Category: Organized Family

College First-Aid Kit and Skills To Go With It

I’m writing this with two specific young adults in mind. And all of our our college students. And, well, the rest of us, too.

I had a conversation recently with a friend regarding the difference between “health and wellness” and “medical” issues. Sometime when I am working on paper management with clients, they lump articles regarding yoga with their lab results from a year ago into the same file and category. And while both are important to overall wellness, they really should be considered two different areas.

Let’s start out talking about Wellness. The best strategies for overall wellness, for all of us, are to eat well, exercise, stay hydrated and get adequate sleep.

In addition to managing their wellness, however, some college students have chronic health challenges that they also manage while in college that require daily monitoring and medication. Diabetes, ADHD, depression, anxiety and seizures are just a few. The habits around managing these challenges should be discussed and supported with your student.

Examples of physical support for chronic challenges might be a special dorm refrigerator to keep insulin refrigerated, local pharmacies or mail order pharmacies to maintain medication supplies, and providing a portable safe for the dorm room to protect medications.

Supports around habits and routines can look like timers and alarms to remind a student to take their medications, informing the university of chronic challenges, and establishing supportive parental protocols and troubleshooting solutions with your student to common problems before they head off to campus.

And, then there are minor (we hope) emergencies and illnesses that pop up for all of us, so please consider sending your student to college with a First Aid Kit. Since this might be the first time that your teen has been away from home, a good kit full of supplies is a great going back to school gift. Pack the basics, plus information on how to use the supplies and when to see someone at the campus health center.

What to Pack

First, figure out what it is you need to pack. Start with the basics for if your student has a cut, scrape or minor burn. Consider packing:

  • Adhesive bandages in all sizes.
  • Non-stick gauze – To cover larger wounds.
  • Adhesive tape – To help secure the gauze.
  • Antibiotic ointment – To prevent infections in a wound or minor burn.
  • Teach wound care basics, too: wash it, dry it, keep it dry. Alcohol stings and peroxide does not. And discuss when to seek medical attention (like if it continues to bleed, or the wound looks red and sore afterwards).

For sprains, strains and other similar injuries consider packing:

  • Elastic bandage – To wrap and provide compression for sprains and strains.
  • Ice pack – For when an injury first occurs.
  • Warm pack or heating pad – For bringing warmth and blood flow to an older injury.

When you need medication for a headache or heartburn, it’s nice to have some over-the-counter medications on hand and avoid a trip to the store. Pack:

  • Acetaminophen – Great for headaches and other aches and pains. Advise your college student not to use acetaminophen if he or she is going to be drinking alcohol. The combination of the two can cause liver damage. Alcohol and acetaminophen taken within a few hours of each other is a significant problem, but regular alcohol drinkers should avoid acetaminophen at any time.
  • Ibuprofen – Also great for headaches and particularly for pain from inflammation or swelling. Be aware that ibuprofen can be irritating to the stomach, so it’s still important for your college student to avoid alcohol when using this medication.
    • And, discuss when to use Acetaminophen and when to use Ibuprofen.
  • Antacids – With all of the new foods your teen will be experiencing, these are nice to have on hand.
  • Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) – Whether it’s an itchy bug bite or a stuffy nose from a friend’s dog, diphenhydramine is great for allergies of many kinds.
  • Other OTC allergy medication or cold medicine – some make us sleepy, some rev up our hearts. Read the instructions and be aware of what you taking.
  • Cough drops/sore throat lozenges – For minor throat pain, these can be great to soothe the irritation and scratchy feeling in the throat. (Honey has also been shown to calm a cough – but that might be messy in a first aid kit!)

Some other tools are great to have in a first aid kit. Think about packing:

  • Tweezers – From removing ticks to removing splinters, tweezers are essential in a first aid kit.
  • Thermometer – Your student might feel hot, but is it a fever? He or she won’t know without a thermometer. Get a regular oral digital thermometer, and make sure your teen knows how to use it.
  • Eye wash – If your teen gets something in his or her eye, like a chemical, dust or even irritating vapors, an eye wash is great to have on hand. Plain water can be used, but an eye wash is a nice extra. If eye wash is needed, though, a 911 call or trip to the emergency room is a good idea, or at least a follow-up visit to campus health services.

What to Pack It In

Now it is time to figure out what you will pack the supplies in. Any durable plastic box with a lid will do. Camping supply stores will often carry water-proof boxes that are used for camping. They are very sturdy and have a rubber gasket that will seal out any moisture. Because many first aid supplies can be ruined by water, these boxes are ideal. A clear box is also a good idea because it allows anyone to figure out what is in the box at a glance, in case of an emergency.

Don’t Forget a Few Extras

It is a great idea to include a card in the first aid kit that provides some basic health information about your student in the case of an emergency. Also, add the telephone numbers that your child might need. Information to include:

  • Insurance card – your student should carry this with them in their wallet all the time.
  • Telephone number for your child’s personal physician.
  • Campus health’s telephone number – When your teen has a fever, most times it isn’t practical to run home for care. Campus health has providers that specialize in college health and can manage many common illnesses.
  • Telephone number for your student’s health insurance – What doctor or specialist can your teen see when at school? Does your student need preauthorization for a medical procedure that is needed? Call the customer care telephone line and find out what the insurance will or will not cover.

College students should also have a few other things in the first aid kit or with them at school.

  • If your student has a chronic medical condition (seizures, diabetes, etc), he or she should have a medical alert bracelet or necklace. (There are even medical alert tattoos and thankfully that can’t be misplaced!)
  • Any personal medical information should be included on a card in your teen’s wallet and in the first aid box.
    • Personal medical information includes blood type, allergies to medicine, allergies to food or anything else that causes a severe reaction, physician’s name and office information, any medical conditions, medications taken on a regular basis, and emergency contact information (your name and any telephone numbers you could be reached at).

Packing up a few first aid essentials is a great gift for your teen. It’s also a reminder to always stay safe and a lesson in how to take care of problems while away from home. All that in one kit!

Packing Personality: Days Ahead or Last Minute?

There are many ways that people pack for trips or adventures or vacations. If you have ever traveled with at least one other person, you likely know there are options, and also that your ways are not necessarily other people’s ways.

Some folks pack weeks in advance, to make sure all the bases are covered. Some folks pack hours or even moments before they head out the door. Some of us are somewhere in between.

Some of us pack only the essentials and end up with just enough (we hope), and some of us like to pack extra because we like options.

Some of us pack meticulously with color coded packing cubes, check lists, shoe bags and a schedule per day. And for some, we’re lucky we have a matched pair of socks and a toothbrush.

Any of these ways can work for us, I am not here to judge as to which strategy you may choose to use.

Unless, of course, what you’re doing isn’t working for you.

I was chatting with a friend last week, and she shared that she never knew what she would find when she gets to her destination and opens her suitcase. She reports a major disconnect for her between the packing process and the actual traveling she does. Another friend says that the person who packs doesn’t always think of the person who is traveling (yet they are the same person!).

I personally use a blend of styles – there are some things that are always packed, or that I can set aside days before we leave. And there are some things that go in the suitcase in the last 5 minutes before we head out the door. That works for me.

Let’s face it, travel can sometimes be stressful. Even more troublesome is when we let the potential stress of packing and prep keep us from ever traveling or saying yes to adventures.

So, let’s explore options to make your packing work for you, regardless of your packing personality!

