There are opportunities each day to choose success and positive outcomes. I just returned from the Institute for Challenging Disorganization’s (ICD) annual conference in Portland, Oregon. What an amazing time I had with learning, meeting with colleagues from around the world, exploring a new city, and taking a break from my normal routine! You may already have seen some photos and sharing about the trip from my recent tweets and Facebook posts. The learning that kept appearing for me this week was centered on having happy, successful and joyous days. I’ll share some highlights with you.

Face Fear

We’re all afraid of something. Fear is real, even if our fears aren’t based on anything concrete. Fear is real in our minds. One of my fears (that has actually happened on several occasions) is the fear of being locked out of my hotel room. Sometimes it’s been a glitch with the key card and other times it’s been about my door-opening challenge. I’m not great with keys, locks and doors. For this conference, I decided to try the hotel’s new technology. They had an option to get a digital key, which uses the hotel app on my iPhone to open the door. Needless to say, I was nervous each time I stood in front of my door thinking, “Is this going to work?” But consistently, it opened every time. I never tired of it working. Each time it opened, I smiled and felt giddy. I felt like the winner of a game. Facing my fear did wonders for increasing my daily happiness quotient.

Journey Together

One of my favorite speakers was Satwant Singh, nurse consultant from London, who spoke about reclaiming your life and space, especially when working with individuals with hoarding tendencies. He was a soulful, gifted speaker with a great sense of humor and humility who engaged the group through interactive exercises and discussions. One of the things he said that when working with his clients, he tells them, “We are on this journey together.”  I often express something similar when working with my organizing clients. We all have challenges. Knowing you have support along the way increases your daily successes.

Prioritize People

Another wonderful speaker was the energetic, vivacious, Ayla Lewis from Happy Brain Science, who presented a workshop on the science of being happy and productive at work. There were so many takeaways from her talk, but one that stood out was about choosing happiness by investing in relationships. One way to do that was through “active, constructive responding.”  I loved this concept she described as celebrating and savoring the good times with those around you. That includes something as simple as giving high fives for positive successes they’ve experienced or taking time to express that you heard them talk about a success they had. As she said, being there for your people during the “good times,” and not just the bad, has an even bigger impact on your relationships. Joining in their happiness increases yours.

Be Mindful

Mindfulness, the practice of stepping back and just noticing, was the “hot” topic that was mentioned in almost every conference session. Some of the speakers had us participate in some group mindfulness exercises. The mindfulness training benefits mentioned included decreased feelings of depression and anxiety, reduced stress, and improved executive function for aging and ADHD. One mindfulness exercise we did was the 18-second practice of focusing on your breath. Try it by breathing in for four counts, holding your breath for six counts, and exhaling for eight counts. Do you feel clearer, happier and ready to face what’s next? Taking time for breath awareness creates more successful choices and moments.

Social Support

We had a panel of aging experts, Barbara Cohen Grant, LCSW, Rick Steinberg, MD and Robert Winningham, Ph.D., talk about the physical, mental health, emotional and lifestyle change challenges facing adults with chronic disorganization as they progress into advanced age. They said that “social engagement and support is critical for well being,” especially with elders. The friends’ circle continues to decrease as grief and loss increase. The need for social engagement and support is essential.

Ban Should

The dynamic, knowledgeable speaker and mental health therapist, Kevin Ashworth, director of NW Anxiety Institute, spoke about the role mental illness in clients with disorganized lives. He shared a wealth of valuable quotes, statistics and insights. One in particular stood out. He said, “You cannot use the word ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ without feeling bad.”  What a powerful statement! How often do those words creep into your sentences? Developing an awareness and removing them from your conversations, seems like a guarantee for adding more happy, joy and success to each your day. 

Let Go

The engaging, comedy writer and producer, Rick Green, shared his personal story, experiences and knowledge about living with ADHD, a neurodevelopmental syndrome. He suggested a phrase that appeals to their emotions, which can help people let go of a physical possession. When someone is struggling to let go, he suggests saying, “Someone would love this.” It reframes the potential act of loss to one of giving. What a beautiful way to experience success.

We can look to many areas to increase our daily experiences of happiness, joy and success. I’ve shared a few that were inspired by last week’s travels. What resonates with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

The latest installment (v11) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my newest discoveries that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring enlisting help-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme. You’re a fantastically engaged group. I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced for you. What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? . . .

1. Interesting Read – Decision-Making Help

Living requires us to make millions of decisions. Are you overwhelmed by choice? If so, you’re not alone. Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice – Why More is Less, sheds light on how the abundance in our culture has made us become less satisfied and more stressed about our daily decisions. He says that while choice improves the quality of our lives, helps us control our future, and is essential to autonomy, the overload of choice comes at a price. Schwartz explains why this has happened and suggests ways to overcome it. He concludes with, “Choice within constraints, freedom within limits, is what enables [us] to imagine a host of marvelous possibilities.”

2. Interesting Study – Productivity Help

While traveling on one of my favorite airlines, Southwest, I read about an interesting piece in their onboard magazine. The University of British Columbia did a study where the results determined that desk clutter lowered your attention span. Interpreted another way, an organized desk increased your attention span by 167%. A different experiment concluded that study participants in a cluttered workspace took 10 percent longer to complete a quiz than the participants situated in a neat workspace.

