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Blog: The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
 Recovering from a Productivity Plunge
The organizing business—believe it or not—is seasonal. Or at least mine is. I work mainly with moms (working and stay-at-home) helping them get their homes and busy families in order. So I have found, in the past three years, that my "busy season" works with the school year. When kids are in school and activities and obligations are plentiful, life gets cumbersome and I get calls for help. Transversely, during the summer time, when people are away from their homes on vacations, they are not focused on the house (and its various levels of disarray) and thus, I get fewer calls.
As each summer approaches, I look forward to the down time. I envision myself taking advantage of this time to catch up on reading for professional development (organizing, time management, and business books), to creatively think and brainstorm for marketing ideas and to get out there and network--things I generally do not have time to do during busy season since I am busy at people's homes all day long.
During busy season I work physically and mentally draining 14-hour days. No, I don't organize 14 hours a day, but because I am in people's homes for eight hours a day, I don't get the chance during the day to answer emails or phone calls or do my accounting or do any of the administrative things that need to get done so I stay in business… so generally, those things get done when I get home and am on the computer until 11pm or midnight most nights.
So when summer comes and I dial back to fewer jobs a week and thus more manageable days, I should be able to get more work done. Unfortunately, I feel very much like Unclutterer, who said the following about her productivity in a blog post this year:
Unfortunately, as my responsibilities have plummeted in the last two weeks, so has my productivity. It's now taking me three to four times longer to do routine and simple tasks. My mind is wandering, I'm in no rush to get anything done, and yesterday, for the first time in over a year, a post went up on the site 30 minutes late.
In 1957, Professor C. Northcote Parkinson wrote of this phenomenon in his book Parkinson's Law and Other Studies in Administration. The opening sentence of his book proclaims the culmination of his research, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." And, since I am carrying a significantly lighter load of work, it's taking me unreasonable amounts of time to do it.
Part of this decrease in productivity is probably healthy. For six months, I was pushing myself unusually hard. However, it's time for me to get my bum back into gear and return to a regular level of efficiency.
To do this, I'm taking the following steps:
1. Planning my new perfect day.
2. Using a timer and music to motivate me to do my work in a speedy
manner.
3. Using my project management software for the smallest of tasks.
4. Giving myself permission to leave work whenever I finish at any point
after 3:00 p.m.
I'm so glad to know there is an actual phenomenon for this! Do you find you affected by Parkinson's Law too? How do you handle it?
posted on: 7/27/2009 10:30:00 AM by Heather Lambie
category: Paper
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The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
by Heather Lambie
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About Heather:
My Husband - "Honey, how thin can you spread yourself before you're no longer there?" Me - "I don't know. But I'm in it to win it, so we may have to find out."
Heather's Website:
www.yourhomeeditor.com
Favorite Websites
- The Sartorialist
This site appeases my hunger for all things New York, reminds me of my time there, and gives me great ideas for unconventional looks.
- Toffee To Go
They are located in Tampa, very near me, but they deliver/ship nationally. They have THE BEST toffee EVER. It's buttery, salty, sweet--all my favorite things in one bite.
- The Container Store
I know this is a no-brainer for an organizer...but this place really turns me on!
- The Poetry Foundation
- Because I Said So (blog)
As a mom myself, this mom of 6 (!!!) has me in stitches.
- Michael Buble
If I wasn't happily married, I might be stalking him. Bar none, the best voice and best sense of humor!
Quotes That Move Me
- General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
"The truth of the matter is, you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."
- Ivern Ball
"Most of us ask for advice when we know the answer but we want a different one."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The secret of education is respecting the pupil."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
- Abigail Van Buren
"The best index to a person's character is how he treats another person who can't do him good, and how he treats people who can't fight back."
- Dorothy Galyean
"Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."
- Aristotle
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Mark Twain
"To be satisfied with what one has; that is wealth. As long as one sorely needs a certain additional amount, that man isn't rich."
- Jackie Kennedy
"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."
Places I'm Dying to Visit
- Hawaii
Any how, any way, any time.
- Los Cabos, Mexico
- China
- Japan
- Alaska (via cruise ship)
- Marbella, Spain
Places I've Already Been
- Australia (Sydney)
- New Zealand
- Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora
- London
- Paris
Spent only one day here (took the Chunnel from London when I was there) but it was one amazing, beautiful day where I walked the flea markets, visited the Louvre, people-watched and used all 6 senses to experience it.
- Trinidad & Tobago
My husband is from here, so we go several times a year to visit family.
- Italy (Milan, Vicenza)
- Jamaica
Things I'd Like To Do Before I Die
- Run a leg with the Olympic torch before the games begin
- See the monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico
- Ride a horse on the beach (in the water)
- See a prize fight (boxing) in Las Vegas
- Run the NYC Marathon
I ran the Disney Marathon in 2000 (pre-kids). Would love to run another post-kids, to prove I can.
- Have washboard abs.
- Eliminate self doubt.
- Own an apartment in Manhattan.
- Watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
- Take an RV trip down the coast of California.
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