This is a great feature for those of us who sometimes check our e-mail late at night or very early in the morning, but want to keep normal business hours with our clients or other professional contacts. You can write an e-mail at midnight and schedule it to send at 9 AM the next day!

A word of caution, however: Outlook must be open for the e-mail to go out, so be sure to keep your computer up and connected to the internet if you want to use this feature!

We’ll be speaking with Barbara again on Monday, December 6th for the second half of the series. In Part 2, we’ll talk about not just avoiding wasting time, but setting priorities and making conscious decisions that allow you to achieve your goals. Complete the connection between managing your time and achieving personal success!

On this call, you will learn:

• The connection between your mission statement and your time
• The key components to a mission statement
• How to create great goals with ease
• Steps for achieving success with your goals

Interested? Click here to visit our calendar page, or here to add this class to your shopping cart.

Remember, even if you can’t make the live class, registering will ensure you recieve a copy of the teleclass audio direct to your e-mail inbox within a couple buisness days of the call.

Join us on Monday, November 22nd as we speak with Barbara Browning of OrderWithin about successfully managing time to accomplish our goals and priorities.  This is the first in a two-part series, the second half of which will take place two weeks later on Monday, December 6th.

The overall goals of this series include: connecting you to your values as a way to make conscious choices about how you spend your time, helping you focus your time and attention on the people and activities that matter most, and reducing stress by better organizing your time. Part 1 will focus on ‘defeating self-defeating behaviors’ including managing interruptions, reducing multi-tasking, and overcoming procrastination.

Interested? Click here to visit our calendar page, or here to add this class to your shopping cart.

Remember, even if you can’t make the live class, registering will ensure you recieve a copy of the teleclass audio direct to your e-mail inbox within a couple buisness days of the call.

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!

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.

• 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.

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!

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.