Magazines touting the latest in organizing solutions with glossy images of clean and perfect spaces do not deal with individuals or their lives. Staged with new furniture and quaint products, these articles are advice with the underlying hint that buying something pretty will put one’s life in order. There’s the panacea of visual fantasies: ten beige outfits in a closet; six bathroom towels rolled with ribbons. Glib.
Marilyn Paul, a professional woman with a doctorate, confessed to being the poster child of disorder in her personal life. Home and office were jumbled and confused; her lifestyle frenzied and disorganized. In her book, It’s Hard to Make a Difference When you Can’t Find Your Keys, she relates how she was able to finally get organized personally and professionally when she began to organize emotionally.
In my last article, we covered ...
Weather wisdom such as "March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb," or "April showers bring May flowers," may sometimes seem like old wives’ tales; but they are only the beginning when it comes to gardening. Keep your plants productive and blooming all spring and summer long with these tips.
Start with a Plan
It’s important to choose the proper site for the plants you wish to grow.
For the last several months I’ve written about keeping Christmas and the rest of the year simple and light, finding alternatives to the holiday stress and frenzy, and giving yourself permission to say “enough” to keep debt at bay. It’s all a matter of making sensible but sometimes difficult choices.
Anyone who has ever planned a party knows that decisions and choices are basic beginning ingredients: what to serve, whom to invite. I’m revving up for a holiday gathering at my house; a brunch, followed by a trip to a small, local theatre.
Every personal organizer who has ever answered the plea for help in paper management has seen the following organizing “systems”: the floor, the kitchen counter, the desk top, the entry table, the dining room table, the coffee table, the family room, the laundry room, the laundry baskets, the wicker baskets, the tote bags, the paper bags, the plastic bags, the shoe boxes, the cardboard boxes, the plastic bins, and my personal favorite, the dog kennel. When we’ve been shown actual filing cabinets, they are either empty or filled with buldging, toppling files labeled “miscellaneous” and “stuff”, which is right up there with naming all your children, “Hey You”. Anyone can answer that call including the neighbors next door whom you weren’t really seeking.
