creating beautiful work spaces

My social media guru, Leesa Barnes, just posted a new Marketing Fit video that talks about creating or finding beautiful spaces to work in.



I was inspired to post pictures of my own home office, which I have created to nourish and uplift me as I work at my computer every day. Enjoy!


This is my desk, which is really just a cedar door on top of three filing cabinets. I need LOTS of space around me when I work, and I also love the clean, uncluttered look of the bare wood. (And check out the vintage oak office chair, which a former client gave me.)



Adjacent to my desk is a folding table that I use when I'm working on large sewing, craft or art projects. If I ever need more floor space, I can always fold it up and move it elsewhere in my apartment. I also served dinner parties on this LONG combined surface.



The room has a gorgeous southeast exposure, and when it's not cloudy (like the day I took these pictures!), the sunshine pouring into the space is absolutely amazing. This small sitting area is a great place to read journals, drink tea, visit with friends or watch videos on YouTube; the standing lamps provide task lighting when the room gets dark after sunset.



I love the mis-matched charm of "junk style" or "shabby chic"; I found this simple chair at the side of the road on garbage day not too long ago. Once I brought it inside and cleaned it up, it looked pretty good! Now it's a place to set magazines and journals, and can be used as extra seating in a pinch.



I also love natural elements in my rooms - I'm forever bringing home branches, nests and other bits and pieces from my daily walks. Here's a maple branch that I found after a windstorm this winter; propped in a corner against a pale wall, it adds a calm, zen-like touch to my office.



I found this antler in the woods recently, when I was helping a local farmer set up the saplines in his maple sugar bush in preparation for maple syrup season.



A large metal locker holds art supplies and tools, and is a great surface to stick magnets onto. Here, a large rare earth magnet from Lee Valley Tools holds a gorgeous recycled-paper calendar from Avalanche Publishing Acquisition that features photos of trees - yet another natural element for my office.



Behind my desk is my infamous wall o' shelves, which everyone always comments on whenever they see the space for the first time. Yes, I'm a professional organizer; no, I don't always remember where I put everything!

Creating your own inspiring workspace is easy, once you know what pleases and refreshes you. I know that I prefer wide, open, clutter-free spaces in order to work most effectively. Having a place for everything, and putting things away when I'm done with them, helps me keep my space organized.

the niggly stuff

I have recently been faced with a problem that I often see with my clients - the inability to get rid of the tiny, niggly little stuff that has no immediate use.

The above shot is a photo of the inside of the medicine cabinet in my bathroom. I don't own much make-up, so the three shelves are filled with essential oils, dental floss, toothpaste, bath salts and the massage oil that I add to my daily baths. I keep the oil in a beautiful glass bottle, and until recently the bottle cork was topped by a lovely wooden ball.

The wooden ball has come off.


Now, I love wood. You'll find wooden objects throughout my apartment. It pleased me to no end that my oil bottle had a wood-topped cork.

But that wooden ball is now non-functional. It's so impregnated with oil that I could never glue it back onto the cork again. (Which is probably how it came unglued in the first place.) I have no other use for it.

But could I get rid of it? Not for several weeks.

First I tried shoving it back onto the cork, hoping they would stay stuck together. Then I got irritated every time I tried to uncork the bottle and the wooden ball came off in my hand.

It's just so beautiful. How could I throw it out? Indecisive, I kept it on my medicine cabinet shelf.

I see this with organizing clients all the time. They can't make a decision, so they don't make a decision - not realizing that they have just, by default, made a decision. To keep it.

My advice? Just get rid of it. Find a good home for it if you can (reduce, reuse, recycle), but if after several days (or weeks) you find yourself paralysed by not knowing what to do with it, just get rid of it.

My wooden ball went into the garbage this morning.

me on tv

On Thursday and Friday of this week (March 21 and 22, 2008) I was featured in two news segments on Toronto's City TV. My colleague April Poppe and I organized and redecorated a child's bedroom in a viewer's home. Video clips can be found on the links below.

Part 1: "Before"
Part 2: "After"

My "big" interview, featuring tips on how to stay organized, is shown during the second segment. I hope to share more information on the behind-the-scenes experience soon.

the real secret to getting (and staying) organized

Insomnia.

(Sad, but true.)

