Good Day, Boston!

Several years ago I was in Boston for a day of sightseeing.  I loved the city and hoped to return one day.  You know what they say: be careful what you ask for: you just might get it.  I forgot to say I wanted to be there when the weather was warm!  I fly into Logan Airport on the 26th of this month.  I'm praying to the 'snow gods' to stay their hand while I am there.  Actually I am not overwhelmed by the idea of snow or cold as I grew up in Brooklyn.  It's ice that scares me.  My father could wear street shoes and fly over ice without ever slipping.  Me?  I'd take teeny tiny steps like a 90 year old and fall on my tail bone at least once a year!

I'll be teaching a three hour seminar on the 29th, Saturday morning at the Wellness Center associated with Emerson Hospital in Concord.  The first hour is devoted to the basic mechanics of 'Zen Organizing.'  I'll apply the concepts to getting your home organized. And that includes how you manage your time.  The next two hours I'll show how these very simple steps apply to office/work life organization and your finances.  If you're in the area, I hope you'll join me.  The class is $100 and will be followed by a book signing. Check with your tax preparer: this class may be a tax deductible item if you itemize.

Here's the link to the ad Emerson created:

http://events.sentinelandenterprise.com/concord-ma/events/show/161476405-get-organized-never-fear-the-zen-organizer-is-here

The day before I'll be appearing on the local Fox news channel.  And my wonderful friends at The Container Store will be providing me with 10 of my all time favorite products.  As you might imagine I am not going to schlepp these goodies back to Los Angeles.  Can you imagine my trip through security? "I'm sorry, Officer,  That's not a weapon in my pocket: it's a shelf divider!" I'll be giving them away to the folks who ask me the 10 best questions of the day!

If your organization or corporation needs a speaker, please contact me for fee and travel details.  But let's try and do it after snow season ends, shall we? By the way I'm going home to New York on March 15 to 19.  If you'd like to work with me privately, please contact me as I'll be able to give some time to clients that trip.  You know ... when I'm not slipping and sliding on the ice!

Do you have a long lost love?

When I was a little girl there was a lot of interest in what I would be when I grew up.  I was a late in life accident for my parents.  They hadn't planned on having children and then after 10 years I entered the scene.  They wanted a doctor or a lawyer.  And what did they get?  An artist! One day when I was about 5 years old,  I announced that in addition to being a surgeon I also wanted to be a singer.  My mother's best friend said: "If you want to be a surgeon you have to abandon the silly idea of being a singer." I was shocked! Why couldn't I do both? I was told I had to pick one.  As you might imagine I made the wrong choice in my mother's eyes.  Out went the idea of surgery as a profession and in came the idea of a life as a performer. I majored in Theater in college and when I graduated my father couldn't tell people I wanted to be an actress.  He was too ashamed.

Fast forward in time to the Presidency of Bill Clinton.  I remember the day he said that in the current world economy people would most likely find themselves having several jobs/careers in one lifetime. I thought that was great.  I realize that the idea of surgeon by day / singer by night probably still wouldn't fly, however, here's my question to you:  is there something you've always wanted to do that you left behind because you were told it was (pick your adjective) silly, stupid, irresponsible or ...? Here's a radical idea: find a way to incorporate that long lost love into your life this fall.

I'm not suggesting you abandon your career as a Wall Street analyst to become a starving artist.  Nor am I suggesting you quit your job and go back to school full time if you have a mortgage, a family and adult responsibilities.  I am suggesting that there just might be a way to incorporate your love into your life in a sane fashion that actually feeds your Soul.  Let's say you wanted to be a doctor but right after college you met the love of your life and started a family.  Could you set aside time to do volunteer work in a hospital once a week or even once a month?  Does the atmosphere of a hospital make you happy?  Could you go back to school and become a nurse or an LVN? What about acting or singing?  I was talking to a man last year who had just retired as a judge.  I asked what he wanted to do as a teenager.  I was floored when he said he had wanted to be a song & dance man! Now he's free to join a Community Theater.

