Peace of Mind Organizing

My 2024 Word of the Year

5 January 2024

I find it really valuable to come up with a guiding word every new year. This year’s word is ACTIVE. I want to focus this year on taking the more active option in any given situation. I’m looking to feel more nimble, less stiff, and all around more vital. There’s something about being in your 60s that makes you really think about how you want to age.

I initially thought my word was going to be STRONG. But after doing the exercises in Lavendaire’s Artist of Life Workbook, I changed it to ACTIVE, which felt like a better fit.

I’ve been choosing a word of the year for more than a decade and some words were more spot-on than others. It’s interesting to me to look back on prior words of the year because they’re little snapshots of my life that year.

I keep a list of them in Evernote. In case you’re interested, here’s the list:

2013: growth
2014: innovation
2015: recognition
2016: balance
2017: fearless
2018: connection
2019: expertise, processes, health
2020: intention
2021: ease
2022: generosity
2023: space
2024: active

If you’re interested in hearing more about selecting a Word of the Year, check out Episode 186 of the Getting to Good Enough podcast, in which Shannon and I spent 15 minutes talking about it. (We’ve stopped recording the podcast, but the archives are still there for your enjoyment!)

How about 30 days of yoga in January?

18 December 2023

I’m so excited for the next Yoga with Adriene 30-day journey. This year’s theme is FLOW.

I started doing at-home yoga with Adriene in December 2018 and developed a consistent practice. But this year I have been a little sporadic. I’m keen to get back on the daily yoga path so that I can become more flexible and have a stronger core. I turned 60 last year and I’m feeling a little creaky! This 30-day journey is the perfect entry for me.

The 30-day yoga journey consists of 30 yoga videos, released one a day starting on January 2. If you sign up, you’ll receive a daily email with a link to that day’s video, which you can watch on Yoga with Adriene’s YouTube channel.

Here’s what I love: I’m doing yoga in the comfort of my home, but I’m doing it at the same time as literally thousands of other people around the world. I also love that there’s a little mystery about what I’m going to be doing and I don’t have to choose what practice to do.

Here’s the video introducing this journey, if you’re not familiar with Adriene and her awesome Australian Cattle Dog, Benji.

If you’re intrigued, I urge you to sign up so you’ll get the daily email reminder!

Loving my new Jarvis standing desk

14 December 2023

I’ve been dealing with some neck and shoulder pain that I’m told is a result of poor ergonomics. That was my cue to research buying an electric sit-stand desk, something I’d been thinking about for awhile. The desk has been in place for about three weeks and I LOVE it!

To help make my search easier, I started by checking the New York Times Wirecutter, which recommended the Herman Miller Jarvis standing desk for petite people like me (those under 5’4”). I went with the less expensive laminate version (versus hardwood or bamboo) and opted for a dry-erase desktop (swoon!). As a Certified YNAB Budgeting Coach, I often have the need to jot down figures during Zoom calls that I’ll never need again. This dry-erase desktop is a dream come true for that.

I also bought a monitor arm from Herman Miller (the Jarvis single monitor arm). I hired a friend to put it all together for me. And that’s when the fun began.

The removal of the old desk and installation of the new desk created a huge mess in my office. It also created a challenge: my old desk (a 1997 vintage IKEA desk), was large. (62” × 47” at its largest point and 62” × 31” at its smallest.) And I had a lot of stuff, like pens, that I stored on it. So even when it was cleared off, it still was pretty full. Here’s a photo of my cleared off desk. Pretty crowded.

My new desk, on the other hand, is only 60” by 27.5” So I had to find a home for all that stuff. I repurposed an Elfa file cart that I had been using for active files under my desk. I decluttered a bunch of files and moved the few files I kept to another file cart. Then I added two mesh drawers to the file cart and a top. And voila, everything I needed at hand is easily available in my little cart under my desk.

Here’s a photo (taken before I added a top to the file cart) that shows both the top and middle drawers:

The game changer was taking my external monitor off my desk surface. I moved the monitor stand it used to sit on to the side of my desk and my laptop sits there, along with some supplies I use regularly. The only other things I really need on my desk are my Bullet Journal, desk lamp and my water carafe and glass. I added a pretty ceramic plate hand made by my friend, Sally Brown, to hold there glassware so they feel safe and anchored.

Here’s a picture of the visual peace I’m enjoying daily—something I’ve never had before on my desk.

I bought a glossy white Kallax cube storage furniture—on feet—from IKEA. That allows me to beautifully store some of the items that were on or near my desk. I love it.

Here’s a photo of that:

Every day since I got this set up going I have kept the desk clean. It’s so easy and enjoyable to clear it off. And, I’m happy to say, I am actually standing at my desk, probably half the time. And I do think it’s helping my neck and shoulder pain.