Let’s step a few steps back from the packing process to get started: Make sure you own the right clothes, and if you don’t, factor in shopping time. There are times when clients don’t own a swim suit or sturdy hiking shoes or an appropriate rain coat for an upcoming trip. We don’t need to ask why. But we do need to look ahead while planning, and make sure we aren’t buying a swim suit at the airport, or hiking trails in flip flops. And that takes planning. Identify the needs for your trip, check in on what you already own and fill in the gaps at least a few weeks before you leave.

Check the weather for your destination, both current and historical, for when you plan to be there. When you check the weather app today, it may be unseasonably cool / hot, so find out what is typical for your time of year at your destination. AND, still bring a rain coat and umbrella, and / or a few layering pieces for just-in-case.

Have favorites / go-to’s: For example, years ago, when working with a client, she called her typical summer outfit The Uniform. Discussing this further, she pointed out that most of the young moms and fellow nurses that she hung out with typically daily wore a neutral or solid short or skort paired with a colorful v-neck cotton t-shirt. And as we stood in her closet, both of us wearing The Uniform at that moment, I realized she was so right! What are your favorites? What is your Uniform?! Yep, pack that.

Use a packing list, if you’d like, and you can use that as a re-packing list, too, if that would help. When my kids were small, we had a little poster with pictures on it to help them pack. First, all ensembles were rolled up together because it makes life easier and takes up less space. On the poster were pictures of shorts / shirt / underwear / socks per day, with a couple of extras because things get spilled. One nice outfit for church, swim stuff, PJs, one hoodie, shoes. Guess what? This formula still works, even for grownups.

Relatedly, Pack With A Color Scheme: I was looking at a friend’s family photo taken at a Fourth of July family reunion. There were probably 50 or 60 people in the photo. Not everyone matched each other exactly, but everyone had on khaki bottoms and a red, white or blue top. Imagine for yourself what a color scheme would look like, and pack within in that color scheme so everything in your bag matches everything else. My favorite neutral is navy blue, so especially when I pack, I stick with clothes, shoes, etc., that work with navy.

Some final words about clothes – Your Clothes Are Not The Most Interesting Thing About You. I hope. Meaning, pack what you need to make your trip run smoothly, and cut yourself some slack. Similarly, remind yourself that most people you see while you are on vacation, other than the folks you are traveling with, don’t know you and will never see you again. So, to repeat, pack what you need to make your trip run smoothly, and cut yourself some slack.

Here are some of my favorite NOT- CLOTHES packing tips:

Have some things pre-packed / always packed like your toiletry bag, charger bag or cosmetics. A client asked me last week what type of travel bag I use for my cosmetics. I am not a complicated person, so the same small bag that holds my entire collection of cosmetics that lives in my medicine cabinet at home is the bag that goes with me as well, so it’s always ready to go. In addition, I always keep my travel toiletry bag stocked and ready to go. In addition, the charger bag for all of our tech is always packed and in my go-bag for work, so I just need to move it over to our travel bags when we travel.

Take everything out of your wallet and make a copy of both sides of each card, and your passport if you are traveling abroad. Leave the copies and your itinerary with your house-sitter, an adult child, a good friend or in an easy-to-find place at home, in case you have to call home for information.

Assign a home in your bags for your most important items; money, passports, car keys, cell phones and medications (e.g. always the same backpack pocket or the top left inside corner of your suitcase, etc.). You and your travel companions should know where these vital items are at all times.

If you’re traveling by car this summer, keep swimsuits and towels in a separate, ventilated and easy to reach bag, so everyone can get to the pool or lake quickly, and suits and towels have a better chance to dry fully between swims.

I hope these ideas help you out with packing for your next adventures!

Re-Entry After Travel: Bumps in the Road

Let’s call this one Re-Entry 2.0, or “Things to do your first 24 hours home!“

We traveled the last week of May for a family wedding in Baltimore.

In the interest of getting the Midwest grandparents (4) to the East Coast wedding, last Fall we rented a 15 passenger van for the event. This was my husband’s idea and it was brilliant. He and I took turns driving on the 11-ish hour trip to and from Baltimore. Seriously, he is brilliant. He even downloaded to his phone the top 100 songs from 1963 as a road-trip soundtrack. Our passengers were happy.

Here is a picture of the bus, or officially, the “Bus (NotSchoolBus)”. I’m calling it a “Bus (NotSchoolBus)” because that is the category type listed for it on the Safety Compliance Certification Label, a.k.a., the door jamb label.

Here's a shot of me and my co-pilot somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Me and my co-pilot (my son) somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was great! I am so happy for my niece and my new nephew. They are delightful people who deserve every good thing in life. I love the rest of my family, too. There were good times and great memories made. For the most part, every bit of planning yielded the expected and desired results. Lots of laughs, some Euchre (IFKYK), lots of food, adventures, ice cream, hiking and hanging out and of course the wedding!

AND there were a few snags. I will not go into details, but I will say that everyone is fine and now home. However, after two ambulance rides and ER visits, the Courtyard by Marriott Baltimore BWI may never let our family stay there again. Ever. And I don’t really blame them for that.

There were many uncertainties as we returned and some concern that we may have to adjust our travels or even travel back to Baltimore. And because of all the extra unexpected pieces, being intentional about re-entry was more important than ever. Here are suggestions to help you tackle Re-Entry and also set yourself up to succeed and even to travel again!

A cloudy and choppy day in Annapolis, MD

Unpack the car.

All the way. Yes, all the way. This is our usual practice, but it became necessary and not optional because we had to return the bus to the rental company. Everything had to come out of the bus, all luggage, all rubbish was disposed of, etc.

We also might take the car to the carwash and give it a vacuum, if we had traveled in our own car.

Unpack the bags.

All of them. YES, all of them.

You don’t want to wait and find a neglected apple or granola bar in your hiking backpack a few weeks down the road. Or dirty clothes or shoes, etc. Unpack the bags.

I was reminded of how important this step is when I found my mom’s handicap parking hangtag in one of our bags. Did I mention? My family lives in Michigan, and I live in Chicago. Thankfully I found the hangtag right away and it was out via UPS overnight delivery first thing the next morning.

Multiple loads of laundry were started and completed, and the dressier items like suits and dresses were taken to the cleaners.

Put the bags away.

Yes AWAY. All the bags. You could argue that if I was worried that I might have to travel again for an emergency, perhaps it would make sense to leave a suitcase out. And as an organizer, I will say – unless you know you have a trip planned, it never makes sense to leave a suitcase out. Working with so many clients over the years, very often I will walk into a closet or bedroom or basement storage space or garage, and one of the first things we do to make improvements is to put away the luggage that never made it back to its storage space. Such an obvious solution. Take the few extra minutes and put the bags away.

Toiletries: Re-fill and repack, order extras.

I know I have spoken about this step before, in podcasts last Spring and Summer. It was even more important that I re-filled and re-packed my supplies this week, though, in case I need to travel again soon.

Recharge stuff.

I have a power bank that lives in my travel tech bag, and I used it on our adventure. Not knowing what this week might bring, I made sure to re-charge it. I charged my portable keyboard for my IPad for the same reason. My daily habit, travel or not, is to recharge my phone, AirPods, Apple watch and IPad at night so those are good to go whenever.

Buy groceries.

We needed to restock A LOT of items when we got back from our adventures, and I knew that was a necessity even before we left. I planned a trip to Costco for our first day back and I let Costco do the cooking this week (I’m looking at you, rotisserie chicken, stuffed peppers and backed chicken alfredo). Later that day, I placed the Jewel grocery order for all the stuff I don’t buy at Costco. Within 24 hours of arriving home, the cabinets and fridge were back to normal levels.

