Category: Motivation

Leadership Advice: Follow The Plan Not The Mood

Leave a comment

I had the amazing honor to be a part of the recent Chicago Women’s Conference at South Suburban College. I was asked to be a panelist for the “Turning Passion To Profits Panel”, which I mentioned in last week’s article and episode. This was a great opportunity to meet my fellow panelists and also impart wisdom to our attendees. In addition, though, I say I was honored to “be a part of” the Conference because I also got to attend and learn from amazing people!

In the first session, we heard from 4 Women In Leadership. One of the pearls of wisdom shared by the high powered panelists was the reminder to “Follow The Plan Not The Mood.” (I wish I had been sitting closer to the panelists so I knew specifically who said it, and I would give proper credit! And a quick google search shows it repeated often by wise people!)

Wow.

Yes, this.

That really resonates with me.

Before I go further, I will remind you – I am a coach and a certified professional organizer. I am not a therapist or a doctor, and when we talk about mood today, I am not talking about the extremes like depression, bipoloar disorder or mania. I am talking about our typical moods from day to day.

Back to the topic.

Follow The Plan Not The Mood.

Let’s talk professional or work specific plans here. I am going to assume we have good plans. We plan, we make plans, we make decisions on what we need to do – we make those decisions based on many factors: research, logic, the needs of our customers or clients, input from others, etc. Right? We know what tasks we need to complete today or this week to do our work or make progress or move us towards our goal. Those tasks, without judging them as hard or easy or long or short, we know what they are. And, we know we need to do them for the reasons I listed above – they are our work, they serve our community, we make progress or we move towards our goals – they are linked to things that we define as successful – money, clients, esteem, business building, etc.

We Make The Plan. But then, sometimes, something mercurial and unpredictable like a mood can de-rail us. Sometimes before we even get started.

Long ago, I had a client who was waiting for The Day. The Day that she would wake up and that would be the day that she would want to, be motivated to, have the energy to, get organized. The fire would be burning from within, there would be that glow, that energy. The planets will have aligned. The angels will sing. She was sure that some day, this beautiful but still mythical day would occur.

And I love that idea, that image, that dream, for her. And for all my clients. and even for myself! But so far, when she and I were working together, for this client, it was still just a dream. She understood the importance of being organized, which is why we were working together. She desired to BE organized, but she was not motivated to GET organized. She was waiting for the Mood to align with the Plan.

She was grown, likely in her 50s like I am now. And never once in her 50+ years on the earth had that magical mood ever happened on its own. She was still hoping it would, despite all data and experience pointing to the unlikelihood of that event. And the bigger problem was that she was WAITING for that mythical and unlikely day to happen, before she would work the “get organized” plan we had created together. She was WAITING for the day when she would just wake up and magically, transformatively, somehow, want to get organized. But we can’t rely on magic or waiting for The Mood to strike to make things happen.

The opposite can be true, as well! Perhaps we tend to be in a good mood and therefore productivity comes easy but we also get distracted with activities that come from a good mood like play!, or we rely heavily on the positive mood until the mood dips and then we need to return to Following The Plan, regardless of the mood.

And, let’s look at some vocab: per Psychology Today, PsychologyToday.com

  • “Emotions are real-time data sparked by sensations in the body.” (e.g., love, fear, joy, disgust, surprise, anger, sadness)
  • Next, “Feelings can be more biased, altered by mental misconceptions.” (anxious, calm, relaxed, resentful, frustrated, hopeful, typically a blend of emotions)
  • A mood can be a composite of emotions and feelings, and is thought to be less intense than an emotion.

Let me say, Emotions matter. Feelings matter. Mood matters. These are important and need to be respected. And, they are subject to change. In all directions!

There are days that I may say – ugh, I am just not feeling it today. And, “it” is likely work, adulting, or other tasks that feel difficult. Perhaps the emotions are hitting hard that day, like sadness or anger, or love and joy. Highs and lows, right? I liked that definition of Emotions as “real-time data”.

However… data changes and then emotions change. Feelings can be altered (also per the definition!). And mood can be impacted by changes in both, again – in all directions.

Follow The Plan Not The Mood. There are going to be days that what we are feeling does not fully support the plan. Emotions are not good or bad, they just are. Feelings are more subjective, for better or for worse, right? Extremely positive moods and feelings can also keep us from working the Plan for the Day just as much as negative moods and feelings!

But we still need to Work the Plan. The needs still must be met, the work likely still needs to get done.

Let’s remember, then, that feelings and moods are fickle. They can be changed by external forces. And the good news is, they can also be changed by internal forces. We can take action to adjust our feelings and moods and get back to Following The Plan.

We remember the plan, we acknowledge the emotions and the feelings, we check in on our mood. We can do things to Work the Plan even when it’s hard, with any strong feelings! The first step is awareness, of course. When the Plan isn’t matching the mood, check in. What are our current emotions? Current mood? Current feelings?

The Plan still needs to be followod, but we can also ajdust the mood, to make it easier to Follow The Plan. An informal poll of friends and family yielded the following ideas to adjust the mood to Follow the Plan.

  1. Feel your emotions and feelings strongly for a little while – like set a timer! Grab a journal, wallow for half an hour, celebrate for half an hour! Acknowledge them and feel them! And then adjust.
  2. Take care of self regulation tasks like eat food, drink water, take a shower, etc., and then get back to the work.
  3. Do something physical for a short time, like take a walk or work out, and then come back. This can both use and also generate energy, and boost the mood.
  4. Go outside, in sunlight if possible. Breathe the air, move around.
  5. Bribe yourself. Yes, I said that. Bribe yourself with a reward – a break? a treat? to do the work, until the mood more matches the plan.
  6. Create a playlist for yourself to boost your mood or motivate yourself. Yes, I have songs on Spotify I listen to when I need to boost the mood (anything by Will Evans or Chad Hollister, TBH).
  7. Visualize the Victories that will come from Following The Plan.
  8. Break the steps of The Plan into really small steps, to generate some momentum.

Follow The Plan Not The Mood.

Know the plan and get to the work of your day. And if the mood isn’t matching the Plan, that means we need to adjust the mood and not the Plan. The Plan remains the same, but we can respect and then also adjust our mood.

And this wisdom was from a panel of Leaders. Executives, Motivational Speakers, University Presidents. If I am going to take advice from others, I want to take it from them. The advice was not to ignore or squash the emotions or feelings. But was we take action, we follow the plan. And to make that less of a struggle, we can adjust the most subjective part of the equation, the mood, to increase our chances for success with Following The Plan. I love hopeful and magical thinking as much as the next person, but I am not going to leave my success up to chance! And neither should you. Follow The Plan Not The Mood.

It’s Story Time. The Story Of My Company.

Leave a comment

I was asked to present at the Chicago Women’s Conference this month. When this article comes out, I will have already been on the “Turning Passion to Profits” Panel, and in preparing my notes and message for the conference attendees, I realized that I have never shared publicly, or at least not in my podcast and newsletter, my company’s origin story.

So, let me catch you up to where I’ve been, how I got here, and where I think “Here” is today!

Passions to Profits, let’s think about that! And I love that idea. And I absolutely turned something that I love to do into a business for myself.

So here is the story:

I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan and went to the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, for undergrad, where I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, with minors in psychology and musical performance. Long term / big picture, I hoped to work in HR some day, helping people to do their best work and live their best lives.

I was fortunate, more fortunate than many of my fellow grads, and had a job offer in my field before graduation. It was the early 90s, and not everyone could find a job.

I moved home to Kalamazoo on a Sunday, bought my first car on Monday and started my retail management job on Wednesday. The pool and spa company where I worked the summers in college had asked me to manage one of their locations, and I did. I worked in retail for a year. I liked the company, and my co-workers and our customers, but I’m not fond of retail. I had continued to take classes at home to expand my administrative skills when the store was closed for the winter, and I became a health unit coordinator, or unit secretary, depending on where you worked. By the Spring, I had two job offers, one at a hospital in my home town and one at a hospital in the Chicago area where my then-boyfriend-now-husband lived, so – that is how I came to Chicago and also to Health Care Management.

