Last week, I had an interesting and confusing start to my Thursday… well, more confusing than normal. As an alien living on a distant and still largely unfamiliar planet, my eyestalks and tentacles get twisted in all directions from time to time.
Last Thursday morning, I started my daily routine as I typically do, slowly sliding across the floor of my spaceship into the galley where I mix up a large vessel full of Tang. Those NASA astronauts of years past really had something good in Tang, for sure. As I was enjoying my daily dose of liquid citrus joy, I glanced up to the data board that runs useful information in all cabins of my ship and saw that it was February 29, 2024.
While my tenure on Earth has only been a tentacleful of lunar years, I have learned most of the basic information that keeps the planet on track, such as date and time components. I quickly concluded that there must be a glitch in my calendaring system because there are only 28 days in February. The day was, to the best of my knowledge, March 1, and I fulfilled my scheduled events and appointments for the day and planned to fix the glitch later that evening.
My colleagues began asking me if I was okay and what was wrong. I responded accordingly that I’m fine and nothing is wrong, that is, until I noticed they were asking me this because I was missing meetings and dropping in on other virtual meetings to which I wasn’t invited. I lost count of how many times I heard, “The meeting isn’t until TOMORROW,” and, “Today is the 29th.”
Welcome to Leap Day, Mort!
I quickly did some research and learned all about Leap Day, why it occurs every four years and how individuals who are born Feb. 29 only age one year to an average person’s four years! How disappointed I was to find out that last one was just a joke.
Due to this scheduling error on my part, I was left with an open day and immediately started contemplating how I can make the best use of this free time. A blog post I wrote about the end of Daylight Savings Time and gaining an extra hour came to mind, so I opened What Will You Do with an Extra Hour and gave it a read (as you should as well – some great ideas, if I say so myself). As I read it, further realizing what a major snafu it is to miss an entire day, an idea hit me like a 3-megaton asteroid – I need to get better organized!
Organization leads to productivity and getting the most out of every day while helping even MORE members with homeownership. Increasing efficiency and effectiveness in our mortgage business is also a product of organization. As a self-proclaimed organization zealot, I’m taking my unexpected Leap Day and sharing with you some easy tips to get organized, all so you can be more successful in helping fulfill your members’ dreams of owning a home.
Keep It Clean: Maintaining clean and organized living spaces, workspaces and common areas should be a part of your daily routine. You never know when a member or potential borrower will be dropping in for a visit, and you want to give them a good first impression.
Declutter: An extension of keeping things clean, one of the biggest culprits to a messy, disorganized workspace is clutter. Filing cabinets, storage closets and waste receptacles are there for a reason: To store important information for easy location and access or, if it’s not important or critical for future reference, a place to throw it away or securely shred it if it contains confidential member information.
Your “Happy” Place: I caught the movie Happy Gilmore recently on TV and recognized his ability to do well on the golf course was driven by his “happy” place! Your workspace (while maybe not to Mr. Gilmore’s extreme) should be a happy and pleasant environment. While some may be limited by their physical structure, try your best to incorporate natural light and common areas where you can just get away.
Central Schedule: If you’re part of a larger team or workgroup, incorporating a common communications platform, like Microsoft Office or the entire Google platform, can prove beneficial. Take it a step further and create calendars and task lists for your individual teams.
In-Person Face Time: While “work from home” practices are now a normal business practice, don’t hide behind email, IMs and video calls. Make sure to plan and organize plenty of in-person face time with all members of your team. While you don’t want to overdo meetings (see my next tip below), regularly scheduled meetings are necessary to build a solid sense of teamwork.
Let’s Meet… or NOT! As stated above, some meetings are necessary, but don’t have meetings for the sake of having them. Everyone’s time is valuable, and unless a meeting has direct takeaways and action items, it may be best to keep it limited to email or a virtual call.
Goals, Milestones and Celebrations: Without clearly stated and agreed-upon goals and objectives, organization and productivity can’t happen. You and your entire team should be in tune with the credit union’s goals and milestones. Most importantly, don’t forget to recognize the hard work of others and celebrate successes.
While I’m certain none of my readers had the same issue as me and recognized Feb. 29 as an actual day, I’m just as certain that all of you have some occasional free time. Use that time wisely and take the opportunity to get you and your teams organized. Looking at the big picture, your members will thank you for it!