Learning something new every day keeps you engaged with life. It gives you interesting things to think about – and to talk about!
Here are 10 tips to elevate the curiosity-quotient in your life. Continue reading
Big project ideas
Complaining is not a strategy
If you find yourself complaining a lot, it’s time to stop. Complaining is a waste of your time and other people’s time. If you don’t like something, try to fix it.
If you don’t know how to fix it, that’s awesome. That’s your challenge! Study the stuff that bugs you to see if you’re complaining about things that really matter to you. Or is complaining just a bad habit?
A few things of note: If you’re complaining about a person and you’re doing it behind their back you’re not going to change anything. Continue reading
What’s your “Why”?
At the end of one of the first talks I gave on Organizational Zen, a participant said he understood that if he wanted to stop wasting time it would be great to have a larger goal in mind.
It’s just that he didn’t have any bigger work to do. He had raised his children and run a successful business, and as a retiree, felt like no one needed him anymore. He asked how he should spend the last years of his life.
Oh, my. No one can answer that question for you; it’s something that comes from inside and only you can bring it to life. Continue reading
Why did you waste so much time?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been organizing people – neighborhood kids, playground antics, school functions, friends, and businesses. I like getting things going. I like getting everyone involved. I like big conversations. I like to make things happen.
So it’s no surprise that I ended up working as an account executive for an advertising agency. I thrive on being the organized one amidst chaos. And ad agencies are the epitome of business chaos. Get a room full of Art Directors and Copywriters. Add in Presidents and CFOs who are former Art Directors and Copywriters. And try being the only one who has a deadline to meet. Yeah. I can do that. I can make that happen.
Then how about a bigger challenge? How about keeping an entire direct marketing company organized? Boston. Appleseed’s. I thrived.
Decluttering your life
If you get your house in order, and use a planner, and write everything down, and you STILL feel scattered and drained, it may be time to declutter the bigger commitments in your life.
It’s one thing to declutter your house. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you can do it – it’s within your control. Throw stuff out, buy less, put the stuff you have away. You can do that.
It’s quite another thing to declutter your life – to stop doing things that drain your energy, to move to a place that feels right to you, to change jobs, to walk away from friends and relationships that no longer work. This is difficult work. And it all starts with having the courage to look at what you do with your time. Continue reading
How “creative avoidance” messes with your obit
Creative avoidance is the fun stuff you do to skirt getting to the big stuff. When you’re pondering a big, juicy project, it’s hard to get started for many reasons… And if you don’t have time, you have the perfect excuse!
“I’d love to get this done but I don’t have time.” Continue reading
The gatekeepers are off duty
As a business professional, I am known for organizational efficiency. But as a kid, my parents used to refer to me as “the messy one”. Why couldn’t I keep my room clean? Why did I never pick up?
Because:
1) It was my room.
2) I liked seeing my stuff. Continue reading
It’s never wrong to be kind
“Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.” – Alice Childress, playwright
How does this apply to organizational habits? It’s big.
If you are organized and efficient and are loving it, please know that most people are not organized and efficient – and accept that. Organizational Zen is about getting organized so you waste less time. Then it’s about using that saved time to think clearer and to work on big, meaningful projects in your life.
Is it time for an organizational change?
If you’re feeling disorganized, it may be that you need to get organized. OR it may be time to make changes in your life. Just like you can’t reorganize a room or house until you declutter, you can’t get organized if you have too much junk floating around in your head.
Here are some signs you need more than an organizational fix: Continue reading
Organizational Habits 