Goal nine: Photos – both printed and digital

So hopefully you read yesterday (or if you didn’t, go back and read it) and you’ve taken the initiative to work on organizing your computer files.  On my computer, the largest part of my harddrive is taken up by photos, so I wanted to spend a separate day talking about photo organization.  I’m sure many of you not only have digital photo files, but also envelope after envelope of printed photos as well.  You may have the intent of someday putting them in a scrapbook, or you may not be a “scrapper” like myself and just keep them “because”.  Either way, we’ll touch on print photo organizing as well.

Starting with those digital files – I encourage you to make a folder for each child, for your pets, if you have photos for work, make a work folder, scenery, spouse, vacations, whatever your major themes are for your photos.  Then, inside those folders you may want to do things a variety of ways.  You may want subtitles, or you may want dates.  Here are some examples of cases to use each.

For our house build pictures, I have a folder in “My Documents” called “New House”.  Inside that folder are many sub-folders for files to keep, specs, power points we put together, budget worksheets, etc.  In that folder there is also a sub-folder entitled “Pictures Along the Way”.  In there is where it gets intricate – but I can always find things easily.  I have a folder for each month of the process, starting with December through March.  (To keep these in order by date instead of alphabetically, which is the default, put a number in front of the title – December becomes 1December, 2January, 3February, 4March, and so on.  Otherwise when we get to April, it becomes first and January is after February, and it’s complicated to find things quickly.)  Then inside those folders I have a folder for each date labeled 1-2, 1-4, 1-5, 1-10, etc. By labeling the dates this way, the computer naturally knows to keep them in order for you.  This organization thing isn’t just about making more file folders, it’s about making your computer work for you and be more user-efficient.

For our vacation pictures, however, my approach is completely different.  This file is actually in the “My Pictures” folder, which I have arranged by year.  We don’t have any vacation pictures for the 2011 file yet (we’ll fix that next week… yay!!), so I’ll talk about the 2010 folder.   Inside that folder, I have a vacation folder, and in it, you open it up and the folders are titled by the location of the trip.  There’s a Utah folder, a Texas folder, and an Oklahoma folder.  Inside each of those there are a variety of subject titles.  Utah was only one trip, so the pictures just start right there when you click on it.  Texas has a variety of trips like “Mo Ranch”, “Christa’s Wedding” and “San Antonio”.  Inside San Antonio is “Sea World” and “The Alamo”.  Then click on those folders and they open to pictures.  It’s just a real quick way for me to look and say – yup that’s the trip I want.  So this is an example of subject-matter titling vs. using a date system. 

There are lots of ways to organize your digital pictures – but if you just have them in a single folder and they are all titled “DCM00991” or whatever you camera calls them automatically, you are going to have a hard time finding anything.  Take the time it takes to put them into folders.

Let me also “preach” for a moment about the importance of uploading your pictures instead of leaving them on your camera.  If you drop your camera, or it gets stolen, or you have good intentions but loose the memory stick/card, your memories are only in your photo bank in your brain because they are GONE forever.  If you’ve uploaded them to your computer, the chances of losing them are much less likely, especially if you take the next step.

Which is… burning a cd and/or uploading to an online data source.  Did you know that you can store your pictures for FREE on Walgreens and CVS’s photo sites?  You can also upload to Shutterfly and Picasa web albums.  These are all sites that you can send your friends to to view your photos, and they also keep a copy on their system, so if something happens to your computer, it’s backed up.  I also suggest burning a cd once you have several photos to save.  I like to put an entire year’s photos onto a cd.  2008 took a DVD because it included all of our wedding photos.  But, once I burned that dvd and put it into my dvd folder, I was able to delete those photos from my harddrive and make room for more!  2008 came off in January of 2010… I need to now go in and burn off 2009 and delete them.  I’m not getting rid of them, I’m moving them to another filing system, which I’ll get into another day. (Always something to organize! :)

Many people still keep printed photos, either for scrapbooking, or as I mentioned earlier, “just because”.  So if you are one of those people who has envelopes of pictures stashed in every drawer, I highly recommend a trip to Wal-Mart, Target, or my favorite – Hobby Lobby to buy a box.  They have lovely decorated boxes JUST FOR organizing pictures!  (Someone had a great idea and is now rich… wish I’d have thought of that!)  SO – get you a box, and get one that has little divider tabs that come with it.  Then sit down in front of your favorite re-run (not something you’ve never seen before so you can actually focus on your organizing) and organize.  You can do the same thing as with the computer files – a box for vacations, or a box for each kid for their birthdays, etc – arrange them how it works for you. 

Remember this blog isn’t about me telling you to do it my way, it’s about me encouraging you to find the way that works best for you!  Hopefully it will inspire you to “get er done” and start organizing those things that are cluttering up your world!  You GO GIRL!  You CAN DO IT!  You CAN BE ORGANIZED!!! :)

(This will be my last blog entry for just over a week while we are gone.  Look for the next blog edition on either the 5^th or the 6^th of April.  Thank you for reading!)

