Category Archives: Organization

National Procrastination Week: March 5-11, 2017

(I was going to publish this next week as a joke about procrastination, but decided against it. Probably wouldn’t be as funny as I think it is right now.)

I like to think of myself as a pretty efficient, on-top-of it kind of gal . . . but I’m also a bit of a procrastinator.

These are some of my top reasons for procrastinating:

If I can’t assign a priority to something, I don’t plan a time to do it.
If I don’t know how to do something, I put it off.
Frankly, I just don’t want to do it . . . so I don’t do it until it’s a crisis.

Want some more?

We’ll feel more motivated tomorrow.
We work better under pressure.
We don’t have all the tools we need to get the project done.
The project is just too big.

How many more can you think of? Several, I’ll bet. I think we can all acknowledge that these are excuses, not reasons, for not getting things done. What’s the reality behind each of the above?

We’ll feel more motivated tomorrow: Well, we probably won’t. If we didn’t want to do it today, we more than likely won’t want to do it tomorrow. What’s going to change in 24 hours that will make the task more inviting and stimulating? Nothing. How successful are we at predicting how we will feel in the future? Generally, not very good. Plus, we don’t know what additional roadblocks may come our way that would cause an even more negative impact. It would help if we could identify why we are delaying starting the project, identify any emotional or physical roadblocks, then remove them. More than likely we stumble over emotional roadblocks due the uncertainty of how to accomplish the task. Postponing alone won’t resolve that roadblock.

We work better under pressure: Studies show we don’t. Things generally take longer than we anticipate and are more complex than we give them credit for. When we leave things to the last minute we rush, make more mistakes, and generally deliver an inferior product because we didn’t have (or make) the time necessary to do the job right. Is that the image you want to project to your employer, family, or friends? Probably not. Working under pressure causes extreme stress. Starting the task or project early, identifying the demands of the project, and working frequently and methodically, will result in a better result. Leaving the last look and finishing touches until the last minute may be okay, but leaving starting until the last minute won’t help deliver the best product.

We don’t have all the tools we need to get the job done: Well, maybe we don’t, but not having the tools readily at hand doesn’t mean we can’t start. What we CAN do is start the project by breaking it down into steps, the first one being to identify what tools or resources we need to complete those steps, and make a plan to get started, including scheduling it on our calendars.

The project is just too big: Sometimes the task just seem too big and that’s understandable. Some projects are quite large and very daunting, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to accomplish. I heard a great example from Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D (an expert on procrastination) about trimming his dogs toenails. He has 10 sled dogs, each with 20 toenails. Thinking about trimming 200 toe nails was too much; but breaking it down into smaller chunks of two dogs per day (40 toenails) made it a much more manageable task. So, even though the entire project may seem like too much, breaking it down into smaller, more achievable tasks will help.

Do you see yourself in any of the above scenarios? I know I do. The key is determining what is holding you back and work through it. How do we do that?

Make A Plan

Just Get Started

Although it sounds simple, sometimes that’s all it takes. Just getting started will provide the momentum to finish. Unfinished tasks tend to be uncomfortable, so once we get started, we have the drive and desire to finish.

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

Certified Premium Subscriber, Institute for Challenging Disorganization

5 Tips to Survive the Time Change

With snow on the ground today in Western Washington (although my crocus and tulips are poking through it) and over 18″ of snow over the last few days on the other side of the Cascades, “Spring” seems pretty far away. Nonetheless, this Sunday morning we “spring forward.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking forward to login an hour of sleep this weekend! I really, really enjoy a good 7-8 hours of sleep each night and cutting it back, even an hour, really messes with me. I hesitate to say, it may even make me a bit cranky.

If losing an hour of sleep causes the same consequence for you, here are a few simple steps that may make the transition just a bit easier for you too.