So this next step is where the Re-Entry 2.0 comes in.

We were gone for 6 days! And it was awesome! As I described in a text today, “Weekend was mostly amazing, with just a few snags”. I can unpack, repack and re-stock. I can re-charge actual batteries.

But… I also need to re-charge metaphorical batteries.

With the few snags, I actually asked for flexibility and grace via email and texts when people needed something from me this week. I don’t usually feel the need to explain myself or excuse a delay, but this week was not a typical week for lots of reasons.

I restocked groceries, purchased prepared foods and I didn’t expect myself or anyone else to cook. I slept. I was very tired. At writing time, I still am. These last few days, I gave up trying to stay up when my brain and body said ‘enough’. I re-committed to most of my healthy habits: hydrated, returned to exercising, healthier food options, etc.. And, I set myself up to succeed in case I was called away out of town again.

Now… I just need to tackle the rest of the to-do list! But that is another episode for another day!

“Better than Expected”.

How should I take this statement? “This was better than I expected.”

I feel like I need to talk about this. And I just have to laugh. I had two in-person clients recently who were new to me and to the organizing process. I met a new client this week who is an amazing person. My clients are so cool. I get to meet such great people. This new client is a good human being doing such good things.

I also worked with a new client last week, that particular client is the daughter of an existing client and wanted me to help her with a project.

Two different clients, two different days, two completely different projects. And they both said “This was better than I expected.”

This week’s client had questions about productivity, time management and routines. That is my jam. I love that.

Last week’s client needed in-person organizing of things. She needed help with closets and organizing, with getting her closet organized around her new job and getting ready in the morning in professional clothes. Routines, too, but mostly the physical structure around getting her clothes organized. That was awesome. Such a satisfying project.

And, as I always do, I checked in with my clients as our appointments progressed. We check in around the agenda for the day, the scope of work, their expectations and how they feel we are doing.

Each of them said “Wow, this is not what I expected at all.”

Obviously, my next question always then is,

“Okay, well, is that good or bad?” and then

“What were your expectations, that this is not what you expected?”,

Yes, I do have questions ready to ask when my clients tell me these things, because they are not the first to say it nor will they be the last. Thankfully, they said, and most do, “No, in a good way, as in ‘This is going much better than I expected.'”

Thank goodness.

They meant: it was going well, they were excited about the process and they were really happy with the work that we had accomplished.

I want to acknowledge that even though apparently they were expecting the process to be rough, they still were willing to take the leap and make the appointment. I want to appreciate that they were brave and that even though they thought it might be hard, they were still committed enough to making change and to the process that they wanted to do it anyway. That is major. They could have just not wanted to do that but they stuck with it. I really respect that they were willing to make that happen even though that apparently they thought it was going to be torture.

I would like to dispel some myths around working with a professional organizer or organizational coach.

Myth #1, I will come in and take over the plan.

I will not, I promise. I tell my organizing and coaching clients, “the agenda is your agenda”. The agenda for our appointments is created by my client with my input around what my clients want to create, what my clients want to see happen. The agenda is your agenda.

For example, let’s imagine that you call me and say, “I want to get organized. I want to organize my closets. I want to maximize the storage space in the closet that I have so that I can find the clothes that I need for getting dressed for work in the morning better.” Great. And I’m not going to come in and say, “you called me and want to work in your closet, but now that I am here, I want to organize your kitchen”.

The agenda is your agenda. Keep in mind, we can adjust the agenda if you’d like, but that is also up to you. Sometimes when we’re making good progress, you may say “I’d like to pause this project and get your opinion on these other two spaces in my house before you go.” And we can do that. But you are still creating the agenda. I’m not there to make you do anything you don’t want to do.

Myth #1.5, If you are unclear on your goals, I am going to tell you what to do.

I see this as related to the first myth, and I assure you, we can figure this out together, too.

Perhaps you know you want to get organized, but you don’t know where to start or which projects are most important, etc. And we can figure out that together, too.

Myth #2, You will be judged or shamed for any disorganization.

No, you will not. I promise you. You are awesome. You have many strengths and skills. And I am betting you are more organized than you think. Most of my clients are more organized than they realize.

And if you’re not, that’s ok, too. I am organized, and I am here to help. I’ve heard from many of my clients over the years that they have been shamed or judged for being disorganized. Hear me now, I’m not going to shame you and neither should any other organizer or coach. There is no shame, there’s no judgment. I don’t expect everyone’s space to be organized. If it were, why would you need an organizer?!

What does happen is active listening, which is not judgment. If you’re calling an organizer or a coach, you are hoping to change your situation or environment. That is not judging, that is hearing what you’re saying. And that how your situation currently is not how you want it to be. That you want it to be different, and we work together to make it different. I can help you, and I have dozens of ideas to help. I’m not going to shame you, there is no judgment. I’m not going to yell, shake my finger or turn around and walk away.

Myth #3, “I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t know where to start.”

Well, this might not be a myth, you really might be overwhelmed. But I am not. And I will help us figure out where to start.

Myth #4: “You’re going to make me get rid of everything.”

I hear this one ALL THE TIME. At organizing appointments, at presentations – ALL THE TIME.

My goal is not to make you get rid of things. That may be an outcome, but that is not the broad goal.

Very often the “getting organized” conversation requires that we change things, right? If the current situation isn’t working, then yes, we need to change.

And, at times, that means we have to purge things completely from our home. And sometimes it means our things need to go elsewhere in our home.

For example, last week when I was working with my client on her closet, I didn’t make her get rid of anything. She had already decided that a few things didn’t work for her anymore, style wise, and we set those aside to donate. But for the majority of our time together, we discussed that with the limited space she had for her current clothes, she could separate her clothes by seasons and put the wintry clothes into storage until Fall. She didn’t get rid of it, we just stored it differently.

There were also some seasonal items like Halloween costumes and Christmas pajamas, so we put those away until Fall, too. The few items that left were her idea. Sometimes purging is part of the solution and sometime it is not, and that will be up to you.

Not a Myth, #5: I understand that calling an organizer or a coach is a leap of faith. To let a stranger into your home and your life is a really big deal. I, and any good organizer or coach, is going to go to great lengths to make you comfortable. I respect your brave decision.

Not a Myth, #6: There might be homework. In coaching, there almost always is, even if it is just processing the learning we gain during our sessions. There’s no mandatory homework. There might be things that you and I agree would be really great ways to move you forward, and we can agree that you will accomplish them, for example, in the two weeks before our next appointment so that we can keep making progress. But that is agreed upon, mutually respectfully. Logically, in terms of what you want to accomplish in the timeframe in which you want to accomplish it. Back to the beginning, “the agenda is your agenda”, right?

To recap,

Whatever it is people expect to have happen, more often than not, I hear a “Wow, that went way better” or “that was more fun that I expected” or “this was the first time someone didn’t yell at me about organizing” or “we got so much done in our time together!”.

Thankfully, that’s what I get more than anything is that the session went way differently, but way better than I had expected.

Please ask questions. Let me know what your preconceived notions are so we can talk about them. If you have fears of any kind, reach out and we can talk them through. Don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from taking the leap and making your life better. Organizing and organizational coaching isn’t painful. It is work, to do and be and get better, but it will most likely go better than expected!

May Asks A Lot Of Us

Tell me if it’s just me, because hey – maybe it is. But the month of May asks a lot of us, doesn’t it?

