Clean-Out-Your-Pantry Pasta Salad

I love a cool, fresh pasta salad on a hot summer day. And I also love it when one project accomplishes two objectives. That’s where Clean-Out-Your-Pantry Pasta Salad comes in.

I have a favorite pasta salad recipe, and wanted to make it for some lunches this week. So one morning, I boiled up some water and then, instead of using the traditional noodles called for in the recipe, I cleaned out my pantry and used a variety of noodles from almost empty bags. (Mind you, this is a radical move from someone who was raised by a measure-everything and level-your-measurements-with-a-knife kind of cook.) This cleaning out the pantry thing felt good…so the fridge came next. Next up were some mini pepperonis (package half-full) and an almost gone bottle of salad dressing. This means not only did I declutter my fridge by eliminating a package and a bottle; I also (gasp!) mixed salad dressings in my pasta salad.

All in all, this refreshing pasta salad was a hit. I added some olives, artichoke hearts, Fontina cheese, fresh ground pepper, and fresh basil from the garden—the kids even ate this! (And did I mention I deviated from the recipe?) 

Here’s the original recipe in case you’re interested.

• 6 ounces baby penne pasta, uncooked
• 1 7-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (I use un-marinated.)
• ½ cup diced Fontina cheese
• ½ cup bottled roasted red sweet peppers, rinsed, drained and cut into short strips.
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/3 cup reduced fat Italian or Cesar salad dressing
• Freshly ground black paper

I like to boil the noodles as per the package instructions and prepare everything else while they cook. If you’re using a variety of noodles, check the cook times and add them at different time intervals so they all get done (but not over-done.) Mine were all the same cook time, so it made it easy.

When the noodles are done, drain them and rinse with cool water, and then I drizzle just a little bit of olive oil over them, and then add a touch of the dressing right away, so the noodles can soak up the yummy flavors of the dressing, and not stick together. Add your other ingredients and serve, or chill and serve later. 

Do you have a favorite pasta salad? Are you a follow-the-recipe kind of cook, or do you like to live on the edge and improvise like me? If you have a recipe to share or just some favorite pasta salad ingredients, please share! I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks so much and have a happy 4th of July if you’re in the States! (And even if you aren’t, you have a great weekend, too!) 

Finish It Friday #3

It's Friday and Finish It Friday is back! (Can you believe it's already Friday again? Whew, that was a fast one!)

Did you make a list of little nagging projects this week? Care to check one off the list this weekend? If so, just say "I'm in!" in the comments and then, plan to share your victory (or victories!) on Monday! I know lots of you have travel plans and other celebrations in the works due to the holiday weekend...so feel free to pick something simple and easy or even take the week off. I'll be back here next week finishing up some more stuff...so feel free to join me then. I have a few things to choose from this week for my "finish it" project...so I'll just surprise you on Monday! 

Happy finishing! And have a great weekend.

Declare Your Independence from Paper Clutter!

OK…I couldn’t resist, with the Fourth of July on its way and all. But really, why stay buried under piles of paper clutter (and the stress they create) when you can join me (and whole lot of really terrific online friends) for the July session of Organize Your Paper Clutter? That sounds way more fun, wouldn’t you agree?

Plus, if you sign up for the July session, you will have the chance to win one of three 15-Piece Organization Kits from the [IN]PLACE System by Peter Walsh courtesy of OfficeMax. How cool is that? (Sorry, but Peter Walsh is not included.)

You will also find out how to use fun paper organizing systems like this:

Now, if you’ve never taken an online organizing workshop before, you may be wondering if they really work. Could an online workshop really make a difference? We recently set up some new pages on our website so you can see how they work, get answers to frequently asked questions, and find out what past workshop participants had to say about their experiences in our workshops. Give it a look, and then declare your independence from Paper Clutter by joining me starting July 14th! See you then.

