Scheduling nightmares. We’ve all been through the back and forth jungle of trying to find a common time for a group of people to meet.

An email gets sent to a group of people and everyone’s email inbox gets jammed full with the Reply All responses. As the coordinator of a meeting, you spend too much time trying to find the most common meeting date & time for everyone to meet.

Here’s a solution to your scheduling nightmares.

Doodle enables you to propose several dates and times through an email to a list of participants. inside or outside your organization, across calendars, and time zones. Participants can indicate their availability online through a poll. Once you choose the most common date from the online poll, you can send an email to set a firm meeting date. Doodle is free of charge and registration is not required.

Have a look at a demo for Doodle.

Doodle Calendar Connect and MeetMe are options worth having a look at. These enhanced features enable you to connect your calendar so you can share your availability, no matter what calendaring system other participants are using and regardless of which organization they are in.

Tungle.me is a similar option to Doodle.

When trying to set up an appointment with a client, by clicking on the Tungle.me link through the downloaded program, you are able to select available time options and send these options through an email. Once a suitable time is selected, an appointment is automatically added to each participants calendar.

Have a look at Tungle.me’s video demonstration:

Instead of spending your time searching for a suitable time to meet, save your time for your meetings instead. Give Doodle or Tungle.me a try and let me know what your preference is.

For 62 per cent of employed Canadians, work was identified as the primary 

culprit of stress in 2010 according to new numbers from StatisticsCanada.

A pressure-cooker to begin with, the workplace is made even more stressful by  being disorganized.

“Canadians are in a constant time crunch and experience feelings of stress,  failure and frustration,” says Clare Kumar, a Toronto-based professional  organizer. “Today’s office workers must take stock of both their work habits and  their environment, and take necessary action to alleviate the tremendous  pressure disorganization has on their productivity and work-life balance.”

“By having the right tools in place, Canadian office workers can save at  least 15 minutes per day which works out to a week and a half per year,” adds  Linda Chu, a professional organizer in Vancouver. “This has a dramatic effect on  the health of businesses and their workers.”

Professional organizers say desks in disarray causes a drop of 20 per cent in  worker efficiency; costing the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity.  Studies show the average worker spends at least 400 hours per year searching for  paper documents. “This places tremendous stress on the bottom line for many  businesses that need to return to profitability, especially coming out of the  economic downturn.”

Chu recommends several steps to become more efficient and productive in the  workplace.

• Categorize. Sort through possessions and group them into similar categories  of information and tasks. Identify what things are, instead of getting  sidetracked by thinking of solutions.
• Limit. If space is a premium you may have to choose between what is  important – your space or your stuff. Limit your collections by regularly  reviewing and letting go of information.
• Evaluate. Focusing on what matters most is the key to prioritizing.  Continually evaluate information and tasks as they relate to achieving goals to  increase your efficiency and productivity.
• Allocate. Find a method to store information and possessions to be able to  find what you need, when you need it.
• Remove. Items that are no longer of value or no longer needed can be  removed from the workspace. Focusing on what is important will get you on track  to be more efficient.

see article in The Province

The Government of Canada has identified key Literacy and Essential Workplace Skills. These skills are used in nearly every job, throughout daily life and at varying levels of complexity. Having a common foundation of skills will enable people to successfully participate in the Canadian labour market, enhancing communication and workplace productivity. Essential skills give people the ability to evolve with their jobs and to adapt to workplace change.

The nine Essential Skills include:

1. Reading
2. Document use
3. Numeracy
4. Writing
5. Oral communication
6. Working with others
7. Thinking
8. Computer use
9. Continuous learning

To help you kick start your continuous learning efforts, Out of Chaos will be offering the upcoming workshop basics:

Get Organized: de-clutter & focus and what matters most!
November 1, 2011 – 7:00 to 8:30pm

For the pilers, filers and stuffers who are running out of space. For those that are overburdened and stressed with too many email, voice mail, paper, and interruptions. This workshop will give you take-away tips on how to get yourself organized by addressing:

• How to begin diving into the piles when you “just don’t know where to start”
• How to prioritize and focus your time on what’s important when everything appears urgent
• Decision making using the “Decide in Five” model to help you focus on what matters most

Class held at the new Healistic Planet Wellness Studio in Kitsilano, 1860 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC

604.689.8034

Pre-register here

As a professional organizer, I often visit homes overrun with collections. Common amongst many collections are the piles of paper and subscriptions to various magazines.