Start going to bed 15 minutes earlier in the days leading up to Saturday night. Make every effort possible to be get plenty of sleep the week before the time change. How much sleep is that? The National Sleep Foundation has some guidelines on that.
Maintain your regular eating and sleeping schedule. Eating earlier or later than your body is used to will cause it additional confusion. Maintain healthy nutrition (like we shouldn’t do that every day!) so you body isn’t trying to combat a lack of sleep and nutrition at the same time. If you normally go to bed at 11:00 and get up at 7:00, follow that schedule on Saturday/Sunday also. Your body’s going through enough without changing that schedule too. Plus, if you don’t maintain your Sunday schedule, Monday will be even more difficult!
Get some additional exercise a few days leading up to Saturday. Several studies site the benefits of exercise (but not right before bed) in helping our bodies and brains wind down faster, resulting in better sleep.
Go outside. Sunlight on your SPF-protected skin will help your body’s circadian rhythm get back in sync. Try for an hour outside on Sunday
Resist taking a long nap on Sunday. Although we may be tempted to get that lost hour of sleep back by taking a nice, long nap on Sunday afternoon, resist the urge. If you do feel like a nap is in order, keep it to around 30 minutes or less. Anything longer will also mess with your circadian rhythm.

Other tips from Dr. Yoseph Krespi, Director of the Center for Sleep Disorders at New York Head and Neck Institute:

Drink plenty of liquids, yet avoid caffeine and alcohol later in the day.
Make your bedroom into a sleep sanctuary: dark, quiet, and cool (somewhere in the mid to upper 60’s is perfect).
Don’t tackle any complex tasks right before bed. Your brain will find it more difficult to shut down.
Start unwinding an hour before bed. Have a cup of chamomile tea, take a bath, relax. If you are relaxed vs. stressed when you actually make it to bed, your body will have less to do before going to sleep.

Although I’m not looking forward to losing an hour of sleep this weekend, I am looking forward to what it means . . . . Spring is right around the corner! Bringing with it the promise of more sun and more time enjoying the great outdoors!

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

Certified Premium Subscriber, Institute for Challenging Disorganization

“I just can’t do anything right!”

Do you participate in negative thoughts like “I just can’t do anything right!”? Dr. Daniel G. Amen, MD, refers to this as Automatic Negative Thinking. Automatic negative thinking can be personally destructive and is tied very closely to negative self talk.

“These thoughts severely limit a person’s ability to enjoy his or her life. How people think “moment by moment” has a huge impact on how they feel and how they behave. Negative thoughts often drive difficult behaviors and cause people to have problems with their self-esteem. Hopeful thoughts, on the other hand, influence positive behaviors and lead people to feel good about themselves and be more effective in their day-to-day lives.” (excerpt from Healing ADD, Dr. Daniel G. Amen, MD)

Some examples of negative self talk I’ve encountered with clients (and some I’ve participated in myself):

I’m too stupid to be organized.
I’m too fat. I need to get rid of all these clothes.
No one wants to spend time with me.
No one likes/trusts me.
They didn’t call me back, they must hate me.
I’m never going to be as fun/pretty/smart as my friends are.

Every thought we have releases chemicals in our brains:

Positive and hopeful thoughts release chemicals that make us feel good.
Negative and degrading thoughts release chemicals that make us feel bad.
What you focus on determines how you feel and act.

What do to?

Acknowledge negative thoughts, but don’t empower them: It’s nearly impossible to not have a negative thought from time-to-time, but we don’t need to empower the negativity. Acknowledge it and move on.
Re-frame: “I’m too fat” can turn into “I need to lose 5 pounds.” See how that works? You’ve turned negativity about yourself into an action plan.
Analyze the negativity from a 3rd person perspective: Would your best friend react the same way? Sometimes looking at things from outside ourselves brings a new perspective.
Assume best intentions: If someone doesn’t acknowledge your in-passing “how are you?” or doesn’t return your call in a reasonable amount of time, assume they didn’t hear you or didn’t get the message. My guess is that they aren’t intentionally ignoring you, even though your perception of the circumstance may lead you to believe that’s the only answer.

Conquer your automatic negative thinking and negative self-talk by employing the above techniques. Your brain will thank you!

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

Simple Tips For Heading Back To School

Yikes! I keep seeing advertising for back-to-school preparations. Where, oh where, has the summer gone?

Getting everyone ready for school adds another level of anxiety and stress to the last few summer days. Here are some tips to get you started and make the transition a little smoother.

