I spent the Labor Day weekend with my parents in Florida, where they live in a retirement community. They are quite popular because, among other things, they still drive :-) Mom stays active with yoga, water aerobics, and Zumba (that's right, ZUMBA!) and Dad still swings a mean golf club and helps other seniors each spring with their tax returns. I am blessed that they are in relatively good health and have carefully planned for their golden years.
At the tender ages of 76 and 80, they are the "kids" in the community. During my visit I met several men and women in their 80s and 90s, as well as one woman who is 105 and helps care for her 96 year old "gentleman friend"! How cute is that? What's the secret to living to such a ripe old age? I'm not sure but I'm convinced that attitude does indeed matter.
Most of the people I met greet each day with a smile and a positive spirit. While the heat may be oppressive (90s and humid) they're happy to live in a community with air conditioning. At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing, they are grateful for the affordable meals in the Ice Cream Shop ($2.79 for a sandwich, add cheese for 20 cents!). While many use walkers and electric scooters, it doesn't stop them from making their way to the dining room, the fitness center, or the communal living room for an organ concert of Big Band era songs. They smile and laugh and make the most of every day in their lives.
There are, of course, exceptions, who seem to thrive on complaints. For these folks, nothing is good enough and they don't seem to have anything positive to say! They don't even say "Hello" or "Good Morning" - they just launch into the complaint du jour, whining about everything from the food in the dining room to the landscapers. Rather than seeing happy people sharing a meal and pleasant conversation they see food that isn't as good as they would prepare. They don't see the beautiful blue sky or flowering bushes, only the bald spots in the grass and algae on the pond. Not surprisingly, these people either dine alone or with others who share their negative attitude.
As my golden years approach, I have seen the fork in the road, the paths from which I can choose. I can greet each day in misery, looking only for the negative, or I can embrace each day as though it were my last, thankful for everything and everyone in my life. Hmmm! That won't take much thought. What should I do with the rest of my evening?
What about you? Which path will you choose? And why wait until our lives are coming to an end? Let's start now!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Yoga of Getting Organized
How can yoga help you get organized?
Much of the clutter in our homes and offices is the result of postponed decisions. We're busy people with a lot on our minds. Things come into our lives that we don't know what to do with - read it? toss it? keep it for later? give it to someone else? Rather than making a decision, we put down the item/paper and promise ourselves that we'll deal with it later.
The reality is that "later" never seems to come. The longer the item sits, the more guilt we feel about not having made a decision. Rather than face the guilt, we re-promise ourselves that we'll deal with it later. This decision eases the guilt - for now! But guilt has a way of returning ... with a vengeance!
So how can yoga help? In yoga there is a focus on quieting the mind. Through movement, breath, and meditation, the swirling thoughts (called vrittis in sanskrit) begin to slow and settle, like sand settles to the floor of the ocean. When the vrittis are quiet, there's room in the mind for clear thought and decision making is easier. When we make decisions more easily, papers and other items move through our homes to their next destination rather than log jamming.
As the amount of clutter lessens, we feel better about our homes and ourselves. This reduces our level of stress resulting in fewer vrittis and easier decision making. What a great upward spiral to create! Give it a try - take a yoga class today!
Much of the clutter in our homes and offices is the result of postponed decisions. We're busy people with a lot on our minds. Things come into our lives that we don't know what to do with - read it? toss it? keep it for later? give it to someone else? Rather than making a decision, we put down the item/paper and promise ourselves that we'll deal with it later.
The reality is that "later" never seems to come. The longer the item sits, the more guilt we feel about not having made a decision. Rather than face the guilt, we re-promise ourselves that we'll deal with it later. This decision eases the guilt - for now! But guilt has a way of returning ... with a vengeance!
So how can yoga help? In yoga there is a focus on quieting the mind. Through movement, breath, and meditation, the swirling thoughts (called vrittis in sanskrit) begin to slow and settle, like sand settles to the floor of the ocean. When the vrittis are quiet, there's room in the mind for clear thought and decision making is easier. When we make decisions more easily, papers and other items move through our homes to their next destination rather than log jamming.
As the amount of clutter lessens, we feel better about our homes and ourselves. This reduces our level of stress resulting in fewer vrittis and easier decision making. What a great upward spiral to create! Give it a try - take a yoga class today!
