Category: Taking Care of Business

Is the Phone Really Dead?

Someone: “My phone is dead.”

Me:  “Is the phone really dead?”

Someone: “Yes, it won’t charge.  It doesn’t hold a charge.  The charging light doesn’t even go on.  Tried it a couple of times, the phone is dead.”

Me: “Let’s break it down.  The problem might not be the phone, that is just the part we see.  The problem could be the phone (the most expensive item to replace, of course!), but it could also be

  • the cord, 
  • the cube, 
  • the outlet, 
  • the connection between any of these components, or
  • in many cases sometimes, ‘user error’ (a nice way to say I or you may be the problem).”
  • And the problem was the charging cube, in case you were wondering.  The phone recharged and works fine.

I love a good challenge.  I love to solve mysteries and problems like this.  And yes, sometimes, the phone really is dead and the problem is exactly what it presents itself to be.

But sometimes it is not.

“Is the ceiling fan really dead?”

“… It doesn’t turn and the light won’t turn on.”

Yes, but is the ceiling fan the problem, or:

  • Is there something wrong with the wall switch?
  • Is the circuit tripped?
  • Is it the on-off switch on the fan?
  • Is it the connections in or out of any of these?
  • (turns out, it was the connections in the ceiling to the base unit).

My handy husband and son spent an hour and solved the mystery a few weeks ago instead of just going out and spending money on a new fan which wouldn’t have worked either, because the problem was in the connections in the ceiling.

This works on more subjective challenges, too. 

“Hmmm, This person and I don’t seem to be communicating well.”  Is the problem with

  • the message? (one of you doesn’t want to hear it or want to say it?); 
  • how it is being said? (the tone, the jargon)
  • the method of communication?  (you would prefer to text, the other person prefers to talk on the phone)
  • the timing? (the sender or receiver is distracted by something else more important or urgent)
  • something even more  personal or subjective with either the sender or receiver that has nothing to do with the process or method?

If you have a problem to solve, whether it is objective, like fixing a cell phone or ceiling fan, or more subjective like interpersonal communications, it pays to take a moment and break down the problem into smaller pieces that can be examined on their own.  Perhaps the solution is right in front of you!

Use Small Steps to Measure Your Organizational Success

On a zoom call yesterday, a class participant asked “How should we measure progress in our organizing?”

What a great question. I was so excited she asked, and in that moment I realized that question would also make a great blog article topic for this week!

The short and truthful answer is

“Incrementally.”

As in, please measure your organizing progress in small increments instead of broad and large sweeping content.

Just last week, I suggested in my blog that we should all craft our Done List in this Strange Time. And I absolutely still mean that!

But Done can look different from person to person, project to project and even day to day.

So let’s talk about Incremental Progress instead of only Completion.

If you break down a large organizing project, it becomes easy to see that large projects are made up of many smaller projects. For example, if my large goal is to “Organize My 15 Year-old’s Room With Him”, some of the smaller projects I can cross off my list might be:

  • Order new platform bed and risers (Done)
  • Clean out the old toys in containers under the bed (Done)
  • review and re-organize the bookshelves (Done)
  • Move empty bookshelves downstairs (Done)
  • Assemble new bed and risers when they arrive (Done)
  • Order chair and new comforter (in process)

We are making progress – actually, he is making progress, as he has done most of the work himself! – and crossed many tasks off the list. Are we DONE with the WHOLE PROJECT? No. Are we making really good and completely satisfactory progress? Yep.

In working with a virtual organizing client lately, she and I discuss the cascade effect of organizing projects. More truthfully, I refer to it as the “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” effect. Are you familiar with this children’s book series? The book tells the story of cascading tasks…

“If you give a mouse of cookie, he will want a glass of milk.
If you give him a glass of milk he will probably ask for a straw.
When he is finished, he will ask for a napkin.
Then he will ask for a mirror, to make sure he doesn’t have a milk moustache.” etc..

The point is this: often when we move through our organizing projects, we realize that the path is not straight. Given the example above, I had a few steps to complete before my son could move forward. Also on my task list was “make room in storage room on bookshelves for John’s children’s books that he wants to keep” which meant I needed to review my books and purge some, and while I was at it, organize the books by category, etc., etc.

All of these tasks are moving us towards a broad goal, but they don’t all happen at once. If we only celebrated completely finished big projects, we wouldn’t celebrate very often and our motivation might lag.

