Peace of Mind Organizing

A couple of knitting projects to show off

27 February 2009

I’m been knitting up a storm and not always remembering to take pictures of projects before I give them away. Right now I’m halfway through a striped cotton poncho (the Rap on Stripes poncho from Pam Allen’s Wrap Style) that I’m excited about, for spring.

In this post I want to show off a couple of finished projects that I do have photos of. One is the second felted ball-band bag I made (here’s the first one). I made this one for my pal Geralin Thomas. She selected the yarn colors, which go with her logo colors for her business. When she selected them, I worried they’d be too subtle. But of course I was wrong. They’re fabulous. No wonder I turn to Geralin when I’m selecting colors for other knitting projects.

Here’s a photo of Geralin carrying the bag—I guess she was too shy to include her face:

Here's Geralin modeling her bag.

And here’s a picture I took of it before I sent it to her. I wanted to show off the fun lining she selected. (Incidentally, my friend Bobbi lined it for me. Check out her great etsy shop.)

Geralin selected the fun fabric for the lining.

I’ve been doing a great job of using my yarn stash rather than buying more yarn (it’s so helpful that it’s well organized). I found this ball of Kid Silk Night in there and made this fun lace capelet with it. In this photo I’m dressed up for Valentine’s Day dinner. I think I need to do something about my hair.

That’s it for the moment. When I finish my poncho, I’ll post an update.

Container Store coupon

26 February 2009

Last week Oprah re-aired her Oprah’s Clean Up Your Messy House Tour episode that originally aired last November. Included in that episode was an offer of 20 percent off purchases from the Container Store (in-store and online). I visited the store today and was reminded that the offer is being extended again. The coupon expires March 1. (Last November, the response was so good the Container Store extended it. Maybe that will happen again.)

You can go to the Container Store’s website to download the coupon or to purchase online with the CLUTTERCREW coupon code.

Changing lives

24 February 2009

Last night I heard a great NSGCD teleclass called “Strategies for Becoming an Effective Change Agent,” given by my friend Janine Sarna-Jones, CPO® of Organize Me in New York City.

The class got me thinking and I was fortunate to have a nice, long chat with Janine on the phone this morning. When I think about what organizers do, “change agent” is really a wonderful description. NAPO stresses that professional organizers transfer organizing skills to clients (which differentiates us from people who simply create organizing systems for others).

Transferring skills is important. But what we do feels like so much more than transferring skills to me. Janine defines “change agent” this way:

A change agent guides, supports and motivates others to create systems and methods of behavior that are compatible with their values and aspirations.

That’s a brilliant encapsulation of what I try to do with clients. And it’s got me all jazzed up.

The work that most professional organizers do goes beyond changing the physical space we’re working in. Helping a client create lasting order means helping them create systems and habits that support that order.

Inherent in being a change agent is helping clients identify their values and aspirations. That’s huge. Marilyn Paul’s wonderful book, It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys: The Seven-Step Path to Becoming Truly Organized (which I blogged about last month and which Janine cited during her call), does a wonderful job of helping readers identify their purpose in getting organized as well as their vision of their organized life.

Janine’s talk was so content-rich that Louise Kurzeka, NSGCD’s Teleclass Director, got on the line midway through the class and suggested that we address the second part of her class in a separate teleclass, to be held in the spring. Janine handled that beautifully and was able to elaborate on the material she’d already covered.

If you’re an NSGCD subscriber watch for the new teleclass to be listed. If you have the premium level of membership, you should be able to listen to last night’s class in a few days, if you weren’t able to attend last night. I recommend it highly!

NAPO's new and improved website

23 February 2009

The website of the National Association of Professional Organizers has undergone a complete overhaul. Thanks to the hard work of Lauren Halagarda and her committee the website is more user-friendly, attractive, and informative. I had the opportunity to help as a tester at the very end of the process. I can only imagine all the work that went into the development.

From what I can tell, people are loving it. I know I am. Here’s a shot of the top part of the opening screen:

Bravo!

