An email gets sent to a group of people and everyone’s email inbox gets jammed full with the Reply All responses. As the coordinator of a meeting, you spend too much time trying to find the most common meeting date & time for everyone to meet.

Here’s a solution to your scheduling nightmares.

Doodle enables you to propose several dates and times through an email to a list of participants. inside or outside your organization, across calendars, and time zones. Participants can indicate their availability online through a poll. Once you choose the most common date from the online poll, you can send an email to set a firm meeting date. Doodle is free of charge and registration is not required.

Have a look at a demo for Doodle.

Doodle Calendar Connect and MeetMe are options worth having a look at. These enhanced features enable you to connect your calendar so you can share your availability, no matter what calendaring system other participants are using and regardless of which organization they are in.

Tungle.me is a similar option to Doodle.

When trying to set up an appointment with a client, by clicking on the Tungle.me link through the downloaded program, you are able to select available time options and send these options through an email. Once a suitable time is selected, an appointment is automatically added to each participants calendar.

Have a look at Tungle.me’s video demonstration:

Instead of spending your time searching for a suitable time to meet, save your time for your meetings instead. Give Doodle or Tungle.me a try and let me know what your preference is.

culprit of stress in 2010 according to new numbers from StatisticsCanada.

A pressure-cooker to begin with, the workplace is made even more stressful by  being disorganized.

“Canadians are in a constant time crunch and experience feelings of stress,  failure and frustration,” says Clare Kumar, a Toronto-based professional  organizer. “Today’s office workers must take stock of both their work habits and  their environment, and take necessary action to alleviate the tremendous  pressure disorganization has on their productivity and work-life balance.”

“By having the right tools in place, Canadian office workers can save at  least 15 minutes per day which works out to a week and a half per year,” adds  Linda Chu, a professional organizer in Vancouver. “This has a dramatic effect on  the health of businesses and their workers.”

Professional organizers say desks in disarray causes a drop of 20 per cent in  worker efficiency; costing the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity.  Studies show the average worker spends at least 400 hours per year searching for  paper documents. “This places tremendous stress on the bottom line for many  businesses that need to return to profitability, especially coming out of the  economic downturn.”

Chu recommends several steps to become more efficient and productive in the  workplace.

• Categorize. Sort through possessions and group them into similar categories  of information and tasks. Identify what things are, instead of getting  sidetracked by thinking of solutions.
• Limit. If space is a premium you may have to choose between what is  important – your space or your stuff. Limit your collections by regularly  reviewing and letting go of information.
• Evaluate. Focusing on what matters most is the key to prioritizing.  Continually evaluate information and tasks as they relate to achieving goals to  increase your efficiency and productivity.
• Allocate. Find a method to store information and possessions to be able to  find what you need, when you need it.
• Remove. Items that are no longer of value or no longer needed can be  removed from the workspace. Focusing on what is important will get you on track  to be more efficient.

see article in The Province

TORONTO, October 17, 2011 – For 62 percent of working Canadians, work, was identified as the primary culprit of stress in 2010 according to new numbers from Statistics Canada release last week. A pressure-cooker to begin with, the workplace is made even more stressful by being disorganized.

“Canadians are in a constant time crunch and experience feelings of stress, failure and frustration,” says Clare Kumar, a Toronto-based professional organizer. “Today’s office workers must take stock of both their work habits and their environment, and take necessary action to alleviate the tremendous pressure disorganization has on their productivity and work-life balance.”

To help Canadians make positive changes and take steps towards improving their personal productivity, ACCO Brands Canada Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of office products, is launching its fourth-annual Organize Your Desk Day, October 20th, in tandem with Small Business Week (October 16-22).

Organize Your Desk Day is a national program designed to assist small to medium-sized businesses help their employees organize their work spaces and become more efficient and effective every day.

“By having the right tools in place, Canadian office workers can save at least 15 minutes per day which works out to a week and a half per year,” adds Linda Chu, a professional organizer in Vancouver. “This has a dramatic effect on the health of businesses and their workers.”

Professional organizers say desks in disarray causes a drop of 20 per cent in worker efficiency; costing the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity. Studies show the average worker spends at least 400 hours per year searching for paper documents.

“It costs SMBs $120 in labour costs just to track down a misplaced document or $250 in labour to re-create it,” adds Chu. “This places tremendous stress on the bottom line for many businesses that need to return to profitability, especially coming out of the economic downturn.”

“Knowing where to begin is half the battle of getting organized”, says Chu.  She recommends following the five-step CLEAR method to become more efficient and productive in your workplace.

C – Categorize.  Sort through your possessions and group them into similar categories of information & tasks.  Stay on track by identifying what things are, instead of getting sidetracked by thinking of solutions.

