Your Life. Organized.

Pulling Weeds & Pulling Chaos

It's Independence Day weekend and our good friends are coming down from Virginia to spend the long holiday weekend with us at the mountain house. The house has been empty for a few weeks, so when Christmas Boy and I arrived on Tuesday evening, we found that weeds had begun to take over all the planting beds, the stone driveway and the pea gravel walkway. Ugh. It looked awful and confirmed for us that you really can't outrun Mother Nature. Bear in mind that when I come up to the mountains, the last thing I want to do is...

Quote of the Week: Earning

It's days before American Independence Day, and we are in the midst of the greatest erosion of liberty we've ever seen. Let us not forget the wisdom, courage, and unsurpassed commitment of our Founding Fathers. They earned, some of them with their lives, the freedoms we enjoy today. Let their vision and their efforts not be wasted in the name of "progress".

"We will receive not what we idly wish for but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service."

Earl Nightingale
1922-1989
        Author and Syndicated Radio Commentator

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Quote of the Week: The Moment

"I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness."

Abraham Maslow
1908-1970, Psychologist

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When Not To Be Perfect

I don't want to be a perfectionist but since I'm a first-born AND a Virgo, I'm pretty much hosed in that department. Yeah good luck with that. I tend to have very high standards for myself and I'm competitive, which I now realize is perfectionism. In a conversation this morning with a potential new Catalyst Organizing team member, I realized that overcoming my own perfectionism doesn't mean letting it go completely...

Quote of the Week: Helping Others

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day."

Sally Koch
Author

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The Check-Out Line: Keyfobber

Welcome to The Check-Out Line, where I review products (and services) that are designed to make your life easier. I give you my opinion and my opinion only. You decide for yourself. You can see my past product reviews here. This week, I'm reviewing the Keyfobber...

Immersed In Relaxation

 When did you last relax? I mean REALLY relax. Think of a time when there wasn't the distraction of television, you weren't on your computer, and had nobody demanding your time.  Your brain wasn't thinking of yesterday or tomorrow, or anything at all, except what you were doing (or not doing) right at that moment. How long ago was it? I hope it was within the past week, but if not, read on...

Win a Free ALL-ETT!

 Wanna win an ALL-ETT? (What's an ALL-ETT anyway?) It's a super cool wallet, but they're designed and constructed to eliminate the dreaded FWS. (Fat Wallet Syndrome). You know when you have a fat wallet in your back pocket, you can't really sit right and your back gets all messed up? And if you're a woman, you can't close a really fat, bulky wallet so it opens up and stuff falls out in your purse? Yeah it's a pain. With all the loyalty cards, credit cards, travel cards that people carry these days, FWS is on the rise.

However, thankfully you can cure FWS with one of the ALL-ETT products. See, ALL-ETT cures FWS because it's designed to spread the bulk of your contents across a larger surface area than a regular wallet. Also, it's made of super-thin but really strong rip-stop nylon (also called Spinnaker Cloth) so that helps it be ultra-thin too.

I recently received...

Quote of the Week: Logic VS Imagination

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Albert Einstein
1879-1955, Physicist

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I'm Indy-Bound For Beazer This Week

I'll be at the South Avalon Estates community in Fishers Indiana this WEDNESDAY June 10th -- the previous post indicated Tuesday, but that was a typo. Oopsy. So all you Indy folks come visit me on Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 5pm as I give away free copies of my book Organize Your Office In No Time, and discuss ways you can organize your life. Hope to see you then!

Indiana Wants Me...

Remember that old 70s song by R. Dean Taylor, "Indiana Wants Me"?

Well despite my non-fugitive status, apparently Indiana wants me anyway! Go figure.

Join me next Tuesday June 10th at 3pm for a Beazer Homes event at the South Avalon Estates community in Indianapolis. As always, I'll be giving away and signing books, there will be lots of great food, and I'll be doing a short program called Seven Steps to Simplify Your Life. So come on out and pay me a visit on Tuesday! See you then!

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Quote of the Week: Finding Kindness

Wrap your head around the Quote of the Week!

"The kinder and more thoughtful a person is, the more kindness they can find in other people."

Leo Tolstoy
1828-1910, Novelist and Philosopher

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"Humor Me" Tip #1

I'm starting a new feature called "Humor Me" Simplicity Tips. Here is HMS Tip #1: Get an extra hour of sleep every night for a week!

