What Will It Take For You To Create a Better Life?

Many of us talk about creating a better life. We want our life to be different – but how? We’re often not sure or clear on what we really want. So we keep doing what we have always done. Wanting or wishing for change but not actually doing anything about it.

If you keep on doing what you’ve always done,

you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.

W.L. Bateman

Why is that? Is our life not really that bad that we aren’t motivated enough to change? Are we lazy? Are we too busy to actually make change? Is it lack of clarity? Is it lack of motivation?

We all have excuses and justifications for our lack of action. We aren’t wrong and we certainly aren’t alone with our behaviour.

Why then do some people suddenly have absolute clarity over what is important in their life? They know what they have to do, when they have to do it and why they should be doing it?

I know for a couple of my friends, lately, their reason for clarity has been ill health. Both friends had been diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening illness. Both friends had their life put on hold for approximately six months while they went through treatment. Both friends have come out of the ordeal [for want of a more suitable word] having clarity, complete and utter clarity about what is really important for them and the people they love the most.

Both friends are now creating the life they really want to live. Are they fortunate or not, that they had to go through such a traumatic period to gain clarity?

So what can the rest of us do to gain clarity? What can we use to motivate us? Why is it that people who face their own death suddenly know what is important to create the life they want to lead while the rest of us busy ourselves so we don’t have to take action?

I am interested to know what would motivate you to change? Is it money, health, relationships, career?

Evan Money said:

Take Action and the World is Yours.

So what action do you have to take to create your ideal life? There are many ways to do this. One suggestion is to look at your life in categories and rate them out of 10. These categories are individual and up to you; however, to assist you to get started may I suggest the following:

• Health
• Fitness
• Business / Career
• Community
• Personal Growth
• Finance
• Relaxation
• Romance / Significant other
• Spiritual

When you are evaluating, your score doesn’t matter, what matters is the next step. For example, if I rated fitness a 6 out of 10, then my next question would be, what do I have to do to move this category to a 7? Think about your next step and take action to make it happen. Step by step, action by action, you are on your way to creating a better life -the life you want.

You can make improvements in one category at a time or identify a few. Be mindful of planning to make too many changes that it becomes overwhelming and you run back to your comfort zone. At times, creating a better life may mean you have to take a step out of your comfort zone and do something different or new. Just take a small step that means you will take action to create a better life. Take the attitude of bring it on and make your life one that excites and motivates you every day!

Time Management and Shopping

If you set up a system for when you go shopping then you will find that shopping is more fun and enjoyable and will take less time. Do you know that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time? This means that we have a lot of money invested in clothing that we don’t wear – let alone the time it took us to purchase all those items.

If you follow some rules then you will save yourself some time when shopping:

Know what suits your body

• Learn your body shape
• Understand what colours suit you

Know your reason for going shopping:

• What is your reason for wanting to purchase a new item
• Write down what items you need to purchase
• Ask yourself – when will I wear it? Where will I wear it? How many times will I wear it?

Preparation for shopping:

• Allow enough time
•  Think about the shopping hours and try to shop when there are less people at the shops
•  If you are co-ordinating items then take those items with you then you won’t wonder if they go, you will know

Questions to ask:

• How many items in my wardrobe will the item go with?
• Can it be dressed up or dressed down?
• Will you be able to use it in more than one season?

If you purchase an item that needs to be altered then take it to be altered immediately. Otherwise, it may just be another item at home that hangs in your wardrobe.

Another way to save time is to actually go through your wardrobe at least once a year. That way, you can ensure that your wardrobe is always functional and serves you. Some questions to ask and guidelines to follow include:

• Anything that you won’t get repaired - then out it goes
• Anything that no longer looks good – out it goes
• Anything that doesn’t fit you – either too big or too small – out it goes
• Anything that is dated – out it goes
• Anything that you feel uncomfortable in – out it goes

Following these tips and guidelines will ideally save you time when you go shopping so that you can use your time for more productive and fun experiences.

