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