Peace of Mind Organizing

New organizing resource: Videos from Organizing Connection

23 September 2009

There are so many ways to learn. Personally, I’m an auditory learner so I love audio. To me, the perfect info product comes in the form of downloadable calls or teleclasses I can listen to on my iPod Touch.

But many people are visual learners and seeing what is being taught is very helpful to them. That’s why I’m so excited about the new video learning opportunities being offered by my friends at Organizing Connection.

Just yesterday, they launched a new downloadable video on organizing your bedroom (including your closet). It’s called Organizing the Bedroom — From Cluttered Nightmares to Sweet Dreams. In addition to a five-minute video on organizing basics, there’s a twelve-minute step-by-step video, eleven pages of worksheets and thirty tips. The price? Just $29.99.

If you order within the next month, you’ll receive access to a bunch of bonus organizing products from experts friends of Organizing Connection, including Ramona Creel’s “10 Easy Ways to Organize Your Home” ebook, and Marlo Nikkila’s “How To Live a Clutter Free Life: Audio & Companion Guide” (plus three other info products!).

One thing I love about the folks at Organizing Connection is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Don’t get me wrong—they offer terrific, sound advice. But the mood of the videos is light hearted and they make the organizing process fun. (One clue to their fun attitude is that Elaine Shannon, who, along with Kim Eagles, founded Organizing Connection, sports the title “Empress of Inspiration.”)

If you’re looking for some visual peace in your bedroom and you like the idea of lelearning through video, I encourage you to check this out!

Are you watching "Hoarders"?

21 September 2009

I’m hooked on A&E Television’s hit documentary series, Hoarders. When I first heard about it (when it was in the production phase), red flags went up. I was afraid the program wouldn’t be respectful to the hoarders who were featured on the show. Or they’d offer unrealistic portrayals or quick fixes.

Then I heard that Dr. David Tolin and my friend professional organizer Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD® were involved and I felt better. I knew them to be consummate professionals.

I’ve been watching since the August 17 debut. To me, it’s captivating TV. Geralin and the other organizers on the show (who so far have included Dorothy Breininger, Brenden McDaniel and Matt Paxton), as well as the therapists involved, have done a great job, all in all. My heart goes out to the subjects, all of whom have problems with hoarding and are facing some sort of crisis.

Unfortunately, the fact that they’re facing a crisis often means they’re not ready to deal with their problem. And if it’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, you can’t help someone who’s not ready to be helped.

The other problem with the show is the two-day limit they put on the on-camera help. It seems somewhat arbitrary to me and it’s just plain not enough time to deal with a major clutter problem. Add to the mix that the client isn’t usually ready to let go of stuff and I feel as though the subjects are being set up to fail.

I hope that in future seasons the producers will allow more hands-on time. And perhaps some therapy in advance of the shoot would be helpful.

The show offers its subjects after care in the form of therapy or organizing services (or perhaps other adjunct services) to the tune of $3000 or six months, whichever comes first. This after care could make a huge difference in the life of a hoarder.

I think this show is making a difference. It’s doubtless helping most of the subjects and it’s raising awareness of this problem. I applaud Geralin and her colleagues, who are doing such a great job.

Tonight is the penultimate episode of the season. Geralin will be featured on the final episode of the season, next week. If you haven’t watched it yet, I encourage you to tune in tonight (A&E, 10 pm eastern).

If you missed past episodes, you can watch them online at A&E’s website. And if you’re interested in reading more about the show and hearing from some of the participants, check out the discussions at A&E’s community center.

Facing down the fears lurking in the clutter

18 September 2009

As Shannon and I discuss in Declutter Happy Hour, sometimes people don’t want to work on clutter because it’s just plain scary.

And by “people” I mean “me.”

I started accumulating a pile of stuff in the inbaskets on the radiator by my desk before I left for Australia. (My dirty little secret is that sometimes, in an effort to quickly clean off my desk each night, I just shuttle stuff into the inbox, rather than dealing with it.)

“Go through inbox” was on my to-do list. But whenever I read that task, I’d feel anxious. Then I came back from Australia and the teetering pile was still there. I unpacked my bag and made it bigger!

So this morning I determined that I’d have to deal with it. I have some fun activities ahead of me today, so I figured crossing this off my list would be a great way to free myself for some fun.

Because I’m all about the before and after pictures, I took a before photo:

Not impressive.

40 minutes later (I know, because I set a timer for 40 minutes), I was finished. I’d even filed the few papers that needed filing. Here’s the after photo:

That's more like it!

Before I started and while I was doing it, I was feeling anxious. What was I afraid of? My liability insurance bill was in there, for one, and I was afraid to see if my rates had been raised substantially. (They hadn’t). I guess I was also afraid I’d find things that I was supposed to have done that were now past due. (I didn’t.)

I love these opportunities to put myself into my clients’ shoes. And I love the reassurance (something my clients learn all the time) that the scary pile or cluttered room or basement really isn’t so bad. And going through it takes less time than you’d think.

It’s only 9 a.m. and that pile is gone and I’m free to proceed with my fun day! I hope your day is as freeing and productive!

Getting things done with Autofocus

17 September 2009

I’ve written quite a bit about Autofocus, the task-management system invented by my favorite time-management guru, Mark Forster. The original Autofocus debuted on January 5, 2009. I was an eager beta tester and became an enthusiastic user.

After about seven months, Mark issued a revision of AF. (He called it AF2.) I found this a bit jarring, because the original was working well for me. But I was game to give the new version a try. Just when I got used to it, about a month later, Mark issued a third version (Revised Autofocus). After another month, on September 5, Mark issued instructions for a new, fourth version (AF4).