Power to Choose

We constantly make choices every day. If we set a goal of health and fitness which means we exercise every morning, then that needs to become our priority, we have the power to choose what we do. When the alarm goes off of a morning, we have a choice – we can stay in that nice warm bed and grab another hour of sleep or we can get up and exercise and be on the path to achieving our goals. It is always our choice.

Thousands of years ago, Aristotle said, “You are what you repeatedly do.”  So are you going to keep repeating what you are currently doing and not change or move forward, or are you going to take some time and identify ways that you can improve your life?

There are going to be hiccups and road blocks that get in your way but draw strength from knowing that you have the power to choose to find another way, another road, and another option. Don’t let excuses get in your way.

The following are some examples of truly inspiration people who could have easily let the excuse of age get in their way however they didn’t choose the easy option.

• Golda Meir was 71 when she became prime minister of Israel.
• Doc Counsilman, at 58, became the oldest person ever to swim the English Channel
• Henry Ford went bankrupt 5 times before succeeding in the auto industry
• 14 publishers rejected Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”.
• Edison greatest accomplishment is the light bulb he was most famous for the following quote in regards to his persistence in developing the light bulb …

 “I have not failed.

I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

• Colonel Sanders had over a 1000 knockbacks in a two year period for his Kentucky Fried Chicken Recipe

So consider the strength in your power to choose.

Bear in Mind - There is always a way

Even if it is not true, act like it is and usually you can find a way to achieve what you want to achieve.

• You can push through the tough times
• Persist a little longer
• Search a little harder
• Keep going
• Failure is giving up
• Everything else is progress

By believing there is always a way you give yourself every opportunity to experience success!

You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be!

There is inside you all of the potential

to be whatever you want to be, all of the energy

to do whatever you want to do.

Imagine yourself as you would like to be,

doing what you want to do,

and each day, take one step towards your dream.

And though at times it may seem too difficult

to continue, hold on to your dream.

One morning you’ll awake to find that

you’re the person you dreamed of,

doing what you wanted to do,

simply because you had the courage

to believe in your potential

and to hold on to your dream.

Donna Levine

You have the resourcefulness you need for whatever you decide to choose.

You REALLY do have the:

• Courage
• Passion
• Determination
• Fire

We can do anything if we have a compelling reason and the focus. There is always a way. Even if it’s not true, act like it is and usually you can find a way to achieve what you want to achieve.

The power to choose is what gives us the opportunity to create a different life! As an individual, you always have a choice.

Time Tracking Exercise Follow Up

Did you complete the time tracking exercise? How many days did you track your time for? What method did you prefer the planning method or the recording method?



Congratulations on investing the time to save time. Seeing as we invested in tracking time it is important to evaluate our recordings. We want to do the following:


1) Analyse the way we used our time, what can you see from looking at how you spent your time?


2) What are some better ways you can use your time based on the analysis?


3) What are your wasteful tasks?


4) What are your unproductive tasks?


5) How can you reduce or eliminate your wasteful and unproductive tasks? It is okay to do this one step at a time.


6) How can you consolidate your time so you have large chunks of time for your most important work?


What will this achieve?


> make us more aware of adding “quick” tasks into our day


> allow us to slowly eliminate time wasting


> allow us to eliminate unproductive work


> allows us to find chunks of time for our most important projects


> ensures we question what we are doing and when we are doing it


About Us


LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Time Tracking Exercise

Last post we focused on time wasters this time I would love to introduce to you a time tracking exercise that I really recommend. The objective is to think about how you are using your time, identify useless or non productive activities and eliminate them this also provides you with a better guide for how long a task actually takes.



In his excellent book "The Effective Executive," Peter Drucker identifies that effective executives follow three key steps to manage their time better:

1) They analyse the way they use their time and think about better ways of using it
2) They find wasteful and unproductive uses of their time and reduce them systematically
3) They consolidate their time into large chunks that they can use for their most important work.


