Ending Meeting Mayhem: Join Me?

How many times a week do you walk out of a meeting or hang up from a conference call and wish you had that hour of your life back?  We've all been to these, and it's likely we've all led them from time to time to.  Perhaps if we start setting a better standard, others will join in and we can put an end to meeting mayhem!  Here are some things I've been trying and have had a lot of success with!

PLANNING THE MEETING (Note, I said planning, not scheduling).

• Really think about if you even need a meeting?  Sometimes a well crafted email is just as effective and can allow people time to think and respond at their convenience.
• Know the goal.  If you can't state it, you aren't ready to schedule a meeting.
• Prepare an agenda in advance.  Send it out with the meeting invite or at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.  
• Based on your goal and agenda, schedule the meeting with the right attendees and for the appropriate length of time.  (Ever been invited to a meeting and the KEY person to provide input isn't there...everyone swims around for 30 minutes before deciding to schedule a do over.  UGH!).

LEADING THE MEETING:

• Be on time!  Enough said.
• Start on time.  This one is hard for me, because I don't like being interrupted by the latecomers, so I tend to wait on them to start.  However, I believe if you start on time, people will know to come to your meetings on time as they won't like walking/dialing into an ongoing meeting.
• Make sure everyone is clear on the goal of the meeting and ask if there are any questions on the agenda (you don't need to read it because you sent it out in advance).  Be prepared and assume your attendees are.  After a few meetings, they will catch on and be ready for you.
• Be a good facilitator.  Make sure everyone you invited has a voice (you invited them on purpose).  Try to do more listening than talking.
• Be prepared to handle hearing nothing but the crickets.  If nobody is speaking up, or it is obvious people are multitasking, have some strategies to reign them in.  Calling them by name and asking a question may seem third grade teacher-ish, but it gets people's attention.
• Leave a few minutes at the end to do the following: ask for final thoughts, provide a quick (brevity is a virtue) recap of the key outcomes and next steps with owners.

AFTER THE MEETING:

• No longer than 1 day after the meeting (I like to do this within the hour while it is still fresh, but that is not always feasible), send a recap email to the participants.  This should include who attended, who was absent, key outcomes of the meeting and next steps with owners.
• Schedule your follow up call, only if needed.

Following these simple hints will lead you to fewer meetings (you won't have all those reschedules), better participation in the meetings you have, and people who learn to love you for respecting their time!

Kids and Cash

Should kids get an allowance?  How young is too young?  Is it tied to chores?  How much do they get?  Do you charge them tax? There are so many schools of thought on this subject, I'd love to hear from others what their system is and why they love it.

Here's how it works at our house:  Kids get an allowance starting at age 5 (before that they just don't get it) and ending at age 15 (when they turn 16, I expect them to get someone else to pay them). Each child gets $1 for whatever age they are.  For example, the 7 year olds get $7/week.  They all have chores and tasks, but that is not directly tied to their allowance.  They are expected to help around the house and do "their part" because they are part of the family, not because they are being paid.

Okay, so back to the example of the $7.  We have them split that into Save, Give, Spend.  For $7, we would put $3 to Save, $1 to Give, $3 to Spend.  They can 'give' their $1/week to a charity, put it in the church collection basket, or some other creative way to pay it forward that they come up with.

I (try to) take them to the bank every week to deposit their "save" money into their savings accounts.  They really like watching their accounts grow (even though it is only a bit at a time).  But, when we can't make it, we just keep the money separated until we get there and take whatever has accumulated.  Same for give and spend really.  The key is keeping it all separate until you have a chance to do something with it.

There are so many options to help with this.  For you crafty people, decorated mason jars work great.  For those that like a more low key approach, labeled baggies work just fine.  I wanted something cute that wouldn't take up as much room as the mason jar approach, and found these adorable three compartment money holders on Etsy. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/112442077/girls-give-spend-save-trifold-wallet-in?ref=shop_home_active_2

In general, I believe what is important is to talk to your kids about money, and teach them how to balance and budget.  Whether it is quarters rather than dollars, or $20s instead of singles, the point is that they get some practice with money while they are young and the stakes are low. 

Budgets: Boring or Beautiful?

The mere mention of the word 'budget' can conjure up some very negative feelings.  It sounds restrictive and serious.  To me, I see a budget as freedom.  Freedom from the guessing, freedom from the worry, and freedom from the guilt of spending.

A direct comparison to the word "diet" jumps to mind.  Again, it makes us feel like we are being denied something.  However, your diet by definition is what you eat (not what you don't).  As such, your budget is what you spend (not what you can't have).

I've always used a budget in some form for as far back as I can remember.  In the beginning, it was a written out list of high level expenses, which advanced over time to a rather detailed (although still simple) spreadsheet, to now using online tools like Mint.com (free for basic usage).  No matter what tool I've used though, the premise has been the same; I want to know where my money is going.  The versions I have used are typically based on a cash flow model.  This assures that I have enough money in hand when big expenses (Christmas, Property Taxes, etc) come up.  I like to detail out each expense category.  In my case, I use categories and subcategories, because I'm a bit of a nut and I require this level of information. For example, I have a category for Food.  From there I sub-categorize by Groceries, Dining Out and School Lunches.  If you have no need for that detail, keep it at the high level category. 

