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This 2-Minute Focus Method Can Save You Hours Every Day

Time Saving Tip

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24 hour days.” — Zig Ziglar 

As Zig says, we all have the same amount of hours and minutes in the day, but it’s how we use our time that matters.  It’s all about how we guide our focus.

I’ve tried out a lot of productivity tips and focus techniques over the years, but this single method I’m sharing today takes less than two minutes per day and can, literally, save you hours in your day.

There are no excuses with this one.  Before you leave my blog write your two or three things down and get to it.  Don’t forget to make a rule for yourself that while you are working on these items there are no distractions allowed.  Keep your head down, get it done, and move on.

I’d love to hear back from you after you’ve tried this technique.  I’ve generally hear back from people after just a day or two because it makes such a huge difference in the focus and productivity of their day.

Here’s to setting your focus on the important things and getting stuff done!

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today.

Your friends, family and co-workers need this simple focus strategy in their lives, too, don’t you thing? Please share this post with them.

Jill xx

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4 Simple Decluttering Strategies That Will Rock Your World

You’re not gonna want to miss this one, friends!  I’m sharing four decluttering strategies today that will rock your world.

You may have heard how outer-order brings about inner-calm, right?  Well…it’s true!  And the beauty of it is, it’s not that difficult.

Your environment often dictates how productive, efficient, comfortable, and happy you are.  The key is to declutter your space.

The idea of decluttering may bring to mind huge, overwhelming projects, like cleaning out the basement that has 87 years of collective family memories stored.  While decluttering the basement is a worthy goal, this isn’t what we’re going to focus on today. We’re going to look at decluttering strategies that won’t take more than 60 minutes max.  In fact, you’ll be able to achieve de-clutterment (I think I just made that word up!) in less time that it takes you to move one single item from one room to the next.

I’m a firm believer in baby steps, so let’s get started…

In today’s video, I share four simple decluttering strategies that will have you feeling that amazing inner-calm feeling in no time at all.

Well…I suggested four strategies…which will you implement today?  You know, at the very least, it’s only going to take a minute or two. Share with me your victorious decluttering wins in the comments below.

Much love,

Jill (The 5-Minute Taskmaster) xx

P.S.  Good tips like this should never be hoarded!  Please share my blog with your friends, family, and co-workers…you know they’ll thank you for it.  : )

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How To Maximize Your Most Valuable Resource: Time

Time management

The #1 reason people fail to live with intention is the lack of, or mismanagement of time.  Don’t let this be part of your story.

Today, I share a simple, yet very powerful exercise in understanding where/how you spend your time, where/how you’re wasting time, and how you can create your ideal schedule to live a life of intention.

Exercise from video:

What you’ll need:

Paper and pencil.
Your current calendar.

On a blank piece of paper, write the hours of the day along one side of the sheet and the days of the week across the other.  Depending on your typical schedule, you may write the hours down in one hour, 30 minute, or 15 minute chunks.  Fill in the time slots with the activities, appointments and responsibilities that account for the time in your day.  NOTE: Don’t forget the scrolling through Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest time (no judgment, let’s just make sure you are giving a true representation of where you spend your time.)

Next, you’re going to circle, star, box and X the items on your schedule.

  • Circle all items on your schedule that are non-negotiables based on your values, your season in life, or your survival.  A non-negotiable may be getting up at the crack of dawn to go to work 5 days per week, or packing your kids school lunches, or driving your spouse or elderly parent to their doctor’s appointments.  It may also be exercise or time with your favorite person. 
  • Put a STAR next to all the things in your schedule that bring you joy or fulfillment.  Making breakfast for your loved ones, working out, volunteering, painting, singing in choir, etc.
  • Put a BOX next to all the thing that are important, but you can either give the task to someone else or move it to a later date.
  • Put an X next to the things on your schedule that are time and life suckers!  These are the things you are going to remove, minimize, and/or schedule more tightly in your schedule.

Don’t rush this process.  Take your time so you are sure to include everything that should be on the schedule.  You want to be as realistic as possible.

On another sheet, write down your ideal schedule that supports and aligns with your values and intentions for your life.  This is where you will remove or minimize items that you marked with an X, delegate or move those you marked with a BOX, possibly devote more time to the items you placed a STAR next to, and last but not least, see where you have new chunks of time available to intentionally fill with absolutely nothing and with things that support a healthy, balanced life.    

When you’re done (today or in the next couple days) I’d love to hear how this exercise worked for you.  Did you spot some obnoxious time sucks in your schedule?  Did you realize how little time you were devoting to VERY important things?  Did you feel a sense of relief when you placed an X next to one of the items on your calendar, signifying and making a decision to rid that from your life?  I would love to hear from you.  Let me know in the comments or by emailing me at Jill@JillGottenstrater.com.