May has a crazy-busy event schedule. I don’t happen to have anybody graduating from anything this year, or any other major life events for my sons this year.  I understand, though, for those who do! We were reflecting over the weekend that two years ago this week, in a 9 day span, the Klimczak household had an engagement in Michigan, a college graduation in Indiana and a high school graduation in Illinois with all of the assorted extra events attached with those as well.  Oh, and a round of Covid, and two sons started new jobs.

May is just busy.  I was talking to an accountability partner on our bi-weekly call last week and she mentioned, aptly, that the pace is wearing on her.  Yes, I would agree.

May asks a lot of us. Even just the typical stuff.

My body clock is shifting from hibernation mode to active mode.  It’s brighter earlier and energy has returned. If anybody has seasonal affective disorder, you know what I mean.

Brightness has returned. We are up earlier and out later in the evening because it’s still daylight.  The biological shift to be out and about and do more things is a real thing.

Days are longer, temperatures are warmer. I planted a container garden so I need to switch my habits this time of year to factor in watering my plants every day.

I also shifted my routine to add daily walking into the schedule first thing since it’s bright earlier.

Energy shifts. Routines shift.

Last week, while I was starting to work on this content, I was driving to pick up my college student son from campus to move him home until August.  I was saying to a friend that even though it is only 56 degrees and cloudy today, it is the beginning of our summer.

It is that shift to summer for us because John moved home and this is his summer break. Like I said, it might not look like summer, but it’s our summer because John is home for summer break and the household and routines shift.

And there is the end-of-the-year school year extravaganzas. I had the opportunity to address the National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony at Central Middle School last week. What a great group of kids. I’m telling you, all those parents and all those kids should be so proud.  End of the school year concerts, graduations, ceremonies. And then the weddings, graduation parties, etc.

Yes, the schedule is revving up. We have a wedding in our family the end of May in Baltimore, and that is a really big deal!

May is often a month of transitions, so it doesn’t surprise me that historically May is “Revise your Work Schedule” Month. 

We change our schedule for biological reasons, in response to the seasons and shifts in daylight. We change our schedules around our different roles in our lives.

I don’t have children in elementary school or high school anymore. But because of my board of education work, I am still attached to the academic schedule. Our last day of classes is the first week in June.

So, let’s take a look at how to manage all of this.

The first step is the awareness that it’s happening. Awareness that it’s “That Time of Year”. Awareness that, thankfully, things are also wrapping up at the same times that other things are getting started. When my kids were younger, we would add in Spring and Summer sports to the calendar and then school year responsibilities would slowly taper off.  Maybe you have responsibilities that only happen in the winter. Many groups and meetings take summer breaks. My choir at church breaks for the summer. Responsibilities shift, and in some ways, the load is lightened, which is nice.

Awareness. Awareness. Awareness. Identify if it’s happening, and that it is happening to you. Take this as an opportunity to make changes if you’d like. 

Since culturally and biologically things are shifting anyway, you could also take advantage of this as an opportunity to choose to make some shifts for yourself. And so how do we do that? How do we make those shifts?

Start with awareness.

In my call last week with my accountability partner, she mentioned that writing up the report for our call helped her review what she had accomplished in the last two weeks and also what she hopes to accomplish in the next two weeks. That is how our sessions work.

Our accountability calls was a good way for her to get her thoughts out of her brain and on to paper (or in an email) where she could put them in order for herself.

I mentioned the same to her, that the wall full of post-it notes that had been next to me, as a product of a very professional busy couple of last couple of weeks, have been taken down as the tasks have been completed, and the wall is now clear.

As I said, awareness that it’s happening. And what to do about it.

Grab a calendar, paper or digital.  In my accountability call, I stated I would pull out a paper calendar so I can visualize the next three months. I will map out when we travel in the next three months. For the wedding, for a week in Michigan, taking my son back to college, concerts and other scheduled events. Putting the big boulders on the calendar and making sure that the big stuff gets taken care of helps us determine what we else we can say yes to and what we can’t.

Also, grabbing that calendar and the to do list and getting all of the ideas out of our brains and into a usable form really helps. Yes, now is the time. So I’m saying that out loud for you and for me.

Then look at the tasks attached to transitions.  I spoke to graduating 8th graders and their parents, right? They are heading off to high school in a few short months, and these kinds of transitions have other tasks and steps attached to them.  The book list – perhaps summer reading? The supply list. What do we need, clothing-wise? Sports physicals and Fall sports training that starts on August 1?  What do we need to do to start to embrace the new calendar or schedule? What are the things that we can do now to get us better ready for that transition in the fall? Plotting those on the calendar is super important.

These are all important things to think about, and they’re kind of the next natural progression of these major lifestyle shifts now.

We should be busy enjoying the successful ends of some things, but remembering that with the ending of one thing often comes the beginning of something else.

My son moved home for the summer after a really great semester, but in August he will move into an apartment and we will need to do some planning now for that then. We have to start looking at what does he need to be more independent when he moves into his apartment in August. And that is not a question to ask in August. That’s a question to ask now, or as soon as possible.

At least when your mom’s an organizer, I guess it is. Just some things to think about!

To recap:

  • Be aware that transitions are happening.
  • Make some decisions for yourself about how you want things to go.
  • Grab a calendar and look forward to the next 3 months-ish.
  • Grab that to-do list and make some notes and plans to make the transitions go more smoothly, and also to set yourself up to succeed when transitions come again.

I’m wishing you a great May, a great start of summer.

I hope you take time to celebrate events and milestones, that you take time to plan some relaxing times for the next few months.  Transitions are inevitable, but how can we embrace them and act on them and take an active and intentional hand in crafting them so they don’t just happen to us. They are things that we make happen in the way that we want to make them happen. And I hope that with a little planning now, you can embrace the transitions and the adjusted schedule for summer with as much ease and joy as possible.

“My Tree Has Leaves!” What Do You Need, To Thrive?

“My tree has leaves!”

I stood in my dining room this morning and exclaimed this excitedly out loud to absolutely no one.

I was drinking my coffee and gazing out my newly washed (over the weekend) front windows and admiring the sunshine and realized my new little tree has leaves! This is noteworthy, trust me.

You see, we had a tree in front of our house for many years. He was so beautiful in the Fall that people would stop and ask if they could pick up some of his leaves because they were so brilliantly colored.

And then, after one of those years with blight or borers, he wasn’t doing so well. We did what we could to help him out for a few years, fertilizer and extra water, etc., but his days were numbered, and eventually our village’s arborist said the tree needed to go before the tree hurt someone or someone’s car if he fell over, or infected other trees.

So we had the tree cut down. We liked having a tree in the front yard, though, so the next Spring we had another tree planted. This new tree had two seasons to thrive, but he never did. The second season, I think he had one leaf. Just one. Sadly, he, too, had to go.

We were assured that our yard and the placement and the type of tree were not the problems, that more likely that particular sapling wasn’t healthy. Fast forward to last Fall when we had another tree installed. Hope springs eternal, right? And since he was installed in the Fall after leaves fell, we had no way of knowing if he was healthy or not. But he is! And now that Spring is here, he has leaves! Now you know why I was rejoicing!

I heard a statement many months ago and it has stuck with me. It was a Facebook reel or tik-tok, and I don’t remember who said it, so if you know and can tell me, I will cite it appropriately. Here’s the quote – “Seeds aren’t lazy and neither are you.”

