Organizing at Home

Atmosphere Engineering

Atmosphere Engineering

A new co-working space opened in Detroit called The Creators Nest. I love the name. And the concept of the creator space. The founders, Adam & Stephanie Vaught developed the co-working space for creatives. A place where they could come and be inspired to do their...

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Organizing Days

Organizing Days

Sometimes we just need an organizing day. Something has become overwhelming, and we need to get things back in order. This could be a physical space that has become cluttered or needs maintenance. This could be digital files where we can’t seem to find what we need....

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15-Minute Projects

15-Minute Projects

Last year, I embarked on what I called my 15-minute curation project. The journey began with the post Start by Starting and was summarized at the end of the year with all my lessons in the post titled 15 Minute Project - Q4 Progress. My intent was to take on some...

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Personal Operating System

Personal Operating System

The organization and productivity worlds are full of processes and systems. Those systems manage physical things as well as digital information. Both can be overwhelming. And, sometimes, so can the recommended solutions! My Perspective With everything I’ve read and...

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Solving Inefficiency

Solving Inefficiency

There was an episode of Little Happier recently that talked about desire paths. The grass worn shortcuts people create when constructed paths take longer, less convenient routes. The short, 3-minute episode suggested we look for other desire paths in our lives. My...

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To Do List Alternative

To Do List Alternative

Today, I listened to an episode of the Lazy Genius podcast. The host suggested we shift our perspective on a to-do list and instead create two lists: The have-to and hope-to list. This helps us realize what is not optional and yet we don’t lose sight of what we want...

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CEO of Our Home?

CEO of Our Home?

I’ve read articles from Forbes to small companies that cover the topic of being the CEO of your Home. Lisa Woodruff also talks about this concept on her podcast – Organize365. The concept is interesting and underlines how our responsibilities at home mirror those in a...

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Everyday Entropy

Everyday Entropy

With college far in the rearview mirror, there were classes I never wanted to consider again. One of those was Thermodynamic…right up there with Differential Equations. Anyway, in my sustainability class last week, the title of the section in the module caused panic:...

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Flexibility and Autonomy at Home

Flexibility and Autonomy at Home

Yesterday, we talked about how flexibility and autonomy come into play at work. The relationship between employer and employee varies based on the time and place structure of the organization. In addition to considering flexibility and autonomy at work, we can...

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Meal Planning

Meal Planning

The daily food cycle has an impact on our overall wellbeing. When our lives seem to have more to do than time to do it, meals become a challenge. We spend money on carryout. We start to eat less healthy foods. We struggle to find ways to get things back on track. My...

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Nesting Across the Decades

Nesting Across the Decades

This post was going to be titled “nesting for retirement”.  However, the concept of retirement has changed with many working for years beyond what used to be considered retirement age. We spend the first half of our lives building things – growing a career,...

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Can Nesting Cure Procrastination?

Can Nesting Cure Procrastination?

The other day, we had a post about nesting being a moment when you plan, clear, and organize.  In that post, my perspective was that this approach could apply at work during times you change roles or prepare for a new project. I had an opportunity to experience a bit...

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Nest Building Has Become Complicated

Nest Building Has Become Complicated

According to research and personal observations, the age when someone moves out of their parent’s home has risen from age 23 in 2000 to 26 in 2017 (the most recent data point). There are likely several reasons for the rise including increases in getting advanced...

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Tending to the Nest

Tending to the Nest

The idea of nesting during pregnancy has been frequently discussed and researched.  This is the time when expectant moms clean, organize, plan, and stock up.     They are preparing the home for what is ahead. We’ve also heard about empty nesting...

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Life Infrastructure

Life Infrastructure

Over the holidays, I wanted to look at the infrastructure of my business. This is the set of digital tools connected to run my business – on my computer and on my phone. Things like website platform, hosting company, CRM system, payment gateways, and more. As I did...

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15-Minute Project – Q4 Update

15-Minute Project – Q4 Update

My yearlong project to spend 15-minutes a day tackling projects around the house continued. For this final post of the year, I’ll highlight what happened in Q4, discuss how the project “drifted”, and on what I learned, and consider the year ahead. The Progress Like...

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Recognizing a “Hot Mess”

Recognizing a “Hot Mess”

In an episode of Organize365, Jacqui Ioli was a guest. She and Lisa discussed the “Hot Mess theory”. This was a concept Jacqui had developed while supervising outpatient nurses. There were four situations that led to the Hot Mess: Overwork – This occurs when there is...

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Sustainable Projects

Sustainable Projects

There was an interesting discussion on an episode of Adam Grant’s podcast Work Life. Adam spoke with psychologist and author Brian Little about how our projects impact our wellbeing. Brian wrote the books “Me, Myself, and Us” and “Who are You Really?”  He...

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Closing the Year

Closing the Year

The 4th quarter is a time to summarize the year and prepare for the year ahead. As we get closer to the holidays, the time available to do this summary becomes more difficult. This leaves many scrambling in the first quarter to pull things together while kicking...

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15-Minute Project – Q3 Update

15-Minute Project – Q3 Update

I’m continuing updates on my yearlong project to spend 15-minues a day tackling projects. Over 20 years in the house and there are many little (and big) things that need addressed. Progress was captured in the January intention and the Q1 & Q2 summary posts. While...

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Slowing Down to Speed Up

Slowing Down to Speed Up

When a new project comes up, the natural response is to dive right in and start to get things done.  However, taking a little time to plan the activity can save time and lead to greater success. There are several reasons why planning sets us on a better path:...

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