organizational tips

“Could” versus “Should” when it comes to clutter

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Staying focused , , , , , , , , ,

Author Karen Kingston offers interesting advice in her book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui around “should” versus “could.” If you’ve got clutter at your house that you’ve put off clearing, your procrastination may be because you don’t care! If you feel like this is something you should do but you don’t really have the heart for, then you’ll find a million things to do before you tackle that hot spot.

“Should” is someone else’s rules, someone else’s opinion.

“Could” means you have a choice.

When you choose to do something, your focus and energy change. Figuring out your priorities is a trick to getting anything done, whether it’s decluttering the basement, or solving the problems of the world! If you choose to solve something for a reason that resonates with you, you’ll get it done. Continue reading →

What are you leaving at the door?

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , ,

“We all want to belong and to love each other.”
~ The Rev. angel Kyodo williams

The Rev. angel Kyodo williams was one of my favorite speakers at the Good Life Project camp a few weeks back. Thoughts from her talk continue to roll around in my head.

Most of us give up something in order to belong. We dress a certain way. We speak a certain way – and don’t speak a certain way. We don’t want to offend anyone and we don’t want to make anyone angry. It’s all really civilized but it isn’t always real.

What would it be like if when you entered a room, you brought in your whole self? What if you brought everything in with you? Continue reading →

How to ask for help

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Helping kids get organized, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work , , , , , , , , , , ,

A participant in a talk I gave last week shared a great story. She’s a single mom who worked full-time while raising her daughter. For them, there was no question that household chores had to be divided or they wouldn’t get done. To survive, they made a list of weekly chores and put them into a hat. Each week they would draw to see who did what. And here’s the fun part. If you got something you really hated, you could attempt a trade. FYI: She said cleaning the cat box was always worth at least two chores in a trade. 🙂

Most of us who raised kids tried a mix of ways to get them to help out around the house – from charts and graphs to outright bribes! The “hat” method adds suspense each week. And I picture cheering as you draw certain chores or avoid drawing others.

This conversation got me thinking about how much most of us hate asking for help. We feel like we should be able to do whatever we’ve taken on and don’t want to appear weak or needy. At the same time, most of us love offering a helping hand. Think back on a time when someone really needed help and you came to their aid. Can you feel your energy rise remembering that? Continue reading →

Taking on too much

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Planning impacts on your health, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused , , , , , , , , ,

I started working at a “regular” job about 3 weeks ago after doing freelance work for 17 years. I have freelance work I’m still wrapping up. And I continue to run two web businesses. And I’ve given 3 talks on Organizational Zen in as many weeks. AND we held auditions this week for a musical I’m directing that includes a cast of 16 kids and 14 adults.

I’m not eating much or sleeping enough because I don’t have time. I’m in new environments with new routines. I’m meeting dozens of new people. And I’m learning new skills and testing old ones at work and at the theater.

I feel swamped and somewhat out of control like I can’t catch my breath. I missed a call last week – which I HATE. And I feel like I really, really just want to take a nap but I can’t because there’s too much to be done! Continue reading →

Words can start a revolution

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Organizational Exercises, Setting organizational priorities, Working with your guides , , , , ,

“Every conversation won’t change your life. But any conversation can.”

Like much of what I’ve posted for the past week, this idea came up at the Good Life Project camp last weekend. I’ve been thinking about this in a couple of ways.

  1. Listen – new ideas and insights can turn your head.
  2. Start a conversation – you never know what you’ll learn.
  3. Speak up – your voice is a gift and it’s important to speak your truth.
  4. The world is mysterious. And being open to the idea that new thinking can come from anywhere is one of the most delightful mysteries.
  5. You don’t always plan change – sometimes it just falls on you.

Continue reading →

Being grateful for the irritant

organizationalhabits Building your personal brand, Decision making, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , ,

At the Good Life Project camp last weekend, founder Jonathan Fields did a talk on podcasting. We were chatting about what makes a great interview, and of course, it’s when the presenter has a good story. But a good story is rarely a story where everything goes right.

Why? Because:

  1. No one believes the presenter.
  2. There’s little emotion or take-away.
  3. We don’t tend to like a person who tells us everything in their life is perfect.

Jonathan gave the example of a person who says he grew up in a terrific family, got into a great school, and ended up in investment banking – only to find out he really, really loves investment banking. This may sound like a great life but it isn’t a great story. Continue reading →

What if?

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Getting started, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Working with your guides , , , , , , , ,

At the Good Life Project camp this weekend, the opening and closing question was the same: “What if?”

GLP is a camp for entrepreneurs who would like to change the world, so the keynote speakers’ “What ifs” were bold. Continue reading →

Fresh sailing

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , ,

I’m spending the weekend at an entrepreneur’s conference in upstate New York. Our host is podcaster and author Jonathan Fields. About four years ago, Jonathan published a video blog about how cool summer camps were for kids and wondered why adults didn’t have the same kind of fun. So he invented The Good Life Project Camp.

I have attended every summer since.

Here’s why. Continue reading →

Keep things moving

organizationalhabits Baby steps to start getting organized, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Staying focused, Tips for organizing your house, Tips on decluttering, Tips on using a planner , , , , , , , , , ,

My favorite advice from the list of 100 declutter ideas in the book One Thing at a Time by Cindy Glovinsky was to keep things moving. This can be applied to your house, to your work space, and to how you live your life. Continue reading →