HIGH-WOOTNESS-FIVE! (HW5!)
HW5! to Candice McMath, who wrote to let me know that she’s using the 61-derful daily activities in her regular job – she doesn’t have a photography business. Wootness!
HW5! to Tasha Jakubisin, who will be joining us on board the 61-derful train! Wootness!
If you’re utilizing the 61-derful program, let me know how you’re doing! I”ll HW5! you publicly so you can brag that you got mentioned on the Wootness site. 😉
START A LIST
For days 1 and 2, we did a few things that should be part of our daily duties, so it’s time to start a list of activities that we need to do to keep our office and business under control and organized.
1. Handle mail the day it arrives.
2. Keep a running bank deposit prepared.
3. Clear out your inbox on a daily basis. Unsubscribe from any emails that arrive on a daily basis. (Except for Wootness!)
LET’S CLEAN OFF THE DESK
You know, there’s nothing more depressing than working at a desk that is piled with stuff. Let’s get the desk area cleared and create some visual calmness.
Go grab yourself a couple of shoe boxes, baskets, or containers of any kind.
I want you to clear off your desk and sort the items on it into the following categories:
1. TO BE FILED (put this container on top of your filing cabinet when sorting is done)
2. WORK TO BE DONE/BACKLOG (retouching, orders to be placed, files to be processed, etc)
3. MAIL THAT NEEDS PROCESSED (bills that need paid, due renewals, anything that came in that needs to go back out)
4. ORDERS & OTHER ITEMS THAT NEED PACKAGED UP AND SHIPPED OUT (orders. and other items. can’t you read?)
LET’S GET CONTROL OF THE MAIL
On Day 1, I had you grab the mail that was ready to go and took no preparation. I wanted you to be able to do something quick and painless that would still give you a sense of accomplishment.
Suck it up a little – we’re going in and this time we’re going to attack all those mail items that have built up that need handled. All of it. Every single stinking bit.
We’re going to totally eradicate number 3 and 4 from our list today. When you are done, all of these items will be placed into a nice decorative basket or container, preferably one with handles so that you can take it with you on errand day.
ERRAND DAY!
Your goal is to have one day per week when you do errands. In order for errand day to be accomplished smoothly, all errand items MUST be prepped PRIOR to errand day. That means you don’t get to disappear into your office for an hour and a half prepping bank deposits etc before walking out the door.
I want you to be able to grab your deposit envelope off your desk and your mail container off – off whatever it is that you put it on. Errands should be quick and painless.
So – for me, Errand Day is Friday. So, that means that I have all my packages and letters all ready to go by Thursday. So – today we are prepping everything that needs to go out on Errand Day – tomorrow.
EMAIL MANIA!
This is now a daily list item. Delete and unsubscribe as needed to keep email under control.
WORK ON BACKLOG
Do 1/2 day of backlog. Do not spend the whole day on working through backlog. This is a real good way to get frustrated and bored. Do a half day and then congratulate yourself. You’re half a day closer to being caught up.
SHORT TERM GOAL CHECKUP
How is progress towards your short-term goal going? Since mine is dealing with backlog by 11/11/11, I’m just keeping the pace.
I’m really looking forward to getting caught up and organized and I’m excited to do some work on my office. I have not done anything to it for the 5 years I’ve had it, so it’s time for a little paint job and some new flooring. We’ve got several boxes of laminate flooring just waiting to be laid. I had bought it several years ago for another purpose that didn’t pan out and the paint is leftover from the studio construction, so it’s like a remodel for free. Wootness!
TODAY I:
- Prepared a huge pile of Wootness shirt packages (sorry – I set them aside and FORGOT! – ack!)
- Prepped all outstanding order shipments
- Cleared email
- Worked on backlog