Tips to save time in the morning

Hi Everyone..

I haven't posted anything in the 2 week. I was travelling. My favorite part of my job.

Anyway, I thought of giving you some tried and tested tips by me which saves me time in the morning.
I am a morning person. Simply means I am a creature of habit. Wake-up at the same time no matter what day it is.My day starts on a positive note if I get my sleep..all 6 hours.

My job begins at 9 am so I need about 40 mins in commute. That leaves me 6am -8.20 am in the morning.

So I plan and organise to make this 2 hour as smooth as possible.
I spend 1 hour for yoga. That leaves me 1.20 hours actually.
 

So here are the tips.

Always plan your morning in the previous evening. Nothing complex.
1.The one thing I always plan is my outfit for office the next day. Make sure the outfit and accessories are in-place .
I make sure the outfit and the add-on accessorizes are all in my visible line. Saves me time on the panic process when you cant  find this that goes with that...
Been there done that.



It takes 5 min.

2. Spot clean your bag/purse the previous evening. Spot clean routine helps stay organised which is even more difficult than getting organized
      SPOT cleaning takes 10 mins tops.
          -Wallet-Recites-get ride or put back in the recite holder. Organise change and notes.-2 mins
          -Planner check for anything crucial that was noted down. Put it back on the next day if not unfinished-5 min
         -Plan your meal-Think easy and healthy.-2 min
        -Make sure your essentials bag in your purse is replenished if anything was used.-1min


3. Have a simple yet effective makeup routine.
   -Morning is not the time to try the new look from the tutorial you saw the other day. Know what works for you and stick to it. Its good to experiment but do it when you have time to correct it if it fails. Have a time limit on the makeup time. I take 10 mins. That includes Hair time too. Keeping a time check ensures your focused. Sunblock, Tinted foundation, Concealer, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick and Hair. DONE and how. The trick is to know what works for you.


4. Categorise the kitchen items as per use. Breakfast-Keep Cereals, Milk , Fruits, Oats etc all in one place so you don't scramble around for various things. Planning never fails you.

5. Make sure everyone in your house is also organised about their time. If not no matter how much you try you will have unnecessary stressful moments in the morning. Self reliance is the best gift you give to someone. Teach rather than act as a coddle. Habits form from persistent patience. So teach your family to be organised too.

Last but not the least. Start your day with your fav song. I listen to my fav tunes in the makeup 10 mins. It works for me..


These simple routine keeps sane and happy and helps jump start the day on a positive note.

Hope you found something useful from here...
Happy organising...
Love Harini

P.S. I would really love some feedback. Please leave a comment to improve my blog.. pretty please with a organized cherry on top...:-)

How to budget for cash envelope system

How to budget for Cash Envelope system (using an accordian mini file from SOLO)

Hello Everyone,

Like I mentioned in my post " Buy Less Buy Better" I am a big follower of the Cash Enevelope system. Its Simple and effective.

For my readers who might not know what it is, here is a brief http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dave-ramseys-envelope-system/lifeandmoney_budgeting/.
Read Up.
I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey.

Getting back to the title of this post, I have managed to reach financial peace using this system.

So, I decided to share my version of this concept. I am not comfortable carrying a lot of cash on me. I have an outdoor kind of job and carrying cash will be more stressful than ease.
My salary comes on 28th of every month. Me and my husband have self assigned responsibilities in our home expenses. So I take care of the monthly home expenses and my husband takes care of our home loans etc.

So, my cash envelope system is refering to my expenses only.
I use 2 expandable( accordian) files. One for our home Expenses and one for personal expenses. ZERO balance is the aim. So , I make sure all the money is categorized to the last rupee.

In this blog I have pics of my folder. Our home expandable file is pretty much the same but its Green in color.

The Categories in my home file are:

Groceries
Ironing
Milk
TV-DTH-recharge
Maids
Emergency Expenses
Gas
Phone
Guest expenses

These are pretty standard. I found this amazing set of accordian files from Starmark in Kolkata(where I live) for Rs.55 per file.

