Peace of Mind Organizing

Getting past the fear of rejection

8 July 2013

I attended the World Domination Summit this weekend in Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful two-day conference for entrepreneurs who want to do good for the world. (Its central theme is “leading a remarkable life in a conventional world”.)

The speakers were excellent and each one was inspirational. One of my favorite speakers was Jia Jiang who created the blog, !00 days of rejection in an effort to desensitize himself to the pain of rejection. Using hidden video he recorded his efforts to create 100 rejections. The result is a remarkable blog. Check it out.

In his low-key, humorous talk (which garnered a standing ovation), Jia talked about how he overtly tried to be rejected by asking outlandish requests. (Among them: He asked a police officer if he could drive his car, a private pilot if he could fly his plane, and knocked on a door in soccer garb and asked a man if he could play soccer in his back yard.) And you know what? he wasn’t rejected—he flew that plane, drove that police car, and played soccer. We saw photos.

His video went viral when he asked a Krispy Kreme donuts employee to create a custom donut in the shape of the Olympic rings—and she did it.

Jia’s talk made me ponder the crippling fear of rejection, and how off-base it often is. He made me think about how much we can accomplish if we simply let go of our natural fear of rejection.

I’m so grateful to have seen this talk. (And you can watch his Tedx Austin talk to experience something like it yourself.) When I contemplate new directions or strategies for my business (or anything else in my life), I’ll remember Jia’s talk. And I hope I’ll ignore my natural fear of rejection and realize that if I don’t ask for something I can’t hope to get it!

BookBub: It makes my Kindle even better

5 July 2013

When I bought my Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in December, I worried that I’d be spending all kinds of money on books. Back when I was reading books printed on paper, I’d just borrow them from my library. While my library does offer Kindle books, the selection is somewhat limited.

But then I read in the New York Times about BookBub. This website is my new best friend. When I registered (which was free), I designated the genres of books I’m interested in and I chose the Kindle format. (It’s also available for Nook, Android Sony Reader, iPad and Kobo.) Now each day I receive an email with a list of Kindle books that are either very low cost (like $2.99) or free. They’re available that day only at that price.

So pretty much every day I download at least one book that I might want to read. It literally takes me two clicks. And now as soon as I finish a book, I have a bunch of new books to choose from. And I’m not cluttering up my bookshelves.

It’s heaven. It doesn’t cost me a dime. And I’m reading like crazy.

I love technology!

Worth repeating: My secret to saving money on knitting

3 July 2013

Thanks to my well-organized and well-stocked stash of yarn, I spend very little money on yarn and knitting supplies. Three years ago, I wrote about Ravelry, my secret weapon for saving money on what can be a very expensive hobby. This post is as true today as the day I wrote it, with one exception. There are now 3 million members of Ravelry!

When I started knitting five years ago, I tentatively started projects and slowly learned new techniques while gradually buying nicer and nicer yarns. I kept all my yarn in one bag.

About a year into it, I was all about the shopping. Going into a yarn store is a wonderful thing for a yarn-o-phile. The yarn is lovely to look at and even better to touch. Though I think of myself as someone who doesn’t buy yarn without knowing what I’m going to do with it, I quickly amassed a sizable yarn stash.

I spend some money on yarn, people. I don’t really want to go into Quicken and see how much. But luxury yarn can be expensive, which is why it costs so much to purchase a hand-knit sweater and why knitting garments for yourself is rarely a decision based on saving money.

For several years, I struggled with the best way to organize my yarn. I had yarn that I’d purchased for projects, some yarn that I bought on impulse without a project in mind, and then yarn leftover from projects. I used pop-up bins and knitting bags quite ineffectively.

Then in 2008 I bought my Elfa drawer system and organized my yarn stash in it. It’s bliss.

So what’s my secret to saving money on knitting? It’s the combination of an organized yarn stash and the amazing social networking site for knitters, Ravelry.

