Creating a Functional Kitchen

STEP ONE: ANALYSIS
As you ponder where to place your kitchen things, begin by analyzing your old storage systems. Were some things working well? If so, don’t change them! If you love storing your mugs by the coffee maker, stick with it. If it’s convenient to have your recipe books on the countertop, keep it up.

Now ponder anything inconvenient. How could you make those things work a little better? For example, if you hate having piles of cans and bottles littering your countertop as they await a trip outside for recycling, then make a new plan. Clear space under the sink to install a pull-out trash can to capture those recyclables immediately after use. If you hate reaching to the top shelf to get your favorite, frequently-used mixing bowls, make a plan to house them in a more convenient location like an eye-level shelf. Where you put your stuff is as important as what you own. If you can’t find it when you need it, or it’s inconvenient to reach, you’ll likely not use it!

STEP TWO: PLACEMENT
As you look over your groupings of kitchen items, start pulling aside the things you use most often. Then store them where you use them. For example, your everyday dishes might work great directly above your dishwasher or close to the table. Perhaps your pots and pans and cookie sheets could go near the stove.

Keeping similar things together will help you navigate your kitchen more easily. For example, store everything related to cooking in one area. You might group your pots and pans, bakeware, hot mitts, and cooking utensils in one area. Create a food preparation area by grouping cutting boards, knives, and mixing bowls. If you love to bake, consolidate cookie cutters, mixers, measuring cups and spoons in one area.

There are many helpful organizing products available to keep your kitchen orderly. Baskets and bins come in a variety of sizes and hold foods, like onions and potatoes, as well as cleaning supplies. A wall-mounted spice rack saves cupboard space. Inside cupboards, double-decker wire shelf stackers double storage space. Wooden cookware racks keep pot lids tidy. An attractive vase or crock near your stove top corrals utensils.

If you use something frequently, keep it close and convenient. Put infrequently used items way up high, down low, or in the back. Place anything you use daily (such as everyday dishes) at eye level, so you’re not stooping down or reaching on tip-toe. Keep heavy things down low and lighter things up high. For example, if you use your turkey platter or punch bowl only once or twice a year, place them on a bottom shelf.

STEP THREE: MAINTENANCE
Once your kitchen is organized, pat yourself on the back. Job well done! But you’re not quite finished... Establish an “in/out” system where some purging takes place before you purchase a new item. If you buy a new set of plastic storage containers, toss out an equal amount of your old Tupperware®. If you come home with a new mug, an old one must go! It may be helpful to stash a donation box somewhere nearby as an easy reminder of this rule. Also, take time once each year to review your kitchen and all its accouterments. Discard anything broken, donate
anything unused in the past 12 months, and make sure the storage systems still make sense for you and your housemates. Consider your kitchen a work in progress, and like fine wine it will only get better with time.

Strategize & Organize
http://annemcgurty.com/residential/
480-442-2014

Freshen Up Your Facebook Image

If you are in business  and are using social media personally, people will check you out and make decisions about whether or not to do business with you or hire you based on what you're saying online.  As a business coach here in Phenix, I often tell my small business clients that if you want to use a social media strategy to get to the next level of your business or your profession in the next year, take these handy tips to freshen things up.

1. SWEEP THE FLOOR: Go through your Facebook profile and remove all green “recent activity” icons by scrolling to the right of each message and clicking on the x. Click on the option “do not post my recent activity”.   There’s no need for people to see who you just became friends with or who you wished a happy birthday to, etc. Now view the items you posted in the last 3 months. If they are questionable, negative or unprofessional remove them. Finally, remove all posts placed by other people that are currently showing on your profile page.  Your profile should only contain positive posts by you. Great job sweeping the floor, now your profile page is clean. When people visit your page to read about you they see a positive image of you.

2. BE POSITIVE: Avoid posting negative comments. Don’t do it. Period. For example do not post: “I’m sick”, “I’m angry”, “I had a bad day”, trashy video or content, etc. You will attract what you put out there. Always be positive. Now that you’ve removed any negative posts, keep it positive moving forward in your timeline.