So a steal!!!

My personal expenses are meant to make sure I on a personal level also stay on budget.

Its in this babiest pink !!!  of color.

 

 

The Expandable file  is in this cute pink color. Its perfect. I do not carry this around in my purse. I divide and conquer my finaces. I categorize my expenses. The categories are as follows:

 

 

I know I know you must think that why would you need to buy shoes and Bags everymonth. This is important because while I might not need to buy them every month I still save for it. So when I do have to buy its not over my budget and since I have saved I can buy good quality.All the unused cash goes into my savings in the begining of the next month. I take the saved amount to my bank and deposit it.Its not a hassel. It actually is so satisfying to save. Trust me...

I also save the reciets of any purchases where I might need to exchange or is required for warranties.
So I save a clear lock pouch. It keeps the reciets safe and in one place. So, this is in the blue clear bag.

The categories mentioned are as per my use and spending, I make sure I stick to the cash in each category. The conveyence is my everyday expense.  Cosmetics include my Beauty salon Expenses also.  I do save for Books. Bit of a book worm. Home Decom includes little repairs or replacement around the home.

No borrowing from other categories. If the money is spent its spent. It was so hard in the beginging. But now its the rule. My husband also mananges his money responsibilities using a similar system. More on that later.
So I am your happy camper with financial peace of mind. 

So Happy Organising.
Love Harini

Buy less buy better!!!!!

This title came to me when I was thinking of new topics to blog about. So.  What does it mean and how does it apply.
I am your live by the budget person. I follow the cash envelope system.... :-)
So this concept has come from  much heartbreak after buying and sadly disposing cheap things in the past. This whole concept of burn money  becomes a high. The power it gives to buy something just because you can and wont cost the earth...is what i lived buy till a few years ago..
Don't be fooled into believing that being smart about money does not mean be stingy... splurge and have fun and live the good life.. but be smart about it..
Learn to tell good quality to shortlived holy grail moments. My pet fettish are wallets. I have about 30 of them. They are not cheap moneywise but are pointless. I mean in my quest to find the perfect wallet I found nothing but short lived joy followed space eating disapointment. So  what I have come to painfully realise is there is no such thing as perfect wallet..what works for someone may not work for you.
So example of smart: buy that gorgeous purse you saw the other day. Wait it does not come cheap. So you want to know if its your money's worth.. right.. buy smart..  check the quality if lining is good.. zippers..  check them several times... check the material the bag is made of.. dont buy things that will flake off..
Always remember anything you buy is your hard earned money.. there is an another factor that will help you stay determined to stay in the quality team. When buying something it is not just monetary cost that your paying but also the oppurtunity cost. .. whats that you say.. Oppurtunity cost is the profit you have forgone for this oppurtunity which are often intangible. Simply means.. remember that friends party you missed so you could finish your presentation to get that promotion.. thats a cost....
Invest wisely... dont buy a lot but when you buy ... buy better...
Your worth it..
More "buy better" posts coming up
Happy organising
Love
Harini

How to find the extinct free time

Extinct free time:

This post is something I thought of on one of my free days. I know its a rare occasion where you get a day without any real commitments, meetings social or professional. But when it does you need to make the most of it. For me I get one Saturday off.Every Saturday of the month actually but 2 or 3 of them gets entangled in home issues, DIY projects, weekly cleaning routines and social commitments. I know it sounds hectic but like I mentioned in my earlier post keeping a healthy balance in your personal and professional life is important.

Also important is to take care of you. Your interest and your hobbies need not be buried. You need to organise your time to make time.

On these free days I do what I am passionate about. I photograph, catch up on my reading and give myself some beauty time (reads visit my fav beauty parlour for a facial, pedi and mani).

I know if you have kids finding that just me time is guilt ridden torture. But if you can’t take care of yourself then you are setting yourself up for failure in caring for others. Tend to yourself take the slower scenic route and recharge yourself.