Then, there is the subject of Maintenance. (More on Maintenance Here) Usually, our projects don’t stay completed. We have to maintain our progress, and often tweak or update the progress we have made. Just because I went through my books last week and purged a bag doesn’t mean that I will never again have to review and purge my books. That doesn’t mean that I did it wrong or incompletely: more books may come, some books will get loaned out, my interests will change. The task is DONE, and done well, but it will someday need to be done again. Maintenance is part of the organizing process.

In this strange Pause time, it is even more important to measure our success incrementally. I have tackled MANY organizing projects in the last month but I also spend a whole lot of time on Maintenance. And I, like you, find more areas I want to organize as I work through my days. The cool part about this Pause time (yes, the Cool Part!) is that some days I have the time to tackle that new project when it pops up!

To finish answering my class participant’s question, Measure your progress in incremental steps. Celebrate progress towards a goal. Set your time and work for half an hour and see how much work you can get done in that time. Don’t worry about or get hung up on only completion or perfectionism. Just start, and celebrate when you can!

Create a “Done List”, In This Strange Pause Time.

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I want to talk again about lists! (see my article from 2 weeks ago, It’s Time to Make Your Some Day Soon list).

This week, I challenge you to start your Done List. In the past two days, I’ve had two conversations about Done Lists. I LOVE a good Done List. Not a To-Do list of what still needs to be accomplished, but a DONE List, of accomplished tasks and completed goals. (Woot Woot!!)

There are lots of benefits to creating and keeping a Done List. Every week I share a Done List with my accountability partner, where I get to share successes from the last week based on my goals. A mini-celebration, if you’d like, with imaginary confetti and fan fare in my head. I get to share my Done List, re-assess what still needs to get accomplished, and craft this week’s plan. But first I get to celebrate!

What are some benefits of the Done List?

  • Dopamine boost that comes with a sense of accomplishment;
  • acknowledgement of learning;
  • release and stress relief from met deadlines;
  • a clear conscience!

Have you noticed? Time is passing strangely – the hours pass slowly but the days pass quickly. As the days pass without acknowledgement, our efforts could also pass without notice.

I have been amazed, though, by what people are accomplishing during this Pause Time. Big things, little things. We are all finding new and interesting ways to do our regular stuff, and also new and interesting ways to do new and interesting things. People are growing beyond their comfort zones and stepping up to help as needs require. Way to go, everyone!

Here is a little piece of my own Social Isolation Done List so far (in no particular order)? I…

  • successfully made yeast bread after years of telling myself I didn’t know how;
  • caught up on my VIRTUS training modules (there were many!);
  • took LOTS of Zoom webinars to find out how to host Zoom Webinars;
  • presented my first and then many more presentations as Webinars on Zoom (has been on my to-do list for years!);
  • recorded and shared a newly created Webinar with a training center just this morning;
  • transitioned many in-person clients to virtual organizing and coaching (also on my list for years!);
  • cantored for two Masses that were recorded and / or live-streamed for Holy Week;
  • made progress on the back-log of my non-fiction reading pile;
  • started to learn to play the ukelele;
  • attended meetings virtually last week that I can never seem to find time for in a normal week; and
  • cleaned up the yard for Spring.

Maybe your Done List is simpler: “Worked, maybe a lot; served others; made it through today; found beauty where I could; reached out and made connections with loved ones.” All important and noteworthy.

The point is, tracking our accomplishments can help us to find positivity and hope in this strange unsettled time. Days are passing without our usual noteworthy experiences – how many birthdays have already been celebrated without the parties, how many events have been rescheduled or cancelled all together? Weekends look different now, and may look remarkably like any other day.

So, my friends, make a conscious decision to create and maintain your Done List this week. Appreciate your own efforts and applaud your own accomplishments, with a little (or a lot of) celebration!

It’s Time To Make A “Some Day Soon” List

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Friends, this, too, shall pass! Notes for Some Day Soon.

I’ve suggested before to create a Future To Do List. 

Most Decembers, for example, I suggest that folks make a “January List” for the things that we can put off until after the holidays.  We want to keep the ideas as they occur to us, but we might not need to act on them until the New Year, in that case.

Personally, I have a rolling Master To Do List for most facets of my life. 

What that means is that I have, in an online platform called Evernote, a Master To Do List that contains my tasks for family life, home maintenance and improvements, Ministries and Public Service, plus all facets of my business and my own self-improvement.   This makes it easy to move tasks around the Evernote document as I complete a task or need to move it to next week, etc.  

