Do You Have Time...?

Do You Have Time to Keep All Those Magazines?

One of the  biggest issues my clients deal with is paper clutter. Many times the general feeling of overwhelm a client experiences is related to the amount of bills, letters, receipts, books, or, in this case, magazines they have scattered around the house.  But when we start to deal with the piles of magazines on a one-by-one basis the answer to the keep or toss question is sometimes "keep...keep... keep."

I love to learn, so I get it. I've gotten some cool and useful information I found in the pages of magazines. I found myself holding on to magazines with the "I'll get to it one day" mantra. But I had to be real with myself. As the saying goes: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

If we keep an inordinate amount of magazines, it can create anxiety and overwhelm. How? The mere act of keeping these items makes you feel  the need to read them all, while cluttering up your space.

Unfortunately, many clients feel that if they  throw out a magazine, then they’re throwing out the useful and cool information with it.

Here's the truth: You probably will be throwing out some cool and useful information. BUT...you can't expect that with your busy life--whether it’s caring for your loved ones, completing daily home chores, going to your [barre, body pump, zumba, crossfit] classes, or relaxing at the end of a long day with Netflix--you will have time to read all those magazines.

Let's do the math-- follow me to my imaginary chalkboard:

If you subscribe to three magazines, each with 12 issues a year, then we are looking at 36 magazines each year.

Magazines are usually about 120-150 pages on average.

Let's say your magazines all are 120 pages that comes out to be 4,320 pages left to be read.

If you spend just two minutes on average on each page that's 8,640 minutes or 144 hours.

You would have to spend three hours a week to get through all the magazines.

Do you have time for that?

Knowing the numbers and making a logical decision beforehand will help you override any emotional decision later, helping you to let go.

Here are some tips to prevent the overwhelm and create a balance between what magazines you can actually consume with what you have on hand:

1. Decide when you have time to read and stick to those times (i.e. your daily commute if you commute via public transportation; waiting at the doctor or dentist office; sitting on the royal porcelain throne; etc.).
2. Keep magazines in areas where you're prone to read (by your bedside table, in the car, in your work bag, in a basket in the bathroom).
3. Have a time limit on how long you keep magazines that are outdated (2 months? 1 year?) then throw them out if you see a magazine that’s past its expiration date.
4. Have a delegated place to store magazines and once it's filled you have to decide which ones will get the boot.
5. Use a program like Evernote or Google Drive to store articles that you want to reference in the future.
6. Sign up for Pinterest where you can make your own virtual magazine-type boards. You can create boards on everything from food and drink to travel, home decor to fashion. And the bonus here is you never have to throw any of your pins away as the storage is endless!

If you’re still having trouble determining what to let go, let’s schedule some time to talk. I can help you walk through the letting go process so you can enjoy a more relaxed, clutter-free life.

50 Ways to Be Productive While You’re Waiting

50 Ways to Be Productive While You’re Waiting

For type-A personalities, getting stuck in a situation where you’re waiting around can be endlessly frustrating. While boredom can play a factor, it’s mostly because you consider time your greatest asset. Well, that’s at least how I feel when I’m stuck waiting around! I often think long and hard about my day so I can cram strategically pair what I have to get done with where I'll be. I also brainstorm where I can afford to multi-task. Don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning texting and driving or anything like that, but there are opportunities where we can (safely) double up on tasks—like starting a load of laundry while cooking dinner.  

But there will be times (a bunch of times) when the day just doesn't go as planned and you, unfortunately, find yourself waiting around.This could be due to situations like getting a flat tire and waiting for AAA or your phone’s battery runs out, ensuring that Skype meeting you planned ain't gonna happen. Whatever the case may be, it happens—but that doesn’t mean you can kiss productivity goodbye.

So, before you waste time on Facebook, playing Clash of Clans or Candy Crush, here are 50 ways to be productive while you’re waiting around:  

1. Re-assess your week's goals
2. Delete useless pictures off your phone
3. Text two people you haven't talked to in a while
4. Start (or work on finishing) that book you haven't had time to get into
5. Reorganize your wallet
6. Throw away trash in your immediate area
7. Make a doctor's appointment
8. Read a helpful or fun blog
9. Write in a journal
10. Plan your next vacation
11. Repeat positive affirmations
12. Practice a foreign language
13. Think about an emergency preparedness plan
14. Break out your adult coloring book (or use an app)
15. Practice breathing exercises
16. Practice stretching
17. Clean out your car's trunk or back seat
18. Plan your next meal
19. Reconnect with a friend and plan to have them over for a meal
20. Draw or doodle
21. Play with your pet or kid
22. Write a thank you card/note/email
23. Take a power nap
24. Make a grocery-shopping list
25. Create a budget
26. Update your budget
27. Call a relative
28. Shop on your phone for a great deal for something on your wish list
29. Text your significant other a sincere note of love (or apology)
30. Plan your next day
31. Read a book (great if you have an E-reader or e-reader app)
32. Unsubscribe to e-mail lists you’re no longer interested in
33. Listen to a entertaining or educational podcast
34. Watch some kittens or puppies on YouTube
35. Schedule your next massage
36. Work through a Sudoku puzzle
37. Sing karaoke (if you are waiting alone…)
38. Think of something nice to do for a loved one
39. Take a long walk
40. Dance
41. Delete duplicate contacts in your phone or email
42. Look at shapes in the clouds
43. Write a haiku
44. Clear your desk
45. Clear out a place you haven't looked at in a while (you know what place)
46. Place needed household items in your online cart
47. Post something for sale online
48. Give yourself or get a manicure
49. Meditate/think deeply/pray  
50. Reconcile your checking account

The list doesn’t stop here. Any simple or quick task you can think of will work, too. No matter what you end up doing, try to use the time in a positive way and you’ll find the time spent waiting will fly right by.

If you need a little extra help with productivity planning, let me know. We can work together to find solutions that work best for you.

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.

There's Never Time for the DMV (Yes Department of Motor Vehicles)

I usually don't do this because I know it hurts so bad. That's putting things off until the very last minute. But despite experience and my learned ways as a professional organizer and productivity consultant, I am still human and I still don't like going to the Department of Motor Vehicles aka DMV (or ironing...) these are things I'd rather not do. But I make myself do them, I plan for them.

Until I don't.

I rationalize it away (mistake number 1). "There are more important things to do than sit at the DMV for 2 hours". That's true...but...

I ignore it and conveniently forget to schedule a time to do it -- avoidance (mistake number 2).

I research the heck out of it. "There has to be a way I can do this online. .." (mistake number 3).

Then the day comes I can no longer wait. Well I could but I'd pay fines and get in trouble with the law and stuff. No bueno.

My mistakes catch up with me and my heart rate quickens and my breath shortens and I could kick myself for trying to SQUEEZE this dreaded task in my week when I could have done it weeks ago.

This rarely happens to me and if it didn't you'd have to check me for an on/off switch or a stick up my...(use your imagination).  We are all human we procrastinate things we hate to do. Which is why I have a job.

People hate organizing. They get overwhelmed by it. They are uneducated about it. It's too emotional and for goodness sakes they don't understand what to do with a few boxes /bags/closets/bins of STUFF. Clothes, paper, their time. It's emotional and it's overwhelming and we can be dumbfounded about it.

It's ok.

There is never time for the DMV. But, the reality is. You have to make time.

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.

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...