Getting Things Done Using the Power of Completion

Ever since starting (or rather resurrecting) Finish It Friday, I’ve been thinking about the power of completion. It feels so good to finish things and yet, it's often difficult to do so. Why is that? Here are my thoughts and theories on this pressing subject, and I’d love to hear yours. What gets in your way of getting things done?

Why completion feels so good.
Getting things done, in my opinion, always feels good. There's an endorphin rush that kicks in whenever I check something off my to-do list. If you’ve ever added something to your to-do list (after completing it!) just so you could check it off, then you know what I’m talking about. There’s power in that little check mark, isn’t there?

With lingering projects it goes deeper. Incomplete tasks are mind clutter and these lingering to-dos nag at you. They vie for your attention, and every time you see remnants of them (undone tasks on your to-do list or a pile of papers to go through) there’s that sense of “I should be taking care of this…” So it feels even better to get a lingering task done…yet the longer it lingers the harder it is to do.

The most obvious answer is lack of time. You’re busy. I’m busy. We’re all busy. And yet, busy is just a choice as to how we spend our time. Busy means we’re filling our time with lots of to-dos…instead of just a few and giving ourselves some breathing room. Quite simply, instead of spending our time on half-started, not yet complete projects (or phone calls to schedule appointments) you and I are choosing to do something different with our time.

Now, I realize you don’t have full say over how 100% of your time is spent. (Wouldn’t that be nice?) But certainly how you spend some of your time is your choice. (You’re choosing to read this blog post right now, for example.)

So…why then, if we have say over how we spend some of our time, do we to put off some tasks and projects and instead spend our time starting new ones or doing something else altogether? I think it is this:  every task lingering on your to-do list (or on your psyche, for that matter) has some unpleasant aspect to it. Something about that lingering project or task doesn’t feel good.

Perhaps you want the project to turn out really, really good (OK—perfectly) and midstream evidence is suggesting that this isn’t going to happen. By not finishing the project, you can hold onto the illusion that perfectionism is possible, or avoid the discomfort of accepting that perfectionism isn’t possible. Either way, in the moment, not doing the project appears to feel better than doing it.

Keep this in mind: a finished project is never perfect. It may be really, really good…but perfect is an impossibility. What’s more important is this:  a finished project feels better than one that’s stuck midstream. So, you are far better off finishing the project imperfectly than staying stuck wishing it could be perfect or fretting over the fact that it isn’t turning out perfectly. Or, as I teach in my organizing workshops, instead of striving for perfection, strive to become a happy and productive “imperfectionist.” 

Perfectionism isn’t the only reason projects linger. Sometimes they linger because we aren’t sure what to do next, and figuring it out can put us in a vulnerable position. You have to make a phone call to the insurance company to find out if your mammogram is covered, for example. And if you don’t like to be told no…well, this can be an uncomfortable position.

There are a number of other reasons projects linger, but let’s switch gears and talk about what to do about it. 

How to tap into the power of completion…

1. Make a list of your started but unfinished tasks, or a list of lingering, nagging and annoying to-do’s. Pull out a piece of paper and brainstorm for five minutes. (Your list, by the way, doesn’t have to be perfect. You can add to it as you go.)

2. Get concrete about why the tasks are still lingering. Keep your eyes open for the “I just haven’t had time” reason. Remember, you’re simply making different choices about how to spend your time. What’s the real reason this task is lingering? When you find the real reason (or reasons) then you can look for ways to move the project forward.
   
3. Scan your list for anything you can renegotiate with yourself. Just because you start something doesn’t mean you have to finish it. If you’re no longer feeling the love for that craft project you started five years ago, decide not to finish it. X the item off your list, and donate any remaining usable supplies. Do this for any project you simply aren’t going to do. Deciding not to do a project feels about as good as finishing one you do want (or need!) to do.
   
4. Pick one task on your list and decide to finish it! Now…you don’t have to finish it today—it’s only Monday after all and we finish things on Friday around here. ;) Instead of focusing on finishing, focus on moving it forward. We’ll call today “move it forward Monday” and your goal is simply to spend five minutes moving one of your icky’s forward. You can do that right? Then, do the same thing every day this week. Move your selected task or project forward for five minutes and then stop if you want to. 
   
