Quick Fixes to Get Organized

Quick fixes for getting organized

 

Do you dream of quick fixes to your organizing challenges?  Don’t we all want to wave a magic wand and make all clutter go away?  By nature, a quick fix does not accomplish your real goal of getting organized. However when you have just a few minutes, there are some options that will make a difference for your organizing.

Paper organizing

Paper comes in at an alarming rate.  We have different papers we need.  What do we do with all that paper?   An accordion file is a quick fix for getting organized. This product has either 7 or 13 slots.  Decide on your categories for paper, meaning group them together by what you plan on doing with them.  This can be To do, To pay, To file, or Taxes.  Another option might be Clients, Financial, or Administrative.  Label the tabs and you have a quick fix for organizing these.

accordion file

Quick fix for papers: accordion files.

Closet

Your closet is where you start your day.  Why not make it easy to get ready in the morning with a quick fix of slimline hangers?  These hangers are truly slimmer so more fits in your closet. Everything hangs at the same height.  You will see the clothes rather than the  hangers too!

 

slim line hangers

Quick fix for closets: slim line hangers.

 

Time

There’s nothing like a timer to help us be more aware of time. Setting a timer helps us with judging how long a task takes or keeping to a specific amount of time to accomplish a task.  Either way, your time awareness improves with a timer.

timer

Quick fix for time: timer.

 

Email

Just as overwhelming as paper, email grows to dramatic proportions daily. What’s the quick fix here?  Hit unsubscribe as much as you can!  With every shopping email or blog post,  you have the option to let go.  Take a minute to scroll to the bottom of the email and unsubscribe.  Remember that minute will save you 5, 10 or 30 minutes later.

 

The quick fix for decluttering is spending 15 minutes at a time culling and eliminating. Use an energy spurt to eliminate what you have not used and don’t love in that quick fix.  Get that bag into your car right away and drop it off.

 

Be careful with the idea of buying bins as a quick fix.  It can be deceptive to stack up more bins with more stuff you won’t be able to use.

 

I’d love to learn more about your quick fixes to organizing and productivity challenges.

 

Click here to join my monthly newsletter!

 

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Helpful Tips for your newly diagnosed ADHD Family

Helpful tips for your newly diagnosed ADHD Family

 

Remember the saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” And so it goes with ADHD.  Many newly diagnosed kids in turn have newly diagnosed ADHD parents.  If you and your family have multiple generation ADHD, it is important to learn about your diagnosis and learn the next steps too.

 

Creating your team

Think of this diagnosis as one that includes challenges to Executive Function, a part of your brain that involves planning and processing.  It is more than just attention and hyperactivity.  Executive function can affect you and your child’s daily life, not just at school or work.  Aspects of ADHD include transitions, getting started, organization, prioritizing, motivation, and working memory.  In every day life that might be getting ready for work and school or organizing your paper work and school papers.

 

Getting a good team together to inform and address ADHD is critical, including professionals in the medical, counseling and coaching arena.   Developing a trust relationship, putting aside judgment, and focusing on care  will help you develop a plan that works for you and your family.  Start with your family pediatrician or your general practitioner to know who would be a good addition to your team.  Your team may include a psychiatrist, counselor, ADHD coach, and professional organizer.  Be sure to add team members who are well qualified ADHD professionals.

 

Learning more about ADHD

There are many venues to learn about ADD.  Associations such as the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (www.adda.org) and CHADD (www.chadd.org) are two of the primary first steps.  These associations have online, national and local presence for you to tap into and learn about ADD.  Finding a local chapter makes for camaraderie and a sense of belonging in your community.

 

Reading may be a top priority for you.  Blogs and books offer a look into the life of families and individuals with ADD.  Among the top are Terri Matlin http://www.momswithadd.com/, Tara McGillicuddy http://www.myaddblog.com/ and Arianne Benefit http://blog.neatandsimple.com/  and Laura Rolands http://myattentioncoach.com/adhd-coaching-blog/. Books include The Family ADHD Solution by Dr. Marten Bertin,  Empowering Youth with ADD by Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell, or Journey Through ADDulthood by Sari Solden.

 

Basic first steps

If you are looking for a few basic solutions for your family, these are a few first steps for you.