The desk moves smoothly, quietly and quickly from stand to sit (and vice versa). It’s very stable so I don’t have to worry about anything on the desk top. It has four presets, which makes it a one-touch operation.

The cherry on the sundae is the small standing desk anti-fatigue mat I bought (the Topo Mini) that has contours on it to help me shift standing positions and stay comfortable.

When I add it up, I spent over $1000 on the desk, monitor arm, installation and accessories. It’s early days but I do think it was worth it. Having a beautiful, clear desk is such a boon to my productivity. I feel like I’m living the dream!

Worth repeating: Today's piece of holiday advice

5 December 2023

I wrote this post six years ago and I still think it’s sound advice. The more unloved holiday decor we keep, the harder it is to decorate your home. I urge you to build some ease into your holiday season by following this advice!

Yesterday, I helped a client part with the holiday decor that she didn’t love and wasn’t using. Bags of decor left her storage room to find a new home with folks who will love and use it. She felt great about it (and so did I). When I got home, I wrote down this piece of advice for you.

Prioritizing my health

29 November 2023

I’ve been doing yoga for almost five years now (since December 2018), practicing with Yoga with Adriene from the comfort of my home. I love her 30-day challenges and I managed a streak of over 400 days in a row of yoga, from April 1, 2020 to May 12, 2021.

This year I developed tennis elbow, which took months of physical therapy to get past. (Good times.) That made me nervous about yoga, but now I’m trying to get back into it because I know how beneficial it is to my entire body.

I also need to do physical therapy exercises at home and I’d like to do more cardio exercise. I’m 61 and in the past couple of years I’ve definitely become more stiff and creaky and I don’t go up and down the stairs quite as effortlessly as I used to.

So I’m striving to create a routine that prioritizes self care. I know I find it much easier to create daily routines than any other frequency. So I’m working on creating a daily routine that encompasses:

• yoga
• physical therapy exercises
• cardio and/or strength

Looking back at my blog, I’m taking inspiration from some of my past posts, including:

• Daily exercise for the win! in which I write about my older brother’s amazing exercise routine
• Developing a yoga practice, from February 2019, 60 days into my yoga journey
• Nine things I love about Yoga with Adriene, written in June 2020
• Using rewards as motivation, written this summer as I struggled to get back on track with exercise

I am fortunate to have control over my schedule for the most part. Last summer, I rode my stationary bike at the end of my work day. I like the idea of starting the day with yoga and PT and ending with cardio. I’m going to give myself credit for any effort in these categories, which I hope will get me going even if I don’t feel like exercising.

I’m also going to create a spread in my bullet journal to track my exercise so I get the satisfaction (and psychological boost) of creating a chain that I won’t want to break. (See my 2008 blog post, Don’t Break the Chain for more information on that.)

Keeping myself healthy is probably the most important thing I can do for myself, my family and my business. It’s high time I prioritized it!

Thanksgiving greetings!

21 November 2023

Worth repeating: When is an organizer like a dentist?

14 November 2023

I wrote this post nine years ago (and I’m happy to report that I still go to the dentist twice a year). When I re-read it today, it still rang true, so I thought I’d share it with you again. I’ll add one thing: I certainly hope that working with a professional organizer is more pleasant for you than having dental work!

I had my teeth cleaned today, something I don’t really enjoy. But I do it faithfully every six months. And that’s because I know the pain and fright of slacking off on going to the dentist and then having to go because something’s gone awry in my mouth. For a number of years, when I was younger, I let my fear of the dentist get in the way of my getting regular checkups. Then a tooth broke and I had to face the music. After a root canal and a nasty surgical procedure called “crown lengthening” (I don’t wish that on anyone), all was well again. And, believe me, I haven’t missed an appointment since.

As I was sitting in the dental chair today, I thought about how putting off going to the dentist is a bit like putting off decluttering or organizing your home. If you’re dealing with an overabundance of items, clutter just builds up until it becomes overwhelming. Calling in an organizer for help can be scary and embarrassing (though I try hard to put to rest any fear or embarrassment my clients might feel). I know from experience that letting plaque build up on your teeth can make the prospect of going to the dentist scary and embarrassing too.

But once you declutter and find a place for everything, all you have to do is maintain. Just like brushing and flossing daily, if you put things away every day, then all you need is a bit of a spruce up every six months or so.

Because I brush and floss daily, my semi-annual dental visits are merely mildly unpleasant (because I don’t like having my teeth scraped). But they’re nothing to be afraid of. As a reformed dental phobic, I find this to be revelatory.

So if you’re looking for a reason to get started organizing your home, perhaps you can think of it in terms of preventive maintenance, like going to the dentist every six months. Don’t wait until your tooth breaks (or your house starts falling apart) to reach out for help!

Photo by Steve Snodgrass via Flickr