Books that have influenced me
1.\xa0 Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life (Paperback \u2013 August 12, 2004) by Julie Morgenstern (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805075895/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_8BPsEbTEYVYHP
2.\xa0 Time Management from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule -- and Your Life (Paperback \u2013 August 12, 2004) by Julie Morgenstern (Author)\xa0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805075909/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_yDPsEbEKC5C2J
3.\xa0 Never Check E-Mail In the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work (Paperback \u2013 September 27, 2005) by Julie Morgenstern (Author)\xa0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743250885/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_LFPsEbWN9ZGNG\xa0
4.\xa0 SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck (Paperback \u2013 March 3, 2009) by Julie Morgenstern (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743250907/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_WwPsEbGCR1X8F\xa0
5.\xa0 Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (Hardcover \u2013 February 16, 2010) by Chip Heath and Dan Heath\xa0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385528752/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_czuyEbZVC13WD\xa0
6.\xa0 Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work\xa0 (Hardcover \u2013 March 26, 2013) by Chip Heath and Dan Heath https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307956393/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ssuyEbNN4QF9Z\xa0
7.\xa0 Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins (Oct 16, 2001)\xa0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0066620996/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_eDuyEb9WRKSAM\xa0
To learn more about \u201cThe 4 \u201cD\u2019s,\u201d visit\xa0 https://www.juliemorgenstern.com/tips-tools-blog/2016/9/12/streamline-your-workload-with-the-4-ds
To learn more about \u201cSHED,\u201d visit https://www.juliemorgenstern.com/tips-tools-blog/2020/3/4/5-keys-to-decluttering\xa0
\u201cWhat do books have to do with making a career change from pharmacist to voice actor?\u201d\xa0 Plenty.\xa0
The year was 2005.\xa0 I was a young Mom.\xa0 27 years old.\xa0 My life was a circus.\xa0 My husband worked full-time, and I worked part-time.\xa0 We had a newborn, and our 2-year-old son had just been diagnosed with autism.\xa0 Our house had toys, books, and kid stuff all over the place, and there were never enough hours in the day to get everything done.\xa0 Every day, I wondered when things would get better.\xa0 I felt so disorganized. \xa0 \xa0
2 years later, in 2007, I saw a professional organizer and author named Julie Morgenstern on TV.\xa0 Everything she said made sense.\xa0 I bought and read her first two books:\xa0 Organizing from the Inside Out and Time Management from the Inside Out. \xa0 \xa0
Julie Morgenstern is my Yoda.\xa0 In her first book, she said, \u201cSelf-awareness is the most powerful tool in getting and staying organized.\u201d\xa0 Julie also said, \u201cOnly you can pinpoint what\u2019s holding you back.\u201d\xa0 She was right!\xa0 I was the only person who could pinpoint what was holding me back from getting and staying organized. \xa0
Her books are filled with great advice that get to the root cause of why we do the things we do and how to use that information to get organized.\xa0 After all, why should I get rid of anything without understanding how it got there in the first place?\xa0 I\u2019m not just talking about stuff.\xa0 I\u2019m talking about commitments and habits too.
Because of Julie, I studied myself to figure out what makes me tick.\xa0 I needed to find out where my time goes, and how long it takes me to do things.\xa0 If you have never done this, I highly recommend it.\xa0 It could help you make a career pivot some day!\xa0 What would you do if you had an extra 2 hours in your day?\xa0 10-14 hours in your week?\xa0 Would you be able to start a side-hustle?\xa0 Could you learn a new skill?\xa0 You bet!\xa0 I did!
What I did:\xa0 I bought spiral-bound, wide-ruled notebooks.\xa0 I wrote down what I did every day and how long it took me to do it.\xa0 Some examples:\xa0 making beds, doing dishes, folding laundry, making dinner, going to the gym, getting cleaned up, going through mail, reading and responding to e-mails, and working on projects.\xa0 What I learned was a game changer!\xa0 I grouped similar activities to help make my days run smoother.\xa0 For example, errands.\xa0 If I needed to run errands, I would do them as batches instead of going out once or twice/day.\xa0 I also started a \u201cprojects binder\u201d for projects that are so big they need broken down into bite-sized chunks, like planning a vacation and home improvement projects.\xa0 \xa0
What I have learned from reading books and listening to audiobooks has helped me grow so I can make the best use of my time and spend as much time as possible on my business.\xa0 I love to read and learn!
Julie\u2019s books - all of them - helped me define goals and decide how to spend my time doing the activities that would help me accomplish my goals. \xa0
Julie taught me the 4 D\u2019s and how to SHED. \xa0
The four D\u2019s are delete, delay, delegate, and diminish. \xa0
Delete
When I have more on my list than I have time, I will delete non-essential tasks.\xa0 Examples:\xa0 meetings, workouts, projects, and conference notes that don\u2019t fit into my big-picture goals. \xa0
Delay
My husband and I have a budget meeting the night before he gets paid.\xa0 Our goal is to meet every two weeks.\xa0 If one of us is sick, out of town, or there is a holiday, we delay the meeting.
Delegate
When possible, I delegate tasks.\xa0 Examples:\xa0 my kids put their laundry away, and my husband drops our books off at the library.
Diminish
Think of this as doing things \u201cquick and dirty.\u201d\xa0 Example:\xa0 a one-sentence e-mail instead of staring at the computer for 15 minutes, writing, and rewriting a message.\xa0 Write the sentence.\xa0 Send the e-mail.\xa0 Save time.\xa0 The goal is to communicate.\xa0 Finding 15 more minutes of time to work on my business is my payoff. \xa0
SHED
\u2022 Separating the treasures (identify what really matters)\xa0
\u2022 Heave the rest (eliminate excess)\xa0
\u2022 Embracing your identity (Who do you really want to be?)\xa0
\u2022 Drive yourself forward (Make a change.\xa0 The past isn\u2019t holding you back.)
I have figured out what is important to me and worked to get rid of the thoughts, habits, and stuff that are holding me back so I can do what I want to do with my life. \xa0
By looking at what I wanted and what held me back, I was able to make a career change.\xa0 It took me years.\xa0\xa0
Other books that have influenced me are Chip Heath and Dan Heath\u2019s books Switch and Decisive.\xa0 Switch\xa0got me into a mindset to change even though change is hard.\xa0 Decisive helped me become a better decision-maker.
Good to Great taught me to find what I can do well and do that one thing to the best of my ability.\xa0 When I made my career change, I had the idea to offer other services.\xa0 When I narrowed it down to just voiceover, I made progress.\xa0 From Good to Great, I also love the phrase, \u201cGet the right people on the bus.\u201d\xa0 It means that to drive my business forward, I need to have the right people helping me before I can go anywhere.\xa0 I need the right coaches, the right pool of accountability buddies, and so on.\xa0
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