Now, I would have been happy with the first version never changing. And I’m under no obligation to try the revisions. But of course, I’m finding it irresistible to try them.

My main challenge with the original Autofocus system was that it didn’t handle urgent items well. I think that’s been the main focus of the revisions. Yesterday, I put AF4 into motion on my post-Australia to-do list. It had 69 items on it. I got through 25 of them yesterday, quite effortlessly. I have to admit, I was feeling overwhelmed by the tasks before starting, but once I dove into my list, that anxiety started to vanish.

Here are a few of the things I love about Autofocus (this applies to all the versions):

• It gives me a place to capture my tasks, so I don’t have to rely on my memory
• It doesn’t require me to prioritize or categorize my tasks
• It works with my intuition
• It’s easy to implement
• It’s free
• There’s tons of support available for it on the discussion forums of Mark’s website
• It helps me be productive
• It helps me stop procrastinating
• Thanks to Mark’s ingenuity and perseverance, it continues to improve

If you haven’t tried Autofocus yet, I encourage you to give it a shot. Mark’s kindly consolidated the links to instructions for all four versions. It’s easy to try out—all you need is a notebook and a pen.

If you do try it (or you have), I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

New uses for old things

16 September 2009

My favorite feature of Real Simple magazine has always been the section where they offer new uses for common things. I subscribe to Real Simple’s Weekly Tips and today’s edition offered a bonanza: 50 All-Time Favorite New Uses for Old Things.

I love this stuff. I think my favorites are:

• Using an old frame for a vanity tray (#1)
• Transforming cardboard coasters from restaurants or bars into gift tags (#6)
• Using an old cassette case to store iPod earphones—there’s a certain irony in that, isn’t there? (#11)
• Using an old mouse pad for a trivet (#23)
• Making place cards out of paint chip strips (#45)

The website offers one tip per screen, asking you to click for each one. However, if you click on Print, you’ll get all 50 tips connected in one screen that you can scroll through (complete with Real Simple’s trademark styled photos).

Enjoy!

The down side to international travel

15 September 2009

I’ve been home from Australia for six days now. Apart from the very first night home, when I slept long and hard after 24 consecutive hours of travel, I haven’t been sleeping properly. I’m a good sleeper (my mom’s narcoleptic…it’s in my genes) but I’ve experienced what it must be like to be an insomniac. Most nights, I’ve just not been getting sleepy at bedtime.

Last night was different; I was able to get to sleep quickly and slept much of the night. I think things are getting back to normal. And the red wine I drank before bed didn’t hurt.

The result of this jet lag is that I’ve been sleep-deprived, foggy-brained and quite unproductive. I had high hopes for today, but am just now getting to a blog post. (I did manage to write and send out my monthly newsletter.)

I had a Skype call this afternoon with my two accountability partners, organizers Wendy Davie in New Zealand and Margaret Lukens who lives in the San Francisco Bay area. We talk every couple of weeks and update one another about our progress toward our goals. This week, Margaret reported that she’s launched a new aspect of her business, Preparation Nation, in which she helps people prepare for disaster. Wendy announced a very exciting new enterprise, which isn’t public yet. But I’ll be telling you all about it when the time is right. All I could report to these two amazing women is that I almost got a full night’s sleep last night.

I often have trouble re-entering real life after travel and I’m always reminded that it’s my routines that keep me sane and productive. But when I’m away from them, I sometimes have trouble re-establishing them. Add jet lag to the mix and it’s deadly.

I do have another day in my home office tomorrow before I start seeing clients so I have high hopes for productivity. My to-do list is waiting (it’s even starting to beckon). High on it is to re-establish my routine of regular morning blogging. So watch this space!

An exciting time for organisers in Australasia

7 September 2009

I just love spending time with professional organizers. I love going to the NAPO conference and the conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, which I’ll be attending in just a few weeks. They’re a great way to meet colleagues and become inspired, excited and motivated.

The annual conference of the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers was equally inspiring and exciting. The organization is relatively new (four years or so) and the conference had fewer attendees than I’m accustomed to (75 or so). But what they lacked in numbers they made up for in enthusiasm and wonderful energy.

The conference was well organized and featured terrific presentations. One feature I hadn’t seen at other conferences was that this one had a professional emcee, Sandi Givens, who kept the program running smoothly and on time. She was amazing, offering cogent summaries after each presentation. And she handled each Q&A so well.

Another great feature was built-in time to network. The morning and afternoon tea breaks were each 45 minutes, which really made it easy to talk with folks. I met such wonderful organisers, in varying stages of their businesses. The energy in the room was fantastic. My brother dropped me off at the hotel and came up to the conference to take a look around (which he called “having a sticky beak”) and commented on the wonderful energy in the room.

The two-day conference ended with the presentation of the President’s Award to Wendy Davie my friend and accountability partner (along with Margaret Lukens). Wendy, a founding member of AAPO and past president, richly deserved this honor and I was thrilled to be there to watch her receive it (and hear her gracious speech).

It was really exciting being around organizers for whom professional organizing is so new. I feel so privileged to have been able to attend the conference, let alone speak at it. I left the conference feeling inspired, excited, and motivated. And I’ll have about 24 hours of travel to make plans and brainstorm ideas.

And here’s a little sidenote about the power of intention: back in January, I posted a blog post with some pie-in-the-sky goals. One of them was to be paid to go to Australia. I was paid for my talk at AAPO (even if my trip wasn’t paid for). I do believe that intention came true! The lesson for me? Don’t be afraid to dream big and to put your intentions out there for the world to see.