What are your options? To keep or not to keep? The logical decision would be that if space is limited and you want more room, then the magazines must go.

Emotionally however, people grapple with the “what if’s“. What if I might need it again? What if I haven’t read everything? Not to mention, magazines are neatly bound with a nice cover page.

Read more

We are hearing more and more about the Sandwich Generation. Better yet, if you are living right smack in the middle of it, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

Juggling the demands of caring for your children and spouses, keeping on top of your careers, managing your personal health and financial issues and now the needs of your aging parents. Notice how your personal needs didn’t even fit into this last sentence. What about ‘me’ time? (night out with the boys, spa date with the girls, date night…).

“The number of people aged 65 and up has more than doubled since the 1920s, according to Statistics Canada, and will double again in the next three decades. By 2031, one in four Canadians — an estimated 9.8 million — will be a senior, up from roughly one in 10 today.”

Read more

Last week I was making a presentation to the graduating class at Ashton College, a local college that provides career and continuing education to both domestic and international students.

In preparing for the appropriate words of wisdom, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on my own journey and the journeys of those that I have worked with throughout the years.  In my work as an organizing & productivity consultant, one of the most common things that I come across is people who are dealing with procrastination and how they struggle with developing systems to reach their goals.

There’s a saying by Nicholas Murray Butler.  “People are divided into three groups:  Those who Make things happen, those who Watch things happen, and those who Wonder what happened.”

Everyone of us, at some point deals with procrastination and even the most organized lose their way.  It’s overwhelming at times to know where to start, when the piles are so high and the to-do lists are so long.

Things will continue to be thrown in our paths, whether it’s through paper mail, email, or people interactions.  Our lists and intentions will continue to grow.  It’s about adapting to change and circumstances and thinking about things in a different way.

I grew up Watching my Dad work in hotels and working in my Dad’s restaurant.  I grew up Wondering what was happening that he was able to create such a buzz and excitement for his loyal customers.  So it was no surprise that when I was ready I wanted to Make things happen for myself.

I followed in his footsteps and entered into a career of over 20 years in the hotel / restaurant industry.  When the events of 9-11 struck, I lost my job with the downturn of the hotel economy.  All I knew was the hotel industry – so what now?, I asked.

I had no idea what I wanted to be, otherwise I would be there already…I had to look at things differently and adapt to the changes that were before me.  There’s another saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there”.

I needed a plan, a system, a map.  I had to map out what I wanted, what my goal was.  Then, I had to decide how I was going to get there?  How I was to accomplish my goal?  Which road would I travel to get there?

Success can be defined in many ways and is different for everyone.  It may be about money, a job, providing for your family, status.  For me, it was to be self employed with my own business.

Whatever it is, your goals can change and will change.

It is so easy to sit back and procrastinate and think one day…later…  To Watch – as things fly by.  To Wonder – what if…

Make thing happen:

1. Adapt to the changes that will always come your way
2. Look at things differently (do something different)
3. Set your goals (determine what you want to achieve)
4. Design your road map (how are you going to get there?)
5. Be persistent, be brave, take one step at a time

Which person do you want to be?

1. The person who MAKES things happen?
2. The person who WATCHES things happen?
3. The person who WONDERS what happened?

A recent situation with a homeowner forced her to sell her 3200 square foot house and move into a 1900 square foot condo. She was so overwhelmed to be forced out of her home of 35 years that she had no idea where to start or what her options were when it came to downsizing her possessions.

Four options to consider, when it comes to leaning out your household goods and downsizing your home. Time is always a factor and cost is a variable. Cash, Consign, Craigslist, or Charity.

Read more

After last month’s live call-in show on CBC’s BC Almanac with Susan McNamee, a listener called in with a dilemma — her husband’s sweaters.
…to be exact, the sweaters that her husband’s mother had knit for him.

They had moved into a new home and the sweaters were packed away in a box (all 30 of them). She had refused to unpack the sweaters, since he never wore them. So they sit, in the box, unpacked, in their basement, never to be looked at again.

Yet… he would not let them go. He would not even talk about them. The organizing challenge is how she was to approach her husband about ‘The Sweaters’.

I often talk about value, being made up of two components — Emotional and Usefulness.