So over the next two weeks I would highly recommend you attempt one of the two activities below:

This has 4 columsn which you record your activities in what you plan to do, what time you think it will take, what you actually did and how long that activity took.

TIME TRACKING OPTION 1



Time             Activity Planned    Est. Time   Activity Completed   Actual Time


6.00 – 6.30
6.30 – 7.00
7.00 – 7.30
7.30 – 8.00


In the above we plan our day and estimate how long an activity will take. Then we actually record what we did at that particular time and how long a task actually took. This achieves the following:


> Identifies whether we stick to our plan
> Identifies what we do when we vary our plan
> Identifies if we are accurate at estimating how long a task will take
> If we are not accurate, it provides us with a real life estimate of the actual time a task takes


TIME TRACKING OPTION 2

In this activity you record what activities you have been doing and then consider whether they were an essential activity or a non-essential activity.

TIME                                        ACTIVITY


                                    Essential          Non-essential


6.00 – 6.30
6.30 – 7.00
7.00 – 7.30
7.30 – 8.00


This exercise follows a similar example however this time we are reviewing whether tasks are essential or non-essential and identifies how much free time we would have each day if we could eliminate or reduce the non-essential tasks.


It is recommended you try either option 1 or 2 for 5 days however to get real benefits it is even better to do it for two weeks.


Good luck and enjoy your learning experience I personally got a lot of useful information from this exercise.


About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

New Habits to Manage Time

With any improvements in life it is often our own habits that have to change to be able to move forward. Once I have written on a subject I like to reflect on some new habits or attitudes that we should be developing so that we can move forward. Therefore based on this I would like to propose the following:



Ask yourself “What will make the biggest difference?”
Are you making the best possible use of your time? Do you find yourself being reactive rather than proactive? Are you managing to do what you want to achieve? Therefore each day when planning ask yourself – “What is it I want to achieve today?” and “What will make the biggest difference in my life right now?”


Don’t be late
Lateness is rude and often seen as a lack of respect towards the other person.


1440 Only
We all have the same 1,440 minutes per day – how we utilise that time determines our ability to have a productive day. Remember Pareto’s Principle – the 80 / 20 rule, therefore do the 20% of really important things in your day, the other smaller stuff; the 80% will take care of itself.


Building Solutions
When you’re next thinking of a solution to a problem, make a list. Draw a line down the middle of a page; in the left hand column list things you can control and in the right hand column, list things you can not control.


Be pro-active about what you can control – that’s where you get the most power, don’t waste time on what you can not control.


About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

How will you feel once you have decluttered?

Once you have decluttered you will start to feel:

> Relaxed
> Focused
> Free
> Proud

What are the benefits of decluttering?
> More time
> More efficient
> Praise from others
> Save money
> Do things well
> Escape drudgery
> Be more comfortable
> Live in a clean atmosphere
> Live longer
> Increase enjoyment
> Relax

Why are you not getting yourself clutter free?
> Rather be doing something else
> All or nothing [procrastination because the task is too big]
> Too broad of a statement about getting organised
> Sense of attachment
> Fear of failure

So take action and start decluttering, one small space at a time.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

What does clutter do to you?

Clutter affects you and the people around you in many ways, for example:
> You waste time searching for things
> Clutter occupies space
> You lose things
> Extra money is spent on items which have already been bought
> Money is wasted on excess furniture and storage to hoard the clutter
> Clutter makes you feel busy and causes unnecessary stress.
> You get distracted and have difficulty focusing
> Clutter affects your image. You look out of control
> You cannot prioritise or work efficiently when you can't see or find the tasks that need to be done

How do you know when it's time for you to Declutter?
It will become very obvious when:
> You have difficulty finding things
> You're always saying, "I know it's here somewhere!"
> You can't see your desk for the mess
> You cut your fingers in the filing cabinet when you try to dig out a file
> You have to push your body against the cupboard door to close it
> The bookshelves are beginning to break because of all the weight
> You've forgotten what your floor looks like because it's buried under the mess
> You feel out of control and overwhelmed when sitting in your office

Don’t let your clutter control you, your moods, your success, your time. Take ACTION and start to clear the clutter.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” list so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Declutter your Mobile Phone

Too often we leave the organising and decluttering until the end of the year – which is a busy time with celebrations and shopping. Or the start of the year – which is a good time for planning so why not schedule your decluttering gradually throughout the year? This means that it is not a massive job when it comes time to declutter.

