Organize to Simplify

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National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know.” was one of the phrases I previously feared using the most.

Now I embrace it.

What did I used to think “I don’t know.” said about me?

I was uninformed.
I was unprepared.
I wasn’t as good as someone else.
I was vulnerable and weak.

Questions I wanted to answer “I don’t know.” to but was too afraid:

What were the annual sales of this product two years ago?
How long will it take to create that new report?
What changes did Kathy’s group make that cut their lead time by 15%?
What would be the benefit of assigning that project to another team?

Having to say “I don’t know.” struck fear in my heart and left me feeling stressed, anxious and exhausted. I had convinced myself that there was an expectation that I knew everything all the time. I certainly didn’t. I felt like an imposter.

I will admit, there were times when I truly didn’t know but would try to bluff my way through anyway. Not a strategy I would recommend as on more than one occasion this strategy did not work out well . . . at all.

But in actuality “I don’t know.” can be incredibly powerful, made even stronger followed by “Let me find out.” What does using these two simple phrases say about you?

You are honest about your knowledge.
You know your limitations.
You are open to exploration.
You do not always need to be the expert.
You are willing to be vulnerable, making it easier for others to be vulnerable around you.

Who would you prefer to be known as? The person in the bullet points above, or the stressed, anxious, and exhausted person that considers themselves an imposter.

I don’t know, do you?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Old Dog, New Tricks

How often have we heard the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Thirty years ago neural researchers would have sworn that mental development ended in your twenties. The prevailing theory was that “the brain simply didn’t undergo any significant change in capacity after late adolescence” (Immunity to Change, Kegan, and Lahey). Imagine that.

Fast forward 30 years and studies show the brain has the ability to continue to adapt throughout life. Why is that important? We are living longer, and the longer we live the more we need to continue to learn and grow. Not just because of the demand, but also the desire.

Desire is a key point. If we desire change, we will strive to achieve it. If change is demanded, we tend to resist. How is this reflected in change?

Desire vs Demand

My dad was over 65 when he decided to learn how to snowboard. He wanted to snowboard so he would have something in common with his grandkids. Desire was strong, demand was absent.

My husband is almost 69 years old. He is the “go to” guy for tech support within our house and amongst his employees, friends, and family. He feels a need to embrace technology to support his family, friends, and business. Both desire and demand are strong.

At 50 I embarked on a new career: coaching and organizing. I have a passion for helping people break through their physical and emotional clutter to help them create the lives they want to live, not the life they feel stuck in. Both desire and demand are strong.

We have some friends that are taking up golf in their 60s. Now, golf is not an easy sport and can be incredibly frustrating, but they just keep going. Desire is strong, demand is absent.

Again with my dad. He was an electrical inspector. He loved his job. He met the most amazing people, and couldn’t wait to get into the office every day to see his office colleagues. Then technology raised it’s ugly head when my dad was about 65. He was now required to receive and file his inspection reports on a computer. He was able to give up his commute to the office but missed seeing his colleagues and the technology kicked his you know what. He couldn’t (didn’t want to) get the hang of it. Demand was strong, the desire was absent. He retired.

When you are handed a new challenge, how do you see it? Desire vs demand? Are you more inclined to try harder one way or the other? Does it change your perspective on the challenge? How would a perspective shift help?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Energy Management vs Time Management

“I just don’t have time to . . . . . “ Go ahead, fill in the blank.

Ever said that? I’ll be you have. I know I have.

But is it time we don’t have or energy? If we managed our energy better, would our time management improve? If we managed our time better, would our energy improve? What could we accomplish if we managed both just a little better?

Earlier this year I started with a new client. She said by noon her energy was totally zapped and she just couldn’t get anything done throughout the day, creating a tremendous amount of guilt and anxiety. Having ruled out health problems, we started to look at her routines, really focusing on where she was spending her time and energy.

