When I woke up last week, it was a bright, sunny day. I was looking forward to turning on my computer and getting my website updated like I usually do. I knew exactly what needed to be done, and figured I could have it all completed by noon. I powered up my computer, and clicked to access my website. Within seconds, I saw the one message I did not want to see...'Site Unavailable.'

I immediately contacted my web hosting service to determine what was going on...and they got right on it. To make a long story short, my site was down most of the day, but thankfully later in the day, the web host technicians were able to get everything fixed and back to normal.

While experiences like this are frustrating, they do offer important lessons in being productive and staying organized when things don't go as planned. To help you better manage your time, check out my book, 501 Tips and Ideas for Finding More Time for the Things You Love. And here are some tips I used throughout this crisis, that you can apply when things don't go as you have planned:

1) Stay calm. Getting upset, worrying, and/or carrying on are going to do little to help you in situations that are out of your control. In fact, remaining frustrated can often be a huge detriment. The angrier you get, the more time you waste because your mind is occupied with the negative situation-- and it's most difficult to get anything accomplished when you're feeling negative. Stay calm and you'll be able to focus on what you can do so that your day will turn out to be productive in spite of the crisis.

2) Don't complain. Complaining about something you have little control over is a waste of time, and that's time that could be spent doing something productive. If it makes you feel better, limit your complaints to no more than five minutes. Then, get on with your day.

3) Determine if there's anything you can do to help. In my situation, there was nothing I could do to get my site back up and running, except to wait. I did however make the necessary contacts to my web host to get updates on the situation, and the estimated time for problem resolution.

In other situations, there may be things you could do to help stay productive during a crisis. For instance, if your crisis is that the washing machine broke down, you might be able to a) call the repair man and set a repair date and b) get the dirty clothes in the car and bring them to the laundromat so you don't fall way behind on your laundry.

4) Schedule in time for unplanned situations. Scheduling is the fine art of packing 'just enough' into each of your days--not too little, and not too much. When I schedule, I always pad my time to prepare for unplanned situations that arise, like a traffic-jam or a long line at the bank. This way, when something happens that throws me off-schedule, I only remain off-schedule for a very short amount of time. I'm able to catch up quicker.

For instance, if you think it's going to take you 30 minutes to do something, schedule at least 45 minutes or a little more. We rarely finish tasks in the time we think we're going to finish them. Time really flies by.

5) Have a back-up plan. Updating my website was not the only thing I had on my TO DO list. So, I skipped over the task I had originally planned to do, and completed my other tasks instead. Once the rest of my tasks were completed, I got an early start on the next day's TO DO list.

Just because things don't always go as planned, doesn't mean that the day should be a total wash out. Choose something else to do, and work on that task or project until the crisis has passed.

To fast-forward to My Oh-So-Organized Filing System Deluxe, visit:

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If you're sick and tired of the piles of paper taking over your home and your life, I have great news. I have the perfect solution for you to get it all organized once and for all, in no time, with little effort!

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___ 1. Do today's task on my October Monthly Organizing Checklist. The October 16 TO DO focuses on Dictionary Day. Visit GetOrganizedNow.com to access my October Monthly Organizing Checklist.

___ 2. Be mindful of your reactions. When something goes wrong, how do you react to it? Do you immediately get flustered and frustrated, or are you able to stay calm and collected. Think about this today so that the next time something challenging happens, you'll have a plan to keep yourself calm and more easily able to get through whatever that challenge is.

___ 3. How are you doing with my October Challenges? I posted three challenges at the beginning of this month. Have you taken at least one of them on? Visit: GetOrganizedNow.com to access...and begin...my October Organizing and Life Challenges.

'It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.' (Abigail Adams)

I'd love to hear from you.

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And remember...there's no better time to get organized, than to Get Organized Now!

Warmly,

Maria Gracia
Get Organized Now!
getorganizednow.com

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