Friday, August 14, 2009
What Does "Organized" Mean?
Julie Morgenstern, organizing and time management expert, defines organization as how a space functions rather than how it looks. If you can find what you need when you need it and you are comfortable with the way your space looks, then you're organized!
I once told a client that I stored my weekly grocery store circulars on top of my microwave. She exclaimed, "You mean you don't have them organized?" I replied that they were, indeed, organized. They were current (new circulars replaced old ones, which were recycled) and I could find them when I needed them. Just because they were in sight didn't mean that they weren't organized. She breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She already had a great system for her mail (all outgoing mail was propped against the TV and was placed in the mailbox when she went out the door each morning) but thought that since the mail was out in plain view that it wasn't "organized". It is, in fact, a great system for tracking incoming and outgoing mail, as long as she doesn't mind looking at it, which she doesn't.
Being organized doesn't mean that your home looks like Martha Stewart's or the inside of a Container Store catalog. Homes are for living and offices are for working. If they're never messy and out of order, you're probably not living or working! The secret is to have systems and processes in place that allow you to find what you need when you need it and easily return it when you're finished using it. Anything beyond that (pretty baskets, decorative file cabinets, etc.) is just icing on the cake.
And speaking of cake, I think I'll go dirty a knife, fork and plate and enjoy a slice, comfortable in the knowledge that I have a system to wash, dry and return them to their homes when I'm finished! After that, of course, it's 30 minutes on the treadmill :-) which I can find because it's not buried under two weeks worth of dirty laundry! More on that later!
I once told a client that I stored my weekly grocery store circulars on top of my microwave. She exclaimed, "You mean you don't have them organized?" I replied that they were, indeed, organized. They were current (new circulars replaced old ones, which were recycled) and I could find them when I needed them. Just because they were in sight didn't mean that they weren't organized. She breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She already had a great system for her mail (all outgoing mail was propped against the TV and was placed in the mailbox when she went out the door each morning) but thought that since the mail was out in plain view that it wasn't "organized". It is, in fact, a great system for tracking incoming and outgoing mail, as long as she doesn't mind looking at it, which she doesn't.
Being organized doesn't mean that your home looks like Martha Stewart's or the inside of a Container Store catalog. Homes are for living and offices are for working. If they're never messy and out of order, you're probably not living or working! The secret is to have systems and processes in place that allow you to find what you need when you need it and easily return it when you're finished using it. Anything beyond that (pretty baskets, decorative file cabinets, etc.) is just icing on the cake.
And speaking of cake, I think I'll go dirty a knife, fork and plate and enjoy a slice, comfortable in the knowledge that I have a system to wash, dry and return them to their homes when I'm finished! After that, of course, it's 30 minutes on the treadmill :-) which I can find because it's not buried under two weeks worth of dirty laundry! More on that later!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Organizing Mail
So, you're ready to fix dinner but the kitchen counter is covered in paper - newspaper, magazines, kids' schoolwork, and the mail! So you gather it up and move it to the table with all the other paper. But when it's time to eat...the papers get relocated again. Before you know it you've missed a credit card payment or an important event because the bill or invitation got lost. Sound familiar (no, I haven't been peeking in your window!)?
Organizing paper is an ongoing challenge for most people. The concept of a paperless society eludes many of us, as we continue to receive paper copies of banks and investment statements, utility bills, and loan payments. Add to that the plethora of credit card applications ("Congratulations! You've been approved!"), direct mail advertisements, and catalogs and it's easy to see how our homes have become overrun with paper. It's time to take control of your paper.
Below is an easy to follow system for keeping the mail under control. While the system itself is simple, there are a couple of rules.
Organizing paper is an ongoing challenge for most people. The concept of a paperless society eludes many of us, as we continue to receive paper copies of banks and investment statements, utility bills, and loan payments. Add to that the plethora of credit card applications ("Congratulations! You've been approved!"), direct mail advertisements, and catalogs and it's easy to see how our homes have become overrun with paper. It's time to take control of your paper.
Below is an easy to follow system for keeping the mail under control. While the system itself is simple, there are a couple of rules.