Here are just a few examples of what we found:

Nine months ago she became an empty-nester and no longer had the time or energy commitment of children at home. She hadn’t decided on what her next chapter was going to look like (volunteer? go back to work? go back to school?), so now she had all this time on her hands without a clear strategy on how to use it. She woke up without a blueprint for the day, so the day just slipped away. At the end of the day, she felt guilty and unfulfilled. Not having a good time management plan drained her energy.
She didn’t have a good, consistent sleep pattern. She went to bed late because she was easily distracted and didn’t make it through her day’s “to do” list until 1:00 – 2:00 AM. She got up early to see her husband off for the day, but since she’d only slept for about five hours, she was running on empty in the energy department by noon. Her poor time management the day before affected her energy management the following day.
She loved to shop, consequently spent a lot of time either in stores or online looking for the “perfect . . . .” Again, fill in the blank. So instead of buying one thing that was “good enough,” she bought several hoping to find “perfect.” This created both a time and energy management problem since she would spend hours returning items she purchased that she wasn’t going to use. Not creating a boundary around the energy expended looking for “perfect,” resulted in a time management situation when hours were spent coordinating returns.

As we reviewed her routines, we continued to find situations where poor time management affected her energy and situations where she was expending an enormous amount of energy on an activity that in the end had an impact on her time.

To better manage both her time and energy, we created some structure around how she wanted to manage both.

We started with:

Creating a structure that included time for sleep, exercise, meal preparation, social interaction, and mindfulness.

She made a commitment to get in bed by 11:00 PM at the latest.

She didn’t know if she was a Zumba or Yoga girl, a runner or a hiker, a golfer or a tennis enthusiast, so some self-exploration when it came to an exercise routine was necessary.

Because of poor time management and the diminished emotional need to feed “the family,” she and her husband subsided on a significant amount of take-out. Recreating her vision of “family” as just the two of them, changed her perspective on the value of daily meal preparation.

Because of the previous time commitments for the family, she’d reduced her social interaction in her local community. Looking for opportunities to become involved in the community, recreating some social connections that may have fallen by the wayside in the day-to-day rush of household management, provided an emotional high that had been missing since the kids moved out.

She included mindfulness in her regular routine. Focusing on living in the moment, not rehashing the past and living in an undefined future, can provide a great amount of peace and clarity. Mindfulness can be anything from meditation to a simple walk in the park. Whatever brings your mind into the present is extremely valuable to mental and physical well-being.

Creating balance and structure has been extremely beneficial for my client to manage her time and energy. Where might you be out of balance in the time and energy department?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Smell the flowers . . . if you can find them.

Photo: Ales Krivec

Spring. It’s refreshing. Flowers are blooming. Birds are singing. Life is magical . . . if it weren’t for all that dog-gone Spring Cleaning guilt. Clean the carpets. Clean the windows. Clean the garage. Clear out the clutter.

One of the quickest ways to give our surroundings a breath of fresh air is to reduce clutter and open up our spaces. If you are surrounded by clutter, you will be more stressed, less focused, and less productive. On average, people who are surrounded by clutter and are disorganized lose nearly an hour of productivity every day. Generally, that hour isn’t all in one chunk, but five minutes here, ten minutes there. You know what I’m talking about, we’ve all done it.

De-cluttering and organizing is a great start on the road to a healthier, happier you. Yes, we know it will feel good when we are done, but how do we get started?

Pace yourself. It didn’t get cluttered in one day; don’t try to de-clutter everything in one day. Pick a drawer, a cupboard, a room . . . whatever feels manageable and is currently a source of pain.
Enlist an objective and honest buddy to help you. It’s hard to get rid of our own stuff, trust me I know!
Have a vision of what you want to the room to feel like. Notice I said feel, not look. So often we have Pinterest visions but our space has physical limitations. It’s better to envision a purpose and feel vs trying to replicate a look. Take several “before” pictures.
Have a plan for getting rid of things you no longer need or want: Donate to a charity; give to a friend you know wants something you no longer need; schedule a trash or recycle trip. Make sure there is a solid plan to get things out of the space.
At the end of the process, treat yourself to a reward for your efforts. Decluttering is HARD WORK and a glass of wine or Dairy Queen Blizzard is most certainly deserved.

