Organizing Your Home Office with a Whiteboard

Today is Improving Your Office Day. This past year we made a major improvement on our home office. We added whiteboards to help us stay organized. There's a small one to the right of my desk that I can just reach over and jot a quick note down. I use it to see at a glance my goals for the month.

Behind my desk is a very large whiteboard that is used for ongoing projects. It lists what needs to be done and by when and who the task is assigned to. It's helped us all stay more focused on what needs to be done.

What will you do to improve your office today?

Begin With the End in Mind

In the miniature edition of Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People he speaks of setting goals and the application of 'begin with the end in mind.' You start with the picture of the end of your life. Where do you see yourself once you've accomplished your goal? By keeping that picture in mind, you can make sure that each step of the way your actions contribute in a meaningful way toward reaching your goal.

This requires having a clear picture of where you're going. As Covey says, "it means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction."

How do you picture yourself in a year, five years, ten years....?

My Journey in 2009

I'm looking forward to my journey this coming year. As I look back on 2008 I see my journey has taken me from a very good starting point to running the race full speed ahead. The journey in 2009 will be to continue to run that race and gain even more speed.

In order to speed my journey along, planning is needed. Taking time to write down the year's goals and action plans to achieve those goals is vital. My plan includes taking time each month to review what's working and what's not working so I can focus my energies in areas that will continue my journey down the right path.

What are you doing to speed up your journey in 2009?