Peace of Mind Organizing

All talked out

29 September 2008

My back-to-back conference hopping in the past 10 days has plum worn me out.

The Garden Writers Association’s conference was great, as always. But I talked so much that my voice got hoarse. I came home, had the glorious wonderful day of shopping that I blogged about and then went immediately to the fantastic conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. That ended Saturday night.

I relaxed quite a bit yesterday (I had a lot of TV to catch up on!), though I did do a three-hour shift at the home of friends that was on the Compton Heights House Tour.

So today I had big plans. I had only one client, and it was a phone appointment and thought I’d spend the rest of the day catching up and being productive. But I didn’t plan on my poodle Pip keeping me up last night. (I don’t know if was because of the coming rainstorm or if something else is up.) And today I’ve been very unproductive.

So why I am posting this? I think as a reminder about the importance of self-care. This much being “on” at conferences was unavoidable. But I should have built more downtime into my calendar and given myself the day off today. Or at the very least perhaps I should have recognized earlier in the day that I needed a nap or just a break. Instead, I sat at my desk feeling uninspired and trying to work.

I’m hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight and a productive day tomorrow!

More publicity for the organizing profession

26 September 2008

I’m lucky enough to have an accountability partner in another state. She’s Betty Huotari, of Logical Placement, the president of the Southeast Michigan chapter of NAPO. We’d met at the NAPO national conference in the past, and this year, when the audience was encouraged by speaker Lisa Montanaro to have accountability partners to keep each other on track with our goals, Betty approached me about working together. We talk once a month or so and it’s been great.

Anyway, Betty was kind enough to send me a link to a great article in the current issue of ADDitude Magazine, the magazine for people with Attention Deficit Disorder. The writer of the article, who has ADD, wrote about her success using Betty’s organizing services. You couldn’t have a better testimonial to the work we do. Well done, Betty!

If that weren’t enough, yesterday on the local morning talk show on our St. Louis NPR station, KWMU, the topic was hoarding and cluttering. (The show is available for download at the above link.) Guests were Alec Pollard of the St. Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute and Sheila McCurdy, author of The Floor Is Not An Option. Sheila, who lives in California, was in town for the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, which started last night.

While I would have loved if the organizer interviewed were local, Sheila did a great job and it was an interesting interview. I only caught the second half on the radio yesterday, but I enjoyed what I heard. After life slows down when the NSGCD conference is over, I’ll download and listen to the first half!

I love it when our profession gets the exposure it deserves.

Shopping nirvana

25 September 2008

I had a day yesterday that was absolute heaven. My friend, Geralin Thomas, who among other things does wardrobe consulting, is in town for the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. She came in a day early, arriving at 8 a.m. yesterday morning, to see me and to do some wardrobe organizing and enhancing.

Oh. My. God. Was it fun! We started in my closet, where she took a look at everything. We donated a bunch of stuff (she held my feet to the fire and said I could keep only four pairs of khaki pants and two khaki capris) and then organized what’s left by type and color. Then—and here’s the best part—she wrote down what I needed to buy to complete outfits. Seems I had a lot of separates that require some glue (or perhaps mortar) to hold them together.

Then we went shopping. And I mean power shopping. Geralin’s really good at this. Where I’m overwhelmed by the choices and paralyzed by indecision, she hones in on just what we’re looking for from our list. I’m telling you, it was heaven. Because she did such a great job of selecting what to try on, I tried on very little that wasn’t terrific.

I ended up buying a silk twinset, a merino cardigan and a sequined cardigan, something like five tops, two jackets, a belt, earrings, two pins and four pairs of shoes! And two of the pairs of shoes are neither black nor brown. And three are patent leather!

Oh and we went to Knitty Couture, the wonderful yarn store, where Geralin picked out the color of Rowan Cocoon I bought to make a Kim Hargreaves sweater called Valiant. (She picked a color called, Cloud, a pretty light blue.) And she picked out two colors of Cascade 220 (colors 8229 & 8234) yarn for me to make a reversible brioche hat, which I’ll learn to make at a Knitty Couture class.

After our day of shopping, we met up with the fabulous Aby Garvey for a fun and delicious dinner at Mosaic, a tapas restaurant in the loft district in St. Louis. Here’s a picture of us after dinner:

Geralin Thomas, me, and Aby Garvey

I can’t thank Geralin enough. I feel a little like Eliza Doolittle—at the end of the movie, of course!