I am living it right this moment. And you know there's something wrong with your life when you look forward to being awake in the middle of the night because at least then you'll be able to get some more stuff done.

I am going to be filmed by City TV later today, and my life is suddenly insane. I am already incredibly busy with my day job as Artistic Administrator for the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and to top it off yesterday I had a migraine. There's nothing more crazy-making than driving around with a pounding head and a queasy stomach at 7 p.m. on a Monday night trying to find a lululemon store that's open so you can buy some new yoga pants for your upcoming television appearance.

I got home and promised myself that if I went to bed at a decent hour (rather than staying up extra late to get things done), I could work in the middle of the night when my chronic insomnia woke me up. (Which it has. And I am. Working in the middle of the night, that is.)

Since 4 a.m. I have been folding and putting away dry laundry, putting away dry dishes, making my bed (I may nap on top of it later this morning, but let's face it - I am not getting back in that puppy again tonight), working on an operating budget for the Chorale and (wait for it) pressing wrinkled photocopies of a recent Chorale newspaper article that somebody gave me (and getting photocopy toner all over my iron in the process).

This is how I stay organized, folks. I'm ashamed to admit it, but these days I depend on my sleep deficit to take care of all the dirty work.

And I feel really bad about my previous blog entry (on getting things done by giving them to a busy person). Because there's such a thing as being too busy.

I just replaced all the ink cartridges in my printer/copier/fax machine (it had been out of ink for about three weeks) because I only just bought the replacement ink last night. During my lululemon search. The re-inked printer did its rumbly cleaning routine, and then spit out a single sheet of paper. I'm assuming it's the last print job I tried to do before I ran out of ink; four tiny words on a sea of white space admonish me.

The Music We Are


(Which reminds me, I need to go over my Easter choral music before the end of the week.)

To be continued...

how to get things done

There's an old adage: If you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it.

Sometime last fall I walked into my church choir rehearsal and the conductor (and my now-employer, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor) asked me how I did it.

Did what?

My writing... where did I find time for it all? (I guess he'd been taking a look my blogs - all six of them.)

I don't know, was my reply. I guess the real answer was that I loved doing it, and it was easy to find the time to do the things I loved.

Thinking back on it now, though, I realize that there's something to be said for momentum. It's the getting started that hampers most people - the inability to overcome the inertia of inactivity in certain areas of their lives.

I am looking forward to an insane couple of weeks. I am very busy at work with upcoming grant application deadlines, and I got a phone call late Friday afternoon from City TV wondering if I would be the professional organizer for a spring-cleaning contest they're holding right now for their viewers. If that goes ahead as planned (although knowing TV-land, there's a good chance that it might not), I am going to need a few 30-hour days just to keep pace with everything I need to get done.

The great thing about being busy, though (at least for finite periods of time - I wouldn't want this to go on indefinitely!) is that I'm already moving. As long as I can take care of the basics - getting enough sleep, nourishing food and some built-in downtime - everything else will (hopefully) fall into place.

The answer to this post's title, I guess? Give it to me... LOL

"have you always been this organized?"

Yes. Eat your heart out.

(Just kidding - about the heart part, anyway.)

That's the one question I'm most often asked by clients (usually right after they've seen my organizing kit or my car's trunk). (The second most popular question: "Is my house the worst you've ever seen?")

(To which I'm inclined to want to answer (but don't): "Do you WANT it to be?")*

Yes, I've always been this organized. But that doesn't mean you can't be organized, too. There's a difference between being organized and being a professional organizer - and I'm here to help you with the former. Don't even worry about the latter.

Organization is a skill that can be taught, and even the most disorganized person can learn some basic tools to create and maintain more order in his or her life. So please don't feel defeated when you see people who seem to have their acts together, and admit to having been that way their whole lives. (This would include most professional organizers. We're a strange breed.)

You, too, can live an organized life. There is hope.

A good place to start is to spend some quiet time with yourself, thinking about the way you'd really like to live. Do you have a friend or acquaintance whose life you admire? When you look at pictures in books or magazines, what kinds of homes appeal to you? What kind of lifestyles make you feel truly good inside? Do you pine for a fast-paced, hectic life, or one that's mellower - more laidback?

