Category: Time Management

Find Your Focus Areas!

(Want to watch me share this article? Click here for a FB live: https://www.facebook.com/MColleenKlimczakCPO/videos/812165770032446)

It always delights me when someone quotes me back to me! At a recent meeting, a friend mentioned that her brother had attended one of my Stress Management presentations. Of course, she also mentioned that she asked him to do something and he said “No, that isn’t in my Focus Areas”! (No names are mentioned, for anonymity!)

In my Stress Management Presentations, I recommend identifying and then sticking with your Focus Areas.

The idea is to identify what is important to you, and subsequently, what is NOT important to you. And once you know what is important to you – what is a high priority for you – intentionally spend your time and energy and resources on the high priority areas of your life.

Being intentional on how we spend our resources is important when it comes to getting things done, decreasing stress and increasing feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Reviewing my notes, I realize that Focus Areas come up a lot for me. For example:

  • When writing an agenda for a board meeting – “What is important? What do we have to make sure to talk about?”
  • EVERY WEEK when I check in with my 2 accountability partners, I report using my Focus Areas as writing prompts.
  • In a recent conversation about the lingering effects of lock down and the pandemic, as in, “even when in lockdown for months in my home, I still didn’t want to work on jigsaw puzzles or knit a blanket.”
  • Even in casual conversations with my son. As in “Mom, you should watch this entire YouTube series on conspiracy theories.”
    • “Um, no. No, I should not.” Binge watching anything, especially something on conspiracy theories, is NOT in my Focus Areas.

What is important to you? What are your Focus Areas? If you’re unclear on what your Focus Areas are, start by checking three places: Your bank account, your calendar and your texting history. “What is important to you” is what you spend your resources on. Resources like time, money and energy.

Here’s the other side of that statement, though. Are you spending your resources on the areas of your life that you WANT to be important to you? Meaning, do you feel like building your business is important to you, but upon review of your resources, you aren’t spending a lot of energy on that endeavor? Or family or relationships or faith, etc.? As I plan my work today, I use my focus areas to determine what I DO and DO NOT want to spend my time on.

OK, so my Focus Areas are:

  • Service and Faith: School Board Work, Community Work, Ministries at church including Choir, Cantoring and Baptismal Prep
  • Home / Family: First thing first, my husband and sons. Then family and friends. And “Home” is the care and nurturing of home, cleaning, cooking, projects, holidays, etc.
  • Personal / Wellness
  • Educate Me: educational pursuits, learning new skills, reading non-fiction, learning new music.
  • My Company. I have subcategories, or business specific focus areas, too. They are Coaching, Clients, Presentations, Marketing and Business Specific.

What might your Focus Areas be? Career, Family, Health, Hobbies or a specific interest, Adventures, Friends, Money, Spiritual Needs, Personal Growth, Physical Fitness, etc..

A caveat: Our Focus Areas are an internal choice. A quick way to identify what might NOT be one of your Focus Areas is any time the idea comes from outside of you and is accompanied by a Should. As in almost ALL ADVERTISING! or “Wow, you should totally get a tattoo and run off to South America if you want to live a fulfilled life like me.” Huh? Um, no, thanks.

Additionally, our Focus Areas can change and evolve over time, just like we do as humans.

Knowing what our Focus Areas are helps us to make good decisions on how to spend our resources. They also give us a rubric for deciding on how to NOT spend our resources. Even if it means we respond to a request with “No, I am not willing to do that, it is not important to me, or part of my Focus Areas”!

take a breath and prepare

1 Comment

Take a breath.

Take a breath to recover AND also to prepare.

September is National Preparedness Month, www.Ready.gov.

Daily, it seems, I encourage others (and remind myself) to take a breath. To recover from an upset, to make space for peace, or perhaps to ground or center ourselves. Maybe to simply take a moment to relax.

Just last evening, I walked a class of students through square breathing during a Stress Management class at the local community college. Deep breaths won’t eliminate our stressors, of course, but they can certainly help us manage better whatever the day may send our way.

