The Day I Deleted My Future

I don’t remember the exact day, but I do remember the tears. I even remember the moment in which I created my demise and it was hours before I realized I was in deep doo-doo.

Here’s the story: I was standing in line with my husband at Wegmans and, like most young modern women, I was putting something on my mobile calendar while waiting. I must have also been playing around with the features in my calendar because I vaguely remember clearing out what I thought was an archived to-do list. I don’t remember the prompt my phone gave me, but I do remember it saying something like, “Are you sure?” and I thought I was very sure so I hit okay and moved on.

Later that afternoon I got a call from my mom asking me if I was still attending a family event. I, (in my foolishly arrogant way) replied, “Yes, Ma, I said I was coming on the calendar invite, why would I suddenly change my mind?” My mom explained how she just talked to my aunt who said I declined the event. After reassuring my mom I would be there, I turned to my husband and related what happened. I probably also added some snarky comment about the futility of replying to a calendar invite when I was going to have to verbally reply as well. This was moments before I realized the chocolate had already hit the fan. That’s when my husband replied that he also noticed I had declined all of our appointments together as well. I stopped what I was doing, turned to my husband and said,  “What do you mean?”. Before he could answer, I rushed to my computer and looked at my calendar. It was blank. Like blank-blank.

My calendar normally looks like this

My mind raced as I tried to figure out when this horrible, terrible nightmare could have happened. That’s when I realized, while standing in line at the grocery store, I had erased all the events on my calendar past, present, and future spanning about 5 years. .. .

To give some context as to why this was so heartbreaking,  I LIVE by my calendar--it lets me know who to call, where to go, and how to plan my day. I even have bedtime events and reminders on my calendar (Hey, a girl needs her rest!).

After my "power play," my calendar looked like this

I use my calendar for every doctor’s appointment, client meeting, wedding, and even funerals. I set it and forget it. It is my proof of life, my personal assistant that keeps me on track with my day and to-do lists--my way of documenting my existence and how I keep track of all my future events.

All of it gone--with one button push while in line at the grocery store! Hours earlier as I was glancing at magazine tabloids about Kim Kardashian (because when isn’t she in the tabloids?) and recipes on the best dessert of the season while I single-fingeredly threw my life into cyberspace wasteland.

As the panic drained my face of color my dear husband sprang into action as he saw the tears rolling down my face.Together we began to look for a solution and came across a software called Spanning Undelete for Google Calendar (particularly the one in the Chrome Apps Marketplace). Here’s what to do if you ever (God-forbid) need to get your calendar back:  Install the app, and sign into your Google profile. The app will see all the calendars you have created so you can then go in and click all the calendar events you’d like to undelete. The only caveat is all your undeleted events will also have “undeleted” in the title (which, in my opinion is a small price to pay for getting everything back!).

My digital misstep happened sometime in the summer of 2015. But in November 2015, Google created a “trash” folder for Google Calendar. During the time of my catastrophe, once you deleted an event you were up a creek without a paddle. Now the trash folder for Google Calendar holds deleted messages for 30 days. This new feature is great for things that you need to add back within a few days (like an event that was cancelled but then is suddenly back on). But for calendar events that you want to resurrect prior to 30 days you can use Spanning.

So, if you’re ever standing in line at the grocery store and you push a button and it says “Are you sure?” Well, you better be, or you might just be deleting your future, too!

Andrea Hancock is a professional organizer & productivity student, blogger, speaker, and educator that assists and empowers busy professionals, business owners and those experiencing major life transitions to create and maintain organizational systems that work for them personally.  Andrea is also founder of Dexterous Organizing, a results-oriented professional organizing company.  Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call to begin your journey to better productivity and more organizational prowess. Also visit our website at www.DexterousOrganizing.com or give us a call at (703) 606-8968.

Confessions Of An Organizer: "I Was Running On Empty."

For the first time in my life...I ran out of gas in my vehicle. It was a Monday, cold and long.  I was on my way to a NAPO-WDC meeting and was stopping at the gas station after letting the gas indicator light in my SUV to glare at me for just about two days (it was icy and cold okay, don't judge me).