Pay special attention to the things you yearn for. If we truly love something, we are more inclined to do the work necessary to manifest it. Beware of trying to create environments you feel you "should have" or "should want." Are you happy living in comfortable clutter? Maybe you don't even need to do anything about it. Only if your life is negatively affected by some aspect of your disorganization should you even consider making a change.

If you're convinced you really do want to change, consult with a professional organizer who can help you prioritize your needs and create your action plan. Based on your budget and your time frame, you can then begin to address your organizing challenges.

*I have to admit that that line is not original to me. I heard it from a breakout session speaker - an American professional organizer named Lynne Johnson, who specializes in helping the chronically disorganized - at last year's Professional Organizers in Canada conference in Toronto. She was a terrifically funny woman, with a deadpan delivery reminiscent of Ellen Degeneres.

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

is michelle lynne goodfellow perfectly organized?

No.

In fact, on some days, I feel like I've lost a brain cell or thousand. (And I haven't even hit peri-menopause yet. Heaven help me!)

But what makes me a great professional organizer is that I'm really, really good at troubleshooting. My mind loves a puzzle, and I enjoy tracing a problem back to its source - then rectifying it.

(I also adore the drudgery of sorting and purging - especially when it's other people's stuff!)

So how do I keep myself organized during my own day-to-day existence?

I'm pretty low-tech. I have a paper datebook. Small enough to fit in my purse. With a weekly page-spread, so I can see my entire week at once. If I could get away with a monthly spread, I would - but I occasionally have too many activities each day for that.

I write client information (addresses, telephone numbers) on Post-it Notes and stick them right in the datebook on the pertinent week's spread. They usually stay in there forever unless I need them for a later week, or the information ceases to be relevant.

I write clients' billable hours right in the datebook as well, and later transfer them to an Excel spreadsheet.

I keep a separate, small spiral-bound notebook in which to write notes. Anything that needs writing down (including endless To Do lists!) gets put in there. I date every single entry, and I archive the notebooks when I finish them. The one I'm using now goes all the way back to my apartment search last summer.

I also staple stuff - handouts, lists I've made on other paper, business cards, labels and UPC codes from my favorite products, MapQuest printouts, etc. - and stick Post-it Notes in there, too. The notebook is small enough to go in my purse and with me everywhere.

I try to make a point of looking at my datebook and notebook at least once a day. Usually the only times I've really screwed up are when I've relied on my memory and not checked the books first.

I have a place for everything and make a point of putting everything away in its place every day. (This includes e-mails in my Outlook Express program, and files for my other online and computer activities.)

I've travelled a lot in the past year, and I've learned to plan backwards in time from end of any trip or prolonged activity. I got that tip from my ex-boyfriend (a travelling actor and singer - check out his website here). If I'm away for more than an overnight, I write down every activity I will be doing from the end of the trip to its beginning, and making sure to pack everything I need for all those activities.

I prepare healthy food ahead of time in bulk quantities. I'm a vegetarian with some dietary restrictions; when I'm hungry and don't have food prepared it often results in junk food binges. So I always have several days' worth of brown rice, hard-boiled eggs, beans and soups in my fridge or freezer.

Those are pretty much my basics.

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

extreme purging

Are you inspired by reading about organizing and organization?

One of my favorite books about the voluntary simplicity movement is by author Elaine St. James. In Living the Simple Life she tells the story of a family who lost their home in a fire. When the time came to begin replacing their possessions, they suddenly realized how few of their former things they really needed.

They had experienced a shocking loss, yet were able to see the silver lining in their tragedy. They got a chance to start all over again, creating a life (and a home) that was a true expression of their values.

If your house was on fire and you had only moments to escape, what would you take with you?

Most of us have at least a few irreplaceables: photos, mementos, family heirlooms. But stop a moment and think. How important are those things, really?

What I've found as I've done layer after layer of my own purging is that there is really very little that I can't live without. I'm fond of my favorite possessions, yes - but my life will not be diminished by their loss.

There's something very freeing in this attitude. If my things don't matter, I can spend more energy on the stuff that does - like friendship, and joyful activities, and personal development.

I moved last fall, and I've helped others move in the months since. Every time I lug a box full of stuff that I know won't get unpacked for months - if ever! - I question the sanity of our culture (and my friends and clients).

Sometimes I entertain a fantasy: What if I moved to Europe? What if I couldn't take more than a couple of suitcases with me? What if I lived my life with everything I needed, packed into a carry-on bag?

