Peace of Mind Organizing

The adhesive properties of routines

14 June 2011

I forgot to blog yesterday. I’ve been blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since December 27. Then, last week, I made a conscious decision to skip Wednesday’s and Friday’s posts and just do one post on Thursday (about that conscious decision).

I don’t know if it was because I didn’t blog Friday, but I just plain forgot to blog yesterday. Sure, it was a hectic day at my desk and blogging crossed my mind occasionally. But when it was time to close up shop for the day (sadly, at 8:45 p.m.) I didn’t even think about blogging.

That surprised the heck out of me and it really impressed upon me how important routines are. I call it Automating Your Life. When you’ve got a good routine going, you don’t even think about doing the thing. You just do it. Of course, I do think about blogging. In fact, before I even get out of bed, I think, “Do I have to blog today?” And I try to blog before I leave the house on those days. But I didn’t think that thought yesterday morning.

Because of my weird week last week (all-day retreat on Friday and a houseguest), I gave myself permission not to worry about whittling my inbox down to zero, another routine I have. Instead, I enjoyed a lovely evening with my guest.

But that meant that I was facing down some email ugliness Monday morning. And because of the hectic nature of yesterday and my weariness at day’s end, I left six messages in my inbox. I think because I’d already broken the chain of inbox zero on workdays (something I’ve done only twice since January 2) it became easier for me to leave those six there.

But I’m bound and determined to get back into the swing of things this week. I’m blogging now and will blog tomorrow and Friday. I will get my inbox down to zero today, come hell or high water. I won’t have much time at my desk the rest of the week, so today’s the day.

Routines. When you’re in the groove, they’re so sticky. But break that adhesive bond and you can find yourself floating in space. Bring on the tape!

Giving myself a tiny break

9 June 2011

At the end of last year, I set a goal of blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I’ve been very proud of the fact that I’ve kept that up each and every week since December 27, 2010.

Yesterday, I jumped off the carousel temporarily. I’d had a 13-hour day, it was 8:30 p.m. and I just wanted to stop working for the night. (I did get my inbox down to zero, though!)

So I gave myself permission not to blog. It felt okay. It was mildly anxiety-producing to break my chain, but I really wanted to just relax and I knew the ramifications of not blogging were next to nil.

Tonight, my friend and colleague, Margaret Lukens arrives in St. Louis to stay with me for two nights. She’s here to facilitate the NAPO St. Louis board retreat tomorrow. So I won’t be posting tomorrow, either. I’ll get back into the M/W/F groove on Monday.

I think habits and routines are very important and I’m delighted that I’ve been able to create this habit. But I also recognize that flexibility and self-care are also important.

When a habit is entrenched, I always worry about backsliding when it’s broken, even once. I think consciously breaking it, for a good reason, and knowing how I’ll get back to it will stop that from happening.

What are you going to do to be kind to yourself today?

New felted bag

6 June 2011

I haven’t written much about my knitting lately. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been knitting! I have a terrible time getting around to photographing my finished projects. (My Ravelry notebook is pretty pathetic.)

But I love this simple garter-stripe square felted bag that I knit earlier this year (or prhaps it was late last year) so much that I took some pictures of it. I saw the project on Ravelry (the social networking site for knitters and crocheters), clicked on the pattern and saw that it was in Japanese. Luckily, the pattern is simple and fully illustrated, so English wasn’t necessary.

It’s a simple bag made of garter-stich squares, with an i-cord edging and handles. Its genius is in the assembly. I think it looks hot.

The bag isn't as big as this photo makes it look!

I use it for carrying current knitting projects and it’s very sturdy. (It’s knit from Cascade 220 worsted weight wool.)

It's now one of my favorite knitting bags!

I love felted projects (wool knitting that’s shrunk in the washing machine) because there’s something so substantial about them. Plus, all my mistakes are magically swept away in the washing machine, so it takes the pressure off the knitting.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you’re a knitter and you’re not on Ravelry, you’re missing out. I have found so many cool projects there. It helps me save money. Some folks (you know who you are) will say that Ravelry is too much of a time suck. But if you have a little discipline, it can be an amazing resource.

A peek into style (and closets)

3 June 2011

Thanks to my colleague Jeri Dansky’s fabulous blog, Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News, I discovered Closet Visit, a blog from artist Jeana Sohn. She photographs stylish women interacting with their clothing and shoes, and in their closets, with beautiful close ups of things like garments and jewelry.