Thanks to this secret weapon, I purchased very little yarn in 2009. Every time I wanted to start a project, I’d think about what I was in the mood to knit (or come up with something that I needed, like a hat). Then I’d log into Ravelry to find a pattern. I’d look at the recommended yarn for the pattern and go to my yarn stash to see if I could find anything similar. Thanks to Ravelry, which has a database of yarns, I can easily compare the yarn in my stash to the recommended yarn. I can see if other people have used that yarn for that project. Ravelry even has yarn suggestions for each project, based on what other people have used.

Once or twice, I’ve gone to my yarn stash, identified a ball or two of a yarn that I felt like knitting with, then used Ravelry to find something to make with it. I can see the projects that other Ravelry users have knit with that yarn. Or I can click on “Pattern ideas” for each yarn. It’s amazing.

If you’re a knitter and you’re not already shopping from your yarn stash (assuming you’re looking to save some money on yarn), I encourage you to figure out a system of organizing your yarn so that you can find yarn easily. There’s no right or wrong way to do it—just think about your stash like it’s your favorite yarn store and organize it like they do (or like you wish that they did). I organize mine primarily by yarn weight, but sometimes by fiber. For example, I like having all my cotton yarns together without regard to weight. Don’t ask me why.

Once your yarn is organized, you an use Ravelry to give you great ideas on how to use it. If you don’t already belong to Ravelry, stop what your doing and go there right now to sign up to join the 644,000 knitters and crocheters who are already using it. It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread as far as I’m concerned. Once you’re there, please friend me. I’m kramerscout.

I need to do some photographing of finished projects and then I’ll do a knitting post with some photos!

My evening routine: It's how I stay on my game

1 July 2013

I do three things almost every weeknight at the end of the work day that help me to stay on top of my business, start the day feeling productive, and reduce the stress in my life. These three habits have a lot to do with my really enjoying being an entrepreneur. They are:

• I clear my desk off at the end of each work day. It’s easy to do, because there’s only one day’s worth of stuff out. And everything has a place. In the morning, thanks to my clean desktop I can hit the ground running.

• I write down the four priority tasks for the next day. Why four? It’s a number that works for me because it’s realistic to expect I can do it all. And it doesn’t make me feel overwhelmed. I use a form I created for that purpose and I hang the list on a pretty clipboard on the wall next to my desk.

• I empty out my email inbox. This is probably the most important thing I do to stay in control. I’ve been doing this daily for a couple of years now and it’s become very easy. Last year I wrote a post detailing exactly how I do it . The result? Every email that requires a response is dealt with in a timely manner. Decisions aren’t delayed. Emails don’t scroll away out of sight. And I only have a few emails greeting me in the morning.

These three habits, rolled up into one tidy routine, are key factors in the success of my business and, indeed, in my happiness. They keep me calm and in control and they really take very little time. What could you add to your evening routine that will make your life easier?

If you’d like to l earn more about creating habits and routines, sign up for my Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines online workshop for Simplify 101. (Now through July 7, use the coupon code DECLARE to get 15 percent off the tuition.)

You can learn to be organized

28 June 2013

Some people are born organized. I know a lot of folks like that, since I hang around with professional organizers. Other people weren’t born organized, but they’ve learned to be organized.

I’m living proof that you can learn to be organized. Let me tell you a little story.

In May, I was contacted on Facebook by one of my high school teachers. He’d been the advisor to the school newspaper. My senior year I was the editor of the school newspaper. Being in touch with him made me pull out my yearbook (which at my high school we called an “annual”).

I turned to the page in the yearbook that featured the school newspaper staff. There we were, sitting around our typewriters. Next to a picture I was in, my teacher had written the following:

Janine, thank you for helping me make it through my first year as Journal advisor. I don’t think I helped you to be any more organized or any neater—but I tried!

That cracked me up when I read it. I don’t actually have any recollection of being particularly disorganized or messy in high school, but it was apparently my defining characteristic, as far as this teacher was concerned.

Through the years, I didn’t let my messiness get in the way of my success. I read and read about organizing techniques and managed to teach myself to be organized. (All along, I was organized in my mind…it was the physical manifestation that was out of kilter.)

When I got burned out as a freelance writer back in 2005, I decided it was time to teach others what I’d learned about getting organized. And now, I make a nice living doing that.