This is extreme purging. And I'm feeling the pull. Every time I let go of another thing I once thought I could never live without, I feel like I've lost 20 pounds. (Do I smell a reality show somewhere...?)

gratitude

At various times in my life I have been a faithful Oprah viewer, and through her show I have been introduced to some amazing, life-changing ideas.*

Something that has stuck with me for years is cultivating an attitude of gratitude. With the recent popularity of the Law of Attraction (as explained in books such as The Secret), the value of gratitude has become even more apparent.

Years ago, the best-selling author Sarah Ban Breathnach recommended keeping a gratitude journal in which to record all the things for which you are grateful. At various times I have made gratitude lists, and last fall I started an art journal dedicated to gratitude.

For months I wrote in it only occasionally, but lately I have become almost obsessed with gratitude. I have so much for which to be thankful, and I love looking back over what I have written. It makes me happy.

As Oprah says, "The more your praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."

*In fact, it was an Oprah show that originally introduced me to professional organizing, via Oprah guest Julie Morgenstern.

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

post-it notes

I recently had an initial consultation with a new client who is struggling with the burden of too many tasks to accomplish. As we talked about his situation, he asked how he might begin to organize all his projects so that he can get the "big picture" and prioritize everything more effectively.

I shared with him my favorite brainstorming tool: a pack of Post-it Notes.

I'm very visually oriented (hence my parallel existence as a visual artist), and I like to see everything in front of me when I'm working. If I have a lot of ideas to organize, I sit down with some Post-its and start jotting down ideas - one item per page - then stick them to a large area like a blank wall, a door, or an empty tabletop.

It's easy to move things around as patterns begin to emerge, and after about fifteen or twenty minutes I have a visual chart of the subject I'm brainstorming. I can then transcribe all the Post-it jottings as bullets in a spreadsheet or Word document, and begin formulating my action plan.

My visual orientation also means that I shun PDAs, because I like to see everything all at once. If it's not on the page in front of me, I can't remember it well. If I had room to carry around a desk-blotter-sized "month-at-a-glance" calendar, I would. As it is, I make do with a "week-at-a-glance" day planner, and a monthly wall calendar for tracking my financial life (accounts payable, etc.).

I love Post-It Notes. I keep pads of them everywhere, and jot down "to do" lists whenever I think of something. I can stick the notes in my day planner, include them in my business files, or stick them on highly visible surfaces around my apartment to remind me of things. Thank heaven for 3M...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

change

How many of us deal well with change? I like to think I do, but the honest truth is, you often have to carry me into change kicking and screaming.

I've made some huge changes in my life in the past year: I started a romantic relationship, changed singing teachers, applied for and was accepted into an Alexander Technique teacher-training program, closed my eco-friendly cleaning business, moved to a new city, started school, started a professional organizing business, and returned to a freelance writing business I'd set aside years ago.

Change? Piece of cake. Life was full, rich, exciting and interesting. I took everything well in stride. Or so I thought.

Then I broke up with my boyfriend.

Now I find myself coming home to an empty apartment. I check my voicemail. I hear Jim Carrey's voice in my head, reciting his character's line from The Cable Guy: "Nobody loves me."

I cry.

How did I go from being loved and cherished (and telephoned at least once a day by my beloved) to being alone? I want a do-over.

Strangely enough, I received a pertinent e-newsletter from Yoga Journal in my inbox today. It began:

How is it that when life is spun around by circumstances, benign or otherwise, some people flail while others sail? Why do some of us wallow in that place where we're so shocked and unhappy about an unexpected turn of events that we resist reality and find ourselves mired in bitterness or fear or hopelessness? Instead of accepting change with grace, we dig in our heels and suffer through each day of things not being what we think they should be. What's the secret to riding each new wave gracefully?

I was ashamed to recognize myself in the above paragraph. (The "mired in bitterness, fear, or hopelessness" part, if you must know.) Turns out that yoga mindfulness practices can help with the emotional fallout of change. Two quotes jumped out at me:

Accept Impermanence. Every day, repeat a gatha (mindfulness verse): "Great is the matter of birth and death; impermanence surrounds us. Be awake each moment; do not waste your life."

