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4 Tips to Purge the Purse

2010-03-08T22:27:06Z

Tired of digging for misplaced keys or the cell phone? The key to having an organized purse — and a simpler life — is in the bag.

If your purse has become a chaotic carryall — a dark pit where things go to get lost — I share your plight. The right-sized shoulder bag can bring order to your life. Consider these four tips when shopping for a new hand-bag:

1. Don’t go too small.
Many women mistakenly think, “If I don’t have much room, I can’t carry too much around with me.” Good thinking, up to a point. If you don’t have room for all of your essentials, some items will wind up in your pants pocket — and you’ll lose them.

2. Don’t go too large.
Too many items (old trick-or-treat candy or broken glasses) in a large bag make it tough to find essentials.

3. Don’t go with too many pockets.
I made this mistake once. “Just look at those pockets!” I thought. “I can use one for my cell phone, one for keys....” The problem? I didn’t know which items were in which pockets, and I had to hunt for what I was looking for.

4. Go with one that is “just right.” Look for a purse with a cell phone pocket and a handy place to store or attach your keys. It should comfortably accommodate your wallet, make-up bag, and one or two other essential items. That’s it. A shoulder strap is good, to free your hands for important things, like steering your child through the toy aisle.

Never Run Late Again

2010-02-22T23:52:00Z

Time-management strategies -- stay on time and organized.

Toni can feel the knot in her neck as she sits in traffic. She is running late for work (again), and she’s heading to a project meeting, for which she is unprepared. Lately, she’s been losing patience with the kids more easily, and she seems to have no time to just enjoy being with them. Feeling rushed, like Toni? Here are time-management strategies to slow down and get better organized.
Cure yourself of “one-more-thing-itis.”

One reason some of us feel rushed is that we habitually try to cram in “one more thing,” the additional task that so often derails plans.

One-more-thing-itis is a form of distractibility — the phone rings, you answer it, you notice that the table needs to be cleared, or a plant needs to be watered, and, once again, you run late.

Strategy: Think through the steps you’ll take before you leave the house. Gather belongings and double-check directions, if needed, the night before. Avoid getting sidetracked as you head to the door by reminding yourself, out loud and repeatedly, “I’m leaving now; I’m going to the car.”

Plan ahead to arrive early.

Aim to arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time. If the prospect of facing empty time if you do arrive early horrifies you, keep a magazine, book, or stack of bills that need to be paid in a bag near the door, and grab it on the way out.

Calculate your departure time by adding 10 minutes to each half hour of travel time. With the extra time, you’ll feel much less rushed, should you run into traffic or another unforeseen delay.

Strategy: Set two alarms (a clock, a cell phone, or a computer), one that will go off five minutes before departure time and a second that will sound when it’s time to leave. When the first alarm goes off, stop what you are doing. Try to be out the door before the second alarm goes off.

Build routine tasks into your weekly schedule.

When do you feel most stressed — in the morning, before work or school, or before dinner, when the kids need picking up and dinner needs preparing?

Instead of filling the gas tank or stopping to grab the ingredients for dinner on the fly, map out—and stick to—a weekly schedule that accounts for each of these tasks. Lock in times for doing necessary weekly chores, such as grocery shopping and laundry, to prevent running out of milk or clean clothes.

Strategy: Shift to-do items into less stressful times. For example, if mornings are more rushed, fill the gas tank on the way home.

Don’t say “yes” out of habit — or guilt.

Many of us over-commit out of a desire to please our family, friends, or co-workers.

Strategy: Get in the habit of saying, “I’d like to, but let me check my schedule,” instead of giving an automatic “yes.” In the end, you’ll please others more by being able to get things done on time, rather than always being late and rushed.

Set realistic goals.

Can you really make a stew and pick up the kids in half an hour? Deliver yourself from trying to be supermom (or dad).

Strategy: It’s OK to plan a quick-fix meal (or to have take-out!) on busier nights. Don’t feel you have to cram in three errands when you have time for only two.

Enlist the help of a time tutor.

Ask a friend or family member, someone who has witnessed how you spend your time, to help you identify the patterns that create time crunches in your life.

Strategy: Do only what you can, and delegate or delete what you can’t. You’ll be happier (and more productive) when you are not living in a constant rush.

