Your Personal Policies And Procedures

Imagine a store that doesn't bother putting together any policies or procedures. Think about how frustrating it would be to do business with a company that had no boundaries, no guidelines, no rules...

20 Ways To Tell Someone "No"

Tell me if this sounds familiar -- someone asks you to do something that you really don't want to do or you honestly don't have time for. It might be a church bake sale, a school fundraiser, participating on a committee, or even just working late. You want very badly to decline, but you worry that you'll let the other person down if you say no.

Eliminating Time Wasters

If you ask a group of people to define "time management", they will probably talk about getting it all done, crossing items off of a list, and being productive. However, good time management is not the ability to cram more and more into your day. It's a mindset that helps focus your time on those activities that are most valuable and meaningful to you.

Overscheduling Syndrome

The teenage daughter of my organizing client once showed me a science project she was working on -- "Why I'm So Tired All The Time." Was it sugar intake? Too much TV? Turns out she just had too damned much to do!

Creating A Not-To-Do List

When I sit down with a client to work on prioritizing and delegating, the biggest challenge is always deciding what kinds of activities and responsibilities to give up. Quite often, we get so entrenched in what we think we "should" be doing, that we forget to pay attention to what we "enjoy" doing. So when it comes time to let go of the boring, tedious, and time-consuming tasks that eat up our day, we face a struggle just trying to identify them.

When Life Doesn't Go According To Plan

I'm one of those people who has always had a "plan" for my life -- and rarely does it ever go the way I intended! I'm like George Bailey -- "I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that" -- then I find myself jumping off of a bridge and talking to angels (not exactly, but I'm sure you know the feeling...)

What Are You Willing To Do?

A lot of people will tell you that all you have to do to succeed is plan for success. Why, then, do so many of our best-laid plans often go awry? More times than not, it's because something about what we're trying to do isn't realistic -- the time frame, the resources required, or even how hard we're willing to work to accomplish the goal in our lives.

Traveling Light Through Life

As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing more freeing than heading out the door on a trip. I actually see travel as the perfect metaphor for simplifying -- the same guidelines you follow when hitting the road can help you "travel light" through everyday life as well.