You can separate your feelings from your response to them. By distinguishing your core emotions from those that pile on afterward, you don't limit your emotional life; on the contrary, you unclutter it. As Boccio says, it's the clutter that leads you away from your true experience and into murkier territory.

I (who make a living from reducing clutter) had never thought about uncluttering my emotional life. What a concept.

You can read the entire article yourself, here. See if you don't start to look at change in a new way...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

loss, and freedom

Hello, beautiful person! I'm so happy you've stumbled across this blog. This particular post, and all its scintillating content, has been moved to my personal blog, emelgy.com.

the end of the fast

Last night at sunset (7:29 pm) was the official end of my fast (see my entry from March 2, 2007 for more details).

(I actually cheated and broke the fast a little early; I was at a business meeting in the late afternoon, and they served a meal - pizza and desserts. Since the end of the Baha'i fast is usually marked by New Year's celebrations and a feast, I felt entitled to improvise. Besides, I'm not really Baha'i - I was just doing this to better understand my boyfriend's religion.)

I feel bittersweet about the end of the fast, though. In many ways I couldn't wait for it to be over: I was tired of my late afternoon blues from feeling starved, and I hated the bad breath that accompanied my fasting hours. Plus, until the time change, it was a hassle to make sure I ate and drank enough before 6:30 every morning.

But I found comfort in the rigidity and structure of the fast (I'm usually a grazer - I eat little bits of food all day long), and I enjoyed becoming reacquainted with my self-discipline.

(Too bad I didn't lose any weight - THAT would have been a nice perk.)

During the past 19 days I made a concerted effort to eat very consciously, and I really enjoyed each bite of food that passed my lips. I was amazed to discover how little I needed to feel full; I normally eat until my plate is empty, and often take second or third helpings without thinking.

After the first few days of the fast (during which I was exhausted and cranky), I experienced a profound sense of physical well-being and health. I had much more energy than normal. I felt slim (even though I didn't lose weight), and I faced a lot of my emotional demons when I couldn't anesthetize them with food.

Now I'm experiencing some fear surrounding the return to "regular" eating. Last night was sobering: After days of eating consciously, I compulsively scarfed down too many slices of pizza, a can of (full sugar) pop, and two butter tarts. So much for enlightenment.

I need to make peace with the fact that I can slip up sometimes; it's not the end of the world if we stray from the path every now and then. The same applies to organizing: Once we've got systems in place, a week (or even a few months) of non-maintenance won't kill us.

The trick is (I think) to make sure we find pleasure and satisfaction in the new, more desirable behavior. Whether we incorporate regular rewards into our schedule, or find other ways of making the desired behavior more enjoyable, we reinforce the positive changes and make the new path smoother for ourselves.

Do you know what motivates you to stick with a program? It might be worth your while to figure that out...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

the difficult stuff

I don't have to tell you that organizing gets difficult, sometimes. (Maybe all the time?)

When you're in the middle of a righteous mess, and you don't know where to start or what to do next, it can be a challenge to stick with it and not give up.

What sees us through the rough patches?

Having a larger vision for your life can help, which is why I've been spending so much time on the subject of clarifying passions and dreams.

When we know what we value and want for our lives, we can make better choices about what we do with our time - choices that hopefully align with the aforementioned dreams and passions.

Even master organizers can get bogged down in the middle of a sort. It's hardest for me when I'm dealing with my own stuff. I remember my move last fall; after two or three days of unpacking I was ready to call it quits - and I was still only half done!

If you want to begin an organizing project, keep it simple. Don't imagine that you can fix your entire life in one headlong, all-out blitz of a weekend. Those TV organizing shows are great, but they're not an accurate representation of real life. Very few of us can afford to hire the legions of helpers needed to successfully complete such a huge project so quickly.

Think instead of one area that - if it was organized - would make a big impact on your emotional well-being. This is very personal - it will be different for every individual. Some organizers suggest that you begin organizing the core or hub of your house and work outwards, but maybe for you it's more important to have a restful haven where you can renew yourself at the end of the day - in which case, it might make more sense to start with your bedroom.

What isn't working in your life? Where do things begin to fall apart? If you want a serene bedroom retreat, and instead find yourself constantly surrounded by the clutter of your clothes - scattered on the floor, piled on every surface, spilling out of the closet - try to identify the real problem.

