sure this happens to your clients all the time and it happens to me too. Something that helps is to keep a notepad next to the bed and when you wake up you can write down what’s in you head. You might think this will activate your brain, but instead is allows you let go of the task knowing it’s there for you in the morning. You write it down to remember and allow your brain to forget.
Perhaps the next time a client tells you they didn’t sleep well because of so much swimming in their head; have them give this a try and get a good night’s sleep.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Getting Things Done, Reduce Stress, Stress
Posted in Time Management | No Comments »
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
If you know me, or have read other my personal blog posts, then you know I am not a huge fan of email. Now, before you freak out of course I understand the benefits of email and do enjoy communicating using email on certain occasions. My problem with email is that you would never call me 10 different times, but you wouldn’t think twice about emailing me 10 times. As a business owner, I was overwhelmed by how much email I receive that I am supposed to deal with, right? I just could not keep up so I reviewed my email. What was I really getting? Much of the email I receive had no benefits to my life or business whatsoever. Its information, its an FYI, or even more fun, a series of Reply All’s from various group I belong to. (My personal favorite waste of time.)
So I have been conducting a little experiment. In an effort to reduce the amount of emails in my inbox, I have been trying to reduce the amount of emails I send. I read somewhere for every one email you send, you receive three back. And if you receive 100 emails each day and each takes 3 minutes to deal with, that’s five hours of your day. No wonder we can’t get anything done! So I send much less and am very aware of who I am sending to. I only respond if I must and delete aggressively. My goal by the end of the day in Zero Inbox, but usually I have around 10.
What I can tell you is it has be fantastic not to have that panic feeling of all the emails I have to read and deal with in my inbox. Just like everything else, you have to pick and choose; I choose to only respond to the most necessary, important emails. We are looking forward to much more information on this Email Overload on our July 8th Teleclass with Lauren Halagarda. Topic is DeTox Your Inbox. Register today!
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Detox Your Inbox, Email Overload, Lauren Halagarda, Reduce Email
Posted in Grow Your Business, Organizing Skills, Time Management | 1 Comment »