Goal eight: Your computer files

I’m inspired today to discuss organizing your computer files.  One of my pet peeves is full inboxes.  I believe in filing anything and everything.  My files have files.  My files’ files have files.  My files’ files’ files have files!  But by gosh by golly, I can find pretty much anything I’m looking for on my computer within seconds (if it cooperates and functions that quickly – arg!  Don’t get me started on computer speed.. that’s a whole ‘nother blog!)

I believe that success in your business lies in knowing where to find things.  Whether it’s being able to access a client file from two days ago, or two years ago, the key to accessing data is know where it’s stored.  Here’s how I do it – with an organized system of folders.

“My Documents” are organized into five folders – one for the house, one for Pampered Chef, one for the travel agency, one for old files that I’m keeping for some reason, and Program Files.  The only file not in a folder is this file into which I’m typing this rapidly growing collection of organizational thoughts.  Then inside those folders are more folders for organizing each thing into categories – for example inside my Pampered Chef folder there is a folder for specials.  Inside that folder are folders for each year I’ve been in business, with the pdf files for that year inside.  How easy is it then for me to go and look to see what the specials for a certain month have been in the past couple of years?  Great, right? 

Now, I’ve let my files just collect in “My Documents” for a while, waiting til the day that I would write about how to organize files so I could tell you how long it took.  I had around 50-60 files to sort into folders today.  It took me less than five minutes.  This IS something you can do!!

After you tackle your documents, check out your email box.  I need to create some more folders for my work inbox, but that’s work for another day.  When you sort your inbox, first go through and delete all the junk mail that doesn’t need to be piling up.  Then go through and figure out how you want to sort.  Do you need a “mom” file or a “hubby” file to keep emails from specific people?  Perhaps you want to sort by topic – work emails in one folder, emails about your kids in another, etc.  Doesn’t matter to me HOW you do it, but honestly, you will feel so much better when you do!!

Organizing music files can be much more difficult and challenging, and depends solely on what program you are using to listen to your music, so I won’t tackle that, but I will say that you should always remember – it’s easier to find things when they are organized.  Take the time it takes to do it right, and you won’t regret it!

We’ll talk about organizing pictures tomorrow.  Don’t you love spring cleaning and organizing?  Don’t you feel self-assured and awesome?  You should, because you rock!! ;)

Goal seven: Dress for success – even at home

You work from home.  So why does it matter what you wear?  And what the heck does that have to do with getting organized?  Let me answer those questions for you.

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a career professional out in the workplace every day, or run your own business (or two) from home, it matters how you dress every day.  I’m not talking about the day when you are sick and feel like crap.  OR maybe I am.  Here’s why – the amount of progress you make each day toward your goals is directly related to what you wear.  If you roll out of bed, take your shower, brush your hair, put on a little makeup (I usually just do powder), and put on a nice pair of pants and a cute shirt you will accomplish more that day than if you simply roll out of bed and sit down at your desk.  When you sit down to work still in your pjs, your mind and your body has not made the transition between bed-sleepy-dreamy-comfy thoughts and work-accomplish-organize-get finished thoughts. 

Have you ever noticed how even if you feel like crap if you get out of bed and take a nice hot shower you feel better (even if only somewhat)?  Sometimes it’s easy for us to “wallow” like that hippo in the mud that I mentioned yesterday, and then what happens?  We never get out of the mud.  And trust me, an eagle covered in mud is not going to be flying very far.  You’ve got to make it your goal to spend more days as the eagle soaring than as the hippo wallowing.  Take your day, feel like crap, wallow, and then the next day, get up and MAKE YOURSELF SOAR!

If you get up and dress for success every day, you WILL feel beautiful and you WILL accomplish.  Every client you talk to on the phone will get the impression that you are a self-confident person because even though you aren’t “Facetime”ing with every client, you know that you could because you are dressed for work.

I’m not saying wear heels and a dress around your house.  I am not advocating June Clever behavior.  That’s crazy and a waste of time to get that beautiful for your own mirror viewing.  However, if you wear cute capris and a more form-fitting tshirt and have even a little makeup on, you are in a better mood for accomplishing work than in your loose fitting pj pants and hubby’s tshirt.  You get where I’m going with this?

A career woman working in an office  wears slacks and a sweater in the winter and a cute skirt and blouse in the summer, or perhaps she even is required to wear a suit daily.  This is expected of her by the office setting she works in.  Hold yourself accountable to some kind of dress-code standard.  This will in turn help define your office hours vs your at home comfy hours.  Even on days where I’m not going anywhere and no one will see me, I dress nice during the day.  Then in the evening I put on the comfy pants and tshirt because I’m not at work.