Start Saving Now

2010-01-24T15:20:51Z

(Part 3 of a 3 part series on personal finance) Link to Part 2: Adopt Smart Saving Strategies

Put money away while paying off the balance on your zero-percent or low-interest rate credit card. Figure out how much you’re saving from using this credit card, refinancing big-ticket bills, and sticking to a budget. Designate this amount for savings. Studies show that people are more likely to save if the money is deposited automatically. Have your bank deposit this amount each week into two savings accounts:

1) An emergency fund, invested in a money market account. To find the highest-yielding rates, log on to bankrate.com or fidelity.com. You will have to fill out an application online, authorizing the money market company to transfer funds from your bank each month.

2) A retirement fund, invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or cash. Log on to fidelity.com or vanguard.com to explore mutual fund options. If you want to invest in individual stocks and bonds, log on to schwab.com or tdameritrade.com to set up a brokerage account. Again, you’ll fill out an application online, and the company will take it from there, making sure that your bank transfers the funds electronically every pay period. Even easier, if your employer has a 401(k) plan, talk with your benefits department about having a portion of each paycheck deposited into the plan. Many employers will match your savings (up to a certain percentage).

Remember: Don’t tell yourself that saving just a little won’t make a difference. You’re developing a habit – the longer you save something each month, the more likely you will be to continue doing it. Increase your contributions to these accounts as you pay down your credit card debt and curb your spending habits.

Congratulations! You are, finally, building wealth for your future.

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Play Dough

Just because you’re saving doesn’t mean you can’t occasionally treat yourself. Use this strategy to accumulate what I call “mad money.”

Empty your pockets or change purse every evening into a jar.
Every month, bring your jar to a change-counting machine (the “Penny Arcades” at TD Bank branches won’t deduct a fee; most change machines at supermarkets withhold about 8 percent), and exchange your coins for bills.
Keep your “mad money” in a separate envelope in your wallet. Just knowing it’s there will help you discipline yourself not to “leak” money on small purchases that add up to big spending over the course of a month.
Every once in a while, use your mad money to reward yourself for your new self-discipline.

Adopt Smart Saving Strategies

2010-01-19T00:35:10Z

(Part 2 of a 3 part series on getting your finances in order) Link to Part 1: 5 Ways To Get Out of Debit

Lower your big monthly bills

Consider refinancing your mortgage and car loans – typically, the biggest bills a family pays each month – at lower interest rates. This will increase the amount of money you’ll be able to save.

1) As you gradually pay off your consumer debt, your credit score will rise. This will make you eligible for lower interest rates on your mortgage. (Check your credit score at no cost through annualcreditreport.com.) Talk with your mortgage broker regularly to see whether interest rates have declined. Or search for lower rates online. Bankrate.com updates mortgage rates weekly based on data from banks across the country.

2) Pay off your car loan with a home equity line of credit. Typically, home equity loans carry lower interest rates than car loans. The interest you pay each month is tax deductible. Search for the lowest rates at bankrate.com and interest.com.

Spend Less

After digging yourself out of debt, here are strategies that will keep you in the black.

1) Don’t place yourself in situations where you’re likely to make impulse purchases – for example, don’t wander through Borders on your lunch hour if you can’t resist magazines or CDs. If you receive a lot of catalogs at home, cancel them through catalogchoice.org.

2) Don’t shop recreationally. Instead of “going to the mall” for fun, make a list of the items that you need, and go only to the stores where you can find a good price on them. If window-shopping tempts you to spend, don’t go to movie theaters or restaurants in shopping malls.

3) Don’t shop online. Make it more difficult to log on to shopping sites by not bookmarking them. Think of the Internet as a source of information, not a source of shopping entertainment!

4) Put yourself on a spending allowance. Calculate the amount that you can afford to spend each week on discretionary expenses, such as buying lunch, clothing, books, music, coffee, dinners out, movies, and so on. Go to the ATM on Friday; withdraw that amount, and don’t take out any more cash (or use a charge card!) during the week. If you spend your money over the weekend, pack your lunches, and don’t go out to eat or shop until the following Friday.

5) Turn frugality into a game. See how much you can save by bringing lunch from home. Form a thrift group at your church to share coupons and inexpensive recipes and to exchange ideas about free activities in your community. Substitute a healthy activity – like a swim or walk – for a shopping spree.

(The next part – “Start Saving Now” – will be posted next week)

5 Ways to Get Out of Debt

2010-01-11T03:16:10Z

(Part 1 of a 3-part series on getting your finances in order)

“Saving money? You’ve got to be kidding! I’d be doing well to keep up with my bills, never mind having anything let over to put away.” I hear this refrain from many clients when I suggest they need to think about saving for their child’s college tuition, their own retirement, or an emergency, like a transmission for the car or a new roof for the house.