I pulled into the gas station about a 5 minute walk from my apartment.  As I parked next to a pump I went to reach for my wallet in my purse.  It wasn't there.  I remembered I had left it at my desk because I had just purchased something online.  Probably distracted and in a slight rush to beat the traffic on the way to Bethesda I had inadvertently left it there.

I turn the ignition again and pulled off, annoyed but determined.  I get a couple feet from a parking space near my apartment building and suddenly it happened.  For the first time ever in my driving life it happened. I ran out of gas. It was embarrassing and frustrating.  At first I laughed and turned to problem solving mode. I call my husband and soon we are off to walk to the nearby gas station to get gas.  The container we purchased and the only one they sold could contain just a gallon.

The first attempted gallon didn't start the car.  Soon I went from laughing to crying.  Bitterly sobbing actually. I remembered thinking: How stupid could I be? If I didn't leave my wallet on my desk I wouldn't be in this situation!  I wouldn't be wasting my time, my husband's time, my dad's time (who gave solutions to get the car started over the phone) and our brother's time (who took my husband back to the gas station for gas canister fill up number 2).

It surely was a Monday night for the books.

The next day my physically running out of gas was like a slap in the face!  It was a physical representation of what I going through on a deeper level.

A few weeks prior, I had pretty much bottomed out in my desire to continue with my business.

I had been so busy getting clients, serving clients, and following up with clients, going to networking events, following up with people I've networked with, having meetings with them, seeking (often costly) help in my business, going to conferences, going to trainings, sending out marketing messages, outlining marketing messages, finding time to write marketing messages, emails, spreadsheets, reconciling, receipts, files...the lists and the to-dos seemed endless and when I looked up I was dealing with client cancellations, revenue instability, and not enough prospects in my queue. I was exhausted, and I wasn't seeing what I thought was the fruit of my labor. I almost gave up. I was deeply depressed for several weeks, and I didn't know what to do. Did I still love professional organizing?  Did I want to be in business anymore?  If I was making more money would I have these feelings?

I prayed and meditated a lot. Then during my cross-roads moment, I had a few clients that all but hugged and kissed me after our sessions.  They were in desperate need of help and I used my love of organization, helping people, and skill of conveying thoughts and ideas to transfer these skills to my clients to help improve their lives hopefully then and gradually in the future. It was then I realized I love what I do!

So what gives? Why was I in such a bad place?

After deep thought, I realized I had my life and priorities upside down.  The main reason I wanted and still want in my business is flexibility of my schedule so I could pursue the more important things in my life.  So I don't have to go to a boss and ask for time off to spend doing things that add more value to my life than making money.  But I also realized that I was working way too hard and not getting the results I would imagine I would get.  I was running on empty.  It was then I decided that I would do as the world says "let go, and let God." Slowly but surely, once I re-prioritized my life and shut down this endless rat-race in my business a weird and wonderful thing happened; I had the BEST Spring and Summer quarters in my business to date. Coincidence? Probably not.

Time and time again, I see with my clients a similarity.  They want peace, tranquility, simplicity, and consistent organization in their lives but rarely do the hardest part first. Prioritizing what's really important. What is priority in your life, you will take action to protect, pursue, and procure. One of the wisest men to walk the earth said "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also."  What do you really treasure?  Before you answer, think about where you spend your time, what dictates your thoughts, what motivates you?  When you really come to grips with those things you can start to align your priorities.  When your priorities are properly aligned; peace, tranquility, simplicity, and consistent organization follow.

Fill your tank. That should always be a priority. You'll never reach your destination otherwise.

Confessions of An Organizer: My Organizational Challenges.

I think of being organized much like yoga or Pilates.  It takes practice and consistent effort, realizing that you won’t bend exactly the same way as your gym mate.  Your muscles have to learn how to move and get stronger to support how you twist and turn to achieve your goals.

Just because I’m an organizer doesn’t mean that I don’t have organizational goals and challenges, it means quite the opposite. I realize that no one is perfect (and the ones who have their life all labeled and color-coded make my left eye twitch uncontrollably). But it takes practice, consistent effort and making room for the situations that life brings our way.