I guarantee that if you make this shift in your behavior, it’s one simple thing that WILL help you be more organized and WILL help you accomplish more in your home and your home office.  It’s worked for me and I KNOW it will for you.

Goal six: Magazines and Newspapers… cut the clutter

Yesterday I was silent… mainly because I didn’t feel “worthy” of giving advice when I myself was being slovenly yesterday.  However, a friend shared a quote today that I feel is totally appropriate, and good for all of us to realize about ourselves: Carl Sandburg said, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.”  This is SO true.  As with my flexibility segment the other day, we all need to realize there will be days when we accomplish nothing.  And that’s ok.  Yesterday was my hippo day.  Monday was an eagle day… and today, well, we’ll see what it turns out to be later on.

As for now, though – how to get the clutter out of your life.  I subscribe to five or six magazines or maybe it’s seven.  Plus I get catalogs from countless stores.  They have a tendency to pile up.  And, at one point I had stacks and stacks of magazines simply because there was something in them that I wanted to keep.  That’s when I made a trip to Office Depot.  I bought a large binder and plastic sleeves.  And that day I did something that has revolutionized my life forever.

I started going through my magazines to see why I was keeping them.  Many times there was a recipe or self-help article that I thought would be convenient later.  Or, I’d kept a catalog because I wanted to find something similar for our new house.  SO I made sections in my binder – for recipes, for self-help, for gardening, and for things I wanted in the new house.  I even made a section for birthday and Christmas wishes.  Now when I get a magazine, I go through it immediately and rip out the things I want to keep.  They then go into the front of the binder, and every so often I take what’s in the front pocket and file it in sleeves behind the appropriate section.  Then, when I want those adorable Easter recipes I saved last spring, I know right where they are.  When we are ready to organize the kitchen, I know right where that picture is that shows how I want to arrange the pantry.

Now it’s easy to clean my desk and get rid of all that paper I don’t need and simply keep what I WILL use.  Then every three or four months I go through the entire binder and see what I think I’ll actually use, and throw away some more.  It’s a process of constantly re-evaluating.  Often some recipe that I thought I would like I’ve tried and it wasn’t our favorite, or we hated it…. So it goes in the oval file.  There is definitely no point in saving that much paper when I’m not going to use it.

Another idea instead of just tossing your magazines is to take them to a local school and donate them – you’d be amazed how many teachers are looking for magazines for craft projects and such.  (Before I donate mine I make sure I rip out any suggestive pictures or pictures of alcohol ads or tobacco ads.)  SO – someday when you feel like crap and you don’t feel like doing anything but reading a magazine, tackle that stack you’ve got tucked away… and then you’ll feel great when you are done because you’ll have tons of space for something else!!

Remember that it’s never a bad thing to keep things – it’s just a bad thing if you keep unnecessary things and in the process allow your life to get cluttered!  SO keep what you want and will use, and THROW AWAY THE REST!

Goal five: Grocery Store Pre-Planning... organize and save money in the process!

I love going to the grocery store.  I know some people may hate it, but I think part of what helps me enjoy the grocery store visit is that I do not live there.  It’s a once-a-week thing.  I do not go every day for this or that, and I don’t buy my recipe ingredients on the fly.  (Not criticizing those who do – or saying they are unorganized – my mom and lots of my good friends do their shopping this way…)  However, I find more enjoyment at the store and find that I save  more money when I plan and organize my shopping trips.

Here’s what I do:  (and the day of the week has changed – I used to shop on Monday morning but I find Friday is better for me because I do more cooking on the weekend and I don’t want my ingredients to have to hold that long).  On Thursday night I sit down and plan the meals for the next week.  I ask Cody what he’d like to have and he usually has a couple of suggestions of things we haven’t had in a while.  I write out a schedule of what meal we’ll have what night based on other plans, etc.  I usually always plan at least one night for leftovers.  We very rarely plan an eating out meal, although sometimes they happen spur of the moment b/c I don’t feel like cooking that night or we’ve gone out to the house and it’s just easier to grab something quick. 

After I plan what meals we’ll eat, I survey the ingredients available in the pantry and make my list based on just what we need.  OR, if we are out of staple ingredients such as sugar or ketchup I’ll put them on the list even though I might not plan to need them that week.  Here again I use a notepad from www.buttonedup.com – the Shopping Pad.  It organizes my groceries, discounted items, pharmacy, and other stuff (which I generally use for those items on the grocery side that aren’t groceries like laundry soap and paper towels).  I make my list on this pad and then I go through my coupons and see what items I have coupons for.  Occasionally going through the coupons will make me think of something I’ve forgotten to add to the list, but I generally DO NOT buy something just because I have a coupon.  We do not have unlimited storage space, and when I did this, I noticed I was actually spending more at the time simply because I had a coupon, but it wasn’t worth it if it wasn’t something we actually needed at the time.  (I know this goes against many of the couponing plans that some of you may follow… just telling you what works for me.)