I worked as a Health Unit Coordinator for 2 years, and then started at the University of Illinois at Chicago as the Residency Coordinator in the Department of Medicine, handling 130+ internal medicine residents during their residencies. I loved the job and my co-workers and residents, and I was getting closer to what I truly wanted to be doing, helping others to do their best work and live their best lives. In addition, as an employee at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I was able to pursue a Master’s Degree for free. I completed half of the course work for a Masters In Health Professions Education.

Health Professions Education was where I was spending my professional time, supporting the learning of medical school students and internal medicine residents. I was getting closer and closer to what I imagined that I wanted to be doing, and definitely closer to where I am now, espcially now that I am an adjunct professor or visiting instructor at three community colleges, teaching adults in career training programs.

I took a pause on my Masters when I went on a medical leave to have our first child. He’s 27 now. I returned to UIC half time, and within a few years, had baby #2. He’s 24 now.

When we had baby #2, we realized we were outgrowing our 2 bedroom home, and soon bought a new home. We bought the home from an estate, and the family we bought it from left many furniture items behind, telling us we could do whatever we wanted with them – use them, sell them, whatever. I would like to think they were being kind. However, I am smarter now, and would never agree to that again, but I digress.

The Spring after we moved into our second home, we decided to have a garage sale to part with the unneeded items from our old home and the current home. I had never had a garage sale, and I turned to technology. Yes, I went online to research how to have a garage sale. One of the websites I visited said – “If you have a lot to sell, consider hiring a Professional Organizer to help you.”

Say what now?

I said “Professional Organizer?! That is a thing?! I don’t want to hire one, I think I want to be one!!”

I checked out the link to the National Association of Professional Organizers, or NAPO.net, researched more about the idea, and let the thoughts percolate for a few years.

I was working half time in an office in downtown Chicago. Driving or taking the train, my husband and I were both an hour away from home. And as my kids grew, I realized I needed to be home more, and have more flexibility. I struggled with finding someone to take my son back and forth to pre-school, or managing things like the dreaded call from daycare when someone gets sick.

So I decided to start my own Organizing Business, to be home more and have greater flexibility. Now, I realize, as I look back, not everyone would do I would do. But it was logical to me at the time. I would be my own boss, I could set my own hours. I have a degree in Business Management and experience in administration and management and I knew I could manage my own business.

I looked at start-up tasks: deciding what I wanted to specialize in, joining the professional organization, purchasing insurance, purchasing the tools to do the work. There was not much guidance out there at the time in getting started, but our industry is much better now about supporting new organizers in getting started. I had an amazing mentor, a professional organizer in my community, who let me pick her brain for HOURS! I appreciate Pamela to this day and try to pay her kindness forward by answering questions for new and prospective organizers just like she did for me!

In Summer, 2003, I had decided what areas of professional organizing I wanted, and didn’t want!, to specialize in. I ordered my business cards, wrote a letter (yes a lettter!) describing the company I was starting and asking friends and family to help me spread the word. I took a deep breath and mailed the letter and business cards to 70 people (yes 70!). Then we went on a vacation with family for a week. I had calls from my first two clients when I got home, thank you, Rita and Brian. And there is a lot of life and learning in between now and then, but here I am.

I was then and am now aware of my skill set and strengths. I have excellent organizational skills, communication skills and the desire to help others, all three required for the type of career I was proposing. I was also aware of my weaknesses, and managing those is important for sustainable success. And relatedly, I was slow to identify areas that weren’t necessarily strengths or weakneses, but more importantly, were the areas where I need assistance. I have gotten better, but I am still not good about asking for help.

However, circling back to the beginning of this article, I knew, in life, that I wanted to work with people to help them be the best they wanted to be. I wanted to do that with people, for people. And here I am.

Hello,

  • I’m  Colleen Klimczak, CPO.
  • I am an organizational and productivity coach and a certified professional organizer.  I own Peace of Mind Professional Organizing, LLC.
  • Since 2003, I have been helping my clients live better lives through organizing, and organizational and productivity coaching.
  • I support my clients and my community with
    • coaching,
    • in-person and virtual organizing,
    • my weekly Podcast called Your Organized Life with Colleen Klimczak,
    • a free weekly virtual productivity session called Finish Line Friday,
    • a free weekly email newsletter and
    • regular content on Facebook and Instagram. 
  • I also offer presentations and professional development to groups and companies.

If you are thinking of starting a business, here is some wisdom you didn’t ask for but that I want to share with you all the same:

  • Know your skills. And also know what skills you lack. Be ready to figure out ways to compensate for skills you lack, or to learn the skills.
  • Know what you do NOT want to do. Prepare to hold firm to that. I tell potential professional organizers that their first step is to go to the NAPO.net website and figure out what they DO NOT want to do.
  • Look at your industry – how to enter, what barriers to entry you may need to overcome, and what other people are doing.
  • Be ready to find out you don’t know nearly as much as you think you do. But here is the good news, you can figure out almost anything, if given the time and creativity and imagination and resources.
  • Success or failure are not a reflection on your value as a person.
  • Trying to “do it all results” in opportunity costs. You are the talent. You likely cannnot and should not “do it all”. Which leads me to:
  • Who is on the team? Who are your experts? Start thinking like a CEO, and look at what your company needs, even if it is a company of 1. You may fill many of these roles yourself, but every company, big or small, needs:
    • accounting (tax planning, big picture planning)
    • bookkeeping / accounts payables and receivables
    • operations like administration / scheduling / correspondence
    • legal / insurance
    • social media marketing / advertising
    • website creation and maintenance
    • strategic planning
    • HR / hiring
    • Industry specific support like: productions, editing, publishing, or purchasing, manufacturing, packaging, shipping
  • Ask for help, and I mean, employees or services. You needed to ask for help long before you realized you need help.
  • Overnight success takes YEARS!

Thanks for sticking with me, to the end of this article or episode, sure, but more importantly thanks for sticking with me along the path. Whether you and I met in 2003 or before, or any time since, I am grateful to you for being part of my story!

Planning for Big and Small Spring Projects

Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling the stirrings of Spring!

I was recently a guest on the EP Podcast where we talked about Spring Cleaning, thanks Chris, for having me on!

When this podcast episode and article are published, it will be mid March. We will have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, and celebrated my husband for his birthday. Happy birthday, honey.

While I live in the Chicago area and there is no telling if we’re feeling Spring-like weather the day you are hearing or reading this, the official first day of Spring is Thursday, March 20.

So, perhaps you are feeling stirrings of Spring as well!

Last week, we sat at the table and made a list of things we wanted to do or buy for Spring. Big things and little things. Big projects and little projects.

This week, I want to walk us through planning and projects. After asking a client some questions in a recent email, she said it became obvious that she needed to get organized about getting organized (I am paraphrasing). And I love that idea because it’s true. We have to do the planning and then do the work. Both are required for success! So, here are the questions I ask my clients when they tell me they want to get organized, and the questions work for Spring Projects as well!

  • What are your projects, and what is their priority order?
  • What are you willing to add in (habits) or part with (clutter, or in this case, time or money in exchange for products or services), to make these projects succeed?
  • Why are these projects important to you?
  • What is your deadline for the projects?

First, let’s look at “What are your projects, and what is their priority order?”

Which means it is time for the Clipboard Activity.

If you ever have attended one of my classes like Downsizing or Clear The Clutter, I always suggest we grab a cliboard. I talk about how everybody looks cooler holding a clipboard, how I feel more empowered when holding a clipboard. But to be honest, an actual clipboard isn’t required. The clipboard represents the planning process. Write your notes in a notebook or on your computer. Often with my clients, I will take notes on my phone or iPad, and then send them the notes in an outline form.

When we grab the clipboard, literally or figuratively, we are organizing to get organized.

I won’t suggest something I haven’t tried, so here is what the Clipboard Activity looks like in my home, identifying Big and Small Projects for Spring.

