You've had a pretty significant event or change in your life … or two or three in a row.
Empty Nest • Divorce • Widowed • Aging Parents
Parents/Kids/Grandchildren Moving In
Career Change • Self Employment
Downsizing • Death in your Family
AD/HD or other Significant Health Issues
Life’s big changes – We all get overwhelmed sometimes.
Moving onto a next chapter is about new perspectives: letting go, creating a new chapter, reorganizing our surroundings, and choosing new ways to spend time.
You're thinking differently about your “stuff,” your surroundings, and how you use your time.
You feel as if your home or home office-- well, they just don't reflect who you are anymore. Neither does how you spend your time. Too much, too little or not fulfilling.
You're ready to Organize for a Fresh Start and begin your next chapter.
"West has written on a topic dear to my heart, getting organized to cope with and embrace change and transitions. Organize for a Fresh Start is a great roadmap."
Judith Kolberg, Author
Conquering Chronic Disorganization
Judith Kolberg, Author
Conquering Chronic Disorganization
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August 25th, 2011Fire Up Your Biz: Enrich Your Life!
January 9th, 2012I’m on board as a featured expert!
When Life Interferes:
Making it through Life’s Transitions as a Business Owner.
Stephanie Calahan, coordinator of the telesummit and founder of Calahan Solutions, Inc. in Bloomington IL. has gathered 20+ internationally renowned business coaches and productivity experts, including me!
“We are passionate about sharing our decades of wisdom to guide you in increasing your business success so that you can reclaim your health, wealth and happiness.” Stephanie LH Calahan
So why is this so important for you? We’re living through a truly amazing time, and never before have so many people been called to own their own business and blaze a path to their dreams.
With this shift, we need powerful mentors – inspired communicators who model this new way of BEING.
Just the facts
FREE Fire Up Your Biz – Enrich Your Life Telesummit starting on January 18th through February 28th, 2012.
Three experts a week for six weeks.
My topic is “When Life Interferes: Making it through Life’s Transitions as a Business Owner.”
In a hurry? Go here for all the details: http://www.fireupyourbizenrichyourlife.com
Sneak peak at the topics
- Time Strategies for the Busy Entrepreneur
- The 3 Surprising Keys that Open the Door to Small Business Abundance
- From Procrastination to DONE!
- We’ve Got To Stop Meeting Like This: How to Run Meetings that Actually Get Things Done
- Mindset Matters: Secrets to a Powerful Mindset
- Solopreneur Motivation Secrets: Create the Work Environment and Results You Want
- A Busy Family’s Guide to Getting Organized So You Can Live Your Best Life and Still Enjoy Your Family
- How to Overcome your Mental Money Barriers, and Break Free to Success
- Networking for Success
- Top Tech Tools for Busy Business Owners
- 5 Keys to Social Media Success: Do it Right, Stop Wasting Time and Get Results!
- Passion Management: How to Juggle/Prioritize all of the Passions We Have
- Get the Right Support for Your Business, Inside and Out
- Get Time and Tasks Managed Quickly
- Five Secrets to Streamline Your Work Flow
- Unlock the Secret to Achieving Your Profit Goals
- Depressing Desks and Psychic Debris: Cleaning up the Work Space by De-cluttering the Head Trash
- Conquering Your Fear with a Knockout Punch
- Conquer Email Overload
- When Life Interferes: Making it through Life’s Transitions as a Business Owner
Reserve your place at NO COST with 24 hour Replay access by clicking HERE.
Can’t make the calls?
Or, you want to access the information whenever YOU want? Then we have something else for you…
THE FIRE UP YOUR BIZ TOOL KIT – Only $97 per person
This includes 20+ hours of content-rich and inspired conversations with the expert guides from FIRE UP YOUR BIZ – ENRICH YOUR LIFE (MP3 Downloads & Action Guides)
PLUS Over $900 in Valuable Bonus Gifts
Register now and order THE FIRE UP YOUR BIZ TOOL KIT Package!
PS from Stephanie directly: The sessions are ALL ANSWERS and no fluff, meaning, we will give you solid actionable, innovative strategies, processes and tools that can take your company to the next level –not a big sales pitch.
Organizing Your Tax Papers
February 8th, 2012I have a giveaway today – an Income Tax Organizer, by Smead. More details here. Be the first to comment on this blog post and I’ll send you a brand new, unwrapped tax organizer.
Especially for things we don’t do very often, like taxes, a product which organizes for us can be really useful. When you don’t do something often, isn’t it hard to remember how you did it last time?
The product is is essentially a booklet or a portfolio, with a set of folders inside it and attached to each other – so everything is in one place.
On the inside cover, you’ll see a checklist, and some blank note space. The checklist is not meant to replace legal, CPA or your tax advisor’s opinions; the particulars of your situation should overrule anything generic. But if you don’t have someone advising you, this is a great way to keep track of what you need. You’ll know throughout the year what to save (or not). And you’ll know, come first quarter of each year (in the U.S.), whether you are done and ready to submit your taxes or need to make a followup call for a missing piece of paper.
Could you make your own organizer – probably. But if you haven’t, maybe it’s because:
- You only do this once a year – so let’s make a simple system for it;
- You don’t really want to go through this exercise at all – so let’s make it as easy as possible and spend the least amount of time on it;
- You can’t find the papers you need – here’s your one spot to start anew this year;
- You haven’t figure out the right system for you – how about experimenting with this one – it’s a place to start at least;
- You CAN find your papers – but what about the parent whose taxes you’re doing, or the adult child living with you – this is a great way to have a special place for just their papers, to keep them separate.
