Say it with me, “I am never going to do that”

How many of us have a few tasks on our list that we think we should do, but we keep moving them to another day, week, month or even year.

I have had many over the years. I kept them on my task list and then would feel guilty every time they popped up. I still wouldn’t do them – I would just move them to sometime in the future. Then, in the future when they came up, I would go through the entire process again. Yes… it was a vicious cycle filled with shame and guilt.

Then, I was in a task management class and it was stated that it was okay to admit that I was never going to do that task. If it didn’t hurt anyone by my not doing it, it really was allowable to just delete the task and never worry about it again.

Examples:

• Task – take all the stored pictures that are not digital, scan them, and save them to folders in my pictures directory.
• Monthly, this would pop-up on my task list and try to guilt me into doing this. It never sounded like fun. I could never convince myself that this would be something I really needed. Instead, if someone asked for a baby or vacation picture, I found it in the box, scanned it and then sent it where it needed to go.
• I finally deleted this task. No one died. My guilt was gone. I made a pact with myself that if technology changed to make this easier or I retired and wanted a long-term project, I could revisit this. I keep the box safe in my basement and go to it only when I need a picture from it.
• Task – create a database of the collectibles I have.
• This also lived on my task list for a long time. Once a year, I take quick pictures of all the stuff in the house for insurance purposes. Along with that, I would always come back to the thought that I should create a database of what collectibles I owned, estimated worth and where they lived in the house. Again, this never sounded fun and I knew it was going to be a monster of a project once I started it. And, would I ever maintain it? Probably not.
• Again… I deleted this task, and no one died. I have the love of my collectible items. If I pass away, it is up to my survivors to determine if something is worth anything or where it is stored or displayed. They can sell it off at a garage sale or try and sell it for profit. It won’t make any difference to me.

I know we all have things we feel we ought to do, but honestly, these probably don’t need to be done to make our lives complete. Go to dinner with a friend instead or play with your kids or pets. Walk in the sunshine or travel. I am pretty sure all that sounds like more fun than that chore you allow to keep nagging at you.

Inbox at home? Absolutely!

I heard this suggestion back in my 20’s.  At first, I thought, “inboxes are only for work”.  It seemed strange to me to think of an inbox sitting in my house.

• Wouldn’t that make my house too much like work?  
• Wouldn’t this cause my personal life to be too structured and boring? 
• Would it suck the fun out of coming home and leaving work behind?

I decided to give it a try when I heard the suggestion a second time at a time/task management seminar.  I placed it discretely in my kitchen.  At first, I only put my “deal with” mail in it.  I found that this worked well.  When I needed to pay bills or deal with a letter, it was right there.

I started putting my task notes in the inbox.  I would grab them before heading off to work and then deal with them during the day. 

My husband got one also.  It made it very easy to sort stuff and toss his bills, task notes, or letters in his inbox, so he could easily find them. 

Eventually, I grew to love my house inbox much more than my office inbox.  My house inbox often contained fun things - notes about vacation and flyers on events I wanted to attend. I began to clean my inbox daily and always enjoyed seeing what my husband had put it in.

I now have two inboxes.  One I keep for the stuff coming in.  The other I use as a “pending/holding” box to store items that require follow-up.   For instance, I purchased tickets from an event flyer. I put the flyer in my pending/holding inbox till the tickets arrived. When the ticket came in, I just pitch the flyer.   This is a great visual tickler system to ensure the tickets arrive safe and sound.

I realized that a home inbox was just a great way to collect the things I needed to deal with.  Instead of trying to remember where that flyer or bill went, I had it all in one place.  I could deal with the item, rather than deal with trying to find the item. 

Extra vacation cash – made easy

Want a little extra cash to take on vacation with you?   Of course … who doesn’t.  

We all want that special t-shirt or hat, or that commemorative plate with your pictures on it. Those little things help you remember your vacation and bring a smile to your face.

But, how many of us, by the time we book the vacation, are struggling to have a few extra bucks in our pocket?

My husband and I started years ago, “saving” … vacation spending money.  We do this in two ways.

• We spend cash for little things (coffee/soda at the quick shop, drinks with a friend, cat toy for the cats, etc.).
• Any coins we get from the bills used to buy the item, we bring home and put in a jar.
• Before vacation, we take the coins to our bank and have them turned into bills.

• We only have cash back credit cards.
• Everything else we buy (groceries, gas, dinners, etc.) goes on the credit card.
• Before vacation, we request that the credit card send us a check for our cash back rewards balance.
• We cash that check at the bank.

We have managed to save a few hundred dollars this way and we use that money only to buy something cool on vacation or add a side trip that we might otherwise have not been able to afford.  

Color Can Change Your Life … Part 2

In my Jan.17 blog, I talked about how color can change your email. The suggestion allows you to view emails from certain senders in a different color or font which helps them stand out from the rest of your normal emails. 

This color hint helps you use your inbox as a quick to-do list/task list.

You can use the categories not only for color coding calendar items, but for color coding emails. I use this feature to help me manage my inbox. Note – I am using Outlook, but I am guessing that most email programs have a feature like categories.

After I have read the email, if it cannot be dealt with and deleted, or dealt with and filed … then I leave it in my inbox and mark it with a category. 

For instance, I have a category labeled “1:1 meeting / talk to Rick”. On the calendar, I would use this to color 1:1 meetings. In my inbox, I would tag any email that I needed to talk to Rick about with this color.  When Rick walks by or calls, I can quickly look at my inbox and see what I need to talk to him about.   This allowed me to move forward with that email.

I also have a category that I use that is named, “in person meeting / pending”.  If I am waiting on something from someone, but I don’t want it in a folder and/or I am guessing the reply will come later the same day (so it is not worth putting it into the longer term “pending” folder), I mark it with the pending category. Once I get the reply I need to move forward, I can remove the category and/or file it in the appropriate folder.

All uncategorized emails in my inbox are items that I still need to deal with. This helps me keep my inbox much more manageable.