5. Make plans to join me on Friday for the next round of Finish It Friday. When you do, you can see for yourself the power (and powerful feeling) of completion!

In the meantime, be sure to share your thoughts on why you think it’s so hard to finish things. I’d love to hear your personal experiences (and your theories!)

Oh, and by the way, I did make that appointment and finished up another huge project, too! It is very empowering, and addictive I must add!

Finish It Friday #2

Its Friday…hooray! For me, the week has simply flown by. Looking forward to a weekend filled with a bit of getting things done, a bit of relaxing, and a bit of hanging out with my family. Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?

So…if you joined me two weeks ago for Finish It Friday, you know first-hand how freeing it can be to get a nagging to-do (or two or three!) checked off your to-do list. Want to join me again? This time I haven’t pre-finished anything…so you’ll just have to check and see what I come up with. I have a nagging to-do on my to-do list that I must address today. (Scheduling a mammogram!) So I will finish that for sure…but I don’t think that will give me my fill of finishing. We’ll just have to see what else I come up with.

I’m going on record to say that today, as part of Finish It Friday, I will call and schedule a mammogram. There. I've said it. Now I have to do it!

How about you? Want to join in the fun and get a nagging to-do checked off your list? You can read all about Finish It Friday here, and then post in the comments what you will finish by Sunday evening at 9 PM Central. Sound like a plan? Can’t wait to hear what you’re going to do!! Have a terrific weekend!

And the winner of the FranklinCovey Penelope laptop bag is...

Mandy B. who said "I would LOVE this! I would also love leather binder with a zipper for my coupons! My current binder is falling apart and I know Franklin Covey stuff is the best and would hold up to my heavy use!" Congrats to you, Mandy! Email me your mailing address and I'll forward it along to the fine folks at FranklinCovey.

Thank you to everyone who played along. It was so fun reading about your favorite items—lots of good stuff on that FranklinCovey site, isn't there? And a super big thank you to FranklinCovey for such a fun giveaway!

Friday! Friday! (Freebie) Friday!

Hooray! It’s Friday and what could be better than that? Freebie Friday, that’s what!

I’m so very excited about today’s giveaway because I have been a fan of this company for a really, really long time. In fact, when I think about how thrilled I was when I got my first Franklin Planner…well…I probably should have guessed my career path would lead me to where I am now.

So that’s right folks—today’s giveaway is from none other than FranklinCovey! (Yay, for FranklinCovey!)

FranklinCovey is kicking off their biggest sale of the year and they thought it would be fun to sponsor a Freebie Friday right here on the Creative Organizing blog. How fun is that, right? Very fun, indeed!

But first, you’ve got to hear about their Biggest Sale of the Year, because it’s super fun, too. First, it’s the best time to save on FranklinCovey products, because when they say it’s the Biggest Sale of the year, they mean B-I-G.

During FranklinCovey’s Biggest Sale of the Year you can save up to 70% on planners, binders, laptop bags and everything else you need to stay organized and make your big plans. Browse the Biggest Sale of the Year here! If you haven’t found the perfect planner yet, now is a great time to try something new and different. But, as you’ll see on the site, FranklinCovey has all sorts of products to help organize your life and plans. 

Alright, so I bet you’re dying to know what’s up for grabs for Freebie Friday. Well, here it is:

It’s the Penelope Laptop Bag, (a $200 value!) Here’s the low down on this gorgeous bag. (Text courtesy of FranklinCovey.)

Who would've thought a business/laptop tote could be so stylish and so practical? With a plethora of interior pockets, a plush notebook computer compartment, and sturdy brass hardware, the Penelope tote is ready for the most rigorous of road trips. But, thanks to its graceful dome and the embossed crocodile pattern on its soft leather exterior, only you will know it's more than just the classiest handbag at the airport.

