May 04, 2022

How a mind map can help you get to your goals faster

May 04, 2022/ Jeannine

A mind map is basically a diagram that allows you to organize ideas and help you work toward your goals. You can use it for pretty much anything, from organizing your closet to becoming more productive at work. Here are just a few examples:

Organize your values and beliefs so that you can have clarity in what path to choose moving forward. You can focus on certain areas of well-being such as finances, physical/emotional health, community, career etc..
Arrange your thoughts when making a big decision, such as purchasing a big-ticket item, paying for school or planning a wedding
Brainstorm all the different tasks involved in preparing for an upcoming interview or presentation at work so that they don't seem intimidating anymore! It's much easier when everything is laid out clearly (and color-coded!) than when they're scattered across dozens of sticky notes on your desk or hanging off various surfaces around the office."

Write the goal in the middle of the page.

Write the goal/attribute in the middle of the page.
Next to it, write down a list of sub-goals or related items. These will be smaller tasks that need to be completed before you can complete your primary goal.

“Organize your values and beliefs so that you can have clarity in what path to choose moving forward. ”

Draw lines from the center, and label each one with a step toward achieving the goal.

Start by drawing a circle in the center of your map. Now, draw lines from this center point to each of these steps.

For each line, write down all the steps that are required to get you from where you are now (the center) to where you want to be (wherever the line ends). Make sure that each step is clear and concise; avoid using too many words. For example, if one of your goals is “learn French” then instead of writing “Learn French” or even “Go on Duolingo for five minutes every day for six months until I can say 'Bonjour' without sounding like an idiot…” try something like "Get Duolingo app on phone."

To keep things simple, use just one arrow per step—and make sure it points in a direction toward achieving your goal. If there's more than one way for something to happen or if there are multiple ways for two or more steps to connect then consider adding images (like arrows pointing at other arrows) or symbols next to those connections!

Fill in each step with sub-steps.

Step 1: Define the problem before starting on a solution.

Step 2: Set goals, and don’t worry about what other people's goals are.

Step 3: Be ambitious, but stay realistic. If you have your heart set on landing more clients than you can handle in three months, it may be time to adjust your expectations!

The final step is to fill in each of these steps with sub-steps that will help you achieve your goal faster and more effectively. For example, if your main goal is to get fit by running marathons by December 31st, then under "Set Goals," write down specific training plans and weekly mileage goals for each month leading up until the big race day (December 31st). Don't forget to include rest days and cross-training days too! This way, when those pesky thoughts pop up saying things like "I'm never going to make it!" or "This hurts so much!" they won't derail all of your hard work—and who knows? You just might surprise yourself with how far you've come by December 31st after all!

This visual roadmap can help you focus and feel motivated!

The most important thing to remember is that a mind map isn't a quick project. It's not something you can knock out in an afternoon, so I highly recommend setting aside some serious time for it. Start with the center and write down what each step should be. How many steps do you want? What's your timeline? Do you know where this will take you?

Write everything down! Don't worry if it looks like a mess at first—this is only the beginning of your journey, and there are many twists and turns ahead!

January 04, 2022

The importance of taking a break and how it can help with motivation and focus

January 04, 2022/ Jeannine

When was the last time you took a break?

Taking a break is more important than ever as we approach year-end deadlines, vacations and a new year. Many of us are also working from home which has distrubed many of the daily rhythms that might trigger taking a break. With that in mind, let’s take a look at why it’s important to take a break when it comes to your mental and physical health. Then we will learn how taking a break boosts motivation and focus.

Taking a break is important for your health

When you’re working, you slowly lose concentration and focus. In fact, studies show our attention span really only lasts anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. We also slowly develop decision fatigue.

“Willpower and focus and concentration and working on problem-solving are all coming from the same pool of cognitive resources. More significantly, it’s really a scarce resource that’s easily depleted,” said expert Kathy Sierra.

Taking a break resets your baseline. When you take a break, your body can refuel your levels of concentration, problem-solving and focus. Without breaks, your brain is running on fumes.