So, then Friday morning I’m ready with list in hand and coupons clipped to the list to take my bags and head to the store.  I know every ingredient I’m going to need for the week, and I’ve checked the store specials to see if I want to make any of those specials part of a meal for the week.  My store also hangs coupons on certain items, so I make sure to check as I shop and see if another brand of the same item has a coupon.  I love HEB… I wish everyone could have an HEB store… part of why I save so much every week is because of their store coupons and meal deals… but, not everyone can have them, so I won’t dwell on this.  Another way that I usually save a lot is by buying the HEB brand of things.  I never really did this before – buying the store brand – except at Target I would buy some Market Pantry brand items.  But, I really like that most of the HEB brand products are made right here in Texas and that puts money not only back into our economy b/c I’m shopping there, but it also helps local businesses, which I like.  (And the products most times are better quality/flavor for less!)

Another key to saving is sticking to your list.  After you’ve spent time to carefully plan your list, don’t add a bunch of extra items just because you see them and they are on sale!  If it’s something that fits into your week, or an item that you forgot to write down, that’s understandable, but don’t excuse away every additional purchase.  Chances are those are items that either are not as healthy for you (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos out now… I need to buy some!)  or are items that you wouldn’t actually consume that week so they are just going to get old (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos now… I need to buy some when you have seven boxes of Girl Scout cookies at home!).

Some might wonder how does buying for the whole week actually save you money?  Here’s why – because you are only in the store ONCE during the week.  Not only do you save on gas to get there, but you also limit your chances of picking up those spur-of-the-moment items.  Also when you run by the store on your way home to grab the ingredients for dinner that night you haven’t had the opportunity to check your pantry and see what you already have on hand, so you end up buying items that you didn’t actually need.

Remember: I’m not saying you need to change your system just because I said so and it works for me… I’m saying this is what works for me and this is what helps me save money.  Every week I can buy the groceries for the entire week for three people, cooking approx 9 meals a week, plus our toiletry needs for right at $100 and my savings ALWAYS comes out to between $10 and $20.  (My shopping trip yesterday (couldn’t go Friday b/c of my schedule change… flexibility…;) for example:   I bought groceries for the week, a case of bottled water, two greeting cards, allergy eye drops, AA batteries, Benadryl itch cream, Glade fabric and air refresher, and hair de-tangler for a total of $98.30  - HEB brand savings of $5.06, on sale savings of $.82, and coupon savings of $6.93.  Total savings: $12.81.

I challenge you this – if you go to the grocery store more than once a week – add up your receipts and see how much you are actually spending in an average week.  Then do it my way for one week.  See how much you save, and let me know. :)

Goal four: Laundry dos and dont’s… and some other house cleaning tips and tricks

Ok if there’s one chore that has to be repeated more than any other and takes longer than any other, that’s got to be laundry.  It seems that as soon as it’s done, it’s needing to be done again.  It really piles up here – especially with all of the work Cody has been doing on the front yard at our new house.  And, I’m bad about if there’s any little thing on my clothes, I change.  SO, this creates the necessity to wash about every three days.  I’m sure that some of you with multiple children that feel like you never quit doing laundry.  I do not look forward to that part of having children!!!  BUT – it helps greatly if you have a system about your laundry.

Even if you are a totally un-organized person, I bet you have some sort of a system for your laundry.  Whether it’s how you actually go about cleaning it, or just how you fold it in your drawers.  I’m systematic with how I wash, but have NO rhyme or reason to my hanging clothes at all.  Some people sort by colors, some sort by sleeve length, some sort by fancy or relaxed.  I’m just lucky if I get them hung up when they are still warm so they don’t wrinkle.  I do have a sock drawer, and underwear goes in a certain place.  But my system isn’t so much with where they go as to the processing itself.

Whites wash first, then darks, then towels and underwear.  With very little exception.  I use stain remover (tide) with the whites and the towel/underwear loads, and let the darks fend for themselves against stains.  I try to start my laundry early in the morning, and attempt to listen to make sure as soon as one load stops the next load goes in.  In our new house I may need a baby monitor just for the laundry room so that I can hear when it’s done!  (b/c it’ll be away from my office and the kitchen – my two typical hang-outs for the day.)

One thing I do encourage you to do if you don’t already is WAIT to do your laundry.  I know that sounds contradictory to everything I’ve been saying… but here’s why.  Some of you wash just because you want the basket to be empty, but what you are doing is washing very small loads and wasting water as well as wearing down your appliances.  Wait until the basket is full.  As a kid, my mom had a basket for lights, darks, towels, underwear, and dad’s work uniforms.  She was blessed with a laundry room layout that worked well with that many baskets.  I’m not suggesting everyone do that – we can’t b/c we simply don’t have the space – BUT what I am saying is that the benefit of that is that you can see when one type of clothes has enough to make a load.  Set a specific day and do the loads that are full.  Plan ahead – if you are going to need a certain shirt or skirt or pants on a specific day, make sure it’s clean so you don’t panic.  But even if you have so many family members that you have to wash every other day, it’s better to spend a couple of hours dedicated to laundry completion every other day or every third day than to spend an hour every day on it.  It’s also easier to forget you have something done in the dryer if there’s nothing to follow that load……….