 

Key features:

• Padded compartment for most 15.4" laptop computers

• Compartments for cell phone, glasses, credit cards, and more

• Pen loops

• Fully adjustable shoulder strap and handles

As you can see, they really think about organization in the design of their bags—there’s a place for everything in their bags. (Go here to learn more about this great bag.)

Want to know how to enter for this great giveaway? All you have to do is this. Visit the Franklin Covey website and check out their Biggest Sale of the Year. Then, in the comments section tell me your favorite product on the site. What caught your eye? What’s a “must have” in your book? Then, keep your fingers crossed that you’re the lucky winner of the Penelope Laptop Bag!

Comments will close on Tuesday, June 23rd at 9 PM Central, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday. Good luck!

Just some fun sharing…

Before going out of town, I like to clean my house and clear off my to-do list. So…this post is a bit of blog house cleaning. It’s some fun sharing I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Ready? Let’s go.

Magnetic Board How-To. This is a fun project and article I put together for my friends over at Store and Style. Hope you enjoy! (I’m really into magnet boards lately…so if you’re feeling the magnet board love, too, you'll want to check this out.)

Getting Organized for Less: My newsletter article this month was about getting organized for less money. If saving money while getting organized is on your mind, this article (also from Store and Style) has even more great ideas. For this piece they tried out my Organizing 101 workshop. Want to hear what they had to say? Find out here.

New Resources for Scrapbooking. How cool is Renee Pearson’s new site—have you seen it? If you’re interested in Digital Scrapbooking, this is a must see. She has a beginning digital scrapbooking class starting on June 25th, so hurry and go there now. 

I’m also enjoying this new site put together by former Simple Scrapbooks magazine employees and contributors. If you miss Simple like I miss Simple, go here for your fix of scrapbooking ideas and inspiration. Plus, if you hurry, it looks like they're having a giveaway. (I first heard about this from Angie's blog, another fun read you should check out.) 

travel checklist + other travel ramblings

Tomorrow I’m heading out of town for a weekend getaway with my sister and my Dad. We’re going to Alabama—a place I don’t think I’ve been to since I was in 2nd Grade. (And that, my friends, was a long time ago.)

My Dad and sister are driving down from Michigan, and we’re meeting in Nashville where we’ll spend the night tomorrow night. Then, we’ll continue on to Alabama to visit my Dad’s brother and his family. Should be fun…definitely looking forward to spending time with my family.

This may surprise you…but I haven’t started packing yet. I did, however, update and print out my travel checklist, which is a key reason I can pack late without stress. I love this checklist because, well, I’ve got a thing for checklists. It helps make it simple to be more organized while traveling, without being stressed out about forgetting to bring something or do something before I go.

I’ve been adding to it and tweaking it over the years (and deleting things, too, like Pull-Ups for my kids…it has been a long time since we’ve needed those.) Anyway, here’s a copy download travel-checklist if you’d like to use mine for your next trip, or feel free to use it to create your own checklist for personal use. You may not feel compelled to take a wine bottle opener with you when you go away, for example, so tweak it to suit your needs. And then, sit back, relax and enjoy your travels!

Before I sign of…here’s the “other travel ramblings” part of the post. Just a few things I’m looking forward to:

• Sleeping in. This 5 AM summer schedule needs a tweak or two (or three.) Extra quiet time is good, but feeling tired and grouchy (which could be a kind way to describe my mood this past week) has significantly reduced my personal productivity, making the whole getting up early thing counter productive. So, aside from sleeping more while I’m away, I will be pondering Plan B for the summer schedule. (Keep this in mind—when you try something new and if it doesn’t work, try something else. Figuring out what doesn’t work is a terrific learning process and not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve learned a lot the past 2 ½ weeks and look forward to figuring out how to tweak my schedule so that my mood and productivity stay in tact, too.)

  Taking photos. Looking forward to playing with my camera. I’ll be taking along the notes from my photography class and digging into those again, too. But, being a better photographer isn’t about reading a book or taking a class…it’s about taking more photos. Just as getting organized isn’t about taking a class or reading a book, it’s about taking action and organizing something—do something to move you closer to your goal.

