16
Aug

Staying Organized When Life Happens

Mostly everyone can relate to this situation.  Your day is planned out, you’ve got your To Do List in hand.  You are on track, on target and nothing is stopping you from staying organized today, keeping your goals and saying to yourself…Job Well Done!  Until–

Life Happens and throws in a curve ball that you totally weren’t expecting and weren’t ready to handle.  Your personality takes over and now it is time for you to stop everything and give all of your time and energy to this new project or event.  There is a need to spend time researching the situation so that you make a smart decision.  You’ll need to lay out your new To Do List to handle your crisis (at least in your mind).  Then, call the right people to get their opinion (which keeps you on the phone for hours).  And, your To Do List just got tossed out the window.

I can relate!  I had it happen this week.  For the last few months my phone number has been acting really strange.  Dropping calls, loosing service totally and just really flaky and really weird things happening.  Then, the manure hit the oscillator and everything shut down.  It was like I was disconnected from the world and I didn’t like that feeling of being disconnected.  I felt totally unorganized.  So, here are my tips to Staying Organized When Life Happens.

First – Take a giant step back from your emotions.  Close your eyes, breathe, use some Essential Oils (Frankincense is good to keep you thinking free and clear).

Second –  Make sure that your Have To Do List is written down so that you can take a step aside and handle your emergency.  This will help you get back to what needs to be done when your emergency is over.  Take it out of your head and put it on paper (or your electronic device).

Third – Check your Have To Do List and make a determination as to what you can hand off to someone else to complete.  Family members, friends, neighbors and employees will be happy to step in and help out.  After all, you would do it for them right?

Fourth – Now that you have shortened your list, get started on how to handle your Life Moment.  Thinking things through and keeping your thoughts organized will help you to make the right decision (and smart decision) about moving forward.

When I called my phone carrier and, after 90 minutes on the phone, was told that my issue would require a ticket to be started so that it could be turned over to an engineer, I requested that my issue be taken to the top level immediately.  I didn’t get upset.  I quickly explained that being without my phone for a period of up to 7 days was not an option.  I didn’t want to hear, “I can’t help you, let me send you to someone who can”.   Moving the case up to the top level immediately saved them time and energy and, I would be less unhappy!  So, it happened!  Within 24 hours after my initial call I had a technician in my driveway.  Woohoo!

Fifth – Thinking very methodically how to handle your situation will ensure that you:

a.  Ask the right questions.

b.  Actually hear what they are saying vs. what you think you are being told.

c.  Stay calm!!  When you are calm and thinking clearly you will be able to get results.

Sixth – Write it all down!  Who you are talking to, their Department and their phone number if possible.  Another thing that always ensures great results is to ask if you can let their supervisor know of their excellent customer service.  Everyone wants kudos!!

Seventh – Be patient!  Rome wasn’t built in a day and sometimes it does take time to work through things.  We are such a instant gratification society – patience is something that we can all use more of!  And, it does get positive results.  And then, be grateful!  After all, it could have been worse, right???

Now that things are back on track, get back to what you Have To Do.  This is the reason that my blog is 2 days late getting written and posted this week.  Of course, I didn’t have an extra 18 hours worked into my schedule to handle this issue.  What I always have, however, is a plan to get back to doing what Needs To Be Done, as soon as possible.  And, that ends this Blog!  Moving on….