As I write all that, I realize it may sound nutty to keep all that info in one document, but this practice really helps me to track tasks and projects each day, week, month, etc..  And I’ve tried keeping separate lists for each area of interest, but then I forget to regularly check them.  This just works best for me.  

But here is the snag, friends.  While I typically complete a one-time task and then remove it, or move ahead a recurring task to a specific week or day in the future, I am facing a new and (admittedly) uncomfortable new category.  The “Some Day Soon When We Can Return to Normal” task category.

You know what I am talking about.  

  • The events that we have had to postpone due to social distancing. 
  • The appointments we need to set up once offices and service providers are open again.
  • For me, the in-person client appointments that I’ve had to cancel, and presentations that have been put on hold.
  • The actions that we have promised ourselves in these rougher times that we are ABSOLUTELY going to do when we can again!

But we don’t know yet when that will be. So I want to keep the ideas until me and the world are ready to take action on them again.

My challenge to you this week is to start and then add to  your Some Day Soon List.

  • Work or medical or personal appointments to reschedule.
  • People to meet up with (not just connect virtually).
  • Non-essential errands to run.   
  • Service people needed, like the tree I need planted in my front year, or having the plumber or electrician out.
  • Birthdays to celebrate in person!

Maybe it’s a wish list!  

  • That Some Day soon, I will drive to Michigan and hug my parents and siblings and families.
  • That Some Day soon, I will spontaneously hug friends at the grocery when I see them.
  • That Some Day soon, I will go to restaurants and sit and soak in the ambiance and linger over dessert.
  • That Some Day soon, I will go to a movie theater, or enjoy our Broadway in Chicago membership again.
  • That Some Day soon, I will go to church.  I will bask in the peace, I will thrive on the energy, I will sing and pray with others. 
  • That Some Day Soon, I will do something as simple as go to my favorite local bakery to virtually work from their booth while enjoying the people and the steady supply of hot coffee.

I think of this list as Hopeful and Happy, and I hope you feel the same.  This strange and awkward time will pass.  For my own sanity and outlook, I have to believe it will.  And when it does, we will emerge better and stronger and more grateful for what we have.  And we will be ready to take action on all these ideas and wishes we make now!


Preparing to Get Organized! (a.k.a., What To Do Before Your First Organizing Appointment)

I often hear from new or potential organizing clients, “What should I do to get ready for our first appointment?”

I am happy to answer and I’m even happier to say that these steps are for EVERYONE to take, these first steps to getting organized, and not just my new and potential clients!

So, whether you are organizing with a professional or tackling the projects solo, here are some simple steps to get you started!

Stop Shopping.  Working with a client recently, we discovered a healthy stash of toothpaste and deodorant. In this case, “healthy” means a dozen of each or so, unopened. Another client has dozens – yes, DOZENS – of paper towel rolls, taking up a LOT of space. If you want to get organized and clear clutter, start with NOT acquiring more stuff! For example, if we have an appointment set to organize your kitchen and pantry, Do NOT go out and stock up on groceries. Use up what you have on hand! Same goes for clothes or towels or office supplies.

Along that same line, assemble your supplies from your home inventory (please read that as DO NOT GO SHOPPING!). And do not purchase containers, unless we’ve talked about them!  Supplies might include garbage bags, sharpie markers and empty cardboard boxes.

Imagine the end result.   Why are you tackling this (these) project(s)? What do you imagine your spaces looking like when the projects are complete? How do you expect to feel? What do you expect to gain from the organizing process?


Purge the Easy.
Take out the trash and recycling;
move the dirty laundry to the laundry room;
break down cardboard boxes flat;
toss the expired food in your pantry and clean the fridge..

Check out my resources page, if you need destinations for your stuff. Send stuff on it’s way! That ugly couch in the basement, the extra dining room table in the garage to a recent grad with their first appt?  Yep, arrange that pick-up!

Run the errands:
drop off other donations to their destination;
return completed books to the library;
take your dry cleaning in;
return unwanted items to their retailers;
return borrowed items that you are done using to their original owners.

Wow, your space is looking better already! Way to go!

Quick Fixes for a Better Closet

I received photos of a stranger’s closet via text last week.  (It sounded funny to me as I typed it, but it is not an uncommon occurrence, and the stranger isn’t strange at all!)