I’m by no means a fashionista, but I do like looking at beautiful clothes. And I love looking at people’s closets. So this blog, full of beautiful photographs of beautiful women and beautiful clothes, is a fun (and inspiring) way to spend a few minutes. Check it out!

Guest posts!

1 June 2011

My friend, Geralin Thomas of Metropolitan Organizing has a great blog that covers a variety of issues surrounding disorganization. Geralin is one of the featured organizers on the A&E Hoarders TV show and does such wonderful, compassionate work with her clients. She’s also a dear friend and loads of fun.

I was thrilled when she asked me to write a guest post for her blog. It appears today. The post, called The Unforeseen Effects of Getting Organized, is about how becoming a professional organizer has changed my life, especially since I came to the profession as a messy person (and I’m still pretty messy). Please check it out (and leave a comment if you feel like it!).

I was also honored just a few days ago to have a guest blog post appear on the blog, Kids and Mental Health blog. I’d been invited by blog owner Lisa Tabachnick Hotta, a professional writing colleague. My post is on hoarding in children appeared on Saturday, May 28. It was inspired by the great ICD teleclass I took on that topic.

Thank you, Geralin and Lisa, for these great opportunities!

Good neighbors make good fences

30 May 2011

We all know the proverb that “Good fences make good neighbors.” In my life, I can switch that proverb around. It’s my great neighbor who’s making a fantastic fence.

When our old shared fence started to come down, our next-door-neighbor, Rick, offered to build a new one. He’s building a lovely cedar fence, a huge step up from the ancient stockade fence that came with our house when we bought it in 1992. The fence has no wrong side, so everybody wins.

Rick and his partner Mark have a lovely Dalmatian, Linus, who’s always had a cordial relationship with our standard poodle. Kirby. They would “talk” through a hole in the fence. But when we’d bring them together in one of our yards, Kirby didn’t usually want to play.

But here’s the thing that makes me so happy about our new fence (besides that it’s beautiful). Rick built a dog gate into it. It’s a section of the fence with wide panes in it for the dogs to interact with one another when it’s closed. (The panes are too small for them to go through.) When a human opens the gate, the dogs have easy access to one another’s yards. They’ve started running around and playing—and hanging out in one another’s houses.

Kirby's looking for his friend Linus.

Kirby’s been a bit lonely, I think, since his sister, Pip, died in October and now he has a new canine companion to hang with. It’s a wonderful thing.

I feel like this is some sort of psychic reward for the poop-scooping habit that I’ve cultivated in 2011. In the past, I’d have worried that the dogs would step in poo. It’s a non-issue now.

I never would have thought a fence and gate could bring me such joy and contentment. Thank you, Rick!

My latest diversion: Who Do You Think You Are?

27 May 2011

I love genealogy research. I think it’s fascinating and am trying to create more time to pursue it. (I dug into a few years back but haven’t taken much time with it in recent years.)

When I heard about Who Do You Think You Are? the NBC version of a popular British TV series in which celebrities explore their ancestral roots, I knew I had to check it out.

In each episode, a celebrity is given assistance by professional genealogists and historians and travels to various locales to learn more about his or her ancestors. (That seems like a dream come true to me.)

Season Two finished last month, but full episodes are available for viewing on NBC’s website. The first one I happened to watch was Ashley Judd’s episode. Amazingly enough, one of the ancestors she discovered and explored is also one of mine. (It was William Brewster, who came over on the Mayflower…I imagine he has many descendants in the U.S.) Here’s a little clip from that episode:

Getting to learn more about my own ancestor really brought the show to life for me. I’m hooked. I’ve rented DVDs of Season One through Netflix and it’s spurring on my interest in genealogy.

If you’re interested in family history research, you might want to check it out. In addition to Ashley Judd, Season Two celebrities included:

• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Steve Buscemi
• Lionel Ritchie
• Kim Cattrall
• Rosie O’Donnell
• Tim McGraw
• Vanessa Williams

Season One shows included:

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Emmitt Smith
• Lisa Kudrow (one of the show’s producers)
• Matthew Broderick
• Brooke Shields

Now that the regular season of television is over, it’s nice to have a fun diversion that is helping reignite one of my passions!