As for the house cleaning, this is something that I know some people enjoy, but many others like myself do not enjoy it in the least.  That’s why I built it in to my daily schedule.  I typically do a house cleaning chore as a break from work not because it’s fun, but because then I feel good about getting back to work because I know the cleaning it done.. and because work is usually more fun than cleaning!!!!  What I would encourage you to do is to divide up your week into the things that need to be repeated (ie: I have to sweep every other day b/c of the dog hair… they shed like CRAZY!!!),  what things only need to be done once a week – like cleaning the toilet, and what things only need to be done every other week – like mopping the kitchen floor. 

Then after you prioritize your cleaning, pick the one thing to be done that day that is your LEAST favorite thing to do, and do it first.  Then it’s DONE… and nothing else the rest of the day is going to be something you dislike quite as much as what’s already been done.  DO NOT put off til last the things you don’t like to do… because it becomes easier and easier to not to them at all… and then you have to play catch-up and it’s in far worse shape then, than if you’d just done it when it needed to be done in the first place!

Also – on laundry day, do yourself a favor and have the other household chores be light things like sweeping or dusting (if you do not yet have a Swiffer Duster Extender, you need to just clip the coupon and bite the bullet… you will thank yourself later.  It’s so easy to run the duster over everything and then just throw the allergens away!).  DO NOT plan to mop, clean the toilet, and do laundry all in the same day.  You will wear yourself out, dread the day, and find something to put off…. Just sayin….

So I guess the moral of today’s story is that I can’t begin to tell you how to organize your laundry.  You have to do what works for you.  BUT – you can make life easier by planning your schedule around your laundry chores!

Oh – gotta run – my washer is done and I gotta switch it over and start another load! :)

PAUSE: REALITY CHECK! - When life throws you curveballs

Ok, so I can give advice about what to do on a perfect day when everything goes as planned… but I also want to pause the “ideal” advice and give you some tips on how to handle days like today. 

I had PLANNED to go to the grocery store this morning and clean up the house before going to pick up Cody at the airport (this after changing the original plan that included him getting home last night…), but then that plan changed.  I need to meet the central vacuum installation guys out at the house at 9:30, and will probably go straight from there to pick up Cody, so I needed to for-go my morning workout to clean up around here.

The truth is – life throws you curveballs.  This is a small one.  Sometimes they are big ones like the illness of a family member or yourself or heaven forbid the death of a family member.. or there are even happy curveballs – like my friend Michelle faced last summer when her son’s baseball team made it to the Little League World Series and she had to change plans she’d made to make sure and be there to watch him.  There are births of babies and vacations… not every curveball is a bad one – if you know how to handle it.

SO you’ve started organizing your life, and setting up a schedule.  Then a curveball comes, and you have to handle it with grace and flexibility.  After all, that’s how we mother-types are supposed to be, right?  If there’s one thing I learned from teaching, it’s that ANY schedule can and WILL be broken.  Flexibility is the name of the game – as a teacher, as a wife, as a mom, as a business woman.

The challenge of being flexible with your schedule is figuring out what you can do later because you’ve got to do something different now.  If making the bed isn’t a big deal to you, there’s two minutes you’ve saved – go do something else that’s more important – or just pull up the covers instead of arranging the pillows.  If the laundry basket isn’t overflowing onto the floor, do it tomorrow.  BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Don’t put EVERYTHING off until tomorrow or your schedule will be blown.  Figure out the things that are least important, but do the big things!

For example, I HATE deep cleaning (I’ll get into that on another day), but I know the bathroom really needed cleaning, so when I first got up before I even got in the shower, I took the time to clean the countertop and Windex the mirror.  I’m not going to put off the things that I hate doing because then it’s easy to put them off every day and then they never get done.

Also – don’t put off new habits you are trying to start.  That’s why I’m here writing even though others might put it off til tomorrow.  I’ve tried blogging before unsuccessfully, and I know that if for one day I put it off until tomorrow, it will be easy for me to leave it behind.  That’s how I was when I first started working out, too.  I never missed a day because I wanted to start the habit, and I knew that if I didn’t, I never would keep it up.  Now if I miss a day here or there now and then it’s ok because I’m not breaking the habit – I’m still going to go back and work out because I love it.  I love how I feel when I’m done, and I love the friends I’ve made while I’m there.  I also love the results I’m seeing.