A participant from a recent presentation asked questions  about her oddly shaped and slightly frustrating closet.   I love these questions!  And regardless of the size or status of your closet, there are steps I suggest to EVERYONE, including this class participant, to give you more breathing room and make your closet work better for you!

Try one of these suggestions this week, or all of them!

      • Pull all unused hangers off your closet rods.  Toss or recycle the old or decrepit ones, and set aside the ones you may use as you hang clothes up today.   When you’re done clearing space today, put all the extras in the laundry room.

      • Collect and recycle the empty shoe and shipping boxes, then toss out the shopping bags, dry cleaner bags, tags, pocket lint, tissues, etc. from the floor.
      • Collect all those Errands-To-Be-Run items – for return, repair, donate or share?  Yep – send them all on their way.  Pack them into the car, and add the errands to this week’s to-do list.
      • If space is tight, consider moving move all non-clothing items elsewhere.  (For example, more-than-one-piece-of-luggage, keepsakes, excessive bedding, gifts to be given, bags of clothing donations, fans, furniture?)  Send these under the bed or into storage elsewhere in your home.
      • Swap your clothes for the season.  Yes, I know it may seem like a hassle, and I also know some items can be worn all 12 months but some… can’t or shouldn’t be worn all 12 months.  Store these in storage bins or totes under the bed or on the top shelf of the closet.  Your clothes will last longer safely folded away instead of hanging and collecting dust, and you will reap major space benefits by clearing away items you won’t wear for a while.
      • Swap out your shoes for the season, too.
      • Move that safe on the floor. (Yes, everyone keeps their safe on the floor of their closet and thieves know it.) Hide it somewhere clever while freeing up some closet space.
      • Now that you have more breathing room, use your vertical space better: install over the door shoe racks on the back of the doors, or jewelry storage on a blank wall.

Try one, try all!  And enjoy some breathing room in your closet this week!

Maintain Your Home Today to Avoid Emergencies Tomorrow

Earlier this year, I crafted this list of monthly, seasonal and annual household tasks for a client new to home ownership.   She wanted to keep up on regular maintenance tasks because she is smart, and realizes that regular maintenance is the best way to avoid emergencies down the road.

For example, every Fall:

  • Have your furnace and air conditioner looked at now, to avoid an emergency and costly repair or replacement in the dead of winter.
  • Turn off outdoor water faucets completely, to keep pipes from freezing (and bursting).
  • Take care of your lawnmower and snowblower at the change of seasons to keep them running well for many years to come.
  • And the list goes on and on…

Of course we can’t avoid emergencies or accidents completely, but we can invest some time and resources in keeping them away as much as possible!

This list is a start, a jumping-off point.  Feel free to copy and paste it to your own document and edit it to make it more personal and specific to your situation, such as if you have pets or a swimming pool,  or more than one home or just a condo or apartment, obviously tasks can be added or subtracted to fit your needs.

Annual Tasks:

  • HVAC system check
  • Clean rugs
  • License and license plate sticker renewal

Fall / Winter:

  • Winterize your lawnmower
  • Get your snowblower ready, turn it on and let it run a few minutes  (Get some gas, too)
  • Flush hot water heater and remove sediment
  • Turn off and flush outdoor water faucets
  • Test sump pump /  sump pump valve replacement
  • Outdoor greastrap
  • Rout the shower drain
  • Winterize air conditioning system
  • Clean duct work
  • Get heating system ready for winter
  • Clean / check fire place, get chimney cleaned
  • Check driveway/pavement for cracks
  • Buy winter gear and sidewalk salt
  • Bring deck furniture in
  • Check window screens
  • Wash mini blinds
  • Wash out and de-clutter cabinets and closets
  • De-grease top of cabinets if no soffit

Spring / Summer:

  • Check and repair screens
  • check and repair deck
  • move deck furniture to deck
  • clean and summer-ize snow blower

Twice a Year:

  • Windows inside and out
  • Clean curtains / draperies
  • Wash or dry clean comforters
  • Vacuum your fridge coils, pull fridge out and vacuum behind
  • Swap out reverse osmosis unit water filter
  • Check and clear dryer vents
  • Reverse ceiling Fans
  • Test smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, and all ground-fault circuit interrupters.
  • Clean gutters and downspouts

Monthly:

  • Inspect and possibly change furnace filter
  • Vacuum heat registers and heat vents
  • Clean range hood filters and garbage disposal (grind ice cubes, then flush with hot water and baking soda)
  • Pour a tea pot full of boiling water down bathroom sink drains
  • Clean coffee maker

Weekly / Daily:

  • Clean dishwasher trap (weekly)
  • Errands and grocery shopping
  • Pet waste clean-up
  • Restock pet supplies
  • Rugs, towels and bedding
  • Daily laundry
  • Go through mail / shred stuff / pay bills

So, use a little time this week to take care of your home maintenance tasks, and get your home prepped for the next season!

