Off to organizers' heaven!
I’m leaving this morning for Columbus, Ohio, to attend the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers. This will be my fifth NAPO conference in a row and I’m as excited as ever. There will be hundreds of smart, friendly, interesting organizers there to talk with. There’s an expo of organizing products (be still my heart), there are amazing educational sessions. The chance to see old friends and make new ones.
Filed under: Organizing || Tagged with: education, empowerment, friendship, napo
Ready to make a change?
I’m been fortunate to have a good deal of success in my life. Here’s one reason: I have a secret weapon, is my friend and life coach (and Declutter Happy Hour partner), Shannon Wilkinson.
Filed under: Ranting-and-Raving Living || Tagged with: change agent, empowerment, products, shannon wilkinson
Yet another new task-management system from Mark Forster
Mark Forster is my time management guru. As I’ve blogged about before, I loved his book, Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: autofocus, balance, control, desk, empowerment, focus, goals, mark forster, priorities, productivity, time management, to-do list
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
Take some time out for a retreat
Last year around this time, I blogged about Jen Louden’s Virtual Retreat. It was a weekend event where participants got to hear interviews with a variety of self-help folks to help them nurture themselves.
Filed under: Ranting-and-Raving Living || Tagged with: empowerment, encouragement, jen louden, relaxation, self-care
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
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
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
Looking for some comfort?
n January, I took Jen Louden’s wonderful Virtual Retreat. Jen, known as “The Comfort Queen,” offered up a four-day weekend full of talks (over the phone) from inspiring self-help folks. It was terrific.
Filed under: Living Resources || Tagged with: empowerment, encouragement, fear, gratitude, jen louden, optimism, self-care, workshops
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
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
Just do it
Every now and then I read a message on a forum or somewhere from someone who’s lost all their data in a computer crash. That person is kindly reminding people to back up their computers, to avoid the heartbreak of everything vanishing into thin air.
I’m happy to say this isn’t one of those messages. I haven’t suffered a computer crash. In fact, I’ve had no computer problems to speak of since I bought my MacBook in July of 2007.
Filed under: Living Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: decisions, empowerment, obstacles, procrastination, productivity
The weekend work/rest balance
On Friday I wrote that I was overwhelmed with tasks and clutter and that I really wanted to put my feet up this weekend, but had so much to do that I feared that wouldn’t be prudent. So I decided to create short task lists for each weekend day and relax only after I’d completed all the tasks on them.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: clutter, empowerment, priorities, productivity, relaxation, self-care, time management
Feeling overwhelmed
So far this year, things have been running really smoothly. I’ve been gliding through the days, getting lots done, meeting some terrific people, making some money. Kind of idyllic, in fact.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: clutter, empowerment, priorities, relaxation, self-care, time management
Need some comfort, courage and calm these days?
While the new year also feels ripe with possibilities for me, I have to admit that the advent of 2009 is a little scarier than usual. I have great hopes for a turnaround in our economy, but I know that for many people (including me, sometimes) the economic situation makes taking action—or even feeling good—a little difficult and scary.
Filed under: Living Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: empowerment, encouragement, fear, gratitude, havi brooks, jen louden, michael neill, optimism, relaxation, self-care, workshops
Great advice in tense times
I’m still playing catch up and haven’t been coming up with inspiring ideas for blog posts. So instead of coming up with my own thoughts on the role of organizing in these worrisome times (though I did write a little about that in the latest issue of my newsletter, which went out yesterday), I want to share with you a fabulous blog post from my friend and fellow organizer, Aby Garvey, of simplify 101 and the Creative Organizing blog. Here’s the post, entitled, Empowered by Organizing.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: aby garvey, control, economy, empowerment
Regaining control
I wrote on Friday about how my house had become cluttered and messy over the past couple of weeks of whirlwind activity and how I had feet of lead when I thought about doing anything about it. I ended that post with “I hope to report on Monday that my life and business are back in order and that I’m feeling clutter-free and empowered!”
Filed under: Living Organizing || Tagged with: clutter, disorder, empowerment, gwa, mark forster, productivity
Lace knitting: Not unlike organizing
Last night, as I worked on the Estonian Garden Wrap, a seemingly complicated and sort of overwhelming (for this novice lace knitter) knitting pattern, I realized that broken down to its simplest elements, it’s really pretty easy. And that’s not unlike any overwhelming project, like getting organized. Let me explain.
Filed under: Organizing Knitting || Tagged with: decluttering, empowerment, knitting, lace, motivation, perfectionism, productivity
Self-care
I’m always struck how clutter gets in the way of life. I have many clients who constantly feel an obligation to deal with their clutter. They plan to devote a weekend to decluttering, then they start to feel overwhelmed, so they don’t actually deal with it. (Until they call me.)
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: 15 minutes, decluttering, empowerment, self-care, shannon wilkinson
Life is what you make it
On my way to a client’s house this morning, listening to NPR, I heard a story that made the hairs stand up on my neck. It was a story on Morning Edition about Larry Woodard, a Dallas, Texas, man who was falsely convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend. He languished in prison for 27 years, all the while writing letters asserting his innocence and requesting re-investigation of the case.
Filed under: Sharing Living || Tagged with: attitude, balance, empowerment, motivation
When good things happen to great clients
I mentioned last week that I was leaving for Hawaii to help a client get settled in there. We’re working hard, having some fun, and accomplishing a lot.
I’ve been working with this client since September 2006 and she serves as a fabulous example of the benefits of getting organized.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: balance, decluttering, empowerment, order, organized, priorities
Organizing nirvana
Checking in for a quick moment to say how wonderfully fortunate I feel to be at the national NAPO conference here in Reno. I just heard the most wonderful keynote address from Peter Walsh, who totally rocks.
Filed under: Organizing Sharing || Tagged with: education, empowerment, friendship, geralin thomas, napo, peter walsh
Do It Tomorrow really works
As I’ve written here before, I decided on January 1 that 2008 would be the year that I take control of my time-management issues. That day, I selected probably a half dozen time management books from my shelf, each one espousing a different philosophy. I thought I’d make a commitment to a single system and really try to adhere to it for a month or so.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: balance, control, desk, empowerment, focus, goals, mark forster, priorities, productivity, time management
Clutter can be such a barrier
It’s amazing to me what a barrier to productivity, to progress, to peace of mind clutter can be. I see it in my clients all the time. And I know from personal experience.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: clutter, decluttering, empowerment, feng shui, focus, priorities, procrastination, productivity
All revved up!
I just returned from six fabulous days of training, education and networking with my colleagues in the organizing profession. I attended the annual conferences of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization and the National Association of Professional Organizers. I also attended a one-day training workshop for a great filing system called Freedom Filer.
Filed under: Organizing Ranting-and-Raving || Tagged with: big picture, empowerment, freedom filer, napo, nsgcd
Backsliding
In the organizing field, particularly for organizers who work with chronically disorganized people, backsliding is all too common. You leave a client with systems in place, skills transferred, attitudes and motivation high, and then you stop hearing from her.
Filed under: Organizing Living || Tagged with: backsliding, empowerment, stacks