To ensure that you don’t get back in a cluttered and disorganized state, these two tips will help with ongoing maintenance:

To keep clutter from creeping back, devote an hour a week to staying on top of your newly-opened up space. Whether it’s an hour every Saturday, or 15 minutes four times a week, devoting time to keeping your space in order will pay huge dividends.
Keep a DONATE box or bag close at hand. Once you decide you really don’t need something, immediately put it in the box so it no longer takes up valuable space in your everyday life.

What do you want to tackle next?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Balance: Self Value vs Stuff Value

Balance is a tricky thing. Too much of one thing tips the scales in the other direction and we get totally out of balance.

But balance is not just about stuff vs space (although stuff vs space is a huge issue for a lot of people). For some interesting information on how much stuff Americans have, here are some statistics from a recent CBS Morning show.

There are 50,000 self-storage facilities in the U.S., more than Dunkin’ Donuts (8,500), Subways (28,000) or McDonald’s (14,027) combined.*

And that’s just for the stuff we CAN’T fit inside our homes, where there’s more “stuff” piled in closets, bedrooms, garages and basements.

The CBS segment speaks to the stuff vs space conundrum with an interesting question: why do we park $10,000 cars outside when we fill our garages with stuff of largely no value?

Nearly all my clients struggle with the self value vs stuff value balancing act.

A client spoke to a situation at their home. His comment to me: “my wife asked me a while ago to clear out the garage so she could park in it.” When I inquired what “a while ago” meant he admitted it had been 18 months. It was clear he was prioritizing the stuff value in his garage above the his wife’s self value (her request to be able to park in the garage). The prioritization realization created a perspective shift.

Another client comments regularly about how her closet (stuff) drives her crazy (self). It is packed. She could easily get by with half of the items in her closet and still be considered one of the best-dressed women I know. If she eliminated half the stuff she would feel the benefit of open space, organization and clarity (self value). For years she’s been prioritizing her stuff over herself.

And then there is the client who tries to cram too many commitments (stuff value) into his schedule resulting in limiting his time with family and friends (self value).

What’s your balance of self value vs stuff value?

* Note: This is a direct lift from the CBS segment. No, the math doesn’t work, but it’s close. 🙂

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Step five. Step three. Step one. Nope.

I watched a sitcom the other day where one of the characters introduced the family to her new dog. The look of confusion on their faces indicated having a dog made absolutely no sense. But then she explained:

Step 5: She had a dog because . . . .

Step 4: . . . she was going to have a fenced yard.

Step 3: . . . in the house that she was going to buy with her $50K paycheck.

Step 2: . . . for being a surrogate.

Step 1: . . . after passing her medical exam.

Some of you may have also watched this show and know exactly where this is headed. This particular character had lept all the way to step five without ever passing through steps one through four. Unfortunately, her plans fell apart at step one because she didn’t pass the medical exam.

How many times have we jumped all the way to the end of the process without working through the important steps along the way? I know I have. As a matter of fact, I almost did it again just last week.

I heard that Google My Business is a great marketing venue. I got very excited and started the process to create my Google My Business page. But wait, I’m in the process of rebranding my business (new direction, new name, new client base, etc.). How could I create Google My Business exposure without my new business name defined, my new website up and running, my rebranded logo, etc. See what I almost did there? I was too many steps down the path without having completed step number one . . . creating my new business identity.

Leaping over process happens with both my organizing and coaching clients on a regular basis.

My organizing clients rush out and purchase pretty bins and boxes before they know what they are keeping (purging is step one, containerizing is way down the line).

One of my coaching clients came to me with a big goal: quit my job and move to a foreign country. Great, let’s move in that direction but don’t purchase an airline ticket before all the other pieces are in place.

What big goal are you working on that require multiple, necessary steps along the way? How do you keep yourself from stepping over the important parts of the process? Leaping to step five before completing steps one through four can be counter-productive, frustrating and a challenging use of resources.

If you need some help breaking those big projects down into manageable pieces, ask a respected colleague, friend, family member or any other support structure for some assistance.