School Supplies:
1. Get a copy of the school’s supply list. I was able to find the school supply list for my local middle school on-line within just 30 seconds. Doing a web search should result in a list similar to this (I searched “Lake Stevens School supply list”). Local retailers may have these lists also.
2. Once you have the list, shop at home. Chances are, you will have a good number of the supplies already on hand. There’s no need to purchase a full set of supplies every year.
3. If you have supplies you aren’t using (or don’t foresee using in the near future), donate them to the school or to a local Boys and Girls Club. I’m certain they will be put to better use than taking up space in your home.
Clothes:
1. Check with you local school to see if there are dress codes that need to be followed. If so, ensure that your student reads and understands them prior to embarking on the clothes shopping adventure.
2. Depending on the age of your student, you will more than likely need to go shopping with them. Note I said “with them.” Although it may be simpler to just do the shopping on your own, having your child with you may be more efficient. If you shop with your child, you will ensure the clothes fit properly, they feel good on them, and are something they like and will wear.
Classes: Hopefully at this point, classes have been signed up for. If not, get in touch with the school to set an appointment to register as soon as possible.
Extra-curricular activities: Have all extra-curricular activities been signed up for? Has the appropriate equipment been arranged for? If not, now’s the time to start working through that process.
Transportation: Most of my clients work at least part-time out of the home, so arranging transportation for any after-school activities is critical.
Health requirements: Does the school require specific health tests or immunizations? Again, a quick on-line search led to this information for our local school district.

Changes in schedules tend to add a little stress to our lives, but some excellent pre-planning goes a long way to making the transition just a little easier!

Party anyone?

July is “National Family Reunion Month.” (Who knew there was such a thing?!)

Our family just held one of our largest family reunions ever! With over 60 people, ages 2 to 86, in attendance, pulling this event off took a ton of planning and patience.

Here are some practical tips to make your own family reunion the success you want it to be:

1. Select an event chair, or better yet, a couple of co-chairs to handle the planning and coordination. Depending on the size of the reunion, you may only need one, but for a group of 60, it was great to spread the event coordination around a bit.
2. Decide on a time of year and venue. Our reunion is always held around the 4th of July (easy travel for everyone, generally not a lot of competing events like there would be in the November/December time period) and it’s always held at the same place. Choose the venue carefully. If someone’s home can manage it, great. If you need to rent a space, be sure to get that done early. If you are coordinating people from across the country, be kind and settle on middle geographic ground.
3. Set up early and frequent communication. The more communication there is around your family reunion, the better opportunity to get people excited and eager to attend. If possible, include some fun stories from previous reunions to keep people’s attention. Be careful to include communication styles that everyone can participate in. For example, although e-mail is efficient, not everyone uses e-mail. If e-mail is your chosen mode of communication, make sure someone is assigned to pass on the pertinent information to those who don’t get e-mail.
4. Create a spreadsheet or mind map including everything that needs to be in place for a successful reunion. Be sure to include:
  1. Food: Solicit volunteers to bring specific dishes or categories (i.e. appetizers, main course, vegetables, dessert, bread, beverages, etc.).
  2. Games: Solicit volunteers to manage entertainment for all ages. For example, sidewalk chalk and bubbles for the younger ones, badminton for the older kids, and video games for all ages.
  3. Functional needs for the event: For example, determine who will be decorating, ensuring sufficient silverware/plates/glasses are available, making certain all the potluck food makes it to the serving table, manages the trash, and so on and so on and so on.
5. Solicit volunteers . . . and lots of them. When John Heywood quoted “many hands make light work” he probably wasn’t thinking about family reunions at the time, but the phrase holds true. Everyone (age appropriate) should be part of the planning and execution process. Too few people trying to handle too many things may result in a less than successful event.
6. Ask for feedback. When holding any kind of event, it’s great to solicit feedback from attendees. What did they like? What didn’t they like? What would the like to see more of? Less of? Was the timing right? Was the venue appropriate? Knowing what worked and didn’t work will make next year’s event that much more successful!

Hopefully a well-planned and executed family reunion will allow you to enjoy and rekindle connections to your extended family.

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

Are you prepared?

Nothing lets you know you aren’t prepared for life little disasters, or big ones for that matter, like preparing your will/trust or changing your homeowner’s insurance. We’ve done both within the last nine months. It was a great wake-up call that I needed to get some things in better order.

First off, when we processed our will/trust documents, the attorney needed tons and tons of information, including all our financial assets (bank accounts, retirement accounts, 401k accounts, investments, etc.), real estate holdings, life insurance policies, etc. Fortunately, I had most of that stored on a handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet so it was pretty easy to pull together.