- You must do this every day; that's right, EVERY DAY! You wouldn't wait until the end of the week (or month) to brush your teeth or wash the dishes, would you? So don't wait to do the mail either. Make it a regular part of every day.
- You must learn to make quick decisions. Failure to make decisions is the number one cause of clutter. Some even define clutter as postponed decisions.
Here's the system.
- Designate one place for mail. Think of where you regularly drop the mail now and put a container there (basket, shoe box, plastic tray... something to hold the mail temporarily).
- At some point every day (it doesn't have to be as soon as you get home) process the mail. Notice that I didn't say "Go through the mail". That's what most people do; they go through the mail, pull out the "good stuff" and toss the rest back on the table. In order to process the mail, you'll need a system. I recommend that you open and look at every piece of mail. Sort into four piles - Act, Shred, Recycle, and Trash.
- ACT: these are items that require action on your part; they need to be read, paid, filed, forwarded to someone else, etc.
- SHRED: these are items with personal information (account numbers, social security numbers, etc.); I put a little tear in these docs so they don't accidentally end up in recycle or trash.
- RECYCLE: items that can be recycled, such as envelopes, flyers, postcards, and communications that do not contain sensitive information (check with your city for details on what can and cannot be recycled)
- TRASH: anything that does not require action, does not need to be shredded and cannot be recycled. My trash pile is usually very small or nonexistent.
- Now, throw the trash in the trash can, the recycling in the recycle bin and shred the shred docs. I don't believe you will need a "To Be Shredded" box, as it only takes about one minute to shred mail each day, if you keep up with it.
- All that remains are the docs that need action. Watch for a future post on how to track action items. In the mean time, tackle right away the ones that you can do in less than two minutes. Place the rest in a location where you can locate them later when you're ready to finish processing them.
If you use this system, let me know how it works for you! You can find me on Twitter (@themarydonovan) or comment on this blog.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Rain!
By special request - I was asked to write today about rain, since it is, in fact, raining outside. After several hours of thinking, inspiration eludes me and I find myself at a loss for words (that's a first!).
Fortunately, I recently received a Tweet from Mark Hensen (@sparkspace) about rain, the economic downturn, and running a business.
Click here http://www.sparknewthinking.com/2009/07/rain-doesnt-kill-you.html to read Mark's musings. Also check out SparkSpace in the Arena District for your next meeting or event. A very cool place to spark creativity! And don't miss Free Coffee Fridays in August! http://www.sparkspace.com/comingevents/freecoffeefriday.html
Fortunately, I recently received a Tweet from Mark Hensen (@sparkspace) about rain, the economic downturn, and running a business.
Click here http://www.sparknewthinking.com/2009/07/rain-doesnt-kill-you.html to read Mark's musings. Also check out SparkSpace in the Arena District for your next meeting or event. A very cool place to spark creativity! And don't miss Free Coffee Fridays in August! http://www.sparkspace.com/comingevents/freecoffeefriday.html
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Gardening and Time Management
I finally made some time today to address the growing population of weeds in my vegetable garden. While I sat pulling blades of grass and miniature maple trees from amid the squash, tomato, and snow pea plants, I thought back to earlier in the year when I'd first planted my garden.
I'm new at this gardening thing and as little green seedlings began to emerge from the carefully cultivated soil, I was overtaken by a sense of pride and fear all at once. Proud that I'd been able to create life (so to speak) and fearful that I had no idea if the emerging seedlings were the ones I'd planted or if they were weeds! They were so small - how could I tell? So I just watered them all and they all grew. "What a fine gardener I am!" I told myself. As the days went by, however, it became clear that either I'd planted way too much (a story for another day - think summer squash plants!) or half of what I was carefully cultivating was, in fact, weeds. Now what?
So what does my garden have to do with time management? Our schedules and To Do lists can quickly become overrun with "weeds" if we don't take time each day to review what's there and weed out the unnecessary tasks and obligations. Just as with my garden (where it was hard to tell the weeds from the veggie plants) it can be challenging to determine which of our daily tasks are important and deserving of our time and attention, and which are weeds and need to be plucked out before they take over the whole day.