• Exploring new places. We’ll be spending a bit of time in Nashville tomorrow evening (probably just enough time for dinner) and then again on Monday. I’ve never been there, so it will be fun to check it out a bit. If you have been there, live there, know the area well…I’d love any recommendations of things to do and places to eat.

Hope you have a great weekend...and remember tomorrow is Friday, and this week that means Freebie Friday. And it’s a good one—so be sure to check it out. (Finish it Friday will be back next week!)

get your fill of organizing ideas + inspiration…

Just wanted to share what’s on the “organizing ideas + inspiration agenda” this week...so you don’t miss any of the fun!

Tuesday:  Registration closes for the current session of Organizing 101 this Tuesday! There’s still time to get in on the action, but time is running out…so sign up today! It’s a super-inspiring group of participants in this session, sure to inspire you to tackle your summer organizing projects.

Tuesday:  Sending out weekly quick tip about using mini zones to stay organized this summer.

Thursday:  Monthly organizing newsletter will be going out, including my brand new article: “Get Organized. Save Money.”

***If you don’t yet get my Monthly Newsletter or my Weekly Quick Tip, sign up here.

Friday: Keep your eyes open for a really exciting Freebie Friday that's in the works for this Friday…you won’t want to miss it!

Here’s to an organized week!

Did you finish?

So, for all you who joined me in the first ever Finish It Friday—first a big “woohoo!” It sure does feel good to check things off that to-do list, doesn’t it? A check mark always feels good, but when that check mark is next to something that was lingering…oh, wow, that feels really good!

So, I got the finish it bug this weekend, and finished up a few other lingering projects, such as:

• I finished painting the window trim on our front door windows. This has been on my mental to-do list for a really long time (probably over a year.) It has been on my real project list for the entire spring. Last weekend I started the project (with Jay’s help) and this weekend, finished her up! Yippee.

• I finished up my butterfly mobile! Hooray—I’m so happy to have that one done!

• I put the bed skirt on Collin’s bed. Why I dreaded that so much, I haven’t a clue. But now it’s finished!

• I made reservations for my trip to Nashville / Alabama next weekend. I have needed to coordinate details with my Dad and sister for over a week…and now it’s done! Hooray!

So, how about you? Did you finish what you set out to complete on Friday? I can’t wait to hear! If you didn’t play along this time…there will be more chances! Oh, and next Friday, keep your eyes open for a really great Freebie Friday!!

Finish It Friday!

I’m starting something new today, and you’re invited to play along! What is this something new? It’s called Finish It Friday, an idea inspired by a forum discussion from inside the current session of Organizing 101. I will do this from time to time on Fridays, so keep your eyes open for more Finish It Fridays. (It won’t be every week because then what would happen to our friend “Freebie Friday?” Not to worry…we’re not going there.)

So, what’s it all about? Well, Finish It Friday is all about getting a nagging to-do off of your to-do list before the end of the weekend. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decide to finish something that has been lingering on your to-do list for way longer than you ever anticipated or wanted.

Why should you get in on the fun? Well…because lingering to-dos feel icky and completion feels good. Started but not yet complete to-dos are draining; checking them off your list is energizing! Plus, it will be loads of fun! You’ll know that while you’re busily working toward a well-deserved check mark, others will be, too! You’ll get to experience how saying your going to do something makes you accountable for actually doing it—and this is very empowering! (I’ve gotten up at 5 AM five days straight due to this type of accountability. It really does work.)

What kind of to-do counts? Anything! (As long as it is an in-process project or should-have-been-take-care-of-a-long-time-ago to-do and finishing it would be particularly freeing for you.)

Here’s mine for the week.

This clipboard has been a work-in-process for quite some while—since our very first online workshop, in fact, when I put together this project download. At the time I wasn’t sure what to use it for, since it was put together part way, just for taking the step-by-step photos for the handout. Last weekend, upon doing some reorganizing in Kailea’s room…I found a use for a clipboard—holding sheet music for the current song she is learning in guitar. The best part is…this took me under 30 minutes to completely finish up (sanding, adding the rub-ons and decoupaging.) And now…no more nagging clipboard that isn’t done! 

