Organizational Hints

cassandra · Status: Offline

Organizational Hints

puppetmaster · Status: Offline

Get yourself a datebook that has plenty of space for each day to write on. List everything you have to do for the day...then number then in order of priority. When you get something done, scratch it off. At the end of the day, transfer anything over to the next day that you didn't get done, and prioritize that. It seems overwhelming at first, but once you get a "system" down, you'll be amazed at how LITTLE you have to do.

I started this system because I had a micro-managing supervisor who would call us into meetings and have us list everything we had to do for the day. So I realized I had better have an organized list for her...but it really does work!!

(I am convinced that I would have been diagnosed with ADD had it been diagnosed when I was a kid - so I have learned to overcompensate for my procrastinating, "fly by the seat of my pants" self, and have actually forced organization to become synonymous with my personality!)

Deanna · Status: Offline

You are not a slacker. A slacker doesn't do anything and would not be in the church office in the first place.

Puppetmaster makes a great suggestion. I have a list of initiatives each week...they are prioritized. I make it on Thursday of the previous week for the whole next week. Those things "have" to be accomplished before the weekend of the next week. That's what I live by.

LadyT · Status: Offline

Cassandra, Deanna is right. If you were a slacker, you would not even be asking about this. You would not care. You would be too busy watching Oprah or something.

Anyway, somehting that helps me is a not putting things off. I don't add to my to do list things that will take me a few minutes or less. If it will only take me a minute to do so mehting, them I go ahead and do it instead of adding it to my list of things to do. Also, I set reminders for appointments and for things that I do on a reoccurring basis. For example, I have monthly reports that I need to distribute or a news letter that on work on that has the same dealine each month. For these things I set a reminder in my email program (Outlook or Lotus Notes, etc..) to remind me when these things are coming up. These also helps me in planning my master initiative list because I can copy and paste these things.

I would also encourage you to have a great filing system that WORKS FOR YOU. (I am not yelling, just emphasizing btw.) There are some really great methods out there, but if it does not work for you, it is no good. Since you will be working on a variety of things in different areas of ministry, a good filing system (computer amd paper) will help you get to what you need quickly. This will keep you from doing any repeat work. Copy and paste are 2 of my favorite words. It will also help with the transition when you are blessed with others to take on some of these duties. Everything will be ready to pass on to the next faithful person. Hallelujah!

There are also some good organization websites that you can go to. Although, I would not spend too much time on this. There are so many that you really could. Some good ones include: http://www.pilestofiles.com/

http://www.onlineorganizing.com/ExpertAdvice.asp?content=C06ClickableOffice The clickable office allows you to click on any area of the office that you struggle with and get specifc advice for that area. THere is also a clickable house on this site for those of us (like me) who need help at home.

http://www.getorganizednow.com/index.html

Also as a side note, you may already know this, but I never type Bible verses. If ever I have to type scripture that I do not know by memory, or if it is more than two verses or so, I go to Biblegateway.com. You can pull up scripture any version of the Bible that you want and then copy and paste.

T