The important thing in your budget is being realistic.  If you HAVE to have a Starbucks coffee every morning, then add the line in for Starbucks.  If your joy in life is a monthly pedicure...no problem...put it in.  Once these luxuries become part of the budget, then you can stop fretting whether to spend the money on them.  Just, let it go and think "it's in the budget". Add in all of the things that make up your lifestyle.  Don't forget those occasional expenses (car insurance, Grandma's birthday, etc).  Then look at the total expenses versus what you are bringing in, and what you stash away for savings each month.  If the numbers work, congrats and enjoy.  If things are looking a little upside down, then start evaluating the line items until you reach a balance. 

A sound budget is a key step on the journey to a simplified life!

Happy National Clean Your Junk Drawer Day!!

Alright, I made that up.  But, it is so important to your psyche it should be a day!  Have you had that experience where you make your bed for the first time in forever, and every time you walk past your room you feel a sense of relief and/or accomplishment?  It makes you feel great that there is that one part of your life that is in order, so it's a good day.  Think of how many times you yank open the junk drawer in a day, and imagine having that little boost of confidence every time.

You may be thinking...hang on...not the junk drawer...that is SUPPOSED to be a mess.  Trust me. Take 15 minutes to do this, and you will thank yourself dozens of times this week.  This is a great project for the kids if you have any at the 'I want to help' age.  They are experts at sorting! No idea where to start?

1) Empty the drawer, completely.  Trying to rearrange things in that little space will only frustrate you.

2) Separate into two piles; what belongs in the drawer, and what doesn't.  Move the "doesn't" pile out of the way for now.

3) Group like things. HINT: Ponytail holders make sturdy substitutes for rubberbands (that always break) to put around pens/pencils/markers.

4) Wipe out the drawer so it is clean and dry before putting anything back.

5) Arrange your items back in the drawer.  HINT: Put the screwdriver that you rarely need in the back and pens in the front so they are easily accessible (or whatever makes sense for your life).

6) Start thanking yourself.

1 Simple Trick to Save Yourself from Inbox Insanity

Email is such an integral part of our daily lives.  And now, with the            
explosion of mobile technology, we are more connected than ever.  That isn't all bad, but it can have drawbacks as well.  It does provide us a great amount of flexibility and freedom to stay in touch with what is going on when we are away.  It provides a mechanism for leaving non-urgent, well thought out messages that the receiver can give thought and respond to at their convenience.  Hang on...what did I just say?  Non-urgent?  That's right...and that's the key!

Email does not need to be checked every 15 minutes, or worse every time your computer beeps to tell you "you've got mail".  And...hold onto your hat...it doesn't even need to be checked hourly.  

Treat email like an appointment.  Schedule it into your day and find a rhythm that works for you.  Perhaps it is once in the morning, just after lunch and just before you go home.  Three times a day should be the max. If someone is trying to reach you urgently, there is a good chance they will follow up via phone or text for a more immediate response.  

Not only will you increase productivity and focus by not interrupting yourself a zillion times while you should be focused on other things, you will also be more efficient at sorting and responding to the emails themselves if you point your attention there for periods of time rather than jumping in and out every time.  It's also less likely you will have things fall through the cracks that you read quickly, but forget to mark for later action.

If necessary, close your email program until the designated time.  It will help resist the urge to check when you hear that familiar sound. 

Give it a try for 1 week and leave a comment if it makes a difference in your day!

Worst. Gift. Ever. (or was it?)

I don't remember if it was Mother's Day, or my birthday or some other holiday...I do remember opening the medium sized, not very heavy, uh...creatively wrapped box with great anticipation. 
As the paper ripped, I looked at the side of the box, a bit perplexed.  I could feel my lips starting to purse and stopped them in time to get out a lame, "Wow...okay".  I looked again at the fairly large, twin-sided, hotel-style cereal dispenser.  What on earth was I supposed to do with this?

You see, my husband is not one to ask me what I want and then run to the store to get it.  He knows me pretty well and usually strikes out on his own for gift finding.  While his picks are misses as often as hits, I always appreciate the thought.  I think it is special that even as busy as we are, he puts in an effort to search for something he believes will improve my life or make me happy. 

He could immediately tell it was a miss.  I was trying to hide it (at least a little) because as I said, the thought is always appreciated.  But, I couldn't understand what he was thinking with this one.  I know I'm into organizing, but this just seemed like one more thing to junk up my counter and another thing for the kids to make a mess with.  Worst. Gift. Ever!

We've always had a policy that you don't have to love a gift, and it is okay to return it.  This is necessary if you are going to buy into not getting 'pre-approval' for gift ideas.  Otherwise, there will be a lot of wasted money and hurt feelings.  

For some reason though, I didn't get rid of it.  I stuffed it in a rarely accessed cabinet and other than a few laughs with my friends over the gift choice, forgot about it...until June of last year.

It had been about 3 years since it I had put it in there.  I pulled it out, set the never opened box on the counter and had a little giggle remembering the day I received it.  Suddenly, something hit me.  The kids had kept their morning schedules from school and were waking us up every day at 7am (in the summer).  What if I actually USE this thing and they can get themselves cereal in the morning?  30 extra minutes of sleep?  Every day?

We used it all summer, packed it away for the school year, and pulled it back out this summer (so as not to ruin the novelty for the fickle kids).  It makes them feel like big kids, and gives us some much needed extra snooze minutes.  As I pack it back away now that school is back in session, all I can think to say is...Best. Gift. Ever!!!