Fear of the unknown
I’ve had to learn a new skill set. And I didn’t make it easy on myself.
I decided to sell downloadable products of my own creation on my website. By the end of the month, I hope, I’ll have organizing guides and an e-course for sale in a new Products section of this website. (And I’ll be offering a new coaching program.)
Filed under: || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, fear, organizing products, procrastination, productivity, wendy cholbi
You don't have to do it alone
Having just spent four days with professional organizers, who are among the most supportive and helpful groups of people I can think of, I’m pausing to think about how important support is.
Filed under: || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, felder rushing, napo, professional organizer, shannon wilkinson, support
When is clutter a problem?
I gave a decluttering talk the other day and of the audience members asked, “But what if I get comfort from having all my stuff around me?” I told her it’s not a problem to be surrounded by her stuff — unless it is a problem. I asked her whether being surrounded by her stuff was affecting her ability to function. She said yes. So we talked a little about what happens when the cost of keeping stuff is higher than the cost of letting go of it.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, disorder, guest post, quick clutter fix, rubbermaid, shannon wilkinson
Spring decluttering
Spring has hit St. Louis. It’s been in the 80s this week. The fruit trees and redbuds are starting to flower. Daffodils are out. It’s fabulous.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: closets, declutter happy hour, decluttering, order
Follow up Friday
I wanted to update you on a few recent blog posts:
- There’s still time to enter to win The Other Side of Organized: Finding Balance Between Chaos and Perfection, the fabulous new book by my friend Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®. You can read the review on Wednesday’s blog post. To enter, either comment on that post or this one, and/or tweet about it on Twitter (being sure to put @janinea in the tweet so I’ll see it).
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: aby garvey, container store, declutter happy hour, elfa, linda samuels, napo la, napo st. louis, shannon wilkinson, shred and protect
How's 2010 looking for you?
January is almost over (already). As I’ve blogged about before, for the last couple of years I’ve been trying to add one big habit per year that will help me be happier and more productive. In 2008, it was clearing my desk at the end of the workday. In 2009 it was whittling my email inbox down to 15 or fewer messages every day. I’m going gangbusters on both of those.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, empowerment, goals, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, teleclasses, telephone coaching
Why resolutions don't work (and how to get what you want anyway)
Where are you on the New Year’s Resolution Continuum?
Filed under: Organizing Resources || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, empowerment, goals, shannon wilkinson, teleclasses, telephone coaching
Highlight reel for 2009
2009 was a year of ups and downs for me. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. As I finish inputting data into Quickbooks for the year, I realize that my revenue is down, which isn’t great. I’m chalking it up to the economy. But so many really great things happened in 2009 that I view it as a year of success and progress.
Filed under: Ranting-and-Raving Sharing || Tagged with: aapo, accountability, declutter happy hour, napo, napo st. louis, nsgcd, speaking
My favorite blog posts of 2009
I wrote just over 150 blog posts in 2009. Last week, I clicked through them and picked out some of my favorites to share with you in this post. The first go-around, I selected 24. But I figure that’s more than you care to see in one post. So I’ve cut that number in half.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: blogging, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, fear, hiring a po, nanowrimo
Help for the holidays
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m really lucky because we never host Thanksgiving dinner, so Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday I have to get ready for. My husband even does the cooking for our contribution to dinner. But I know I’m unusual. Many people are looking around their houses this week, thinking of what they have to do to whip it into shape for guests.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, holidays, quick clutter fix, shannon wilkinson
The novel writing proceeds...
…which explains why the blog writing has dropped off a little. I’m very excited that I’ve been able to work on my novel-in-a-month piece of fiction each day since November 1.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: deadlines, declutter happy hour, decluttering, goals, nanowrimo, shannon wilkinson, writing
Declutter Happy Hour Thanksgiving special!
I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I love Thanksgiving. And I’m really lucky because Thanksgiving doesn’t mean work for me. We’ve had turkey on the fourth Thursday of November every year since 1988 at the home of dear friends. My husband cooks our contribution. All I have to do is show up and eat. (And contribute to conversation.)
