Friday afternoon essentials

There are three things that set me up for a great weekend and an easy return to work on Monday:

1.   End of week housekeeping and review

2.   Plan for the weekend

3.   Get Monday sorted

I find that if I do these things, I can enjoy my weekend more, without my thoughts drifting back to things left undone, things yet to be done, and those things I can’t quite remember but have a nagging feeling I need to do…….

1.   End of week housekeeping and review.

Schedule some Friday afternoon time to do your housekeeping. This takes me about half an hour. This includes clearing my desk, sorting the ‘haven’t started’ items, ‘in progress’ items, and ‘completed’ items, and putting them in the appropriate place, or if completed, filing them away. 

I empty my email Inbox. Completely. This doesn’t take long, as I have been doing this daily for a few years. It will take some time if this is not yet a habit for you. It is useful to set up folders to sort your email – I use ‘action today’ and ‘action this week’ for things I need to respond to; ‘read this week’ for things I want to read this week (no surprises there); and ‘read sometime’ for things like e-newsletters. Experiment with folders that work for you.

The review part does not come naturally to me. This is where I look back through my calendar at the things I have done for the week, and think about what worked and what didn’t; what was a productive use of time and what wasn’t; what I enjoyed most and what I didn’t. My aim is then to include more of the productive, enjoyable and successful activities and strategies in the following weeks, and reduce the unproductive, not fun and not successful.  

For example, I have discovered that I am an ‘email instant responder’ by nature – if I hear the sound that means there is new mail, I stop what I am doing, and read it. This is not the best way to work – the interruptions affect my ability to work effectively. I am currently working on reducing the amount of I time I spend checking emails – I have changed the settings so mail only arrives once per hour, but my aim is to get this to twice per day.

2.   Plan for the weekend.

Weekend of precious freedom! Why would you plan for the weekend when it’s free time? I have found if I don’t plan a few significant things for the weekend, I’m likely to do nothing much at all, and on Sunday night I find myself thinking that I have wasted the weekend. I don’t timetable every minute, but knowing that I will go the market early on Saturday morning, spend Saturday night with friends or family, go to the gym Sunday morning, and potter in the garden for an hour or so on Sunday afternoon, gives my weekend some structure, without restricting me from including other things, or throwing the plan out the window if something more exciting happens.

3.   Get Monday sorted. 

If I don’t feel prepared for Monday, it can overshadow the whole weekend. I use my calendar to schedule in the important tasks and appointments for Monday, and spend a few minutes thinking about any preparation for these – do I need do send reminder emails to anyone today? Do I need to get files ready or read minutes of meetings?  If possible, I will do these tasks on Friday afternoon, or at least write a list for Monday. It’s important that the Monday list isn’t overwhelming, or again, it can overshadow the weekend.

These three Friday afternoon essentials give me peace of mind – I’d love to hear what works for you……

Enjoy your weekend.

stranded in no mac land

‘It’s been 7 hours and 15 days,

Since you took your love away….’

Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. Maybe not. Fifteen days ago my MacBook Pro ceased to function. Yesterday my shiny new warranty-replacement MacBook Pro arrived. The time in between was…….interesting. A learning experience.

Three things I know now:

1. Even if you back up your files, you can’t access them until you have a functional computer. Keep a copy of important documents somewhere accessible so you can use someone else’s computer. Use a memory stick, external hard drive, email them to your gmail, yahoo or hotmail account, or use a web-based application. Fifteen days is a long time. 

2. Web-based apps are wonderful. I could still access my calendar and contacts through MobileMe (Mac online storage with lots of other useful functions). If I’d been prepared, I could have had important documents stored there so I could access them from other computers.

3. Back up everything. Double check that everything is actually being backed up. Not just ‘important work files’. Photos, music, tax records, and email archives are worth preserving. If you’re not sure, get tech support. And get an external hard drive. I did – today.

Right now, I’m basking in the glow of maclove with my new MacBook Pro, secure in the knowledge that my back up procedures are greatly improved, trying not to think about the music that’s gone, and the photos, and all the invoices I’m going to have to re-enter……..

 

 

(In case you’re wondering, this blog is not sponsored by Apple. I am a recent convert to Macs, and like many converts, a raving zealot!)

The words at the top are from ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ written by Prince, performed by Sinead O’Connor.

in the beginning…

was the first post!

More to come soon.