Do you have too many clothes for your space? Maybe you just don't like to put things away. Maybe you hate laundry and can't follow through with all the steps involved (picking up your clothes, taking them to the laundry area, washing and drying the clothes, folding them, bringing them back to your room, putting them away). Maybe you feel you don't have enough time to take care of household tasks. Maybe you can't afford to hire somebody else to clean your bedroom for you.

What is the real reason? Maybe you resent the amount of work you have to do, and a messy bedroom is your way of rebelling. Maybe you're a shopaholic. Maybe you can't let go of gifts, clothes that no longer fit you, or clothes that are out of style. Maybe it comforts you to have a full-to-bursting closet.

Maybe you don't need to organize your bedroom after all. But wait - you said you wanted a serene space to unwind at the end of the day!

Which is more important: Your reason for having clutter, or your desire to have clear space?

(It's okay to decide on the former, by the way. We don't have to organize everything. I want to write a separate post about this soon: Knowing when to organize, and when to leave it be.)

Let's say you want the serene bedroom more than the clutter. Once you've figured out why you have the clutter, you can address the root of the problem and make changes.

If you have too many clothes for your space, get rid of the ones you no longer wear. You'd be amazed at how little of your wardrobe you actually use on a regular basis. Without all the excess, you might find you have plenty of room for everything, and when you have a dedicated place for each item, you'll enjoy putting things where they belong.

If you don't like doing laundry, find a way to get somebody else to do it, or figure out how to make the job more appealing.

If you're being passive-aggressive about the cleaning, or realize you're a shopaholic, invest some time and energy into healing your issues. (You may want to seek out counselling, too.)

If you feel obligated to keep things that other people give you, or you just don't have the heart to let go of clothing mementos (your wedding dress; the suit you wore on your first date) or clothing dreams (those size six pants that you want to wear again someday; that great party frock that would look amazing on the red carpet - except you never go out) take a reality check.

Keeping a few key mementos (provided you have the space) is one thing; hanging onto everything is self-defeating. Clutter is stagnant energy, and many people find they get "stuck" in all parts of their lives when they can't let go of things and allow the natural flow of energy.

When you finally decide to act, set a realistic pace. I never recommend working more than two or three hours at a time on any organizing project. Even an hour once a week is fine. Resolve to get rid of ten items of clothing. Bag it up and get it out of the house. Repeat until you're done.

And get help - from family, friends, professionals - if you need it.

Finally, reward yourself for everything you do that brings you closer to your dreams. This step is important. We're more likely to enjoy - and keep doing - activities that are positively reinforced. It doesn't have to be a big thing.

Just show yourself that you care...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

the power of dreams

Sometimes we get stuck in self-defeating ruts where we can't see that something different is possible for our lives.

My boyfriend made a comment to me last night that blew me away. He said, "Just think, if you hadn't met me, you would still be cleaning houses in London."

The power of dreams: They can change everything.

I was happy in London. I had a satisfying business, and I loved my clients dearly. They were (and are - I still write them regularly to let them know how I'm doing) like family to me. But I was struggling with the physical side-effects of a labour-intensive job; I had almost constant back pain and knee pain, and repetitive strain injuries in my wrists and hands.

If you had told me a year ago that I would find a new boyfriend, move to a new city, start the Alexander Technique training program (www.alexandertechnique.ca), heal my body, and begin rewarding new businesses as a professional organizer and freelance writer, I would have laughed at you. I didn't know my own strengths and resourcefulness. Just think what might have (not) happened if I hadn't dared to dream!

I get many daily inspirational e-mails in my inbox, and a few days ago I received a gem from Debra Lynn Dadd:

Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way.

~ Eileen Caddy

Life is too short to be anything other than your best self. Get started on it today...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

remember to play

I've been working too hard lately - writing proposals for new business, tending to all my volunteer commitments - and when I fall into bed at night, I'm exhausted.

(Oh, wait - I'm also fasting. No wonder I'm so tired!)

I love what I do (organize, write, and study the Alexander Technique), but sometimes I forget to take a breather and really play.

Tonight I was busy at the sewing machine, making some dress-up clothes for my niece for her fifth birthday. She's a princess, and she loves to dance around in the things I create. I can't wait to give her these gifts: two capes sewn from silky lining material, and a wedding veil I made from some old tulle I had lying around.

