For every minute spent organizing,
an hour is earned. ~ Benjamin Franklin


4th November 2021

Hello!

This weekend I reached a boiling point – I just couldn’t take all the clutter on my desk and the area surrounding it!

I had books stacked on my desk – waiting for me to read. I had tax documents I had scanned and sent to my CPA for filing my taxes. I had letters my mom wanted me to look at to see if she needed to do anything…and it went on and on including cat treats so I can distract the cat when he tries to photo bomb the Zoom meeting! It got to the point where I had to clear a path to my keyboard. It was distracting. It was time to take action.

I am normally very organized but it got away from me this time. Can you relate to this?

When I work with my clients, one of the first exercises I have them do is creating a beautiful space to work. It should be enticing, comfortable and a welcoming place for creativity to happen – not some place you hate! (This reminds me of when I was a kid taking piano lessons – the piano was in a dark, dingy corner in the basement – guess who didn’t do well because I didn’t want to practice?). So I’m sharing some information on how you can organize yourself to success.

Here’s to a workspace that brings you joy and success beyond your wildest dreams!

Taking the LEAP with you!

 


The person on the phone wants to go over the contract she sent you. This is THE call you’ve been waiting for!

However, looking at your cluttered desk, you have no idea where the document might be. You had printed it out and made edits so you could easily reference it when on the call. When you go to the computer, you have no idea where you stored it.

You bluff your way out of the conversation (“Can I call you right back? I was on the other line when you called.”) and then spend 30 minutes hunting for the document. When you finally find it, you notice the stickie reminding you of action you were to have taken on the document last week. Yikes.

All of this creates a lot of negative energy. The wasted time...The harsh self-criticism…The stress and embarrassment…The lost opportunities.

This office nightmare comes to life countless times every day by people who miss or ignore the direct connection between organization and success. It’s not just that organization allows you to move more easily around the office. Organizing your office and work life helps you fulfill your own potential and that of your company.

“Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work and relax exactly as we want to,” writes Julie Morgenstern, in her book, Organizing from the Inside Out. “When we are organized, our homes, offices and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want and where we are going.” 

For most people, the three biggest obstacles to an organized office and work life are: clutter (paper and email), planning, and follow-through, the latter two being more an issue of time management. And while a disorganized office can be much like a disorganized schedule—overly packed, haphazard, limited in space or hours—it makes sense to organize space and paper first. Below are some tips for tackling office clutter.

If you’re starting from scratch—organizing the entire office and creating a new system—Morgenstern advises to first analyze the situation, taking an overall look at space, furnishings, equipment, supplies and types of paperwork.

Ask yourself five questions:

1. What’s working? It’s helpful to know what’s not “broken” so you don’t spend time fixing it. Also, a little “good news” is nice to hear.

2. What’s not working? Take a big picture approach here. It takes forever to get things done, because I can’t easily find what I need, so I work a lot of overtime.

3. What items are most essential to you? What do you need to have at hand? What papers represent the crux of your business?

4. Why do you want to get organized? These are the benefits you will derive from an organized office/desk. Less anxiety, more energy for work, more room for work and creativity.

5. What’s causing the problems? Some of the most common sources of office clutter: inconvenient or insufficient storage, no designated “home” for things, perception of not enough time to get or stay organized.

The next step is to strategize how to approach the things not working and their underlying problems. There are dozens of organization methods and systems; one might be just right for you, or you may be best served by mixing and matching ideas.

For many, the biggest problem lies in maintaining an organization system. Stephanie Winston, author of Organized for Success, studied the habits of a cross-section of high-level executives across the United States, and recommends a relentless, laser-focused approach to processing paperwork—and even electronic communication—so that it doesn’t build up:

  • Toss it. (Delete, if electronic.)
  • Refer it. (Forward.)
  • Act on it personally.
  • File it. (Archive.)

"To arrive at any kind of a sustaining system", Morgenstern writes, "it’s important to understand and work with or around psychological obstacles to a clutter-free environment."

These may include:

Unclear goals and priorities. Organizing is about defining what’s important and setting up a system to reflect that.

