Peace of Mind Organizing

App of the week: Over

28 September 2012

On Facebook, I frequently see photos with captions right on the picture and I wonder how the caption got there. (I also wonder how people upload clips of TV shows onto You Tube, but that’s another question.)

I recently downloaded an app called Over designed to do just that. You open the app, take photo (or use one from your photo library, double tap the photo, and type the caption. You can choose from a limited selection of fonts, adjust the size and alignment and put it anywhere you want on the picture. Then you can email it or send it out via social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Here are a couple of examples. First, a picture of my dog, Kirby, being his adorable self.

Then, a photo of a sign I saw while walking Kirby the other day, captioned with the thought that went through my head when I saw it.

My parents have a Ceiva digital photo frame. I think Over will come in handy if I want to send a photo to it that requires a little explanation.

But more to the point, one of these days I’m going to take a photo, caption it using Over, put it on Facebook and watch it go viral. Okay, that may never happen. But at least that’s not because I don’t know how to put the caption on a photo!

Lighten the load this weekend

26 September 2012

If you have expired or unwanted medications cluttering up your bathroom or kitchen, this Saturday, September 29 from 10 am to 2 pm is the semi-annual National Take Back Initiative, organized by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Between those hours you can drop off medications at a law-enforcement for proper disposal. Just click on the link to find disposal sites near you. The event is taking place nationwide.

If you’re in St. Louis, there’s a shredding and recycling event called Shred it to Fix It, also on September 29 from 10 to 2. Bring your paper for shredding and appliances for recycling to the parking log at Chesterfield Mall (near Jared the Galleria of Jewelry). Paper and cardboard will be shredded and recycled for a $5 donation per box. Computers, cell phones, monitors, etc. will be accepted at no charge. Shredding is provided by American Document Destruction

Funds raised will benefit Rebuilding Together St. Louis." This organization helps elderly, disabled and veteran St. Louisans rebuild their home at no cost.

Gratitude, compassion and forgiveness

24 September 2012

At the ICD conference last week, I heard many great speakers. One of them was Fred Luskin, who spoke about forgiveness. A Stanford University instructor and a researcher on the effect of forgiveness on physical and emotional well-being (it helps both), Dr. Luskin teaches about happiness and forgiveness, among other topics. I enjoyed his book, Forgive for Good, is very interesting.

In his ICD lecture, Dr. Luskin made a couple of statements that have been running though my mind since I heard them, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Humility leads to kindness which leads to happiness.

He went on to say that money and attainment don’t lead to happiness. It’s generosity that brings happiness.

The other big statement that resonated with me is this:

The three co-qualities leading to a happier life are gratitude, compassion and forgiveness.

I have a daily gratitude practice and I try to be compassionate and forgiving. This talk has really brought this top of mind for me.

I searched around YouTube and found some short videos in which Dr. Luskin talks about these topics. Here’s one you might enjoy.

In this video, he describes forgiveness as “Making peace when you don’t get what you want.” Such a simple concept. The video is four minutes long and I found it inspiring and thought provoking. (The two-hour lecture was even more so.)

Some ADHD humor

21 September 2012

I’m at the annual conference of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization, soaking in the knowledge and having a wonderful time interacting with fellow organizers. Lots of old and new friends here.

I’ll write more about what I’ve learned—I’m a little brain dead at the moment to put anything really cogent together—but so far, we’ve terrific presentations on procrastination, ADHD, brain injury, and sensitivity training about the aging process.

One of the presenters, Dale Davison, gave a presentation called, ADHD: What the Science Says. In it, she showed this video, which amused me so much I had to share it here.

Hope you enjoyed that.

Incidentally, if you’re on Twitter, follow the hashtag #ICD12 to see some great content-related tweets on the conference session. Lots of great nuggets of wisdom are being shared!

An approaching milestone

19 September 2012

On Saturday, I turn 50 years old. I’m a birthday person and I love celebrating my birthday. I’ve never had angst over turning a year older. I’m helped by the fact that my husband, Barry, is nine years older than me, so now matter how old I am, I’m still young by comparison.