So, What’s In Your Wallet?

My husband has been on a mission lately, reviewing all his Little Spaces around the house.  You know, those Little Spaces?  His launch pad (basket) by the back door, his briefcase, different drawers of his desk, his wallet, etc.  Last week he shred a couple dozen files from his file cabinet, and this week he reviewed and pared down the contents of his wallet.

As he spread his wallet’s contents on the kitchen counter, I told him that he is the inspiration for this week’s article!

So, what’s in your wallet?  From an organized and prepared point of view, we should carry exactly what we need and not much else.


How to:  First, take everything out of your wallet, and lay it out on a flat space!

Sort what you have:

  • ID, credit cards, insurance cards, of course.  But also…
  • gift cards, rewards cards;
  • appointment reminders, business cards; and
  • receipts and random minutiae.

Purge what can go:

  • Review expiration dates, and shred any old ID or credit cards.  (Auto insurance cards from  12 or 18 months ago?  Yes, those can go.)  And if you purge an old card, make sure you have the most up-to-date version if it is something you need to carry.
  • Add appointments into your calendar and toss / recycle the card (Dentist appointment reminder card from last summer?  Yep, that can go, too!).
  • Take a little time and enter business card contact info into your phone, and toss / recycle those, too.
  • File or shred old receipts.
  • Are you trying to track or curb spending?  Consider leaving a credit card or two at home

Once you know what you’re keeping:

  • Check the balances on any mystery gift cards in your wallet, or call or go on-line and combine your balances if you have duplicates.  I carry a tiny sharpie in my wallet to make note of gift card balances on the card as I use them up.
  • Any account cards, gift cards or loyalty reward cards you can move to your smart phone and stop carrying around with you entirely?  Go for it!
  • Take the cards that you are going to carry in your wallet and lay them flat on your printer glass and make a copy.  Then, flip all the cards over, and make a copy of those sides, too.  Keep these 2 sheets in a safe but convenient place in case you lose your wallet and need to file a report or make phone calls / go on-line to cancel your cards.
  • Pare down what you carry!  Make sure that your wallet is streamlined and that you can easily find what you need when you’re looking for it.

Looking Ahead:

  • Live lighter and more organized with a cleaned-out wallet!
  • Make a habit of snapping a picture of a business card instead of accepting it, or entering  an appointment in your calendar right as you make it and eliminate the need for those extra bits of papers floating around.
  • Make a habit of reviewing your wallet every few months, to keep it pared down and efficient!

Stick With Routines, Especially When You Don’t Want To!

Chatting with my accountability partner this morning, she stated (again) that Routines and Adventures don’t always play well together.

Let’s face it: sometimes, when life is getting just a little crazy, our routines may start to slip.  In the midst of the chaos, you might be tempted to…

  • skip your morning work out, or
  • grab a snack on the run instead of eating a healthy breakfast, or
  • skimp on sleep so you can fit more in to your day, or
  • exist on convenience foods instead of full meals, or
  • merely pile up papers instead of actually working on them, or
  • leave the dirty or clean (or both) laundry in a heap in (or near) the basket, instead of putting it away for Future You to use.

And there are certain times or life events that contribute to the crazy or chaotic life.  When are we most likely to abandon or forget our routines?  When we are :

  • tired;
  • sad;
  • sick (or someone around us is);
  • traveling;
  • super busy;
  • in a life transition, like new house or new job or new baby; or
  • nearing a deadline for work or personal projects.

Routines (at least the ones I talk about all the time) consist of tasks that need to be done daily or weekly to keep your life humming along, for example:

  • nutrition;
  • sleep hygiene;
  • personal hygiene;
  • staying hydrated;
  • maintaining the basics at home; or
  • paying bills.

Sticking with our routines helps us through those crazy times.  Our routines keep us healthy and strong and on track during the busy times, and then they help us get back to normal more quickly.    When you find yourself wanting to ditch those routines, or that you already have?  That’s when you probably need them the most!

