Category: Motivation

How Would Ben Franklin Spend Today?

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Can I tell you a secret? Even as a professional organizer, I am conflicted, struggling with Time. Ironic, eh? I help others with time management while puzzling it over myself. Is time arbitrary or fixed? Is time finite or infinite? Is my time mine to spend, or not mine at all? In each case, it is both.

Time is both arbitrary and fixed.

I recently read an article that proposed the merits of waking with the sun instead of an alarm clock. The writer presented sound arguments, and it sounds like a lovely idea, but the concept is so ludicrous to me and my life that I laughed out loud. Before the time change, here in Chicago it was dark until 7:15 am. If we all waited to wake to natural light, my husband would be fired and 2 of my sons would be habitually late for school.

With the time change, it is light again at 7 am but will be dark at 4:30. If I wake with natural light, does that mean I get to go to bed with natural dark? 4:30, good night? Right. I think the idea of letting the moon and sun and stars dictate when I get up or not is what rankles me, truly. The inconsistent nature of getting up when there is light in my window or not offends my sense of purpose.

The other night at dinner, my 12-year-old announced that “time is an illusion, thought up by the minds of men”. Yes, son, it is, an illusion to describe and give structure to the immense scope of the infinite. It is an arbitrary, completely human construct. But your bedtime is still 9:30, and you’re not allowed to be late for school. Time is arbitrary, but the passage of it is fixed, and can still be measured and managed. So go do your homework.

Time is both infinite and finite.

On any given day, I can admire the concept of infinity and still struggle to find time to get things done. Go figure. If I run late, driving fast is really not going to help me. Short of breaking the sound barrier in my minivan, there is no way to recapture the 5 or 10 minutes past. In the vast backdrop of the infinite, it seems ridiculous to worry about a minute or two, anyway. And, realistically, getting stopped for speeding to make up a moment wastes more time. On the other hand, as a musician, I respect the importance of even a moment’s hesitation.

I am working towards appreciating the gift of infinite time, instead of focusing on the finite restrictions of seconds and minutes.

 Our time is both ours alone to spend, and not ours at all.

In my holiday planning class, I mention that our time is the only gift that is truly ours to give. Everything else is just stuff. And yet, I also feel my time is on loan from everyone else, that I can’t really claim any of it for my own. Did I mention that I was conflicted? Yeah, I know. So what is my point to all this?

Our perception of time is determined by our choices of how we spend our time. What is the best way to spend the next hour? Exercise? Read to improve my mind, or relax? Help my son with his homework? Prepare for ministry, or a Cub Scouts meeting? Veg out in front of the TV? All are worthy and wonderful and necessary. But because our to-do list is so long, most days we still have to choose between one worthy way of spending an hour and another.

Over the weekend, we participated in a discussion of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Franklin listed 13 virtues he was perpetually working on, in addition to all the other amazing things he created and accomplished in his life.

Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues.

1.TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2.SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3.ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4.RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5.FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6.INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7.SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8.JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9.MODERATION. – Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. 10.CLEANLINESS. – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11.TRANQUILLITY – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12.CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13.HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

An impressive list, though I might swap out a few, adding my own, but I like the idea of Mr. Franklin choosing to continually improve himself in addition to getting married, having kids, running a business and oh, right, building our country.

So, how will you choose to spend the next few minutes, hours, days or weeks? It’s your choice, make it a good one!

BOO! Starting Your Projects Doesn’t Have To Be Scary!

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Does this sound familiar? “I am so disorganized, I don’t even know where to begin” Or “I walk into my [office, closet, kitchen, basement], and it is so overwhelming, I turn around and leave.” Or even “I am sure my house is the most disorganized house ever.”

Starting your organizing projects doesn’t have to be scary. Even if you don’t know where to begin, I do. Or we can figure it out together. Here are 3 ways to make getting started less scary!

Before you begin your project, take a few moments to envision the end product.

If you want to organize your child’s room (something we have to tackle soon, to make room for new toys!), envision what “clean” and “organized” look like. Clothes away, books on shelves, toys in storage containers, right? If you consider that end picture, you realize you require clothes storage, a book shelf and some storage containers, and the habits to make it all happen. Like magic, there is your plan!

