Sunday, April 29

Recent Victories from our Group Members





Online Coaching Feedback—Tips and Victories

4/30/07 from Megan:
I started with one corner of my living room--it had become cluttered with random stuff, including a stuffed 'Chick-fil-a' cow! I started with that one corner...and was inspired enough to keep going. I moved into my office...and became wary. I started with one corner there (the tax box corner). My desk is still a mess, but one corner is actually clean, so it's a start!

4/28/07 from Karen:

Today I planned to remove non-essential items belonging to me from our shared home office. Even before I started, my Broker announced that he would be willing to work on streamlining papers for a little while this evening. When he came back later to the home office, I had cleared out my items and he declared, "Well, it looks better already." My heart dropped for a second, thinking that there would be no more clean-up today. Thankfully, he sat down and started trashing non-essential papers. It ain't perfect, but it's a whole lot better now. The best part is--I didn't mention my plans to my Broker and he worked on it of his own accord. I've included some before and after photos.

4/26/07 from Catherine:

"I got the desk done, along with other stuff and I put everything that should be on the baker's rack, there ...I have decided that only dog food (???), gardening stuff and chicken decorations can be there... I think that I have developed adult-onset ADHD...I go from one thing to another, but somehow it still works for me."

4/26/07 from Leslie:

I have three areas that are really messy in my house right now. My bedroom, my hobby room, and my desk. Today I started with the desk.

I picked the top of a pull out surface on my desk to clear off. It was probably 12 inches high with paper. I have to say that I dealt with 90% of it and then got frustrated and shoved a few papers to another spot that will need cleaning up soon for me to get the desk area dealt with. I'm sure that's cheating but the spot that's clean looks beautiful and will really encourage me to get to the other areas .

Wednesday, April 25

Initial Message for On-line Group Coaching for Organization-April 25, 2007




If you’ve only got 60 seconds to read this: Scroll down to the last section, “Big Bites and Little Bites.” When you have more time, read the rest.

On-line coaching: For the next 4-6 weeks we’ll share an on-line journey into conquering a few key messy spots in our living spaces. This on-line group coaching will apply to any area you’d like to tame in your home or office. Coaching will be conducted via email and/or visits to Karen’s blogs (web logs), and you will also be free to share your tips and victories with the other members. At the end of our journey, one member of our group will receive an in-home coaching session with Karen & Georgia.

How it works: You'll receive Karen’s email “invitations” from Google and Yahoo to view Karen’s blogs, which you may choose to reply to. However, if you’d rather not view the blogs, or if it’s too much trouble to follow the registration steps in order to view the blogs, you will still continue to receive all of the content via regular emails from Karen and Georgia.

We're not just organizing our lives so we can feel better about ourselves. We get things in order so we can be freed up to better serve God and others whenever an opportunity arises. If you've made a meal in advance and it's waiting in your freezer, you’re less likely to be immobilized by overwhelming thoughts which might keep you from taking dinner to someone on the spur-of-the-moment. God doesn't want us to waste our lives. Instead, He wants us to use every minute to the fullest because each minute is a gift from Him. Working ahead allows you to meet future needs and love others in the name of Christ.

Philosophy: Most of us are messy in at least one living space. It might be the side pocket of our cars, one desk drawer at work or our whole house. Messy matters if it’s interfering with our lives, either by distracting us or by slowing us down. Alphabetizing our spices isn’t a priority if we mainly season with salt and pepper.

Some of us organize beyond the norm because it relaxes us and gives us that sweet feeling of control. When our friends or co-workers let us down we can always close the bathroom door and line up our nail polish bottles like the colors of the rainbow. However, our on-line group will concentrate on functional, not emotional, organizing.


What we’ll cover:

Overview—Is it a “little bad” or “really bad”?
Review—What’s calling for help the loudest?
Get a Grip—Mini habits you can follow to keep your stuff manageable.
Analyze—How did it get this way?
Necessary Things—Before you head to the store for more storage bins, declutter.
Ideas—Thrifty ways to keep your stuff in place.
Zoom—The 60 second test of organizing.
Express Yourself—Design your own Master File.

Big Bites and Little Bites: For today, choose a Big Bite or a Little Bite to begin conquering disorganization:

Big Bite: Determine three areas in your home or office that are driving you crazy and write them down.

For me they are: 1) kitchen counter with stacked papers, 2) laundry room which everyone walks through when they enter the house and 3) the home office which I share with my Broker.

Little Bite: Take 5-10 minutes max and choose ONE area and complete ONE task which declutters the area, then write Karen to tell the group what you did TODAY.

To help conquer my areas I might choose to do: 1) Kitchen—put my business papers in the files I’ve already created, 2) Laundry room—take the heavy coats off the laundry rod and put them in the closet (it is 80 degrees outside!) or 3) Home office: Take out the items which are not related to business (see photos) and put them on the kitchen table so I can decide where they belong (Keep in logical spot at home/Give away to a specific friend/Take to a charity).

Just a note: Choose areas YOU have control over; we’re about changing ourselves. However, if people are curious about your interest in organization, please invite them to join the group.




Tuesday, April 17

Monday, April 16

What do you need?


What do you need in your LifeSpace? Whether it's a lot or a little, join me in creating a personal LifeSpace that allows you to use your home or workplace as a tool for achieving what's truly important to you.