Palais Professional Organizer

Apartment Therapy did a post on the top ten beds with storage. Below are a few from that list.

 
I am so glad that list was there to inspire for my meeting with clients the other day. They had just moved into a beautiful 1-bedroom condo in Santa Monica, centrally located with a great view, from a HUGE home in Malibu.

 
The Malibu mansion was, well, a Malibu mansion but this new place was sweet and livable. As long as we could solve a few storage issues they’d be happy as clams.

 
Here’s my suggestions:

1. Bed with storage.  I love this first bed from Modu-licious. It is simple – drawers are always easy – and pretty reasonable in price.

 

 

 

I love this box bed from Zanotta. It is a pretty penny but you’ll save this much in external storage in just a year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This bed from Zanotta is another one that packs it away…a bit more modern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
2. Throw away all packaging that comes with computer and hardware items. You have a small space – you will not be running an Ebay store now.

 

3. No more shopping at Costco. Yes, buying in bulk is cheaper but so is your lower rent/mortgage in your small space.

 

Enjoy the simple life!

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other night who is a successful business owner.

She and her husband do the lions-share of the work in their 2 stores and what came up were all the million and one ways in which to keep track, log, list, remind and otherwise drive oneself nuts trying to stay organized and on top of the workload of a small-mid size business.

This is not the first time I have heard this. Many of my clients are faced with not the lack of tools with which to stay organized but quite the opposite…there are so many!! Which is the BEST?

I wish I could tell you. But I can’t. What I can tell you is that I try to use them all for a while so that I can speak to as many of the productivity tools out there with some aplomb.

Having said that I think the simplest is always best. And on top of that I think that you just have to make a decision to use one or two – for better or for worse and stick to them. Even if something shiner and newer comes out. Just stay where you are and get really good with the tools you have otherwise you’ll go nuts and spend all of your time messing around with productivity tools and no time being productive. I see that a lot.

My short list:

Evernote – it is your external memory. You can use tags and notebooks and don’t really have to be too terribly organized. Just throw stuff in there that you want for later. It is great for information that you want but don’t know where to put. Information that you don’t necessarily need immediately.

Book lists, pic of your friend’s purse that you want to find online, clip web pages of notes for your website etc Syncs to your phone.

Manymoon- great for project management and sharing in groups. You can link to Google calandar and upload docs to it so there is a bit of a dropbox functionality here. There are tasks for each project that you can assign to team members, reminders can be set up, Also syncs to your phone. I’m using it for a work team and will try it with a client too. Stay tuned!

What are your favorite to-do list apps? Project management tools?

why organize?

It is a good question. People say guiltily, “I should be more organized…” But, why? I guess I could give you a comprehensive list of all the reasons you should get organized. But there are no “shoulds.”  There’s only what is important to you. Your priorities. Is it a priority to functioning freely in your space that has only things you love and need, with a productive (not efficient) schedule and well-allocated resources?

If you function well in chaos and urgency then read no further!

If you are one of the rest of us mortals I will tell you what you probably already know:  A personal and/or professional environment, free of clutter, is a playground for clarity, productivity and prosperity. You and your family or work team can organize any movement you want to when there is the freedom and space to move.

In this economy being able to organize and mobilize quickly is essential for responding to the market elegantly, serving up ideas creatively, delighting clients (as well as friends and family) and shipping often.

With any product or service, be it a car wash or a car, an app or an apple, what we all want is to feel inspired.

Going through the motions is not organization.

Having everything look like it is in perfect order is not organization. A row of clothing lined up perfectly in your closet that you never wear is not organization. Nor is a day packed full of things you approach with an attitude of “I have to do” rather than “I’d be delighted to!”

True organization innovative is because true organization is inspiring.

It is an interesting question … and a little touchy. There is that saying that people will “get what they deserve.” But what if you are getting things right now that you don’t particularly enjoy? Maybe money is short or the guy or gal just flew the coup. Erg.

Is that what I deserve?!

Well… maybe? Can we be honest with ourselves?

We never ever think that we deserve less than the perfect guy or gal, or the highest paying job or the fastest car. I am not saying we should sell ourselves short. I am just saying that it is funny that the overweight guy doesn’t think he deserves anything less than a girl with a perfect body. He deserves her.  And the woman with no money deserves the rich guy. She deserves him. Hm. Really? Maybe. Maybe not. I understand very clearly like doesn’t always attract like in these areas – people have other qualities – lest you start waving the shallow flag at me. I just like to poke my finger in the aren’t-people-strange-belly and see if it giggles. Don’t you?

In looking around our homes and cars we see clutter and disarray … do you deserve to live like this? I mean, who put all this stuff there? You did, right? So this is what you deserve?

I had a difficult conversation with a client the other day. Difficult because of an extremely unfair negotiation she is enduring. It is hard for me to listen to my client turning themselves inside out to behave in a fair, sweet and good-natured manner only to be knocked down repeatedly. Strange as it my seem my client stayed 100% outwardly focused, even while in tears. She made sure at every turn not to step on toes and in the meantime her own were chopped off. Yet, it was as though she couldn’t feel it.

We have been taught to nobly turn the other cheek when we are wronged. But if we turn the other cheek so far our heads come off in the process I think we may have missed the point.

We think we are taking the high road and sometimes this is true, but often we are just creating anger and resentment that will come out in some weird, unexpected moment down the road.