Let me be the little voice in your head this week, urging you to make the good and healthy choices even when life gets hectic or when you’re on the road or adventuring.  That is when we need the consistency and self care the most.  Stick with those Routines, especially when you don’t want to!

Prioritize and Make Better Decisions With The Eisenhower Box

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

I have been remiss.  I know about a really great tool for prioritizing tasks and I have never written about it.  Sorry about that.  I learned it from Steven Covey’s books on productivity years ago, but it’s actually credited to Dwight D. Eisenhower and appropriately named The Eisenhower Box.

 (Not this kind of box…)

Seriously, I’ve never written about this?  Unbelievable.

Upon googling the term just moment’s ago, I learned the tool is also called the Eisenhower Decision Matrix or the Urgent / Important Matrix and these names begin to explain how and why this tool works.

Eisenhower drew this box, with the two axes of Important and Urgent.  His theory was that any and every task is either Important or Not Important, and either Urgent or Not Urgent.   Of course, there is some in-between, but those are the basics.  Here is the blank box.

(from theorderexpert.com)

Important tasks fuel your mission and vision, improve your bottom line, help you reach your goals.  (And Non-Important tasks do not.)

Urgent tasks have a time component that demands your attention, with a deadline attached. (And Non-Urgent tasks do not.)

What Eisenhower’s quote, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”  also tells us is that we risk getting so distracted by urgent tasks all the time that we fail to take care of our important tasks.

These two axes together give us the option of 4 different distinctions for any given task or duty we have.

  • (Quadrant 1) Important and Urgent
  • (Q2) Non-Important and Urgent
  • (Q3) Important and Non-Urgent
  • (Q4) Non-Important and Non-Urgent

So, if we can agree that almost any task can either be Important or Non-Important, and Urgent or Non-Urgent, then we can use this tool to sort and prioritize our tasks.  If we can determine what is both important and urgent for our goals and productivity, we will get our important work done with more ease and focus and less stress and confusion.

If we take this tool one step further, we can designate a quadrant for all of our tasks, and take the next step – DO, DECIDE, DELEGATE or DELETE, required on those as well.

from luxafor.com

What would each type of task look like:

  • Important and Urgent:  Today’s work.  For me, go and work with client, give presentation, write article.   Working on these tasks is the best and most productive use of my time.  Their completion moves me towards my goals.
  • Non-Important but Urgent (time related):  Order routine office supplies, respond to today’s texts and emails, drop off donations from a client to a charitable organization, post to Facebook business page, publish newsletter.  Many of these tasks are important to do, but it isn’t important WHO completes the task.  I can ask myself, am I the only person who can do these tasks, or could I delegate them to others?
  • Important and Non-Urgent: design a new presentation, start a fitness plan, visit a financial advisor, re-imagine my website.  Make a Plan and a Date (though not today) for getting these tasks done. 
  • Non-Important and Non-Urgent: scrolling social media, binge watching ANYTHING, eating cookies, over-organizing the minutiae in your desk drawer.
    You could let any all of these tasks go. 

Let’s use the Eisenhower Box to prioritize your organizing projects.

At my classes, I give 4 possible projects and then walk folks through the decision process to pick the first project.  The four projects are organizing your

  1. Kitchen,
  2. Linen Closet,
  3. Garage or
  4. Attic.

Let’s imagine these are your 4 projects and you want to decide which has the highest priority, and is therefore your starting point.

All are important, so let’s consider urgent.

Attics are rarely urgent projects.  The stuff in the attic has been there for years, and it will still be there once the other projects are complete.

Garages are sometimes urgent, depending on the time of year.  Let’s say the goal is to organize your garage so you can park your car indoors this winter, but it’s June.  Important yes, but not too urgent.

Kitchen or linen closet?

Did your doctor give you a new diagnosis that requires a special diet?  Are you having a party soon, or you just really need to go to the grocery?  Then, your kitchen organizing project is both important and time sensitive (urgent).

What if there is a drive at a local animal shelter this weekend, though, collecting used towels and bedding for the animals?  That creates a deadline and therefore urgency for your linen closet project.

So, in order, we would tackle either the kitchen or linen closet first, then the other second, then the garage and finally the attic.

Make sense?

Look at your day and week this week and imagine where else you can use this great decision making tool!