Is your end product an efficient home office environment? Perhaps the vision for your office is more about process instead of actual space. Perhaps you envision yourself working at your desk, managing multiple projects, being creative, competently taking care of business. That Vision helps you decide what you want to do with your office space, too. Dream big! Then sketch it or write it down, to help you stay motivated.

With the vision of your End Product in mind, you are better equipped to tackle the project.

Choose a Donation Destination for your extra items.

Purging clutter is much easier when we know that someone else can need or use the items. Is your clutter paper? Imagine bags or boxes set up with these labels: “Recycle, trash, “shred event” or shredder, magazines for the dentist office or nursing home.”

Closet project? Perhaps your destinations are “Cleaners / Repair, off-season storage, donate, give to friend/sister/neighbor”. Choose a destination for your items; resale shop, charitable donation, garage sale, etc. Once we know where things are going, it is easier to let them go!

For charitable giving, it helps to put a personal face on our items. Knowing a homeless man will be warmer this winter helps us let go of those old overcoats in the closet. Old glasses gathering dust in our homes can go to the Lion’s Club for redistribution. My clients often have drawers of old cell phones, ink cartridges and broken cameras that they gladly send with me to be recycled at our local elementary.

We had just received a huge influx of hand-me-downs from very generous friends when Hurricane Katrina hit. Friends in Gulfport, MS told us of a family, with two boys about my sons’ age, who lost absolutely everything. My then 7-year old ask me why I was packing things up to send away, and when I explained, he thought for a moment and then pulled out toys to send to those boys who had nothing. Extra soccer balls, games, books, etc. How easy it is, even for a child, to let go of extra things to others in need.

Pick a Starting Spot and Stick With it.                                                                         

Have you ever spent an hour or two working on an organizing project, but when you step back and look around, you don’t see any visible improvements? Or you cast about a room, here and there, crossing and re-crossing your own path, spending lots of energy for little gain.

Often, my clients start our session with “I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t know where to start.” So, typically, I will walk in the door of the space we are working on, turn to the immediate left of the door, and declare that very spot as our starting point. We progress steadily around the room from there. Left to right, right to left, top to bottom – this is not the secret, though I prefer Left to Right around the room. Just sticking with the starting point and working around the space makes your next starting point obvious, too, so you can continue next time.

So, don’t be scared, starting an organizing project can be easy if you just keep these tips in mind!

Prep Your Car, Closets and Home for Cold Weather

It was 80 degrees on Thursday, with a high of 51 on Friday.  Must be October in the Midwest!  There are lots of things you can do to make the transition to cooler weather go smoothly.  Try one of these ideas this week:

In your Car:

Pack your Winter Car Safety Bag:  I always carry the basics, like jumper cables, first aid kit and bottled water.  But as I pumped gas this morning in the thin and chilly 37 degree air, I wrote a note-to-self to re-pack extra gloves and earmuffs, additional blankets and sweatshirts, and a replacement box of granola bars.

In Your Closets:

  1. Swap out warm-weather clothes for cold-weather clothes in your closets and dressers.  Review the warm-weather clothes, and purge old, tattered, stained or otherwise undesirable items now before putting them away.
  2. Do the same for your warm-weather shoes.  Purge old or uncomfortable ones now.  Take all shoes that need repairs to a reputable shoe repair shop, and put the rest away for the season.  You’ll be amazed at how spacious your closet is without the summer clothes and shoes!
  3. Take warm-weather clothes that require dry cleaning to your cleaners now, so you can store them clean this winter.
  4. Find your winter coats and blankets, and take in any that require cleaning now instead of on that first really cold day!
  5. Make a note to pick up all the repairs and clothes at the cleaner in a week!

In your Home:

We tend to have a party in October, which offers great motivation to super-clean my house.