What is the option? I believe in a well-placed word can do the trick in situations like these. Someone I know also says, “I’m going to make you cry for me the way you made me cry for you.” That doesn’t sound very enlightened but you know, it sure does sound human. I am not about to win any angel wings any time soon. Nor am I working toward a spot in or around nirvana (however that works). The more human I can be the better.

It isn’t about an eye for an eye. It is about calling a spade a spade. It is about saying, uh, that’s my foot you are standing on. I would like to keep my toes. Just a personal preference.  Does it help anyone to let treat you or anyone else poorly? I don’t think so. I don’t think flipping them off  or hitting them is great either. I do think there are smart ways, and yes, even kind ways, of getting your point across.

A look can sometimes be all it takes. Mom’s have that look down.  I don’t know why we don’t do this more as adults.  We aren’t that fragile.  How about, “Don’t talk to me like that.” Simple. To the point.

Humor can work wonders. Wit disarms – even when someone is being an ass. You can be – well – a smartass.  I think that is how the definition came into existence.

We think we control what we do.

But the reality is that…. we just kindof end up doing what we do. A simple example is this: I go into the closet and choose what to wear today. I am not one of those people who can lay out my clothing the night before. How am I going to know what I am going to wear tomorrow until t0morrow gets here?  Sometimes I wonder why I am even wearing what I’m wearing. This happens more all the time actually and I’m grateful for it. Not for any fashion statement but for a letting go. A discovery. Oh – so this is what it is going to be today? Fine.

And before you start to argue with me about free will, think to all of those times when you said you wanted to work out and you just can’t seem to do it. Or you wanted to save that money but you bought a guitar instead. Or you were supposed to get the salad but ordered the burger. There are plenty of times when we do what we say as well. But can you really point to why? Seems almost luck if you think of it in comparison to all the times body and mind refuse to line up.

Observe yourself in your day and see how easy it is to “make” yourself do anything at all.

That is why I think with organizing, or working out, or any other change or alteration you want to make it is easier to go very  slowly with small almost imperceptible changes and implement alterations in other areas that aren’t “hot.” Telling, ordering, demanding and planning sometimes works about as well as reasoning with a 2-year old.

What does it look like?  So many different things. You can be very put together on the surface and underneath you are brewing up a full tilt storm. Overwhelm is like the gathering clouds before the outburst of thunder, lightning and hail.

I think we can all agree that it feels like hell to be overwhelmed no matter what it looks like. I had someone walk up to me today, eyes bulging, hand on heart and say they felt like they were having a panic attack. That is when things are boiling over.

Panic is when the overwhelm has come to a head. Now all the hell that has been brewing up is going to burst forth and create major havoc emotionally, mentally and physically so that we will absolutely. Have. To. Stop. Everything.

So really, if we paid close attention to this overwhelm we could head some serious issues off at the pass. This icky, hellish feeling is trying to say something to us. Hello…yoohoo! We have a message! What is that message? I don’t know…you have to talk to your overwhelm and ask it. Have a dialogue. See what it tells you. Mine said, uh, you need to do the writing you said you would do. You need to make the food you said you’d make. And eat it. Go to bed. And that would be a good start. I feel better already just for having listened. You probably will too.

Try it and let me know how it goes. What did your overwhelm say? What did it tell you to do?

When we have a lot of clutter and feel really disorganized we usually have been doing things the same way for a long time. This kind of intertia is a killer!

But…it can be scary to break out of our patterns. Sometimes a direct attack on the issue at hand isn’t the best way to go. A direct attack would be to plan out a whole new way to get rid of the clutter including tools, timing and tasks.

Another option is to try doing something completely different. Take an art class, go to a different genre of movie (Toy Story 3?!) and see it on a Monday afternoon, do your workout outside one day if you always go to the gym, dress up like Ginger from Gilligan’s Island (just an example)…

Any kind of change-up can influence you to make other changes. Before you know it you may get inspired to rearrange your office or try that new project management tool. Maybe you’ll go through your inbox with a new set of eyes or hire that virtual assistant.

Sometimes it is better to let yourself be influenced and inspired in this indirect way rather than forcing solutions.

Paintball anyone?

What does maturity and gentleness have to do with organizing?

I’m thinking…a lot.

Not to say that I am always the epitome of maturity (especially when it gets construction-style loud around here). But when I’m my best professional organizing self I feel that it looks just like this:

maturity = gentleness.

Add in a whole lotta listening to the equation and call the nursing home!

When I think of gentleness I think of calm, equanimity and the ability to take in and assesss information.

I have to say that my best session in 10 years was this month. Everything was hooked up. What did it feel like? Like I wasn’t really there. Gentleness doesn’t take so much effort.

Feel guilty doing nothing?

Sometimes you just need a license to be lazy. With all the productivity and lists and organizing…uh…

Can I get a lazy license?

What is that you might ask? It is a license to do nothing! Stay in bed and read magazines all day whilst eating cheese puffs (or soy cheese puffs as the case may be).  Or watch 4 or 5 episodes of whatever is on Tivo. Stay out all night, all day…whatever makes you feel completely new.

You may find you are more productive if you let yourself be you most lazy self every now and then. Some experts (I don’t know who – just some!) say that even 30 minutes of laziness a day can improve productivity…how about that?

I give you license.