Category: balance

Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

Nine Strategie3182986643_b476b7b76c_zs for Simplifying Your Life was written by Kathy Waddill of The Untangled Web in 2001. We’ve found these simple strategies to be so helpful that we include them in our new client packets:

The Nine Strategies of Reasonably Organized People are simple habits anyone can learn. Taken together, they form the recipe for an organized life. Over time, they will help you understand and manage the changes life inflicts on you.

#1 Make Your Systems Fit You and Your Life

The elements that make up your overall organizing system must be designed to fit the way you actually live, or they won’t work. Getting them to function smoothly for you is the foremost consideration. Other values, such as aesthetics, expense, sentiment, or fashion, need to come after utility.

#2 Sort Everything by How You Use It

Sorting is a basic mechanism for creating order. Effective sorting is based on how each item is used. Things that are used together belong together. Store the items in a collection in one place so you know what you have. Keeping like with like is more functional in every regard than a jumble.

#3 Weed Constantly

Aside from the personal reasons people hang on to things, our materialistic culture pressures us to have more than we need. Every day, we’re barraged with paper, news, advertising, and information. When you keep things you’re not actively using, they get in your way and create work for you. It requires constant vigilance to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by the onslaught. Keep everything weeded down so you can retain a semblance of control over your life.

#4 Use the Right Containers and Tools

Effective containers allow you to keep track of things and use them easily. Bad containers make things hard to manage. The right tools help you accomplish necessary tasks quickly and efficiently. The wrong tool can keep you from accomplishing anything.

#5 Label Everything

Labeling is essential to remembering what and where everything is once it’s put away. Good labels help you retrieve things and share them with others. Something left unlabeled is likely to just disappear from your radar screen. Something labeled incorrectly is almost guaranteed not to work well.

#6 Keep It Simple

Figure out what you want to do, then do it with the fewest possible steps. If you can do something in two steps, why waste time and effort doing it in four? The more steps it takes to do something, the less likely it is to get done. Take on only what you can handle, and no more. Simplicity is the key to efficiency.

#7 Decide to Decide

Make decisions instead of putting them off and letting them pile up. Sometimes it takes longer to write a task on your to-do list than it takes to just do it. Other tasks never get done, no matter how long they’ve been on your list. Give yourself permission not to do them. Lessen the mess and your stress level by making decisions.

#8 Get Help When You Need It

If you don’t have to do all the work yourself, why should you? Share the responsibility for tasks by delegating them. Hire people to do things you aren’t good at or don’t want to do. Consult experts. Avoid the trap of self-sufficiency.

#9 Evaluate Honestly and Often

Organizing your life is like hitting a moving target. Even when things are working smoothly, it’s reasonable to expect life to change. Pay attention as life evolves, and change your system to make it keep up. Maintain your system so it’s lean, flexible, and attuned to your life.

Further Reading
Download your copy of Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life.
Image via flickr by John K.

Tip Day Wednesday: Balancing Tasks

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

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At In Order to Succeed we talk a lot about finding balance. Balancing work life, home life, personal time, and time for friends and family, but we don’t often take the time to discuss how to balance tasks.

Yoga instructors often say “Don’t push to the point where you hurt yourself.” This simplistic idea can be difficult to master in yoga and in life but it’s an important one.

Sleep is often more important than spending an additional two hours working on a term paper. Leaving work at 6pm instead of 8pm is  healthier than responding to those emails that came in just as the business day ended. Sometimes exercising for 30 minutes instead of a full hour is better for your body.

There is a yoga saying “Don’t push the river, it flows by itself.” Sometimes that’s wrong and you have to push but never to the point where you hurt yourself.

So this week when your staying late at the office, missing sleep to finish school work, or attempting to cram some other task into a 24 hour period ask yourself if by pushing yourself to do it you’ll be hurting yourself?

Further Reading
Check out past Tip Day Wednesdays for more organizing, productivity, and time management tips.
Image via flickr by Mr. Theklan.

Tip Day Wednesday: How to have a balanced life

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

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At In Order to Succeed we talk a lot about finding a balanced life. Balancing work life, home life, personal time, and time for friends and family, but we don’t often take the time to discuss finding balance in individual tasks.