  • I am working on this artice in my living room, so first on my list, I need to wash my windows inside and out. Yikes. Rain and snow have not been kind this winter, so I will plan an hour or two next weekend and wash my windows. That’s a Spring and Fall task.
  • A bigger project, though, is replacing the couch and likely the chairs as well. I love my gorgeous green leather oversized couch. But we have had it for about 20 years now and it is looking a bit sad. It has been the best couch, but I think it’s time. And a new couch requires research, decision making about size and styles and colors and budget, and a trip to the furniture store, and then likely some waiting. And sadly the chairs are as old as the couch, and not nearly as comfortable as they once were. So those small and big projects go on the Clipboard list, and then we move on.
  • In the dining room is our thermostat, and we want to have the HVAC company out to install a new thermostat, so that is a phone call and appointment to make.
  • My dining room is always good, organizationally speaking, because there is not much to it. I need to oil the top of my dining room table to treat it, and the windows need washed, too. Two small regular maintenance projects go on the list, and then we move on.
  • In our house, geographically, next is one son’s room, but there isn’t anything we need to do in there.
  • On to the bathroom and linen closet. I need to have the plumber out because my drain is draining very slowly, so that is a phone call to make. Hopefully that doesn’t end up as a big project. The small projects on the list are replacing a set of towels that I purged last week because they were worn out, and tidying the linen closet. (I took care of that last weekend in about 10 minutes. I purged the old bath towels and took care of the bin of cold and flu medication. That bin got messed up when my son and I both had the cold and flu in February. So, I tidied that up, determined items to restock, and DONE! And I am happy again when I open that closet door.)
  • On to our bedroom. Our bedroom is pretty good. A small and regular project is switching my clothes over for Spring. Another small project / purchase is replacing my portable laptop desk which is no longer portable and is listing to one side like a drunken sailor. So that is on my list of purchases. It’s a different kind of purchase than going to the furniture store, so that goes on a different list and my company will purchase it.
  • Next is my other’s son’s bedroom, and decisions in that room are not my decisions to make, so moving on!
  • On to the Family Room and My office (same room). It’s pretty good back there. We may need to replace that couch, too. Again, it has been here for a while and has gotten a lot of wear and tear as my sons have grown up. So, more decision making and perhaps some shopping.
  • A small project in my office will be in May when I am officially done with Board of Education Work, and I will need to clear out and shred the papers I have kept over the last 8 years, and dedicate that reclaimed storage and file cabinet drawer for other things. Not a high priority item today, but it goes on the list.
  • And then finally, the kitchen. The kitchen is good, there are no large projects in there. As soon as I think that, I realize there are things I want from the grocery this week, but that is a completely different task. And today, I need to put away some serving dishes we used for a big family dinner yesterday. But, again, that’s just maintenance.
  • Another small project, already complete? I bought forks. Yes, forks. When all the dishes are clean and put away, we have a nine piece setting of flatware. 9 each of knives, 2 sizes of spoons, and 2 sizes of forks. 9 of each. Except for the big forks. We were down to 4. I have no idea what happened to them. We’ve had those for a long time, too. We tend to keep our stuff for a long time, and take good care of it, which is great. But the fork thing was bugging me EVERY DAY when I had to eat everything with a small fork. And it turns out I can buy just 4 or 6 forks in the same pattern, which is apparently very common from Oneida. Such a small and simple remedy, for $20 and about 10 minutes of my time.
  • If we head outside, we want the HVAC folks to clean the AC unit while they are here. And another large project I have in mind is new plantings in front of my house. I had the idea last Spring but never got around of doing it so my shrubs still look the same as they did for the last 15 years, only a little worse.
  • And I love to think about what to put in my container garden, but that is more of an April question.

Whew! Thanks for walking through my house with me! And the more important part is not what MY big and small projects are, it is teaching you the process for you to apply it to your own home. Grab the note-taking device and then walk from room to room and make your notes for big and small projects, and what priority level you want to assign to them.

And… next questions: What are you willing to add in ( habits) or part with (clutter, time or money in exchange for products or services), to make these projects succeed? And, Why are they important, and what is the timeline?

Again, let me walk through that with you.

We are pretty solid with our habits, so I don’t need to answer that part of the question. We can look at the “What am I willing to part with to make these projects succeed?” question though. What work am I willing to do to complete these projects? And this is typically the Resources question. Planning means assessing our resources like time and money and know-how, and supports like other people.

I am willing to do the actual physical work for most of these projects, of course. OR the mental work, if research and decision making are required.

And, all of these larger projects have been considered for at least a few months, so we have considered who our experts are (plumber, HVAC company, landscaper) and also what the budget is, at least vaguely, for the projects and purchases (couch? couches?) will likely be.

And time frame? Let’s look at the calendar.

Let’s consider how long furniture takes to arrive these days. The last time we bought furniture it was a six week time frame for delivery. But that was a very long time ago, what is typical now?

I should probably call or text my plumber today. He is awesome, and knowing him, he will offer to come and checking things out right away, but I just want to get on his schedule for the next few weeks. The HVAC company is my husband’s call to make because he knows what he wants. But again, sooner rather than later.

And I need to ask my family member about their friend who may be able to help with the landscaping. That is another text for today or this week.

And now… the doing. Planning and Doing, right? Or were you hoping I would forget about that part?

I will not. And neither can you. Planning is great, seriously, I love planning. But we also must commit to the doing. Or my windows will stay dirty, I will never have enough forks, my shower will still drain too slowly, and my shrubbery will still look sad and tired.

The doing.

I will make the calls this week and get the appointments on the calendar. We will start the conversation about couches and chairs. I will order the adjustable rolling laptop desk, and the new white bath towels. If the weather stays pleasant, I will carve out an hour or two for washing my windoews. And I will appreciate eating with a full sized fork and acknowledge the benefits that come from having an idea and then acting on it.

Happy Spring!

“Good Enough” Is Better Than Not At All

Good enough destinations, inspired by and with thanks to my client P.

We want to be right, right? But we can also be right enough, close enough, good enough. That is my premise for today.

These days, I don’t always write or record conversations about clutter. But a client conversation and a recent Downsizing Presentation reminded me of some points that I want to share this week!

Clutter exists in our physical space, and also our mental space, our emotional space. Perhaps we are making progress towards clearing that clutter, but sometimes that progress slows down, or gets hung up or halted for some reason. Often, that slowdown or hangup is because of decision making and perfectionsim. So let’s look at that.

Clutter in our lives is often a reflection of other things in our lives. A symptom of other challenges, perhaps. And we can delve deeper to examine those other challenges another time, but we can also still make progress without examining the deeper work because let’s face it – we likely all agree, clutter negatively impacts our thoughts, emotions, frame of mind and more.

I have shared before how our physical environments influence our wellness and health. How having clutter can negatively impact our mental and physical health. Having clutter increases symptoms of depression, anxiety, bipolal disorder, ADHD, heart disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. And, that in addition to impacting our mental and physical health, clutter can lead to unsafe or unsanitary situtations. Clutter harbors mold, mildew, dust and other allergens, and it can physically be unsafe if it causes us to stumble or it falls on us, or increases fire risks in extreme sitations.

And, turning all of that around, Clearing Clutter decreases depression, anxiety, symptoms of bipolar disorder and ADHD, improves symptoms of heart disease and diabetes, improves air quality in our homes, sleep quality and overall safety.

Without needing to delve into trauma or personality or neurodiversity, those deeper challenges, we can still clear SOME clutter almost any day. Because we know that having less clutter improves our quality of life in these ways and more.

And yet.

Here’s the thing. I know amazing people and you are one of them! And very often I have conversations with my clients, neighbors, friends or family members, and they all want to part with their clutter to reap the beneifts and live better. But we get stuck on wanting to part with clutter but only in the Right Way or a perfect way, whatever that means. And we delay the positive benefits by waiting around for or puzzling over that one perfect solution, and waiting around for perfect keeps us from taking ANY steps to declutter, which keeps us mired in our clutter and its negative effects.

We focus on finding the perfect solution for parting with our clutter; making lots of money; finding someone who will value this item greatly, like we did when we first bought it 20 years ago; finding the MOST WORTHY cause to donate our items. And we still live in clutter and chaos because these unicorns, these perfect solutions, might not actually exist. Choosing to live with clutter is not logical, when we know the benefits, so let’s look at decision making logically.

I was coaching with a client in December, discussing her work and progress in clearing clutter in the different areas of her home. She wants to live in a cleaner and safer space, and also wants to enjoy her home more. And improve air quality to help with her asthma. And clear some spaces for some home imprements like electrical or plumbing work, or painting.