While you’re working, you are under stress. Sometimes that’s healthy stress, sometimes it’s more severe. Either way, it’s clear that you, your body and your brain are not relaxed while working. Researchers have found that breaks can reduce stress and even prevent it if done right.

Taking a break is perhaps as important for you physically as it is mentally. For example, your eyes operate differently when looking at a computer screen for a prolonged amount of time. That means less blinking and more strain. So, taking a break allows the eye muscles to relax. Likewise, your wrists and arms from typing and using the mouse can become fatigued in unnatural positions and prolonged usage. Sitting too long is hard on certain muscles and can even raise the risk of a heart attack. On the contrary, if you can make active breaks a habit, you can really help your health.

“It’s clear that you, your body and your brain are not relaxed while working. Researchers have found that breaks can reduce stress and even prevent it if done right.”

Taking a break is a motivation hack

When you’re working, your brain is constantly engaged to help you achieve the task or goal at hand. That’s very taxing so when you take a break and let your mind rest, it renews your motivation all on it’s own. You gain motivation by switching your brain into a different mode. Our brains have two modes: “focused mode” and “diffuse mode.” The focus mode is where our brains are on a set path and mode of thinking. In diffuse, we allow our minds to wander and follow natural trains of thought. Both modes are good and necessary, but diffuse mode is often when we have breakthroughs (think of how often you’ve had a great idea in the shower or on a walk), improved creativity and when we solve problems. When something like that happens on your break, you’re more likely to go back into focus mode motivated and ready to tackle the task at hand!

Breaks can also motivate many people to focus and finish in order to earn a brief respite.

Need help focusing? Breaks are the answer

As we’ve seen, our brains and bodies do not have an endless supply of energy and power. They need breaks to reset and refresh. By mindfully planning and engaging in breaks, you are giving your brain the ability to focus by taking it off task, letting it wander a bit and then allowing it to refocus with renewed energy.

Taking a break is defined simply as “a brief cessation of work, physical exertion, or activity.” With that in mind, don’t over-complicate taking breaks, but be sure to work them into your day. If you need ideas for taking breaks, try the five ideas listed here.

April 29, 2021

Weekly, monthly and annual cleaning check list

April 29, 2021/ Jeannine

Hi Tidy Friends,

Remembering when to clean and what to clean, can be a daunting task when you don’t have a routine schedule for home management. The biggest lie I tell myself every day is that “I will remember that”. If this reminds you of yourself you might find the lists I created below helpful in scheduling home cleaning tasks. They are suggestions on when to clean what, but of course, they can be personalized to your own needs. Let me know what you think, I hope they will help you stay on top of things!

Happy cleaning,

Janine

“All time management begins with planning ”

— Brian Tracy

Free Download here

August 19, 2020

Productivity Tips for Working from home while homeschooling

August 19, 2020/ Jeannine

If you are in the same boat as me, you might be homeschooling your kids this semester. When I heard the news that California was not going to open schools until January, I officially acquired another (unpaid) part-time job: Teacher. Many schools are planning to go online or have a hybrid program until things with COVID19 are figured out. What does that mean for working parents? Setting up a home office and creating a schedule for everyone. As a former teacher gone Organizer, I will share five tips on how to create a productive and healthy workspace for every member of the family while homeschooling.

san diego konmari consultant home school tips.png

1. Create a separate workspace for yourself

It is important to have a private/separate workstation if you work from home. Common spaces like the kitchen or living room are great for socializing, but when you have to hold a zoom meeting or phone a client it best be without the background noise and children running around on the screen behind you. If you have an office, use it, if you don’t, no problem, just put a desk in the corner of your bedroom or guestroom and create a work nook where you can shut the door if needed and work uninterrupted for some time.

2. Schedule work and play

Time Management It is important for you and the kids, so everyone knows when to work and when to play. Here is a sample schedule you can follow or edit to your family’s needs. Older kids can help with chores as part of their schedule and make sure to plan some family time with board games, walks, or movie nights.

3. Set up a designated learning space for your child

Kids need to move around throughout the day, but it is important to have one or two designated learning spaces, so materials won’t be all over the place. A desk in their room for independent work or the kitchen table for homework help are some examples. Have a basket or container for supplies such as pens and papers, so they can be moved around easily from one learning space to another. Also, take learning outside the “classroom”; Helping prepare food, find herbs in the wild, or trim the grass in the yard are all important life skills to learn.