Most U.S. households have trouble putting money away – statistics show that Americans, on average, save only 1 to 2 percent of their family income. It can be difficult to resists impulse buys (“I’ve got to have that new cell phone”); to recall what you’ve spent (“I forgot about the fall clothing expenses when I decided to buy that new flat screen”); to plan and shop with an eye toward saving (“I’m lucky to get all my groceries for the week, much less worry about how much I might save on bananas or toilet paper”).

Your ability to save is, of course, tied to how deeply you’re in debt. So before I set you up with a successful savings program, here’s a plan to get you out of debt and spend less.

First, Get Out of Debt

Your first goal is to live within your means – no more purchases on charge cards – while you pay off your consumer debt.

Transfer your consumer debt to zero-percent or low-interest credit cards. The lower the interest rate, the less you will pay each month. Typically, such offers are sent to customers with good credit, but you can also find them online. (Compare offers on creditcards.com and bankrate.com.) Credit card companies usually extend the offer for only 12 months, and charge a 3-percent transfer fee for switching balances from other cards. The best offers require no transfer fee, but these are rare. If you haven’t paid off your debt before the offer expires, you’ll have to transfer the leftover balance to a new zero-percent of low-interest rate credit card.
Set up automatic monthly payments through online banking. This will ensure that your zero-percent or low-interest credit card payment is never late. You don’t want to lose this great rate. Log onto your bank’s website, open an account, and sign up for online bill paying. Then create monthly payments for other bills you can start paying automatically. These bills should include predictable charges, such as a mortgage payment, and payments to utility and phone companies.
Add up the payments you have been making on your various higher-interest credit cards and pay at least that total – preferably more – each month on your zero-percent credit card.
Don’t close your paid-off credit card accounts – having unused credit raises your credit score The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate you’ll pay on mortgages and car loans in the future.
Keep your paid-off credit card in a safe but difficult-to-access place. You might give your card to a family member. Explain that you’ll ask for it only in a case of emergency. Another option is to place the card in your safety deposit box. Or – if you’re an extreme spender – try freezing the card in a block of ice in your freezer. By the time the ice melts, you will have figured out whether a prospective purchase is something you need or something you just want.

(Part 2 – “Adopt Smart Saving Strategies” – will be available next week.)

Get More Done – The Keys to Better Prioritization

2010-01-04T23:50:24Z

Many people have difficulty prioritizing their daily tasks. “All of my tasks are important! They’re all ‘A’s’,” you might think. Even when everything is important, you still have to decide what to do first, second, and third.

Over-commitment can lead to difficulty prioritizing
Sometimes, when you have too many “A’s” on your list, your difficulty with prioritizing may really be a difficulty with over-commitment. If you have too many A’s and too little time, by definition, you are in a state of over-commitment.

Whose priority is it?
In order to prioritize, you need to be clear about whose priorities you are trying to meet. Very few of us are in a position to consider only our own priorities. We must take into account the priorities of those we work for, those we work with, and those we live with. Your difficulty in prioritizing may actually be a hidden struggle between what you want to do and what others want you to do.

Prioritizing by Crisis
If you don’t plan and prioritize your tasks, you’ll tend to fall into a pattern of prioritizing by crisis – that is, waiting to do things until a deadline looms or a crisis is about to occur. There are many problems with this sort of prioritizing. First, you won’t do your best work when you’re always in a time crunch; second, tasks that are very important, but never in crisis - may never get done.

Squeaking wheel prioritizing
Related to prioritizing by crisis, squeaking wheel prioritizing is a pattern of letting others set your priorities for you by responding to whoever is complaining the loudest. If your spouse explodes in anger because you’re “never home”, then your spouse becomes your priority, however briefly. If your boss is under stress and begins pressuring you to complete a certain project, then that becomes your priority. People that prioritize reactively feel that they are always working hard to please others and rarely have time to please themselves. What they don’t realize is that they have let this pattern develop due to lack of prioritizing in the first place. It’s much easier to present a reasonable argument to a spouse who feels neglected or a boss who is under pressure if you have a careful plan laid out to present to them – a ready explanation for why it’s necessary to stick to your established priorities.

“Easy stuff first” prioritizing
A common way to avoid difficult top priority items, while seeming to work hard, is to always tackle the easy stuff first. The easy stuff – like responding to emails, returning phone calls, or attending meetings – can easily fill your day while you avoid the more important items that require sustained effort, planning or concentration.