And as we were talking through her spaces, she metioned some very specific items that she wanted to part with. As soon as she mentioned them, I had three very specific ideas of non-profit organizations that we could donate the items to, but each would require a phone call or an appointment or renting a truck to drop things off, etc. But – let’s recall – we were seeking solutions and I did not want to add to my client’s burdens. So as we discussed possible solutions, I also suggested that we seek some combination of the perfect solutions for some things and also “Good enough” solutions. To help her make the progress she desires while also seeking perfect solutions, if we happen to find them.

Yes, for truly meaninful items, we may continue to seek a perfect destination for our stuff. But most of our stuff isn’t truly meaningful. So what this client and I discussed was creating a rubric, path or process for deciding “Good Enough” solutions to clearing her clutter as she works through the different storage spaces in her home. A decision-making matrix.

Here are some of the questions we came up with, for her and the rest of us, when we determine we no longer want an item, or an item in our home needs to leave.

I like money, money’s nice. Question 1 then, Is the item returnable? And if it is, is the hassle worth it? Meaning, the amount of money we would receive for returning the items is more that the time and effort it takes to return in. (For example, if an item is returnable but requires special shipping or transportation, and the cost of those eats up the money we woud have received in return).

Question 2, Is the item sellable? And is the hassle worth it? Like returning an item, will the amount of money for selling an item be more than the time and effort it takes to sell it? For example, Beanie Babies or bobble heads or beer steins. I’ve had many difficult conversations with clients and loved ones regarding collectibles and their believed worth. Unfortunately, items that we believe are sellable and worth lots of money sometimes… are not.

And, there are other organizers and experts out there that can help you determine if an item has worth and is sellable. I am not that organizer or expert.

Check out my permanent Blog Post regarding resources and destinations for parting with your items.

Organizing Resources to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

Next, Question #3, If we can’t get money for the item, is it sharable? Can we give it away? Is there someone that we know personally that can use this item? A friend, a loved one, a neighbor, co-worker, someone on our community? Could I take it somewhere in my community, like to church or the library or the local food pantry, depending on what it is? I also consider sharing items on my community’s Free Box Facebook Page. My Sister-In-Law downsized her mother’s apartment and share many things in her local Buy Nothing group.

And having parameters on those types of groups is helpful, too. For example, “I will post an item on the FB group or groups, check back if there is no response after 1 or 3 or 7 days, and then delete the entry from the page and donate the item (depending on the terms of the group).”

Which leads us to the next question, Is it donatable? Is there a specific person or group or organization that would take this item as a donation? I will take an item down off the Facebook pages, bag it up and drop it off at Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, AmVets Purple Hearts, Epilepsy Foundation, Savers, Neat Repeats (a local second hand store), etc. And because I do this for some of my clients, I stop by donation destinations once a week.

For my clients, having this decision making process is helpful, and more importantly, deciding at the beginning of the process that clearing clutter is more important than finding perfect solutions and destinations encourages progress.

I believe most people are truly good people. We want to do the right thing. But perfectionism can trip us up. We can avoid getting stuck if we can get better at decision making. Decision making, getting better at deciding that something is clutter, and then how to part with it is so important for continued progress on the organizational process.

We don’t want to end up with boxes of things by our back door, in our garage, by the front door. We know we want to part with our clutter, and getting good at “Good Enough” keeps your brain from stumbling on the where, what or why. Determine how long you really want to spend on the redistribution of items, and what you will also be okay with if you just need to drop them off somewhere or donate them. I’m not saying all the items, but many!

I also commend you for wanting to do the right thing with those items. And so let’s figure out what the right thing is for ourselves. And then barring the right and perfect destination for your items, let’s decide what good enough looks like and then be ready to make that happen. Clutter cleared is more important than clutter put into the perfect situation. Because, you know, perfect is kind of hard to attain. But good enough – well, I’m all about “good enough” most days!

The Best Use Of Time: Not Just Efficient But Effective

I feel like there’s something about, Focus February. And I have to explain:

In Finish Line Friday, my free virtual productivity session every Friday, with my community that we’ve created in Finish Line Friday – I love my community that we’ve created – one of my participants, a fellow organizer here in the Chicago area, always uses alliteration when she states her intentions for how she plans to use Finish Line Friday. For example, It’s Finance Friday (bookkeeping and bill paying) and Fashion Friday (putting away laundry and packing for a trip).

So as I was thinking as I wrote today’s content, perhaps it is Focus February. Or not. It’s a little corny. But we’ll see where my writing and content calendar take me. The current plan is two upcoming episodes about focus, another about finances and one about medical follow up, so perhaps the Fs will work!

And now to today’s topic:

A company asked me to present a professional development session in February. When I asked about the topic they were looking for, the questions the coordinators asked were all about focus.

I know the participants and their industry, too, so I can write about focus and in the context of working remotely as they are all remote workers. Specifically, the topics are:

  • Make the best use of their time;
  • Helping the team remain on task, and
  • How to Stay Focused.

Excellent, yes, I can write a presentation for that, sounds great! And, then I thought those ideas also sound like great podcast episodes and articles, like for today and next week!

“How To Make The Best Use Of Their Time”.

Stepping to the side here, last week, I took you to college with me with a revisit from Intro to Psychology. This week, you’re going back in time with me to Productions and Operations Management, Junior year of college. It may not sound exciting, but it was one of my favorite Management classes and the content has certainly stuck with me.

This is a great question. An important question. A really big picture question, in business. But we need to lay a foundation before we can answer this question. First, we need to define “Best”, as in “of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality” (thank you, Google!).

In Productions and Operations Management, we talked about the difference between an efficient use of resources and an effective use of resources.

Efficiency is the LEAST outlay of resources like time, money, manpower and materials. Here, cheapest and quickest win the day. But that may not yield good results.

Effectiveness, on the other hand, is the BEST outlay of resources like time, money, manpower or materials. By using more resources, we can achieve the “the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality”.

In class, we looked at “efficient” versus “effective” in the auto industry. Cars could be cheaply and quickly made but they might not have been very good or reliable cars. Spending more time and money and labor yielded higher quality, more reliable and more desirable cars. That is where we’re coming from today.

As we determine the “Best” use of the participant’s time, we are going to look at effectiveness. How to choose the best combination of our resources. And in the workplace, and specifically for this company’s professional development, we want to encourage the Best. The Best use of our time means maybe we use a few more resources, like time and manpower, but choosing the Best use will have the biggest impact, the most positive impact on what we’re trying to achieve.

And to further define “Best”, we need to know what is important to those participants and the company. Because, here’s the thing, “Best” is a subjective statement. Meaning, it is very personal and individual to each participant, and to each of us, by extension. The “Best” use of my time will look different from everyone else.

Recalling that this is for a business specific professional development, “Best” in this case probably means productive, but also being productive with the right things, the best things. A coaching client in a recent session called them the Needle Movers – imagine your speedometer in your car. A lot of car references today! If you had a progress meter on your project task list, the Needle movers would move you closer to DONE! The needle movers, the change makers.

For all of us, then, to make the Best use of our time in the work place, we need to know what is important to move us towards our goals and desired outcomes, and get those important and needle-moving tasks done.

Which brings me to Focus Areas. As we determine our “Best”, we need to know our Focus Areas. What are yours? In your whole like, but also in your work life?

I’ve talked about Focus Areas in past podcast episodes and articles. But I would like to re-visit them for today’s article and podcast. Because we have to know our Focus areas to know we’re making the “Best” use of our time.

And I will use me as an example, because then I don’t have to ask for permission. In Life, my focus areas are Business, Home / Personal, Wellness, and Service like Board of Education Work and Ministry.

In my business, my Focus Areas are: Speaking and Teaching; Coaching Clients; Organizing Clients; Content like my podcast, newsletter, articles, website and social media; Education, like attending webinars and conferences for my Continuing Education Units; and the business of my business like bookkeeping, scheduling, etc.

So, as I decide how to spend my days, I keep those focus areas in mind. When tasks come up, or requests for my time, I filter those requests through that list of focus areas and decide where the request belongs or if I just need to say, No, Thank You.

My To-Do List is quite lengthy. Daily routine tasks, weekly tasks. And those aren’t even the actual work that I go and do with clients or students or with Board of Education work or with Ministry. The To-Do List is longer than I can ever accomplish in a day, so I have to narrow my options, zoom in and focus on what needs to happen just today to move that needle.

