Getting Things Done (GTD), the time management system based on David Allen’s best-selling book, is loved by many. It’s also no secret that not everyone finds it smooth sailing. GTD can become a cause of pain for some people, maybe for you. I often work with people who have tried GTD and after a while…
Category Archives: Organizing
“Building a Business You’ll Love” Coming to San Francisco
On October 15 I’m teaming up with Geralin Thomas, owner of Metropolitan Organizing and expert organizer from A&E’s Hoarders, to present a workshop especially for newer organizers and those who are wondering whether organizing might be right for them. It’s called “Building an Organizing Business You’ll Love,” and we have packed so much information…
Clutter Can Be Funny? Just Ask Lois
Lois Morton is the Gilbert and Sullivan of professional organizing. Watch her music video, here: Lois Morton’s “Confessions of a Clutterholic” And she’ll make you laugh, make you wince, and give you courage. Can you ask for more?
Worth Repeating – May posts from New Leaf News
Looking ahead to summer. Remembering the past on Memorial Day. Listening as commencement speakers recall prior achievements and give advice for a lifetime. May is filled with beginnings and endings. What would you like to begin? What would you like to end? Here are a few posts from past Mays to help make today more…
White Space
When you look at your office or your calendar, consider the use of white space. What do I mean by white space? In graphic or visual arts, white space is the portion of a page left unmarked. In radio, white space is the space between channels that is left unused to avoid interference. Why do…
Three Dangerous Words
No, not “I love you,” though they, too, can start all kinds of mischief. The dangerous words I have in mind are words that are not a problem when used in moderation and with awareness, but dangerous when applied too often. I’m thinking of “just for now.” I hear it regularly. When I ask a…
Use Real Estate Principles to Organize Your Office
What are the three most important considerations in real estate? Location, location, location. When organizing your office, apply real estate principles to get the most benefit from your space. Real estate professionals refer to different classes of office space. Class A office space, for example, refers to the prestigious buildings that attract premier tenants and…
Keeping too much? Some things never change
My organizing colleague Susan Shankle is an avid student of history. Recently she shared a discovery that illustrates our enduring human tendency to hang on to things that don’t serve us. I get a smile every time I read her note, so with her permission I’d like to share it with my readers. Susan wrote:…
Update: In-box zero
Back in June I pledged to achieve in-box zero by the first day of autumn, so I owe you, dear readers, an update. How did I do? In a word: busted. I managed to keep up with most everything that came in during the past three months, but the backlog is a mere 10 percent…
No Regrets
When I asked my father, then aged 85 and about to move out of the home he’d built with his own hands 25 years earlier, whether there was anything more he really wanted to do, his response was memorable: “You can always think of more things to do in a day than you can get…