Dart Board prioritizing
Another common method to avoiding the work of prioritizing is to just dive in and start doing the first thing that occurs to you. Instead of stopping to think, “dart board prioritizers” just tackle something almost at random and set to work, often on items that are of low importance.

Learning to prioritize well
If you live a crisis driven life, or your priorities are set by squeaking wheels, dart boarding or “getting the easy stuff out of the way” you’ll find, at the end of the day, the week, the month, or the career, that you haven’t spent your time doing the things that are in line with your core values – you’ve spent your time, but not well.

In order to set priorities, you first must set your goal. For example, if your highest priority is to redirect your career, it’s important to carve out time each day to take steps that will move you in that direction. If you allow your supervisor to set your priorities, you will find that while your job performance ratings may be high, that your life satisfaction rating is low.

Too many “A’s” in a busy day

Whether from over-commitment, or just from unforeseen circumstances, we all face days when we have multiple top-priority items and no way to meet them all. That’s when we have to step back and ask ourselves a few questions:

Which items are top priorities according to my core values?
What is the consequence of not meeting each of these top priority tasks?
Is there anyone else that I can delegate one of my top priority items to?

Once you’ve answered those questions, the order of priority you give each task should become clearer.

6 Ways to Combat Procrastination

2009-12-29T03:08:32Z

Procrastination can be caused by several things. You may procrastinate because you don’t enjoy a task. You may procrastinate because a task is large and challenging to organize. Or, you may procrastinate because you aren’t sure how to accomplish the task.

1. Procrastination due to dislike of an activity

If you procrastinate because you don’t like a task, look for ways to increase task appeal such as:

Make it into a game, and keep score.
Make it into a game, competing with others.
Listen to upbeat music while doing it. Schedule a reward immediately after you complete it.

2. Procrastination due to overwhelm
If you’re avoiding a task because it is lengthy and overwhelming, then “divide and conquer”:

Break the large task into separate, short-term segments.
Then check off each segment as an accomplished short-term task.

3. Procrastination due to inertia
If you procrastinate because you have difficulty initiating a task, create something to react to. Tasks that can be reacted to are easier to begin than those that you must initiate yourself.

Work on the task with others – then you can react to their questions, emails, etc.
Establish a deadline with your supervisor.

4. Procrastination due to lack of organization
Sometimes we procrastinate on beginning a large project because we haven’t organized the task and don’t know where to start. If you can’t seem to get a project organized:

Think through the task.
Talk with your supervisor or collaborators to plan it.
Break the larger task into do-able segments.
Create a list of resources and supplies needed to accomplish the task.
Create a timeline for the task.
Then schedule the first segment of the task.
Create an email or text reminder for this segment.

5. Procrastination on difficult tasks
Not all tasks can be made easy, but if you find a task particularly difficult, you must analyze how it can become easier.

Do you need help?
More training?
More practice?
More assistance from other?
Analyze what is making the task so difficult, and then get the help you need to succeed.

6. Procrastination at certain times of day
More challenging tasks should be done at whatever time of day you seem to feel more focused and energetic. Take note of your daily rhythms, and then try to schedule the most avoided tasks for the time of day when you’ll have more energy to tackle them.

Problem-solve and apply your solution
To combat patterns of procrastination, select a task that you keep putting off. Then look at the list of possible solutions above and choose one that you think is most likely to be helpful.

Pick one (or more) of these solutions, and keep track over the next few weeks. Are you getting things done on a consistent basis? If so, keep up the good work! Your new solutions will soon become habits that require very little effort to maintain.

Final note for severe or chronic procrastinators
Some people seem to have a generally low level of motivation and tend to put off all tasks that take energy or effort. These people are classic “couch potatoes” that would rather do “nothing” than anything at all. If you fall into the couch potato category, you may actually struggle with chronic, low level depression.

Others are couch potatoes due to chronic sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, or poor physical fitness. If you feel as if everything is too much trouble, then get a medical check-up to see if depression or some other health problem is playing a role in always putting things off.

Be More Productive Every Day

2009-12-22T00:05:21Z

Good time management involves getting things done (productivity) and focusing your efforts on the things that you most want to accomplish (prioritization). Although these two critical issues are intertwined, we’ll focus on each separately.

Inefficiency (low productivity) can occur due to boredom, low motivation, or dislike of certain tasks. When you find that you’re spending more time avoiding or postponing tasks than in getting them accomplished, consider some of the strategies listed below:

Swap Tasks
During your day, if you face a scheduled task that is unappealing at the moment, simply switch to another task of equal priority and urgency. Swapping tasks can help you stay motivated and productive by allowing you to select another task that may be more appealing at the moment.