Rather than tackle a whole job such as the office at once it is great to continuously work on smaller areas such as your mobile phone. What you say? Declutter my mobile?

Believe it or not there are many areas that do get decluttered in your mobile.

Contacts

Delete all temporary numbers.
Delete any numbers belonging to people that you don’t know.
If you are like me I always save numbers when clients / potential clients contact me so that I can wow them the next time they call by saying their name.

Photos / Video’s

If you don’t need the photo’s then delete them.
If they are worth keeping perhaps download them to your computer and print them.
If they are of friends send them to the person / persons that are also in the photos. Make their day and show them you are thinking of them.

SMS/ text messages
Delete all your old text messages from your:
Inbox
Outbox
Sent
Drafts
Even check the saved area and delete ones you no longer need.

Depending on your phone you may have other options such as:
Memo’s

Check your memo area on your mobile phone; do you really need all those old memo’s? Surely you have acted on them by now!

Tasks
Do you have old tasks that should be deleted? Now is the perfect time to delete them.

This task should only take 15 minutes but it is another job done and like everything when it is organized it saves you TIME in the long run.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Its time to think about Christmas Shopping.

The end of the financial year is a fantastic time to go Christmas shopping. Not because you have time on your hands, in fact it is to save time, save money and save stress.

However like everything it is important to plan your shopping trip. It is time to think Christmas Shopping. So it’s important to have a plan.

Planning
First, consider who you have to buy Christmas gifts for. Think immediate family, extended family, kinder and school teachers, sporting coaches … spend time now making a complete list.
Next, consider how much you would like to spend in total on Christmas gifts. Then consider how much you will spend on each gift. This will ensure you keep within your Christmas budget while shopping.


Thirdly, take some time to think about what would be a suitable present for each gift you need to purchase. This will allow you to think creatively and provide some direction while shopping which will save you more time.


Benefits
By starting your Christmas shopping early it will ensure you maintain your budget, can shop without pressure, emotional guilt and temptation which often occurs when you just need to purchase a gift in a hurry.

Oh and remember it is easier to leave the kids at home this time of year. Ideally everyone else around you will not be out shopping so you can get a babysitter for the afternoon. This will give you more time to think clearly and shop wisely.

Like everything it is worth doing the hard yards now so that you will be able to enjoy the Christmas period instead of making it hard work.

Happy planning and successful shopping.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

End of Financial Year – Great time to review!

We often focus at the end of the year on our review of the year that has gone, and consider plans for the New Year and then set goals based on what has been identified. The end of the financial year is also a good time to stop and take a look. It is worth investing some time in reviewing if you are meeting your planned objectives and goals. You don’t want to waste the next 6 months just because you could not spare a couple of hours mid year.

Therefore take some time to check year-to-date highs, lows, the planned, the unexpected, the wins and the losses.

Potential Assessment Questions.
Perhaps the following questions may help with the assessment:

• Are we meeting budget?


• If yes, why, if no, why not?


• What have been our highs?


• What should we do more of to ensure we have more highs in the second half of the year?


• What have been our lows?


• What can we do to change this?


• How is our customer feedback process?


• Is it working for us?


• Is it working for our customers?


• When we get feedback where we know we need to make some changes, do we make the relevant changes?


• What staffing challenges have occurred so far?


• How did we handle them?


• Are we engaging our staff?


• What can we do to engage them more?