Next we looked into our homeowners insurance and found that we were possibly woefully mis-insured. We had a lot of insurance, but was it allocated correctly (liability vs umbrella policy)? Would it cover individual items or just blanket coverage? Did we have everything appropriately insured (specific jewelry, etc.). Again, an eye-opening project. Several years ago I took pictures of all the rooms in our home, highlighting individual items that may be of significant value. I felt really good about getting that done . . . . . but I haven’t updated it since. My guess is that our TV has changed, for sure the computer, and who knows what else! If something were to happen and we were asked “what computer got stolen?” I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to give them the current make and model. Clearly I have some work to do.

To that end, I started poking around to see if there were appropriate, ready-made life and home inventory packages available. Sure enough I found a few.

Mind you, this is a new project for me too and I haven’t tried any of them, but I thought I’d share what I’ve found in case you are facing the same project I am.

Life In A Case

“LifeinCase™ organizes documents into an intuitive five-part system: Personal, Medical, Property, Estate, and Financial each featuring a durable file folder and handy checklist of suggested documents to store.” (from lifeincase.com)

HomeZada Home Management Software

“HomeZada allows you to budget and manage projects, inventory your home, set and track maintenance reminders, and even offers tools for selling or buying a home. From the dashboard, you can track your home’s value, taxes, maintenance expenses, assets, and so on.” (from www.hammerandmoxie.com)

Life Documents Organizer by Smead

“The Life Documents Organizer Kit helps you organize and store key life documents such as wills & trusts, health care directives, investment and retirement plans, marital documents and contact information.” (from www.smead.com)

Life Organizer

“Produced as a three-ring-binder, Life Organizer includes 8 tabs with pockets, 15 plastic sleeves for storing copies of important documents, and 1 sleeve to hold 2 DVDs for photo and video inventory, plus dozens of worksheets, checklists, and pages for contact information of family members and professionals.

Whether you’re a baby boomer planning your estate, parent with a new family, or recent grad just beginning to earn an income, it’s a beautiful and helpful organizer for anyone at any age.” (from www.amazon.com)

In addition to accurate records of who we are and what we own, these organizing products may give us something even more valuable . . . . peace of mind.

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

Have you lost your mojo?

About a month ago I lost my mojo. You know what mojo is, right? According to the Cambridge Dictionary it’s “a quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy.”

Harley visited the Everett Library weekly for a Paws To Read program.

I can trace it back to the day we lost our 12-year old Boxer, Harley. He was one of the best dogs we’ve ever had and his passing left a huge hole in my heart. Nothing else seemed to matter, I just wallowed in sadness. For those of you that aren’t close to your pets, you won’t get it; for those of you that consider pets a part of the family, you will.

Anyway, I lost my mojo. I failed to see the importance in important things. I lost my drive. I started focusing on easy, non-critical tasks. Lots of things just didn’t seem to matter. Well, that can only go on so long before things start to fall apart and something has to change. That trigger for change was yesterday. I decided to acknowledge that I’d been coasting for a month and that I needed a swift kick in the rear to get back on track.

What can we do to get our mojo back when we’ve lost it?

Acknowledge and respect the event that caused the change. Give yourself permission to have changed your behavior for a while. We can’t be at 110% all the time. There are times we are just tired, fed up, frustrated, sad, angry . . . whatever. Once the trigger is identified and acknowledged, it somehow loses some of it’s power.
Decide that “enough is enough.” Most of us can’t coast forever. Our families deserve more. Our business can’t support it. Take that first step toward change.
Make a list of things that need to be done. Fortunately, and most importantly, my personal life was in pretty good shape, but I was way behind with business responsibilities. I’d not been keeping up on my weekly blogging, my newsletter hadn’t gone out, I’d missed some teleclasses that needed to be made up. There were just some things that NEEDED to be done to get back on track.
Find an accountability partner to help keep motivated. I’m fortunate to have a fantastic coaching partner that let me talk through the process and helped me determine my next steps to get on track. For example, today I committed to sending some personal notes and writing a blog. When I get done with both of those things, I will be sending her an e-mail. It’s nice to have someone, besides myself, that’s interested in my success.

Yesterday I was pretty down on myself. Today, I feel like a new person.

Motivated. Encouraged. Successful. Empowered.

It was not an easy transition, but I made it. And if you find yourself in the very same place, you can get it back too!

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

How do you learn stuff? Sense-Based Modalities

I recently completed a year-long Coaching curriculum (I’m so excited!). One of the things that resonated most with me was an in-depth study of how we each individually learn things and interpret our environments (learning modalities).