So – Be the first to comment on this post and I’ll send you a brand new, unwrapped tax organizer!
Working out of Your Home- Ideas for Parents.
February 3rd, 2012My colleague, Stephanie Calahan, is a business and productivity expert. She often has new and creative ideas; this post I’m sharing below has ideas for parents who work out of the house. The ideas come from Stephanie as well as some of her colleagues, and there are so many good and new ideas, I wanted to share more widely.
The full post is here, but for now, here are a few of the best suggestions:
When is it time to work? Try music as a signal. This tip is from Stephanie herself.
- If Mom has classical music or new-age jazz playing, she is trying to concentrate and interruption would not be nice.
- If mom has club music or other up-beat music blaring out of her office, it is ok to interrupt because her creative time is interruptible. Heck! She might even stop and dance with you through a song just to get her blood flow going again!
Let your child participate in your business-from Stephanie, too:
- When you make your child a part of the business, they can grow empowerment and pride for what you do rather than feeling like it is stealing their parent away from them.
- In the full post , you’ll read ideas for kids of different ages and what they can reasonably handle. Shredding, “working” at the same time, website book marketing and more.
Kay McGuire (www.mcguiresorganizingservices.com) and mom of 4 suggests the following:
“Create a special box just for that child. In it, put snacks and special toys. Explain that the only time that he/she can play in the box is when Mommy is on the phone and he/she is quiet as a mouse. When you explain this, do some role playing. Maybe even show him/her how to tickle lock his/her lips when Mom is on the phone. You may even have a special chair where she can sit. This way if you need to keep an eye on her, you can.”
Reader Question: Organized Household Bill Paying – Part 1
February 2nd, 2012A reader and class participant asks: “Dear Sue: Do you have any suggestions on how to organize household bill paying? My husband does that now and I would like to come up to speed on it. I would like to find a strategy that suits my style. That way I could take over the bill payment if I had to.”
I’m writing this
blog in two parts today. Some of you may want to read this blog and answer the questions for yourself before moving onto the next blog entry, which is about the practicalities of a bill paying system. Some of you, like our reader, already know these answers and will move right onto practicalities. I’m writing and releasing both parts today, so you can read both, or read one, answer the questions, and then return for part two – all at your own pace.
I love this question – Thinking ahead, wanting to understand more now, and aware that any organizing issue needs to take into account your style.
I’m known for answering a question with a question … and then my suggestions, so not to disappoint …
Questions to Ask Yourself as You Begin
#1 Why is this important to you? Our reader has one answer.
Yours might be: I want to know more so we can figure out how to …
- be excellent role models for our children, teaching them about the value of money, money management, living within our means, or being frugal. This is another “organizing” skill which really is a life skill.
- stop our magical thinking. You feel as if you’re spending too much, but do you really know?
- save for (fill in the blank). Understanding and managing the finances of today will help you save for whatever your goals are. And having a goal is the best way to get something done.
- you have more anxiety around money than you know is healthy. Could be you don’t understand. Could be money attitudes in how you were raised, or that you and your current family have different spending and saving habits. Understanding takes the emotion out of the conversation for the most part. Understanding, managing/control all reduce stress and worry. You’ll know that you have enough for house maintenance or other unexpected expenses.
- negotiate better rates, use fewer credit cards, pay down debt faster.
- live the best life we can as we shift into “retirement,” (whatever that means to you).
#2 What systems work well for you – and why?
- This question will help you get at answers like:
- How to get started with something new;
- How to remember what you have to do;
- How to make this a habit and a routine;
- How do you handle it when life throws you a curve ball or you get super busy?
- What products or software (tools) do you use in the system that works well for you? What do you like about them? Why do they work for you?
- How much control do you have or do you involve other people? How do you make that work?
Okay, yes, I know that’s more than just a second question! These questions help you figure out what “style” of system work for you.
Once you know that, some of these characteristics can be used in the bill paying system you are now creating. There are three pieces fora system to work: the steps or process you use; the products/tools you use; and the people involved (the habits, their style). All three need to work well for your system to be easy and support your reasons for creating it to begin with.
Next up: the practicalities.
Declutter Your Finances
February 1st, 2012Thanks to my mom, I have a subscription to More magazine. There’s a wonderfully insightful article this month (Feb 2012). Titled “Declutter Your Finances and Save,” the author writes:”Financial clutter can reach far beyond not knowing where you’ve stashed important documents. Rather than a messy pile of papers, it’s a mental state that stems from the panic we all feel when the complexity of the modern financial world intersects with the unknown, i.e., with risk.”
So – it’s really not about the papers, is it?
It’s about what you are thinking and feeling when you don’t attack the papers which relate to your financial life.
It’s about the attitudes you grew up with, the messages you heard – spenders, savers, dreamers, risk takers or conservatives, budgeters, or not.
It’s about how you’re feeling with today’s finances… which relates to how you feel about your future, how you and the one you live manage your short term and long term finances.
It also can be about your confidence level or knowledge of your finances.
I’ve worked with – women mostly – who have shied away from organizing their financial documents and let the papers/online statements pile up. They’ll admit it’s because they really do not understand what the documents are telling them. This is another point the MORE magazine article author makes, that there is HAVING the papers, even organized ! – and there is the separate issue of UNDERSTANDING them.
Please make a point – no matter your age or stage of life – to organize AND understand your financials and the associated paper and online trails they have.
“Fear always springs from ignorance.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