Fear of success/fear of failure. Disorganization may be a convenient way to hold back.

Need to retreat. Clutter can be a protective shield to keep others at a safe distance.

Fear of losing creativity. A common myth is that creative, “right-brained” people need to work in chaos to produce high-quality work. Balderdash!

Need for distraction. Clutter can provide a convenient excuse to avoid uncomfortable issues or unwanted tasks. 

Need for perfection. Often, people won't deal with clutter until it can be done perfectly. Translation: It will never get done.

Identifying these obstacles to an organized office and work life can go a long way toward creating an effective, lasting solution to clutter and disorganization. Along the way, you might just find yourself fulfilling your potential, too!

 

Challenge...

If you are surrounded by clutter take a deeper look...
Are you hiding behind the clutter?
Are your limiting beliefs causing you to be disorganized?

If so, what are they and how can you face them? Then, take at least one of the steps above to get more organized. Notice how you feel, once you’ve done it.
It may even encourage you to do more!


RESOURCES and more...

Here are some helpful books to consult for ideas (including Morgenstern's book, mentioned above):

Organizing from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life, by Julia Morgenstern

The Well-Ordered Office: How to Create an Efficient and Serene Workspace, by Kathleen Kendall-Tacket

Organize Your Office: Simple Routines for Managing Your Workspace, by Ronni Eisenberg

Organizing Your Work Space: A Guide to Personal Productivity, by Odette Pollar
 

FREE GIFT
If you know it's time for a change in a specific area of your life, but you aren't sure how to make it happen, this is for you - Courage, Risks and Reward: Taking a Chance to Change Your Life -  a 5-part Coaching Program compliments of The LEAP Network! Click here to download the program.


Let's connect...
Join me in a one-hour complimentary strategy session to help determine how you can move forward in getting unstuck, and gain momentum to move in the right direction for you. During our session, we will go over one or two exercises and determine the one next step you can take on your own after the call to keep the momentum going. Click here to schedule your session

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Renée Blasky is the Founder and CEO of The LEAP Network Ltd.

Renée discovered her business and mindset coaching super powers when she was approached by a woman looking for assistance in developing a business opportunity.  She hasn’t looked back since.  Coaching women fits with her passion to empower women so they live a fulfilled life and make choices from a foundation of personal power, financial freedom and a deep sense of accomplishment.

Through her own experiences, as well as coaching women entrepreneurs and women in finance, Renée understands women often undermine their confidence and self-esteem. Consequently, they jeopardize their success paths, and mental fitness. As mindset accounts for an estimated 80% of success and happiness, Renée helps her clients to understand the lies they are telling themselves, how they are sabotaging their performance, wellness and relationships and helps them to establish a new journey to thrive utilizing their superpowers.

Renée helps her clients find clarity, regain their passion, set stick-worthy goals, stay focused, create the right mindset, and be accountable.  She also gently pushes her clients outside of their comfort zones and helps them face their fears so they can achieve their dreams. Renée works with her clients through various online courses, webinars, one-on-one coaching, and group coaching programs.

Renée, who trained as a life coach with Tony Robbins and Cloé Madanes, is also a certified trainer for Marci Shimoff's Happy for No Reason and Susan Jeffer's Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway courses based on their respective books of the same name. She is also in the process of getting certified in the Positive Intelligence® program to increase her client’s mental fitness.

Renée is aptly qualified to coach women entrepreneurs and women in investments having founded two of her own businesses; investment management consulting services and business coaching. She is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion and loves multi-cultural environments, having lived abroad for 35 years with assignments in 13 countries. She obtained her Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter in 1990, and has over 30 years of experience in the investment/finance industry.  She is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in Finance.  She has also received various awards and recognition in the investment industry through her work with the CFA Institute and the development of capital markets in East Africa.

Learn more about Renée and The LEAP Network by visiting her website here: www.reneeblasky.com

You can also send an email directly to Renée at renee@reneeblasky.com

 


Renée Blasky
The LEAP Network, LLC