AnywhereMan

I picked up The Power of Less by Leo Babauta at the library a few weeks ago and I think I read it faster than any book I’ve read in recent memory. I completely devoured everything that Leo (author of one of my favorite blogs, ZenHabits) had to share.

The book focuses on simplifying your life, both through cutting out the unnecessary things and focusing on tasks related to your goals. Here are a few of the highlights.

Creating Habits

Babauta explains that we often try to do a major overhaul of our habits in bulk. Instead, he says that you should focus on creating new habits, one at a time. Don’t try to improve everything at once. Focus on one habit that you want to create and stay focused on it until it is, in fact, a habit. Then, move on to the next one.

Some of the habits he suggests working on include creating a daily routine, exercise 5-10 minutes daily, keeping your desk de-cluttered, eating more fruits and vegetables, etc.

Getting Things Done

I’ve tried the actual GTD system in the past and I failed miserably as it fell into the realm of a major overhaul. I remember wondering when I was ever going to have time to devote an entire day to starting it and organizing my life. Babauta’s approach (“Zen to Done“) goes right along with creating habits: focus on one task at a time.

He suggests setting your three most important tasks that you want to accomplish each day and only work on one task at a time until completed. I’ve been doing this and it’s been a great system. At the end of the day, as long as those three tasks are complete, you feel like you’ve accomplished what needed to be done.

Cutting Out The Noise

We live busy, fast, noisy lives. I’ve talked in the past about some of the distractions of technology and other factors. Leo gives some great tips for lessening the interruptions due to things like the internet, email, commitments, etc. For example, he says it’s a good practice to check email only twice a day. In general, a person should be setting limits.

I’ve been trying to get into this habit a bit more, but at his suggestion, this month I’ve been working on my “One Goal,” which as I mentioned is setting the three most important tasks each morning until that’s a habit.

Slow Down and Focus On The Present

This is a big one for me. I spend too much time thinking about what needs to be done. Babauta explains that if we put into practice his other suggestions for simplifying, we’ll be able to live at a slower pace, get more done, and focus on the present, thus giving us more satisfaction in what we are actually doing.

What’s Missing?

While I thoroughly enjoyed The Power of Less and will easily give it five out of five stars on Goodreads, the one topic I wish Babauta would have covered in-depth is the idea of simplifying your stuff. We as consumers are simply way too “stuff”-driven, myself included. I’ve really been realizing how much consumerism contributes to stress, lack of balance, and lack of perspective on what matters in life. Again, I’m as guilty as anyone on this one and I would have loved some tips from Leo on this topic.

Read It!

This book has given me a great roadmap for simplifying both my life and career, and I highly recommend reading it. I may even try to get Leo for an AnywhereMan interview at some point since he officially lives the Anywhere Lifestyle, so if anybody knows him personally, drop me an email.

It’s been a quiet year so far here on AnywhereMan. Quiet on the blog, not-so-quiet in real life; it’s been downright busy. Hence, no time for blogging but lots of time to put into practice the concept I talked about in my last video: “Today I’m going to ____.”

In fact, it’s become “Today I’m going to ____. Tomorrow I’m going to ____. And the day after that…” It’s been really crazy.

Last month Seth Godin talked about a simple, free, and awesome web-based to-do list application called TeuxDeux.  I’ve been using it a ton, and while I don’t keep my entire life’s tasks on there, it’s been great for making sure I get every little project update and client request taken care of. If I happen to not get everything done today, it pushes overdue tasks to the next day and marks them in red. There’s even a space for “someday”/big picture tasks.

It’s actually been a total lifesaver.

So when you get up each morning and tell yourself what you need to get done, add it to your TeuxDeux list and get it off your mind.

Do you already have a daily task management app that you use? Tell us about it!

How much do you really know about the people you know?  

Gist (www.gist.com) is a brand-spankin’ new app that allows you to import your contacts from several sources such as Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn, Facebook, Salesforce, Twitter, and MORE, and then browse fresh news, blog posts, and Twitter updates with content relevant to those contacts.  It takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you have the contacts you want set to high-priority, the functionality is priceless.  Think of it as part contact management/CRM, part news aggregator, and part Google Alerts.  

A few of my favorite features:

• Add new contacts or companies to watch directly
• Share interesting bits on content on Facebook, Twitter, or through email
• Set various priority levels so you’re assured of seeing the news relevant to your highest-priority clients
• Items that you haven’t read are marked as un-read, similar to checking your email
• Profile tagging to create groups
• If you import actual email messages, Gist will keep an archive of them

As a freelancer, being able to keep an eye on not only my current clients but potential clients through Gist is priceless.  The more you know about a client and their organization, the more they are going to trust that you will be able to take care of their needs.  You may also find opportunities you might never have noticed before.

One other recommendation with Gist is to make sure you’ve got a profile set up to track yourself.  It’s good to be aware of what content is being pulled that has you or your company’s name in it.  