Meaning, if a seed doesn’t grow, we don’t say the seed is lazy. No one tells the seeds they are lazy. And if you aren’t flourishing, it’s probably not because you’re lazy. Seeds aren’t lazy and neither are you.

What is more likely is that the seed and you don’t have what is needed to thrive.

Like my original tree or my first little sapling. After my original tree was weakened, we tried to support him but he was too far gone. And my first little sapling – well, I have no idea why he didn’t thrive but we were assured that the environment we provided would support a sapling, just not that one apparently.

We can ask what a tree needs – a hospitable environment, the right climate, sunshine, water, opportunity. And patience. And then we step back and let it grow.

Sometimes, a plant can receive too much care. Yes, that is a possibility. Metaphorically and actually.

A couple summers ago, I had what I thought were fruit flies. Except – we don’t leave fruit or any other food out on the counter. And the fruit fly solutions according to the internet, like vinegar and dish soap in a jar or the cool ultraviolet fan thing I bought on Amazon, did not work. And the fruit flies were on my houseplants. So after a little more googling, I determined that the reason the anti-fruit fly solutions weren’t working was because what I thought were fruit flies were fungus gnats. Which I feel sound monumentally more disgusting. But, I digress.

The solution to the fungus gnats, by the way, was to water my plants less and also use a peppermint spray from Amazon that cleared up the gnats in a week. It turns out, you CAN care too much. I was apparently overwatering. I cared a little too much.

Taking the metaphorical leap, often we need to adjust our supports or environment to help us grow. Sometimes we don’t have what we need to thrive, either not enough or too much! And sometimes we just aren’t in the right situation.

Awareness. Awareness. Awareness.

For us to flourish, we may need to take a moment or some time to review where we are, what we need, what we don’t need, and how we will know we are flourishing. But what do we do with that statement? I always want to recommend actionable steps that we can apply this week, or whatever week you are listening to this episode!

Sticking with the plant theme, I will share that I am a joyous but indifferent gardener. I love to plant veggies and herbs and to care for them outside in the summer. I like the “getting my hands in the dirt” and “puttering in the garden” parts of gardening, they are fun and relaxing to me. I also love the “using fresh veggies and herbs from the garden in my cooking” part, I find that fun, too, and it supports my desire to eat healthy and well.

It seems that in my garden and in life, we can walk through the process for a better yield, whether that is tomatoes or priorities or productivity or whatever it is we’re looking to improve! And as I write this article, I realized that last week’s PACT goals article could have been all about gardening, too – the process and not a once-and-done event!

To review, PACT goals stand for: Purpose; Action; Continuous; and Trackable.

Let’s start with our Purpose. For example, I can say “I want to be a better gardener.” And in this example, “better” means more yield per plants.

Next, I need to determine my Actions. I can educate myself by talking to other gardeners (who actually know what they are doing!), reading books or reading up on-line. Once I know more, I could choose to plant dozens of types of vegetables this summer and hope that some of them work out. OR, I could narrow in on fewer types of vegetables and get better at those specifically. Given my small back yard, I will choose to focus on a few types of vegetables and get better at those specifically. For example, I love growing (and eating!) tomatoes but my plants didn’t produce much of anything last year. So I need to learn and take new actions!

Once I know more, I can decide and then act to water more often or less, provide more sun or less, more or less pruning, etc. I can pay attention to what other inputs or supports I can use to improve my outputs. I always use physical supports like a tomato cage, because sometimes we all need more support!

Continuous care is required for plant success. Once I know what actions to take, I need to be consistent with taking them! I will add morning gardening into my summer morning routine, to water and tend. And I will be ready to observe and adjust my regular activities, too, based on progress. And I can track the progress, like plant height, growth, number of flowers (that will turn into tomatoes later), and yield at the end of the season, to learn from the process.

Well-intentioned care, not too much and not too little, and a supportive environment will help my little sapling and my garden grow this summer. Goal setting, and PACT goals specifically, can help us flourish by determining the right supports for us and what we want to achieve, the routine and habits around implementing those supports, and how to make adjustments to be successful.

I took a walk last evening, and I noticed the two trees in front of a neighbors house have the same red-brown leaves my little leafy sapling has (I believe he is a maple). These two trees tall and full and gracious, sharing their shade and beauty with the neighborhood. That is what I want for my little tree and, metaphorically, what I want for you as well. Have a great week!

How To Get Back On Track

When naming this article and episode, I tried Catawampus – as in, “when it all goes catawampus”, but my SEO score on my blog did not think that was a good idea. Noted.

I was a guest on the EP podcast episode that dropped last Tuesday, March 12.

We recorded on Monday, March 11th because that is the day I record my episode, too. And I was a guest on the EP Podcast because Chris, my producer, had a family emergency over the weekend with his 18 year old daughter. And she’s fine. Healing well.

And everybody’s fine in my house too. Everybody’s okay. We’ll start with that.

But we talked through, first of all, the situation and that it was crazy for them, I know. And then the question he asked me was, “After the fact, what do you do to pick up the pieces?” You’ve been through this dramatic and potentially traumatic situation and what do you do to get back on track?

In his situation, he has children other than the post-surgical one to take care of. He needs to take care of his daughter while she recovers. Anything he had planned for that day and also for the days to follow obviously just went out the window because, well, that’s what the situation required.

We’re going to do it because it needs done and we’re going to do it because our kids win and because we love them. And guys, I really do love you. So if you’re listening – well, I don’t think my kids listen to my podcast, but some of their friends do. And then we pick up the pieces and get back to normal, get back to work.

Here’s the twist. We recorded at noon on Monday because we usually record at noon on Mondays. We have systems for these things and everything else. I’m still like a week behind. I’d like to get back on track with that personally. That is a leftover from my recent surgery.

My college age son was home for his Spring Break and there was an incident and he lost consciousness in the kitchen. I’ll leave it at that. It was scary. He ended up going to the ER in an ambulance. So, a shout out to the Evergreen Park Fire Department, the EMTs when we called 911 were awesome and competent and kind. They took care of business, they took care of my son, they loaded him up and we went to the hospital.

One thing Chris mentioned on his episode was that his 18 year old was still eligible for the pediatric ER, and if you have to choose, the pediatric ER is a better place for a young person than the regular ER. And I found it surreal that, within 8 hours of having that conversation with him, I found myself in the front seat of an ambulance while they unloaded my 19 year old in the ambulance bay next to the door labeled Pediatric ER at Christ Hospital.

Never, in no imagination of my day could I have foreseen that I would be confirming that information from him within 8 hours of recording that episode. But there we were. And to repeat, he’s fine. My son’s fine. And I have his permission to write about and talk about this. He’s ok.

Let me make the rest of this very long story short. We were there for 24 more hours. We arrived around 7:30 pm Monday. They ran tests and started the admission process at 11 pm. He was finally discharged from the ER at 08:00 pm on Tuesday night, they had not yet found him a bed in 24 hours

When you’re in the ER, you gain perspective. Obviously, other people were having a much worse time of life than we were. My son’s ok.

Simple things. My son was in the ER but he had a room with doors. A lot of people didn’t. He didn’t have a bathroom or a shower, and I didn’t sleep at all because the room is not set up with a chair for a non-patient to sleep in. I never pulled an all-nighter in college, that didn’t happen until I was a parent!

We had family and friends texting and checking in on us, with offers of support and assistance if we needed anything. I am so grateful. And I’m grateful for Greg, my husband, so that we could tag team and I could go home for a few hours of sleep when he came back first thing Tuesday morning because we didn’t want to miss any of the doctors in consultation, etc.