  1. Un-furnish / Clear out:  In addition to regular cleaning, I un-furnished a few spaces, stored window fans, cleaned the ceiling fans, purged old electronics to the E-Waste recycling in my area, and generally cleared the decks.  It felt great, and the house feels lighter.
  2. Make service appointments this week:  Have your furnace checked, the gutters cleaned, the landscape winterized, etc.  Make the appointment, or do it yourself, but do it SOON!  A few weeks ago, we had the HVAC guy out to clean the furnace, and I had the carpet cleaners out the same day, so we’re looking good!
  3. Set up a Reading Area:
    1. This is a personal goal I want to share.  I have a backlog of professional and non-fiction reading on my reading shelf.  I get through fun fiction because I read that as I go to sleep, but I’m not getting very far on the professional reading I need to actually retain.
    2. We are a houseful of readers, and I am so glad.  The most important determining factor for raising a child who is a reader is If There Are Books in your home.  We have LOTS, and we have always encouraged reading while modeling the behavior ourselves.
    3. I want to step up my reading, get through my pile and learn new things.  I need dedicated space for reading, like a corner of my loved but underutilized living room.  I am adding a new lamp, another snuggly blanket, an attractive basket to hold my books and a coaster, of course, for my coffee or tea.  Also in the basket will go a pad of paper and pen, since I get lots of really great new ideas when I read new things!  I also need space in my schedule to make it happen, so I’m adding some blocks of time.

At each of my two presentations last week, I asked the participants “What is your Next Step?  What one thing that I mentioned today resonates with you?  What will you try?”  Weather proof your car?  Finish transitioning to Fall in the closet?  Head to the Dry Cleaners?  Make some service appointments?  Dedicate some reading space?

Well, what are you waiting for?  Let’s Go!

Three Words: The Power of “Not Right Now”

(Click here to hear / see me talk about this in a FB Live Post)

Last week I offered ideas to help you find motivators and get organized.  Yet, this week I am suggesting you occasionally say “Not Right Now”.

Hmmm….. Are you wondering what changed my mind?  Maybe the organizer is letting you off the hook this week and you get to goof off?  Uh, no, nice try.  “Find your Motivators” and “Saying ‘Not Right Now’” are both tools to move you along the path to getting things done and making your life better.

Time Management expert Steven Covey uses the Eisenhower Box, via Dwight D. Eisenhower, a grid to illustrate the basis for my Not Right Now Suggestion.  He suggests there are 4 types of tasks, categorized by Importance and Urgency.

The grid reads:

1.  Important, Urgent               2.  Important, Non Urgent
3.  Non-Important, Urgent     4.  Non-Important, Non Urgent

My “Not Right Now” strategy focuses on taking care of the (#1) Important and Urgent things first, and safely keeping ideas that are important but not urgent.

Important and urgent tasks (#1) for me today were to meet a client deadline for publication, submit an ad for an upcoming charity event and follow up with an upcoming presentation host.  As a self-employed entrepreneur, important and urgent tasks almost always have to come first.  There is no one else to do the work, and my business and clients have to be my top professional priorities.

(#3) Non-important, Urgent tasks included responding to emails, and taking care of some filing so I could re-claim my work space.  And these I did take care of, just to get them out of the way.

Next are the Non-urgent tasks, both important (#2) and non-important (#4), and that is where the Not Right Now tool comes into play.  I start a typical day with 2 or 3 Important and Urgent things that have to get done.  As I work, I get ideas, great and sometimes not-so-great.  They are all important, but they are rarely urgent.  I want to respect and collect the ideas that come to me, but I don’t want to lose my focus on the current task.  I jot them down, and get back to work.

Two professional organizers whom I really respect (Elizabeth Hagen and Barbara Hemphill) recommend keeping a pile of blank index cards close at hand as you work.  As an idea or task pop into your head, jot it down on a card, a new card for each idea.  When you are done with your current Important and Urgent task and can take a break, review the cards, act on the quick easy ones and sort the others into piles for when and how you need to act on them.

I use a notebook in the same way.  When I take a break from a project, I look at the ideas listed and put them where they will be most useful.  Perhaps one of my Outlook to-do lists, or add it to my strategic planning file.  If possible, I make the idea into an action item and attach it to a date and time, sometime in the future.  The idea is important, but it is for later, “Not Right Now”.