SO – when you need to be flexible, figure out what you can be flexible with.  Prioritize.  And then the very next day, GET BACK TO YOUR SCHEDULE.  Try not to let two days go together without your schedule.  Even if, like today, it’s Friday.  Have a weekend routine, and jump right into it tomorrow.  Then Monday you are back on a week-day schedule.  If there are things you have to put off one day, then try your very best to do them the next day so that they don’t go without being done forever.

When you get sick, it’s hard to do this because you are feeling like crap and can’t do anything.  But you can do some things.  Do what you can.  If you are stuck in bed, use that time to clean up your computer files (a later blog), or go through your magazines and newspapers and clean them up (also a later blog).  If you don’t have a spouse or significant other to help pick up the slack while you are sick, make to do lists for when you are better.  Just remember – a long list is NOT the way to accomplish things.  Prioritize by day for a week after you are well, and divide up the chores throughout that week.  When you are getting over being sick is NOT when you need to fly in and fix the world, although it’s easy to feel that way – esp if you’ve been down and out for a while.  Your ME time is more important than ever when you’ve been sick.  This is the thing I often forget, and then I end up being sick again because I’ve worked too hard and worn myself out.  In your week after an illness, schedule more breaks and drink more water, and instead of three things in each section on your Nothing Else Pad, MAKE YOURSELF only plan one or two.  Trust me, you will feel better about yourself at the end of the day because you will have had the energy to complete the list rather than being exhausted and having to move things to the next day!

While the name of the game is organization, and a key to that is your daily schedule, don’t forget that in order to be truly successful, you HAVE to be flexible.  You have to be able to take the curveballs that life throws you and turn them into a home run.  It’s NOT always easy – especially when those curveballs are negative ones.  But you can also figure out who you can lean on in those times – whether your spouse, significant other, or even just a really good friend.  Then when you get through those times, pick back up and carry on.  You’ll be a stronger, more self-confident person when you do.

You CAN do it.  You CAN be organized AND flexible.  Do you believe in you?  I do! 

Goal three: Set a schedule for yourself

Before I start into setting a schedule - I'm so glad to see the comments on the past entries... and to know that I'm inspiring some of you to get organized!  Spring is the best time to do this!! :)  As you organize yourself, please share what works for you because what works for me is not what's going to work for everyone and additional opinions are AWESOME!!!

Setting a schedule:

So, the biggest thing I struggled with when I started just working from home here in San Antonio was that I could never remember what I needed to do next, and I found myself heading off to go shopping or constantly going out to lunch with friends.  Then, instead of making money and being productive, I was spending it… like crazy.

One thing I realized about when I was teaching was that I loved the daily routine.  I had a schedule, and we very rarely strayed from it because kids need structure and routine.  Well, actually, we all do.  Think about your daily life.  Do you have a set routine that you follow?  If you do, you probably get a lot more accomplished in your day than if you are someone who flits from activity to activity.  I know, because I see the difference in my productivity… and also in my income!

It’s no secret that when you offer good customer service, you keep your customers happy and they in turn share your company information with their friends.  Here’s how this has worked for me – I set a schedule for my day.  It’s not written down anywhere, but it started out that way.  Until you make it a habit, a post-it note (I love them!!!) with a run-down of what needs to be accomplished at what time, or in what order is a great friend and helper.

Your routine is not my routine, my routine is not your routine.  I’m NOT saying do what I do… because it wouldn’t work for everyone.  BUT – here’s an example of my day… and what I believe helps me to be more successful in business and in life!

I get up and go workout first thing (Curves is amazing for you girls who thought you’d never go work out – try it… I love it… and it really boosts my energy level for the day!) unless I feel bad but usually, I’m there.  Then when I get home, I check Facebook, make the bed, then hop in the shower.  Then the first thing I do is I go and clean up the kitchen.  (Some people prefer to do this at night, but I have very little energy at night, and usually we make more dishes than one load in the dishwasher so it needs to be unloaded and re-loaded in the morning.)  Then I fix my bowl of cereal and sit down to work on whatever needs to be done for work.  Some days I have tasks for Pampered Chef and for the travel agency.  I prioritize the travel agency work to get done first.  Then, I usually take a break around 10:30 or so and do my household chores.  If I’m doing laundry that day, I try my best to keep it going (see laundry tips tomorrow!) so it’s completely done by the time I’m done with my work and I can get it put away pronto.  Today my household chore is a big one – I’ve got to sort through my box of Spring and Summer clothes and figure out what I need to wash when I do laundry tomorrow.  So, I’ll probably do some of it around 10:30, and then some later after lunch.  Then I hop back in and get the rest of my work to-do list done around 11 until noonish and then I take my lunch and finish up my household chores.  This typically leaves the afternoon for me time!  That’s right – by 3:00 I’m done.  Sometimes this changes if I have quotes to get out to a travel client, but everything from my Nothing Else pad should be done by 3:30, and I plan my attack on the next day.