So…do you have any lingering projects on your to-do list? Like I mentioned, this doesn’t have to be anything big (mine certainly wasn’t) just something that for one reason or another you haven’t gotten around to finishing. Your Finish It Friday project can be any of the following:

• Any incomplete craft project such as half-finished scrapbook pages or mini albums that just need a few more bits added to make it done! Or, a home décor crafting project that has been stalled for some reason.
• An almost finished organizing project. Maybe you intend to add labels to your organized pantry—but haven’t gotten around to it yet. (Wouldn’t it feel good to have that d-o-n-e?) Or perhaps you have that left over little pile of stuff you haven’t quite yet decided what to do with when you organized your closet. This could be your Finish It Friday project. Simply decide that you’re going to decide about the items lingering in that little pile…and then go decide! 
• A nearly complete decorating project. Hang up those pictures! Or wrap up any other last-minute details so you can call that project done.
• A simple item on your to-do list that you’ve been procrastinating on…because it seems unpleasant, feels like it will take too long, or just because you haven’t made the time for it as of yet. Sew that button on the shirt! Write that thank you note. Make *that one* phone call. 
• In a nut shell, any little project or to-do that has been lingering for longer than you’d like that you can finish up by the end of the weekend!

To play along with Finish It Friday, simply:

1. Choose a project. Don’t over-think this…just pick something that has been living on your to-do list (written or mental!) for too long. It doesn’t have to be anything big…just something incomplete and annoying!

2. Post your plan in the comments.

3. Complete your to-do by the end of the weekend. That’s right, simply check this item off your list before you go to bed on Sunday (and be sure to let us know you did it in the comments section!)!

4. Enjoy the power of completion!

Sound like fun? I can’t wait to hear what you finish this weekend!

organizing is an ongoing process…

Last night was Wednesday night which means cleaning night at my house. (“Woohoo!” right? Well…yes, “woohoo” on Thursday morning, but not so much on Wednesday night. But that’s a different blog post.)

Anyway, as I was vacuuming it occurred to me that no one expects to clean their house just once and have it stay that way forever. Instinctively we know that cleaning is an ongoing process. If we want to enjoy a clean house, we have to clean it over and over and over again. While you may not enjoy the process of cleaning (oh, wait, that’s me) you don’t expect your home to stay clean forever without any intervention or action from yourself. Right?

For many people, however, organizing is a different story. An obstacle that I often hear when working with my organizing coaching clients is that they fear they won’t be able to keep their home organized after organizing it. This fear previously prevented them from getting started in the first place. If you’ve organized your home before only to see it return to disorder, you may relate to this thought and it may be a roadblock for you, too.

My thought last night while vacuuming was that expecting our homes to stay organized after organizing it is like expecting our home to stay clean after cleaning it. Both cleaning and organizing are ongoing processes—processes which require time and attention on an ongoing basis.

The good news is that with both cleaning and organizing, there are simple ways to make the ongoing process easier. Keeping up with it a little bit at a time, works for both cleaning and organizing. The more often I do light cleaning on my home, for example, the less time overall I spend cleaning. If I scrub my shower once a week, it takes less time to clean it than if I clean it less frequently. (And believe me I have tested this theory many times…I’d rather do most things than scrub my shower.)

Organizing is the same way. Once you get a space organized, the more often you do simple, routine maintenance on it—decluttering unnecessary items, putting things away when you’re done using them, and so on—the easier it is to keep a space organized.

So if you’re resisting organizing your home out of fear that you won’t keep it that way, consider letting this idea go. Just as with cleaning a home, it won’t simply stay that way. But just as with cleaning a home, keeping a home organized is doable with the right strategies in place.