I recognize my organizational limits and boundaries. I also know at what level of organization I feel comfortable. I create daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals that stretch my limits and boundaries. Sometimes it's not fun testing your own comfort levels. One day I may reach the all-labeled and color-coded status (sorry in advance for making your eye twitch) but for now I’m mostly labeled and not really color-coded. And for now, things are organized and uncluttered enough for me.

I can find what I need 90% of the time.  The other 10% I call sparkle. Sparkle is like when you get lost going somewhere but you find a wonderful frozen yogurt place that you didn't know was there but if you hadn't gotten lost you would have never known.  You can’t control everything, and for what you can’t control you can let go and let it flow.  Call it sparkle.

This picture was a sparkle moment:

I was supposed to be meeting a woman I met on OfferUp (similar to Craigslist) at the National Harbor who wanted to buy my hair dryer.  She was a no show but the sun was setting and we decided to get out of the car and take pictures.  I snagged this shot.  I would have never gotten it unless this lady didn’t meet me.  I decided to make the best of what could have been a total waste of time and gas. See, sparkle. :)

Anyway, I digress.

So you know my thought process around being organized and you realize that I’m still working on things myself.  Like: I will be paperless by 2015!

But this year I did pretty well in reaching my own organizational goals.  In fact, I did so well that one day I sat on the couch and I went through my brain for something I had to get done and I couldn't think of anything.  My receipts had been filed, my check register was caught up, there was a known tiny pile of paper I wanted to scan but it wasn't imperative.  Then the anxiety set in.  I have be forgetting something.  Something important. I ALWAYS have crap to catch up on.  Always.  That feeling of rushing around, being over-obligated, and time crunched and never having enough time in the day set it.

Could I actually sit here and read a book without a small voice telling me I wasn't being productive enough and I really should be {fill in the blank}?  Alas! The moment had come where I reaped the benefits of an important goal for 2014, that of saying NO to obligations that didn't serve what’s truly important to my life and over all goals and saying yes to all the things that are. Perhaps in that moment I had to acknowledge that all the practice and consistent effort paid off.  Then the anxiety slowly melted away and I enjoyed a few minutes on the sofa.

Recently I re-read/listened to the book The Gifts of Imperfection.  I think so far it’s one of the books I will re-read every so often to remind myself that the reason I get and attempt to stay organized isn't to impress my friends or family.  It isn't to allay the fear that one day my clients will knock on my door and demand to see the state of MY desk at any given moment.  But I realized organization in my life is to support my life and my business.  Sometimes my life gets hectic but when I put the most important things first, that’s all that matters.  I feel better about my day when I have my priorities in order. Filing can wait if it means there is a heart-to-heart to be had with my husband, the pile of business cards from a recent networking event can be done another day if it means I need to cook my family a healthy dinner, and although I agree that owning your own business takes sacrifice and some sleepless nights, I also believe that I can’t stay at 110% if I don’t get a good night’s rest on a regular basis. Exercise…let’s not forget about that (even though I had for almost 4 months).

Organization should support your life and goals, not take away from them.

Here’s my tips on getting to a point in your organizational practice that leaves you feeling supported:

1.  Ask YOURSELF: How organized do I want to be? Does my current way of doing things leave me feeling chaotic and uneasy?  Or do I feel I need to emulate someone in my life that seems to have it together all the time? If you answered yes to the latter question.  It’s time to dig deep as Breneé Brown would say. Be realistic.  You may realize that perfection for you may not look like a magazine cover or a Pinterest page.
2.  Create a plan of action to get as organized as you need to be.
3. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Sometimes if we create or regurgitate too many rules like “I can only touch a piece of paper once.” Or “I have to reach out to these people I met at a networking event within two business days.” Then we might find it paralyzing to ever move forward.  If you have to touch a piece of paper a second time to make a decision on it then DO IT. It surely isn't going to file, shred, or recycle itself sitting on your desk just because you already touched it.  And (my business consultant would probably disagree with me on this one) but if I waited a week and two days later to reach out to someone I met at a networking event, it surely beats the heck of me not doing it at all because I missed the two business day deadline. A little action gets more results then a lot of intention. Here's a Tweet: "A little action gets more results then a lot of intention"
4. Realize your weak spots. There are some things I’m not good at, and no matter how much I WANT to do them, I can’t either because of lack of desire, ability, or time.  I had to let go of my bookkeeping and a few other tasks that were simply holding me back from moving forward.  Figure out what you’re not good at and see if there is someone you can delegate to.  Stop being cheap.  There are tons of services that provide assistance from grocery shopping (Peapod), to cleaning (Homejoy & TaskRabbit) that are effective and affordable. Your return on investment will be tremendous. You can spend time making follow up calls, instead of reconciling your bank statement.
5. Get some accountability. A lot of our clients hire Dexterous Organizing 20% for the fabulous suggestions we give on creating organizing systems and how to store things but 80% for the accountability of actually doing it. Making decisions on what to keep and what not to keep and actually taking the not keep items away, and not going to watch Netflix instead of finishing an organizing project helps get it done and also help you see that it’s usually not as bad as it feels.