Words of wisdom from a veteran organizer

19 February 2009

Yesterday, Rubbermaid’s blog featured a Q&A with Audrey Lavine, CPO®, of Life Support Systems, who is the president of the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers.

Audrey’s been in business for 21 years, quite a long time in our industry. In the interview, she gives a great explanation of the value of the Certified Professional Organizer® credential (which I’m proud to have earned).

My favorite part of the interview is her beautiful explanation of why just loving to organize isn’t enough to make someone a great PO. It’s all about the people and communication skills. Here’s an excerpt of what she says:

Imagine that you speak one language and your client speaks another. In order to effect change in their situation, you need to find a way to communicate in their language and hopefully to eventually teach them some of yours. Aside from knowledge of industry best practices, it takes patience, understanding, and communication skills beyond language until a common vocabulary is found and what you know can be transferred to the client.

Audrey has worked tirelessly to help make the CPO® credential a reality. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Product recommendations

18 February 2009

You might have noticed that I have some banner links to products on the right-hand sidebar of the blog, in the new Recommended section. In the interest of full disclosure, I want to let you know that, for the most part, if you click on any of those links, I’ll get a small commission.

When I decided to add affiliate marketing to my business plan, I committed to only recommending products I use and like myself or, in rare occasions, ones that I haven’t had a chance to use but that have come highly recommended by colleagues. Now, when I find a product I love, I inquire as to whether that product has an affiliate marketing program.

I’ll be adding new products on occasion, so I hope you’ll watch that space. I’m really excited to have an easy place to share recommended products and services.

Another little change is that in my Links section, above the Recommended section, only 10 links appear at a time. I have a few more than ten (and I plan to spend some time adding more), but in the interest of space, only ten will show up on any given page view, selected at random. So please keep an eye on that section.

Computer back ups: Just do it

17 February 2009

Every now and then I read a message on a forum or somewhere from someone who’s lost all their data in a computer crash. That person is kindly reminding people to back up their computers, to avoid the heartbreak of everything vanishing into thin air.

I’m happy to say this isn’t one of those messages. I haven’t suffered a computer crash. In fact, I’ve had no computer problems to speak of since I bought my MacBook in July of 2007.

Apple makes it very easy to back up your computer. In their latest operating system, known as Leopard, there’s a program called Time Machine that automatically backs up your system every hour. You just need to attach an external hard drive to your computer.

I’ve had Leopard since it came out a year or so ago and it wasn’t until this weekend that I did a back up. It’s crazy. External hard drives are not expensive. I got a LaCie 500 gigabyte drive from NewEgg for less than $100. Hooking it up and backing up was an absolute no-brainer. I know the value of a back up and Apple couldn’t have made it any easier. So what stopped me?

I think there were a number of factors at play:

• I was paralyzed by indecision. I didn’t know which was the best external hard drive to get. There were so many options. (Which reminds me, I’m reading an article in Scientific American about how having too many choices makes decision-making difficult. More on that in another post.)

• I was being cheap. When I’d think about buying a hard drive, I didn’t always feel like spending a few hundred dollars. I hadn’t done the research to figure out how cheap external hard drives are…and they’ve probably dropped in price in the last year. (Heaven knows what I’d have spent in trying to recover data if I’d had a crash.)

• I was a little scared. I was probably afraid that I’d have technical difficulties and get frustrated. In fact, I did have technical difficulties because I carelessly ordered a hard drive that was pre-formatted for a PC and it took me awhile to figure out why it wasn’t being recognized by my Mac. And I got a little frustrated because I had to return the hard drive and the price had gone up (so I purchased a 500 gig drive rather than 1 terrabyte). But I survived the frustration.

• I let the task languish on my to-do list. Actually, I never put it on a to-do list. Thanks to Autofocus, I’m actually writing things down and doing them.

The moral of this little essay? Back up your hard drives. No matter what it requires—an external hard drive, online back up service, whatever works for you. Just do it.

The other moral is to not let indecision, cheapness, fear, perfectionism or inertia get in the way of doing things you know you need or want to do. This applies to so many things, like setting up a new filing system, writing a will, thinking about a new career or planning a dream vacation. Just do it.