Not Right Now can be more global, too: I am willing to step up for leadership in my professional network, but not this year.  “Keep me on the list for the next cycle, and I am your girl.  But not right now” was my actual response.

“Not Right Now” has saved me recently, too.  I’ve gotten emails that I might react strongly to, but used “Not Right Now” to hold off on responding and finish my work.  By the time I could respond, I collected my thoughts and cooled down, and responded more reasonably.  Or I wait to act on an idea, and someone else acts first (woo hoo!).

Collect and safely keep ideas and inspirations, but cut yourself some slack and recognize the power of “Not Right Now”.  I would like to travel internationally, but not right now.  I want to learn to play the guitar, but not right now.   Perhaps I’ll get a tattoo, but not right now (Ok, I won’t get a tattoo, just wanted to see if you were all still paying attention).  I want to change the world, but Not Right Now.

I have been very busy lately, and busy is really great.  But now my professional tasks for the day are complete with the publication of my blog, and my “Not Right Now”s have become “Yes, Now”s  And yes, now, I really need to go clean my kitchen.

Look Inside and Out, and Find Your Motivators!

I dream of discovering One Simple Elegant Equation that every person can use to flip the switch inside, to motivate them to get up and ACT!  That one equation that would energize us to organize and actualize, to make a better life.

There are two problems with this dream.  First, there is no one simple answer because each of us is different.  Second, it is not up to Me to motivate You.  I cannot make you do anything, aside from physically moving you from point A to point B.  Your motivation comes from you, not me.

I can certainly help you find it and use it, though!  So let’s find some MOTIVATION!

External Motivation:

I have a client who relies solely on External Motivation.  She waits until the last minute to take care of business, or to clean the house for major events.  ‘Someone is coming over, I’ll clean up.’  ‘I’ll pay my bills because they came due, but they will be late and I’ll pay fees.’  She is waiting to be “in the mood to organize.”,  She states that if no one ever came by the house again, she would never clean it again.   She gets tasks done, but in a hurried and incomplete fashion.

The “mood” to organize may never come.  If that urge to organize hasn’t happened recently, why should we expect it?  Most days we can’t wait, we just need to move, to act, to organize even if we don’t feel like it.  That is when we need to find Internal Motivation.

Internal Motivation:

The next day I walked with a friend.  She and I had both been cleaning bathrooms before our walk because Friday is her cleaning day, too.  Motivation that comes from inside, from established routines and habits and the desire to do the right thing, that is internal motivation.

Motivation in general:

Both types of motivation are good.  People can find motivation in their own heads or in the world around them, or both.  I take out the trash on our weekly trash day (external) but also when it gets full and I am cleaning my house (internal).

Motivation can come from many sources.  At basic levels, motivation comes from fear.  Ever heard of the fight or flight response?   We are motivated to act to avoid pain, punishment, embarrassment or negative reactions.  But we humans can attain loftier goals than just survival.  We can find positive ways to motivate ourselves to act.   I often get asked “How do I get co-workers / my family / myself to organize?”  The answer is “find motivators”.

Professionally, motivators are easy to spot.  They include paychecks, promotions, perks and professional esteem.  Personal motivators for yourself and others may be tougher to find, but they do exist!!  Here’s where to find yours:

  • Goals and dreams motivate us.  Rome was not built in a day, and neither is anything else worth having.  Keep your goals in mind and when you need motivation to act, ask yourself what one thing you could do right now to move closer to your goal.  Then get up and do it.
  • Sometimes it’s OK to be selfish and ask “What’s in it for me?”.  If we’re talking about organizing, you will gain money from a a business venture, better planning, or a garage sale.  You gain an empty cabinet or drawer for supplies for a new hobby, a cleaner house that you can invite guests to, etc.
  • Look for something concrete.  Use “I want” statements, and be specific.  Like….
  1. I want to be less stressed in the morning, so I am motivated to create and stick to a better routine.
  2. I want more money to go on vacation or make a major purchase, so I am going to get organized in my shopping and bill paying and spend less.
  • Recognize cause and effect.  If your kids want a new game system, show them that selling extra toys clears clutter and earns money.  For you or your spouse, a clean garage means no scraping snow come winter.
  • Use growth and life transitions as opportunities to make positive change.  Transitions give us      opportunities to re-invent ourselves. New jobs, new communities, new seasons, maybe just a new day – it is always a good time to make positive change.  Personal growth encourages us to look      outside ourselves at the world around us and inside ourselves to know ourselves better.  Both kinds of motivators!
  • Peer pressure is not all bad.  So long as you like and respect your peers, wanting to be more like them can be a great motivator.  Hanging out with well-informed, well-educated, generous, physically fit people?  Sure, I want to be like them!  What can I do to be more like these  great people I admire?

So, where in your life are you looking for motivation?  Let me know, and try one of the suggestions listed above.  You can change your life, you have that power.  Look inside or out and use your motivators!

10 Habits for the Organized Student at School

It is vital for a student’s academic success
to find what they need when they need it.

     I offer a class called NAPO In The Schools, a service project through the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO.net) geared towards helping 3rd-5th graders get and stay organized.   Establishing organization skills early helps in school and in life.  I spend 50 minutes with the student groups helping them to positively answer:  “Can you find what you need when you need it?”

     Here are 10 suggestions to help your student ‘find what they need when they need it’ at school.

Time Management:

1.  Take a minute every day to tidy up your desk or locker and get rid of trash.  Maintenance is worth the time investment. 

2.  Break big tasks into little manageable pieces:  For example, if you are working on a book report, reading a chapter a day is good for your final grade and personal satisfaction, instead of skimming in a hurry the night before a report is due.

Stuff Management:

3.  When it is time to move, either from class to class, or when you are heading home for the day, think ahead to your next activity, and grab all the stuff you need, so you don’t have to come back for anything.

4.  Make it easy to find your stuff.  Color code your notebooks and folders, or at least CLEARLY LABEL each notebook, so you don’t grab the wrong one.

5.  When it is time to go home, go through a check list in your head. Use a memory trick, like thinking about you from head to toe to remember all your snow gear, or thinking about your class schedule to remember your homework assignments

6.  Consider the people around you, and keep your stuff from overlapping into other people’s space.

7.  Keep similar things together.  Like all your soccer equipment in one bag, specifically for that sport.

8.  Store stuff where you need it.  Like the stuff that is to go home in your locker or backpack instead of in your desk.

9.  Designate a spot for the really important stuff and make sure those important things always make it back to that spot.  Always put your house keys or cell phone in the same inside pocket of your back pack, so you can find them when you need them.

10. Keep the stuff you use all the time close at hand.  Like pens and pencils and other small items at the front of your desk, so you can see them and grab them quickly.

So, print these up and present them to your student.  Sit down and discuss with them which suggestions you both feel they have already mastered, and then pick one more to try this week.  Help your student establish organizing habits for success in school and in life!

6 Lessons I Re-Learned This Week.

Over the weekend, I spent some quiet travel time on a time management consultation on …..me!

You see, I went back to high school last week.  I’m not wearing the uniform or walking the halls, which is good since it’s an all-boy’s school, but let me tell you, I am still getting an education!  My son started high school, and I am learning to navigate it as a parent.  I re-learned some life lessons this week.  We don’t always have to learn new lessons, often we need to be reminded of what we already know.  To help you conquer time management challenges at work or at home, let me share what I re-learned this week:

Ask “What are we trying to achieve with improved Time Management?”

     In our case, encouraging independence and responsibility, but also balance and stress reduction for my awesome over-achieving son (though I think I was more stressed than he was).  Let the answer to that question guide the rest of your actions.

Pare down your schedule to just essentials.  

Let me ask you:  If your schedule is insane, what habits are you willing to leave behind, to make room for the important essentials?  Less TV, shopping, Angry Birds or Where’s My Water, Facebook and surfing the web, etc?
For the teenager, TV, hanging out and reading for pleasure late into the night may just have to wait.