Getting organized is a journey. Don’t expect it to happen overnight, get some help if need be, take consistent action and then relax and enjoy a guilt-free moment on the couch when it all comes together.

Want to use this blog post in blog or other content? No problem, just let us know and use the below statement verbatim:

Andrea Hancock is a professional organizer, blogger, and speaker that assists and empowers busy professionals and business owners to create and maintain organizational systems that work for them personally.  Andrea is also Founder of Dexterous Organizing, a results-oriented professional organizing company.  To receive free productivity and organizing tools, or to venture into a more organized home, office, and life, click "I'm ready to get started!" at www.DexterousOrganizing.com or by phone at (703) 606-8968. 

Confessions of an Organizer: I hated being early!

Once upon a time (and not as long ago as I'd like to admit) I was a girl who crammed as much as possible in my schedule as I could. If it could get done in 12 hours then by George, I was doing it! It took it's toll though. I soon found myself unable to keep up. One wrong turn, one misstep in my day, one slip in cat vomit (yes...yuk) and it would mean the house of cards I built for my scheduling would all come crashing down. It was stressful but I prided myself on being on time more but that was it. I was on time, speeding down the street, a horn-honking maniac between appointments with little time to spare. If I were meeting you at 10am, I'd be in your driveway at 9:59:59. Why be early? That few minutes I'd have sitting in your driveway I could be elsewhere scratching something else off my to-do list. But the stress was explosive and sometimes I cut it so close getting to appointments that I ended up being a few minutes late. The more stressed I was the worst the miscalculations got. I would feel awful as a professional organizer, it would feel hypocritical to be late on a regular basis.

One day I heard a fellow organizer and productivity consultant, Andrew Mellen, on one of his videos say: "productivity isn't about doing more, it's about doing less." For a millisecond I was perplexed. Then I got it. Then I had a light-bulb moment of my own. And slowly but surely, through self-interventions and careful thought, I started to set more boundaries. Especially boundaries with my time.  I stopped saying "yes" to a lot of things that before I would dive head first into because it needed to be done/no one else was willing or chomping at the bit/I could do it/I could do it well (or even better). Now, my first reaction to a voluntary duty would be "Let me think about that" or "Let me get back to you after I check my schedule."  Don't get me wrong it was not an overnight change.  I still have to mentally stuff a sock in my mouth sometimes to keep my foolish and impetuous volunteering hand from raising itself and flailing around excitedly in scheduling suicide. 

Priorities that are important to me and my life, started to take more of a front seat in my schedule.  I now do more things like exercise just about 5-6 times a week, I usually go to bed a decent hour. I go out into my Christian volunteer work during the week, and on average, I work less on the weekends then formerly.

I also don't fear being early anymore.  I use any "early" time to read, review my calendar, reply to an email or two, or make a quick phone call to a friend or family member that I hadn't spoken to in a while. I also started to delegate more and tweak systems in my own life that just weren't working as efficiently as I thought they should be.  I also space out my day much better.  Instead of cramming appointments 30 minutes apart, I now allow an hour (that was a huge difference). I'm cognizant of only allowing myself 3-4 to-dos a day and not 10-15.  Those to-dos that I think will only take me 30-60 minutes I budget 90 minutes for.  It allows time to breathe in between tasks, counteract and get back on track after interruptions (they will happen), and give time for being human like bathroom breaks & snack times.

