Peace of Mind Organizing

Get involved

14 May 2012

Todayis my last day serving on the board of directors of the St. Louis chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-St. Louis). That feels big. In my seven years as a professional organizer, I’ve always served on the NAPO-St. Louis board.

NAPO-St. Louis was chartered in 2006. Before that, it was a chapter in formation for maybe a year. I wasn’t part of those original formation meetings, but as soon as the founders reached out to me (due to my membership in the national NAPO association), I jumped at the chance to get involved. Prior to that, I felt alone as I explored this new career. Once I went to my first meeting of the not-yet-a-chapter NAPO-St. Louis, I knew I was home.

I was tapped to be on that first board. I served as Membership Director for a couple of years, and back then everybody did everything, so I was also instrumental in setting up the chapter’s website. I worked side by side on that with Aby Garvey, another of the original board members.

In my second year as Membership Director, I also served as Vice President and when the President, Lori Bickel, left the industry and dropped her membership at the end of 2007, I finished her term. Then I served two terms as President. And now I’m finishing up two terms as Immediate Past President. As of Wednesday, I won’t be a board member any more.

I have such mixed emotions about this! Part of me is thrilled. I’ve logged a lot of hours on behalf of NAPO-St. Louis and this will free up some time in my schedule.

But part of me is sad, too. It’ll be very strange not to be part of the leadership of this tremendous chapter.

The largest part of me is proud, though. I am so proud of what this chapter has become.

My successor, Tiffany Engler has taken the chapter to the next level. We now have 36 regular members and 10 associate members. We have a really happy, collegial membership. We have active volunteers. Back in the day, there were just a few of us doing everything (because at the beginning we had fewer than 20 members). Now we have a multitude of volunteer positions and people stepping up to do them.

We have a community service project and we’re planning a big public event in 2013. Tiffany and the board have done an amazing job.

Tiffany becomes Immediate Past President on Wednesday, succeeded by Denise Lee, who is going to be another tremendous leader. Denise is supported a by a terrific board and I’m confident she’ll take the chapter to yet another level.

If you’re a professional organizer and you have a NAPO chapter in your area, I urge you to get involved. I don’t know where I’d be in my business if it weren’t for NAPO-St. Louis. Being involved in the chapter on the board level has had so many benefits for me and my business. It’s developed my leadership skills, it’s increased my profile in the community, it’s allowed to get to know other terrific organizers whom I use on my teams. It’s given me a community. Its given me many precious friends. And I’m grateful.

App of the week: Square

11 May 2012

I’m still in the honeymoon phase of my relationship with my iPhone 4S. (I hope it never ends!) A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about why I love my iPhone.

Because I marvel about it every day, I thought I’d try writing about an app I love every Friday until I run out of them. (Will I ever run out?)

I’m going to start with Square. You probably know about Square, but in case you don’t, Square is an app and a small plastic device that allow anyone to accept credit cards via their smartphones or other mobile devices.

Back when I started my business, the options for accepting credit cards were limited to PayPal or a merchant service which typically assessed a hefty monthly fee and a per-transaction fee.

PayPal is problematic for me, since it requires logging on to a computer if I want payment at the time of services. (I know that PayPal is now developing a device for mobile use.)

Square charges no monthly fee, its transaction fees are low, and it’s easy to carry around with me. The device itself (pictured below) plugs into the earphone jack of the phone. It’s mailed to users free of charge.

I sometimes have to swipe a few times before it accepts the credit card, but otherwise I’ve had no problems with it. A day or two after I swipe the card, the money (less the transaction fee) is deposited into my business bank account. For certain clients (in particular, one who has me help him in his office and who pays with a company credit card), it’s a real convenience. Square helps me let accepting credit cards be easy.

I’m proud to say that the inventors of Square, Jack Dorsey (who also created Twitter) and Jim McKelvey are St. Louisans. Here’s an interesting Vanity Fair article on Jack, who, incidentally, grew up just around the corner from me.

Thumbs up to Square! It’s a great innovation that empowers small business owners.

The power of commitment

10 May 2012

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, I made a 30-day blogging commitment with my friend, Shannon Wilkinson. We each vowed to blog daily, Monday through Friday, for at least 30 days.

It’s been great. I don’t know if you noticed, but I haven’t missed a day. And there have been a few days that I definitely would not have blogged (like right after I sprained my ankle last week), if it weren’t for the commitment.

Today is one of those days. I forgot to blog. (Rather, I thought about it several times during the day, but I was busy doing other things and didn’t make it a priority.) At 9 pm I was in the living room watching TV and was not interested in going back downstairs and getting my computer. I even decided to skip achieving my usual daily inbox zero.

But then I remembered the blog post. And my commitment to Shannon. And there was no way I was going to back away from that commitment.