Get sleep and good nutrition.

This is critical to all of us, not just teenagers.  Going to bed at a regular time, and making sure your body is fueled with good food empowers us to do more with better focus.

Have the Right Stuff, and Only the right stuff.

My question to you – what do you need to get out of the way, out of your office or home to simplify your life?
Organize your stuff to streamline your time management.  My guy still stumbles over getting dressed and out the door in proper uniform.  This evening, we (he doesn’t know this yet!) are going to clean off his dresser top except for the stuff he is currently and actively using.  We all need to get back in the habit of packing sports and band bags the night before, too, to decrease the last minute scramble.

Ask for help. 

Regardless of what challenge you have, remember you are not alone, and you don’t always have to be the expert.  I need to re-learn this lesson every week because I am terrible at asking for help, and therefore get overwhelmed when faced with a task I don’t know how to complete.  I know I am capable and smart enough to learn, but it feels like it may take FOREVER to get it done.
High school introduced many new, unfamiliar high-tech tools like on-line homework, text books, bulletin boards, etc., and they all required some set up.  My good and tech-savvy husband, the expert in this case, and the teenager spent most of an afternoon getting everything set up all at once, so now we’re good to go.  We just needed to ask the expert.
What is your challenge, and who can be your expert?

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

For the sake of time management, if you need to get something done and someone else is involved in the process, you have to communicate well to get things done.  We’ve had a couple of communication snafus over the last 10 days.  I had a piece of paper he needed, he forgot to tell us about a team event parents were expected to attend, etc.
I was reminded in an article this morning that good leaders use multiple means of communication, all the tools available, really, to get their message across.  So, if you want to increase communications with an individual or group to get things done effectively, find methods they already like and use.
In my son’s case, those methods are texting and using his student planner.  I suggested that my son text me as he remembers something I need to know, or jot it down in his planner if it’s during school hours.  And I admitted to him that I have to write stuff down all the time because I just don’t remember stuff unless I write it down.

  Learn from my experience!  And tell me, what lessons do you find yourself re-learning?  Please share, I would like to know!  You could be in my next blog?

3 Reasons We All Should Love Back-To-School

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I love Back-To-School time, and not just because my sons sometimes drive me buggy during the summer months. Whether in school or not, this time of year always feels like an opportunity to start fresh, get back to a new and improved routine, find all sorts of cool gadgets in the stores, and learn something new. It’s like New Year’s without the snow, winter misery or credit card bills. So use Back-to-School time as an opportunity to embrace new ideas and gadgets, and improve yourself and broaden your mind, not because you have to but because the world is full of new things to learn every day.

Start fresh, get back to a routine:

I love the lazy days of summer, but as a mother of three busy boys, a small business owner and recovering insomniac, I recognize that a routine is vitally important to everyone’s well-being.  We all benefit from having a Routine, a reasonable yet necessary set of tasks and expectations for certain times of each day.  August brings regular bed- and wake-up times, routine chore completion and basic hygiene without nagging, regular office hours for my clients and regular sleep patterns for all.  Sit down with family members and think about what needs to happen before leaving the house every morning or going to bed every night, and incorporate those tasks into your morning or bed-time routine now.

Cool new stuff and gadgets:

Book lights for in-bed reading; post-it notes for every imaginable application; 5-subject notebooks to keep track of your lists for all your projects in one central location; a new Websters Dictionary because it is a good thing to have (and yes, Ginormous is now a real word); comfy new ergonomic back packs or messenger bags for toting your stuff; colored index cards for anything you can think of (like making checklists and laminating them or assigning household tasks by person or room):  the stores are bursting with problem-solving gadgets and back-to-school stuff.  My all time favorite tool is a dry erase marker – Leave messages for family members on the bathroom mirror, whether “Pick up the kids at soccer practice” or “Comb your hair!”.  Wipes right off, and the kids use it, too!

Learn something new:

Education is important.  Learning new things keeps us sharp.  Knowledge is power.