Also, give Gist more than just a  quick glance. It’s in beta right now and the UI took a little bit of effort for me to learn, but the more you tinker with it, the more you’ll see the potential Gist has to be a major part of successful networking on the web. Check it out at www.gist.com.

Okay I did this a few days ago,  but I put the tips that Stacy Kaplan shared into practice and organized not only my desk but the rest of my office. So far I’m LOVING the space and organization I’ve unveiled.  Here are photos of the process. By the way, I definitely spent longer than the 15 minutes Stacy recommended but I plan on doing a 15 minute mini-organization session on a weekly basis.

The start…or what I like to call “The Non-Blank Canvas”:

I actually started by clearing the whiteboard.  I was originally using it to write down my upcoming project schedule, but am now keeping to clear for daily planning:

Notice the new hanging file basket on the desk. Folders for “To File”, “To Pay”, “Receipts”, etc.

Stacy recommended recycling/purging a variety of documents and papers. Here’s just one of the things I purged (a birthday card). What drove me to even have this on my desk???

Does anyone still use a Franklin planner?

This I DO use…a lot! It’s my mini “Idea Book” where I write down any entrepreneurial-type ideas I get. It’s got notes, diagrams, and all sorts of top-secret stuff. I keep it on my desk, and it will stay on my desk. If you break into my house, just steal this and leave all my other stuff. It’s worth WAY more.

And here’s the final result: A clean desk, organized files (see the hanging file case I keep beneath my desk), blank whiteboard, and room to get stuff done!

Seriously, I’m loving the clean, organized desk setup. Thanks to all of you who sent in your own pictures, too! I’ll be drawing a winner of the Freshbooks shirt in the next week or so.  For those of you that haven’t commented with a picture of your desk, there’s still time to win!

Also, today is Blog Action Day, a date set aside on an annual basis to get people blogging about the same topic.  This year’s topic is climate change. Now as I type this, it is snowing here in MN and it’s been cold cold cold for the past month.  However, this is just my tiny little corner of the world. I’m well aware that other areas of the world may be experiencing a warmer, drier, or wetter climate than normal. Politics aside, it’s something we at least need to keep an eye on. Check out the Blog Action Day site and read some of the other things people have posted on their blogs.

How’s your desk looking these days? I’m getting ready to clean and organize mine.

I’d like to see a picture of your desk. Post a link to a picture of yours in the comments below.  In the next week or two I’ll draw a winner of yet another Freshbooks shirt from those that are brave enough to share.

Image by William Hook via Flickr

In my previous post I came “clean” about my messy desk.  Several of you commented offering words of comfort and advice, and I appreciate that. I reached out to a few organizing experts on Twitter as well, and professional organizer Stacy Kaplan from Clutter Away by Stacy K. offered up some great tips.  Here’s what Stacy had to say:

1. Spend 15 minutes a day organizing your desk. Take a photo at the end of each session to track your progress.
 

2. There are 4 places where a piece of paper should end up:

(1) in the recycle bin (most papers),

(2) on a desktop filer (more about this in the next step),

(3) in a file drawer adjacent to your desk or

(4) in a deep freeze file away from your desk.

Files in spot #2 are for important papers and are most likely currently sitting on your desk. Files for spot #3 are for papers you need regularly. Files for spot #4 are for archival items, such as old taxes and records.
 

3. For your desktop, I recommend using a vertical, graduated filer where each folders stands up and the folder behind is higher than the folder in front. Office Depot and Staples have these filers. You should end up with 5-7 files and they should be for those papers which you need all the time (i.e. To Do, To Read, Bills To Pay, Travel, Tickets/Invitations, etc). Make labels for each folder accordingly.
 

4. Purge (recycle) any papers which are:

- Duplicates

- Obsolete

- Available on your computer or the Internet

- Available from someone else if you accidentally toss

- Untouched for at least a year

- Saved for “just in case” but not critical

- Related to a task you don’t have time to do

Good luck and please keep me posted on your progress!

Thanks for these tips, Stacy! I will keep you and the rest of my readers posted on my journey…my long, much needed journey.  Everyone, be sure to check out Clutter Away by Stacy K. for all sorts of great organizing-related services. Even her website is well organized! 

In an effort to make this site as honest and transparent as it can possibly be, I’m going to ask for your help.  I have a home office. I have a desk. I have a filing cabinet. Yet look at all this stuff:

Help me.

I would love to hear what type of system you use to not only file paper documents, but what you do with your data backups on CD/DVD, post-it notes, books, pens & pencils, checkbooks, etc.  What organization plan is the quickest to learn and implement? I don’t have a week to devote solely to organizing. I need to be able to pick it up on the fly.

What system has worked best for you? Please share some insight.

I’m going to try something new and I think it would be great to detail my progress here on AnywhereMan. Hey, it could be fun. The funny thing is, my digital workspace (email, digital files, etc) is way more organized than my physical workspace.

Seriously…help.

Thanks everyone!