3. UPGRADE YOUR PROFILE PICTURE: Make sure your Facebook Profile Picture is professional. Take a look at Anne McGurty for examples. Anytime you have the opportunity to be photographed with a microphone at a corporate event, when you’re in business attire, or as you’re at a high- end resort or swanky restaurant, take advantage of it! Then post it on Facebook as your profile pic!

4. ADD A PHOTO TO Facebook ADS: photos add an impactful visual element to your profile page and to the ads you post. Be creative and edgy without crossing the line of professionalism. If you’re using the ad IT’S       MORE FUN HERE! Add a photo of a guinea pig skating on the sidewalk wearing roller blades! Yes we’ve done that! Why? Because people look at photos first… and IF it is intriguing & fun… they then read the post. Mission accomplished! Do NOT post more than 2-3 Facebook newsfeed ads per month. See #7 below.

5. PRIVATE MESSAGES ONLY: At the base of each ad ask them to respond to your business phone or via private message where they include their contact information.  If you choose to have them call, make sure your voicemail is also professional.  Check this one out custom to recruit people to a growing organic company, 1-800-394-4174.

6. MONITOR COMMENTS: monitor all the comments your posts receive. If anyone posts a negative comment remove it right away. They will NOT be notified that you removed their comment. Comments are public and are viewed by everyone looking at your profile so check them often and REMOVE all negativity.

7. LIFESTYLE POSTS ARE THE MOST MAGNETIC OF ALL: It’s not just about ads, ads, ads. All business and no fun will create a lopsided Facebook profile. What are people attracted to the MOST? … the way you LIVE LIFE!!! Anytime you go to the movies, the lake, the beach, dinner, traveling, host a party, attend a party, etc… POST IT WITH A PHOTO! Let people know you’re on track to be retired from your 9-5 job. Let people know how amazing it is to grocery shop or catch a movie MID-WEEK!!! Let them know you’re traveling more and working less…. or that you are on track to do that! People are attracted to fun, excitement, joy and THEY WILL WANT WHAT YOU HAVE … THEY WILL WANT TO WORK BESIDE YOU. THEY WILL            WANT TO MOVE TOWARD THE GOAL YOU ARE MOVING TOWARD.

8. As people private message you they will be from all over the country and beyond. If you're not able to meet with them face to face, send them to your blog, website or share your company with them right away directly over the phone.

And remember, just have fun!  Be authentic, people will always do business with people they know, like and trust.  Create the brand online and you will shine!

Happy New Year!

Anne McGurty

www.annemcgurty.com

480-442-2014

amcgurty@strategizeandorganize.com

lables:    facebooks social media social media marketing social media phoenix productivity consultant 

How Mindfulness Can Sharpen Our Focus and Productivity

Mindfulness has become a popular and trendy movement recently. As a business consultant in Phoenix, I work with clients recognizing the act of focusing on awareness on the flow of the present moment. It brings into the center of the present moment so that we are aware of what we do while we are doing it. It may seem both easy obvious yet when we focus, we can strategize and organize our attention to our thoughts we will discover that we waste the majority of our day thinking about past and future events. Or if we are fortunate enough, lounging around day dreaming instead of paying attention on what matters.

Most of us have a natural point of view and our thoughts are dominated by either past, present or future events. What we don’t want is that past or future events dominating our present experiences or that we live too much in the present that we don’t learn from past experiences nor plan for the future. So like most things in life we seek balance.

The practice of mindfulness teaches us to become aware of our thoughts and the present moment. It is a habit we need to nurture because our natural tendency is to stray from the here and how to tomorrow, next week or next month. When we practice mindfulness we keep calling back our wandering mind to rest on the current moment.

Some of the Benefits of Mindfulness
Below are some of the many benefits of mindfulness and how they can improve our focus and productivity.