There are so many wondrous things in the world, and now is a great time to commit to learning something new. Two goals for me for the Fall are learning how to knit and how to meditate (though certainly not at the same time), plus 5 books recommended to me by people I respect.  Goals are only dreams until you put them into action, though, so to make my goals happen, I have found out when a local knitting shop has drop-in lessons, and I’ve tracked down a book that offers a 30 day approach to learning to meditate and one of the recommended books.  The ideas are limitless, and you don’t have to sign up for a class – your local library and the Internet have information on everything under the sun (and I know a really nice organizer who offers classes all over the South Side if you want to learn about organizing!). So pick a topic and get to work!

Embrace Back-To-School time whether you are going back or not.  Determine the 5 or 10 simple tasks you need to do morning and evening to make your life run smoothly, and make those tasks Routine by doing them every day.  Check the stores and on-line for problem-solving devices.  And get out there and learn something new!

Step Outside Your Head: Stop Wondering, Wallowing and Worrying!

Have you ever noticed?  Some days, we can be energized and powerful in the face of daunting circumstances, and other times be overwhelmed by the tiniest set-back.  Our state of mind rules our reactions.

I am not a mental-health professional!  I am writing this from a time management perspective – negative ways of thinking are terrible time wasters.   Wallowing, Wondering and Worry waste time and energy with little gain.  I’ll let you do a little bit of each, then it’s time to move on.

I spend a lot of time inside my own head.  I laughingly tell people I have a rich inner life, to match my rich outer life!  What I am really saying is that I’m always thinking, and usually over-thinking.  Luckily, I am also always acting, and moving forward, and I ask you to find ways to do the same, regardless of your state of mind!  Here’s how:

Wondering:

I like to know how things work, where roads go, what makes people tick.  Some folks wonder about things, though, and never take that wondering any further than their own mind.  No resolution, wasting vital time and energy in wondering instead of discovering.  I wonder… what happened to that old high school friend; if I should set up an LLC or a corporation; if I’m just tired or if there is something bigger wrong… I wonder….

So, I wonder… what to do about wondering.  Some wondering is great, that’s where great ideas come from.  But we can wonder for ages without ever trying to solve the puzzle.  GO!  and look for the answers.  Be adventurous, ask the experts, search the internet, phone a friend.  You know smart people, ask them!  My boys and I are self guided learners, we look up topics on the internet all the time.  There’s also a dictionary, pocket thesaurus and small encyclopedia in the kitchen desk, to look up the big words I like to toss around.  It’s a great practice.

I have been wondering about how to re-word my professional bio for a new website.  I wonder how other people perceive me and my business… then I realized a number of you have sent me testimonials about my business (asked experts and phoned a friend), so I am going to read those to form my new bio.  Thanks for being my experts!

Wallowing:

We humans feel things strongly and can feel very sad and upset about things.  What you feel is real, and I respect you and your feelings.  But as in all things, there must be limits.

Son #2 feels things very strongly and was recently wallowing after some long-distance friends left.  But as his mom, I let him wallow for a while (we all need to), and then I helped him cope by turning the sadness to something good, thinking about positive ways to keep in touch with the long-distance friends (email, videos on his new camera, texting when he gets his cell phone next month, etc.).  We moved past wallowing by creating hope.

Set a timer, go ahead and wallow, then write down your sadness.  Read it out loud, then turn the page, and write down 3 actions you can take to make it better.  Then go do one.  Make a conscious decision to make the sad things better.  And yes, you can make things better.

Worrying:

How does the saying go?  “95% of what we worry about never comes to pass” or something like that?  We spend so much time and energy needlessly worrying, time and energy we could use to actually work on the problems instead.  I am a pro at worrying, but I also know when to act.  The answers for how to not get stuck Worrying are the same as for wallowing and wondering.

Ask for help.  Ask the experts.  Pray (God is the ultimate expert!!).  And put limits on your Worrying.  One suggestion is to sit down, set a timer and actually worry for a set amount of time, like 20 or 30 minutes about whatever is bothering you.  If that works for you, great.  I prefer less time sitting and more time planning and acting.  So, again, set a timer, write it down, write down three actions to take to make it better and do one right now.  My dad used to say “Do something, even if it’s wrong”, and I now recognize the wisdom in the statement.  These negative mind sets lock us in our own heads, and we require a change, a movement, an action of some type to break free.