Watch that laptop!

23 September 2008

I’m typing this from the Las Vegas airport en route home to St. Louis. (Man, do I hate the Las Vegas airport…it’s hard to find any peace with all the slot machines and so forth. Plus it doesn’t appear you can even purchase a wifi connection.) Anyway, I just heard this announcement, “Attention, Marge Simpson [I changed the name], please return to security. You picked up the wrong computer.” Gulp. They made that announcement twice, then made another one asking her to pick up a white courtesy phone and call the operator.

Can you imagine? I wonder at what point the person who had Marge’s computer realized it. And what happens if she doesn’t hear the announcement? I’m sure she could be found, perhaps even before she flew away, but it would be such a bummer knowing that some stranger has your computer.

I hate having to remove my laptop from its bag and walk away from it. I have a white MacBook…there are many that look just like it. I’d like to devise some strategies for being away from my stuff as little as possible. Any suggestions?

I had to post this after returning home to St. Louis, because I couldn’t go online in Vegas. It’s lovely to be home with my little family!

Networking in PDX

22 September 2008

As I mentioned last week, I’m in Portland for the Garden Writers Association’s annual symposium. On Friday morning, I met with two Portland-area organizers and bloggers (both of whom have blogs that have been my blog of the week), Krista Colvin of Organize in Style and Brandie Kajino, The Home Office Organizer. Here’s a picture of Krista, Brandie, and me, taken by my fabulous friend and life coach, Shannon Wilkinson, who joined us.

Krista Colvin, Brandie Kajino, and me

Krista blogged about our get together here. Notice that it’s the same photo—my camera was out of juice. Brandie was way too busy to blog about getting together with me; she was on her way to the airport to attend the big bloggers’ convention, Blog World. How cool is that?

I feel so fortunate to be in a profession where there is so much camaraderie and help. I really enjoyed spending more time with Krista and Brandie (we met briefly last spring at the NAPO conference). I love that it’s as easy as picking up the phone (or sending an email) and saying “I’ll be in town” and people make time for you.

I also saw Michelle Vranizan Rafter, a fabulous business and tech writer and blogger. I know Michelle from Freelance Success. It was so nice to meet her in person. We had a delicious Sunday brunch together.

Speaking of wonderful people, I’m having a great time at the Garden Writers Association’s conference. I was in my twenties when I started attending and now, at 46, I believe I’m officially middle aged. (Well, I probably earned that distinction some years ago.) It’s wonderful seeing old friends and making new ones. My talk on organizing your writing business was well received and it opened up lots of conversations with really interesting people.

Home tomorrow!

Check out these productivity tips

19 September 2008

This morning I read this interview with Gina Trapani, the lead editor of Lifehacker on Zen Habits. It’s an interesting interview. In addition to the many posts a day Trapani writes for Lifehacker, she’s the author of a paper version. Her book, which is now in a second edition called Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better is a compendium from the best hacks from Lifehacker.com. I haven’t read it yet, but I do believe I’ll be purchasing it.

Anyway, in the Zen Habits interview, Trapani shares, among other things, the three habits that have made her so productive. They’re:

• Her three-folder system for managing email (which I have not yet mastered, though I blogged about my attempt here.)

• Her online calendar tickler file.

• Her do-able to do list, which reminds me a little of the will-do list that I strive for under Mark Forster’s Do It Tomorrow philosophy of time management.

I find this fascinating and enjoyed the whole interview. I encourage you to check it out!

Off to Portland!

18 September 2008

I’m leaving today on a 7:30 a.m. flight to Portland, Oregon, where I’ll attend the annual educational symposium of the Garden Writers Association. I’ve been going to these conferences every year since 1989 (I think I’ve missed three in 20 years) and even though I no longer make my living by writing and have never been a gardener, I continue to go. (I started attending when I worked in PR at the Missouri Botanical Garden.)

At the conferences, I see old friends and make new ones and I get an inside (sometimes VIP) look at most fabulous horticultural sites of the host city. And, of course, I have loads of fun. I confess: I’m a conference junkie.

This year, I have another role at the symposium. After 20 years of listening to talks, I’m actually giving one. It’s on organizing your writing business. I’m excited and honored to be included in the program.

I return on Tuesday night and hope to do some blogging from the road.