Sleep deprivation is one of the most common issues affecting society today. Somehow sleep -- an absolute necessity -- has earned second-class citizen status. Need more time to study? Stay up later. Need more time to work? Stay up later. Need more time to exercise? Get up earlier. Sleep has, for some people, become an annoying interruption to be avoided in the name of "productivity".

However, ample sleep is critical, so don't short yourself! Sleep allows your body to restore itself, While you sleep, your body is repairing cells and making new ones, digesting food, creating new neuropathways, processing new information, regulating blood sugar, hormones and chemicals, plus a host of other cool stuff! Sleep is also important for your mental health, creativity and decision-making. Getting too little sleep can cause you to be slower in all aspects of your life from decision-making skills to knowing what's important and remaining alert. Getting a little more sleep is also just a great way to force yourself to sloooow down the nutty pace of life.

So humor me. Just try it. If you routinely get six or fewer hours of sleep, force yourself to either go to bed earlier or get up later, so that you net just ONE extra hour of sleep every night for a week. Then let me know your results!

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Quote of the Week: Dreams

Wrap your head around the Quote of the Week!

"The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking."

Robert H. Schuller
Minister and Author

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If You're Free, Thank A Veteran Today

 It's Memorial Day. But what exactly are we remembering? In short... sacrifice. We're remembering those fine men and women who, for generations, have sacrificed many things for the sake of defending the interests of this great nation, both at home and abroad. These dedicated human beings have given their time, energy, and money doing a thankless job, missing holidays with their families for months and years on end, and some have made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives -- all in service to their country.

Today, thanks to the kind folks at Xerox, you can send a free thank you card to those serving in the United States military! Just go to the Let's Say Thanks website, choose the design you like, and Xerox will pay to have it written, addressed, and snail mailed to a service person somewhere in the world.

HOW COOL IS THAT?? Thank you so much to Xerox for doing this on behalf of me, Christmas Boy, and all our friends who have never served. And an even bigger THANK YOU to all United States military personnel, past and present, for your service to this great nation!

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Memorial Day Gratitude

This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and millions of Americans will be spending a few days relaxing by the pool, grilling out, and enjoying a three-day reprieve from work. Enjoy the holiday but please remember what it's all about.

Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember the tremendous sacrifices that generations of committed American servicemen and women have made over the years, in defense of this great nation.

To those who have served, or are presently serving, although words are not adequate to express my gratitude, I humbly offer you a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU.

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I'm Goin' Back To Cali...

Oh, I'm so gangsta, aren't I? Yeah, not really. But I AM heading back to Cali next week with Beazer Homes, so come out and see me! I'll be making appearances at two California communities, sharing info about how to get organized and answering your organizing questions, and showcasing all the cool SmartDesign organization features we're building into our new homes. On Wednesday the 27th I'll be at the Rolling Hills community from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Rolling Hills
28807 Morningside Lane
Menifee, CA 92584
RSVP to 866-780-4016

Then I'll be jumping on Southwest Airlines and heading up to Sacramento on Friday May 29th, I'll be at a community calling Reflections from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Reflections
3108 Mowbray Way
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
RSVP to 866-780-4050

For both events, I'll be signing and giving away copies of my book, Organize Your Office In No Time, and of course there will be great food (as always!) I hope you California cats will come see me!

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The Check-Out Line: Drop Stop

Welcome to The Check-Out Line, where I review products (and services) that are designed to make your life easier. I give you my opinion and my opinion only. You decide for yourself. You can see my past product reviews here. This week, I'm reviewing the Drop Stop...

Quote of the Week: Liberty

Wrap your head around the Quote of the Week! In honor of Memorial Day weekend in a few days, here is this week's quote:

"Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

~ Thomas Paine, American Founding Father,
Author and Patriot

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Give Your Brain a Break!

Doesn't your brain just want to explode some days? Between keeping your own schedule (and your kids' and your spouse's and maybe even your boss' too), remembering all your internet passwords, tracking tasks and projects at home and at work, and managing your home -- life can feel overwhelming. Your brain is an amazing little machine with unfathomable capabilities, but sometimes the poor thing just feels FULL! Give your precious brain a break by...