Because another challenge of course, in determining the “Best Use of Our Time” is that time is a limited resource. We only have so many hours in a day dedicated to work. And that is as it should be. We are more than just drones. But with time as a limited resource, we must use it wisely. We have to be a little choosy.

How do we do that? How do we choose? How do we choose the best use of our time today?

  • (If needed) What are my goals? Intentions?
  • What Focus Areas are we focusing on today?
  • What hours are available to me today?
  • When are my peak productive hours? Early in the day, mid day, evening, late evening?
  • What tasks or projects on today’s list are time-sensitive?
  • What tasks are other people relying on you to complete, so they can complete their work?
  • What can only I do? And subsequently, what can I delegate to others?

All of these are effectiveness questions. Not once did I ask, how do I do this the quickest, the easiest, the cheapest, etc.

Most days, I choose 3 or 4 Must Do tasks for today, from the lengthy to-do list. Truly, I try to choose my 3 or 4 the night before, for the next day. Some may be routine or urgent, and time specific, but almost every day I spend a little time on a longer, bigger, more strategic project, too. That is the BEST use of my time, working on the needle movers, the change makers.

For example, I was working on a project today and… well… I really didn’t want to do it. It was rather tedious, my attention was pulled in many different directions. I could easily have abandoned that project for something, well – anything else, really. But, looking at that list of questions:

Today’s project is attached to the larger project of relaunching my website, which is a goal. We have a time sensitive deadline. I have already delegated most of the work to my assistant who is awesome, but this project required me to make decisions that only I could make about content that needs to move from the old website to the new one. And we can’t relaunch until I complete this project. And while it was tedious, it didn’t actually take that long to complete. So I did it. It was the Best use of my time. It required time and attention and energy as resources, but it was a Needle Moving activity and now it’s complete.

As I wrap this up, because writing a longer article is not the Best use of my time today, and reading or listening to a longer article isn’t the Best use of yours, either, I want to share three caveats to making The Best Use Of Our Time, and they are:

  1. There can be more than one Best Use of our time. So we don’t have to get stuck on finding the perfect use of our time, just the Best. A Best.
  2. Some days we just need to act. We will talk about Focus next week, but there are some things we have to do that, going back to last week’s article, are just about survival and maintenance. But once those are accomplished, we can look to making progress, at the BEST use.
  3. Not everything can be your favorite. We can talk about Effectiveness and Focus Areas, etc., but we cannot feasibly focus on all the things every day, because then, really, we aren’t focusing on anything.

So on days when there are far too many tasks on the to-do list and far too many demands on our time, take a few minutes to ask yourselves the questions. When we seek the Best Use of our time, let’s look at the workday and determine “what is the most important thing that I get done today to continue to move forward?” I think that’s the most powerful question. Um, what are the two or three things. What are the two or three things that I can feasibly expect to accomplish, um, that will continue to move me forward?

To ensure we make the best use of our time, let’s focus on what is important to us and the tasks that we need to complete to tend to and achieve those important things!

How to Make Habits Stick

I had a conversation with one of my sons the other day about Routines and Habits.

And, for context, my sons are currently 20, 24 and 27. I was recently reviewing one of my first blog articles published in 2010 when they were 5, 10 and 12. A lot has changed since then, trust me! One is in college, and two are professionals out in the working world.

But I digress.

We were talking about routines and habits, and he mentioned that his habits and routines around his professional life are vastly different from his personal life. And hey, that is most of us. No judgement there. Truly, many people find this to be the case. I recall a client early on in my career who created and managed his company’s document retention policies and he hired me to help him with his out of control personal papers.

Sometimes, we are organized in some parts of our lives but not all parts of our lives!

Similarly, I have been reflecting on my routines around home maintenance and business practices, and how I am SO SPOT ON in those areas but… I never get around to working out. What is that about, right? I am highly capable, I know how to do this, and yet… well, you know.

When I journaled about where I stumble, I realized that some of the reasons my habits fail are:

  • Neglecting my habits and routines isn’t outwardly visible. No one but me will know if I worked out or ate healthy or meditated today.
  • And taking care of home and work and liturgy and clients impacts others and is visible, so that keeps me on track.
  • No one is paying me to maintain my personal routines and habits, unlike the business, meaning it is not unprofessional if I neglect them.
  • Neglecting my personal habits doesn’t negatively impact others, at least not directly.
  • And, getting back on track with these neglected habits and routines also doesn’t have quick results, and it turns out, seeing results for my efforts keeps me motivated. (Of course.)

And, I can use this knowledge to devise strategies for making my habits stick, like exercise and healthier eating. And I use myself as an example because I don’t have to ask permission. But enough about me.

In last week’s article and podcast, I said it would be easy to say that “Change is Hard!”. And that unfortunately, change in the, let’s say, negative direction, is deceptively easy! That no, change isn’t hard, but sometimes making positive change is!

And, last week, I challenged you and myself to return to normal, to look at what has worked before and get back to it, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel or make huge sweeping changes.

But how? This week is about the how! How to establish or re-establish good habits and routines, and how to help them stick!

Recognize where and how we ARE organized, and determine if we can use the skills from one area in other areas.

For example, I wrote in October about Recipes and how I have always used them for managing my bookkeeping and backing processes, but only more recently applied the same strategy to planning and writing my content or setting up my choir’s liturgy planning.

I mentioned the long ago client with his paper management challenges. The first thing we talked about was how to use what he knows about document retention policies professionally for his own personal papers, like categories, naming conventions, expiration dates, scheduled maintenance, etc.

If you are a teacher and you’re amazing at creating and sticking with lesson plans, does that translate to planning and implementation in your personal life? And can it?

Note your “Why”.

I find this is especially helpful for habits or routines that won’t yield immediate results. If your habit or routine isn’t fun or instantaneous or easy, well, you might struggle to stay motivated. Keeping a reminder of your “Why” helps us to stay motivated. And since a habit takes at least 3 weeks to establish, we need to keep up the motivation until a habit becomes routine.

And we will talk about learning styles in a minute, so note your “Why” in a way that works for you. Perhaps it’s a few words or an image on your phone’s lock screen. Perhaps it’s a song you listen to every morning in the shower. Perhaps its a short and simple mantra you repeat to yourself while doing some square breathing through out your day. I just sent an affirming text to a friend, for doing the hard things and was reminded to put on my bracelet that says the same (www.Mantraband.com).

Take decision-making out of the action plan.

Decision making is not the same as action.

Decision making is one of our biggest time wasters. And, if decisions are still to be made when it comes to acting on our habits and routines, the decision can always be “No, not today”. So, what can we do to remove decision making from the action plan?

For example, I have 4 wake up times set as alarms in my phone. (Don’t judge, there’s a plan here!) I only use one a day, but I have them preset. 5, 5:31, 6, and 6:33 am. My wise husband suggested I just set one and adjust it every day. However, I find that the already-made decisions, with those times as suggestions for every day, breaks down the decision to which one? instead of what time? I don’t have to re-do the math, depending on how early I need to leave the house or what time my first zoom meeting is? Instead, I look at the 4 options and pick a pre-set.

I’ll use a work-out as example again, set up the clothes and any special equipment you’ll need the night before, know which activity you will partake in the next day (outdoor walk, bike, elliptical, etc.). Decide ahead of time, and be ready to just act.

Stack Your Habits

Author James Clear uses a term called “Habit Stacking”. “Habit stacking is a method to create new habits by linking them to existing ones.” (From https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking) I heard it from James Clear first, perhaps the credit goes to someone else, I will apologize now if I have given credit incorrectly.

We all have many habits that are very well established. A different son of mine calls it his Default. I wake up at close to the same time every morning, often before an alarm. I make coffee EVERY DAY. I shower EVERY DAY. I check my phone and email EVERY DAY, multiple times mostly. I often get hungry at the same times each day so I am in the kitchen at consistent times.

What do you do EVERY DAY, and sometimes many times a day? Without thinking about it or planning it? Identify those EVERY DAY or EVERY WEEK items in your routines, and attach new habits or routines to those already ingrained habits and routines. In my presentations, I offer the example of my morning supplements. When we remodeled our kitchen in 2017, I made sure that the cabinet where I keep my supplements is also where we keep the coffee. Because while I was not always consistent with my supplements, I’m very consistent with my morning coffee. And as I stand and wait for my first cup to brew, I can take my supplements. Stacking that new habit to the well-established habit made the new habit stick.