So, if you are stuck in your head this week wondering, wallowing or worrying, take a break, step outside your head, talk to people and take action.  Do SOMETHING!

Never Be Late Again!

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Every organizing challenge we face requires time management to conquer it.  Improving time management skills creates good habits for using your time, either to add to current skills or replace old bad habits.   These four ideas will help create good time management habits and make life run more smoothly.


1. Did you know?  Americans waste 9 million hours total per day searching for misplaced items, according to the American Demographics Society.  That breaks down to each of us wasting an average of 55 minutes a day, roughly 12 weeks a year, looking for things we know we own but can’t find, according to a Boston Marketing firm (statistics from the NAPO.net website).


To Never Be Late Again, stop wasting time searching for stuff!  Establish a home for the important items that you CAN NOT leave home without, like cell phone or car keys, and commit to keeping them there while at home and at work. Invest in a bowl, make it pretty if you’d like, make it the same at home and on your desk, if  that helps you, and make it a habit to put your important items there every time you arrive home or to the office.  This will speed the leaving process and eliminate hours of searching.


2. Prepare to leave again as soon as you arrive home.  I re-load my briefcase with supplies at the end of every day when I am more likely to remember what I need, instead of waiting until tomorrow.  This idea works for personal lives, too – for example, we used to re-pack the diaper bag for the sitter as soon as we got home from work.   Create a check list, like “6 clean diapers, lots of wipes, 2 or 3 clean outfits, etc.”


Consider ambulance drivers and fire fighters.  They clean up and reload their rig after every call. Life is not an emergency, but it’s easier to be flexible when we know we’re prepared.


3. My next suggestion is what I call “next step-ping”.  I work through this process with clients –  today, look at tomorrow’s schedule and plan ahead now instead of reacting tomorrow.   Perhaps on tomorrow’s schedule I see a PTA meeting, a tennis lesson, then 2 clients back to back.  So tonight I leave my PTA notebook, my tennis bag and clean clothes and my briefcase by the back door to make tomorrow morning better.


I do this with my kids, too.  We look at today, starting with Now! and move forward: Eat breakfast, get bags to back door, review assignments, make sure lunch is in backpack, consider after-school extracurriculars, take something out of the freezer for dinner, etc.  We might even think about tomorrow, to avoid last-minute emergencies.


4. Finally, to Never Be Late Again, we need to understand and embrace the difference between Load Time and Leave Time (Confessions of a Tardy Mom, Parenting 2009).  Sometimes our time management issues are our own, and sometimes they are created by others, but most often they are both.  Over the weekend, I was talking to a professor friend.  I was pondering this presentation, and we chatted about time management.  She admitted she’s late to her own classes because she can’t make it down the hallway without being stopped.  So, other people interrupt her, which is their issue, but she allows the interruption to make her late, which is her issue.

     Let’s say a meeting is set for 10 am and is 5 minutes away.  In a perfect world, we could leave at 9:55 and arrive on time, but – alas – we do not live in a perfect world.  Load Time is rarely Leave Time.

     To Never Be Late Again, we have to start factoring in that extra 5 minute cushion to respect our time and the time of everyone else around us.  Personally, I need to realize one child will always have to run back in the house for something before we head to school.  Professionally, we have to realize that if the meeting starts at 10, we really need to arrive by 9:50 to network and prepare, instead of arriving at 10 and interrupting everyone else.

     Using my friend’s story as an example, if you, too, have a difficult time getting to a meeting on time, set the alarm clock on your cell phone to chime warnings at 10 minutes, 5 minutes and 2 minutes to class time, providing a way to break out of unsolicited conversations in the hallway.

             I can’t guarantee that you will Never Be Late Again, but trying one or more of these ideas will certainly help!  Give them a try, and let me know what you tried and what worked for you!