My house doesn’t just stay clean (oh, how I wish it would!) just because I clean it once, and my house doesn’t stay organized just because I organize it once. My home is clean when I clean it regularly, and my home is organized when I organize and declutter it on an ongoing basis.

creating new routines

Its official:  summer has arrived! For me, summer isn’t really about a set date on the calendar or hitting a particular temperature on the thermometer. Nope. For me, summer is all about the last day of school. When school ends summer begins.

We’re on day four of summer 2009, and so far, so good. The kids begged and pleaded with us not to send them to Y camp this summer. We (finally) agreed after reaching the conclusion that childhood is too short and there are too few summers to turn it into something dreaded—something that you’re just trying to get through. Luckily, we have options…so we decided to explore some of them. Enter plan B.

Plan B is for the kids to attend some specialty camps that they *want* to attend, not camps they *have* to attend. The goal is to 1) give Mom and Dad some work time, and 2) give the kids some mental and physical stimulation that doesn’t involve the T.V. or any sort of video game. The one drawback to this plan is that we’ll be spending quite a bit of time driving kids to and from camps. And every week is a different schedule. This can keep things interesting, but also makes it difficult to really get into a routine, at least during regular waking hours.

Then, the buffet syndrome set in. All the camps looked really great so we kept saying yes, and piling our plate full of camps! When I put all the dates on the calendar, added the baseball and softball schedules, and guitar lessons…I gasped. “What have I done?” I’ve completely overbooked us!

See, we all have different comfort zones. For me, white space on a calendar, unscheduled down-time is good. It is comfortable. I like breathing room and space…and plan B didn’t leave much downtime.

Enter plan C. I realized I had to carve out some uninterrupted, focused work time. Looking at the calendar there wasn’t going to be too much opportunity for that during the standard work day. Sure, there are blocks of time, some longer than others. But, each day has built-in interruptions, and that doesn’t even take into account the unexpected (yet inevitable) interruptions that come with working in a home office. This is fine for some kinds of work that I do…but doesn’t work great for writing which is the primary “in office” task for many of my projects this summer.

Plan C entails rearranging my schedule—the times of day I have most control over—so it puts me back into my comfort zone. The times of day I have control over are at night when the kids are in bed and first thing in the morning when everyone is still asleep. Morning is my best writing time, so plan C involves putting the power of the early morning to work for me. My plan is to get up every day this summer at 5 AM for some quiet, focused, uninterrupted writing time.

As I said above—so far, so good. I’m on day 4 of this new plan and four days into creating a new habit. I’m using Twitter to hold myself accountable, reporting each morning that I did in fact get up at 5 AM!

All of it is working really well. I love the quiet time…in fact morning is fast becoming my favorite part of the day. And Twitter is working well as my “accountability partner.” This morning, as I contemplated staying in bed just a bit longer, the thought of sharing on Twitter that I didn’t get up at 5 AM was enough motivation to drag my tired self out of bed and get to work! So far, so good.

The moral of the story is this. Sometimes we have to create new routines that push us out of our comfort zone in one area of our life (getting out of bed at 5 AM…out of my normal comfort zone) so that we can create a new comfort zone somewhere else. It’s important when creating routines and changing your schedule to know yourself and know its okay that some things work for you and some things don’t.

It’s OK that I need breathing room in my schedule. If I simply beat myself up and said “You should be able to do all this!” all summer long, I’d be frustrated all summer long! That’s no fun. It’s much more fun to try an approach that seems on paper as if it will work well for you, and then, set in place some means to be accountable for making it happen. 

How about you? Are you in need of some new routines due to the summer or to accomplish something else important to you? If so, I’d love to hear what you’re working on and what you’re doing to make fit it in! Remember, embrace what works best for you and then, find an accountability system that motivates you to make it happen! Good luck!!

Oh, and if you want to follow my progress on the 5 AM plan via Twitter, you can follow me here.

Why I love what I do...

As I mentioned, yesterday I woke up with a renewed sense of energy. I love new beginnings and fresh starts. With summer now just two days away, and the month of June still in its infancy, I’m feeling the burst of energy I always get with new beginnings. I love the possibilities that come with beginnings.

