Even A Professional Organizer Sometimes Fails at Organizing
Or, should I say, what I'm failing at organizing! I'm never too proud to admit when I go wrong, and I definitely did last week.
Our renovation means that our contractor has to periodically turn off water and power to move things around, and he wanted a week without us in the house to accomplish the latest round. So, my plan was to spend the week at my parents' condo at Tahoe. I'd have few distractions, so I planned to get some serious work done: set up my CRM system, do a lot of writing for the blog, start to work on some cool partnership ideas, take a new look at my social media presence. Photo below was from Day 1...
If you happened by the blog last week, you'll get an idea of how much of that happened: pretty much none of it!
During the week, whether I was on the slopes or curled up on the couch, I got into that mode where I was happy with what I was doing, l was terribly guilty about what I WASN'T doing, and i was unable to snap out of it. I had everything I needed in terms of resources, time, ideas, space, and I just could. not. get. it. together.
Looking back, I think it's because I was adrift from my usual work habits and hadn't set myself up for success. At home, I've developed a series of rituals that make me feel like I'm in work mode and help me concentrate. For starters, I work on a large computer monitor with separate keyboard and mouse. There's something about sitting at a desk with that big monitor that deters me from general internet screwing around. Of course, I only had my laptop with me at Tahoe, and I do plenty of screwing around on that so...
I also do things like have a candle on my desk that I only light when I'm working (and usually only when it's cold outside, because apparently flame = heat = warm? WTF self?), only wear my glasses when I am actually butt-in-seat working, and only keep work related items on my desk. At Tahoe there was no candle, I found myself wearing my glasses around constantly, and the small desk in my room in the condo was cluttered with my purse, various charging devices, and other random stuff I brought with me that wasn't work related.
These seem like really small things that a person should be able to overcome easily. And maybe you're made of tougher stuff than I am and you can get work done anywhere, no matter what. But for many (most?) of us, the small habits and rituals we create to nudge ourselves into doing the things we need and want to do are crucially important. This is why I always say that organizing isn't just about stuff, it's about habits.
About to drop down and get first tracks in Counterweight Gully at Alpine Meadows, I'm closest to the camera (Photo by @xoxjulianne)
On the plus side, I spent great quality time with my parents and enjoyed an AMAZING powder day skiing with some of the coolest hard-charging ladies around. So, instead of dwelling on the fact that I didn't get much done last week and now feel behind, I'm trying to be thankful for the great experiences I did have and start anew this Monday.
Have a great week!
LMW
