Peace of Mind Organizing

Inbox Zero update

9 February 2011

I am bursting my buttons with pride, as I report that I have achieved Inbox Zero each and every day since January 2. That’s 38 days in a row that I’ve handled each message that’s come into my email inbox.

I think I’ve been able to do this for two reasons:

• Starting with a clean slate every day makes it much easier to get through my emails
• Now that I’ve been doing it for weeks, I’m extra motivated not to break my streak

I’m especially proud that I’ve been able to keep this up given that I’ve been out of town for the last few days. I’ve had no trouble staying on top of details, since I’ve been at my computer most of the time on my work retreat. But what’s amazing me is that at the end of the day, I’m remembering to do it.

A big part of that is my daily habit of reporting to my pal Aby Garvey about my success with my email. That just might be the mortar that’s holding all this together. Knowing she’s expecting an email from me (and receiving hers) helps me remember to take the time to clear my inbox.

A year ago (heck, a few months ago), I would have thought this impossible.

Do you have any seemingly impossible habits ls you could put your mind to?

Taking time for yourself

7 February 2011

One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to my clients is to be kind to themselves. That self-care is so often lacking. For many of my clients (the majority of whom are busy women) the biggest gift they can give themselves is time alone. A bubble bath. A cup of tea and a novel. Stealing away to a matinee.

I’m following my own advice in a big way this weekend. About a month ago, I planned a five-day retreat with my friend and Declutter Happy Hour partner, Shannon Wilkinson. We’re at her parents’ beach house on the Oregon Coast. We’re having a great time. And we’re also doing some serious stuff. We’re brainstorming. We’re strategizing. We’re helping one another come up with brilliant plans for our respective businesses. (And we’re watching a lot of Glee.)

Here’s a photo of the Pacific Ocean, a stone’s throw from where all the retreat action is taking place:

Haystack Rock. Photo by Shannon.

I’ve been really busy in 2011 and my calendar is chock-a-block full of obligations. So it seems like a huge luxury to take five full days out of my schedule for this getaway. But it’s so important. I have a feeling in the months to come that I’ll look back on this weekend and wonder what I would have done without it. I’m inspired. I’m energized. And I’m grateful to have a friend like Shannon.

Is there something you could do for yourself today or in the very near future? Take a moment and think about something you’ve been wanting to do that would feed your soul. Now think about how you might go about accomplishing it. Sooner, rather than later. Maybe you’ll need to miniaturize a giant fantasy to make it doable soon. Perhaps you’ll go for a weekend away, rather than a month in Europe. Perhaps a series of yoga classes rather than a yoga retreat. I’m willing to bet there’s something you could do for yourself that’s within reach.

Here’s the trap I see people falling into: they don’t want to reward themselves until they’ve completed a big goal. The problem with that is burnout on the way to achieving a goal that’s never achieved. So instead, you can boost your spirits and energy by rewarding yourself now. You’ll benefit. The people around you will benefit. And, if you’re like me, that little break will take you closer to achieving your goals.

Three steps to new habits

4 February 2011

A friend shared this slideshow with me from B.J. Fogg, Ph.D. of Stanford University’s Persuasive Tech Lab, entitled 3 steps to new habits. It presents a very simple approach to creating new habits.

It makes loads of sense to me and, I’m happy to say, is in keeping with what I’ve been saying and practicing in recent months about creating new habits. (Hint: the key is about linking a new habit with an established one and creating a routine.)

It’s just four slides and will take you less than a minute to read. Go for it. Be sure and expand to full screen to read the final one (which is in small type). There’s some great info in there.

Getting past internal barriers

2 February 2011

This the year that I’m all about creating new habits and routines. (At least so far.) In the past two months I’ve created strong habits surrounding cleaning up my yard and keeping the bedroom bureau top clear of clothing. I’ve also whittled my email inbox down to zero every day since January 2. (I’ll blog more about that another day.)

There’s one habit I’ve been meaning to cultivate for years. (Literally, years.) And that’s entering my financial data for my business into Quickbooks on a very regular basis. In December 2009, I blogged that I wanted to adopt that habit for 2010. Did I succeed? Ha! I found myself entering data for most of 2010 in January of 2011, all the while saying to myself, like I do every year, “This year will be different.”

I realize it’s only February 2 (happy Groundhog Day for those in the US!), but I’m excited to report that I’m caught up on Quickbooks and I’m indeed entering data as I earn and spend money. How have I been able to do this after years of failure?

I turned to my secret weapon, Shannon Wilkinson. Shannon is an amazing life coach, hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner. (She’s also my partner in Declutter Happy Hour and Why Resolutions Don’t Work.) For years, she’s been helping me get past my emotional barriers to action.