Fun fact, in addition to professional organizing and coaching, I am also a professional liturgical musician as a cantor and a flutist.

A recent Sunday, I was reminded that, in addition to taking a breath to recover from an exhale, we also take a breath to prepare for what is coming.

In music, phrasing is important. A misplaced breath can cut short a note, make a sentence awkward or leave a whole phrase weak and unsupported. In liturgical music, the songs are often sloooooowwwww and the phrasing is looooonnnnnggggg. So the trick becomes finding opportunities to take extra breaths unnoticed to prepare for those long notes.

WE tend to be more impressed when someone can hold those big crescendos at the end of a song for a splashy and impressive finish. But I tend to listen for and appreciate the long and sustained and supported phrasing throughout the song.

Another fun fact, I sing at 8 am Mass. I need to warm up first thing in the morning to hit the high notes that early, sure, but the more important thing at 7 am is actually warming up my deep breathing and lung expansion to support and sustain my phrasing. That is less natural for me than hitting the high notes.

So, let’s bring this into organizing. We organize to clean up or recover from day-to-day life. But I would challenge us all to also look at what simple steps we can take this week and month to prepare for day-to-day life.

Using my own analogy, for example, I knew days ago that today was going to be a day with LONG PHRASING, so I did what I could to “take a breath to prepare” with planning my clothes and meals ahead of time and taking care of some work a day early. I am also making sure to provide a steady and firm breath (use of energy and focus) but NOT too strong so as to spend all the breath or energy or focus all at once.

So, take a breath with me and think about what we can do to better prepare for our days.

The Basics: What MUST Be In Your Pocket?

When I started writing this article yesterday, I planned to write it from the going-off-to-college perspective. But, this morning, a 4 year old changed my plan.

Can we start with the basics? 5 things, maybe 6. BASIC. But so very important.

Let’s call them our Pocket Essentials. The items that you consider essential to leaving the house. Your Pocket Essentials are personal and change with age or stage in life. So, my Pocket Essentials for leaving the house – the bare minimum without which I cannot leave – car and house keys on one ring, phone, wallet and sunglasses. Truly, I can get pretty far with just these few things. But without them, I can’t even leave the garage.

From the 4 year old (a client’s daughter), she needed her dollar bill – HERS, not her sister’s, because HERS is smooth and her sister’s is crinkly – and a pink formal long glove. Just one. And very bright pink. And please, don’t question her choice. (She and her siblings were delightful.)

This summer, my son’s pocket essentials for work are his phone, house keys and electronic time card. If he leaves without any of those things, he has to come back for them. When he goes off to college in just a few weeks, he will need to establish A PLACE and JUST ONE PLACE for his college Pocket Essentials – phone, college ID and room key.

The point:

Identify your essentials, whether you are 4, 18 or 50 something.

Establish A PLACE for the essentials to live.

Then, cultivate the habit around making sure your essentials live in that ONE PLACE when you get home so they are ready again for you when you leave.

I have a theory when it comes to organizing and time management: How we manage transition times in our day can make or break our schedule and success.

Transition times are the many instances in our day when we switch from one task to another, one focus to another, one location to another, etc. They include: getting out of bed, leaving for and arriving at school or work, heading to lunch or getting back from lunch, leaving from school or work, arriving home, making dinner or going to bed.

If you live with at least one other human or pet, you also have to factor in their transition times. And when we look at how many instances in a day we are shifting gears, it’s easy to see how many instances there are also to stumble!

So, to Recap:

Establish what your Pocket Essentials are. A short list, not too much to keep track of, but Essential nonetheless.

Then, establish ONE PLACE. By the front or back door? We have a little basket mounted on the wall by the back door where my husband keeps his Pocket Essentials. Mine are all contained in my backpack, also near the exit. Perhaps on your dresser or the kitchen counter? Pick ONE PLACE. Let others in the house know where the place is. Put a nice dish or basket there just for the Pocket Essentials. maybe a charger for your phone, etc.