I’ve decided to channel this energy in some projects around my house, and I decided the best way to keep my enthusiasm going is to join Organizing 101 as not just as the instructor but also as a student.

Now, you may be wondering why I would do this. I already know how to organize, so why would I participate in an online organizing workshop? Well, there’s so much more that goes on inside workshops like Organizing 101 than simply learning how to get organized. I recently realized that the two workshops I have enjoyed teaching most, were Get Organized for the Holidays (which will be back in November) and my Goals workshop (which will be back in January.) Why were these my favorites? Because I participated as a student as well as the instructor.

During the goals workshop, I set goals and shared them with my classmates, and I reported every single day on my progress. Since this workshop closed, I have noticed that while I’m still making progress on my goals, they aren’t as top of mind as they were when the goals workshop was in session. I love the accountability of the online workshops, as well as the camaraderie—everyone in the workshop community wants the same thing:  to improve their homes and lives.

The bottom line is this:  even though I know how to get organized and I know how to set and achieve goals, it is more fun, focused and effective when I embark on these projects as part of the simplify 101 online workshop community. Truth is, if simplify 101 weren’t mine and Jay’s third baby; I would want to sign up for these workshops, I would want to be a part of this community, and I would want to create change in my home and life in this way.

For me, it really is more fun working on my own projects and goals with friends there to share and brainstorm with along the way. There’s also the extra sense of motivation that comes from reading other people’s success stories. When a fellow classmate posts that even though they were exhausted after working all day and running kids around they still spent fifteen minutes decluttering tonight…well, suddenly you just know “I can do that, too!” And then you do. And all of these little daily choices add up to big changes by the end of the workshop!

Plus, it’s just more fun with friends along for the ride. I remember when I was in high school and college, my friend Liz and I would do errands together all the time. She would ride along when I needed to go to the bank, or return something at the mall. She was there when I needed to decide on which pillows would look best with the comforter for my dorm room, and should I go with this poster or that one? When I moved to St. Louis and became an “official adult,” all of that changed. I ran my errands alone and I had to make decisions about decorating and other projects on my own. I missed the sharing and camaraderie I had before. And now I have that back again. With our workshops, I have a way to share my day to day life, the big projects and even the little ones, with a group of supportive friends. And the best part of all—they’re doing the same thing in their lives. It’s really very cool.

I share this for a few reasons. First of all, it is straight from my heart. I truly believe in our online workshops and how much they are helping people—including me. It often isn’t a case of knowing how to do something (thought that is a great first step!) It is creating the conditions that help you stay motivated and keep taking action on your projects, while having fun along the way, too! Second, if you’ve dismissed the idea of an organizing workshop because you already know how to get organized…you may be missing out on something that you would truly love. I’ve always loved to organize and I’ve always instinctively known how to organize, though I’ve certainly learned how to be more efficient and purposeful about it throughout the years. I’ve also always immersed myself in the topic of organizing and personal development. So, if I weren’t doing this for a living, I know I’d be a doing this as a student. It’s just my kind of thing.

OK…so the sappy part of this post is over. Now a few quick workshop updates:

* If you are taking part in “Help! I don’t know where to begin!” remember that the workshop closes tonight at midnight central time. This workshop cannot be reopened…so if you haven’t downloaded and saved the materials, stop reading, log in to the workshop system, and do this now! I don’t want you to be disappointed!

* For the session of Organizing 101 that starts today, I incorporated the content from “Help! I don’t know where to begin!” into the first lesson. So if you didn’t get “Help! I don’t know where to begin” and you’re taking Organizing 101—you’ll have instant access to the content. (Which means, you can start decluttering your home today!) It was really fun to see all the progress people made during this workshop. I took five bags of stuff to Goodwill on Sunday as a result of this workshop!  

* As far as if or when we’ll run “Help! I don’t know where to begin!” again…the jury is still out.

Thanks for letting me share. Hope you have a great day.