Organising to make more room in your life

As I am relaxing on a Saturday night (a work night for me!) with a nice glass of red wine and Tangie curled up at my feet, I have a second or two to look around and reflect on all that I have been able to accomplish lately with my 'renewed' perspective on time management and organisation.

Just tonight, in the last hour alone, I:
- Finally signed up for a professional organisation I have been wanting to join
- Framed some pictures I have been meaning to for awhile
- Uploaded some awesome new (err old) pictures to Facebook [see above - Mom and I!]
- Prepared my lessons for tomorrow's classes
- Emailed out "hello" messages to some new business contacts
- Researched some revenue options for my new business venture...

I am astounded with where the physical and mental space for me to finally get all of these tasks done has come from. Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting underneath piles of paper, disorganised stuff and a bad habit for procrastination. I finally took a day, turned off my cell phone, and had a heart to heart with myself about why I was (a) holding onto all of the old stuff, and (b) pushing things back further and further until they became obsolete.

What came out of that discussion, although a bit fuzzy, was a bit of fear that without any excuses to hide behind there wouldn't be anything stopping me from reaching the things that I truly want in life.

What I ultimately did was clear out 90% of my old papers, around 40% of my wardrobe and I actually sat down and made a mind map of what my goals are for each aspect of my life (current job, professional development, new businesses, financials, family, friends, yoga, etc...). Sure, it took me about two full days to do this, but what has happened since has cleared the path for me to move in the direction of those goals.

It's amazing that the things that have long-cluttered my to-do list have been melting away these past few weeks. It isn't just that the stacks of "stuff" on my desk have been eliminated. The mental clutter had become overwhelming and I had really started to lose track of what the important things were. And of course, how could I have known what the important things are if I hadn't set a direction?

When I talk about goal setting for my job, it is often, "What score do you want to get on your year-end exams?" as my main audience are primary and early secondary school students. After asking them the same question week after week, it finally dawned on me that I was losing sight of what my goals were for myself. The point is, that any age, we can set short-term and long-term goals that are perfectly achievable if we just give it a bit of thought.

I'll boldly share a few here for the purpose of explanation and also mental confirmation on my own part:

• To become certified as a professional coach by mid-2010
• To get an article published in a Singapore magazine (i.e. Shape) by 2010
• To successfully launch a professional organization company and log 50 hours towards my NATO certification in 2010
• Make more time for Yoga and go 3 times per week
• Fully utilise my 2010 public holidays and go on at least 5 trips!

The trick here is really setting specific, measurable goals that really ignite a spark in you when you write/type them down. There is no sense in writing, "to go to the gym 6 days a week" if it immediately feels daunting to you. It is too often that we put too much pressure on ourselves for the sake of "doing it all at once." The whole idea of setting a goal is that it is achievable and can lead to other, more advanced goals in the future. The whole process is organic and goal setting should be constantly revised on a weekly or monthly basis as you progress.

As I have made goal setting a "routine" in my life these past few weeks, I have noticed how much easier it is to get done those mundane things that I easily could have procrastinated on before. With a greater purpose comes greater ease in accomplishing those minor things.

This increased purpose and organisation in my life has made room for all of those things I truly love and enjoy. Quite the blessing!

If you are interested in some great Mind Mapping software for the Mac, check out http://www.mindnode.com.

www.laurelgrey.org