Finally, establish the habit of keeping your Pocket Essentials in your ONE PLACE while you’re home so it’s waiting for you when it comes time to leave.

My habit is to take off my shoes by the back door and then take everything out of my pockets onto my desk (right next to the back door.) Keys get clipped to my bag, sunglasses go in my bag, phone gets charged on the desk if necessary. Same goes for my family members, dropping their Pocket Essentials by the door or on their dresser. If any of us find those essentials elsewhere in the house, we return them to their ONE PLACE.

And if I happen to walk by my bag and the keys are not clipped to my bag, or my phone is not where I expected it to be, I had better go track it down! Before missing my Pocket Essentials messes up my next Transition time!!

Work Some Summer Into Your Work Routine!

Did you know? May is National Revise Your Work Schedule Month.

I work with clients on their work schedules, but that doesn’t translate well for an article! I won’t presume to tell you how to do your work, as you certainly know your industry better than I do! And I won’t presume to give you specific advice around your day to day schedule.

However, we can look at this idea from an organizational coaching perspective:

When it comes to re-considering our schedule, we first need to acknowledge the shift in seasons. Spring is here and Summer is close. This new season just feels different. And for many of us, years of school as a student or parent or perhaps a teacher or profession have us trained to feel the change at the end of the school year. May always feels like a transition time. 

And the shift to Summer often calls us to make some changes in our work schedule around our families, events or vacation time. Let’s consider how to work some summer into your work routine!

  • Plan some away-from-work time:
  • Bring summer to work with you.
    • Switch from hot coffee to an iced tea, try a hand lotion at your desk that smells like the beach or a handful of picked garden flowers, pack bright fruits and salads.
  • Look for ways to walk in the sun!
    • Speaking with a coaching client today, we were brainstorming about working more movement and sunlight into her work day. She mentioned a nearby park nearby where she ate lunch the other day while enjoying the beautiful view. Take the long way back to the office, walk outside at lunch time.
  • Change up your daily routine:
    • Think about what feels like summer to you! And then make some room for that in your day-to-day!
    • Let in the sun! In the summer, I start my day REALLY early with a walk and some time outside watering and puttering in my garden. It’s an energizing yet peaceful way to start my day before things get busy or the sun gets too hot!
    • Check out the days and times of local farmers markets in your area. I love to stop and browse for a few minutes between client appointments and pick up something fresh for dinner.
    • Sometimes in summer, I will drive home from appointments purposely through the area forest preserves and roll down my windows to enjoy the sights and smells of nature.
    • We change up our menu plans in the summer, for packed lunches and for dinner. We don’t turn on the oven much at all, and rely heavily on grilling and salads.

Clutter Hot Spot: Your Tech Accessories

The challenge with this hot spot is that there isn’t always just one spot.

Sometimes the tech pieces

are

all

over

the

place!

The original inspiration for the Clutter Hot Spot series was client interactions in January. And in one week, I had 3 clients who had tech accessories stirred up into every space we were organizing!

IF we ever hope to find them again, we need to assign JUST ONE HOME for our less-often used tech accessories.

In my office, our ONE tech accessory home is a desk drawer. Right next to me as I write this article. It’s not exciting or big or complicated. It holds tech items that we might need again. In preparation for writing this article, I looked in there earlier today. The boxes for my Apple watch and airpods are in there (new-ish). Extra lightning charging cables (we buy these a few at a time), charging cubes, earphone covers, users manuals, the extra cord that came with my new monitor in its labeled bag. Also, mesh bags for corralling tech accessories when we travel. A few items I came across are now obsolete, like my last two Fitbits and their very specialized chargers, and those are all now in the basket in the garage waiting for a E-Waste collection event.

