Your Life. Organized.

Quote of the Week: Warmth

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice."

 

Henry Ford

 

 

 

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When Just The Minimum Is Enough

Have you ever worked with someone who did just enough to get by, never exerting a smidge more effort than absolutely necessary and certainly never going that extra mile? I think we’ve all experienced a co-worker or two like this at one time and if you have an excellent work ethic, working alongside Mr. or Ms. Minimum can be frustrating. I’ve always secretly wanted to be one of those people who just didn’t care enough about my work to pursue excellence, but so far, it hasn’t happened. However, as I’ve gotten older (and I’d like to think, wiser) I find myself teaching clients and audiences that sometimes it is appropriate – heck, even desirable time – to just do the minimum.

 When I work with clients to create life management, organization, and productivity systems, it’s my goal to make them as simple, easy and low-maintenance as possible. The object of the game is to do only as much as absolutely necessary to achieve your preferred level of organization. If less really is more, then doing less is also more when it comes to keeping on top of routine tasks and workflow systems.

 If you can stay organized and on schedule using a simple paper calendar, why opt for an electronic calendar if it’s more complicated and takes you more time and mental energy to maintain? Why set up separate file folders for each family member’s birth records and passport when you could label ONE folder “Family Birth Records/Passports” and throw them all into one? There is such a thing as “over-organizing” and I’ve talked plenty of clients out of it over the years because I know choosing compex over simple for repeated tasks never works.

 So how do you know when you’re over-complicating things? Mentally walk all the way through using and maintaining your system, beginning to end. If your process or maintenance involves too many steps, chances are it will break down. Self-operating napkin, anyone??

The trick is to streamline each process as much as possible without losing the result you want. What you’re looking for is maximum results with minimum effort and when you’ve hit that balance in your process, it’s simple enough.

When mastering day-to-day home and office tasks, the faster and easier your systems are, the more likely you’ll use them and your life will run so much smoother. And when your life runs smoother in all the small ways, you have more time and mental energy to focus on big priorities that move you toward the life you really want.

 

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Quote of the Week: Shine!

   

"As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

Nelson Mandela

 

 

 

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The Power of White

White space. In the worlds of art and advertising, white space is key and can be the difference between a successful design and a failure. White (or negative) space is the backdrop which allows you to focus on whatever is in the foreground. Without white space, your eye struggles to find a resting place and the design is confusing and doesn’t “feel good.”  Skillful use of white space creates a feeling of simplicity, ease, and cleanliness that is appealing to the eye.

 

Google, the world’s most used search engine, uses white space wonderfully (and deliberately) on their home page to keep users coming back. The simplicity of the design is remarkable and there’s never any question about what to do when you get there. It’s just clean and easy, and who doesn’t want that in a web experience? Or ANY experience for that matter?

 

GoDaddy, on the other hand, has a home page that makes me want to run screaming into the night. There’s virtually no white space, and instead there are (literally) hundreds of possible action options. Before I get hate mail defending GoDaddy, please understand I have nothing against the company – they’re my domain registrar and I like them. They’re just one of a million companies whose website offers waaaaay too much information on the home page, which is overwhelming and confusing. One law of marketing is, “A confused mind always says NO” so in the case of GoDaddy, having LESS information and MORE white space on the home page would make the navigation experience not only easier but maybe enjoyable.

Perhaps no company in recent history uses white space so masterfully as Apple. Take their fantastic, “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” television campaign – it’s two guys on a white background with plenty of white space between them. There’s no confusion about where to look, what you’re seeing, or what their message is. Apple also uses white space in a powerful way in the design of their packaging and marketing materials, expressing their brand message brilliantly. To me, when I interact with Apple packaging, marketing, or advertising, the thought and feeling I get is, “Apple = simple.”

 Now that you understand white space from a design perspective, how can you can apply the concept to your home and work environments to create a whole new “feel”? Here are five easy ways to do it:

1. Remove a third (or more) of the books on your packed-to-the-gills bookshelves to open up empty areas. Group books in gatherings of 12 to 16 linear inches, allowing 12 inches of empty space alongside the group. Fill the empty space remaining on the shelf with a single item such as a vase, a small sculpture, or a framed photograph. Remember: A space doesn’t have to be FULL in order to not be empty.

 2. Remove a third of your knicky-knacky, tchotchke, dust-collecting items to open up some white space on walls, shelves, and flat surfaces. Reducing groupings to three items or fewer allows your eye to settle on each item rather than seeing the whole group as a unit.