L – Limit.  If space is a premium you may have to choose between what is important – your space or your stuff.  Limit your collections by scheduling regular sessions to review and let go of information and resources collected.

E – Evaluate.  Focusing on what matters most is the key to prioritizing.  Determine what goals are important for you to achieve and choose the tasks and information/tools that will help to get you there.  Continually evaluating your information and tasks as they relate to achieving your goals will help to increase your efficiency and productivity.

A – Allocate.  Finding a home and a method to store your information & possessions is critical to your success in being able to find what you need, when you need it.  Ensure that your workspace is clear for work, not for storage.

R – Remove.  Items that are no longer of value or you no longer need can be removed from your workspace.  Focusing on what is important will get you on track to become more efficient and productive in your workplace.

For more information about Organize Your Desk Day, visit www.organizeyourdeskday.com

About ACCO Brands Canada Inc.
ACCO Brands Canada Inc. is a Trading Company of ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ABD), one of the world’s largest suppliers of branded office products.  Its industry-leading brands include Day-Timer®, Swingline®, Kensington®, Quartet®, GBC® and Wilson Jones®, available from dealers of quality office supplies participating in Organize your Desk Day, such as: Grand & Toy, Staples, Basics Office Supply, Office Plus, Novexco / BuroPLUS, and Lyreco.

The nine Essential Skills include:

1. Reading
2. Document use
3. Numeracy
4. Writing
5. Oral communication
6. Working with others
7. Thinking
8. Computer use
9. Continuous learning

To help you kick start your continuous learning efforts, Out of Chaos will be offering the upcoming workshop basics:

Get Organized: de-clutter & focus and what matters most!
November 1, 2011 – 7:00 to 8:30pm

For the pilers, filers and stuffers who are running out of space. For those that are overburdened and stressed with too many email, voice mail, paper, and interruptions. This workshop will give you take-away tips on how to get yourself organized by addressing:

• How to begin diving into the piles when you “just don’t know where to start”
• How to prioritize and focus your time on what’s important when everything appears urgent
• Decision making using the “Decide in Five” model to help you focus on what matters most

Class held at the new Healistic Planet Wellness Studio in Kitsilano, 1860 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC

604.689.8034

Pre-register here

What are your options? To keep or not to keep? The logical decision would be that if space is limited and you want more room, then the magazines must go.

Emotionally however, people grapple with the “what if’s“. What if I might need it again? What if I haven’t read everything? Not to mention, magazines are neatly bound with a nice cover page.

Information is power, but I’d like to believe that ACCESS to your information would be more powerful. So, if you must keep information, do so in a format where you can easily access what you need, when you need it.

When it comes to the ‘important’ articles in your magazine that you can’t bear to let go of, just in case…, tear out your favourite sections and leave the ads behind (which are likely 2/3 of the bulk anyway). Create a personal library of resources in a filing system with headings such as:

• Recipes
• Rainy day activities for kids
• Social media tips & tricks
• Marketing ideas

Keeping your information resources organized and having easy access to them is one thing, but actually using them is a whole other beast. One habit shift to implement is every time you find yourself searching the internet for information, have a look at your personal library of information resources first. And if the likelihood of your ever doing this is slim to none… consider why you are keeping these articles in the first place.

If must keep your magazines intact, here’s a unique ‘designer’ solution, where function meets form. The Hockenheimer Stool by Germany’s NJU Studio. Your personal style will be reflected in your personal magazine collections. They provide the pillow, two leather straps, and a waxed-birch base in one of two sizes.

Take a seat – and give this a ponder.

Juggling the demands of caring for your children and spouses, keeping on top of your careers, managing your personal health and financial issues and now the needs of your aging parents. Notice how your personal needs didn’t even fit into this last sentence. What about ‘me’ time? (night out with the boys, spa date with the girls, date night…).

“The number of people aged 65 and up has more than doubled since the 1920s, according to Statistics Canada, and will double again in the next three decades. By 2031, one in four Canadians — an estimated 9.8 million — will be a senior, up from roughly one in 10 today.”

More and more, when my phone rings, it is common to hear that someone is ‘right sizing’ their lives. People are retiring and needing to right-size their homes or have aging parents that are moving out of their homes of 30 – 40 – 50 years, and downsizing into a smaller more manageable home. Certainly, Out of Chaos is right there with you in the thick of things to assist you to deal with massive collections of stuff that a lifetime of memories are made of.

More often than not, my conversations with people are more along the lines of aging parents being downsized ‘for their own good’ or due to a medical situation, parents are in care and cannot return to their old home. In many cases the families that I speak with are not prepared to deal with all the complexities of an aging parent.

Enter Barb Kirby of BjK Senior’s Advocate. One family I was working with was a result of her later life needs planning services for seniors and children of seniors. Barb provides one on one private consultations on creating a Personal Resource Book on Personal Planning for Later Life Care.

This particular family had engaged in Barb’s services to assist them to plan for their mother’s future housing needs as she grew more dependent on assistance as she aged. During Barb’s private consultation, the family was walked through the steps on how to be prepared for the eventual time when their mother would need the support of others. They were able to create plans in advance, while their mother was still capable and able to communicate her own wishes and desires. They were able to have discussions on subjects that most people do not want to talk about nor know how to bring up (like funeral arrangements).

During this consultation, BjK Senior’s Advocate explained the difference between senior citizen’s residences, assisted living, and long-term care. Care options were discussed, such as in home, public or private care, combinations of public and private, adult day care, overnight care, companions, housekeeping, physiotherapists etc.

All very confusing, even as I am writing this. Can you imagine having to sort all this out during a more stressful & emotionally charged time, like when your parent is in a health crisis, putting demands on your time and your financial resources? Barb will certainly be there to help you sort through the maze of questions and provide information on resources & options that are available to you.

Fortunately for this family, they are taking the time now to plan for the future of their aging mother. They recognize that a move, albeit not right away, is imminent. One of their immediate concerns is what to do with all mom’s stuff of over 40 years? If you are dealing with a similar situation, I would recommend thinking big picture to start.

1. Pull aside memories that are dear to heart

2. Create a living will (pass items on while your parents are alive and can have a say as to who they want a particular item to go to)

3. Identify items that might be suitable for consignment (antique / collectible store or Craigslist / eBay)

4. Identify items that can be donated

5. Create a pile for recycling or trash

Each one of these piles can be sub-divided further with separate action items to follow up on, but everyone has to start somewhere.

If you are dealing with an aging parent and don’t know where to begin, contact us and we will get you Out of Chaos.

As many will agree, the creative spirit is a shy creature, one that retreats at the sight of unfinished chores, clutter, and disarray. In the arts arena, inspiration and creative energy is often explosive, with ideas tumbling over each other.

Chaos and creativity can be seen as hallmarks of a visionary artist. How does an artist set up the best environment for channeling inspiration into great art?

Some wonderful and easy-to-implement ideas are offered by Linda Chu, a professional organizer and productivity consultant. Linda is the founder of Out of Chaos an organizing company that effects change by giving people the tools and knowledge to get organized at work and at home. She teaches people customized solutions to manage their space, time, information, and piles.

“Becoming organized is not about a special set of services or products,” says Linda. “Organization is about adopting and learning a special set of habits.” Her first instructions are reassuring to those of us who tend to collect and save ‘stuff’.

Getting Out of Chaos by Linda Chu:

Keep everything – provided #1, you have the space and #2, you can find things in a reasonable amount of time and with as little stress as possible.

When your creative ideas and materials are crowding you out of your space (physically and mentally), consider creating yourself a personal library of information. Start with the area in your space that is stifling your creative juices. This area is probably causing you the most grief.

Use the acronym ‘SPACE’ as your plan of action:

S – sort through your piles and begin by identifying what you have. You will likely come across many unfinished tasks and collections of materials for future creative projects.

P – purge what is no longer of value to you or items that are no longer of use. If space is an issue, you may have to make the hard decision to let go of some items in order to make room for other ideas to blossom.

A – assign categories and group like items together & outstanding actions. These categories will be the start of your personal library of information that you can easily access.

C – contain and hold groups of information and possessions by choosing containers & organizing systems that support how often you need to access them. For example, taxes are not accessed daily, unlike your art supplies or camera equipment.

E – evaluate your space often. Your needs change, as do your possessions. Be clear about your intentions and goals for each item. Choose between your space or your stuff. Sometimes you cannot have both.

Remember that your piles did not collect overnight, so to tackle an entire room in one go may be too overwhelming.

Instead, consider my “15 Minute Sort, 15 Second Touch” approach to create momentum. Set your timer for 15 minutes. Touch everything in your disorganized room and within 15 seconds, make a decision as to which category or action this item belongs to (the decision might be as simple as Keep, Toss, or Donate). After your alarm signals 15 minutes, stop and reward yourself. Just don’t reward yourself by going out and buying more stuff . . .

“Access is everything”, says Linda. “If you cannot find something when you need it, what’s the point in keeping it in the first place?”

Linda served as President of Professional Organizers in Canada and founded the BC Lower Mainland Chapter of the same organization. For more information about Linda Chu and her company, Out of Chaos, visit www.outofchaos.ca.