But as Chris mentioned, once the dust settles, right, after all this happens, then what? When you look around your house and you realize that all of the routines that you normally have that support your life were completely abandoned, for a few days. Where do you start? Where?

I’ve talked about emergencies recently. I had a recent surgery as well. Five weeks ago I had surgery on my nose. It was planned. It was February 13, but I had known about it since the end of November. It wasn’t news. It ended up being more complex, more invasive, and I had a lot more downtime and a lot more healing that I needed to do. That was news, but the schedule was already cleared, I had no expectations of myself already. It wasn’t an emergency, it was a hassle. I won’t say it was fun. I’m still not done healing. I still have swelling and follow up appointments. It’s not don, but for the most part, I’m good to go.

But trips to the ER, for your daughter and her appendix, for my son in the ER for 24 hours and a lot of diagnostics to determine what’s going on and what to follow up on. Those are emergencies. They both have had good outcomes so far. I know it could be worse. Oh, my God, do I know it could be worse.

Once the emergency has passed, now what? What do we do to get back on track?

I came home at 830 Tuesday morning after tagging my husband out at the hospital, having not slept for 27 hours. I set up my phone and apple watch to charge, took a shower, brushed my teeth, had a really big glass of water and slept for 2 hours. Then I got up and I made sure things were taken care of, sent a few emails, took a shower, got dressed, grabbed a protein shake for the road and headed back up to the hospital.

On Tuesday night, when we were finally discharged, we asked the question again.

First things first: We’re headed home, do we need to eat? We can pick up something on the way.
All right, I’m going to drop you guys off, and go to the pharmacy for my son’s prescriptions.

Anything we need grocery wise? No? Okay. We just had people over, so we have a full fridge of food.

Everybody was comfortable and happy.

Next, Laundry. Unpack the bag from the hospital Yes, let’s start a load of laundry.

Next, let’s make sure maintenance has been occurring. Load the dishwasher, bring in the mail, make sure that there’s no packages out front.

None of this new. I think that was the point that I made when I talked to with Chris on his podcast. We don’t do new stuff. We take a minute and remember what our routines are. And routines are there to help us make sure that our needs are being consistently met. That’s what routines do for us. And so first things first, we’re to check in on the needs. Needs are food, clothing, shelter, safety, warmth. Right? Basic bottom level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Check in on those, make sure that all of those are functioning. Food, clothing, shelter, safety, warmth. Once we take care of those needs, then we can move up the list.

Now, when we got home from the hospital, finally, it was after 08:00 on Tuesday night after very little sleep. At that point, another need, very rapidly was becoming sleep. I could have tried to do more, but it wouldn’t have worked. Sleep is also a need, and that was the answer. Meeting needs consistently so that everybody can continue to function in survival. I’d love to get into optimal thriving mode. But first things first is survival. Food, clothing, shelter, safety, warmth, right? I mean, that’s where we got to start.

So, when in doubt, that’s where we spend our first hours of attention, is making sure that those needs are met for the moment. In the moment. Then, how to continue to meet those needs for the next couple of hours and then days. We start with needs, we start small, we start with what is right in front of us. We don’t need to do the big stuff right now.

So to recap: First things first. Having routines, very helpful routines, helped me to grab what I needed to grab, throw it all in my backpack (which is my purse) that is always sitting in the same place and run out the door with the ambulance people. Anybody I need to contact was already programmed in my phone. All of my apps are up to date. Everything is up to date. My wallet has our insurance card and has all of John’s information, all of my son’s information.

There are things that maintenance, that routines absolutely provided. My son is otherwise in good health. I’m in good health. Maintaining good health eliminates helped rule out some potential problems because he’s in otherwise good health.

When emergencies happen, that’s it. That is where you need to be. Everything else needed to fall away. With my son is the only place I need to be. The rest of life will all be waiting for me when I get back, for better or for worse.

But that’s the answer. So we create routines because in the heat of it, in the heart of it, in crazy times, we need to have those structures in place to keep things going. So we have habits around needs, so those needs continue to be consistently met. And to give us the habits, the reminders of how to get back to some semblance of normal when our days haven’t necessarily looked normal.

Start with needs. Start with what is right in front of you. Don’t create something new, but get back to your routines. And that, my friends, is how to get back on track.

Meal Planning: What Is Healthy? And What Are Your Goals?

Today’s topic has been on my list for a few months now, and I am ready to share!  Over the last year, I have shifted to more coaching and less-in-person organizing, and that shift will continue. AND, not surprisingly, meal planning is still a hot topic for my clients and presentations.  Because, well, we all eat.

As I sat down to write this content, I had just finished wrapping up the dinner dishes. Two hours or so before that, in about an hour, my husband and I had assembled and cooked three separate dinners, ate one (with leftovers) and put the rest in the fridge for the next few days.

How?  Why?  And why am I telling you this?  Well, let me tell you a story!

Last summer, I rebooted my “An Organized Kitchen” presentation.  I had many speaking requests last summer for “An Organized Kitchen” and Meal Planning content and I thought it was time for a refresh.

I don’t remember a time when we didn’t meal plan. Much of my past content about meal planning is from the view-point of cooking with and for kids and my family, which is all really good content! But as I spend more time coaching my clients and thinking things through for myself, I recognize that what we eat, how we eat it, how it gets to our dinner plates – all of these impact our days and weeks and life!

I could be surprised by how many of my coaching clients want to be more productive… and eat better.  Or that want to find that next new job or career … and have better habits around eating a healthy breakfast. Or, are facing lifestyle shifts and changes, and realize that eating healthier and finding time to exercise would go far in helping them face their challenges.

I could be surprised, but I am not.

Nutrition is a building block for many other things, it is part of the foundation of our life, and we want it to be a strong foundation.

I follow personal development influencers, and a quote from Brendon Burchard comes to mind. I’m paraphrasing, but the idea was that we can start to make positive change in our lives by being intentional about what we eat. We have to eat, right? It is something we already do. While adding in an hour work-out every day 7 days a week may seem daunting, making adjustments on what we do every day anyway seems less intimidating.

In my newly re-booted Meal Planning content, we start with two questions.

  • “What does healthy mean to you?” and
  • “What are your Meal planning goals?”

There are SO MANY ideas on what healthy eating means.  Low carb, no carb, gluten free, keto, paleo, vegan, lo-cal, high volume, sustainable eco foods, plant based, intermittent fasting.

But my question to You is “What Does Healthy Mean To You?”  Because if you tell me you want to eat healthy, that can be something vastly different than what I consider healthy.  And since I am NOT a nutritionist, I would suggest you figure that out for yourself as you figure out meal planning.  Because there are SO MANY IDEAS AND OPINIONS out there, if you don’t have a way to focus in and narrow down your options, you are going to be overwhelmed before you even begin.

The second question then, is “What are your Meal Planning goals?”

Yes, goals.  Did you know you can have meal planning goals?  Meal Planning goals might be…

  • Save money. Or waste less food. (It’s estimated that the average American wastes 216 pounds of food a year. And an average family of 4 throws away $1600 in produce a year. (per rts.com))
  • Save time, have less hassle.
  • Teach yourself and your family how to cook.
  • Establish healthy habits and / or support. Or, most likely,
  • Some combination of these and others!

Just this week, two different clients reported wanting to make positive changes including meal planning. One was seeking a plan that would let her adhere to an subscription menu and eating plan that she receives via email every week on her own schedule.

For another, she works full time and wants to meal plan better for having lunches and dinners for the whole work week.