  • Set up good self care with bedtimes and good nutrition for everyone in the family. Having adequate sleep and high protein meals can make a difference for everyone.  Often this is the first area that families overlook.
  • Take care with over scheduling for the family. Allow more transition and down time than other families. For families with ADHD, the transitions and the rush of daily life ends up tripping them up.  Be sure that you are mindful of all members’ commitments. Use a family calendar, either with Google calendar or a large month at a glance calendar, posted in the kitchen where everyone can see it.  Host a family “meeting” weekly to go over who is going what, who is going where and what other new “surprises” are going on this week.
  • Address the stress with exercise, yoga, art, therapy and other ways to release the tension.   These activities help everyone with clarity.  Just being outside, taking a walk or even just a little movement can make a difference. All families have stress, but even more so with ADHD.
  • Place clocks in many places throughout your home.  A timer is a great investment in helping you and your child stay on task, get started and get done.  Choose a clock and timer with a “clock face” in order to see time elapsing.  Use it in transitional times too.
  • Put into place additional help throughout the week.  A daily Homework Helper can be a blessing for both parents and students. A local college student, older high schooler or other person can help your student focus and work as a partner with less stress than the parent.  A cleaning service, additional driver or daily money manager can be a blessing to a parent who struggles with these aspects.
  • Make a morning plan and evening routine with your family.  Talk through the plan, note the obstacles, make a chart and stick with your design for smoother family times.  It is always a struggle to be consistent for those with ADHD, but implement a smooth, simple plan for both the beginning and ending of the day.

 

Families with ADHD do best by focusing on the positive in specific, genuine ways.  Remember that a hug, a smile and a pat on the back can bring about the desired behavior and most especially the emotional feeling of being understood and loved.

 

More organizing and productivity tips here! Join my newsletter!

 

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

#Grateful

In a word filled with fear, where do we start with gratitude?  There’s stress about relationships, health, work and family.  It’s well documented the relationship between happiness and gratitude.  Gratitude is the key to happiness, productivity and organization. How do we practice gratitude?

Starting your day with gratitude

A grateful start to your day shapes your day.  Spend a few minutes each morning either writing in your paper or digital journal.  Dig deep and find meaning in what you are recording.  Think of one idea that will shape your day as you go forward.   Throughout the day you will make lemonaid from the lemons.

 

Random Acts of Kindness

Lots of random acts of kindness are recorded daily. Find a way to share your gratitude and kindness.  From paying for the person behind you in line to stopping to help someone take their recycling from their car to the bins, there are little ways each day to practice being grateful by helping someone else.

 

Gratitude jar

Take a moment each day and place a small slip of paper in a jar.  At the end of the month or year, read back and reflect on your moments of gratitude.

 

Hand written notes

When was the last time you snail mailed a letter of thanks?  If it’s been too long, start this week.  Use your lovely stationary and write a note to thank a special someone, a teacher, a spiritual leader, or a family member.

Volunteering

 Twenty five percent of us volunteered for one organization last year. What way can you add meaning to your life and share a skill, take on a project or make a difference?  Serving and giving to others adds joy .

Adding gratitude to your day

In the spirit of love, pick one way you can add gratitude to your day. Gratitude need only take a minute. Check off a way to make gratitude happen today.

 

More on organization and productivity here!

 

More sites for Happiness

Happify

Values in Action (VIA)

Authentic happiness

 

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Innovative Improvements to your Home Office

innovative office

 

The home office has come full circle as being a prominent part of where we live, work and play.  With an increase in telecommuting, the home office is a valuable piece of real estate.  There’s basic set up of your home office.  Make the most of your home office with these innovative home office ideas.

 

Standing Desk

The standing desk is a new piece of office furniture.  Sitting for long periods of time have health consequences.  With a standing desk that’s adjustable,  you have the option of movement during the day.  This innovation for some of us means we think clearer and have improved productivity.  How to choose what desk? Thanks to Reviews.com, there’s great options to consider. A smaller foot print desk will also give you more space, less clutter on your work surface and more organization.

 

Going wireless or less wires

We all hate all those wires and cords.  It’s unattractive and unsafe.  There are more options for wireless now for printing, scanning and cloud based document storage.  Set up can be DIY or with an expert.  Going wireless is affordable with the right tools.

 

Collaboration tools

Our work together is fundamental and  instrumental.  Collaboration tools are what we need to work together on projects.  Our online tools makes it easier to work together and get our work done.  Tools like Trello with boards, lists, and cards help you organize and prioritize projects in a fun and visual way. It’s not a problem not being in the same space with Join.me where you can share screens.  FreeConferenceCall.com gives you free phone time together.  Check out these easy to access tools.

 

These innovations make your office more functional and more efficient.  Making your space easy to use and easy to collaborate create a productive environment.

 

 

 

 

 

Save

Save

Save