Six Sigma Blogs

Many people who work from home find that a lot of people assume they don’t actually do much at all. They often think that because you have no one else around, you can just take it at your own pace.

This is not true at all. When working from home, yours is maybe a case where you have more than one employer who expects your services probably at around the same time. How to explain your situation to other people may present some challenge on your part.

A critical way of showing this is to ensure you work to a tight and regular timeframe so that people take your work seriously. If you keep regular hours and stick to them, most people will come to respect that.

Importantly, for people you live with, you should have a sign that you can put up that tells them you are busy and that you will be free at a certain time. If it is a crisis, you can figure out a policy for dealing with that as well.

One reason why working from home is interesting to some people is that it allows for some degree of adjustability. In fact, this kind of job has become popular nowadays because it has a lot to offer, such as not having to ride to your office, working in the comfort of your own home, and of course, flexible time. The only hitch is justifying this to other people.

One way to avoid that is to make occasional trade offs. For example, if your spouse wants to go to lunch with you, fabulous! Just make sure that they understand that that means that you’ll be working an extra hour or two that evening.

Not everyone will necessarily believe you at first. Maybe you could show them your productivity log or tell them how many various projects you are managing. Be understanding but resilient.

Explain to them in the most basic way that you can spend time with them, but it isn’t going to be on a regular basis and that you have to catch up on your work after that. Be firm in letting them understand that most of the time, your work will have to be given priority over other matters.

Refer to various other works penned by this author covering things including a VPN router in addition to an ADSL router.

There is no doubt that a child dreads that first day of school, whether it’s their first time going or just the next year for them. For some parents, it may seem like a blessing - you get some time back after all - but deep inside you feel the chaos that is about to occur.

It can be crazy trying to remember all the things that there are to do when you only have a few minutes to get them out to the bus on time, especially when many kids have to go to school very early in the morning and not everyone is fully awake yet. So, here are some tips to make things easier.

First, pack your child’s backpack with all of their school supplies the day before. It can help to make a checklist of what they’ll need and check it off as you pack it.

Once the supplies are packed, leave them right by the door that you intend to go out in the morning. You’ll certainly remember them as you’re leaving the house.

Another great idea is to pack your child’s lunch the night before so that you don’t have to be concerned about it the next day. There will certainly be other things that will come up that will demand your attention.

To avoid attracting mice or the appetites of hungry family pets, be sure not to leave any school lunches out overnight, even if they do not require refrigeration.

So, put it in the fridge or another appropriate place, but put a note with your child’s backpack to remind you. Then you’ll be sure not to forget it.

Getting your child moving in the morning is another challenge altogether. To help with this, allow kids to choose their outfits the night before and lay them out so they can find them easily the next morning. This should reduce any fuss about what to wear and have you and your child out the door in no time.

This writer has been contributing articles pertaining to parenting for the past two years. In addition, the individual loves blogging regarding different subjects, like tropical flowers along with sympathy flower delivery.

In this lesson of the GTD Thirty Day Challenge we are going to talk about how to set up a tickler file, or specifically, how I set up my tickler file.

David Allen seems to be big on using 43 folders for his tickler file. These folders would be made up of 12 monthly folders and 31 daily folders. Let’s say it is now January and I’d have all my daily folders behind the January folder. When a day ends, that day’s folder goes behind the next month or February’s folder. Looking at the 19th, I’d have the folders 1-18 behind the February folder at this point.

Now, how do you use it? Today, I had a bill I learned I had to pay on February 3. I don’t want to forget it, so I would put it behind my February 3 tab. When that day rolls around, I check my tickler file and it prompts me to pay the bill.

If you asked me, I think using 43 folders for my tickler file is not the best way to set up a tickler file. First, it’s hard to remember to check the tickler each day. You’ll be asking yourself, “how do I remind myself to check the tickler file?” Secondly, it’s very bulky and not very portable. Third, when you move the folders for each day to the next month you have to take items in that months folder and put them in the right day.

If you use GTD though, a tickler file is essential to set up because there are things in the future that you need to remember. The folder type of tickler is perfect if you have a lot of physical type items you use as reminders. For most people, their work doesn’t create the kind of physical items that really justify a folder tickler file and I suggest setting up a tickler file differently to address the problems above.

How To Set Up A Tickler File

Step one is to create a plastic folder that I carry in my briefcase labelled “Waiting For” and all the things I need to remember on future dates go in there.

Next, I created a folder in my email account called “Yahoo Reminders”. You’ll see this folder if you look at the image of my email folder structure in How To Set Up Your GTD Email. I then set up a filter for all Yahoo Reminders to go into this specific folder and not in my inbox for processing.

Finally, I use my Yahoo! calendar, to enter any item I need to remember and make it an “all day event” with an email reminder scheduled to be sent to me 2 days prior to when I need to do it. As a back up, I also have it text to me as well.

So, let’s take the above scenario again. I got a bill today that I need to remember on the 3rd of February. I go to my Yahoo! calendar and enter an all day event “Pay important bill” with a reminder scheduled for two days prior. I then take the bill and put it in my “Waiting For” folder in my briefcase.

On the 1st day of February, I get a Yahoo reminder that reminds me about the bill that needs to be paid on the third and it goes directly into my Yahoo reminder folder in my email account. In addition, a text goes out as well giving me a backup on my blackberry in case I can’t get to my Yahoo reminder’s folder in my email account. I review my blackberry text messages every day and review my reminders folder too as well if I have access to it.

This system works fantastic for me. It’s extremely portable, it reminds me automatically and I don’t have to rethink the items in my tickler when I move the tabs. If you are not using email reminders to help you remember stuff, you have no idea how this can effect your productivity. Even if you use 43 folders, I recommend email reminders 100% to be a part of your GTD system.

Once I learned how to set up a tickler file in this fashion, it improved my effectiveness at remember everything to a complete level.