Maybe you wanted to paint but had no way to support yourself as an artist.  Do you belong to your local museum?  Why not do that this year and pour yourself into an atmosphere that will bring you joy?  What did you leave behind?  How can you re-engage?  Whether it's volunteer work, a class or an internship, there's always a way to embrace an old love. Fall is a wonderful time to start no matter what your journey looks like. 

Remember that being organized will give you an edge because you will have control over your time and how it's to be spent.  Your home will be a nurturing space that supports your creative endeavors.  The easiest way to succeed at getting organized is to have the right motivation.  What better motivation could there be than making time to re-claim a part of yourself you put away to make others happy?  Let me know how this works out for you. You can e-mail me from my website.

How have you been touched by this tough economy?

Work Place Organization

It's always important to have an organized workspace.  But now with downsizing and job loss spreading throughout the work sector like a fever, being organized is a great insurance policy.  You can use your organizing skills to demonstrate to your employer how invaluable you are to the day-to-day operation of the business.  And, if you are the owner of the establishment, you can just as easily show your employees by example the kind of office space and productivity you hope to find throughout the organization. Are you looking for a job?  Being organized will not only help you organize your job search, it will be a skill you can present to your employer.  You see?  There isn’t a single down side to being organized!

If the world of organization has been an area of challenge for you, consider this: getting organized is a skill.  If you wanted to play a musical instrument like the piano, master a sport like tennis or learn how to dance, what would you do?  You’d read some good books, find a qualified teacher, practice and hope to reach your individual potential.  Getting organized requires the same steps.  It isn’t solely for those who seem to have been born with a natural proclivity for order.  Learning a new skill is one of the best ways to keep our brains active and stay youthful.  There’s no time like the present to begin the journey. And "One Year to an Organized Work Life" is the ideal companion. 

Multi-tasking: Friend or Foe

Very few subjects in the world of organizing are such hot button issues as 'multi- tasking.' However it certainly has its devotees! While I never like to waste time, I am not a fan. Let me explain.

If you are in a doctor's waiting room, why sit idle? This is a great time to get caught up on your paper work or even better give yourself an opportunity to start that novel you have been longing to read. If dinner is in the oven, why not toss in a load of laundry to fill the time before dinner is served? Maybe you can set the table while the food cooks and the laundry spins! These are examples of getting things done.

But if you are in the habit of working on the computer, talking on the phone and writing all at the same time, I have to ask how you feel at the end of the day? Exhausted, depleted and weary would be the responses I would expect. The first set of activities were each getting your full focus even though they seemed to be happening at the same time. The second set will fry your nerves as you direct your attention in multiple areas at once. Or at least attempt to...

If you are suddenly angry with me and feel I am making you wrong or trying to take something away from you that works, don't fret. I'm simply sharing what works for me, my readers and my clients. Give it a try. Examine how you multi-task and, most importantly, how you feel when you are done. It's fun to experiment with different ways of thinking, doing and being, isn't it?

I am a long time practitioner of yoga, both the physical postures and the ancient philosophy that the postures are a part of. I am writing this post on Wednesday, June 24th. In just two days I'll be leaving for the second of four yoga retreats I am honored to enjoy each year. I will write again next week with the renewed sense of peace being on a mountain top always brings to my Soul. I hope your week is productive and your weekend brings you a time of renewal. It's summer after all, you deserve a break.

My system of organizing, by the way, is called 'Zen Organizing" and is expressed in all (soon to be seven) of my books. The new 'One Year to...' series best captures this system. I invite you to read more about it. If the home is your area of challenge "One Year to an Organized Life" is for you. If you languish is a sea of chaos at work, you will enjoy "One Year to an Organized Work Life." Late this year "One Year to an Organized Financial Life" will be out. We're all concerned about our finances, aren't we? And yet so few of us receive an adequate education in this area. My new book is written with Russell Wild, a financial planner who makes the arcane world of finance accessible. I know you will enjoy it as much as I did writing it with Russ!

What have you got to lose by embracing 'Zen Organizing' except perhaps tension and turbulence? What you'll gain is peace, calm and oh yes, productivity.