I know I sound like a "Smell the roses" like person, trust me when I say I am as busy as they come. But an important life lesson I am learning each day is you probably
 won’t regret that party you did not go to or that movie you did not catch. Sometimes take a break from life even for an hour and do what truly makes you smile from your eyes.

Get a cheeky movie gossip magazine, buy a new shade of lippie, buy flowers for yourself, and catch up with your friends...... Do anything. Give yourself some time to breath. Even if an hour.

GUILTFREE.

Organise your time to make time for extinct free time.

More posts coming up to help you find the same time.
Please leave a comment on what you do in your free time just for yourself..


Happy Organising

Love Harini

How to plan your day

Simply Sorted: How to organise and plan your work day-Practical and Simple

A good start to a day always ensures you feel satisfied at the end.
I have a few routines which help me get organised and embark on a productive day.

Step 1: Don't check your mail the minute you sit down at your desk.
-Most of the time the day plans itself and you are just accommodated in it. This leaves you feeling overworked and irritated.So take control of it before the chaos begins. I always plan a day before I switch on  my Laptop. Checking and answering mail is part of your job.Not your job for the entire day.

I start with a simple tool. Its simple and easy. A simple table.

My Day Planner tool:

Date:
	Time	Red	Yellow	Green
AM	9.30-10.30
	10.30-11.30
	11.30-12.30
PM	12.30-1.00
	1.00-2.00
	2.00-3.00
	3.00-4.00
	4.00-5.00
	5.00-5.30

This simple excel sheet helps plan a productive day.

Explanation:
I have 1 hour time capsules. Remember you can always Divide and conquer easily.
So create your time capsules and see the difference. That feeling of overwhelming panic on a busy day is gone. At the end of each hour I take a 5 min break(loo break, lipstick touch up etc. but most often I ensure I drink water and walk a bit)

Tasks
Red-Super critical- cant be moved out of the time capsule.
Yellow-Important yet flexible but needs to be done on the same day.
Green: tasks with longer time lines attached that should be done if time permits.

** please note I have space for only 2 tasks for each type of tasks. Lets get real if something needs to be done and done well you need to focus an give it enough time and attention. Remember we need to strive for accuracy the first time so as to save time on doing corrections.

Also you need to keep buffer time for unexpected tasks that might come up that you need to fit into the capsules.



Step2: After Step 1 I turn on my Outlook. Now most people will open up their Outlook to go to the Inbox. An easy tip to see and admire how well planned you are is to use technology to your advantage. Use a feature called Outlook today. This is the summary of your  mail related tasks, your calender if any thing was pre-planned (an appointment you got a week ago). Sync your smart phones.

Step3 : Inbox-Use the reading pane. Give the mails a glance over and decide which are the ones that need your immediate attention. Pop them out(I think you know what I mean) and finish answering and preparing any tasks attached  to that mail. Important tip: Become a end-to -end tasker what that simply means finish what you start.

Step4. Mail done. Get back to Red Yellow and Greens.

Step5: Remember to take breaks at the end of each capsules.

Step6: Spillage-Some tasks might take more time than expected. So, don't worry the sheet has built in buffers. My actual work day ends at 6.30pm. But my tasks sheet has 1 hour of buffer time for these.
Most of the days you will get your free hour. That's not to catch up on Facebook. Finish your Green tasks before they escalate into Yellow or Red.

Step7-No. You don't have to work like a Robot. Catch up on your Social Media in the 5 min breaks.

Step8-Once your done spend 10 mins of the residual hour to see if any overspill from today needs attention tomorrow. Write them down on a post it and place at a visual place.

Step9-Most important. You planned your day to achieve productivity. Now that's all the time you should ideally give to your work. Just like its important to Come to the office on time, Its equally important to Leave on time.*
* once you have done justice to your job off course.

Remember: A balanced life means a healthy personal and professional life . Each getting equal and deserving attention. So plan to succeed in both.

Hope you found my routine useful
Love
Harini

simplysorted: How to organise a practical workday Purse

simplysorted: How to organise a practical workday Purse