So I went from being an apparently disorganized and messy high school student to being a professional organizer who’s helped hundreds of people get organized. If I can get that organized, so can you.

Don’t think that just because you’re not organized now, you never can be. If you’re dealing with a lot of clutter, the first step is getting rid of the backlog. Once that’s done, it’s a matter of setting up systems that work for the way you think and then creating new habits and routines to help you stay organized.

If you set your mind to it, you can learn to be organized!

Worth repeating: Just do something!

26 June 2013

While I did finally join a gym, the message of this two-year-old blog post is still worth repeating. Whether it’s exercise, filing, or processing email, doing something is always better than doing nothing.

Some effort is better than no effort. That’s the philosophy I’m embracing at the moment when it comes to exercise. For some reason, I’ve fallen off the exercise bandwagon, despite the fact that I’ve put on a few pounds and so am reminded of the need to exercise on a very regular basis.

I think the monster known as perfectionism has reared its head in this instance. I was sort of getting tired of my Wii Fit Plus exercises and I purchased Just Dance 2. I enjoy Just Dance 2, but didn’t feel like it was giving me much of a workout.

So then I started thinking about joining a gym and started doing a little research on that. No problem there, except that I had stopped exercising as I sought just the right exercise for me. Part of that was because I’ve been so busy. But mostly I was being lazy. And I fell out of my routine, so I would actually forget.

Yesterday I decided to embrace the “Just do something” philosophy. I don’t have to have a perfectly amazing workout. I just have to do something. Because moving my body a little is better than not moving it at all.

This applies to other aspects of life, of course. I’m going to embrace the “do something” philosophy when it comes to my genealogy research, which had gone dormant for way too long. But I’ve gotten started again and want to try to do just a little on a regular basis (several times a week) rather than wait until that block of time that never comes.

Yesterday after my “just do something” epiphany, I advised a client who is trying to work through a paper backlog to set a goal of working on the backlog 30 minutes a day. Then I interjected my new philosophy by suggesting that even if he doesn’t have 30 minutes to work on it he should do it for 10, or even five. Keeping that momentum of daily activity going will help him create the habit and get past the barrier to getting started.

Last night was the moment of truth when it came to my exercising. While I was waiting for dinner to finish cooking, I remembered to exercise. (Remembering was an achievement unto itself.) I decided to ease my way in. I did just two dances on Just Dance 2 and nothing else. (In case you’re wondering, the two dances were to Crazy in Love and Proud Mary. Love those.) Tonight, maybe I’ll do something more strenuous. Or maybe not. It’s okay as long as I do something.

Now open for registration: Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines

21 June 2013

Having great habits and routines is the key to living an easy life. I believe this whole heartedly and I talk to anybody who’ll listen about how important it is to make tasks automatic by creating well-established habits and routines.

In 2011 I created and taught a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. I’m delighted to announce that it’s being offered again, for the fourth time. This session runs from August 15 through September 12. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing (20 percent off!) through June 26.

My friend and colleague, Aby Garvey, owns Simplify 101 with her husband, Jay. They put on a variety of online organizing workshops. (I’m honored to be their first guest instructor.) Believe me, they run a top-notch operation. What makes Simplify 101’s expert-guided workshops special is that on top of excellent information, students can interact with the instructor and one another in online forums.

When you sign up for this workshop, you’ll get three lessons, released a week apart. Each lesson is available to be read on the website, or as a pdf, or as an mp3. (Your choice.) And you also get access to the glorious forums where you’ll not only have the chance to ask me questions but also gain encouragement and wisdom from your classmates. It’s a very special arrangement, if you ask me.

In Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines I’ll be helping students identify good habits they already have, ones they’d like to create, and figure out how to link habits together to form simple routines. I’ll also be helping students let go of habits that are less desirable.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I’m all about habits and routines as a way of making life run more smoothly. If you’re intrigued about how to harness the power of great habits and routines, I urge you to sign up for this online workshop!

When you sign up, please mention in the space provided that you heard about the workshop from me. And be sure to say hi in the forums and tell me you’re one of my blog readers!