Join me at the Houston Galleria Microsoft Store for Get Organized with Microsoft Outlook!

Overwhelmed by email? Can’t find a contact when you need it? Not sure of meeting dates for work or family activities? We will be sharing tips and tricks to get all of this together in one place, easy to access and making communication easy!

Some tips, tricks and techniques we will be sharing:

• Setting up your view in Outlook
• Using Quicksteps to file easily
• Using categorizing and color coding to prioritize
• How to make the most of the Task Bar
• Setting up your calendar to be your most productive
• System  integration with your slate, phone, and laptop

Microsoft Galleria Store

May 19 at 2pm

Bring your laptop, slate or windows phone and play along with us.  Happy organizing!

Decluttering is all about making decisions.  These decisions can be hard! Here are a few ideas to help you make decisions that make sense, make letting go easier, and make a difference for you. 

• Donate it if it is “good”.  It is considered “good” if it can be used and still in working condition. 
• Freecyle if it is broken.  List it on freecycle.org and it will be picked up from your doorstep.
• Give it a moment, then give it away.  Look at it, touch it, and then put it to the side. In a moment you will be ready to give it away.
• Set a number.   How many do you think you need of any one object? Think of your own number as a guide.
• Compare two.   Establish a “tournament”, do you prefer this or that?
• Set a boundary.  Where does a specific item belong?  That is the boundary, the space where the item will be confined.  Let that guide you for how many and where to keep items.
• Gather items all together, see how many you have and need. Once you see items together, it is easier to decide what to keep. 

What is holding you back from making a decision?

It’s time to get moving on decluttering our homes and offices.  It’s been a busy winter and now it’s time to focus on spring renewal.   Doing the Spring Fling helps us by eliminating the unnecessary, deciding on what is most important and keeping only the best. 

Get motivated and focused first by having the end in sight.  Find ideas on www.houzz.com.  Tap into your inner organizer by defining 3 key words that will describe your newly organized spot, such as nurturing, simplified, inviting, or friendly.  Know what you want your organized space to be and to feel like. 

Gather your team to get going. At home your team can be a supportive friend, your children or your spouse.  At the office it can be your colleagues, assistant or boss.  It is more fun and energizing to work with partners.  Set specific dates and deadlines for your organizing.  Break the work into smaller units to work effectively and get this job done.

Find a cause that you are passionate about to donate your items. Make donating simple and get your donations out the door the same day you decided to part with them.

Not sure what to “fling?”

• Would you wear it today if it fit?
• You purchased a new one and it’s time to “fling” the old one.
• Your kids have outgrown it or don’t play with it.
• Extra home decor, linens, or framed prints
• It’s still good and it’s time to let others use it. 

Create functional, accessible and beautiful space using bins or boxes in colors you love, adding uniform shelving, and embracing simplicity.  My new favorite closet items are slimline hangers. Choose one color for your closet and donate your used hangers or return wire hangers to your dry cleaner.  This simple addition makes for a beautiful closet. 

 Add in great routines to keep your space maintained. Have a nightly family pick up or take just 5 minutes each evening to get items back to where they are stored.  Plan a general reorganization each spring and fall, just to keep your home and office efficient, orderly and attractive.

For some people, time management is a natural rhythm of the day. For some people, there is no awareness of time, time passing, arriving or leaving on time.  The greatest asset for time awareness is a clock! Placing clocks in various spots in your home or office can make a difference.

• Analog clocks give you a better perspective of time passing.  The face of the clock, markings for each 5 minute period, and the “feel” of how long a task takes come together with an analog clock.
• Place analog clocks in many different places in your home and office.
• At a minimum, have a clock in your bathroom, in your kitchen and in your bedroom at home.  
• It seems redundant to have a clock by your computer, but often we loose time perspective during our work. Have a clock where you can see it without getting up from your chair.
• Set your clocks all at the same time.  Many people want to have 15 “extra” minutes as a measure to prevent tardiness.  If so, set all of your clocks with the extra minutes. 
• Setting alarms on your phone helps you if you relie on auditory cues.  Set the alarm 5 minutes early so you can be sure you are ready to go even after it goes off.

What places and spaces do you see clocks in your home?

I am often asked for “my” organizing ideas, including tips, tricks and tools.  Here are the top 12 for me! 

1.  Always shop with a list.

2. Know where an item will be located in your home, before you purchase it.

3.  Set up specific spots for specific items, such as only clothes in your master closet or only paper in your office.

4. Commit to tasks and responsibilities only after checking your calendar.

5. Anything that is really going to happen, has to be listed on a date on your calendar.

6. Go through your paper for 5 minutes every day. Spend one hour once a week paying bills and working on admin tasks.

7. Know what papers to keep, and how long to keep them. Ask your accountant or lawyer for your personal dates and details.

8.  Always keep a list of tasks, not matter how small the task or how short the list. 

9. Use versatile organizing products in many different places, such as the back of the door shoe holder used in the craft room for crafts, toy room for matchbox cars, or back door for bug spray.

10.  Find organizing products that you love, that match the decor of the space they will be used, and that have ways to separate and categorize your items. 