Yoga instructors often say “Don’t push to the point where you hurt yourself.” This simplistic idea can be difficult to master in yoga and in life but it’s an important one.

Sleep is often more important than spending an additional two hours working on a term paper. Leaving work at 6pm instead of 8pm is  healthier than responding to those emails that came in just as the business day ended. Sometimes exercising for 30 minutes instead of a full hour is better for your body.

There is a yoga saying “Don’t push the river, it flows by itself.” Sometimes that’s wrong and you have to push but never to the point where you hurt yourself.

So this week when you’re staying late at the office, missing sleep to finish school work, or attempting to cram some other task into a 24 hour period ask yourself if by pushing yourself to do it you’ll be hurting yourself?

Further Reading
Check out past Tip Day Wednesdays for more organizing, productivity, and time management tips.
Image via Flickr by Mr. Theklan.

10 Organizing Pearls to Simplify Life

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

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Organize and simplify life with these 10 organizing pearls of wisdom:

  • Sort everything by how it is used and keep things close to where you use them.
  • Keep one calendar. Adopt a system that works for you and stick with it. Don’t look in more than one place to know where you’ll need to be.
  • Commit to and Organizer Book
  • Pursue a lot of opportunities, but don’t be afraid to say no
  • Use an old fashioned egg timer to break up long and/or boring tasks
  • Focus on progress instead of perfection
  • Whenever possible eliminate paperwork for electronic
  • Start your day earlier
  • Consume less, create more
  • Create your own rules

Image via flickr by mynameisharsha.

Tip Day Wednesday: Have a Stress Free Vacation

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

Each Wednesday In Order to Succeed‘s blog features at least one tip on organizing, time management, moving and relocation, balancing home and business or well anything else we think you will find helpful. This week’s Tip Day Wednesday is about having a stress free vacation. Here are three tips to having a stress free vacation:

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Create and use a travel checklist There isn’t anything worse than arriving someplace and remembering you forgot something. While you can buy things such as toothbrushes what if you forgot to turn off some of the lights. Take a few minutes to come up with a travel checklist that includes both things you need to do both you go away as well as things to back. Reuse the list each time you go away.

Take at least a week. One vacation of at least seven days is more relaxing than taking several three-day vacations. It allows you time to settle into your new surroundings and truly enjoy the break.

Give Yourself Permission To Do Nothing Vacations are suppose to be about rest so don’t plan everyday. Give yourself time just enjoying being where you are and remember it’s okay to do nothing while on vacation.

Share your travel tips with us by commenting below.
Further Reading
Check back for our travel checklist that you can download and for your trips.
Get more travel tips: 7 Tips For Creating a Healthy Vacation (May 2010)
Image via flickr by m o d e

5 Ways to Combine Work and Exercise

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

2798736890_2f34300e46Our busy lives often don’t leave time for exercising. We know we should do it, but it always seems to get pushed to the side. In Order to Succeed’s professional organizers, relocation specialists, and project managers have found some ways to combine working and exercising for those days when it’s just impossible to hit the gym. Here are five of our favorites:

Return phone calls while speed walking: This can be a little tricky if it’s something you’re going to need to write down, so try to limit the phones calls to messages you’ve been meaning to return but haven’t and that don’t require note taking.

Read emails while working out on a stationary bike: Set your laptop, mobile phone, or iPad up at your stationary bike instead of a book and read and possibly return emails while you bike.

Sit on a fitness ball: Swap out your desk chair with a fitness ball it will work your core muscles while improving your posture.

Walk or bike for transportation: Need to make a quick stop at the bank or post office why not walk or bike instead of getting in the car. You’ll get some exercise, fresh air, and help the environment all at the same time.

Listen to podcasts or audio books while you jog, walk or bike: Like to jog,  speed walk, or bike for exercise, but feel bad about taking the time off of work? Bring your iPod, iPhone, or whatever mobile device you prefer and catch up on that book you need to read or the news.

Further Reading
Image via flickr from adria.richards

7 Tips For Creating a Healthy Vacation

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

Hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. In honor of the beginning of summer we decided to repost a previous blog post on creating a healthy vacation in time for summer travel planning.