But turning 50 gives one pause. Partly, I think, because that pretty indisputably, half my life is behind me. Partly because my body’s starting to behave like it’s not 20 (or 30 or 40) any more. But I’m in good shape and my good genes have helped me stay fairly young looking. (I didn’t appreciate my youthful appearance when I was a teenager, but I sure do now.)

Turning 50, I think, is naturally a time to take stock. I’m a glass-half-full kind of person, so when I take stock, I tend to dwell on the positive. And I realize that I have a load of things to be grateful for:

• My wonderful husband of 22 years
• My family—my parents are still alive and living in their own home and my brothers are in my life
• My wonderful, devoted friends, many of whom I’ve known for decades
• I have really fulfilling work and I can make my own schedule
• I’ve been able to shift gears several times in my career to pursue new and exciting things
• I’ve traveled around the world (literally), seen some interesting countries and met fascinating people
• I get to help people bring joy back into their lives

I think it’s really true that age is just a state of mind. I’ve always enjoyed getting older, because my past experiences enrich the present. So the way I see it, the more experiences I have, the richer life becomes. I look forward to the coming years!

A great time management class for organizers

17 September 2012

Julie Morgenstern is somewhat of a rock star among professional organizers. She wrote the books, Organizing from the Inside Out and Time Management from the Inside Out more than ten years ago. Those books helped many, many people (including me). Since then she’s gone on to build a high-profile, successful organizing company. She develops products, like the new Circa Balanced Life Planner from Levenger. And she trains professional organizers through the Julie Morgenstern Organizing Institute.

Now she’s offering a two-part class called Time Management from the Inside Out for Professional Organizers through the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). I’ve been fortunate to be on the task team developing the class and last week audited the first half of the class. It was terrific! I am so excited at how this class is going to help me help my clients. It’s well organized, in-depth, and very clear.

If you’re a professional organizer, I urge you to take this webinar. The first session is September 25 and September 27 from 2 to 4 pm central time. The size of the class is limited and is already half full, so if you’re considering it, sign up now. The fee for NAPO members is $149 and for non-NAPO members $249.

It’s really a terrific opportunity to learn from one of the best!

A special (for me) episode of Hoarders this Monday

12 September 2012

This past spring I was invited to help during the shooting of an episode of A&E TV’s emmy-nominated Hoarders program. The client, Ruth, lives in St. Louis and extreme cleaner and show regular Matt Paxton, with whom I’d worked on a previous episode, asked me to recruit a couple of other organizers and help during the shoot.

I was joined by Karel Worley and Julie Hough, who are terrific, upbeat organizers. We had a tremendous time assisting behind the scenes as Ruth’s home was cleaned out. The wonderful guys from the St. Louis franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK were also there, working their hearts out.

Julie Hough, Karel Worley, Matt Paxton and me at the end of the shoot

Since then, Karel, Julie and I have been working with Ruth as part of the show’s aftercare program. Ruth is truly a special person, with a wonderful, caring family. Getting to know Ruth and her daughters has been really enriching for me personally and I am so grateful to the show for involving me.

Ruth is grateful, too. She told me that the her involvement with the show has truly been life changing for her. That makes me so happy.

I know that these programs are sometimes criticized for being exploitive or for involving clients who cannot handle the stress of the clean out. In this case (and in the case of Brad, a client I worked with for TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive), Ruth was able to make some shifts that allowed her to let go of possessions that were truly holding her back. She’s maintained the order that we’ve created. Being involved with the show has truly given her a new lease on life.

The episode airs Monday, September 17, at 9 pm/8 pm central on A&E. If you miss the airing, you can also catch it online on A&E’s website. I doubt you’ll even catch a glimpse of Karel, Julie or me. I haven’t seen the episode, but I can tell you that Ruth’s story is tragic, but hopeful. I’m looking forward to seeing it.