Let’s review the important parts of the story above:

  • One and ONLY ONE home for tech accessories you might need again.
  • The habit of putting tech accessories in that ONE home when we get them, and putting them back in there after we use them!
  • Labeling the accessory and what it belongs with to eliminate future questions.
  • Everyone in the house knowing where the extra tech accessories live.
  • The habit around reviewing the technology at least once in a while, to determine what tech accessories we need to keep and which ones need to move along to E-Waste recycling.
  • Making sure your E-Waste actually gets recycled. Check your local recycling resources for E-Waste recycling near you. If you’re near me, check out my recycling page for resources. (https://peaceofmindpo.com/2019/06/26/organizing-resources-to-reduce-repurpose-and-recycle/)

Look around your home and establish that ONE SPOT for your extra tech accessories, and commit to moving your tech clutter there as you find it!

But, What If It Is Amazing?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” – Marianne Williamson

It is so easy to believe the bad stuff. And there is a lot of bad stuff sometimes, I know. Most of our brains, especially brains with ADHD, or anxiety or depression, trend negative.


I pride myself on having a positive inner narrative, of making sure I keep an eye on the good things inside and around me. I know I am a much happier person that way, much more productive, certainly more pleasant to be around, and with positivity and good energy to share. And I do.


Recently, I identified a place in my mind where Fear had snuck in. In one small area, I had let fear guide me, keeping me from moving ahead on a project. And when I identified fear in one place, I also realized that I had let the fear in one area leak quietly into other areas of my life as well.


Sneaky thing, fear.


Fear was keeping me stuck. I had fear of failing and of succeeding, at the same time. Go figure! Illogical, of course, but sometimes our thoughts are illogical!


I worked through some things over the last week, using tools I have from my coaching practice on my own challenges. The first step is awareness that there is a problem. I completed perspective work, I listened to my intuition, I checked in on my own needs and values. Yes, I coached me with my coaching tools!


And what came to me was, “Fear can be scary, but what if the other side of the fear is AMAZING??


What if this scary thing, when I get through it, results in something totally awesome? Fear wants us to believe that negative things can happen, and they can, but so can amazing things, in equal measure. The AMAZING results are actually more likely than the failure, in this instance.


So let’s ask…. (and we will stick with organizing, though you can swap that word out for anything else you want, too):


What are you afraid of?

  • Afraid of failing at organizing?
    • Every thing we try is a learning experience, there really isn’t failure there.
  • Afraid that organizing might be difficult?
    • Ok, but how much more difficult is it to struggle every day?
  • Afraid that organizing might be easy, and I’ll realize I should have done it years ago?
    • Ok, but why bother beating yourself up about the past? Show past-you some grace and enjoy today’s success.
  • Afraid that the path might not be easy or straightforward?
    • It won’t be, and that is ok, too.


Now that I am aware that Fear had me stuck, I am looking more to the AMAZING part.

Yes, I have work to do. I already had work to do, now I can do without being afraid, too.

Yes, things may get hard. But things were hard anyway, and now maybe they can also get easier!

Fear is scary, but join me on the other side of Fear for AMAZING!

Do What You Can and Forgive Yourself For What You Can’t.

I am really good at a lot of things. Not bragging, it’s true. We all have that list, the list of ways we excel.

Just this week for example:

  • You want a delicious dinner for 14? “Sign me up, I’m your girl!”
  • You need music for a first grade Christmas pageant? “Fun, let’s do it!”
  • You need someone to manage teams of teenagers at 2 different pancake breakfasts next week? “No problem, let’s do this!”

However, the other side of that piece of paper has a similar list of things I am not good at.

  • You need someone to shop for Christmas presents? (… crickets…)
  • You need me to lay floor tile for you? “Um, nope.”
  • You want hand-sewn Christmas gifts? “Not it!”

My point? My friend summed it up. I received a great text the other night:

“I loved your message for the holiday season. ‘Do what you can and forgive yourself for what you can’t’. You inspired me to put a dent in the holiday list tonight.”

I think my friend who texted was more profound with my words than I was, so I’m quoting her. We had been discussing sticking with our strengths and giving ourselves Grace during this super busy (especially for Moms) time of the year.

If you need to hear or read it one more time, friend:

Stick with your strengths and give yourself grace.

“Do what you can and forgive yourself for what you can’t.”