More Effective Planning
On the outset, mindfulness may appear to conflict with the concept of planning but in fact they complement each other greatly. Planning allows us to practice mindfulness by reducing the burdens that the mind needs to worry about. If we are to schedule and plan all our responsibilities and duties we have less to distract us from our daily tasks. When applying mindfulness techniques planning can be a much more effective process and not be delayed by the disruptions of other activities and ideas.

Greater Focus
One of our biggest challenges to getting things done is the distraction of the mind, even though we try to get one job done, our mind reminds us of twenty others that still need doing. We readily check our email simply because our brain alerts us to the idea there could be unread emails in our inbox and in the event they remain unchecked we could be missing the fact that the planet is soon to be demolished by an extraterrestrial construction crew!

As this thought comes into our head we then remember that our copy of the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People was lent to a friend so maybe we should shoot over to Amazon and buy a fresh copy. Mindfulness jumps in the way of all these distractions of the mind and says “Hey, come back to the present moment, get what needs to be done, done!”

Stress Reduction
A lot of stress is brought about by imagining negative future scenarios, if we were to live completely in the present we would not suffer from this stress. But the human brain has the ability to cast itself into the future, so for now we are stuck with this capability, and will have to learn how to manage it. Stressing about future scenarios that haven’t happened is a pointless habit; mindfulness can teach us how to redirect these negative and worrying thoughts back to the present moment and remind us that the future hasn’t happened and so far is not controlling our present circumstances. Mindfulness can also help with the insomnia that often accompanies stressful situations.

As we lie awake during the night thinking about the poor sales figures or perhaps the debts that need to be paid, it's important to bring our focus back to our physical body, noticing our breath, and the simple fact we are lying comfortable and warm in bed and stuff whirling through our minds have not happened yet.

Take this moment to know that the future hasn’t happened, the past is gone and the present, the wonderful present, is all we have and all that is assured. Remember to be part of every second that you live and experience to gift which is Now.

Source:
Anne McGurty
www.annemcgurty.com
480-442-2014
amcgurty@gmail.com

Five Sure Fire Ways to End Your Year of Filing

As we’re approaching the end of the year, it’s time to take a day and do what is called “the file clean out day”. Once you know what you have, you can make decisions on what to purge, save, and possibly scan or archive.

Are you asking yourself, “what’s going on here?”. Consider what shape your filing system is in? Are your filing drawers stuffed so full that it’s nearly impossible to get another piece of paper into – or out of them? Are you hurting your knuckles every time you pull a file out? This time of year is a great time to review your files and purge as much as possible, creating space for next year’s papers.

If you’re using The Paper Tiger software, it’s pretty easy, as all you need to do is run a “file clean out report” and review it to assist you in the process. Don’t use Paper Tiger? Here’s what you can do to get through all your old papers and prepare yourself for the new year.

1. Determine what to keep. As you sort through papers, ask yourself, “What’s the value of keeping this piece of paper?”, “Can I find it somewhere online?” and “Are there any financial or legal concerns if I did not have the original?”. If the answers to these questions have minimal value, let the file go. Statistics indicate that 80% of the things you file will never get referred to again!

2. If you don’t have corporate records retention guidelines, create guidelines and use them as you purge your documents. Your accountant, attorney, or productivity consultant can advise you which documents you should keep for non-proprietary papers.

3. Keep only day-to-day paperwork at your fingertips. For rarely-used files that must be kept, I call these reference files. Store them in an out-of-the-way area. For rarely accessed but critical to keep files, store them ideally at an off-site storage facility or consider streamlining those types of papers to an electronic filing system. Scanning these documents upfront will minimize the need to keep moving them from one area to the next.

4. Toss the obvious. Instruction manuals for products you no longer own, research materials for no longer active ideas, drafts of letters, out-of-date magazines and articles, and receipts for items not needed for reimbursement or tax purposes.

5. File important documents in a fire safe filing cabinet. For your home office, consider a safety deposit box. The contents of your safety deposit box or home safe would include: passports; birth, death, and marriage certificates; deeds; divorce decrees; adoption and citizenship papers, insurance policy papers; lease agreements and loan documents; mortgage papers; personal property appraisals (jewelry, collectibles); Social Security cards; stock and bond certificates; vehicle titles; copies of wills; and powers of attorney papers. You get the picture. We still need the originals of a lot of these documents, so protect yourself and your assets. Remember to protect your combinations.