One of my sons moved back into theatre housing in Indiana last week since rehearsals start tomorrow. He stopped by and mentioned that he had spent time meal prepping after he unpacked his stuff.  I asked him those questions – What is Healthy ? And What are your goals?

For the What Is Healthy answer, he is aiming for 30 grams of protein per meal, and more home-cooked foods. His goal is to have nutritious food made ahead of time so he can pack his lunches to take to work / rehearsals, and also not have to cook when he gets home if he’s tired.  Brilliant.

My personal example: As we entered 2024, I realized that January was going to be very busy (and it was). I am not going to report out on what specifically I consider healthy eating because that is not really the point. I will say, though, that I want home cooked food, to eat well, to save time and money and minimize stress, and to not rely on take-out. And to meet those goals, my strategy was and continues to be to cook two nights a week, most likely Friday and Sunday, and make multiple meals on cooking nights to carry us through until the next cooking night.

The evening I described when I started is an example of supporting my meal planning goals.

I was home that afternoon and evening, which doesn’t always happen.  And since I knew that morning that I would have a little more time at home that evening, I pulled from the freezer some ground turkey and Polish sausage to thaw. At dinner time, we diced many green peppers, an onion and a few potatoes, browned some ground turkey, and using what we had in the fridge (left over rice plus staples) and freezer (already browned ground beef), assembled Inside Out Stuffed Pepper casserole, Egg Roll in a Bowl (a new recipe, and so delish!), and baked Polish sausage with diced potatoes, peppers and onions.

All of these recipes store well, warm up well, and are currently waiting patiently in my fridge for future consumption. We can eat well and free up time by not having to cook or clean up for a few days.  We save time, we save money, I stress less and we still eat delicious food.  Check and check!

Next week, I will delve deeper into the how-to.

So, what’s it going to be?  What does healthy mean to you?  And what are your meal planning goals?  Keep the answers in mind, and tune in next week when we talk about how to make it all happen.

Eliminate Brain Clutter With A Cranial Cleanse

In a recent Finish Line Friday session, one of my regular participants mentioned she was working on “The Smalls” during our time together.  She explained that it was the end of a very busy week.  She had been home long enough between events and appointments to make piles but not to put away the piles. She said “Every room had a pile of smalls.”

And the other participants nodded understandingly because we’ve all been there.  Regularly!

That always makes me smile. Not because someone is struggling, but because most of us understand what “The Smalls” means.

And because the words  – The Smalls – sound funny to me and many people express frustration about The Smalls, in sometimes passionate and colorful language! For example, I have another friend and client who, when I ask her what we’re working on today, will occasionally say “The Smalls, Coll!  It’s The Smalls!” with perhaps some frustration and colorful words!

Here’s the thing:

The Smalls can be physical things in our spaces.

They can be a jumble of papers on the kitchen counter, the pile of Lego bits, Barbie shoes and puzzle pieces at the bottom of a bin of toys, or the contents of an everything drawer in the kitchen. (I personally don’t call them junk drawers, because if you call it a junk drawer, guess what ends up inside?)  If the person I mentioned in my first example is like me, the smalls in every room that she mentioned are bag contents from meetings and events, random clothing items or shoes at the back door that have been cycled through and now need to be put away, neglected amazon boxes and mail at the front door, etc.

Bear in mind, none of these items is technically clutter.  They are all things we obviously need, use or love – they just need tended to.

But they pile and they distract and they call out to us for attention and energy.

Which leads me to – The Smalls can be thoughts and ideas in our brains.

“Small” doesn’t indicate importance, or in the definition of “small”, perhaps un-importance, but instead their size.  “The Smalls” means that SO MANY MORE can fit in a space.  Like I have 100 ideas or to-dos or tasks in my brain and they’re all crammed in there making each look small. And they’re all clamoring to get out!

Some of the challenges with The Smalls, either on the kitchen counter or in our brain:

  • There are MANY.
  • They aren’t just clutter.  They are likely important and require care and attention.
  • Right now, they are unsorted and un-categorized.
  • They are not prioritized in order of importance.
  • We believe that the small are important.  And we don’t want them to get lost.
  • We fear The Smalls will get lost.  We fear that brilliant blog post idea that just came to us will disappear, then we worry about that so long that it does disappear, or we forget other things while we spend mental energy on trying to REMEMBER EVERYTHING!
  • The Smalls DO get lost, and then we forget appointments, emergencies happen, feelings are hurt, etc.

Another regular participant in my Finish Lind Friday productivity sessions has used great imagery when we talk about what we plan to accomplish that day.

Imagine a room full of helium balloons with strings attached.

Now, gesture with your hands to collect those strings.  That is what she is often working on, on a Friday. Gathering loose ends, she calls it, with that gesture. Gathering them together.

And a coaching client, in our time working together, even created her own Loose Ends List, to collect The Smalls and all the other ideas / thoughts / tasks that occur to her and then require completion.

I want to applaud all four people that I have mentioned – they identify The Smalls, they identified the need to consistently collect The Smalls, and they have habits and ways to collect and deal with them.

Two Big Ideas this week.

In the interest of writing this article this week, I opened up my copy of “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen, thinking I needed to re-read it to write this article. And I am … proud? Relieved? Yes, those feelings and more, to find out that since I read this book many years ago, I implemented and am still doing many of the things he talks about (and he talks about them clearly and concisely and the book is totally worth the read.) And I can do better, and I will share more about this book and his process in future podcasts and articles.

First big idea, this is a great book, check it out (and I mean, actually check it out of your local library – no need to buy it!).

To get started, though, in Getting Things Done, David Allen talks about collection. How first, we need to COLLECT all the thoughts and ideas in our head and get them out of our head and into a more user friendly, time specific, prioritized form.  He mentioned, among other things, a Mind Sweep.

Others call it a Brain dump, though I find that an inelegant phrase. My friend Jen recommended Cranial Cleanse when I asked my community for a better term for Brain Dump.

Whatever we call it, Mind Sweep or Cranial cleanse, it is a great place to start.

And it requires a place to put the collected items. For me, that means my Bullet Journal first, to collect items.  Then I insert them into my master to – do list to prioritize and take action.

But let’s talk about the collecting. I no longer do a cranial cleanse like David Allen recommends, as in, an event, because it is a constant process for me – I am ALWAYS doing a cranial cleanse.

For example, when I am working or out running errands, thoughts occur to me, like an idea or a task that needs completed, and I quickly jot it down.

Because…

Have You Noticed? Another problem is that very often a thought or idea or task occurs to us at a moment when we do not have time to act on it.

This

Happens

To

Me

All

The

Time.

I have noticed that certain events generate more thoughts and ideas.  For example, when I am driving.

When driving, my brain is focused on driving but also open to outside stimuli (which is a good thing while driving), subsequently ideas often come to me while I drive.  OR while I cook, or while I’m in the shower.

This goes back to the recent podcast and newsletter that talks about If I Don’t Write It Down, It Doesn’t Exist. 

The other side of that is, If I don’t capture and collect the ideas when they occur, they continue to float around in my brain with nowhere to go, and that makes things very crowded up there with all The Smalls! 

My suggestion, then, for all of this week – the Second Big Idea – is to have a trusted place to collect the ideas and cultivate a habit of collecting them.

I love my Bullet Journal, and that will be a live webinar sometime soon to look at how to make Bullet Journaling happen for you – but the take away is that I have ONE PLACE to write things down. 

It goes with me everywhere.