P.S. I wrote this as a weekly newsletter, and I liked the content so much I wanted to eternalize it as a blog article. Hope you liked it. Have a great day!

ADHD Awareness Month, for Yourself and For Others

October is ADHD Awareness Month, and I want to help us all be more aware!

ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) is a
“neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults around the globe.” (from adhdawarenessmonth.org)

In my roles as a certified professional organizer, organizing coach and
fellow human being, I interact with many people with ADHD.

And, So Do You.

My next few blog articles will help you get to know ADHD.  I hope to delve deeper, but for now, let’s work on the “Awareness” of ADHD Awareness Month.

Did you know?

·    At least 10% of the population have ADHD, and probably a much higher percentage go undiagnosed or unnoticed. In a classroom
of 20 students, at least 2 have ADHD. 

·   ADHD can run in families, but not always.

  • If you have 10 friends with ADHD, each of the 10 will show their ADHD in a different way. There is no one way that a person with ADHD will act.

  • “ADHD”, at least the “H” part, may be a misnomer as not everyone who has ADHD also has hyperactivity.  ADHD can also show up as inattention, poor focus, poor planning, and poor impulse control and emotional regulation, to list just a few symptoms.

     

  •  ADHD is diagnosed from 2.5 to 4 times more often in boys than it is in girls (https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/adhd-symptoms-in-girls-and-boys).  HOWEVER, ADHD is spread evenly between genders.  The difference is the rate of diagnosis.  ADHD shows up differently in different people, and characteristics like being “emotional”, “daydreamy” or “flighty” can wrongly be attributed to girls just because they’re girls and not because they may have an underlying condition.

     

  • ADHD can be diagnosed at any age. ADHD is diagnosed for  children of school age, but also with the transition to high school or to college, when parental supports and involvement changes and no longer compensates for the student with ADHD.

     

     

  • In addition, ADHD was not understood when most of today’s adults were children and many adults will continue to live life undiagnosed.

     

     

  • Folks with ADHD don’t need to “just try harder”, or “apply themselves”, or have better discipline.  ADHD is caused by a chemical deficit in the brain and not by some character flaw.  Often individuals with ADHD work very hard to overcome the challenges that come with ADHD and have spent their life coming up with coping strategies.

     

     

  • Some of the challenges of ADHD can also be considered benefits. For example, a characteristic of ADHD is the ability to hyper-focus on topics that are interesting to the individual. Of course, the ability to hyper-focus is also what sometimes leads to a misdiagnosis.

     

     

  • There are tools to help individuals manage their ADHD.  There is hope. 

And I think HOPE is the most important awareness of all.  

Being Organized is Good For Your Health!

I didn’t want to scare any readers with a dramatic headline, but the opposite is true, too – clutter and disorganization can be bad for our health!

This week, in preparation for upcoming health and wellness events, I’ve been seeking statistics on the correlation between health and wellness and clutter and disorganization. And, let me tell you, they are all connected.

I have been asked many times before – Which comes first? Health problems that lead to disorganization and clutter? Or clutter and disorganization that lead to health problems? And truthfully, I don’t know the answer. OR, the answer is “It depends”, which isn’t helpful.

More important than the answer to “Which came first?” is to recognize they are related! And clearing clutter and getting more organized can help us to feel better in lots of ways, too!

Most of my articles are how-to articles, but this week, I also want to remind us all of the “Why?” as in “Why do we organize and clear clutter?”

So, first the bad news (the good is coming, I promise!): Disorganization and Clutter in our physical spaces can be dangerous to our health and well-being. Consider:

  • Did you know? Household clutter can harbor bugs, rodents, moisture, mold and dust. Being around these environmental hazards can make us all feel poorly, but especially if we have allergies or breathing issues.
  • Did you know? Clutter can make it dangerous to move around our homes and workspaces. Hazards might include narrowed pathways, teetering piles of stuff and items left on the floor for us to trip over.
  • Did you know? There is a physical weight to clutter. Overpacked purses, briefcases, backpacks and luggage take a toll on our shoulders, necks and backs.
  • Imagine a cluttered car. Now imagine having to stomp on the breaks in that car to avoid an accident. Anything in a car that is not strapped down becomes a projectile in extreme braking or the event of an accident.
  • There are physiological and psychological effects of clutter and disorganization, too. Clutter and Disorganization can exacerbate the symptoms of health challenges such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, to name just a few.