When I realized that I had some sort of barrier preventing me from facing my finances on a regular basis, I pulled out Boring Change: No Augers Required, Shannon’s amazing (and amazingly affordable) audio and e-book product that puts her brand of magic in your hands. I blogged all about it last March, when it first came out.

I spent just about 10 minutes with Boring Change and when I was through I was ready and raring to start entering data. And I continue to be excited. In fact, the other day when I looked over my to-do list, entering data into Quickbooks felt like a treat! When I realized that, I almost fell off my chair.

If you feel like something is stopping you from doing what you want or from achieving you know is desirable (or simply creating a new beneficial habit), I urge you to give Boring Change a try. It’s only $47 and it can make a huge difference in your life.

Are you prepared?

31 January 2011

So here in St. Louis, an ice storm is on its way. It will be followed by a snow storm. Everybody’s talking about it.

Since I’m such a nervous bad-weather driver, I am delighted that my one in-person meeting today, at ICD headquarters was changed to a phone meeting, so I won’t have to go outside today. And if the weather is as bad tomorrow as anticipated, the talk I’m slated to give will be canceled.

So I’m hunkering in. And that’s good. But this ice storm has the National Weather Service warning that there may be downed power lines and resulting power outages. If there’s no electricity, hunkering in won’t be nearly as pleasant.

That got me thinking about how prepared we are (or aren’t) for a power outage. I have to admit, that I’m not as prepared as a smart person should be. My colleague, Margaret Lukens is all about being prepared. She’s started a business, Preparation Nation, to help clients get prepared for disaster. If you live in the San Francisco area and you’re concerned about disaster preparedness, you’ll want to check her services, which I think are really reasonably priced for the value.

If you’re not in the San Francisco area but, like me, have disaster prep on your mind, Margaret’s Preparation Nation blog has some great info.

I’m off to get my candles out and make my flashlights handy in case the power goes out after dark.

Creative disposal

28 January 2011

A lot of my clients are perfectionists, and one of the things that keeps them from parting with an unwanted item is that they want to identify the perfect person or charity to receive it. They don’t want to clutter the landfill, so they let items clutter their homes instead.

I encourage them to let go of the notion of a perfect recipient for their stuff. It’s a lot easier to make a general hodgepodge of a donation to a place like Goodwill.

That said, sometimes there are items that are particularly tough to just trash. Your kid’s Little League trophies, for example. You child doesn’t want them. They’re cluttering up your mantle (or your basement). But you don’t want to just throw them away. The trophy company Lamb Awards will take your old trophies and either donate them to charities or break them down for parts to be made into other trophies. (Back in June 2009, I blogged about Awardex which at the time, anyway, was also recycling trophies.)

But this isn’t a blog post about trophies. I wanted to let you know about a terrific new blog, Think Outside the Bin which every day posts about a place that will take donations of specific household items. Other items covered so far have been batteries, bibles, Christmas lights, and flags.

So far, it’s proven to be a terrific resource and definitely one to keep on your radar. I subscribe to it, so that today’s topic lands in my email inbox where I won’t miss it.

Taking the easy route

26 January 2011

It snowed much of the day this past Sunday, one top of the half-foot or so we already had, and then on Sunday night there was freezing drizzle. So Monday, I awoke to slippery sidewalks and roads.

I’ll admit that I’m a white-knuckle driver when it comes to winter weather. I did go out on Sunday during the snow in my Honda Civic, because we needed dog food and human food (in that order). I was miserable driving and did get around safely, though I had a couple of turns that were supposed to be 90 degrees that were actually 45.

Monday afternoon I had two appointments. One for a brow shaping and one for an annual checkup with my doctor. Seeing the road conditions on TV, I worried for a couple of hours about how the roads would be and tried to reassure myself they’d be fine. But my stomach was in knots.

Then I looked up at my bulletin board and saw the saying I keep posted there (it comes from life coach Michael Neill). That saying is:

Why is it so hard to let it be easy?

I realized that I didn’t have to work myself in a lather over the potential dangers of driving to these two appointments. I could just reschedule them. Neither were urgent (well, my eyebrows looked pretty bad). I could be open and honest with the receptionists and explain why I wanted to reschedule. If there were some sort of penalty, so be it.

Guess what? Despite the fact that the receptionists had managed to get to work that morning, both were very kind. There were no charges imposed. And I began to breathe more easily.

As it turned out, by the time those appointments rolled around the roads were fine. But I’m still glad I relieved myself of the stress of anticipating the trips.

Monday morning, I took the easy way out by rescheduling those appointments. And you know what? The easy way out can be great.