It’s important to plan breaks into your schedule.  When you are first figuring out what works for you, write “BREAK” on your post-it note.  During this time go to the bathroom and get a drink of water.  Think about when you were in school – your class probably had set times for bathroom and drink breaks.  Don’t deprive yourself of that!  Otherwise you’ll get wrapped up in your work and end up dehydrated or with an upset stomach.  Also take time for a snack in the afternoon – it keeps your brain going and your metabolism working – esp if you work in an office and HAVE to be at work until 5. 

If you are working away from home, then it’s very important that you make a schedule for your time at home so that you accomplish the most possible each day – including your ME time.  Never forget how important it is to take time to do something you want to do!  On Monday nights your ME time might be an hour long while you watch Castle, or you might even allow it to stretch for American Idol nights to two hours every now and then.  I do suggest that if you like several shows on the same night (like Dancing with the Stars and Castle on Monday nights... GUILTY! ;), instead of making the whole night ME time and not accomplishing anything, hit record on the dvr and tell yourself that show doesn’t come on until the next night.  Each evening you are home you need to accomplish housework, and probably plan on cooking dinner (I'll give you kitchen and cooking planning tips later).  You might even have kids to help with homework.  If you do have a spouse and/or kids, talk to them about setting a schedule, and figure out what works best for your family.  Because if you do have a family, you not only need to schedule ME time each night, but you also need WE time.  I might just be that your WE time is during dinner.  Or it could be that WE time is as soon as the kids get home from school before soccer practice when you sit down at the table and help them with their homework.

I’ll go into setting up a family calendar later, but that can also be very helpful in setting routine.  Because routine with a family doesn’t mean doing the same thing at the same time everyday, it might mean doing the same thing every Monday because it’s Monday, but Tuesday is different, etc…

Best thing tho is just to figure out what works for you and stick with it.  I guarantee that if you set a schedule and stick with it, you will definitely be more productive and feel better about yourself!!  (Just remember – always make time for ME time!! (and WE time!))

Goal two: Clean up your personal space (even if it takes a whole day!)

The best way to feel good about your life is with a clean desk.  Whether you work in an office or from home, you need a neat space to work in.  Otherwise, you’ll find yourself shutting the door or searching aimlessly for important papers because they have disappeared.

I realize that for some people this may take a whole day because you may have forgotten what your desk actually looks like.  Is it wood?  Does it have a glass top?  Is it painted?  You probably don’t even remember because it’s been covered for so long.  I have been there!  This was especially a problem for me when I was teaching.

So how do you begin organizing your desk?  It’s easy to think that file trays will be the answer to your problem.  Or perhaps you just need more drawer space so you can dump the junk there.  Or maybe you need to box it up and put it in the closet.  NO.  THESE ARE NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER!

Your answer: 1.  Get a trash can and/or a paper shredder.  2.  Get a comfy chair.  3.  Turn on some great music that you really enjoy.  4.  Start reading.

That’s right – read every paper on your desk.  Then sort it into piles – many papers will go straight into the trash.  The rest might go into a “client” or “customer” pile or perhaps a “kid artwork” pile.  Make however many piles you need to make to sort the items by relevancy.  THEN, go through and decide how important each paper is in each pile.  You’ll probably find some more things that need to be trashed.

After you’ve gone through the papers, clear off the knick-knacks.  You need one cup for pens and pencils, scissors, and other up-right supplies.  You might need a jar for paperclips (if you don’t have a drawer with space for these).  You might need a calendar.  Other than that, clear it off.  If you are in a cubicle and don’t have anywhere else to display a family picture, then one frame on your desk is good.  (You can always pin or tape up pictures and posters on the walls of your office space to make it more inviting and indicative of who you are and who you love… but keep the desktop space clear.)

Right now we’re in a very, very small space and it’s taught me a LOT about being organized.  My desk is currently Daisy’s dog crate covered in a nice throw blanket.  We put a hard piece of foam board between the top of the crate and the blanket for stability.  If anyone can tell you the importance of keeping a clean desk, it’s me!  SO – whether your desk is large or small, keep it clear of the clutter. 

If you need a space to toss “junk” that you don’t know what to do with, get a basket for that.  I made a mistake in our old house of having a junk closet.  Some people have junk rooms.  Now that I don’t have that option and I only have a junk basket, I’m determined to keep it that way.  KEEP OUT THE CLUTTER!!!  (I’ll have tips and tricks regarding magazines and newspapers in a later entry).

With Spring Break here, use your time to do some “spring cleaning” and to organize your life… you will feel SO good about yourself when you walk into your office and see a clean desk!!

Then, once you get it neat and organized – keep it that way.  It’s hard because day-to-day life enters in… trust me, I know.  It’s easy to let the stacks get piled up.  SO – set aside one morning each week to go through your pile on your desk.  If you keep it cleaned up regularly, you are less likely to lose something important, and you’ll get that great sense of satisfaction when you finish!! :)  You CAN do it!

