I am so excited to receive my breakout session evaluation from The Sharp ~ Speaking at the Women’s Health Conference late 2011. This makes all of my preparation and planning worthwhile! See the attendees comments below:

2011 Breakout Session Evaluation

Become the Master of Your Muck:

Get Organized and Make Room for Yourself in Your Home

Comments

Phenomenal!

Lots of good techniques for decluttering

Liked the tips. Longer please. Will for sure be using her system

She didn’t let the lack of video images phase her great presentation.

Liked everything

Great speaker

Good tips!

Very good

Excellent speaker, really keeps your attention, good with audience participation, great visuals! Very good! Keep it up! Real funny.

Could always use this presentation. Could have been longer and more specific

Wish it could have been longer. She is so personable!

List those 8 places so we can right them down every paper will fit into- to help my new file system

Great takeaways. Next time list 8 things on a handout

Thanks so much!

Excellent

Compassionate, understanding but cut and dry when it comes to organizing

My favorite one! Liked getting tips I can do when I get home!

Liked it all. Thank you

Great ideas!

Nice voice, keep you awake, keep your interest, so many good tips

Practical ideas

Topic applies to everyone

8 categories keep papers vertical

Liked learning about how to declutter and get more organized

We all need this info, very good!

Good practical recommendations! Thank you!

This is a critical shell for today’s life of info overload.

Clear presentation

Liked her tips

Excellent!

Easy to follow. Simple to implement ideas

Good advice

Key tips are great

Liked learning how to control paper!

Liked pics. Next time learn about organizing time

Liked getting tips to thrive! Papers flow… getting to work

Excellent!

Liked the info presented and ideas to change it.

I liked the suggestion of keeping papers vertical

Kathi Burns- I want to hire her!

Liked learning about info on home and garage organization.

I liked the belief that we can do it!

Great ideas. I hope I can incorporate them in my life and home. Thank you!

Liked the positive suggestions for attacking clutter.

Well organized flow. Clear, concise presentation.

Great job. Thank you

Liked it all

Best one!

Great topic

Hold it twice so room isnt so full

Topic applies to a lot of people including me. Closed captioning next time

I liked it all. Thank you!

She didn’t make us feel like we were weird for having so much clutter. Would have liked it if all pics were shown (some of them didn’t show)

Liked it all. Good!

Liked the examples illustrating the points. I feel better knowing we’re in the minority that gets to park our cars in the garage.

The digitizing is what I am doing. Going great

Great stuff. Acoustics not great in the room.

I liked it all. Very informative

Loved handouts

Gave me clarity/understanding the origin of my clutter

Good info and anecdotes. Should have used generic pics

Great speaker

Some good specifics, concrete ideas. Bad acoustics/competing noise

Liked the pics of before and after

I am so pleased and honored that my presentation was one of the most attended sessions and to have been included in this incredible conference! Thank you Sharp!!!

Tired of being controlled by your papers, e-mails, telephone & last minute fires?
Use these 12 tips to manage your time and organize your office so you will have more time for success and to follow your passion!

Don’t check emails first thing in the morning!
Take time to get grounded and Read the rest of this entry »

Take time to schedule and manage your emails and phone calls

a. Never check email or voice mail first thing in the morning

b. Schedule regular times to check emails and stick to it

c. Read recent emails first

d. Allocate the amount of time you will spend and stop promptly

e. Create email signatures to sign off with one    click

f. Read it, delete or move it

Pre-plan and then plan again – keep your eye on your large goals

a. Plan next week either on Friday afternoon (business) or Sunday evening (mom)

b. Plan your day before it plans you!

Set your intentions and goals for the day in advance of that day

The day before, the night before or in the morning before you begin your tasks for that day

c. Allocate specific time slots for recurring tasks, do them over and over at the same time each week

Gasoline, banking, grocery shopping

Calls, reports, marketing

Arrive early for appointments

Spend the time you wait for others to plan what you want to accomplish in the meeting

a. This will decrease your stress level

b. You will appear poised, professional & in control of your schedule instead of harried and disorganized

Umbrella Your Day

(create chunks of time for related activities)

a. Divide your main responsibilities into 5 days, for example:

1. Planning Day – (Friday or Monday)

2. Current Large Project

3. Outside Appointments, Errands

4. Bills / Paperwork

5. Research

Create an exit area in your office for all items that need to leave your space.

a. Place things there as you find them.

b. Choose an area on your desk or credenza that is positioned towards the   door

Create ‘To Do’ Lists

a. Complete the three most important tasks each day before you move onto anything else

Take Control Your Papers

a. Check it, move it into a predetermined place off the counter until you are ready to take action

b. Handle it only once before you work on it

Learn to say NO

a. Don’t volunteer until you take a moment to determine whether      you have the time to fulfill the commitment

b. Give yourself permission to reconsider commitments

Delete unnecessary tasks from your schedule that detract from your BIG picture goals

c. Don’t automatically respond to another person’s  problem / fire before you determine whether it is going to foul up your agenda

Earlier this month I was featured on KUSI’s Good Morning San Diego. My news segment included tips for mastering your schedule which are based on strategies from the book, How to Master Your Muck.

Time is a finite resource. Everyone has the Read the rest of this entry »

Kathi,

My office just cut back on staff. Now I’m temporarily handling my normal workload along with two other missing team members. How can I work more efficiently? I’m tired of having dinner with the night janitor.

Ben, San Marcos

Ben,

Double up on certain tasks. Do small tasks simultaneously, such as sorting through mail while you are talking on the phone, or purging files while eating lunch.
Stand up while on the phone. Your conversations will automatically be shorter.
Use window envelopes where appropriate, saving time in writing or typing the name and address.
Purge your files annually. You will be better able to find files and decrease storage space.

And, my usual advice, take many short breaks throughout your day to stretch and refresh. You will inevitably accomplish more with less effort using this method.