Have you ever postponed doing something since you feared that it would be unpleasant, that you would be criticized or that something negative would happen? You actually want to do it (or rather want to have it done), but ...
Some people I meet think that they are going to improve their structure later, when they have time. Perhaps they have tried sorting out the piles, but gotten stuck after a few minutes of organizing and come to the conclusion that ...
There are times when you feel overwhelmingly reluctant to do what you know you will want to have done sometime soon. You have a huge pile of unprocessed documents in the inbox that you really should deal with, but ...
Finding digital files and documents that either we ourselves or our colleagues have saved at some point is usually not a problem – as long as they are ...
There are occasions when we simply cannot forget to do or bring something. Writing it on the to-do-list or in the calendar is all very well, but then you need to remember to look where you have noted it as well, before you ...
Have you ever been the coordinator of a meeting where you had a difficult time keeping the participants on track and in line with the set agenda? What was intended to be a brief update suddenly ...
When it is time for time off, such as last summer’s vacation, most of us want to feel and be freer our ordinary lives normally lets us. It feels good to allow for thoughts to flow freely and do whatever comes to mind. It is a true privilege to be able to let go of work and everything that our ordinary lives consist of, but unfortunately not everyone can do this effortlessly as ...
I speak of the benefits of starting your day with en empty desk almost daily. And though it is a good start, it is easy to be misguided by ...
I am fully aware that not all people are as devoted to the concept of ”structure” as I am. Once in a while I meet people who ...
I have never encountered anyone who complains over receiving too few e-mails or someone who was unhappy due to e-mails being too short or too concrete.
And very few organizations or companies tell me the communication occurring through CC:-ing is at a reasonable level.
And yet we still choose e-mails before ...
Since we who enjoy living a life where structure plays an active part want things to be done as smoothly as possible, we are interested in ways to use every situation we are in optimally and as efficiently as possible. There are ways to make this happen without making any extra effort ...
If you feel as if you have too much stuff, papers and things around you, and that you get so distracted by all the clutter as soon as you raise your eyes that you have difficulties concentrating on the task in front of you, I am sure you would like to have ...
Do you spend a great deal of your time at work by a computer? Does your work description include a great deal of e-mailing, phrasing and formulating things, typing things out and so on? Then you might want to consider learning the ultimate skill for drastically decreasing the time spent typing ...
It’s one thing to decide to rid yourself of binders and papers that you no longer need, but a whole different matter entirely to determine what is good riddance and what is not.
What if we happen to throw away something we one day might need?
Sure, you could ...
There are a few themes are more recurring in the whole subject of structure than others. They are themes which seem to permeate the working methods of those who most successfully keep track of things and who by doing so have more time to do other things. One of these themes is ...
Some things are best done in cooperation with others. That is why we need to have meetings. In order to meet, we need to find an appropriate time when everyone is available.
But ...
On a Monday in the beginning of March I had the intention to fly to a client and hold a one-day course in personal efficiency. But what was initially a two-hour flight turned into eight hours of traveling and I only made it half-way before I had to turn around and go back home with my mission unaccomplished. When things like these happen, it is easy to regard it as a lost day, but there are several things you can do to still make it into a productive day ...
In most people’s work, the intensity and workload varies. Sometimes there is less to do, and sometimes the tempo accelerates to an almost unbearable level where we can barely keep up. When there is a lot going on around us, it may be tempting to compromise in terms of our structured work-methods and just let everything ...
Do you have difficulties saying no? Are you keen to be of service when someone asks for your help, but later wish you hadn’t been so accommodating when you realize how much you have to do already? If you are a person who feels bad when saying no to someone, I believe you are also the kind of person who only says no ...
We pick tasks from our to-do-list which we think we will be able to finish in the time we have at our disposal at the moment. We often make an accurate guess and manage to complete the task before it is time for something else. But sometimes we only manage to get half-way through what we are doing before we get interrupted by ...