Denslow Brown, Master Certified Coach, breaks down learning modalities as follows:

Sense-based modalities:

Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Tactile
Taste/Smell

Other significant ways people process information and interact with their surroundings:

Verbal (language)
Emotional
Cognitive
Intuitive

Each of us probably use all of these modalities at different times. Each of these modalities can be strong or weak within each individual, and can present as hypo-sensitive or hyper-sensitive.

Personally, I found myself to be very strong in visual, kinesthetic, and verbal modalities. This partially explains why I’m pretty good with finding lost golf balls; why I have to be moving all the time; and the fact that I love to talk!

During this post, I’ll just give you a basic understanding of the sense-based modalities. The others will be covered next week.

Visual: How our eyes see things and our brain’s process the information.

Weak to strong indicators: If someone has a visual impairment or their brain doesn’t process visual cues (can’t “see” something that’s right in front of them), this modality may be weak for them. Alternatively, someone may present as strong in this modality if they can discern slight variations in visual cues (think artists, architects, etc.).

Auditory: How we hear and process through the brain’s auditory and language centers.

Weak to strong indicators: Like the visual modality, an auditory weakness can be based on a physical impairment or auditory processing problems. Conversely, someone who is strong in this modality will be able to excel in areas like music, interviewing, and psychotherapy where careful listening is required.

Kinesthetic (one of my favorites): Moving and engaging the body and how the body interacts with space.

Weak to strong indicators: Limited use of this modality may be caused by injury or age-related conditions causing diminished muscle control and lack of coordination. Strong kinesthetic modality will present in those that use their bodies with precision, like athletes, performance artists, etc.

Tactile: How things feel as experienced through the skin, hands, feet and tongue.

Weak to strong indicators: A person weak in this modality may have difficulty differentiating between textures, feeling hot vs cold, etc. Alternatively, those strong in this modality will tend to be those with very refined touch abilities like surgeons, massage therapists, etc.

Taste/Smell: Responding to odor or taste through the nose, mouth, and the olfactory center of the brain.

Weak to strong indicators: Aging and medical conditions may be the cause of missing or distorted abilities in this area. Those strong in this modality would present in occupations such as chef, sommelier, etc.

Taking a closer look at how my family, friends, and clients learned things and interpret the world around them changed how I communicate. For example because I’m very kinesthetic (as are some of my clients), if there is a crucial conversation that needs to take place, we will have the conversation while on a walk. Not only does it feel good, the information is processed more effectively!

If this small bit of information has you curious, you may be interested in getting a copy of Denslow Brown’s Modalities Guide

Note: If you, or someone you know, could benefit from Life/ADHD coaching, please contact me. My passion is working with people to help them become the vision of who they want to be!

Cindy Jobs

www.organizetosimplify.com

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

206-707-3458

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Area Chapter President

Institute for Challenging Disorganization, Six Certificates of Education

Seasonal Closet Swap: A Closet Full Of Nothing To Wear?

Closets can be a huge headache or a great source of joy. Simplifying by downsizing and organizing can turn our closets from frustrating to functional.

How many times do we stand in front of our completely full closets and say “I can’t find a thing to wear!”?

The change of seasons gives us the perfect opportunity to take stock of our closets. When it’s time to move the winter things out (thankfully) and the summer things in (happily), take a few extra minutes to critically analyze each piece of clothing.

Ask yourself:

Do I love it and feel great when I wear it? Does it project the image I want people to have of me? (Love it?)
Did I use it this season or can I use it next season? (Use it?)
Am I keeping it because I feel guilty about spending money on something I really don’t use? Unfortunately, keeping a bad purchase doesn’t make it a better purchase. (Guilty purchase?)

If your answer is “yes” to #1 and #2, and “no” to #3 about everything in your closet, then you’re in good shape. If you can’t, then it’s time to take a serious look at reducing the items in your closet.

Because apparel items are so personal, sometimes it’s hard for us to be critical about what we should keep or get rid of. For this project, enlist the help of an honest and trusted friend to help you.

Use the following roadmap to help you de-clutter your closet, giving yourself a bit of breathing room.

