Author: pdd-dev

  • Perfectionism

    As I was working with several clients this past week, all busy moms, there seemed to be a common theme. PERFECTIONISM. It seems like a nice word. Even seems like something you want to strive for. But what I was finding amongst these busy women was that perfectionism equaled procrastination. Since it had happened to me also this week, I could completely identify with them. We want to do our best for our families and our business and our expectations of what ‘our best’ means may have just been out of line with the amount of time we could devote to these tasks this week. We wanted to:

    • Write hand written thank you notes to a few business colleagues who referred clients to us
    • Pick out the perfect thoughtful gift for a niece’s new baby
    • Go sale shopping at Toys R Us to stock up on toys for upcoming birthday parties

    But sometimes, in the interest of saving our sanity and staying on schedule, we need to understand that “imperfect is still…done”. I can’t take the credit for this quote. My client is the one who said it or something similar when we started talking about the issue that we were facing. Imperfect is still…done. I wouldn’t say that this can apply to everything in life. I certainly wouldn’t want the air traffic controllers to adopt this as a mantra. But, sometimes in life, with non-essential tasks, we need to give ourselves permission to:

    • Send a thank you email instead of a hand written note
    • Send a gift certificate to your niece so SHE can buy something nice for her new baby
    • Buy a stack of Toys R Us or Target gift cards in $15-20 values so you always have a ‘present’ on hand for those kids’ birthday parties

    I think that it is far more important to do these things in a timely manner then to do them ‘perfectly’. I would much rather receive a baby gift while I still have a baby then to receive the perfect baby blanket when my kid starts kindergarten. I would much rather receive a thank you note soon after an event or situation then to receive one and have to sit and think about why this person is sending me a thank you note.

    OK, so here is the new mantra: When it comes to non-essential tasks, imperfect is still….done! Take a look at your to-do lists this week and see where you have been striving for perfectionism and instead procrastinating and try out our new mantra.

  • Spring Clean Your Pantry

    The weather is getting warmer, finally! For me, that means that I can stop cooking soups and stews and all the comfort foods that I make all winter. But, that also means stocking my pantry and freezer in a different way and with different items. It is time for a pantry and freezer clean out! Here are four quick tips for clearing out and organizing your pantry and freezer:

    • Check Expiration Dates – trash all items that are past their expiration dates or use them quickly if their expiration is fast approaching.
    • Determine Your Seasonal Cooking Staples – (i.e. Beans, Oatmeal & Soups in the Winter; Cereal, Meats & Condiments for BBQs in the Summer)
    • Never Impulse Buy. Always Shop From a List. – This will prevent you from having items that you will never use and save you money!
    • Sort and Store Food by Category – Keep all the items for a specific category together (i.e. Italian, Mexican, Breakfast, Snacks). Keep bins with your kids lunch snack items for easy grab and go lunch packing.

    Hope your spring gets off to a wonderful start! Stay tuned for tips on Spring Cleaning your closet and garage!!

  • Emergency Preparedness

    So, the obsessive nesting phase that I went through while pregnant with my daughter (now 19 mos old) finally paid off. My husband thought that I was insane at the time (probably a fair assessment of someone 8 mos prego in July) for making an emergency kit in our basement complete with radio, batteries, flashlights, canned food and 15 gallon jugs of water. He has since come to appreciate me since last week we had a major water main break and 40,000 homes in our area went about 5 days without water.

    Luckily, I had my aforementioned 15 gallon jugs of drinking water in my basement and we used every last drop over those 5 days. Mother nature did her part in having provided us with several mounds of snow that had not yet melted so we could use that to fill our toilets. I had plenty of hand sanitizer and baby wipes for hand washing and ‘bathing’.

    We were caught up on laundry when it happened and I had plenty of food, paper plates and disposable silverware. So, even though it was a frustrating few days, we survived rather easily.

    So, even if you aren’t preparing for world war III, it really does make sense to put together an emergency kit for your family. It could be a water main break or power outage that last for a few days or something much more serious, but having a kit together will make your life much easier during an annoyance or possibly save it during a true disaster. Here is a link to an emergency preparedness checklist: https://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/. Also consider the things that YOUR family may need like: hand sanitizer, baby wipes, formula, paper plates & bowls, etc.

    So go out and make your family an emergency kit and NEVER again make fun of any pregnant women who are nesting! One of them could be your neighbor and you may need to borrow a jug of water some day.

  • Expectations

    There is a quote that I love that says, “Frustration is mismanaged expectations” and I couldn’t agree more. There are some many things in life that cause us frustration OR maybe we are causing others to be frustrated because we are setting their expectations too high. Have you ever:

    • told a friend that you would meet them at a restaurant at 7 p.m., only to show up at 7:15 p.m.
    • told your kids that dinner was going to be ready ‘in a minute’, only what you REALLY meant was 30 minutes
    • told a client that a project was only going to take 3 hours, only to have it take 6

    If you are guilty of any of the above, you have caused others in your world frustration. Expectations are a tricky thing because you don’t want to set them too low (especially in your career) because it could translate to less money, fewer promotions or maybe even fewer clients. But on the other hand, if you set the expectations too high and fail to deliver, you will really frustrate and anger coworkers and/or clients and probably lose work and clients.

    Managing expectations requires you to KNOW how long it takes you to do things. Which means, you need to have good time management. So, over the course of the next week take a look at your calendar and see how many times you were ‘on time’ for appointments or deadlines. Also, take a look at how many times the other people in your world were ‘on time’. Maybe there are places where you need to be more honest with yourself about the time it takes you to accomplish a task or arrive at a destination. Maybe you need to give yourself a few extra minutes to get out the door in the morning. Or maybe, you need to let your kids watch an episode of Backyardigans when you pick them up for daycare so that you can have an uninterrupted and stress-free 30 minutes to get dinner on the table!