And although my to-do list is actually growing rather than shrinking, I'm taking on projects that really enrich my life, my loved ones' lives, and my livelihood.  I've admittedly been feeling more at peace with my self, my life, and still I'm getting a lot more done.

I have read a ton of information on productivity and time management but it's like reading about how to roller skate and then actually doing it.  One is theory the other is application.  Somethings you have to learn as you do. You have to find your flow, your balance, and get to rolling.

Confessions of an Organizer: When It All Feels Like Too Much!

Some days I feel like Lucy and Ethel at the conveyor belt making chocolates and then the belt speeds up and I look like a chocolate-eating fool.  

The day starts off planned and organized with my calendar all filled with productivity and delight.  Then...LIFE HAPPENS. Technology stops working properly, there's an accident on the beltway, I get a call from a friend with bad news, or maybe I ate a bad burrito (aye yai yai). Professional Organizers are human too and sometimes we have to face our demons just like the rest of humanity who doesn't make their living directing people to live life clutter-free and without chaos. Luckily we immerse ourselves in productivity books, blogs, and other media at a much higher rate than most people. Therefore we often know how to gain control of the reigns of chaos and work through the crap. Here's some suggestions on how you can too:

1. Relax, Relate, Release 

(start video at 1:15)

When your schedule suddenly has an upset the first thing we can start to do is panic or get angry. You have approximately 2-4 minutes to freak out but after that get it together. Relax, relate, release! It's no use crying over spilled milk so look at what you can control and do some triage on your day. Make some phone calls to cancel or reschedule, delegate some duties to family, friends, or colleagues, or don't do some things at all.  This is where the importance of prioritizing comes into play.

2. Put email off for a while.

Something that can exacerbate a problem rapidly is allowing more distractions or things you can't control enter into your universe. Even if it's for 30 minutes to an hour, take the time to regroup, re-plan and move forward (it might be a good time to go to lunch).  If you don't have that kind of time, or you're on the go, stop checking your phone every 5 minutes.  If you are chock full of things to do and you're running out of time, your phone could possibly add "chocolates to your conveyor belt".  Take a few minutes to catch your breath and if anyone asks, you were in a very important meeting (because you were -- with a VIP client, yourself!).

3. What's the lesson?

One thing that we could do is ask ourselves how could we have handled the situation better?  If we did all we could, but life smacked us down then give yourself a pat on the back!  But perhaps there are some hidden gems in how to move forward.  For instance, I'm not really a morning person and I've learned from experience I need to give myself a FULL hour from the time my eyes open and my feet hit the floor to the time I walk out the door.  Sure, there have been occasions where I can get ready in 30 minutes or less but those are the exceptions not the rule and so when I plan my morning, I plan accordingly. I've learned my lesson.

Could some organizational tool or app help? Could it simply be adding an alert to your calendar? Setting a personal rule like no phone while I'm [fill in the blank]? Or getting up 15 minutes earlier or setting out plans the night before? Often times we could avoid a loaded "conveyor belt" with a little bit more thought and although somethings are unavoidable we can do all we can to put our best foot forward.  Although there is no "I" in chaos, sometimes it should be. By taking yourself out of the equation, your odds of having to (okay if you haven't watched the first video yet now would be a good time) "stuff chocolates down your shirt" diminish.

Did anything said resonate with you? What do you do when it all feels like too much is going on for you to handle?  I'd love to hear from you.  Please comment below.  If you liked what you read, please don't be stingy and make sure you share on social media.  I've made it easy, just go below.

Until my next confession...

Don't Believe the Hype!

If I were to tell you that I were a doctor, what are some automatic things you'd think about me? Smart, articulate, makes a lot of money, healer, knowledgeable, are a few adjectives that come to mind for me. Now for a moment let me be more specific. If I said I was a neurosurgeon or if I said I was a veterinarian you get two vastly different pictures right? What is my point? The possibilities are endless and depending on your experience or lack of experience (say what you've seen on television of these professions) you have a mold of what these professions do, what type of people choose to be in this profession, and the qualities they possess.