• What are our plans for the next 6 months?


• Are our staff aware of our plans?


• If yes, great, if no what are we going to do to ensure we are all working towards the same goal?

Don’t feel overwhelmed
The questions can go on and on don’t feel overwhelmed, just take some time to review you don’t want to waste the next six months.

Speak to Your Accountant
Even if the focus is specifically financial, remember it is important to speak to your accountant prior to the end of the financial year so any potential tax savings can be implemented. Don’t miss out on some great tax savings just because you could not spare a couple of hours for a meeting. I know my 1 hour meeting with my financial adviser saved me $4,000.00 in taxation. That meeting was well worth my investment of TIME.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Not-to-do lists

Lists, lists, lists I love them. I have shopping lists, weekly menu list, 2009 goals list, action items list, to-do list, birthday list, presents list, cleaning my house list and it goes on. The problem with all the lists is knowing what to do first so the idea when presented to me of a “not-to-do" list sounded sensational.

Author Michael LeBoeuf recommended the following for the not-to-do list:

• All low-priority items, unless you have successfully completed all your high-priority items.


• Anything you could reasonably delegate to someone else.


• Demands on your time from others that are either thoughtless or inappropriate.


• Any errand that, if ignored, will have minimal consequences.


• Anything you might have done for someone else that the person should be doing for himself or herself.
  

Wow – what a great idea. Think of the time you will save by not doing things. It will allow you to focus on getting the priority items done.

About Us

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Office Organising Tips [Part 3]

Tips to Save You Time when you Communicate
Everyday at work we communicate too many people such as colleagues, clients and suppliers. We communicate in many different ways such as email, letter, quotation, telephone, verbal and non-verbal. Just as taming your desk saves you time so does clear communication.

Phone call
Before making a phone call take the time to write down the points you wish to discuss. Ensure the person you are talking to has the time to speak to you before you even commence your discussion, this way they will be fully focused on the conversation and you will both save time by not having to cut the conversation short and then have to repeat the conversation later on.

Follow up
If you need to follow up on something after your discussion make a note into your diary immediately so you know when you have to follow up by. This serves three purposes, firstly it will not be forgotten, secondly, it frees your head space to focus on other work and thirdly, your colleagues, clients, suppliers etc know that you are a person of your word and always follow up on what was agreed. This in turn, ensures that they will follow up with you as they know you have made a note of the discussion outcome.

Leaving a message
When leaving a message whether it is voicemail or with another staff member or even sending an email, be clear about what you are expecting from the other person including when, where and how. This way a full response can be provided back to you, even if they can not reach you directly.

Just a few small improvements every week will add up to a great deal of time saving over a year which allows you to be more productive.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Office Organising Tips [Part 2]

Organise Your Desk
What does your desk look like? Are you happy with the way it is set up? Do you even stop and look at your desk and analyse whether it is working for you? Your desk can be a key factor in your productivity.

A cluttered desk can affect you as follows:
§ It can waste your time
§ It occupies space
§ You can lose things
§ Money is wasted on extra office furniture and storage to hold all the extras you are keeping
§ It can affect how others see you
§ It can appear that you are out of control
§ It can be difficult to prioritise your work when you can not find what needs to be done

What to do:
§ Keep only supplies that you need on a daily basis on your desk
§ Ensure the top draw closest to your desk holds your "office tools" that is the stapler, pens, pencils, paper clips. It is close by but not occupying space
§ Create a paper flow system for your incoming documents so they do not accumulate in your in tray
§ Use your in tray for items that have not yet been placed into the paper flow system
§ Avoid looking at document and putting them back into the in tray or on your desk, it is wasting valuable time

The act of maintaining your desk is one step on the way to be more effective and profitable. Remove the clutter so you can focus on the important areas of your business.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do” or “wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Anzac Day

We wish our very best to all those attending ANZAC Day Memorial Services. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

What is ANZAC Day?
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

What does it mean today?
Australians recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn – the time of the original landing – across the nation. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war.