Sewing is not really playing for me - I have a Home Economics degree, and sitting at the machine feels like more work - but my imagination is delighted by the colours and textures of the fabric. As I picked through my stash tonight looking for something to give Meghan, I felt like a kid again. I, too, loved to play dress-up as a child; wrapping myself in luxurious fabrics, I was a fairytale heroine.

These days when I want to play, I colour - like a kid - with crayons. Among the million other things I do, I'm also a trained artist, but - as with sewing - trying too hard to make "art" feels like too much work. So I give myself license to be entirely free with the crayons, and I'm often amazed at what I make when I'm not really trying to do anything.

Don't forget to play. When you're organizing your life, make room for your own grown-up equivalent of dress-up clothes and crayons. And then lose yourself in the playing...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

know thyself

I'm still fasting. This may be the longest 19 days of my life.

One of the silver linings, however, is that I am continually forced to face my own habits. I can't run from what I am feeling in the moment.

I never realized how much I used food and drink as an anesthetic. Whenever I am feeling uncomfortable, the first thing I want to do is put something in my mouth. Now that I can't put something in my mouth, I truly have to deal with my discomfort.

(And I am - kind of. I've also found a new anesthetic: sleep. Naps are good. I'm having no difficulty rationalizing them, either, because I need lots of sleep now that I'm weak from not eating during daylight hours, right?)

Many of my posts over the last month have dealt with recognizing our dreams and visions for ourselves. Once we know what moves and inspires us, we can begin to think about taking action to create more fulfilling lives.

It's also important to know yourself. Know your habits. Know what makes you tick, know how you habitually react, know your common defenses, know how you sabotage yourself. If you don't know, you can't change.

Many spiritual disciplines (especially eastern ones) speak of developing your ability to witness your own life. That's what meditation is for, at its core: becoming aware of what is. Other disciplines (I'm thinking specifically of the Toltec path, www.miguelruiz.com) encourage us to become hunters or trackers of our own minds. If you're tracking an animal, you need to have intimate knowledge of the animal's habits. In a similar fashion, it can be valuable to know your own habits.

Try tracking your energy cycles. When do you have the most energy? When do you have the least?

I know that I have a lot of energy in the morning. I seem to wake up more easily than many people, and I enjoy being awake very early (five a.m.) in the day. If I do physical work at this time, I feel well-coordinated and enjoy what I'm doing. If I sit down and do mental work I have energy for a while, but it starts to taper off by mid-morning (10 a.m.).

Noon is my absolute slump time. If I stop moving, I fall asleep. When I had my own cleaning business, I would park my car somewhere safe (preferably near some green space, like a park) and have a catnap during my lunch break. I always woke up feeling refreshed.

These days I save any activities that need a sharp mind for late afternoon or early evening. This is when I love to write, and I can often work for hours into the evening without fatigue.

The joy and the gift of being self-employed is that I can use this knowledge to organize the tasks of my day.

What do you know about yourself? And how do you use that knowledge?

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

when the going gets busy

I'm in the middle of writing some business proposals right now, and don't have a lot of time for posting to my blogs. But as I work, I'm continually reminded of how valuable the organizing I've done for my own life has been.

I don't function well in chaos, and I know it. So I've created lots of clear space to do my work. I have two large tables where I can spread out my papers (or my artwork, or my fabric), and I have lots of storage space (filing cabinets, book shelves, and storage shelves) where I can hide things away when I'm not working.

I'm also reminded of the need for regular maintenance. Most good organizers will tell you that once you have systems in place, you need to take time at regular intervals to maintain your systems. This can be a chore if you let things go too long, but now I make it a part of my "settle down to work" routine.

I spend time every day puttering around - filing away papers, tidying up messes, doing light housekeeping - before I start working. You could also do this after work, but I prefer doing it at the beginning of my workday (which usually starts sometime in the late afternoon, if I don't have an organizing client). Mid-afternoon is my "slump" time, and my brain is not its sharpest then, so puttering is a great use of my time.

(So is napping. Shhh...) ;)

Today I made a bunch of phone calls, tied up some loose ends, and sorted an accumulation of paperwork: committee projects I'm involved with, business leads, inspirational journal notes, and financial stuff.