My suggestion: Take a look at your schedule/calendar/day planner. Is your day overrun with "weeds"? If so, begin to weed them out, making more space for the delicate plants in your life to grow and flourish. At the same time, be mindful of new "seeds" that try to plant themselves in your schedule. If they're not really important, don't let them in your garden. You'll end up devoting time to nurturing weeds, time better spent on the plants in your life.
I'm new at this gardening thing and as little green seedlings began to emerge from the carefully cultivated soil, I was overtaken by a sense of pride and fear all at once. Proud that I'd been able to create life (so to speak) and fearful that I had no idea if the emerging seedlings were the ones I'd planted or if they were weeds! They were so small - how could I tell? So I just watered them all and they all grew. "What a fine gardener I am!" I told myself. As the days went by, however, it became clear that either I'd planted way too much (a story for another day - think summer squash plants!) or half of what I was carefully cultivating was, in fact, weeds. Now what?
So what does my garden have to do with time management? Our schedules and To Do lists can quickly become overrun with "weeds" if we don't take time each day to review what's there and weed out the unnecessary tasks and obligations. Just as with my garden (where it was hard to tell the weeds from the veggie plants) it can be challenging to determine which of our daily tasks are important and deserving of our time and attention, and which are weeds and need to be plucked out before they take over the whole day.
My suggestion: Take a look at your schedule/calendar/day planner. Is your day overrun with "weeds"? If so, begin to weed them out, making more space for the delicate plants in your life to grow and flourish. At the same time, be mindful of new "seeds" that try to plant themselves in your schedule. If they're not really important, don't let them in your garden. You'll end up devoting time to nurturing weeds, time better spent on the plants in your life.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Who am I?
I’m a person, just like you, who wants to feel great every day. I want to have the time and energy to do what I enjoy. I want to go to sleep at night with no worries on my mind and wake up each morning excited about the day ahead. I want to surround myself with people who are energized and excited by their lives, both professional and personal. If you want to be this way too, then follow my blog and together we’ll try to figure it out!
To earn a living, I am a Professional Organizer and a yoga teacher. The longer I work in these two areas the more similarities I find between them. As an organizer I help people find space in their environment and in their schedules. As a yoga teacher, my students find space in their bodies and in their minds, clearing away the clutter of persistent thoughts and worries. Space seems to be a recurring theme in my work.
When I'm not organizing or teaching yoga, I love to play with my two dogs, Gryphon and Bogie. I'm a long suffering Cleveland Indians fan (Go Tribe!) but I'd rather play sports than watch them. I'm most at home in the mountains (so what am I doing in Columbus Ohio?) where I can hike all day and sleep in peace. I love to watch romantic comedies and listen to John Mayer and James Taylor, among others.
To earn a living, I am a Professional Organizer and a yoga teacher. The longer I work in these two areas the more similarities I find between them. As an organizer I help people find space in their environment and in their schedules. As a yoga teacher, my students find space in their bodies and in their minds, clearing away the clutter of persistent thoughts and worries. Space seems to be a recurring theme in my work.
When I'm not organizing or teaching yoga, I love to play with my two dogs, Gryphon and Bogie. I'm a long suffering Cleveland Indians fan (Go Tribe!) but I'd rather play sports than watch them. I'm most at home in the mountains (so what am I doing in Columbus Ohio?) where I can hike all day and sleep in peace. I love to watch romantic comedies and listen to John Mayer and James Taylor, among others.
Welcome!
If you’re like most people, you’re feeling overwhelmed by the fast pace of today’s lifestyle. Longer work hours, economic instability, 24/7 communication, family obligations, and day-to-day commitments can cause stress. Left unmanaged, high levels of stress lead to dis-ease: restless sleep, irritability, reduced productivity at word and at home, and even illness.
This blog is dedicated to simple living, to offering thoughts, suggestions and ideas to help everyone live a more simple, peaceful and happy life. There is no right or wrong way to accomplish this great feat. Watch this site for helpful hints and ideas to help guide you in the right direction. Peace!
This blog is dedicated to simple living, to offering thoughts, suggestions and ideas to help everyone live a more simple, peaceful and happy life. There is no right or wrong way to accomplish this great feat. Watch this site for helpful hints and ideas to help guide you in the right direction. Peace!
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