The staff at LifeStyle Refocus

Office Organising Tips

Empty your mind
Empty information from your brain and organise it. That can be done by using a diary, a notebook, a planner, and your computer or specific software packages that are available. By doing this it gives your brain space to think about what you should be focusing on because you have the prompts you need to deal with tasks or appointments when they occur.

Reoccurring tasks
Do you have reoccurring tasks that you have to do? It may be checking office stationery supplies [weekly, monthly etc] or paying insurance premiums [annually]. Place these tasks into “Microsoft office tasks” and it will remind you when you start up your email program of the jobs that have to be done. They can be set up as reoccurring tasks so that they remind you when needed.

Give yourself time
Try and leave some space within your day to focus on a project or key action items. This allows you time to deal with tasks that have to be done.
Do you know that we underestimate how much time it will take to complete a task? It is a habit that we all do until we fully track our time and have an educated understanding of the time tasks take. Think about when you check emails and how long you think that will take you. How often are you surprised when time has just slipped away? Therefore whenever you think about how much time something is going to take allocate twice as much time. This accommodates for such things as interruptions or further research that may be required to complete the job properly.

Conquer large projects
When you are feeling overwhelmed by large project take a few minutes and break the project down into small, sequential steps. Then start from the end task and schedule these steps into days and approx time each task would take. This way you will have it completed on time. So long as you stay on track with your time line you will feel that you are making progress and not be overwhelmed.

About Us
LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do or wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Getting organised starts with clearing the clutter!

The steps to decluttering whether it is the shed, office or home are the same. It can be difficult to know where to begin clearing the clutter but it can be a good idea to start in an area that does not need a lot done to it. This will take less time but it will give you a start.

The following are some steps to get you decluttering:
§ Have a plan
§ Know how you are going to organise the stuff while you are going through it
§ Use a systematic approach
§ Gather boxes and suppliers you will need, such as boxes or containers with the following labels
keep in this area
elsewhere
donate
recycle
micro sorting
and rubbish
§ The elsewhere box is for any object that belongs elsewhere [in the house or office] to stop you leaving the room you are working in
§ Keep your shredder handy to shred old paper on the spot

“I never have the time”.
In reality you do, just start with an area or space that you know you have enough time to complete and start decluttering. It may be a desk draw, a shelf or a filing draw. Take 5, 10 or even 15 minutes each day and you will make progress.

Each time you do spend some time decluttering you are moving towards your goal. See how much you can accomplish each time you spend decluttering and take notice of how good you feel.

Micro sorting
When you are sorting an area you will come across something that needs further sorting such as photos, business cards, meeting minutes etc. Place these into another container for micro-sorting. These are things you can sort another day.

Double check
Before you place everything back into place question yourself once more whether you really need it or should it go into one of the other boxes.

If you want to give yourself a real boost and see how successful you had been take some before and after photos.

Reward
You can also reward yourself after each milestone you reach. Big or small every bit is a success – celebrate your success.

When your space is clutter free you begin to save yourself TIME. This will make you more productive and be a small step to creating a better balance in your life.

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do or wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Give Yourself TIME to work!

To be productive at work sometimes we actually need time to work! What I mean is interruption FREE TIME. Time at our desk without the phone ringing; responding to emails or speaking to drop in’s. If you build this into your weekly or daily routine colleagues will begin to respect your work TIME.

Interruptions can be costly to both your personally and the business in general. You lose your focus and thoughts with each interruption and have to begin again. Reports have said that “unnecessary interruptions consume about 28 percent of the office based worker’s day” which does make a significant impact on our productivity.

Solutions

Simple solutions such as closing the door and allowing the phone to go to voicemail can be effective. If your office design means it is difficult to stop interruptions when you need a quiet space for your concentration timeslots, try to find other places to work. Perhaps negotiating to have some time working from home or in the general office meeting / board room may be the solution.

