Weekend Confession

I heard a quote yesterday that I loved: “Blame equals Being lame.”  Yesterday, I mentioned how crazy my schedule had been and how I just couldn’t seem to stay ahead of it all.  Then all of a sudden I remembered something my mom did years ago to keep herself organized and something I adopted in my earlier years of business but subsequently discarded with everything going electronic: Pert Charts.

I don’t know exactly what “pert chart” stands for, although I did make up a pretty good answer when Keith asked me last night.  I told him it stood for “pertinent chart” but now that I’m googling it I realize I just made that answer up.  PERT really stands for Program Evaluation Review Technique and is a project management tool used to schedule, organize and coordinate tasks within a project.  Hmmm…that is definitely not what my mom taught me.

Anyhow, a Pert Chart, as I know it is a simple document with every task that needs to get done that day – listed in the order of importance – created as a separate bullet point.  Each morning (or preferably the night before), you create a new pert chart with everything that needs to be completed that day.  As each item is completed, it is simply checked off and on to the next item on the list.  Whatever doesn’t get completed that day remains on the Pert Chart for the following day.  Then all completed items are deleted and new ones added.  Mom would print out one of these lists each and every day and it kept her on target.

When I first began in business (I can’t believe it’s almost two decades ago – yikes!) I always used a pert chart.  I’d have friends and colleagues tease me about my never-ending checklist.  I even had one friend give me a hard time because she looked at the checklist on my desk one day and it said, “Call Erin.”  She said, “You couldn’t have thought to do that without it being on your checklist?!?” 

True, that may have been a bit extreme but everything that needed to get done was on that list and if it wasn’t on that list and popped up in the middle of the day, it got added as a new bullet point (handwritten) but was prioritized based on the other items already on the daily check list.  The goal was to not have anything stay on the list longer than a couple days.

Yesterday, I finally stepped away from my electronic devices (Outlook, iPhone, etc) and created my first Pert Chart in years.  And you know what?  All of a sudden I don’t feel so stressed.  There’s something about not having to keep a running tally in my head of everything that needs to get done that somehow immediately gave me a sense of peace and awareness.

I’ve been yapping nonstop since I returned from Costa Rica that was I was too busy for this and too busy for that when really…I was just unorganized.  Oh, how I hate admitting that because I’ve always prided myself in being an organized businesswoman.  Keith asked me to join him last night for dinner with a friend and you know what I said?  I couldn’t because I was too busy and needed to get caught up on work. 

It’s funny how little things actually take to complete.  I thought it would be difficult to keep up with this new blog format but really it’s quite easy because writing each blog post takes no more than thirty minutes.  I just had to schedule it into my day and make it a priority on my new trusty, dusty pert chart.  Ditto with nearly everything else I got completed yesterday.  I stuck to my checklist and let very few things throw me off track.

So here’s my question for you as we kick off this fabulous October 14^th weekend: How many times have you turned down doing something with your hubby or kids because you were too busy?  How often do you find yourself not returning the call of one of your closest friends because you just didn’t get around to it?  Do you feel like a chicken with your head cut off running around town and seeming to never get anything done?

I challenge you to find a better way to organize.  We are given 1,440 minutes each day, of which 480 minutes are hopefully spent getting our beauty rest.  That leaves us with nearly 1,000 minutes each day to get things done.  That’s nearly 7,000 minutes a week.  Is it possible that you, like me, just needs a quick dose of reality on how much time you’re wasting by not being better organized?

There are so many online ideas for organizing your life, day, week, home, work life, and so on.  What has worked for me in the past and began working again for me yesterday are three things: 1) Letting the phone go to voicemail more often; 2) Creating and sticking to a daily pert chart; and 3) Cleaning out my email daily and using email file folders to keep it organized. 

You know, voicemail is a wonderful thing and I’ve found most people don’t expect to get me each and every time they call.  Speaking to them at that moment versus in a few hours once I’ve been able to whittle down my task list for the day will not end a friendship, familial or business relationship.  Of course, there are calls that need to be an exception.  I had one such call today.  But you’d be surprised how people don’t mind leaving a message and being called back in a timely manner…but at a time that works better for you.

I don’t know if you desire to become more organized or even if you need to, but since this site is all about wives encouraging each other and providing simple yet useful tips, I want to show you what I used to get organized.  I’ve copied and pasted the first portion of my Pert Chart for yesterday below. 

This chart represents only 1/3 of the actual tasks listed on my “chart” and I still had a lot to complete when the day ended.  But there is something about being organized and knowing what I need to do and by when rather than trying to keep all that in my head and finding myself overwhelmed.

If you’re like me and needed a little extra “oomph” and encouragement to get organized, I hope this blog post did the trick.  Speaking of which, do you know the difference between “try” and “triumph”?  You guessed it…a little extra “oomph!” 

Here’s to organizing my life so I can be a better wife, sister, daughter, employer and overall person.  And here’s to giving you a little extra “oomph!”

Until next time…make it a great day!