Here’s to creating a schedule that honors you and lends itself to an intentional, fulfilling and impactful life!

Jill xx

Click here to join me on Wednesday mornings for my Facebook LIVE video series.

In case you missed it…Click here to read my post on understanding your core values and living them out in real life.

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Your Daily Dose of Intentional Living — Week 4 Wrap Up

Want to live a more fulfilling and intentional life?  Sometimes we just need some reminders, fresh inspiration, and someone who’s been there and desires the same thing.

This is my 4th week of broadcasting Your Daily Dose of Intentional Living LIVE this month and I’ve compiled all the videos right here in one place for you.  My goal is to provide helpful and inspirational content and provide simple steps to be more intentional with our time and efforts.

MONDAY MOTIVATION video:

The holidays can be a hard time for many people.  Learn how you can be a blessing to someone through a simple gesture that may take less than 5 seconds, but will leave a lasting impression.

TUESDAY TIP video:

Creating a TOP 3 list is a productivity/time management tip that will help you to stay uber-focused on the most meaningful and important goals and projects in your life.  In this video, I discuss what goes on (and doesn’t go on) the list and the best time of day to create the list.

WEDNESDAY’S WORD video:

This week’s word is GRATITUDE.  Learn the 5 areas of your life that will benefit from a daily practice of gratitude.  I also share 3 suggestions on how to actually make the practice daily.

THROWBACK THURSDAY:

I decided not to do a video on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and instead share this photo as my “Throwback”.  My cousin (the tall guy in the back) and I have not seen each other in 39 years!!  It was great to reconnect with family from Arkansas and Georgia!

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FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY video:

In this video I share 3 reasons why being part of a cookbook club will benefit your relationships.  I also give you tips on how to start one!  I’m going to host my first one in the first quarter of 2017.  How about you?  Will you host one, too?

Friends, if you know of someone who might find value in what I’ve shared in these videos, don’t be shy–share away!

Did you miss the wrap-up video posts from previous weeks?
Click here to watch week 1 videos.
Click here to watch week 2 videos.
Click here to watch week 3 videos.

Thanks for watching, friends!  I truly appreciate you spending time with me here today.

With love,

Jill xx

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The Power of 5 Minute Tasks

We all have 5 minutes to spare, here and there, throughout the day.  Over the last several months, I’ve uncovered the magic of what all can really happen in 5 minutes.

It lies in the power of choosing a task and working on it for 5 minutes straight without interruption.  This may be a task at home, work, or when you’re out and about.  You might be thinking, “What can I get done in 5 minutes?  I’ve got a pile of stuff to tackle and I’m lucky if I can get up and out the door each morning.”  I know!  I always thought that, too, but the reality is, you can get a lot done in 5 minutes.

I have included 9 simple ideas below to spend your 5 minutes.

But before you dive in, trust this:  One of three things will happen when you accept the 5-minute challenge:

  1. You will complete an entire task that you may have otherwise decided to put off until “you have more time”.  If you like to check things off your to-do list, 5-minute tasks are the best!
  2. You will whittle away at a larger task.  As you continue to spend your 5 minute sessions on this larger task, before you know it, the entire task will be complete.  Whittling away at a task can make a daunting task seem less overwhelming.
  3. You will start with 5 minutes, but when you see the progress you’ve just made, your motivation and momentum kick in and (if and when you have time) you’ll find yourself still working on the task, happily, an hour later.

5-Minute Challenge Task Ideas:

1. De-clutter/Organize.  A cluttered or unorganized house, car, or office not only clutters your physical space, but also clutters your mind.  By spending 5 minutes de-cluttering an area, you will be happy, not only with the aesthetic value, but for the internal peace it will bring you as well.
I’m still a work in progress in this area, but here are a few handy tips that help me de-clutter and organize in 5 minutes:

1.  Pick one small area to focus on.  You’ve got 5 minutes, so pick an area within an area, if you can.  For example, while you may decide to target your closet as an overall project, decide on one section within your closet to tackle in the 5 minute period: Fold, organize, and create a giveaway pile for all sweaters.  The same could go for any single item or area of your closet: shoes, scarfs, seasonal clothes, etc.     
2. Set your timer.
3. Get to work.
4. Mark down your progress in a journal or tracking sheet.  This is not a necessity, but it’s a great way to keep yourself accountable, systematically work through the various areas in need, and is an excellent visual way to celebrate your successes.
2. Clean.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand leaving the house with dirty dishes in the sink.  Not long ago, I went to bed without doing the dinner dishes (a big lasagna dinner), woke up late the next morning, and with 5 minutes to spare before running out the door, looked at those dishes and had a deep dread of coming home to that mess.  Instead, I threw on an apron and got to work on those dishes.  I kid you not, that mountain of caked on lasagna mess was cleaned in 5 minutes.  What I thought for sure I’d need a good 30 minutes to clean, was done in 5 minutes.  DISCLAIMER:  I do have a dishwasher, but I thoroughly scrub my dishes before putting them in.
Cleaning your bathroom for 5 minutes also works wonders.  I remember a friend’s mom told me when I was in high school that if you spend a few minutes cleaning your bathroom a couple times a week, you never really have to do a DEEP cleaning, because it never gets dirty enough.  I keep disinfectant wipes in my bathroom and follow this wise woman’s advice once or twice a week and it keeps things fresh and the need for a deep clean to a minimum.
Same goes for most any area of your house.  Got get ’em!
 
3. Take a mental time out.  Not the same as meditation, but a deliberate 5 minutes of just slowing down to breath deeply, take a look at the beauty around you, or just sit and enjoy the silence around you. 
 
4. Quick email/text/note/call to a handful of people to catch up.  ‘Tis better to hear something than nothing at all, right?  Trust me, friends, I’ve been the worst at this at times.  I’ve decided not to reach out to someone because I didn’t have 30 minutes to devote to a “proper” conversation.  Well, that 30 minutes of free time doesn’t present itself very often, so chances are you just won’t communicate to that person at all.  Is letting a year pass by better than a quick “Hi!  Thinking about you today.  Hope you have an awesome day!” text, email, or voicemail?  I think not.  Personally, I’d rather hear that from a friend.  I’m busy, too, so being on the receiving end of that text would be a relief for me.  How about you?
Read an article I wrote here about a note I sent that was 274 days late.
 
5. Pray and meditate.  You’d be surprised how many people, concerns, and thanksgivings you can cover in a 5 minute prayer session.  Seriously–you’ll walk away feeling so much hope and goodwill in your heart.  And if you’ve ever sat still quietly in meditation for 2 minutes – let alone, 5 minutes – you know how beneficial it can be.
 
6. Brainstorm an idea.  Have you had an idea you’ve been thinking about, but always push it to the backseat because you “just don’t have the time”?  Well, you won’t believe what a 5 minute brainstorming session using a pencil and paper can produce.  Try this  mind-mapping technique I wrote about here.  I use this technique on almost all my blog posts and I’m always amazed at what comes out on paper when I do this.
 
7. Book an appointment.  There’s bound to be something on your to-do list that you keep pushing down the priority list, but you really need to get done.  Let’s face it, scrolling through Facebook for 5 minutes is a whole lot more fun than calling to listen to an automated voice direct us through unending options, to finally get stuck with someone on the other side of the line who appears to not be having the best day and her voice is implying you are part of the reason!  However, the dental appointment, vet appointment, appointment to get your boiler serviced, or that dreaded colonoscopy appointment needs to be made.  NOTE: My current dentist and vet both have friendly people on the other end of the line. : )
 
8. Move your body.  People (talking to myself here, too !!!), we have been given this one body to last us for possibly century.  How can we expect to avoid health problems if we don’t show a little love and respect to our bodies??  We must do more.  And 5 minutes can go a long way.  Stretch, take a quick walk, do an exercise that can be done at your desk, at home, or in the grocery line.
I have these neck/shoulder exercises that I really should do several days per week in order to prevent further injury and guess what?  I cannot tell you how many days – even weeks – I have put off doing these exercises.  It’s crazy!  Especially when they don’t take that long and they’re not hard.
After re-injuring my neck/shoulder a few months ago, I printed out the exercises my physical therapist gave me and taped them to the inside of the cabinet that houses my coffee cups.  So now, when I’m brewing my coffee (which takes 5.5 minutes), I do my exercises (which only take 4.5 minutes).

9. Journal.  You don’t have to write a novel each time you journal.  It’s actually a bit freeing to set a timer for 5 minutes and just write.  A 5 minute “stream of consciousness” can be a really fun exercise.  Just pick one person, place, or thing to write about and let it flow!

So, now you’ve got 9 ideas to inspire and motivate you to get started on your 5-minute challenge.

Will you commit to trying this over the next week?  You can choose to do one 5-minute task each day or maybe a few 5-minute tasks per day.

TIP:  I’ve found that when I tie my task to something like the time it takes to brew my coffee or for my dogs to eat their breakfast and go out to the bathroom, or for the clothes in the dryer to fluff, it helps me remember to do the task and also makes me want to try to “beat the clock” which is fun.

