Peace of Mind Organizing

Make your weekend count

14 October 2011

At a meeting at the headquarters of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization the other day, the ICD executive director, Beth Quick-Andrews, paid me a big compliment. She mentioned a blog post I’d written a year and a half ago and how she thinks about its message often. She even told me when I’d posted it.

I figured if the message had lingered in her mind for almost 18 months, it’s worth repeating.

The post, called Don’t Squander the Holiday, was written the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Its message is this: When it comes to the weekend, decide to take a day off or decide to work. Whichever you decide, really commit to it. Don’t ruin your day off by thinking about all the work you could be doing. And don’t say you’re going to work and then drag your feet and get nothing done. When you do that, you don’t get the benefit of relaxing or of getting work done.

The original post goes into more detail, of course. I think it’s a good message to think about every weekend, not just a holiday weekend!

Have a great weekend!

Thumbs up to the Itso bin from Target

12 October 2011

My friend Aby Garvey of Simplify 101 is such a smart organizer. Not only does she organize well and come up with innovative solutions, she also makes things beautiful. She helped me organize my pantry two years ago and I’m still in love with it.

If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m a huge fan of Aby’s blog, Creative Organizing. I was perusing it today and saw this great post on her Storage Solution of the Week, the Itso bin from Target.

I had three responses to the post:

1. Yay! Aby’s doing a Storage Solution of the Week!
2. I love the Itso bin too!
3. I have to share Aby’s post with my blog readers.

The Itso bin is a short-sided, open bin that I never gave a second glance to until Aby turned me on to the wonders of them. Now I have at least a half dozen in use in my house, and I use them with clients, too.

In her post she provides some great photos of uses for the bin. Go read it. You’ll be glad you did!

Thanks, Aby!

The beauty of R&R

10 October 2011

In September I felt like I was on a hamster wheel. Due to my travel and work schedules, I didn’t have any time to relax at home. I did take a weekend away, which was great, but it wasn’t the same as recharging my batteries at home.

But for the last two weekends, I actually took some time to do nothing. And, for me, that’s really important.

Yesterday, I didn’t process email. I didn’t do work-related things on the computer. I didn’t even enter my office (my laptop was in the dining room). What did I do? I knitted. (I’m working on this Commuter pattern for fingerless mittens.) I visited with friends. I got caught up on TV.

And now it’s Monday morning, I’m facing a busy week and I’m raring to go. That is the power of taking some time to do nothing.

How about you? Are you allowing yourself some time off so that you can face the week relaxed? If not, I urge you to give it a try!

The edited life

7 October 2011

On the email list for the National Association of Professional Organizers, I saw a link to a TED talk by Graham Hill called Less stuff, more happiness.

In the talk, Hill extolls the virtues of living with less. Hill, who started a project called LifeEdited.org, makes a compelling argument. His main three guidelines are:

1. Edit ruthlessly
2. Think small
3. Make multifunctional.

He suggests that living with less gives you more freedom and time. That makes a lot of sense to me. I see how possessions tie people down and actually prevent them from living the life they want to lead.

Here’s the video. Enjoy!

Come and see me on Girls' Day Out

3 October 2011

I’m honored to be the luncheon speaker at Girls’ Day Out, the annual event at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, Illinois, on Saturday, November 19.

I’ll be talking about emergency decluttering—in other words what to do when you learn you’re having an unexpected guest. In addition to my short talk, there will be a quarter auction, which I don’t fully understand, but do know it’s about winning great stuff.

In addition to the luncheon (which costs $25), the event also includes five hours of shopping! Vendors from all around the area will have booths selling their wares. I’ll be there selling Freedom Filer kits and Time Timers. And my pal, Sally Brown of Roll Over Rover Threads will be selling her fabulous dog- and cat-related t-shirts and bags. (It’s a rare opportunity to buy straight from Sally.) In addition, there will be a multitude of jewelry and gift sellers, as well as a 31 booth. (I reviewed the 31 Organizing Utility Tote in August.)

The market is open from 10 to 3 and the luncheon is at 11:30. If you’re interested in attending the luncheon, you must make a reservation; seating is limited. Call Mary Agnes at 618-394-6292. Admission to the market is free (and you don’t have to attend the luncheon to attend the market).

If you do attend, please drop by my booth and say hi!

Being happy with less than perfect

30 September 2011

A week ago, I attended a time-management seminar offered by Harold Taylor. It was terrific. I’ve been inspired by Harold Taylor’s words of wisdom for going on 20 years now and he didn’t disappoint.

Much of the material was familiar to me, but he still offered some great stuff to chew on. One was a new take (for me) on perfectionism. I’ve long known how paralyzing perfectionism can be. I’ve seen the detrimental effects on my clients of feeling like everything has to be done perfectly.

But Harold had me thinking about it in a slightly different way. For example, he defined a perfectionist this way:

A perfectionist is someone who spends a greater amount of time on a task than it merits.

What a wonderfully simple definition and one that is really useful in my life.

Harold said that the amount of time you spend on something should be in proportion to its value. So no need to get nitpicky on a single email to a single person. However, if you’re writing an article to be read by thousands, that deserves a little more of your time.

He also mentioned the law of diminishing returns: The nearer you come to perfection on a task, the more time it takes. In other words, you don’t get a fair return for the extra time trying to make something that’s already good even better.

What I took away from this is that doing something well, but not perfectly well, is very smart. If I’m tempted to not send something I’ve written because I haven’t gone over it yet again with a fine-toothed comb, I can ask myself, as Harold suggests, “What’s the impact if this is the best I do with this?”

Harold suggests that if your value is tied up in what you do, rather than who you are, you’re more likely to get caught up in this perfectionist trap. That’s excellent food for thought.

I think this “good enough” mentality can really free up some time. I’m planning to experiment by embracing it whole heartedly in my work in the coming month and try to note whether (a) I actually do save time and (b) whether there are any negative consequences to it.

This is going to be my mantra in October, courtesy of Harold Taylor:

Just because we can do better doesn’t mean we have to.

That reminds me! My friend, Maryann Devine of Smarts and Culture has a brand-new program that can help you take a project from idea to reality in just two weeks. It’s called Why Not Now? and I think it fits right in with this idea of not letting perfectionism hold you back. Check it out!

New Organizing Guide (about bingo!) now available

28 September 2011

I am so enthusiastic about the concept of To-Do List Bingo that I created an Organizing Guide about it, called Making Tasks Fun with To-Do List Bingo. It expands on the blog post I wrote about the bingo concept when I first tried it. Included in the the guide are more about the concept, more detailed instructions on how to create a board, the types of tasks that are great for To-Do List Bingo and the rules I’ve set up for my own personal bingo playing.

I have found bingo to be an amazingly motivating force for accomplishing tasks that are beneficial (or even important) but not urgent. It helps me stay on top of social media and those little and often tasks like filing and entering data into Quickbooks.

I find myself doing things I wouldn’t have done otherwise on a given day just to get a bingo. For example, I drafted this blog post on Tuesday night, rather than waiting until Wednesday morning, just so I could cover the “blog” square and get a bingo.

Powerful (and fun!) stuff. If you want to learn more, the five-page Organizing Guide is available for download for $9.