Time is....

...a commodity...your friend...your foe...

How would you define time? Does it feel abundant or scarce in your life? I was thinking about this yesterday as I spent most of the day in Santa Paula, California. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation honored the new graduates of its training program. These brave dogs and their equally remarkable handlers will be there at the next disaster searching for the living who may be buried under rubble.

I first saw them working the pile at Ground Zero after 9/11. They have my heart and I help raise awareness and money every chance I get. You really can't imagine a dog going up and down ladders, through tubes or scampering over rubble until you see them train. And they do it for the reward of their favorite toy. They also do it for the love of their handlers with whom they live 24/7. I could wax poetic about them for hours...but it's time I wanted to write about today.

You have to manage your time otherwise either it will manage you or it will be managed for you by everyone else in your life. I worked hard all week so that I could take yesterday and, you know, throw it to the dogs! If you think that a time budget, so to speak, is a waste of time, how else are you going to achieve your goals or live a balanced life? Managing time is of course about achieving the lofty goals you set for yourself. It's also about the every day, mundane things...those that are chores and those that are rewards. Life is a balancing act from the moment we're born.

Things to think about this beautiful Sunday. Of course all of my books are full of ways to manage time. It's the fabric out of which you craft your very life. Today I'm also thinking ahead to June 2nd. I'll be returning to China for my second visit. You can't imagine all the details that require organizing! I so want to leave with a sense of accomplishment rather than having that sick feeling of dread when you know you've left a laundry list of items on your To do list. Organizing isn't a dreaded task for a weekend or a day every so often. Organizing is a skill that allows you to enjoy a more productive life.

So, again I ask...how would you describe time?

Blessings,
Regina Leeds

New Year: will it mean a New You?

January 2, 2009

I'm so sorry to have fallen off the 'posting wagon!' I have to confess that I actually took time to enjoy myself this December. I'm a type A personality by nature and it's sometimes difficult for me to slow down. Of course the fact I love my work adds to the issue: it's a joy to write, to work with my clients and to help promote my books. Very often everything else feels like a distraction.

On December 17 I had the good fortune to be a guest at Miraval Spa outside Tucson. I was invited to participate in their first ever Writer's Program. Miraval is a place of healing and perfection. I had a wonderful time and much to my surprise came home with new friends and new clients! Sometimes my cup truly runneth over...

When I returned to Los Angeles on the 21st, the holiday season was in full swing. I decided to continue to unwind. I'm about to begin work on my seventh book: One Year to an Organized Financial Life. I never experience writer's block and I think the reason is that for a good month before I ever sit down to write, I'm working the manuscript out in my head. I walk at least 3 miles a day, for example, and it's a great time to mull things over. By the time I'm facing the keyboard, I'm ready to rock!

My great PR project at this moment in time, however, is getting the word out about my just released book One Year to an Organized Work Life. I've taken the principles from my New York Times best seller One Year to an Organized Life and applied them to the office. The basics stay the same. What changes with all of our organizing challenges are the items in our hands. Whether it's a blouse, a bill, a pack of batteries or a project for work or school, the Magic Formula will carry you home to peace, order and calm.

What is The Magic Formula? It's a three step process: Eliminate (what you don't need, use or want), Categorize (keep related items together for automatic inventory control) and then Organize (when you are done, your categories should be beautiful, functional and easy to maintain). But today I'd like to write about the New Year....there's always time for The Magic Formula. In fact over the next few days, I'll show you how to use it to achieve your goals for 2009.

The reality of life is that every midnight ushers in a new beginning. January 1st has special power and momentum because the entire world is focused on the change to a new year. We can join forces with millions of others and feel the 'psychic surge.' But change isn't magical, it requires work and willingness to let go of the status quo...so more often than not, our desire to change becomes a good intention that is never acted upon.

Let's join forces and fill 2009 with a different experience.

For today, I'd like you to write down all the things you would like to change or do in this year. There are no limits. Vomit it all down on paper! I'll be back on Sunday to help you examine your list. For now, the sky's the limit...dream a little!

Blessings,
Regina