4. Give your child tools when they must wait for your attention

Make sure to communicate with your children and let them know your “work hours”. You can put a sign on your door as well to remind them that you are working. Some children might appreciate a list of go-to activities (such as free-reading, art projects, or journaling) to do when can’t move forward without your help or when they are waiting for your attention. Let them know how much you appreciate their patience.

5. Take breaks

Make sure to take care of yourself. Working at home and homeschooling your children can be exhausting. Accept help (from family members or neighbors) if they are willing to watch the kids or swap kids once a week for homeschooling if you are comfortable to do so. That would be great for the kids' social/emotional skills as well as give you a break from childcare/teaching. Intentionally do something for yourself that you enjoy. Go for a hike or walk the dog around the neighborhood. Meet (or zoom) a friend for coffee or read a book that you have been wanting to read. Get a much-needed massage or have a date night. The possibilities are endless, you just have to make time for it.

August 13, 2020

How Essentialism can improve your life

August 13, 2020/ Jeannine

essentialism book cover san diego professional organizer blog

My latest read was the book “Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less” by Greg McKeown. I absolutely love the philosophy behind this book and I think it goes hand in hand with the principles of the KonMari Method.

Amazon describes Essentialism as “more than a time-management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution toward the things that really matter.
By forcing us to apply more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy—instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.
Essentialism is not one more thing—it’s a whole new way of doing everything. It’s about doing less, but better, in every area of our lives. Essentialism is a movement whose time has come.”

Read related blog: Time Management Strategies from Organizing Professionals

Things that I have learned from the book:

Vision is crucial to making better decisions: This overlaps with the KonMari philosophy and learning to craft a vision for myself and my “ideal lifestyle” a couple of years ago, I completely agree with the validity of this statement. If we don’t have a goal in life we can’t make a plan. So it is important to have a vision for our lives and know our guiding values and things we want to prioritize our time for.

Less but better: Being Busy is the badge of honor for most Americans. But what price do we pay to be busy all the time? Feeling overwhelmed and overworked, but not being closer to happiness. Because by the time we have figured out that being busy all the time does not necessarily make us successful, it also makes us less happy. We can learn to take back control by choosing fewer obligations and being able to do better work. If it’s not a definite “yes” it should be a definite “no”.

Learn to set boundaries: Saying “no” does not come naturally in a world where we are taught to oblige. It could be thought that it is culturally unacceptable or even rude to decline a request. However, the book mentions that research has shown that people will actually have more respect for someone that is very selective of their time, than for someone that just says yes to everything. One great strategy to learn boundary settings is to delay the decision. One can say “let me check my calendar and get back to you”. That gives you time to think if this task aligns with your goals and values.

Read related blog: How to organize your time for happiness

Organizing your time is just as important as organizing your belongings. This book really hit the nail on the head for tips on how to live an authentic life. There are many tips and tricks on how to minimize distractions and great illustrations on the concept of focus and productivity. This is definitely a great read for anyone who feels stretched too thin between life and work and wants to become more centered and happy.

Copyright © 2020 by Janine Morales, Professional Home and Business Organizer and Certified KonMari™ Consultant in San Diego and surrounding areas. Disclosure: Some of the links provided on this page are affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I will earn commission if you click through.

July 07, 2020

Time Management Tips from Organizing Professionals

July 07, 2020/ Jeannine

Time-Management is one of the most rewarding skills you can invest in, both in your personal and professional life, but what exactly is time management? Time management is the coordination of tasks and activities to maximize the effectiveness of an individual’s efforts. Essentially, time management is enabling people to get more work done in less time. Here are some useful Time-Management tips from organizing and management professionals.

Konmari organizer el cajon — Sandy Park

Tidy with Spark

Write it down.

Ever since a young age I wrote a to-do list. The act of extracting lists from my head onto a structured list on paper made perfect sense and seemed essential to getting things done. But inevitably as the lists grew more complete, my system of list making needed modification. This is when I started to group like tasks and items together. Batch processing is not a new concept, but for my note taking and list making process, it was a game changer.