Now I'm awake and ready to get down to the nuts and bolts of my business writing. I look around me and I see the neat piles of papers that I will need this evening, as well as inspirational messages that keep me focused on my values. Here's a quote that's sitting beside me right now:

If we could learn to live from the level of the soul, we would see that the best, most luminous part of ourselves is connected to all the rhythms of the universe. We would truly know ourselves as the miracle-makers we are capable of being. We would lose fear, and longing, and hatred, and anxiety, and hesitation. Living from the level of the soul means diving past the ego, past the limitations of the mind that harness us to events and outcomes in the physical world.

Deepak Chopra, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, p77

http://www.chopra.com/

What are the circumstances and environments that best nourish your own work life? Do you know?

(And do you use that knowledge?)

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

some useful books

Don't stress about getting organized.

(Easy for me to say, I know.) :)

But I'm just like you in many ways. My life is too full. I have more material possessions than I need. And sometimes I feel like my default strategy has become rushing from one crisis to the next... to the next... to the next...

There are many useful tools out there for people interested in changing their lives. I've mentioned some in previous posts, and I'd like to share a few more.

I have found the books by Cheryl Richardson to be invaluable. She suggests several practical action plans for becoming aware of what's going on - and going wrong - in your life.

Before Cheryl there was Barbara Sher, whose books are fantastic for helping you figure out what it is you really want from life.

If you know you need to simplify and you're not sure where to start, check out the books by Elaine St. James. She offers short, simple steps that will help free up your time to do the things you really want to do in life. A sample of her writing can be found here.

If you prefer a more business-like approach, you might enjoy Stephen R. Covey's bestselling books, including The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

And once you've decided to really get organized, the books, audiotapes, and videotapes by professional organizer Julie Morgenstern provide a thorough overview of any personal or workplace organizing project you might want to undertake.

(Just be sure that if you buy the books, you actually read them. Don't laugh. Even I occasionally buy books that I never get around to reading...)

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

zeroing in on priorities

I was going to start talking about physical surroundings, but then I realized there's a bit more I want to mention regarding dreams and good feelings.

Do you know how you spend your day? The following is based on an exercise from Cheryl Richardson's book Take Time For Your Life (www.cherylrichardson.com).

Make a rough list of how you spend the hours of each day. Look back over the past week, and notice how much time you spent on everything that you do, including sleeping.

An average day for me lately, for example, would look like the following:

sleep - 6 hours
food preparation and eating - 1 1/2 hours
bathing and dressing - 1/2 hour
reading - 1 hour
playing Sudoku - 1/2 hour
Alexander training (weekdays) - 3 hours
travel time - 1 hour
errands - 1 hour
napping - 2 hours
phone calls - 2 hours
working at the computer (including e-mail) - 3 1/2 hours

total: 22 hours

(I haven't figured out what I do in those extra two hours. They get used somehow - probably on the computer, writing these blogs!)

Obviously there's some variation in anyone's schedule. One night a week, I have choir rehearsals; some days I don't work at my computer (so much). Sometimes I socialize with friends, and when I have organizing clients I spend time on that, rather than at the computer. This past weekend (when my boyfriend was in town), I spent a lot of time with my boyfriend.

But it can be a very sobering experience to see how your time goes, especially if you don't usually keep track of your extra-curricular activities and all the little things you do with your day when you're not working.

And I'm not advocating that you suddenly start to pencil in "me" time, or anything. (Although that probably wouldn't be a bad idea). I just want you to realize that you have made choices, whether consciously or unconsciously, about how you will spend the precious minutes of your life. And if you don't like the way your life looks right now, you can make new choices that will change it.

What are your priorities? If you make a pie chart of your daily activities (something you can do if you put your list in Excel), does it make you feel good to see that over one third of your day is spent on activities directly related to your work? Do you wish that more time was spent on activities that nourish your life in other ways?

I love working on the computer; I love writing. But I can lose hours online (when I'm researching new business), and I often fall into bed each night jittery and distracted - only to start the next day the same way, as I rush to check my morning e-mail and take up my work where I left off.

I've also noticed that there's no time for yoga in my list above. That make me unhappy. And I would love even more time to read for pleasure.

What's missing from your own life? What changes do you want to see in your schedule? Continue to dream your dreams there...

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow