Organize your Motivating

An article on motivational tips says research shows that "motivated employees work harder, smarter and more productively; apply more of themselves to a particular job, persevere stronger through tough odds, exhibit more passion towards their job and are more adamant about meeting goals and pursuing targets."

Since that is the case, getting organized about motivating employees is a good thing on which to spend a little time. The most important thing, I would say, is "plan to motivate." Some people are natural motivators. The rest of us have to work at it, think about it, keep it in mind, be aware it is something we need to do, plan to do it, and then figure out how to do it.

It will pay huge benefits if we can motivate people to do what they are supposed to do. Think about those employees who are just there to get the paycheck. If they can be motivated to do what they are getting paid for, everyone will benefit!

Here are the key inspiration pointers from a team at Bayt.com.

1. Start early: Motivating an employee starts as early as the interview period. (I guess that means we shouldn't hire someone thinking "someday I am going to have to motivate this person." Start the motivating right away!)
   
2. Communicate openly: Keep "open-doors" of communication going, being sure everyone knows the goals, strategies, and directions of the company. (That means you have to know where you are going. If you don't, then you better begin with motivating yourself!)
3. Diversify the work: vary the workload, give some peripheral tasks or projects to keep the work more interesting and challenging.
4. Delegate responsibility: give encouragement by giving more responsibility to others. Show them you trust them. (If you don't, I guess you'll have to do it yourself!)
5. Challenge: set the bar high, give people leeway to take calculated risks.
6. Listen and learn: ask for feedback from employees on their expectations and plans. (Don't forget to respond and act on good suggestions.)
7. Train: provide development programs that nurture your staff and build their skills.
   
8. Give feedback: regular constructive feedback is very important. Have face-to-face meetings, not to criticize, but to guide, assist, mentor, and coach.
9. Recognize and reward: be creative about devising ways to recognize and reward creative thinking, superlative performance, innovation, and loyalty to the company.
10. Be fair: being unfair can really hurt your motivational efforts. Make sure employees are competing on a level playing field with equal opportunities for progress and advancement.
    

There you have it. Now you are motivated to motivate, encouraged to encourage, and inspired to inspire! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and motivate!

Organizing your Spring Cleaning

I hear a lot of people talking about Spring cleaning. I'm not sure why there is no Fall cleaning, or Winter cleaning, or Summer cleaning. Spring seems to get a bad wrap when it comes to cleaning.

Lisa Lelas gives some good tips for organizing Spring cleaning. Some of those tips can work well for other projects as well.

Her first tip is to get a jump-start on the cleaning. That way, when the weather gets nice, you can be outside if you want, rather than think you need to be inside cleaning.

Next she suggests beginning with an organizational plan, like a one room a week system to work on over the next six weeks or so. I like that tip. That breaks the project down into smaller parts. If you start out thinking about the entire job, it can seem quite overwhelming. By breaking it down into smaller parts, you can celebrate the success of each small step. You can get done with room one, and then celebrate the success instead of thinking, "I only have one done. How will I ever get finished?" I'm all for celebrating any chance you get. My wife and I like to use "celebrating" as an excuse to go out to eat. We can think of a lot of things to celebrate if we really try!

Lisa goes on to share tips on washing windows, getting a jump-start on the inside while the weather is still cooler, and then moving to the outside when the weather warms up. She also shares her "best recipe" for sparkling clean windows, using vinegar, ammonia, starch and warm water.

She goes on with a another good tip about using different colored wash clothes/sponges for different jobs to prevent cross contamination. And did you ever consider using Alka Seltzer tablets for easy toilet bowl cleaing? I wish I had known that when I worked in the restaurant industry. Those toilet bowls could get pretty nasty, and we were only allowed to use corporately-approved chemicals. I think Alka Seltzer tablets might have worked well.

If you are ready to tackle Spring cleaning, you might want to read her full post to get all her tips. It is worth the read.

Organize your garden

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The Reader's Digest Store has some great helps for organizing your garden and gardening skills this Spring. Here are some of the titles available.

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These plus many more. Check them out!

Organize your computer's desktop

Does your desktop need organizing? I'm talking about your computer's desktop, the screen that first comes up when you start up your computer, or log on. If your desktop looks like the one of the right, it needs to be organized. I think this one is much too cluttered. It would be hard to find anything on this desktop.

Think of your computer's desktop as a desk plus a filing cabinet. The items you want to get at very quickly, or that you use regularly, you will want to leave on your computer desktop. The other items you want to put in your computer's file cabinet. So before you begin to declutter your desktop, take a little time to make a quick list of what you want to get at quickly (shows on your desktop), and what you want to file away (won't show on your desktop).

Now armed with your list, you can create some folders. Right click on a blank space on your computer's desktop. From the context menu, create and name your new folders.

When creating and naming your desktop folders, keep these tips in mind:

1. Plan out your folders before you start. You don't want too many, or too few. Think about what general topics you have that you could put in a folder.
   
2. Give them specific names. Instead of just naming a folder "Documents", decide what kind of documents you are going to put in that folder. Then give it that name, like "Investments".
3. Create subfolders if you need to. In a folder called "Photos" you may have a folder called "Vacations" If you have a lot of vacation photos, you may want to create more subfolders and name them accordingly, like "Vacation 08," or "Florida Vacation."
4. Name your folders so they make sense for what you are putting in them so you can easily find what you are looking for when you need it. You don't want to waste valuable time searching for something that should be easy to find.

If you find you still have a lot of files or shortcuts that don't fit into a specific category, but you use them frequently, do what I do. Create a folder called "Frequently used" and place your shortcuts in that folder. That way they are very handy, but are not cluttering up your computer's desktop.

Now that you have your folders created, simply drag and drop items into them. If your desktop was really cluttered before, this step should clear it off quite a bit. It probably won't like quite like this one. It doesn't have any desktop folders yet. But you should at least be able to see the background when you are done, as compared to the first picture above where any background would be lost in the clutter.

Now that your desktop is organized, be sure to keep it that way. When you have new documents, shortcuts, or items that appear on your desktop, put them where they should be right away. If they don't need to be on your desktop, put them in the folders hidden from your desktop. Then you'll always be able to find what you need, and your desktop won't get cluttered up again.

Organizational tip - two goals

There are really only two goals that need to be kept in mind when we are trying to get organized. It is really quite basic. If we stick with the fundamentals, the ABCs, we will discover that being organized is not all that difficult. In fact, since there are only two goals, all we need is A and B. We don't even need the C. Do you see how simple it is?

Two Goals: (the end results we want from our organizational efforts)

1. To get things done when we want them done, by the time they are due.
2. To be able to find things when we need them.

If we are accomplishing those two goals, then we must be basically organized. Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening. In that case, congratulate yourself, celebrate a bit, and keep up the good work!

On the other hand, if we are consistently late on projects, either to meet our own personal time table or to meet a due-date set by someone else, then we need to work on that area.

Fundamentals for staying on course:
Break the project down into smaller bits and pieces. Set a time table for those smaller steps. That will be our measuring stick to see if we are on target. If we are getting behind, we know we have to step it up or we won't get done on time. If we fall still farther behind, we need to analyze the project a bit. What is wrong? Is the time table unrealistic? Or are we wasting time because we are not organized? By eliminating wasted time we should be able to catch up, providing the time table is realistic.

Or is the problem that we can't find things when we need them? That can account for a lot of our wasted time - looking for things. That can get very frustrating, especially if that is keeping us from getting a project done on time.

Fundamentals for finding things:
Get in the habit of finding a place for everything, and then always putting things back in that same place. Do it no matter what. Take that extra few seconds to put it where it should be.

That can begin with something as simple as the things we take out of our pockets at night. I have a little two-layered tray on my nightstand. When I empty my pockets, I put everything in a certain spot on that tray - my cell phone, my wallet, my chap stick and eye drops, and my comb. Those things are not really that important to keep in a certain order, but by forming that habit, I can carry it over into other areas and do it there as well. If I get lazy in one area, it is easy to get lazy in other areas also. Then I am beginning to lose the battle.

By sticking to the fundamentals, we will get things done on time and we will be able to find things when we need them. We will have accomplished our two main goals!