Part Three
Giving Yourself Permission to Tell Others, “I dunno.”
Ready for Part Three…Here We Go!
We, as humans, try to hold so much information in our poor brain. Especially nuts when we’re in a time where we have more information than EVER coming at us via so many more vehicles/channels than we’ve ever had. At least most of us try to hold a lot and then we get annoyed when we forget. Well, I’m never that annoyed when someone ask me something basic, like a date of when something is occurring that I probably should know, but alas, I’ve forgotten. I relax, go to my to-do list and there it is. We forget things, I feel, (no science here) because our brains are simply too full of other miscellaneous and random information, and things that bear little importance, that if we would simply write it down in ONE location, rather than trying to remember everything, we could omit a lot of downing ourselves -and others, when we forget.
Think of all those phone numbers we used to remember. It’s not that we don’t bother to remember, it’s that the pressure to remember is off, because we have our phones that have everything in it. Everything should be this way. Please note, this is not an excuse not to remember your spouse/mother/brother’s special birthday, anniversary, etc., BUT if you set a reminder at the beginning of every year (or during your planning time discussed in the Part One of this series), well, won’t you be the coolest?
Take time out to write down EVERYTHING that has to occur and you may actually feel better, even more organized, and you can take a load off because you can visually see where/when you need to be.
Often when I do a brain dump, I create a list of people I need to call. I usually go ahead and list the phone number with the to-do item, thus when I’m ready, I can just make the call. NO need to see the notation in the list and then go and find their phone number. Doing this saves time. Another way to save time and be more organized, go ahead and put the things you need to take back, in your car (so long as their not perishable). Why wait and say tomorrow I’m going to that store, so I’ll just put it in there then. What if you run into a pocket of time later in the day, or something is canceled at the last minute? You can go ahead and go to the store, simply because the item is already where it needs to be.
Use tote bags for different projects – Being a “bag lady” isn’t necessarily a good thing but it is helpful for some. I have about four tote bags
Sunday School
Work / Special Presentation(s)
Booksigning Bag (or you can also use a small suitcase with wheels)
For any special events/parties I’m in charge of, I even have am Event Planners Bag
Whatever I’m going to, just grab that bag. It’s no different than a kid’s back pack and their lunch tote. They know, I’m going to school, I need my book bag and my lunch sack. If you take time to pack it night before (or replenish after your last event) you’ll always be ready to go.
Whenever I have a Booksigning or Presentation, (I first have my Booksigning or Presentation Checklist). I count my books and take a look at my candy levels. These are usually the only two things (sometimes I’ll need more swag too-e.g. postcards, bookmarks) I need to replenish before each of my book/speaking events. Next time I’m at the store for general grocery shopping, since I took time to do inventory prior, I know I need to get candy for booksigning or order more books from the publisher so they’ll be in by my next event.
Not hard, just a little forethought to the madness.
See you next week for the fourth and FINAL Post.