Instead of shifting from unlike tasks to another losing focus and all the economies of scale of starting over with a new task, I grouped like items together, batching them up so that I would benefit from being in the frame of mind of completing a similar task.

For example, any emails that need to be sent or read were grouped together. I would answer emails one right after the other and then move on to the next subcategory on my list of making phone calls. Grouping all calls together allowed me to knock out all the calls in one sitting. All return calls or appointments are handled together, whereas longer length calls to a friend or a family member are reserved for a later time when I could devote more time to the task at hand.

Batching up tasks on my to-do list saved a great deal of time for me and organized my day in a way that was manageable and productive.

Screen Shot 2020-07-07 at 9.48.47 PM.png — Annmarie Gustafson

Annmarie Gustafson

Prioritize with Time Blocking.

Have you ever noticed how much harder you’ll work to fit something into your schedule if it’s something you really want to do? Chances are if you’re starting up your own business, the things you’ll tend to work on first are the fun, exciting tasks that you want to do. When it comes to the repetitive administrative tasks or projects you find boring, you’ll procrastinate doing them for as long as possible. Somehow though, it all still gets done.

The only chance we have at any semblance of work-life balance, is to decide how much time we are willing to devote to each of those things, in an ideal world, each week. Time Blocking is one of the best ways to put into perspective how much time you actually have each day to get things done. Initially, you may be surprised at how much or how little “free” time you have. You’ll begin to more closely analyze how you’re spending (or wasting) your days and figure out what should stay and what can go.

My favorite benefit of Time Blocking is that it eliminates any guilty feelings. If you tend to think, “I really should reply to that email,” or “I probably need to take a break and go play with the kids,” you’ll be freed of those pesky, interrupting thoughts. You’ll know that there is a time set aside for doing all those things, but right now, you’re working on whatever is in your current time block.

Of course there are hundreds of ways you can get started with Time Blocking. You can use an app, your digital calendar, a pencil and paper, or a simple spreadsheet.

Home staging santee — Flavia Roman

Alter Decorum

Don’t leave what you can do today for tomorrow.

Once I’m done utilizing an item, I put it back where it belongs. I maintain a certain organized household balance by returning all objects where they belong, and by making sure everything already has a designated place.

I keep my bathroom vanity neat by depositing some of my skin care and dental products in the order of which will be used. This way not only the vanity will always look organized, but also my next skin or dental routine will save me time by not having to search around for the products that I’m supposed to be using.

I prioritize based on what needs immediate attention by assessing the benefits that I might be getting from accomplishing a certain task. Each benefit always improves a different aspect of my life.

san diego professional organizer time management tips — Alexandra Kozak

Living Simply PGH

Rest.

I let myself rest. Or at least do something I want to do. Whether that’s a calling a friend or working out, it’s important to build time into your day to decompress. Most of us feel compelled to make sure our day is as productive as possible, which can lead to feelings of guilt over taking a break. But these short rest periods can help reset your focus and recharge your energy to continue to tackle your list.

Set a timer if you need to. I schedule my workouts as if they were meetings. This holds me accountable but also ensures this break is built into my day. I also use my Apple watch to remind me to stand at least once every hour. That gets me away from the computer and walking around. It helps so much to just get up and stretch.

time management and produlctivity san diego — Annie Allen

Annie The Organizer

Set a specific time for responding to emails.

Email management. We often get side-tracked while reading and responding to emails, wasting valuable time and getting off-task. An interesting article catches our attention, a seemingly quick response becomes a research project and before you know it, an hour or two has been lost on emails. It’s important to schedule email time each day; put it in your planner.

When viewing email, determine what is urgent vs. important - urgent emails require immediate action whereas important emails can wait 24-48 hours or a stated deadline. If emails generate a new task or action, consult your planner and determine if/when you can complete that task; put the new task in your planner rather than dropping everything and completing it right away.

Set an alarm five minutes before your allotted time is up, so you can begin closing down your email session and not lose track of time. The same idea applies to managing social media accounts; schedule a specific time to connect, post, respond to all social media.

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