While you’re in the mood to be cleaning out files, don’t forget your PC. It also has files that you no longer need, slowing down your processing of work.

You can run maintenance programs which can ‘defrag’ your files– in other words clean up and arrange them in a way which makes it easier for your PC to find and the speed for running programs will be improved.

Empty your recycle bin. When you delete a file, you are only moving it to the Recycle Bin. If you do not regularly empty your Bin, the files inside may take up valuable disk space. Oftentimes, people overlook this task. You should empty your Recycle Bin regularly, at least once a week. So if you haven’t been doing it, add it to your file clean out day.

Remove Temporary Files. Temporary or junk files are left over by programs and are usually no longer needed. Internet Explorer stores many of the files used on the web pages you visit so that next time you go to a site it doesn’t have to download the same files again. However, this can build up over time and take up a lot of disk space. They waste space and that may eventually slow your PC down.

Another benefit of getting your papers organized is that you will feel more confident to go paperless. When you go paperless, you can store your files in the cloud with Google Drive.  You'll have the best of both worlds being organized with paper and digitally.  

5 Ways to Boost Personal Productivity

Are you always looking for a way to stay sharp, gain an edge and boost your personal productivity? If so you are in good company of a big portion of the rest of the population of the world. With so much to do and the list seemingly ever-increasing daily many of us are aiming to increase our individual efficiency if for only to simply make it to tomorrow.

Increasing productivity begins with getting the most out of what skill sets you already have. With that said here are 5 ways to find the productivity improvement you are looking for by 'fine tuning' what you already have.

1.  Begin Early

The old saying 'early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise' is something most people have heard and it bears a lot of truth. Starting your day early will give you the chance to make the most of your energy level while at it's highest. Both your body and mind  usually tend to wear down throughout the course of the day so it just is sensible to be sure to get the most out of both when they're at their optimal levels.

2.  Establish a Fitness Routine

Along the lines of maximizing personal performance a healthy body is going to possess more stamina and 'staying' power so you can remain 'sharper for an extended period of time. Also, it is a well-known fact that exercise delivers more oxygen to your brain allowing it to function more effectively. So here is what you get for exercising, sharper brains on a more fit body, what else might you ask for?

Additionally following a routine exercise program will help you to fall asleep easier at night so that you can wake up early the next morning refreshed.

3.  'List Out' Your Day

Preparing a daily list of priorities will make it easier to keep your focus on finishing those tasks you determine as important. Typically just simply listing out your 'day in advance' will automatically guide you to prioritize the tasks on your list. As your 'to do' list is being put together you are able to make any necessary changes as to schedule or perhaps a change in your priorities. This is an effective technique for 'scheduling goals' on a daily basis!

4.  Build Up Your Strengths

Whatever strength you have can always be improved upon! Possibly the best strategy to increasing productivity is to simply get better at what you are currently good at. Besides if you find yourself proficient at something you generally also enjoy doing it so you will likely not mind spending more time on it to make positive changes.

5.  Work on Your Weaknesses

In order to get better we quite often will need to venture outside our 'comfort zone' this means facing something we are not proficient at. Simply by dedicating a small amount of time each day to work on some of our weaknesses we are going to begin to see progress in these areas over a short period of time. Before long we are going to improve and be more comfortable with these 'former weaknesses' which will make it even easier to spend more time working away at them.

For those who are driven it is only natural and quite commendable to want to boost your current personal productivity. With an ever growing list, discovering ways to increase our personal performance is the best way to tackle these new challenges. Developing new talents and skills is one way to find the productivity improvement necessary to meet these challenges. Another more practical approach to increasing productivity however and possibly even easier is to further develop the skill sets we already have. The 5 ways to do this as discussed above focuses more on ways to strengthen or better utilize any current assets we have. In this way we can easily improve upon whatever we already know in doing so making us better at that which we already do.