I say that I'm a professional organizer. This industry is relatively new and for now the majority of the population who has any idea of what an Organizer is gets their ideas from television. Some are a little off "So you're like Nicey Nash right?" Um, no. I love Nicey Nash as an Entertainer and Host of the show but she is not an Organizer, she is a celebrity of a show who helps people de-clutter and facilitates a team of professionals (one who happens to be a Professional Organizer) and the home owner. She does a little of what an Organizer does by helping the home owner make decisions about what to keep and what to sell all with hilarity and pizazz. Then some people are much closer to what and Organizer is: "I love Peter Walsh." So do I. He is actually an Organizing Expert that helps people think about their stuff in a different way and then gives them the mental and physical steps to over-come clutter and organize their spaces. Yes, although he probably doesn't like the label, he is a Professional Organizer. So there are different pictures in our heads and in the heads of others (particularly our clients) that we have to address as to who we are as people and what we do as a profession.

When I first decided to pursue a career of a Professional Organizer, I too was under the "stereotype hype" of what an Organizer is. I thought this person was Mary Poppins and Martha Stewart's love child and everywhere he or she went the world was a little tidier with a throw pillow and a vase of peonies left in their wake of song and dance until it was time for them to fly off with open umbrella to the next appointment. With that idea, the pressure was immense. And although I love being organized and some of my friends think I am very organized - yes I like to straighten up my hotel room before I leave for the day as part inventory and part anal retentive. I drool while at The Container Store and could stare at pictures of organized spaces with dreaminess, but I also didn't come out the womb organizing my stuffed animals by type and color. As a child my room was messy on many an occasion and I kept things that I should have thrown away (like a Dixie cup of full of my baby teeth). I joined NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) and stood in a room full of veteran Organizers and thought they were organizing giants. I thought about their years of experience and techniques and my messy childhood turned organizing fan and I felt like a fraud.
I recently read Organizing from the Right Side of the Brain by Lee Sibler. I suddenly had an ah-ha moment.

I'm a right-brain thinker who has some of the traits Sibler lists. I wear my B Dexterous signature tee-shirts and they say "I love organizing" and trust me the shirts don't lie. I do love organizing. I love organizing because I hate the alternative. Sure I can leave a space messy for a short while but after I spend 10 minutes looking for something my other right-brain characteristic – impatience comes to the fore and I get anxious, angry and moody (moody being another right-brain characteristic Sibler lists). I love organizing because it brings calm and cohesiveness to my world and helps me feel like I'm accomplishing my goals and not spinning my wheels. Sibler states about the creative right-brainer who stays organized: "There are wanna-be creatives, and then there are the truly creatives. The wanna-bes are people who have very low attention spans and are all over the place. They can come up with all kinds of truly wonderful ideas but rarely follow through on them. The second type of people are also extremely creative, but as it happens they are extremely disciplined as well. It's a most remarkable combination." I follow through. I love being creative and seeing a project from start to finish. I am a right-brained-creative-organizer.

I didn't fit into my own "stereotype hype" of what an Organizer is. I didn't come out of the womb with a file folder and a label-maker. But I love leaving a space organized so that my clients can feel calm and cohesive in their space. If they feel like they have to doodle for 30 minutes before they figure out how to organize, that's okay. If they want to pile instead of file, if it works go for it! Organizing is about creating a system that works for each individual. Being able to find the things you need and want without being anxious, angry and moody. Yes to create, you have to be creative. But being creative doesn't mean being disorganized. I actually DO think Mary Poppins and Martha Stewart's love child would make a great organizer. A song, a dance, a lesson on potting your perennials while your unkempt office, living room, and kitchen all put themselves neatly away. But that's a stereotype that no longer causes me angst. I say that I'm a professional organizer. I'm not a left-brain run-of-the-mill organizer stereotype and I think I I'm wonderful the way I am. Thanks Lee.

Andrea Hancock is a professional organizer, blogger, and speaker that assists and empowers busy professionals and business owners create and maintain organizational systems that work for them personally.  Andrea is also founder of Dexterous Organizing, a results-oriented professional organizing company.  To receive free productivity and organizing tools, or to venture into a more organized home, office, and life, click "I'm ready to get started!" at www.DexterousOrganizing.com or by phone at (703) 606-8968.