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Upcoming Classes
Get help getting organized with others in the same situation! Upcoming classes I will be teaching in the next month are:
ORGANIZE YOUR OFFICE
1 session
Wednesday, 2/24
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Sandwich, MA
TIME MANAGEMENT
DURING THE JOB SEARCH
1 session
Thursday, March 11
WIND South
Trinity Episcopal Church, Canton, MA
11 am - noon
(event starts at 9 am)
CLUTTER CONTROL AT HOME
1 session
Monday, 3/15
6:00 - 8:00 pm
TIME MANAGEMENT
2 sessions, Wednesdays,
3/22-3/29
6:30 - 8:30 pm
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| Dear ,
Happy Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, and Chinese New Year! With Winter weather continuing on, we're all spending more time indoors and probably noticing how crowded and uncomfortable it can feel when things are not well organized. Take some time each day as you watch the Olympics to sort through just one pile, one drawer, one page of your "To Do" list. Then give yourself a gold medal (or a pat on the back) for every one you complete. Now's a great time to catch up, or get started getting better organized. Hopefully the tips below will help. Enjoy your holidays!
- Maryann
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Backsliding is Normal!
Have you ever taken a class in Organizing or Time Management, gotten some great ideas that you tried out (and they worked!), but then found yourself months later slipping back into old habits and forgetting almost everything you learned?
This is not uncommon. Learning new skills and patterns of behavior takes time, and without ongoing support, it's easy to fall back into our old familiar ways. After all, if you've been doing things one way for 35 years, and you took a class or got some help for a few hours, there's a good chance you may forget some of the things you learned a few months later.
But all is not lost. Here are some ways to reduce the amount of backsliding, and to get back on track when you slide a little off:
- The day after you take a class or have an organizing consultation, review your notes and make a few more notes of how you plan to implement what you learned. Review them again a week later. This simple kind of review doesn't take a lot of time, but has been shown to improve memory and retention for months afterward.
- Sign up for ongoing tips or reminders (like this newsletter) to keep the ideas fresh in your mind each month.
- Remember that you haven't really lost all you've learned. If the new systems were starting to work, just go back and start using them again! The hard part is often figuring out a good set of systems. Getting in the habit of using them just takes time and practice.
- Be prepared for possible backsliding during periods of additional stress or change (health problems, change in a work or family situation, remodeling, etc.). During these times it may be harder to focus on newer strategies, and we tend to fall back on our old ways of doing things. Try to maintain the progress you've made, and maybe get some extra help during this time.
- Reduce the risk of backsliding in the future by scheduling a check-in session 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after any organizing or time management improvement. Put it on your calendar. Checking in on a regular basis will help you keep on track or get back on track before you get too far off.
- Don't be embarassed about asking for help! A good Professional Organizer will understand that backsliding happens, and will be happy to help you get back on track.
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Create a Household Resource Binder!
Where do you keep the info on your plumber, piano tuner, and lawn service? Are the menus for your local take-out places "somewhere on the counter"? Can you easily find the dates of the family birthdays and anniversaries coming up next month?
A lot of the household info we need to run our homes ends up in "miscellaneous" piles or separate rooms all over the house. Finding tickets or invitations to an event as you're going out the door can often be a challenge. One solution to this problem is a centrally-located Household Resource Binder where all this kind of information is kept by category.
My binder includes sections for:
- Birthdays/anniversaries -
- A one-page list or a calendar showing family & friend birthdays & anniversaries by month
- One page for gift ideas, clothing sizes, favorite colors, etc. as I think of or notice them,
- Another page to list gifts already procured in advance by person so you don't forget and get more than you need
Upcoming Events
- Tickets for concerts, sporting events, etc.
- Flyers about upcoming events we're planning to attend
- Season schedules for theatre, games, etc.
- A list of movies we want to rent
Household Resources section
- Business cards for the plumber, electrician, tree service, etc.
- Information about our local transfer station's schedule
- Newspaper delivery info (delivery person's name & phone, phone number to call for vacation holds, etc.)
- Neighbors' info (names, phone #s)
Emergency Info
- CPR instructions
- Hurricane preparedness info
- Hospital locations
Plant Care instructions
I have a separate binder for take-out menus, but you might want to include that in your main binder as well.
For many of these pages, plastic sleeves are easy to slide pages into, OR you may want to keep a paper punch next to the binder for easy insertion. For the local resource section, since a lot of this information comes in the mail or on business cards, I recommend using a plastic business-card holder. That way, you can just slide the card in instead of having to re-write it all. When they update their cards, you just replace the card in your binder.
Your binder might have some different categories, but the point is to provide one "Command Center" for the house where all those little pieces of information you don't use everyday, but you need quick access to, can live and be found easily.
Try creating your own binder for your home or family, and let me know what categories you find most useful, and how it works! | |
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Please call me if you need additional help organizing your home, your office, or your schedule. I can come to your home or office and help you there, or do coaching by phone.
I also conduct trainings and do public speaking for corporations and community groups on Organizing, Time Management and Public Speaking.
My business relies on referrals, so please forward this to anyone you think might benefit from it. Thanks! |
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Sincerely,
Maryann Murphy, MSW
Professional Organizer, Speaker, Trainer
(508) 292-6706
Director of Professional Development, NAPO-NE
Chronic Disorganization Specialist, NSGCD
Area Governor,Toastmasters International Area F2, District 31
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