  • When your schedule falls apart

    We have all had those days (or series of days) where nothing seems to go according to plan. Mine began this past friday morning when my 17 month old woke up with a fever and obviously felt terrible. Instead of me getting to the gym for my hour of Bodypump and going out to lunch with the kids and my in-laws, the kids and I spent all day sitting on the couch watching Nick Jr. Definitely not what I had planned! By the end of the day, my 3 year old was climbing the walls because he was tired of sitting around. My 17 month old still felt terrible and didn’t want to be set down. Here we are on Monday morning and things are starting to get back to normal, except that everything that I had on my agenda for Friday has gotten pushed to Monday and now there is twice the amount to get done.

    For whatever reason on any given day our schedules get derailed. It could have been a broken down car, an illness, traffic or the weather, but there are plenty things in our busy lives that can make our day fall apart. The key to getting through days like this is the remember:

    • Some things are just out of our control!
    • Don’t stress, most of the things on our to do list are not life and death items.
    • Tomorrow is a new day!

    From an organizational perspective, we now need to focus on what happens with today’s to do list when we get derailed.

    1. If there is something that ABSOLUTELY needs to get done today: delegate it or call in a favor to get it done. Have your neighbor give you a ride to the car repair place. Have a family member/friend watch the kids for an hour or two. Ask a co-worker, employee or even your boss to handle the situation. There is always a way to get something done if it really needs doing.
    2. Prepare yourself for a busy day when you are back in the swing.
    3. Reallocate some things on your to do list to other days so that you have a more reasonable amount of work to get done.

    The biggest thing to remember when you get a day (or two) like this is that, “this too shall pass”. It happens to everyone….even organizers!

  • Organizing Your Exit

    My cousin, Kevin, just received a new heart yesterday. He had been on the wait list for a heart donor for almost a year after having a massive heart attack. A selfless and courageous 23-year-old man (whom we don’t know) was tragically killed and donated his heart. This wonderful blessing for my cousin amid tragic circumstances for another family has led me to think about little talked about aspect of organizing: Organizing Your Exit.

    We are all going to die. No one likes to hear it, but the truth remains. We have little control over when we will exit, but what we can control is what happens to us after we die. If you have a spouse or kids or nieces or nephews or brothers or sisters, your exit could have not only an emotional impact, but a financial one, so being organized will help them tremendously. Plus, deciding what you want done with your body will take the burden of difficult decisions off your family and you may even be able to save a life, as in the case of the young man who donated his organs to my cousin.

    Here are some things you should have in writing:

    • A will
    • Advanced Directives – instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity.
    • Medical Power of Attorney – a legal document that designates an individual to make medical decisions for you in the event that you’re unable to do so.
    • A list of all your financial accounts and insurance policies with account numbers.
    • Your wishes for wakes, funeral services, memorials, cremations, burials.

    This may not be a glamorous organizing project, but it is a responsible and important one! Please take the time to get your ducks in a row.

    On a personal note, please consider becoming an organ donor!

  • Gifts

    As you have all probably experienced over the past month, gift giving can be a challenge if you are not organized. You may buy gifts on sale throughout the year and then not be able to find them when you need them or you forget to give the person the gift (I have received MANY gifts from my Mom YEARS after they were intended). Pre-buying gifts is only a good idea IF:

    • You are organized enough to remember that you bought it
    • You have a central location for all pre-bought gifts so you can find things easily
    • The gift could serve another purpose or be given to a different person

    I left a client’s house the other day and passed a Blockbuster store that was going out of business. I had a few extra minutes and decided to take a lap around to see what was on super-clearance. I ended up buying $20 worth of cool microwavable popcorn buckets and tons of movie candy that would have cost about $50-60 retail. This was a good purchase because I could make a little ‘movie night’ basket for a hostess gift, for the upcoming silent auction for my son’s school, or for a fun birthday present. Last night I received the email about the upcoming silent auction for my sons’ school (I am class mom) and we needed to let the coordinator know what our class would be donating by some date two weeks from now. I was able to immediately email back the theme of our classroom’s basket and in less than 3 minutes print out flyers to hand to the other kids in class to give everyone plenty of time to add their donations to the pot. That felt pretty cool!

  • New Year’s Resolutions

    We all have New year’s Resolutions, and mine is to start blogging a couple of times per week. My guess is that many of you think that since I am an organizer that I ALWAYS have it together. NOT TRUE! I am the working mother of two kids (1 and 3 years old) and just like many of you look like a duck paddling like crazy to stay above water. I am entering the most challenging quarter of the year…..tax season. With an accountant husband, I basically become a single parent for the next 3.5 months.

    So, I am going to blog about my successes and stumbles and what I learned from each in the hopes that it will help some of you too! Remember: Organizing is an evolutionary process. As your life changes, your systems often need to change with it.

  • Before/After Closet – 2008

    Here are some before and after pictures of a closet that we just renovated. This is what the client had to say:

    “Wow, what a difference! I worked until late last night getting everything organized, and it is working great!! I love it. I re-organized stuff I had in a dresser, and moved things to my new closet dressers, and it works so much better. And it looks so much better! I want to add a few more decorative items to it, just to jazz it up a bit, but the main organization is complete. Thank you so much!!”

     

  • New Closet

    Organize It has expanded its services. We are now offering closet, pantry, laundry room and garage remodeling! Here is our first closet remodel. It’s great to incorporate drawers and hanging space in a closet to eliminate the need for extra dressers in the room. We also added several smaller drawers for jewelry.