Or, what if, every time I walk through the kitchen or stop to make a meal or snack, I drink a glass of water? That would go a long way towards keeping me hydrated (another habit I want to re-establish).

Another example, I have a deeply ingrained habit of sitting down at my laptop to check my email in the morning. I have been working in square breathing and tapping sessions into my day, plus I have these great mindfulness cards that I received last year as a gift and want to start using. At first, I wanted dedicated meditation space to do these things and then… they never happened. So instead, I am working with the deeply ingrained morning habit and attaching a few zen moments to the existing habit and location. I’ll let you know how it works!

Gamify Anything You Can

Per Google, “Gamify means ‘to apply typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to (an activity), typically as a … technique to encourage engagement…'”.

A strategy to help our habits stick is to make the habit fun, competitive, novel, reward centered, and / or social or community based. There is nothing wrong with fun and games! Let’s use them to help our habit stick! Track your metrics, create rewards for yourself, create competition with friends, set your habit to music, phone a friend – the options are endless!

I often share the example of a long-time client and friend, a retired educator, who used a star chart just like a student might, to track her new habits and keep herself motivated to keep up the good work. A star for each day a certain task is completed, and a full week of stars on the chart earns a prize for the weekend (Special outing with a friend, fresh flowers for her home, perhaps a special snack or prize?). This tried and true motivator works for kids AND adults!

A part of gamifying your new habits and routines could also be to set micro-goals, short-term and easy to achieve goals, to keep the bursts of success flowing which keeps us motivated.

Use reminders that play to your strengths.

If you are visual learner, leave yourself lists, post-its, highlighters or REALLY BIG CLOCKS, or have your technology send you text messages. A reminder pops up on my Apple Watch if I haven’t stood up and walked around in the last 50 minutes. Yes, that reminder helps me.

Are you an auditory learner? I am. I learn well by hearing things. Use alarms on your phone, set timers, create a favorite playlist to help you rock your new habits and routines.

Do you learn by doing / touching / moving things around (kinesthetic)? For you (or your family member), the physical act of writing and then checking off habits and steps to your routines may be useful, or using chore cards or magnets or other things that you can move around may help.

Some of us learn by saying things out loud, too. If this describes you or a family member, try describing your habits to others, or creating a mantra or single sentence to repeat to yourself to help you focus on your good habits.

Good Habits may take time and energy to create, but having them and sticking with them will serve you well for years to come.

You know more than you think. You are highly capable in so many ways. If you are looking to create new habits and routines to support a better day, whatever that looks like for you, consider these strategies for helping your new habits stick!

First, Let’s Return to Normal

New Year, New Article!

This article started out as a re-boot of an article from 2018, but I have updated it so much, it deserves a new posting!

Happy 2025! My sons say 2025 is a made up number, that it doesn’t sound real. It’s real now!

I started to write this article a few different ways this morning, and I realized I was stumbling over the perception of “normal”.  I said to a friend last weekend that I am grateful that the breakneck pace of the holidays is winding down. That the last 4 or 5 or 6 weeks had been busier than typical weeks, what with travel and holidays and cooking and gift shopping and wrapping, etc., and that it would be good to take a breath and slow down.

And then, after a moment of consideration, I realized it has been longer than 6 weeks since I have seen “normal”. I have to share here, things haven’t really been normal for me since mid October.  I had diverticulitis in October and then a strong reaction to the Flu Shot, and those knocked me off my “normal” for a solid month, and THEN it was the holidays, etc.

The good news today, for me and you, though, is two fold. 

First, As the pace slows down to a more breathable and sustainable pace, you and I have more space and opportunity to add back in the habits that we know support us.  For me, my habits, when they are consistent, support me to be healthy, calm and energized. They support me to be there for and with my family, to be productive, to help me help my community here in Evergreen Park and beyond and all of you.

And the other piece of good news is that we already know what to do.

This time of year, it would be easy to say, “Know what? Change is hard.”   Saying it out loud, though, I immediately realized that I was wrong.  No, change isn’t hard.

Sometimes, change is extremely easy.  For example, as recently as last month, I was exercising daily and making healthy food choices.  And … then… the holidays happened.  And it got cold. And rainy. Which makes it difficult to take a daily walk.  And there is still holiday food and cookies in the house.  So, changing from healthy eating and exercising to… well … less healthy eating and not exercising was really easy!

While it’s easy to believe the self-defeating statement “Change is Hard”, and therefore unlikely to happen or be successful, that is all it is – a self-defeating statement lacking truth.  We convince ourselves that “Change is Hard”, and then we set ourselves up to fail by:

  • setting unrealistic goals or expectations;
  • starting a new journey without a map or plan;
  • setting the bar too high;
  • pursuing goals that are not right for us right now;
  • not asking for help; or
  • expecting big change overnight.

Back to the good news, though: We now have space and opportunity to do the right things.

And for the New Year, just getting back to what you are supposed to be doing can be a big step in the right direction.

The best part? You have already figured all of this out at least once. You have thought through the process and decided what your positive choices are.  And you’re right!

You have examined yourself and your life. You have identified areas for positive improvement, and you have determined some steps that might help you get there.

Is it health related? Nutrition related? Relationship related? Productivity? Hobbies? It is a good choice to establish and also RE-establish these habits.

Start with just getting back on track, whatever that looks like to you.  Let’s leave the bad holiday habits behind. For me, it’s time to:

  • Get to bed on time;
  • Clear that kitchen counter, and put the snacks out of sight;
  • Take that January list I always recommend making, and add action dates to it;
  • Unsubscribe from advertising emails;
  • Work back in working out; and
  • Re-boot my morning meditation / routine / reading hours, etc.

And from my Facebook community:

  • Ignoring the answers to my question from my brother and his friends, they like to have fun at my expense.
  • For reals: my friends plan to add back in:
    • Lap swims, getting in the pool every day
    • Biking
    • An earlier bedtime
    • One hour a day for me – nails, hair, walk – just for me
    • Morning meditation
    • Spending time with and better supporting my spouse
    • Getting out of bed everyday at the same time. Waking up is consistent, getting up is inconsistent.
    • Nightly skin-care routine
  • (I know such amazing people)

As we look at habits and routines, we need to cut ourselves some slack, too, and remember that this loosening of habits and then reassessing and returning to them is a normal part of their life cycle. 

We can reassess and determine if the habit was good and we just fell away with implementation, or if we need to actually rethink or tweak the habit. This is that opportunity. 

I am so happy for us!  Know why?  WE KNOW HOW TO DO THIS!  We know what to do.

We know what healthy habits are, and how to re-establish them.

We know how to be productive, we just need to get back to it!

We know how to be good to ourselves, so let’s be good!

This year, let’s start the year with returning to what we know.  How about we review our good habits that may have gotten a little lax over the last few months?  Let’s start the year strong, with realistic expectations to build a strong foundation, and then climb from there!

Ask Yourself: 2024 and 2025, Do? Learn? Grow?

I just sat down in my office to write this content, and the first quote I see says
“Be an encourager. The world has enough critics already.”

Truth! And I love that because I’m always trying to be an encourager, but especially today. This article and episode will drop at the very end of 2024. This is an excellent opportunity to reflect on 2024 and set intentions as we look ahead to 2025, to look forward and step confidently into the new year.

As we review and preview, I suggest asking yourself a couple of questions. They woke me up this morning around 2 am, and I liked them, so I am sharing them!

Here they are:

  • What did you DO this year?
  • What did you LEARN this year? And,
  • How did you GROW this year?

Here is how this process looked for me, consider how it will look for you.

Looking back at what I did this year, I found it helpful to start with my calendar. That gave me, at least in broad strokes, what I accomplished in 2024.