Survey results are worth spending some time to ponder:

The majority (57%) of work interruptions now involve either

• using collaboration and social tools like email, social networks, text messaging and IM, or
• switching windows among applications and personal online activities such as Facebook and Web searches

In fact, 45% of employees work only 15 minutes or less without getting interrupted. Constant interruptions have created problems ranging from difficultly working/producing, to missed deadlines, to poor work evaluations.

53% waste at least one hour a day due to all types of distractions. That hour per day translates into $10,375 of wasted productivity per person per year, assuming an average salary of $30/hour. That is more than the average U.S. driver will spend this year to own and maintain a car, according to the Automobile Association of America (AAA). That means that for businesses with 1,000 employees, the cost of employee interruptions exceeds $10 million per year. The actual cost of distraction is even higher in terms of negative impacts on work output, work quality, and relationships with clients and co‐workers.

‘Online compulsive disorder’ – what psychologists are calling the increasingly common addiction to web‐based activity. It is pervasive in the workplace. For example, 2 out of 3 people will tune out of face‐to‐face meetings to communicate digitally with someone else. The addiction is also taking over people’s personal lives. Case in point: the majority of people under the age of 40 stay digitally connected in bed, and 44% of people under 30 stay connected during a night out at the movies.

Two‐thirds of companies and technology users are pursuing tools and strategies to minimize digital distractions, with the hopes of restoring loss productivity and the negative effect on work output & quality. Reading emails in batches is reported by 51% of survey respondents as the practice they follow to minimize distractions at work (Hey…isn’t this what I recommend in my workshop?).

Download the complete survey results from harmon.ie.

Contact me if you are interested in our next Time Management or Office Organizing workshops.

Gloria Munro of Munro & Company, CGA has these great tax checklists to get you prepared for your personal and business tax filings. Just filing your return on time will save you money on the late filing penalties, even if you are being charged interest on the unpaid tax amounts. According to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), April 30 (or June 15th, if you’re self-employed) is the deadline to file your taxes. After that, if you owe the government, you will be charged a 5 percent late penalty on the total owed, and 1 percent interest per month, for a maximum of 12 months.

Your business tax receipts may already be in a disorganized pile for this year’s tax filings, but by following these tips you will be in top form for next year. You’ve got one year to rid yourself of more tax pain…

1. Keep your tax documents in one location (section of file cabinet or separate file box)
2. Create Company File Folders for those you use often or receive monthly statements from
3. Create Category File Folders for expenses which may not have the same supplier (auto repairs & maintenance, office supplies)
4. Create Dedicated File Folders for tax accounts and government issued documents (HST, WorksafeBC, etc)
5. File receipts in the year transaction took place and only after they have been entered into your accounting system

Read more about good filing practices from Munro & Company, CGA

Another Workshop Announcement: Stay tuned for our workshop on how to organize your financial papers, co-hosted with financial planner Kendra Sivertson.

Now that the clocks have sprung ahead, signalling a change of seasons, our minds are shifting to warmer, sunnier days to come. An exciting  prospect—if it weren’t for all those disorganized piles cluttering our path.

Eight in 10 Canadians are disorganized, especially those with children in the household. While the majority of disorganized Canadians have attempted to become more organized, their efforts have largely been unsuccessful.  Unfortunately, disorganized living can be costly—not just in terms of money, but also time and space. Here are a few tips to get more organized and save on all three.

1. Start with the area in your home causing you the most grief. Most likely, this area is the catch-all for all those unfinished tasks and items that did not have a home.
2. Identify items in your piles based on categories and outstanding actions. This might mean seasonal decorations, kids’ artwork/memories, or to-do’s like bills to pay, consignment, and laundry.
3. Purge, purge, purge. Be clear about your goals for each room in your home. If space is an issue, you may have to let go of some items in order to make room for your intentions.
4. Determine how often you need to access your possessions. Frequency of access plays an important role when developing an organizing system.
5. Choose containers and systems that are conducive to how often you need to access your possessions and information. Archive taxes must be kept but not accessed daily, unlike bills to pay.

Remember that your piles did not collect overnight, so to tackle an entire room in one go may be too overwhelming. Instead, consider my “15 Minute Sort, 15 Second Touch” approach to create momentum. Set your timer for 15 minutes. Touch everything in your disorganized room and within 15 seconds, make a decision as to which category or action this item belongs to. After your alarm signals 15 minutes, stop and reward yourself. Just don’t reward yourself by going out and buying more stuff…

Linda Chu is a professional organizer, productivity consultant and founder of Out of Chaos, an organizing company that effects change by giving people the tools and knowledge to get organized at work and at home, using customized solutions to manage their space, time, information and piles. Linda served as President of Professional Organizers in Canada and founded the BC Lower Mainland Chapter of the same association. For more information, visit www.outofchaos.ca.