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD

Salma Hayek Pinault: “I’m very hard on myself . . . “

I recently listened to Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast with Salma Hayek Pinault. Although the podcast was titled “More to Say About Harvey Weinstein,” I found the podcast had next to nothing to do with Mr. Weinstein but more about kindness, not only for others but for ourselves.

During the conversation, Oprah asked a powerful question:

“What’s the lesson that’s taken you personally the longest to learn in your life?”

Ms. Hayek Pinault’s answer resonated deeply with me:

“I’m very hard on myself and not too long ago I realized I detect what I want to change, and then I disappoint myself if I don’t change it right away, you know. But it takes time for change. And I’ve noticed that if you really look, there are things that I don’t even remember that I was doing before and I didn’t like doing them because I’ve changed so profoundly that I don’t even remember I was like that anymore. And when I’m hard on my myself I have to remind myself that if I continue to believe in me and to be positive and to be kind to myself and to others, whether it will come, the changes that I want about myself, one day it will come. If you disappoint yourself, sometimes you give up.”

Although I believe myself to be a very kind individual, I found myself wanting to take a closer look at the connection between kindness and happiness and, boy, is there a connection!

According to a Huffington Post article, the benefits of kindness are significant.

1) We are happier.

Doing something for someone else, makes us feel good, both emotionally and biologically. The reference to “Helper’s High” comes from elevated levels of dopamine in the brain, resulting in a natural high.

Kindness = Happiness

2) We are healthier.

Acts of kindness result in elevated production of oxytocin. Oxytocin causes the release of nitric oxide which expands blood vessels, reducing blood pressure.

Kindness = Health

3) We age more slowly.

Back to oxytocin. Oxytocin reduces levels of free radicals and lowers inflammation, both significant factors in the aging process.

Kindness = Longer Life

4) We have stronger relationships.

We like people that show us, and themselves, kindness. Kindness creates bonds. Whether we are creating new bonds or strengthening existing bonds, kindness plays a key role.

Kindness = Stronger Relationships

5) We pass kindness on.

Kind people are inspirational. Think back to the last time you witnessed kindness, what was your next instinct? Passing it on, right? In 2014 a Starbucks customer paid for the drink of the drive-through customer behind her, resulting in a chain of 378 acts of “pay it forward” kindness. Kindness is contagious.

Kindness = More Kindness

Kindness. Can it be that simple? Can being kind to others and ourselves be the ticket to health and happiness Apparently so.

What’s your next kindness experiment?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD.

What’s your gap?

When I start working with clients I ask them to describe two visions:

Where are you right now?
Where do you want to be?

With those two questions clearly understood, we can start the process of change that moves someone from where they are now, to where they want to be. In essence, closing the gap between their two visions.

What do I mean by “the gap?”

“Steve” wanted to get a job that better fit his strengths and ADHD diagnosis. His current job involved phone sales 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM with very little in-person contact and a lot of sitting. His vision of the perfect job involved travel, in-person communication and a high level of flexibility. “Steve” had a very clear vision, he knew where he wanted to be, but there was uncertainty about the process to get there.

“Kathy” wanted to take more control of her life. Her current routine was highly irregular and impulsive. She would go to bed and wake up “whenever,” with little direction for how her day unfolded. Most days she went to bed frustrated because she had little to show for her waking hours. “Kathy” wanted a more productive life she could feel good about. She wanted to go to bed by 11:00 PM, get up at 7:00 AM and have a robust, attainable schedule for her day. A very large gap from where “Kathy” was and where she wanted to be, but there was passion about getting there, one step at a time.

“Susie” wanted to have a home she could be proud, one to which she could invite friends and family to visit. Unfortunately, the current state of her home was very cluttered, disorganized and in some rooms, not physically safe. She continually brought additional items into the home without moving any items out. Her vision was of a home that reflected her many life experiences but was not so overwhelmed with clutter that she was in constant fear of tripping. This gap was physical, but closing that gap would open up a world of social interaction that hadn’t been experienced in a long time.