Filed under: Organizing || Tagged with: clutter, company, declutter happy hour, decluttering, holidays, shannon wilkinson
Stop the stashing
If clutter is an issue in your life, the prospect of having a dinner guest or houseguest can be panic-inducing. (Flylady calls it living in CHAOS, or Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome.)
Filed under: Organizing Resources || Tagged with: clutter, company, declutter happy hour, decluttering, quick clutter fix, shannon wilkinson
Facing down the fears lurking in the clutter
As Shannon and I discuss in Declutter Happy Hour, sometimes people don’t want to work on clutter because it’s just plain scary.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, empowerment, fear, procrastination, shannon wilkinson
We all have fear
Recently my husband and I went to a family reunion held at a ski resort in Pennsylvania (it was the end of June and there was no snow). He and I rode a chair lift up to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view. I don’t ski and I’ve only been on a ski lift a handful of times. Neither of us heard the mumbling attendant’s instructions to pull the restraining bar over our heads and lock it in place in front of us. So we were riding up the mountain with nothing preventing us from falling out of the moving chair.
Filed under: Living Sharing || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, fear, self-care, shannon wilkinson, silvercreek glider club
Another 30-minute miracle
Okay, “miracle” is completely overstating it. But I was amazed at my office’s transformation the other day when I set my timer and got to work for 30 minutes
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, productivity
Music to declutter by
In my newsletter, which goes out today, I mention the power of focus and how by setting a timer for a short period of time, I can get a lot done. (This is a refrain here on the blog too). I also mentioned that sometimes instead of (or in addition to) a timer, I’ll play a playlist of songs that ends after a set period of time.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: 15 minutes, declutter happy hour, decluttering, motivation, music
Have a Declutter Happy Hour any time you want
At the end of March, life coach Shannon Wilkinson and I started offering a four-week telecourse called Declutter Happy Hour.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, empowerment, encouragement, shannon wilkinson, telephone coaching
It should be easy
In working with my life coach, Shannon Wilkinson, I’ve discovered that my driving force is ease. I like things to be easy. That’s why I love living in St. Louis, where the living is easy (recent highway closures notwithstanding) and didn’t like living in New York City, where the hassle factor is high. Ease trumps excitement in my book.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, michael neill, productivity, shannon wilkinson
It's amazing what you can do in a half hour (or less)
As part of the preparations for Declutter Happy Hour, the four-week teleclass I started offering with Shannon Wilkinson last month, I’ve been doing a lot of small decluttering projects around the house.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: 15 minutes, clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, shannon wilkinson
Why not lighten the load?
Over at the wonderful blog, Unclutterer last week, guest blogger Gregory Go offered up a guest post on the Seven Benefits of Decluttering. If you had any doubt of the benefits of lightening the load and letting go of excess (and they include financial benefits!), hurry on over there and check it out.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, shannon wilkinson, unclutterer, zen habits
The vanishing day
I’m writing this at 6 p.m. Six flippin’ p.m! I usually blog in the morning and when I mess up my routine, things tend to fall through the cracks.
Filed under: Living Sharing || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, exercise, productivity, shannon wilkinson
Can decluttering lead to happiness?
Gretchen Rubin who writes the blog (and upcoming book) The Happiness Project also blogs for Real Simple (and for Slate).
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, gretchen rubin, happiness
Declutter Happy Hour starts tomorrow!
Our first “Declutter Happy Hour” session begins tomorrow, March 31, at 2 p.m. central. If you haven’t signed up yet but are intrigued, head on over to the Declutter Happy Hour website and check it out.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, empowerment, encouragement, shannon wilkinson
The power of 15 minutes
A decade ago, Flylady told me to set my timer for 15 minutes and declutter. She told all of her followers, “You can do anything for 15 minutes.” I’ve put that into use over and over again through the years. And I blog about it a lot because it’s so true.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: 15 minutes, clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, flylady, shannon wilkinson, time timer
Announcing Declutter Happy Hour!
Recently, I’ve been blogging quite a bit about how hard it can be to get rid of clutter, not just because it’s hard work that’s difficult to find the time to do, but because of emotional barriers to the work, or unhelpful beliefs that get in the way.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, empowerment, shannon wilkinson, telephone coaching