Fear not, though, because there is good news, too! Getting a handle on your clutter and disorganization can help improve your health and over well-being in MANY ways! Imagine with me:

  • Clear countertops and healthy food on hand in your kitchen helping you eat the way you feel you should for good health. A study from Cornell University found that the more cluttered a person’s kitchen counter is, the less likely they are to make healthy food choices.
  • Individuals living in clean homes are generally healthier than their counterparts living in clutter, according to research conducted at Indiana University.
  • Moving easily around your home if you can clear clutter and reduce risk of tripping or falling.
  • Being greeted by comfortable and inviting spaces in your home, which reduces stress and improves mood and immunity. According to The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression can cause clutter, and clutter can cause people to feel tired and more depressed!
  • Getting a better night’s sleep in an un-cluttered and peaceful bedroom. The National Sleep Foundation states that people who make their beds daily are more likely to sleep well every night, and 71 percent of us sleep better in a clean, fresh-smelling bedroom.
  • Feeling better when you can consistently take your prescription medications when you can find them when you need them, get them refilled on time and remember to take them because your routines support this habit.

So, as we decide to spend time on organizing and clearing clutter this week, let’s remember all the benefits that can we can reap!

Change the Toilet Paper Roll

1 Comment

I had a much more interesting (I think) article topic planned for today. It was going to be visually stunning, thought-provoking, grammatically correct, entertaining and less than 500 words (because a friend told me long ago he would stop reading my articles at the 500 word mark).

However, a much better topic popped into my head as I swapped out the empty toilet paper roll at a client’s house this morning, and now I am going to talk about toilet paper. As a metaphor for life, of course.

Luckily, I have a habit of checking things such as toilet paper levels, hand towels, etc., before I use a washroom. I immediately determined the roll would be done after I was done. And another quick check told me there was no back-up roll in the usual spot.

I could have just left it – I didn’t use 99.5% of the roll, and hey, it’s not my house, after all. But:

1. I am not a jerk;
2. I firmly believe in leaving things better than I found them whenever I can;
3. I know the solution to this problem and it’s an easy fix; and
4. I may be the next person to use that washroom, and then I would be in trouble.

So, I spent the extra 2 minutes and ran downstairs to the pantry, grabbed a 6 pack and restocked the back-up rolls and the fresh roll. I had a few extras left over and left them out for the client to probably stock other places in her home. And here, reader, is the point.

Take the few extra minute to complete the tasks, especially THE EASY ONES because there is not reason not to. And to NOT complete these easy, everyday tasks can REALLY MESS UP YOUR DAY if they are neglected.

What other tasks fall into this category? The super easily fixed problem that could have wreaked havoc on your day later?

  • Put the scissors back where you found them instead of leaving them out.
  • Recycle the empty milk jug and make a note on the grocery list.
  • Empty the trash when it is full.
  • Charge your phone, and if you see your loved one’s phone near the charger but not on the charger, plug it in.
  • Change the batteries in the remote instead of leaving the task for the next poor sap who just wants to watch TV.
  • Change the toilet paper roll, or restock the empty tissue box, etc., and re-stock the back-up once a week.
  • Refill the hand soap dispenser once a week while you’re at it, because running out of soap is a pain.
  • Get gas on your way home when you realize you need it because you absolutely will not remember to leave time for it in the morning. (Don’t argue, you know I am right.)

Do these things. Because they take no time at all and can really keep your week humming along, and NOT doing them can really trip you up.

Do them because you’re not a jerk. Because it takes very little time to leave something better than you found it. Because most problems we encounter are actually pretty easy fixes if we don’t delay. And if you can’t be all these positive things, do the easy task because you may be the one who is majorly inconvenienced later!