7 Tips for Creating a Healthy Vacation
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Vacations, if done right can be restorative. It is a chance to spend time with family and friends, relax near a beach, or discover new places. Research suggests that taking time off makes workers more productive and can reduce the risk of serious medical illnesses such as heart disease. Americans, however, take less time off than citizens of any other nation in the industrialized world, and over a third of Americans don’t use all of their vacation days.

Here are seven tips for a creating a healthy vacation:

  1. Take at least a week. One vacation of at least seven days is more relaxing than taking several three-day vacations. It allows you time to settle into your new surroundings and truly enjoy the break.
  2. Don’t forget to exercise. Light exercise during your holiday such, as walking tours or daily laps in the hotel pool with leave you feeling more rejuvenated than simply lounging around the whole time. Get out and take a walk around the city or town.
  3. Indulge in delicious locally made foods. Everyone wants enjoy himself or herself while on vacation by sitting down to a delicious meal you wouldn’t normally have. Instead of worrying about gaining weight let yourself have foods that use fresh local ingredients. You’ll get a better understanding of the local culture and fresh local meals are healthier than anything else you’re going to find.
  4. Spend time learning about yourself. Self-reflection and realization are keys to a healthy vacation. Take the time to think about your life and try something new that you’ve always wanted to such as taking a cooking, pottery, or surfing class.
  5. Plan a vacation the entire family will enjoy. If you taking a family trip make sure there will be something for everyone. You don’t want to spend the entire holiday arguing so if one person really wants to go rock climbing and another wants to visit museums try to pick a destination that will allow for both.
  6. Get some sleep. Yes, we said to make sure you kept exercising while on your vacation, but also take some time to sleep. Let your kids sleep in and try to let yourself sleep in as well. Instead of waking up at the crack of dawn to go on a walking tour of Rome go in the afternoon. You’ll enjoy the tour more and learn more if you’re not tired or dragging your kids around the Coliseum.
  7. Get lost in the moment. It’s hard to resist the urge to check emails, call the office, and even create a jam-packed holiday itinerary. Taking the to time to really get away, freeing yourself from work and allowing for spontaneity, however, will let you have a healthy vacation and create memories.