3. Reduce large groupings of photos on walls or side tables to include only four or five frames per group. By adding white space to the group, each photo will stand out and be noticed because it has fewer photos to compete with.

 4. Clean out your closets. Removing unnecessary items (yes that includes clothing) from your closets will increase white space so you’ll be better able to see what you own. When your closet is packed tightly, it’s difficult to see what you already own, so it’s easy to re-buy things you already own.

5. Kitchens need white space too. If your cabinets are packed full, it’s hard to access what you need quickly and easily. How many coffee cups does one family use? How much plastic food storage can you possibly need? What about the stacks of disposable plastic gas-station cups you’ve collected? When you reduce the amount of items in each cabinet, you increase the white space, so you can SEE what you have, which makes it easier to find things and much faster and easier to put things away.

How will YOU add (or have already added) white space to your life either at home or at work?

 

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Quote of the Week: Love

"There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."

George Sand

 

 

 

 

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5 Ways Disorganization Wastes Your Money

It's no secret that disorganization and chaos cost you time, stress, and aggravation. Did you also know they can cost you MONEY too? Here are the top five ways you're losing money due to poor time management, procrastination and disorganization:

1. The OH CRAP Re-Buy
When you own something but you can't put your hands on it because it's "lost", you often give up and re-buy it. If it's a stapler, it's a pain in the behind, but hey it's only a few bucks. But if it's a power tool, a piece of jewelry, a mobile device or a piece of sports equipment, that could run you a few hundred or more. Oh crap!

2. The ARGGGH Late & Re-Start Fee
Paying bills late almost always incurs a late fee, and those folks like to make you feel sorry for what you did, so those fees are typically $15 and higher. Worse, if you neglect a utility bill long enough, they'll cut you off which means you'll pay a lovely fee to restart your services! Arggggh.

3. The HOLY COW Interest Rate
Everyone knows credit cards charge interest on your balance. That's how they make their money. If you're in the habit of paying credit card bills late (or not at all) you may get a surprise interest rate hike. I know people whose credit card interest rates have jumped to high double digits. Holy cow!

4. The OMG Last Minute Purchase
Buying items on sale and using coupons is a great way to make your dollar go farther. But in order to do it, you need to plan a little. When you let your stock of basic items dwindle to nothing, you're forced to buy what you need at the last minute, which means you'll pay whatever the retailer wants. You have no leverage. You can't wait for the item to go on sale because you need it TODAY and chances are you won't happen to have a coupon for that exact thing right now. So you end up paying retail simply because you didn't pay attention and buy before the last minute. OMG what a waste!

5. The DANGIT Wasted Food
Food is one of the largest expenses a family faces. If you keep your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry organized and you have a good rotation policy of using what you have, you can save a lot of money! But if you buy food and let it spoil in the fridge, let it languish in the freezer for years until it's unusable, or allow pantry goods to expire, you may as well just light your wallet on fire. Dangit!

There are other ways you're losing money through disorganization. What are they?

 

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Quote of the Week: Above and Beyond

"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction." 

Charles Kendall Adams 1835-1902,
Professor of History and Author

 

 

 

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Why It's Okay To Over-Buy

Clutter comes from many sources, one of which is over-buying. Whether you're the bargain-hunter who can't resist a sale on something she doesn't even need, the sport-shopper who utters the term "retail therapy" in everyday conversation, or the habitual shopper who buys out of boredom, you're OVER-BUYING. You've heard me say that buying things for your home (or office) that you don't really need is a dead-end road and one that will lead not only to clutter and stress, but debt too.

But what if there were an appropriate time to over-buy? What if you could indulge your coupon-loving, sale-finding mojo now and again and NOT feel guilty about it? You can!

It's perfectly okay to over-buy if the item in question meets the following criteria:

a) Either a regularly used consumable or food you can freeze AND

b) You have ample storage space

When I keep a good stock on hand, I find I'm never buying anything at the last minute, which means I can wait until things go on sale to purchase them. Here are some of the things I'm willing to stock up on at my house:
 
Freezable food
Canned/bottled food
Toiletries
Household paper goods
Printer ink
Printer paper
Batteries
Light bulbs
Household cleaners
Cat food and litter

What are some of your favorite things to stock up on? When you recognize the right circumstances, and when it's appropriate to over-buy and you'll be more prepared at home, save money, and even indulge your bargain-hunting pleasure now and again!

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