Carve out enough time to go through the entire process.
If possible, purchase enough of the same style of hangers (plastic, wood, flocked, etc.) as you possibly can. Having all your apparel hanging at the same level will make it easier for your eye to focus on the item, not the disarray. You may want to also invest in multi-tiered hangers if you have multiple pairs of pants that you know you will be keeping. Pants on multi-tiered hangers take up much less space than if they are hung individually. If you are also hanging skirts, each style of hanger also comes in a clip version for this purpose.
Set up six boxes, bags, or staging areas:
1. KEEP: For items you are planning on keeping in your closet.
2. THROW: For items that are worn out, stained, etc.
3. GIVE: For items to give to people you personally know.
4. DONATE: For items in good repair that can be donated to a local charity.
5. ALTERNATE SIZE: For items that you love and will fit into within the next 6 months. Date the box/bag with a review date.
6. SEASONAL: For items you love, but won’t wear for several months.
Take everything out of the closet. Yes, everything. Even if you know you are keeping it you will (hopefully) be moving it to the new, uniform hanger style.
Sort your apparel by type: Work vs. Casual. Then fine-tune the sort by style or color: short sleeve vs. long sleeve, etc.; black, white, color, etc.
Touch every piece of clothing and ask yourself the three questions mentioned earlier: Love it? Use it? Guilty purchase?
Put the items you want to keep away on the new hangers and place them back in the closet in groupings that make sense to you: work; casual; sleeve length; color; etc.
Process the THROW/GIVE/DONATE/ALTERNATE SIZE/SEASONAL boxes, moving them to their appropriate new home.

Being organized reduces stress and saves time and money. This is never more true than in our closets where we need to create space for all the aspects of our lives from work to recreation. Plus, our closet is one of the first areas we see in the morning. Getting the organization right here will set you off on the right foot for the rest of the day!

“A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.”

When we worry, our brains are in a constant swirl of “what if?” questions. Personally, as the John Lubbock quote (subject line) attests, I find worry extremely exhausting! My mind races, I lose sleep, and I get distracted from what’s truly important.

Is worry worth it? According to “The Complete Sales Action System®” worry chart, maybe not:

40% of all things we worry about never happen
30% have already happened and we can’t do anything about them
12% needless worries about health
10% petty miscellaneous issues
8% real worries
- 1/2 we can do little about
- 1/2 we can

So, before your brain engages in a constant swirl of worry, think about:

Will this matter a year from now? This thought compliments of Dr. Richard Carlson’s book Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff . . . and it’s all small stuff. Things that may not matter in a year: missing a meeting or your wife’s birthday (wait, that may matter a year from now); making a non-life-threatening mistake; or having an argument with a colleague, friend, or family member. You get the idea.

Does this worry belong to someone else? How many times have we taken on worry that doesn’t belong to us? Personally, I’ve worried about RSVPs to a party I’m not hosting; worried about a comment someone else made to a mutual friend; and worried about whether or not my husband has left for the airport on time (he’s perfectly capable of managing his time). I couldn’t control any of these situations and they really weren’t mine to manage or worry about . . . but I did.

What’s the very worst that can happen? Sometimes there is a legitimate reason to worry, but it helps to put some thought into “what’s next” if the worst happens. For example: Taxes are due within the next couple of weeks. What’s the very worst that can happen if you don’t file on time? Penalties, fines, or triggering an audit. Not great options. What can you do about it? File an extension. The worry was not misplaced, but once the extension is filed, you can rest a bit easier . . . for a while.

Is the problem solvable? Can whatever we are worrying about be fixed, prevented, or resolved? If so, the worry may be warranted. If not, the worry energy may well be misplaced.

Maybe we can take some advice from the Dalai Lama:

“If there is a solution to a problem, there is no need to worry.

And if there is no solution, there is no need to worry.”

Cindy Jobs

cindy@organizetosimplify.com

www.organizetosimplify.com

Organize to Simplify

Providing organizing tips to help you get more out of life.

Category Archives: Organization

National Procrastination Week: March 5-11, 2017

(I was going to publish this next week as a joke about procrastination, but decided against it. Probably wouldn’t be as funny as I think it is right now.)

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

Certified Premium Subscriber, Institute for Challenging Disorganization

5 Tips to Survive the Time Change

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

Certified Premium Subscriber, Institute for Challenging Disorganization

“I just can’t do anything right!”

Simple Tips For Heading Back To School

Party anyone?

Are you prepared?

Have you lost your mojo?

How do you learn stuff? Sense-Based Modalities

Seasonal Closet Swap: A Closet Full Of Nothing To Wear?

“A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.”

National Association of Professional Organizers, Seattle Chapter President

Certified Premium Subscriber, Institute for Challenging Disorganization