I’d love to hear from you.  Let me know how you’re crushing your 5-minute tasks.

Here’s to getting stuff done!

Enjoy your day.

Jill xx
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Taking Care of Yourself Before You Crash and Burn

NOTE: This is the first of a three-part series on the importance of self-care and easy steps to make it happen.  Read part 2 here.  Read part 3 here.   

Do you ever feel like you’re running in 101 different directions?  Are you busy taking care of everyone and everything else, leaving you exhausted and running on fumes?  Have you reached a state of burnout?

How are we supposed to properly care for others, if we are running ourselves ragged?

Let me ask you a question?  What happens if you do crash and burn?  I’m talking about getting physically sick or having a mini or even a major emotional breakdown.

One of two things will likely happen:

  1. Things in your life will fall apart and some of the pieces will be picked up in the interim, while others will be waiting for you to rise from your “sick” bed so you can pick up those pieces left lying around and get back on the crazy merry-go-round you’ve been on. Spoiler alert: This is an unhealthy pattern that needs to change!
  2. People in your life will step in and help out. Some of the responsibilities you’ve been shouldering will fall to others temporarily.  Others will fall away completely…right into the lap of the person who should have been handling that responsibility in the first place (spouse, kid, needy friend, fellow committee member, co-worker, etc.)

What I’d like to propose, since we can’t manufacture 10 more hours in a day, clone ourselves, or add an extra set of hands to our bodies, is that we focus on taking better care of ourselves, so we can better care for those around us.

Whether you have kids at home, you’re taking care of elderly parents while holding down a full-time job, or you’re somewhere in between–life can be crazy busy.  Setting aside time to care for yourself is critically important to your physical and emotional well-being.

A reader commented on last week’s video post about overcoming obstacles, on our tendency to show more compassion to others than we do to ourselves.  This is so true!  Don’t you think you and I need to show the kindness and compassion for ourselves that we show to our most precious family members and friends?

I’ve got a simple and fun exercise I’d like you to complete today.

Before we begin, let’s get you in the right frame of mind.

Please, please, please…

Give yourself permission to care for yourself.  Remember the reader comment I mentioned earlier about how we show more compassion towards others than we grant ourselves?  Imagine you had a friend that was burning the candle on both ends and about to collapse.  Would you tell them to buck up and get their lazy butt moving?  No, you would likely insist they immediately either take a couple days off, get a massage, put their duties aside and take some long walks, head to the nearest bed and breakfast to hide out for 24 hours, or a combination of all of these.  You get the point…we would wisely urge them to do what it takes to take care of themselves.  I encourage you to give yourself the same caring advice next time you are running ragged.

Ok! Let’s get started on this fun exercise to see how you can best care for yourself immediately and in the future:

I recommend you keep this list in a journal or notebook that you can refer back to in the future.  How about keeping a running list of dates and self-care activities too!  Click here to download a free printable worksheet to complete this exercise.

Step 1: Write down three to five extravagant (to you) things that you would love to treat yourself to (if only you had the time and money).  Think BIG here.  Pretend that money is no object.

Step 2: Now, write down three to five things that you would love to do if you had an entire 24-hours free, but you weren’t allowed to go more than 15 miles from your home.

Step 3: Last, but not least, write down three to five things that you would love to do if you had an entire 24-hours free, but you couldn’t leave your home.

Now, take a look at the last “home” list and circle your top pick from the list.  Do the same with the two other lists.

Get your calendar out and schedule, in pen, that one thing from your “home” and “15-mile” lists.

Here’s the hard part…make sure you don’t allow yourself to knock the activity or non-activity you’ve scheduled from your list.  You don’t cancel your yearly physical at the doctor’s office, do you?

You’re probably wondering about what you’re supposed to do with the first “extravagant” list.  That list is to keep you dreaming big and setting high goals for yourself.  Take your top pick from that list and figure out how to make it happen…even if it’s 3 years in the future.

Please don’t see this as a one-time exercise.  If you start regularly scheduling these types of things for yourself, you will see a huge improvement in your life.

Enjoy the special time you’ve got planned!

As always, thanks for spending time with me here today.  I would love to hear some of the things you will be scheduling in.  Please let me know in the comment area below.

Guess what?  I’m taking some of my own advice and am headed out this weekend for some rest and relaxation at a cabin in the woods with some girlfriends.

Thanks and have a great day!

Jill xx

Don’t forget to click here to download the free printable worksheet I created for you to complete the exercise we’ve talked about today.

NOTE: This is the first of a three-part series on the importance of self-care and easy steps to make it happen.

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