3. Interesting Conference – Disorganization Help

The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD) will have its’ annual conference in Portland, Oregon, September 22-24, 2016. Organizers and related professionals will convene from all over the globe to learn about aging, ADHD, productivity, mental illness, hoarding, time management, and the latest research on chronic disorganization. I’m looking forward to attending and learning from the experts so that I can better help my clients. Are you going? I’d love to see you there!

4. Interesting Product – Paper Organizing Help

Have you noticed the adult coloring book craze? They are in bookstores, conferences, airports, hospitals and everywhere. They’re even on file folders. One of Smead’s clever new products is the coloring file folder, great for organizing your papers.  Available at myOrganized.life, you no longer need an excuse to doodle on your files. Get out your colored pencils and have fun while you’re organizing your paper piles.

5. Interesting Resource – Repair Help

I’m all for letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose, are beyond repair, or have overstayed their welcome. However, what about those finer shoes or handbags that could be repaired, but they sit around waiting for a way to get that done. Cobblerconcierge.com is a convenient service that meshes the skill and traditions of expert cobblers with the ease of using the Internet. The process is easy. Fill out an online form, receive a shipping box, and your shoes or handbags will be quickly refurbished and returned right back to your home.

6. Interesting Thought – Exclamatory Help

We all do it, don't we? Swearing that is. Especially when we need help, those expletives can arrive fast and furiously. However, they only go so far for handling a moment of frustration. If you’re struggling with overwhelm, with a challenge that seems unsolvable, or with figuring out how you’re going to move forward, it’s probably time to reach out for help. Be brave enough to ask.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What are your interesting finds? Do any of these resonate with you?  Come join the conversation!

When we need help, we don't always think about building a team. It’s more common to think that we can or should do everything ourselves. Maybe we consider enlisting help from one person, but a team? Not so much.

In the last few years, I've realized the importance of building teams that are invested in a single purpose. While we can accomplish a lot on our own, creating a team can greatly influence the outcome and experience in positive ways. Teams have many advantages that include reducing stress, boosting creativity, increasing fun and providing emotional support. The teams I focused on building in the last two years were Team Wilma and Team ICD.

Team Wilma

Wilma is my mom and has vascular dementia. She's always been fiercely independent, so the idea of enlisting help has never been one of her strengths. She was the person that helped others, which is something I admired and found inspiring.

At a point it became clear that I needed to gather a team of people, affectionately named, Team Wilma, to help us navigate life with the changes happening because of her illness. Keeping her safe, healthy, and happy have been our top priorities. Without family, friends, caregivers, medical professionals, and household vendors, this would be have been daunting to manage. I am so grateful for all the people that love my mom and are part of Team Wilma.

Team ICD

Building Team ICD was one of the first priorities when I became ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization) President in 2014. I knew that without our current, incoming Board and management team working together, we were going to have a difficult time accomplishing our many initiatives. We invested in getting to know each others' strengths, doing team building exercises, strengthening communication, and working towards shared goals to benefit ICD.

On July 1st, I handed the baton to Sue West, the current ICD President. I'll remain on the Board (team) for another year as Immediate Past President, but it will be Sue that will lead us. It was a wonderful feeling to pass on this strong, well-meshed team.

All teams require effort, patience, nurturing, and adjustments. Sometimes team members get added or subtracted. Each member adds value. The key is harnessing that value and making each member feel appreciated and essential.

As you think about getting organized, are you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated? Are you trying to do everything on your own? Maybe it's time to build your team...Team Organize! Who will be the fantastic members of your team? Will you enlist help from friends, family and professional organizers? Will you need donation resources or removal professionals? Will you enlist additional emotional support from a therapist or coach? Going it alone is possible, but building a team of people that are focused on a common goal to help you can make all the difference.

Who will you include on Team Organize? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

Isn’t time interesting in that we identify it using certain markers? Our markers can include annual traditions like the arrival of birthday cards or preparing supplies for the new school year. Time markers can be from big life events like births, graduations, or moves. Time markers can even include things like our daily wake-up alarms or buzzers ringing when the cookies are done baking.

One of the time markers that have delighted me for the past several years is the blooming of the hydrangeas. They are the visual punctuation, which lets me know that my special vacation at the beach with my girlfriends has arrived. It’s a time to relax, to reconnect, and to enjoy doing and not doing. It’s a time to have fun, to be silly, and also engage in reflective thoughts and conversations.

There are many different types of time markers and ways to honor or recognize the passage and meaning of time. There are also ways that we purposefully want to lose track of time like when we sleep or when we’re on vacation.

My husband recently shared with me an interesting tool from timeanddate.com that helps you measure time from when something happened to a certain date (like today.) I can see this being useful in many instances, especially because we often forget things like how long we’ve been married or lived in our homes or have been at a job or in business. I don’t know about you, but the longer I live, the harder it is to fathom how long I’ve been doing certain things. Using the tool, I confirmed that . . .

• 33 years and 10 days ago I was married
• 26 years, 1 month, and 28 days ago I became a mom
• 23 years, 5 months, and 28 days ago I launched Oh, So Organized!
• 1 year, 11 months, and 28 days ago I became President of ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization)
• 3 days from now I’ll become Immediate Past President of ICD

What I do know is that time goes all too quickly. It’s important to savor the moments, to celebrate the markers, to be mindful of the present. Before you know it days will pass, then years, then decades. Life is a wonderful journey with many bumps along the way. Enjoy the joys and the challenges.

What time markers have you noticed? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!