11.  Any big project is best done in baby steps, one hour at a time. 

12.  Keep it simple sweetie! The simpler, the better!

I love my new shiny status as Superstar!  It is a collaboration I participate in just about every month, with other organizers throughout the country. But to me it is really a shining star about collaboration in general. I love to find partners that are a great fit for what I don’t do well.  As a member of this collaboration, I am prompted monthly to submit.  The topic is already chosen, so in many ways it is just following up on a great idea. 

How do I use this collaboration process throughout my work and life?  I find having partners who give you enough information to get started on whatever the task, either with a template or not, and then move forward.  It can be when I want to give a speech, add a new aspect to my business, or even make dinner for our family.  It is always more fun when you work together!

How can collaboration help you get started, get finished or get moving on a goal?

I am honored to be a part of an amazing group of presenters, sharing information and more.  Get ready to stop constantly riding the brake on your business and shift into OVERDRIVE!  Listen in for free from your computer, phone or skype!

• Fire up your personal performance.
• Unleash your profit potential™.
• Discover new strategies to manage the demands of running your own business.
• Get a handle on the minutia and details that prevent you from doing the ‘heavy lifting’ to move your business to the next level.
• Quiet the ‘fear voices’ and manifest a larger vision for your company.
• Have a profitable business and time for what’s important to you!
• Live a richer, more fulfilling life
• Have powerful support systems that allow you to free up time and grow your business at the same time.
• And lots more!!  Check out the session descriptions below.

Fire Up Your Biz – Enrich Your Life was born from the 1000s of conversations that we have had with business owners just like you about what holds them back from really going where they want to go with their business.

Join us for the fun and learning!  https://war91778.infusionsoft.com/go/FireUp/EDelap

 Each year we start off with great intentions about our time management, like arriving on time, scheduling appointments, and prioritizing our time with our family.  Even the most organized can feel stressed by time challenges. Having a few guidelines can make it easier to be productive and feel in control. 

• Time for bed.  Even adults needs a bedtime.  The National Sleep Foundation states that adults need 7 – 9 hours of rest to be most productive at home and work.  Setting a reasonable bedtime and establishing good routines to promote sleep make a big difference. Start by having a time in mind to get in bed, and work backwards to get ready for bed.  Turn off tv, ipads and any other electronics an hour before your head hits the pillow.  Strive for a consistent bedtime to get a great night’s sleep.

• Give yourself time. Being realistic about how long a task takes and giving yourself permission to take the time to get a task complete can be a relief.  If it takes you an hour, two or three to pay bills, set a time that allows for you to completely get this job done.  Not sure how long any task will take? Double up on your best guess and then write it in your calendar. It is sure to be completed with this accountability.

• Take time between.  When we have appointments scheduled back to back or a long series of tasks to complete, having a little room (“white space” visually on your calendar), takes the stress away.  It is rare that anything runs smoothly, so giving yourself this space eases the stress.  Just in case you arrive early or have extra time, take a magazine in your car or carrying case just for fun!    

Time is on your side! How will you be setting yourself up for success this year?

Our productivity and professional organizer community is filled with creative and resourceful people! I admire their skills in creating calendars that will work for our clients.

Ready Aim Organize Organize Your Life Calendar

Theresa Finnegan has designed a fold out easel, day at a glance calendar filled with different daily organizing tips.  I love this calendar because it shares something new each day and keeps organizing a daily priority. You can purchase it at www.readyaimorganize.com

A Confident Mom 2012 Weekly Household Planner

Susan Heid created this weekly planner as a complete way to organize and clean your home throughout the year.  I love this calendar because is captures all the essentials. You can purchase this planner at http://www.theconfidentmom.com/services/classes-products/household-planner-sales-page/.

Order out Of Chaos Academic Planner

Leslie Josel has created an Academic Planner for middle and high schoolers to not just record but also plan their lives.  I love this calendar because it visually represents all the dimensions for kids.  You can order this calendar at http://www.orderoochaos.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114&Itemid=70

I often think of the parallel with organizing and exercise. Both are lifestyle choices that require being  mindful of your priorities. In order to accomplish both, you make decisions about ways to spend your time, as well as committing to a healthier lifestyle. 

Organizing and exercising are best done with a partner.  I love my partners in wellness. I walk with 2 different friends. I do pilates with a great teacher (www.gulfcoastpilates.com). And I go to the gym with my husband. All these partners not only help me be accountable about exercising, I also enjoy the aspect of spending time with them!  Who can help you in a trusted, loving way to take your next step in decluttering or exercising?

In order to truly make organizing or exercising priorities, we must schedule time every day to “just do it.”  A little bite of both organizing and exercise makes a big diff for me! I certainly do not have hours to do either, but I know if I do 30 minutes a day, I can keep things maintained.  Both organizing and exercise are so high on my priorities that I make sure I do these first every day! I set my alarm at 6:30 daily just to walk.  I pick up my clothes, get my car together and make my list of the 3 most important tasks each evening.  How important are these lifestyle choices to you?  When do you do them?

 Think through this parallel and see what comes to mind to empower you to get the job done too!  Think wellness, think health and think transition!