  • In January, I gave 9 presentations, the most I have ever given in one month. I started the year strong, and met and shared organization with many great people! I helped them to take care of their projects in 2024 and beyond.
  • Also in January, I started working on a project with my national association, NAPO (NAPO.net), as a Subject Matter Expert to create the Certified Professional Organizer Exam Prep Course. This was a great experience that continued until June, and it helped me get more involved in NAPO.
  • In February, I continued to teach and also had the first of 2 basal cell carcinomas removed. The surgery was more extensive than anyone expected so I hibernated for a few weeks to heal!
  • In March, a loved one had an emergent health issue that consumed a lot of time and energy. It is well managed now. My middle son started his third season with his theatre, and I attended the first of many shows for him this year.
  • In April, nothing specific stands out. I worked, I taught, I served my community through ministry and my service on my local Board of Education.
  • In May, my youngest son finished his second year of college and moved home. We traveled to Baltimore with the grandparents and attended my niece’s wedding, and I arrived home in time to deliver the commencement speech for the 8th Grade Graduation in my role as Board of Education President.
  • In June, the NAPO SME work completed – woot woot!! Some health issues for loved ones kept us occupied. I attended a conference for Board of Education Presidents.
  • In July, we spent a week in Michigan. We visited people and people visited us.
  • In August, we moved son #3 back to college to his first apartment. I had the second basal cell carcinoma removed. We flew to Massachusetts and New Hampshire to what has become our favorite music event of the year. I pursued testing for an ADHD diagnosis.
  • In September, I continued to heal from my surgery. I presented at a conference, and also attended my first conference with the Institute for Challenging Disorganization in Minnesota.
  • In October, I celebrated my birthday. Fall is my favorite. I received my ADHD diagnosis, and also dealt with a GI infection that laid me flat for a few weeks.
  • In November, I attended my annual Illinois Association of School Boards conference and then we celebrated Thanksgiving with family.
  • And here we are in December! Advent, the holidays, service in my community, so much music, so much family time.

Thanks for listening to my re-cap, I was glad to work through that as I wrote.

More importantly, what does YOUR DONE list look like? It is easy to wonder where on earth the time went. And some days, when we might be feeling down or being hard on ourself, it would be easy to say that you didn’t accomplish anything or at least not much this year, and this is where I will gently challenge you. If you need to compile your own list of accomplishments, start with your calendar. Or your email “Sent” folder! I was proud of myself as I wrote down my accomplishments this morning. I did more than I thought I did, and that shift to a clearer perspective was helpful for me.

What does YOUR DONE list look like? We start with What Did We DO? Then we move on to What did we LEARN? What did you learn in 2024?

For me, in the midst of the milestones, I learned a lot, too. I met new people. I worked with new and existing clients on in-person organizing and also coaching. I learned more about coaching to be a better coach.

I attended concerts. LOTS of concerts, and immersed myself in the music of independent artists that we follow. I learned new music myself, for performance sake. I always appreciate that professional challenge.

I prioritized my professional learning. I read books, attended conferences and earned dozens of continuing education hours to increase my skills and knowledge in organizing, productivity and coaching.

I certainly learned more about myself, through my own medical procedures, the medical challenges of loved ones, and pursuing my ADHD diagnosis. I learned even more patience, resilience and compassion.

There are specific topics that I learned about because I sought them out. Learning is seeking new information and incorporating it. Doing something with the learning, making it a part of us and our lives, making it meaningful.

What was that for you this year? What did you learn?

And all the doing and the learning leads to growth. I have grown this year. I have met awesome people and have helped others in big and small ways. I have expanded my knowledge, I have gained new skills and perspectives. I am better than I was one year ago.

So, we re-cap 2024. And then, we look to 2025. And we ask the same questions.

  • What do you want to DO this year?
  • What do you want to LEARN this year? And,
  • How do you want to GROW this year?

Let’s set those intentions for ourselves now! The looking-back at 2024 helps us to see more clearly as we set a course for 2025.

What do you want to DO in 2025? Do you want to travel? Get a new job or advance in your current role? Spend more time with family? Spend more time alone? Get fit? Relax? Write a novel? Read a novel?! What does that look like for you?

Personally, I already have some events on the calendar for 2025. We hope to head to Florida in February with family, I will attend a professional conference in March. May brings the graduation for both a niece and nephew in Michigan. May also brings the end of my elected term with the Board of Education, so I am imagining how I can continue to serve my community after that. I have presentations booked until November, 2025. And I am anxiously awaiting the touring schedules for the bands we follow, to put their local shows on my calendar!

What to you want to LEARN? Are there subject matters that you want to learn about? Other people you want to learn about? Do you want to learn more about yourself?

There are books I want to read. I own them already, I just need a habit and routine around reading them. I read voraciously, but I read fiction. I will make progress on my non-fiction reading list in 2025! That will help me learn and therefore grow. We do things, we learn new things and incorporate the new knowledge, and we grow. We can’t help but grow.

I google searched for a quote this morning, and I found two.

“You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read.”
― Charles Jones

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single second of every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind until there is nothing left to do but explode. There are no wrong answers. Inspiration is everything. Sit back, relax, and take it all in. Now, go out and create something.” —Jac Vanek

Of course you’re going to grow. You’re going to incorporate those new things and do things in new ways that are uniquely your own. This week, look back and re-cap 2024, and look ahead with me to 2025. Let’s set our intentions. What do you want to DO in 2025? What do you want to LEARN? And how do you want to GROW?

On December 31, 2025, what do you want to be able to tell me about? A couple weeks ago when I talked about stress management, I asked you to consider what you want to do more of, and do it.

Do, Learn and Grow in 2025, and let’s work through it together. Feel free to drop me an email or private message me in my socials with your intentions. And I will hold space for you and your intentions for 2025. Maybe I’ll even check in in a few months, and see how you’re doing. I am wishing you the happiest and most joyful 2025. I can’t wait to interact more with you in 2025, that is definitely one of my intentions!

He Said “I Think This Is A Change I Can Make”

I recently attended the Joint Annual Conference for the Illinois Associations of School Boards, School Business Officials and School Administrators. This was my 8th time attending, for my 8th year as an elected Board of Education Member and more recently Board President. And I always learn so much. I could write for days and days about all the things that I’ve learned. All of the learning applies to Education, obviously. And much of it applies to the rest of life, too.

At one of the keynote sessions, we heard from David Horsager. He’s an author, public speaker, researcher, and all around amazing person. He was phenomenal. I had the opportunity to work through his Trust Edge workshop a few years ago at the same conference, and this time we learned from him live!

And yes, I now have an autographed copy of his newest book, “Trust Matters More Than Ever”. But I digress.

I am NOT going to distill all that he talked about in his 70 minute presentation in today’s article or podcast. I will read the book, though, and share out more specifically soon.

He shared an anecdote when he was talking about Consistency in Leadership, though, and it really resonated with me in terms of habits and routines.

He mentioned that this time last year his doctor told him that if he wanted to be around to see his children grow up, he needed to make some changes. He shared that information at one of his presentations at the time, and after the presentation while he was chatting with 2 attendees, they mentioned that they chose to not drink their calories. That was a simple strategy this couple used to eat and drink healthier. And David shared that as he reflected on that idea, he said to himself “I think this is a change I can make.”

“I think this is a change I can make.“

“I think this is a change I can make.”

This is not an article or episode about calories. It’s an article or episode about making positive change.

Let me make a few assertions, as we get started:

  • There are areas where you and I could use some improvement.
  • Change needs to happen.
  • Change CAN happen.
  • You and I are capable of making positive change.

David shared that he realized he didn’t have to take big actions to make change, that he could do it in small pieces instead. And, so can we.

“I think this is a change I can make.”

Exploring and finding those changes we can make to make positive improvement seems more doable, manageable, applicable.

So, what does that look like for you and me?

  • We reflect on our life and situation.
  • We identify areas for improvement.
  • We set our goals.
  • And we determine the steps we need to take, to move us from where we are today to where we want to be.
  • And then we take those steps.

“I think this is a change I can make.”

David shared this example: As an international professional speaker, he takes hundreds of flights a year. His simple change to make was to switch from full sugar soda on the flights to diet sodas. He didn’t give up every beverage every day, he changed his choices just on airplanes. That felt like a simple switch, a change he could make. He identified the situation where he could employ this, and he started making small changes, which he reported, yielded big results over time.

Asking again, what does that look like for us?

It looks like a “Do This” instead of “Do That.”

Not changing the habit in general, just tweaking it. If you and I need to make a change, an example could be “No red meat” (and actually that is a change I have been advised to make). I’m not going to stop eating, or stop eating out, or stop cooking, I will just not choose red meat.

Or, we could walk instead of driving a few blocks to a destination.