Image courtesy of irldefender.wordpress.com

Useful Link: templealloys.co.uk

100 Personal Productivity Pearls

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

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  1. Ask someone about his/her life.
  2. Write a handwritten note and mail it.
  3. Make a promise (and keep it).
  4. Look up at the sky and describe it.
  5. Hug someone close to you.
  6. Indulge in a long, warm bath.
  7. Tell someone how much you love him/her.
  8. Do something on your To Do list.
  9. Apologize to someone you’ve hurt.
  10. Re-read your favorite poem.
  11. Turn off the TV for a week.
  12. Relax in bed before sleeping.
  13. Eat your favorite thing mindfully.
  14. Ask someone an interesting question.
  15. Take pictures of your favorite thing.
  16. Go for a long walk somewhere beautiful.
  17. Meditate for as long as you can.
  18. Research an interesting topic.
  19. Ask someone for advice and really listen.
  20. Pay attention to your breathing for two minutes.
  21. Answer the phone with cheer in your voice.
  22. Make a decision immediately.
  23. Close your eyes and image your paradise.
  24. Mentor a young child (or an adult!).
  25. Volunteer at a local charity.
  26. Write a list of all you’re grateful for.
  27. Consider all possible solutions to a problem.
  28. Take a different way to work.
  29. Prepare your favorite meal for your family.
  30. Offer praise to someone who deserves it.
  31. Pay attention when others speak.
  32. Watch a dog or cat (or baby) sleeping.
  33. Prepare for tomorrow’s work today.
  34. Look at the details of a flower or plant.
  35. Lie outside in the sun for a few hours.
  36. Smile at yourself in the mirror.
  37. Say “Thank you” and truly mean it.
  38. Share your wisdom with someone else.
  39. Do one thing that scares you.
  40. Offer to help someone in need.
  41. Watch a sunset or sunrise.
  42. Visit a local museum and enjoy learning.
  43. Organize your favorite photos online.
  44. Send an email to an old friend.
  45. Draw or paint something inspiring.
  46. Host a party for no particular reason.
  47. Tell yourself what you love about you.
  48. Look for the positive in a problem.
  49. Notice when the seasons are changing.
  50. Imagine kissing your significant other.
  51. Eat an ice cream cone outside when it’s warm.
  52. Share a joke with a friend and laugh loud.
  53. Consider how feng shui might improve your home.
  54. Spend a few hours alone, relaxing.
  55. Make something from scratch.
  56. List all of the things you’ve accomplished today.
  57. Re-purpose something in your home.
  58. Go to bed early. Wake up early.
  59. Look for fireflies twinkling at night.
  60. Pay attention to what your body is saying.
  61. Make a very silly face at a friend.
  62. Tell a child your favorite fairy tale.
  63. Buy a gift for someone for no reason.
  64. Watch a very positive TV show.
  65. List the things you love about your body.
  66. Take a road trip somewhere new.
  67. Listen to your favorite song on repeat.
  68. Smile brightly at the driver in the car next to you.
  69. Write a love letter to yourself.
  70. Kiss someone sweetly on the cheek.
  71. Ask the question, “Why?”
  72. Go for a run (or a quick walk). Move it!
  73. Start a new, exciting project.
  74. Spend a Saturday email-free.
  75. Listen to and accept criticism with grace.
  76. Speak cheerfully to your coworkers.
  77. Look around you at how many colors there are.
  78. Push yourself a little harder when working out.
  79. Allow yourself to daydream.
  80. Stop a bad habit (right now!).
  81. Give yourself advice and follow it.
  82. Turn off your phone for an evening.
  83. Focus on what you’re doing right this minute.
  84. Speak to someone as if you really do care.
  85. Treat yourself to a tasty snack.
  86. Take three deep breaths before falling asleep.
  87. Do jump jacks or jump rope.
  88. Play with a puppy and watch how s/he romps.
  89. Appreciate winter in summer (and vice versa).
  90. Think about how amazing an invention is.
  91. Hold someone’s hand unexpectedly.
  92. Wake up with a really long stretch session.
  93. Pay attention to others’ observations.
  94. Watch how clouds move across the sky.
  95. Listen to a bird’s song (without being annoyed).
  96. Introduce yourself to someone new.
  97. Write down everything you’re feeling today.
  98. Think about why you love your favorite outfit.
  99. Ask yourself, “What’s awesome about this moment?”
  100. Call someone just to say “I love you”

Image via flickr by mynameisharsha.

Wall Street Journal Features Professional Organizing

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

NEW IOTS LogoThe Wall Street Journal features Professional Organizing Firms from across the United States in today’s Life and Style section, and we are so excited that among the four featured In Order to Succeed was one of them!

The article entitled “Law and Order: How a Pro Helps Tackle Clutter“, explains some of the ways that we work with clients to help  bring order and clarity to their homes and businesses.  The article tells how In Order to Succeed’s Robin Reid Hunt helped a Manhattan client and her family get settled into their new home.  You may read about it in today’s paper, or online here.

In honor of In Order to Succeed being featured in The Wall Street Journal we are offering 10% of our home organization services.

Find out more information here: In order to Succeed in Today’s Wall Street Journal & Special Offer!

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5 Happiness Secrets

Posted on by Denise Caron-Quinn

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Our favorite happiness secrets are simple, attainable, and will help you become a happier version of yourself.

1. Sleep: You many think a good night’s rest is overrated but we promise it’s not. Everyone needs a different amount of sleep, but whatever your desired hours of sleep try to get it as much as possible. It will boost both your mood and immune system.

2. Exercise: Try to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. It will have a calming effect on your body.

3. Recharge yourself: stop worrying, stop thinking, just stop. Make time for yourself and just slow down and breathe.

4. Spend time with happy people: surround yourself with happy people and people who make you happy.

5. Natural Light: fill your home and office with natural light. It’s an instant mood booster.

Image courtesy of Srboisvert.

Further Reading
5 Tips For Creating a Zen Desk (October 2009)
7 Tips For Creating A Healthy Vacation (September 2009)