It is always ready to collect the ideas and safely hold on to them. To get all The Smalls out of my brain so there is room and space to actually get some work done.

And then I have the regular daily habit of reviewing those ideas, prioritizing and activating those ideas and putting them into  my master-to-do list or on the calendar, etc.

We can’t avoid The Smalls, and really, we don’t want to.  The Smalls are where it’s at, sometimes!  The genius is in The Smalls!  But not when all of the Smalls are cramped together in our brain. 

We need the habit of moving The Smalls out of our brain and into a trusted collector. And then the habit of prioritizing and acting on them, too!  This is how we get things done.

Who’s On The Team? (Wellness Edition)

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Who is on the team?

I’m going to be real and honest this week.  Well, I’m always real and honest, but I am going to talk about things that are a little uncomfortable to talk about because… well… sometimes we need to do the uncomfortable things.

Because they’re the right things to do, even if they’re uncomfortable.

Before we go too far today, I want to start with the end in mind:

  • We need to de-mystify medical issues, wellness and prevention, and we need to talk about stuff.
  • I’m fine. 
  • I am very appreciative of my team, of knowing that I am not alone and that I have very smart people I can call.
  • We need to pursue prevention and wellness in positive terms.
  • I am encouraging all of us this week to map out our plan and make our appointments for 2024.

I am happy to say, I took care of all the recommended wellness screenings and vaccinations for my age group in 2023.  Before you think I’m bragging, trust me – I’m not.  In full transparency, I received my results from the test I took instead of having a colonoscopy on December 28.  So to say I took care of them in 2023… well, I just squeaked that last test into 2023.

The question I want to ask us today is “Who is On The Team?” And let’s think of them as a team, as people who are smarter than us in certain areas and who are here to help us.

This week, that is in health care terms. Here’s the story:

It’s Spring, 2020. I had created a great team, I thought, over the last 20 years with a gynecological practice and primary care practice in the same clinical building.  And then… just as I really needed them in 2020, my gynecologist who delivered all three children retired, the clinical building closed and all the doctors left with no follow up for over 3 months.

Because of that experience, I realize just how important it is to have A Team. And to think of wellness and prevention in positive terms.

I’m always on track with my annual gynecological exams and my mammogram. I struggled with medical issues starting in the summer of 2020 that culminated with a major gynecological surgery in February of 2021, so staying on top of those issues is more important to me than ever and I never miss a year.

However, because I had done so much medical stuff in the 6 months leading up to that surgery, I did not get an annual general physical exam or lab work, etc., in 2022. 

But, I understand the importance of regular screenings and preventive medicine.  I encourage all of us to understand that and to make time NOW to take care of ourselves to save time and heartache later.  So in 2023 I re-committed to prevention and re-examined my team.

I made the calls that needed to be made, I made the appointments, I did the work.  Did I like all of it?  No.  Did I do it anyway?  Yes.  Because, like in organizing, maintenance in wellness is where is the secret and foundation to success.

In 2023, I had not yet had a colonoscopy, even though recent changes to the recommendations tell us that we should start getting those at 45 years old, and let’s face it, I am more than 45 years old. And as my otherwise totally chill and relaxed gynecologist said very strongly at my appointment with her in July, there are worse things than getting a colonoscopy – Like GETTING COLON CANCER. 

In truth, I wasn’t actually worried about getting a colonoscopy.  My hurdles were navigating our insurance, setting aside 2 days to schedule the prep and exam, not wanting to bother anyone with needing to drive me, etc. So, at my annual physical in November, my primary care doctor mentioned Cologuard, a test I could do at home and then send in, and I thought that sounded like a great idea.  (And it still took me a few weeks to do it, after I got the kit!) The “everything looks good, you have 3 years until you have to do it again” were the results I received on December 28.

I am taking a while to get around to what I really want to talk about today.  I added another member to the team recently.  For much of 2023, I had a spot on the right side of my nose that just wouldn’t heal.  It would almost heal, and then I would wake up and it would be bleeding again. 

I am a fair-skinned Irish girl. I have worn SPF 35 or more every day for 23 years. I have two colors – white and red.  There is not much in-between for me.  I have family members who have had skin cancer.  I knew I needed to make the call.  I hesitated for a while because my son was getting married in late September, and I didn’t want to have surgery before that.  It isn’t reasonable, of course, to think this way, but it is what I thought.

So, right after the wedding, I made the appointment for a skin screening, and that screen occurred the first week of November.  They completed a thorough skin screening and took a biopsy of the spot on my nose.  This may sound strange, but even though the dermatologist was also concerned about the spot on my nose, I left the office that day feeling so relieved, knowing that except for that spot, the rest of my skin looked good and healthy. 

I received the results the week after Thanksgiving, that I have a basal cell carcinoma on my nose and it needs to be removed. Let me assure you, this is the blandest, least concerning type of skin cancer there is and I am perfectly fine.  You can google it, if you’d like, goodness knows I did.  And now, I have a Mohs procedure (you can google that, as well) scheduled in two weeks to remove the spot.

Did I want to have the dermatologist appointment?  No.  Did I want to have the screening? No, because I was worried about what they would find. Again, not logical thinking, I know, but that was my thinking nonetheless. And because I was worried, it was EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

What’s really interesting is that now that I have to take a few weeks off around the procedure for recovery and have spoken to clients, friends and peers about scheduling, I have heard just how common this procedure is. Thirty percent of fair skinned people will have it in their life time. As soon as I mentioned that I have to do this, I learned that many people I know have already had this procedure. Which goes back to the the statement – we need to de-mystify medical conditions and talk about stuff more openly.

Which is what I am doing today.

So, back to the original question.

Who’s on the team?

  • My chiropractor, my massage therapist and my nutrition response testing provider (all at the same office), and I probably see them the most often;
  • dermatology practice;
  • gynecologist practice;
  • eye doctor (just had my 6 month check-up this past week);
  • my primary care doctor; and
  • my dentist.
  • I’ve also worked with and can call on them again – a nutritionist, a healer, a physical therapist, an oriental medicine practitioner and acupuncturist, and a therapist.
  • More importantly, who needs to be on your team? What are the recommended tests and screening for people your age? If you haven’t already scheduled those for 2024, may I gently suggest you give those some thought this week?

So, let’s review.

  • We need to de-mystify medical and wellness and prevention, and we need to talk about stuff.
  • We need to examine the excuses we tell ourselves, because sometimes those stories are wrong.
  • I’m fine. 
  • I am very appreciative of my team, of knowing that I am not alone, of knowing I have very smart people I can call, and of thinking about prevention and wellness in positive terms.
  • And I am encouraging all of us this week to map out our plan and make our appointments for 2024.

What does that look like for you?

Using the terminology from last week’s podcast and article, start with the easy and the obvious.

Schedule your dentist appointments, your eye doctor appointment, your annual physical. You don’t have to complete them right now, but please, get them on the calendar for some time in 2024. And if doing that all at once feels overwhelming, place a reminder on the first day of each month to call one office and make one appointment. Or, make that note for your birthday of the month – meaning, for me, the 7th of every month could be wellness day. I always use my birthday in the Fall as a reminder to get my flu shot.

If you don’t know what the recommended screenings are for your age group, ask your primary care provider or google it. Have the uncomfortable conversations, make the tough phone calls. Be the leader of your wellness team and make your plan!

To paraphrase the words of my doctor last summer, what’s worse than the screenings and vaccines to prevent illness? Actually having the illness! Mobilize that team!