Swap tasks with someone
Whether it’s a task at home or at work, if there’s something you particularly dislike doing, see if you can swap this task for another. We don’t all like or dislike the same things.

Vary your routine
Even varying the routine among un-stimulating tasks can help – for example, set the table one day, wash the dishes the next and cook dinner the third night.

Reward yourself
Set up small daily rewards for completion of boring daily tasks – for example, promise yourself a 15 minute break, a snack, a drink, or a phone call to a friend once you’ve completed the task.

Make yourself accountable to someone
Email a friend telling him or her that you are beginning your awful, boring task – then email again to let them know it’s done.

And Make it fun!
All of us have tasks, at home and at work, that are uninteresting, but necessary. Look for ways to make it fun. Some tips:

Do it while listening to bouncy, energetic music
Do it with someone – company always lightens a task
Time yourself and try to beat your best time

Try these approaches one at a time to see which works best for you. You should find that by using some of these techniques you’ll be able to increase your productivity each day.

Become More Proactive

2009-12-14T00:30:37Z

Learning how to lead a pro-active, intentional life is key for better life management.

Living proactively rather than reactively can be a fundamental shift for some people. To become pro-active, you must learn to make things happen rather than reacting when things happen to you. Using a pro-active approach to life, you decide what goal or outcome you desire and then take steps to reach your goal.

Leading an intentional life involves learning to think about possible consequences before acting. The person who lives with intention thinks to bring along bug spray when taking a walk in the woods. A person that lives in fast forward swats mosquitoes as they bite.

Becoming more proactive

Some of us have lived in reactive mode most of our lives – waiting for events or other people to dictate what we do next. At times, planning, decision-making, and setting priorities may be difficult. When you don’t know what to do next and can’t decide what’s most important, then you’re likely to spend your days “putting out fires,” responding to the latest crisis or to a demand from someone else.

If you’re tired of living like that and ready to take charge of your life, you can learn to set goals and, step-by-step, every day, come closer to meeting them.

Start small. Don’t try to change too many things, all at once.
Don’t set yourself up for failure - choose a daily goal that’s important but not overly difficult. For example, if you want to get control over daily spending, you might set a goal of taking your lunch to work or school – allowing you to save $5.00 each day. Put this task (make lunch) on your task list.
Schedule your task. Set this goal as a recurring daily task, and place it on your schedule.
Daily planning session. During your daily planning session, review your progress in developing your new habit.
Problem-solve if you’re not making consistent progress in developing your new habit. For example, if you find you’re too tired to make your lunch late in the evening, schedule the task for an earlier time when you’re less tired. Or, think of some ready-made, pre-packaged lunch that you can take to work once a week and leave in the refrigerator.
Build on your success. Once you’ve developed your new habit – making your lunch, taking your walk, etc. – you’re on your way to leading a more intentional, proactive life. Your first success will help you have more confidence when you tackle your next “intention”.
Once this new habit is established, add a new step toward achieving that goal. For example, set a reasonable weekly spending money allowance. Then schedule a recurring weekly task to withdraw this sum of money from your account. Set a goal of never spending more than your allowance on incidentals during the week. Review your progress during your Daily Planning Session.

4 Steps to a Stress-Free Day

2009-12-04T13:00:00Z

By developing the habit of scheduling a daily planning session, you are on your way to learning how to lead a proactive, deliberate life. Your daily planning session need last no longer than 15 minutes each day.

Schedule a regular time for your daily planning session, and put it on your schedule as a recurring event. Night owls may prefer to schedule a regular evening planning session; early birds may feel fresher early in the morning. It’s best to develop a regular time for your daily planning session.

Use your daily planning session to:

Review - Reviewing tomorrow’s schedule.
- Add any additional tasks that have come up.
- Make notes on tomorrow’s tasks that may be helpful.

Prepare – Gather all items you’ll need tomorrow, and place them on your “launching pad”.

Preview - Glance at your schedule for the remainder of the week so that you can think ahead and avoid surprises later in the week.

Balance - Take a moment to think about the balance in your life. Ask yourself whether you’ve left enough time for family, friends, and self-nurturing.

Make a commitment to a month of daily planning sessions. You’ll be amazed at how this single habit can help reduce your stress level, increase your satisfaction with daily life and help you feel more in control of your daily life.