Each of these clients had a clear vision of where they were now and an even clearer vision of where they wanted to be. The disconnect was the gap.

Closing the gap is different for everyone, but it almost always involves a significant emotional component. And a lot of time, that component is fear.

Fear of being rejected in our job search so we settle for the status quo.

Fear of failure and sometimes even fear of success.

Fear that if we get our lives a little more in order even more will be expected of us.

Fear that if we let something physically go, the memories attached to it will go too.

Fear of the unknown.

What do you want to change? Where are you now? Where do you want to be? What’s your gap?

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Professional Resource Member

Level I Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization; ADD; Client Administration; Time Management; Mental Health; and Hoarding.

Level II Specialist Certificates earned in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD.

Taxes stressing you out?

“Yikes! I’m not even close to getting my taxes done and so stressed out about it!”

Not surprisingly, this time of year creates a lot of stress and anxiety for people . . . . especially for those that may have some procrastination, organization and motivation challenges.

Generally speaking, taxes are frustrating, confusing, and sometimes moderately depressing. Therefore, we tend to procrastinate when it comes to filing our taxes. According to Wolf Tax, there are five general reasons we procrastinate when it comes to filing our taxes:

Excuses: We can come up with lots of circumstances as to why we don’t do things, especially if the excuses are self-serving and other people around you are doing it too. “Groupthink” anyone?
Thrill-Seeking: Sometimes waiting until the last possible moment to do something gives us an emotional high. Generally, this is a short-lived payoff.
No obvious penalty: There’s no penalty for dropping them off at the post office at 11:59 PM on April 15. Why hurry?
Work better under pressure: Actually, people are less effective and more prone to make errors when working under pressure.
Perfectionism: Often referred to as “perfection paralysis.” We don’t want to start a project because we fear the outcome may not be “perfect.” Perfect stands in the way of progress.

Hopefully, you’ve already filed your taxes, received your refund, and none of what I’m presenting applies to you. If so, nicely done!

If you are still waiting to file your taxes, here are your next few steps:

Call For A Tax Appointment: Stop reading right now and call for an appointment with your tax preparer. If you don’t have one, now is a good time to do some research. There are, of course, a plethora of tax preparation options. You can do an internet search on “tax preparation services,” but now may be a great time to use that social network you’ve been building. Ask your friends and relatives if they have anyone to recommend. In addition, there may be some free tax preparation services available depending on your age and income. Search “free tax preparation services” and you will get a lot of
Gather Your Documents: By now you should have received all the documents required to prepare your taxes. These documents may include, but are not limited to:

W-2s from your employers,
1099-MISC forms for self-employment income,
1099-INT (interest) and 1099-DIV (dividends) forms,
1099-B forms showing brokerage trades in stocks and bonds,
K-1 forms for income from a partnership, small business, or trust,
1099-SSA form showing Social Security received,
Documentation of charitable donations.

Other great sources for documents you may need to prepare your taxes:
Tax Preparation Documents for Homeowners
Documents To Take To Your Accountant

Create A Reusable File System To Track And Maintain Tax Documents: Once you’ve gathered all your documents, create a simple filing system (it may only be two file folders or envelopes) that will allow you to repeat this process year-after-year (generally tax documentation requirements will be the same from year-to-year unless there are major life changes).

Envelope #1 Current Year Taxes: This envelope will contain a checklist of all the documents that were required to file the current years’ taxes, plus all backup documentation.

Envelope #2 Next Year Taxes: This envelope will contain the checklist of documents you need to gather for the next year’s tax cycle. Using this previously-created and tax preparer-approved form will make it easier to ensure you have all the documentation you need for simple tax preparation come year end.

I suggest using sturdy, plastic folders or envelopes for this purpose, that way you’re not replacing them every year. Plastic File Folders or Plastic Envelopes

Filing taxes isn’t always fun and rewarding, but the consequences of not filing (or not filing on time) can be expensive and stressful. Don’t procrastinate.

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

Looking for more information?

Click here to schedule a free coaching consultation.

National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals, Seattle Chapter Vice-President

Professional Resource Member