So here I am blogging. I don’t think I can have too many of those commitments going at any given time, but a strong one like that is really valuable. And guess what, since I was back at my computer, I went ahead and got my inbox down to zero.

Is there something you’d like to do on a regular basis that you could make a commitment to do? Do you have an accountability partner who will notice if you fail to meet your commitment? Don’t overlook the power of commitment!

Simple DIY solution

9 May 2012

My dog, Kirby, loves chicken jerky treats. I’d been feeding him Beefeaters Chicken Jerky Treats each day as an after-dinner treat. But then the reports came out about potentially tainted chicken jerky treats imported from China. While Beefeaters wasn’t one of the brands that, according to news reports, the FDA has issued warnings about, they are made in China, so we stopped feeding them.

I don’t know who was unhappier about this turn of events, Kirby or the humans in the family. It just felt so mean to cut him off from something he enjoyed so much.

Today’s my husband Barry’s birthday and the animals in the family always give gifts on these occasions. They feel it’s best to give a gift you’d like to receive, so they frequently give animal treats. This year, I knew it would be a special surprise for Barry if Kirby gave him some safe-to-eat jerky treats.

These made Kirby drool.

So I searched around the web, hoping to find some affordable chicken jerky treats made in the USA. Easier said than done. But then I found this article on making chicken jerky treats using a food dehydrator. It’s a great article, complete with photographs.

And then I knew what to do for Kirby’s birthday gift to Barry. Yesterday I bought a Nesco dehydrator at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I purchased some thin-sliced chicken breasts at the grocery store. And without Barry even noticing (it helps that we have two kitchens), I cut those chicken breasts into strips and put them on the dehydrator. I set it at the poultry setting (160 degrees) at 9 pm and when I got up at 6 am they were done.

I love it when there’s an easy DIY solution to what feels like a big problem. It’s another one of those instances where letting it be easy really pays off. Not only does Kirby get to keep enjoying a favorite treat, we’ll be able to make them easily and less expensively.

Barry was delighted with the gift. Kirby was even more delighted. Everybody wins!

Priorities

8 May 2012

On page 23 of the March 2012 issue of Inc. magazine, a tweet from Maggie Fox, founder and CEO of Social Media Group is quoted. Here it is:

If you have any more than three priorities, you have no priorities.

I love that. The simplicity of that statement resonates so much for me. Since I read it a week or two ago, I’ve been trying to identify three priorities each day to focus on. I can see that this rings true for daily, weekly, monthly or annual priorities.

And may I just how cool I think it is for a tweet to lead to a full-page photo and quote in a national magazine? I love that those of us active on twitter can aspire to such a thing!

Get your Social Security statement online

7 May 2012

I don’t know if you noticed, but if you’re under 60, the Social Security Administration has stopped sending you your annual statement that details what you will be earning in Social Security payments after retirement or disability. The statements are now available for online access, however.

I have to admit, this news thrills me. I see these statements littering the homes of clients who are afraid to dispose of them. I always advise folks to glance at the statement to make sure the earning record is accurate, then file it, throwing away any prior statements.

Now you don’t have to worry about whether or not to keep those things. Simply go to the Social Security Administration’s website, follow the instructions to create an account (security is very tight) and and you can view your benefits. If you’d like, you can generate a pdf of your statement (which will look just like the paper statement you used to get) and store it on your computer or, if you must, print it and file it.

My friend, financial planner Michele Clark of Clark Hourly Financial Planning clued me in to this development. She has a little more detail about the online statements in her blog post on the topic.

While you’re over there, check out Michele’s other savvy, accessible blog posts about planning your finances. It’s a wealth of information!

The case against balance

4 May 2012

Everyone seems to hold up balance as an ideal. Like having a balanced life is something we should all want. Heck, even the cork in a bottle of Red Rock Winery wine I drank a couple of weeks ago espouses balance.

Stop telling me what to do.

But you know what? I think I’ve given up on striving for balance. I realize that a day where all my interests and activities are perfectly balanced is not only unrealistic but probably undesirable for me.

I like focusing on one thing for awhile. I like being into one hobby and not another. I don’t mind working hard and not socializing for awhile. It’s helpful that my husband and I both work from home, so we see plenty of one another, even when we’re working hard. And, since I don’t have kids, I don’t have to worry about fitting them in.

Rather than balance, I strive for ease and calm. I just don’t want to be stressed out.

My sprained ankle has imposed on me some down time the latter half of this week. And I gotta say, despite the pain (which isn’t that bad), it’s pretty wonderful. Is my life balanced this week? Heck no. I can barely walk, so I’m really not doing a whole lot except sitting at my computer or in front of the TV. But I can tell you what my life is this week. It’s calm and stress-free. And that’s just how I like it.

Is balance elusive for you? Is there something you’d rather strive for?