It is important for you and the organization you work for to have uninterrupted work time when you need to. Block a time in your diary or electronic calendar and advise everyone relevant that this is your productive / thinking time. If possible close the door, take the phone off the hook, turn off your mobile, and remove email alerts. Maintain this practice and you will benefit by being more productive than ever before, people will begin to acknowledge this is your TIME and work around you so that you achieve what you need to.

Benefits
This is not just relevant to senior management but to all levels of staff to focus and concentrate and in turn increase their productivity. Increased productivity leads to better work / life balance for you and increased profits for the organization. It is a win / win for both the individual and the organisation.

Perhaps with the more focused work time you will end up with more FREE TIME to live the life you enjoy.

LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal assistant, corporate concierge and lifestyle management consultancy. They are all about saving you TIME. By taking care of your “to do or wish list” so you can spend time doing the things that are truly important to you. For more information go to www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana on 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.

Has the weekend become a blur?

Has the weekend become a blur?

Our childhood memories are made up of spending time with cousins, aunts, uncles and family friends on a hot Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed a meal outdoors, kicked a ball, ate watermelon, were free to get dirty, climbed trees, played family cricket, and went bush walking. When was the last time you did this with your children?

It is no wonder we don’t have time to create these memories for our children, have you considered what we try and juggle and manage in our everyday lives? Today’s modern life of a flexible workforce, technology which enable us to work from anywhere at anytime, managing a home, giving to our community and the never ending pursuit to better ourselves personally and professionally. This is what we all try to juggle and manage in our everyday lives.

Didn’t we think that technology and other advances would make things easier and less stressful? In fact, there are more expectations of us, and we have more to do. In essence we never “switch off”, causing the weekend to become a blur.

Can we really do all this and maintain a healthy balance in our lives without help? Are we all trying to achieve the impossible? Do you ever imagine having your own fairy godmother or personal assistant to help you get through the never ending tasks so you can start enjoying the things that are truly important to you? …there is a solution!

The personalised services industry is growing to meet these demands. LifeStyle Refocus is a Melbourne based personal organiser service and Lifestyle Management Company. Their services are all about making our lives easier, helping us achieve the lifestyle we dream about.

LifeStyle Refocus creates customised solutions, to help individuals and businesses get organised. Michele and Silvana provide ideas, information, structure, solutions, tools and systems which increase productivity, reduce stress and lead to more control over your life giving you more TIME to create a better life.

Imagine having a trusted team to help with organising the house and garden, shopping for gifts and groceries, arranging holidays, medical appointments, parties, concert tickets, dinner bookings and much, much more.

LifeStyle Refocus also works with businesses helping them keep staff motivated, productive and happy, giving employees real work/life balance. LifeStyle Refocus can help with event management, corporate gifts, team building and staff incentives. Their services are not limited; Michele and Silvana will tailor them to individual needs whilst building an ongoing relationship.

“We saw a real need for a business like this, the traditional personal assistant who would help manager’s with organising them at work and home is being replaced with technology – with only very senior executives being privileged to having a personal assistant.”, Silvana commented.

“Also, with the high cost of living, more households have both partners working, leaving little time for organising day to day tasks”, stated Michele.

Michele and Silvana have created their own work/life balance by utilising their corporate backgrounds in event management, recruitment, marketing and personal assistant services and set up LifeStyle Refocus. “We both love our jobs and are passionate about helping people and businesses achieve their dreams in life by using our services. We give people more time to do what is truly important”, the girls explain.
Time is really the only capital any human being has, and
the one thing he can’t afford to waste” - Thomas Edison.

LifeStyle Refocus can give you back your weekend by giving them your “to do” list, ensuring you have time to relax, refresh, recharge and have time to go on a picnic with family and friends, creating memories for our your children.

Find out more about Lifestyle Refocus on www.lifestylerefocus.com.au or contact Silvana 0417 595 744 or Michele on 0437 311 802.