Or, I can go to bed at the same time, but add in 10 minutes of meditation and reading a good book instead of doom scrolling so I fall asleep sooner and get better rest.

“I think this is a change I can make.”

If you’re reading this instead of listening, it sounds like “Hmm, I could do that. That’s something I could do.” As in, it doesn’t have to be hard. Doable, specific. We have looked at SMART Goals, right? Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Specific.

“I think this is a change I can make.”

Doesn’t that feel positive and hopeful and reasonable and empowering? It keeps coming back to me in my mind. We can identify something small we can do to make progress, and then we do it.

My priest was talking about this in Mass, too. That the Kingdom of God is many things. And it is also in the small and consistent actions every day. Yes, it may be big and sweeping actions, but it’s also showing small kindnesses every day, or making time for prayer every day. Making positive change looks like doing little things consistently.

And here is my last point,

When I started writing this article, it seemed like a New Year’s or January article and message. I was very passionate about it so I wanted to write it all down, but I almost didn’t share it this week. However, the message also needs to be – We don’t have to wait. When we figure out that we need to make a change, and then also figure out what that change is that we can make, we don’t have to wait. And, I decided I didn’t want to wait to share this because any day, any moment is a good time to make a positive change.

We don’t have to wait. You don’t have to wait for January, or when you get home from that trip, or for the perfect situation to arrive, or until the planets align. We can choose small, simple changes and start right now, making positive change. I wanted to share this with you and start thinking about it for myself, because I’m never going to ask you guys to do something that I haven’t also thought of or tried, because that is the way this works.

We reflect, identify areas of improvement, determine where we want to go and how to get there, and then we make the changes we can make that move us toward that goal.

I think that is a change I can make.

A Routine’s Last Steps Are The Most Important

Recently, a client asked me how I schedule things. And since that means different things to different people, I delved a little deeper and asked a few more questions while we worked.

We were working through a pile of The Smalls in her home office. Do you know The Smalls? Imagine the things that come out of your pocket, like a pocket full of change or receipts or sunglasses or cough drops. It’s the bowl of weird things that ends up on our dresser or by the bathroom sink or in a heap on the table by the door. Safety pins, charging cords, random pens from the bank, tags from a sweater. The odd little small stuff that can drive us crazy. The Smalls.

As we were working through The Smalls, what she really wanted to know about was How to Create Routines. Routines in general, but in this case, a routine for maintenance, for example, better managing and eliminating The Smalls.

So, she was asking how to create routines? And specifically, the Maintenance Part of routines.

I love this question, we should all ask this question. And this particular client asked the question that day, but I have worked with dozens of clients answering the same question for themselves.

And as a refresher – What are routines? Using a morning routine as an example, a routine is a short list of 5-7 tasks that we must complete every morning (or afternoon or evening or when we go to a certain place or do certain things) to survive (sleep, eat, bathe, drink water) and also maintain a basic level of functionality in our life (start laundry, pay bills, buy groceries, exercise).

How do I know she was asking about maintenance? I see this client once a month. When I arrive in the morning, she is always awake, showered and dressed. The cat and dogs have been fed, dogs have been out, and she usually has some laundry started. There are many parts of her routine that are solid. I know she has mastered survival tasks in her routine. If this sounds familiar, I would guess you, also, have conquered survival, the basics, the essentials. So what is missing?

For this client, she was asking about a routine to take care of The Smalls and other clutter in her house before it got to the troublesome level.

Next level, then, is getting good at our routine maintenance tasks. After survival tasks are complete, what are those maintenance tasks we must complete every day, again, to maintain a basic level of functionality in our life?

Unfortunately, since maintenance is often less urgent than survival, we can sometimes let those tasks slide in the rush of our day to day. The danger, of course, is that since routine tasks are tasks we must complete over and over again, we can get lax in the execution and completion of them. And as we relax our standards, we stop maintaining our maintenance. The switch, then, the point is, we need to understand the vital importance of “done” or “complete” in our routine maintenance tasks, and commit to “done” and “complete”.

We need to define for ourselves what done is, what done looks like.

I worked with an adult client many years ago who said that no one had ever explained to him what “clean your room” or “organize your desk” meant, even as a child. And if that is not something that you are used to, or, like this fellow, if it doesn’t come naturally for you, or if that is not the way your brain works, then being told to clean your room or organize your stuff is meaningless.

When my sons were little, instead of just saying go clean your room or go organize your dresser, I talked with them about what steps to actually take. When they were really little, pre-readers, I made a sign with pictures, like a picture of a bed to remind them to tidy up their bed, a picture of a laundry basket to remind them to put their dirty clothes in the hamper, a picture of a hanger to put their clean laundry away, put their books away, make sure the floor was relatively clear before they went to sleep (because who wants to step on a Lego in the dark, am I right?!). When it was clean, we would stand in the doorway and I asked them to take a mental picture of what “done” looked like, so they could get back to “done” on their own some day.

First, we need to know what “done” and “complete” look like and entail.

Another example: We get up and get ready for our day. Great. If we turn around, though, what does our home look like behind us? You know Pigpen from Peanuts, who always had the little cloud of dust behind him? What does it look like behind us? We got up, but did we take 30 seconds and make the bed? We took a shower, but did we take 11 seconds to hang up our towel or put it in the hamper?

What does the bathroom look like when we’re done? “Ready to leave” is one thing, and it is all about us as a body, and it’s very important, but is your space ready for you to leave? Truly “done” or “complete” requires the extra 30 seconds that we spend in the bathroom before we finish in there in the morning, where we hang up our towel and we straighten the shower curtain and we wipe the fingerprints and the dirt or anything off the sink, and we have put all of our stuff away that we use every day. Those last few steps are what maintains that minimal functionality in our spaces.

Because we’re going to have to do it all over again tomorrow.

Those last steps are also part of the routine tasks. We have routines around times and events to make them run more smoothly, and to set ourselves up to succeed next time, too. And those last steps are vital to that end.

In my presentations, I talk about my routine around taking my supplements every morning. I mention that I used to forget to take my supplements, but I anchored the supplement habit to my morning coffee habit and now I always remember to take my supplements. Adding a few details here, I take a few supplements that need to be on an empty stomach, and as I start my coffee, I take those right away. Then I leave the other batch, the later with food batch, on the counter so seeing them will help remind me to take them. Later, when I am headed out the door for my day, a glance at the counter while I grab my second cup of coffee will remind me to take the rest if I haven’t already. “Done” and “complete” look like a clear counter. Maintaining the maintenance, and also leaving a clean slate for the rest of my day. Because I am going to have to do it all over again tomorrow.

Another global example: Bill-paying. Your bills are paid – awesome! Hopefully, you have a routine around paying bills on time, a date in the calendar to take care of those! Again, awesome! And yes, that is an achievement we can celebrate! And… did we file the papers that were left after the bills were paid? Or empty the overflowing paper recycling bin in the office, or run the handful of papers that need shredded through the shredder? Or look ahead at when we are set to pay bills again and put that on the calendar, too? These final steps of the routine task of Paying Bills often get overlooked, and then their neglect adds to our mess or disorganization going forward.

Other places we can put this idea into practice:

Managing The Smalls by identifying them as smalls and setting our space up for maintenance. Add a garbage can nearby to toss everything you can, keep a jar there for loose change or an envelope for receipts. And take the 5 seconds to toss the trash and file the receipts.

Your work space at the end of the day? Set a timer for the last 5 minutes of your work day and set yourself up to succeed tomorrow. Done looks like cleared and waiting for us and tomorrow’s work.

After traveling, unpack completely and put the suitcase away. AWAY. Complete.

Making dinner and eating dinner, sure, but also cleaning up after dinner. Because tomorrow morning, we’re going to need to start the cycle again and a clean kitchen is a better place to start our day.

I worked with a different client the other day, and the timer on her phone went off when we still had 15 minutes of our appointment left. Because … she is wise and she knows we need to put stuff away. We made a few last labels with my label maker, put the bins of clothes in the closet, took out the trash, loaded the bags of donation into the back of my car, talked about what her next steps are to continue to making progress. We do the work, and then we have our routine around maintaining maintenance. Taking those last few moments to set ourselves up to succeed next time.

Consider your routines this week, and determine what Done and Complete look like for you, and then commit to maintaining the maintenance and setting ourselves up to succeed next time!