Late submission for April 20th

So on Wednesday, April 18th (we had to move our normal meeting time since Kelly had an interview) I sat down with Kelly and told her about the disaster the previous week. She was encouraging but firm and helped me get back on track. While the project of cleaning up and re organizing seemed daunting at first, because I Had established a system for organizing it wasn't too bad. Two hours later, I was back on track towards my goal. It has been really empowering to be organized. Since my disaster last week I have made the decision to wake up a little earlier in the morning and do at least 15 minutes of taking care of loose ends around the house. This has been really empowering because it has actually shortened my morning routine. Normally I spend a little time looking for something that I had lost in the disorder. Because I am organized now, I know where everything is and can find what I need for the day. It is amazing to me the amount of time I save by investing a little time into being organized.

Because this is my final journal entry I would like to take the time to thank Kelly who has been an excellent coach. I have improved so much on my two action items for the semester. While I still have a long way to go, the meetings with Kelly really kept me honest throughout the semester.

Late submission for April 13th

Well as you can see this is a late submission- this is where the class started winding down and for some reason I thought the journal entries were finished. Looking back at my calendar, the week of April 13th was a complete disaster. There are many excuses why I did not stay organized this week (buying a house, lots of schoolwork, etc.) but the bottom line was that I was still able to watch my favorite TV shows and do all of the other non value added things in my life that I do when I don't want to get down to work. At the end of this week, every part of my room at my apartment was covered in papers, clothes etc.

It has been valuable for me to recognize when I fail in my goals and to diagnose what the root of the problem is. This can help me stay focused on how not to fall into the same old traps which have derailed my progress in the past. This week I learned that if I don't make keeping organized every day a priority, I am more likely to blow it off the next day and the day after as a mess builds up. Once the mess gets to a "project" level that wil take several hours to complete, I usually abandon my goal until I can't find something or my girlfriend comes to town or some other such catalyst that will get me moving. Luckily for me, I have a coach that was firm and consistant at the end of the week that got me back on track.

Great spring break, back to class

Well, my spring break was wonderful- relaxing and busy. On the organization front- I kept things relatively neat over the break. There was only 1 time where things got out of control in the hotel room, but I quickly took care of it.

The big news of the week is that Kelly my coaching partner got a job offer!!!!!!

Congrats to Kelly, I know she worked hard and had to present in front of a group of tough interviewers in order to get the offer.

This week has been frenetic working on school projects especially my EPE business plan. This is a perfect example of an opportunity gained by letting someone explain what I originally thought was a bad idea:

When we started, one of my group members had an idea that I thought was pretty bad. Rather than express my dislike of his idea, I let it develop. We did our initial pitch of the business and it went really well. The people that we met with really liked the idea. So reserving my negative opinion actually paid off. Moving forward we may actually try to start the business that we are creating for the school project.

Overall, it has been an exciting two weeks.

Spring is here, or maybe not

This week has been great. On Wednesday, it looked like spring was here, so I sorted through most of my winter clothes and took my summer clothes out of storage. I had my winter clothes all packed up to go to storage the next day, when it snowed again. This was a blessing in disguise since it gave me a chance to go through all of my clothes and identify those that I no longer wear that will be headed off to the Salvation Army after spring break. My clothes are the main source of disorder in my room. I have decided to implement a rule where when I buy new clothes I need to throw out some clothes that I have. I feel that this will help me keep a handle on how many clothes I own, but will also save me money since I will be limiting those impulse purchases that I tend to make.

I am headed off to Aruba for spring break and I will continue to monitor my progress there.

Have a great spring break!

Good week

So last week was a good week for me, despite being sick for the second half of the week. I am working through sorting out all of my stuff to get rid of unnecessary junk. My electronic system has been working very well. It is amazing to me how doing a little at a time is so much mnore effective than undertaking one big project. For example, rather than spending a whole day doing laundry (probably my least favorite task), doing one load a day is much more effective.

Next week is spring break and I would like ot make sure I do a complete job packing. I usualy procrastinate to the last minute and end up forgeting something. Then I have to buy it on the road- the reason I own 15 belts.

Technical difficulties

Because this is my first blog, I am working through some of the problems that one normally encounters with new technology.

For some reason, my password didn't register on the old blog, so I guess technically, this is my second blog!

The past week has been quite a learning experience for me. I have noticed that the impitus for my organizing is when I have lost something. During the time that I spend looking for it, I put stuff away and organize. If there is not a crisis, I prefer to do other things with my time. My uploading a picture a day project has been stalled because I have not yet purged all of the junk from my room. I have, however developed an effective system for orgainzing my files and e mails. I rarely have trouble finding electronic information.

My second goal regarding communication has been going rather well. Since it is more of a "situational" goal, I only get to practice in certain situations. Luckily, business school is rife with situations where I have a diffrent point of view in a conversation. I feel that recently, I have exercised restraint when talking with someone who I would normally argue with. It is amazing how much more people are willing to say if I just shut up and let them talk. This has in most cases been a good thing and has opened my eyes to anotherr point of view.

So why did I take the goal setting class? For me it was an opportunity to work on a few of my weaknesses before they have a chance to rear their ugly heads in the workplace after I graduate.

The two weaknesses I have chosen to improve are:
Organization (or lack thereof)
Learning to take people’s feelings into account before I speak (a skill not too necessary in the military.

So here are my goals:

Goal 1:Become more organized specifically in my room (too cluttered) and my computer (hard to find documents).

Goal 2:Learn to be less pessimistic when I communicate with others. Stop “telling it how I see it” and learn to communicate without conflict.

During week one, I have begun preparing for my success. I have purchased two books that will help with my goals. David Allen’s “Getting things done” is a highly recommended book to improve organization and productivity, especially in the workplace. I also have purchased “How to communicate” which seems to have several tips on understanding how to effectively communicate with different types of people.Another mechanism that I will use to force myself to stay organized is to take a picture of my room every day and post it on this blog. Hopefully this will encourage me to spend time each day organizing rather than letting things slide. Since I am in New York City right now, I am unable to take a photo, but will start this on Monday.