Tips and Tricks on Getting Organized (and staying that way!)

Every so often I post on Facebook all the things that I’ve accomplished for the day.  Inevitably, someone will say “I wish I was that organized” or “I wish I had time to get all that done”.  I don’t get everything done because I’m some Samantha who twitches her nose, or Jeannie who bobs her head.  It’s certainly not because I have tons of free-time on my hands or work from home. 

(Side note – whenever someone says that they work from home, don’t think that they sit around in their pjs all day drinking hot tea and watching the soaps.  Well, maybe some do, but in order to run two successful businesses AND keep your house in order and not lose your sanity, that’s just not gonna happen…sorry pjs!)

The reason that I get things done and have time to do fun stuff is because I finally learned to follow some of my mom’s best advice – do your work first and then you’ll have time to play.  Along the way, I’ve also learned a few tips and tricks of my own that can only be taught at the school of “Hard Knocks”.  So, my goal with this blog is to share those tips and tricks with others, and to hopefully someday have enough of a following to be able to answer questions and to give advice on getting organized (and staying that way!)

So for those who don’t know me, let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I’m a wife and “mother” to two wonderful Border Collies.  (No, we don’t have kids –yet- but that does NOT mean that what I have to say here doesn’t equally apply to moms with kids, and that these things aren’t possible with kids.  Because THEY ARE.)  We live in San Antonio, TX and are currently building a house and staying with a family friend while it’s being built.  (This will enter into lots of my entries!)  I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, I’m a former teacher, and I currently run two businesses from my home – I am a travel agent, and I sell Pampered Chef products.

GOAL NUMBER ONE:  Realize that it’s not so much about how MUCH you get done as that you finished what you HAD to finish.

Ok, so every day you wake up and you can make a decision about your day.  Whether it’s a good day or a bad day.  Whether you are going to smile and be successful or frown and get nothing done.  Let me tell you about a little website that I love – it’s called Buttoned Up.  (www.getbuttonedup.com)  I have several of their products and today I’m going to tell you how their Nothing Else Pad has helped me achieve organizational freedom.  (And no, they aren’t paying me for this advertising!) 

The Nothing Else Pad starts with something simple – the date goes at the top of the page.  Then it has sets of three bullet or “button” points for each of six sections.  These sections include: “If I get NOTHING else done today, I must…”, “If I call NO ONE else today, I must call…”,  “If I email NO ONE else today, I must email…”, “If I do nothing else at work today,  I must…”,  “If I do nothing else at home today, I must….”, and “Someone else is counting on me to do this today…”

Organization does NOT happen overnight, but this little pad will help you.  I fill mine out the day before.  When I think of something that I need to do such as run an errand or call a specific person, I add it to the next day’s sheet.  By the end of the day, I have the next day planned.  You can start at the top of your sheet, at the bottom, or in the middle, but by setting three simple goals in each of these sections, you are setting yourself up for success.

Each day shouldn’t be about running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to accomplish everything you possibly can.  You need ME time.  That’s the time when you can sit back and do whatever you want.  If it’s read a book, then read.  If it’s work a logic puzzle, work a puzzle.  If it’s Facebook, then Facebook.  You will NOT be happy with your life if you are constantly running a rat race and feeling like you can’t accomplish everything.  You also won’t feel satisfied if you shuck it all and accomplish nothing because there was just too much on the list to even get started.

The best thing about the Nothing Else Pad is that it’s TRULY OK if you get NOTHING ELSE done all day!  Realizing this was FREEING for me.  I wish that I had discovered this while I was teaching.  It would have revolutionized my life so much sooner!!

Another great thing about the Nothing Else Pad is that it’s red.  It’s gonna sit there on your desk and bug you until you’ve done everything on it.  Then, you THROW IT AWAY!  That page goes in the trash.  If you’ve had a rough day, tear it into bits, shred it in your shredder, or perhaps you like to look back and see all you’ve accomplished and you’d rather keep it as a shrine to your former self and how great you are now. 

It’s helped me to realize that it’s really true – Rome was NOT built in a day: The house was not cleaned in a day.  The room was not organized in a day.  The bathroom was not cleaned in a day.  The kitchen was not organized in a day.  Clients were not called in a day.  Quotes were not researched and sent out in a day.  Cooking shows were not planned in a day.  Because, honey, that’s simply too much to do in one day!!!!!!!!!!  But if I put simple things on my Nothing Else Pad like “dust”, “sweep”, and “clean toilets”, then those three household chores can get done today!  I’ll save “laundry”, “clean shower,” and “vacuum” for tomorrow!

So – take some stress off and prioritize your life.  It truly will revolutionize your life, and you’ll start finding time to “stop and smell the roses” and life really will start looking up.  I promise.