It was obvious that her husband had no use for the sweaters, especially since they were sitting in the box, months after the move, still unpacked. Emotional on the other hand — bingo! ‘His mother had made them…’

My recommendation in this scenario:

1. Throw Blanket
   Find someone who can knit. Hand knit sweaters can be taken apart and the yarn can be used to make a throw blanket(s). You might even consider a ‘patchwork’ of all 30 sweaters. So, every time you snuggle up with your re-purposed throw blanket, you will be reminded of ‘mommy dearest’.
2. Themed Photo Album
   Have some fun and have a dress-up day. Take out your camera and take a picture of your husband in each of the sweaters his mom made. Place them in a photo album with a snappy caption under each photograph (scrapbookers are jumping at this creative project). Use this as a way of honouring his mother and the memory of each sweater.
3. Donations
   Of course, there is the practical argument of donating the sweaters to a seniors home/centre or to a charity in need.

But, as you are well aware, this has nothing to do with a useful decision — it’s clearly pure emotion.

… thank goodness it’s only one box.

Summer vacation is at an end. Your kids are restless.  Business is about to kick into high gear again. You’ve got a million things to prepare. It’s time to get organized again for the school year. Where to start? You have to leverage your resources.

Perhaps you want to de-clutter and get out from under the piles of stuff that have accumulated since June (or since you moved into a new home). Or Perhaps you need systems in place to boost productivity for your business for the next quarter. If so, feel free to get in touch with me regarding professional organizing services to get your new school year off to a great start.

Maybe you need help with another area of your life or business so you can get focused for the coming season? I’m happy to recommend some partners, colleagues and trusted services I’ve used that might also benefit you.

Here’s a quick list of resources that can help you:

• Melanie Fung Lifestyle Management Inc. Personal shopping, small business assistance, running errands, event planning and more.
• Fresh Start Recycling. Helping home owners, building managers, and construction rid themselves of unwanted items.
• Silver Bullet Shredding. Professional, reliable and cost-effective shredding services.
• Recycling Council of BC. Information about where to recycle.

Do you need help organizing your time? De-cluttering your space? Making sense of your paper and electronic files? Get help from a professional organizer today.

Have a great start to the new season!

Are you stuck at the office while everyone else is out enjoying the summer sunshine? Taking a pass on the neighborhood barbecue because you’re just getting to your taxes – in August? Get organized and you can enjoy life again.

This month, the Scrivener Magazine published my article from page 10, “Get Organized and Enjoy More Time” with tips to not only get organized, but also stay organized.

Some excerpts that you may find helpful:

Read more

I help people de-clutter their lives and get rid of the bad habits that led to the chaos in the first place. Sometimes, my professional advice seems a lot like something you might hear from a life-coach.

After all, my “Three P’s” — planning, process and procedures, which help people stay organized and have a good life balance are also keys to long-term success.

Recently, some of my friends in the coaching field have written advice about forming good habits and letting go of things. My colleague, Dr. Brian Walsh, who collaborated with me on the Self-Hypnosis CD Ending Procrastination, provides this advice on improving behavior:

Over 97 per cent of our behaviors are unconscious. These behaviors are the result of imprinted patterns. Most of these were created when we were very young, perhaps under the age of seven. Another term for these patterns is habits, and yes, procrastination is a habit. It was learned, so it can be unlearned.

Most people believe that it takes 30 days to establish a new habit. Recent research has found that anyone can establish a new habit in as little as five days. Now, there’s a catch to this. Even if you have planted a new habit, the old one is still hanging around and is fighting for survival. Old habits die hard.

Here’s the key to success. Be aware that every time you fall back into the old habit, it will gain strength, and the new pattern will begin to weaken. The converse is true: Every time you practice the new pattern, it will gain dominance over the old one. Eventually it will dissolve, and that might take 30 days. You’ve heard that “Practice makes perfect.” Actually: “Practice makes permanent.”

On the topic of how to make your habits work for you, Life Coach Julia James has written a great article with a list of steps to follow:

1. First, pick a habit to establish.
2. What would be the smallest action you could take to get started? Commit to doing this one small thing on a regular basis, ideally on a schedule.
3. Set up a reminder to help you remember your commitment.
4. When you feel ready, gradually increase your commitment – but no more than you can consistently do.
5. Share your commitment with someone. Accountability really helps.
6. Identify the personal values you are honoring with your action.
7. Notice how good you feel when you follow a healthy habit; give yourself kudos for taking this positive step.
8. Stick with your new habit for at least 30 days. Before long, this behaviour will feel automatic and you won’t have to think about it anymore.

I’ve written before about how to face down the challenge of letting go of stuff that we don’t need. But what happens when your identity is tied to the things you own? My friend, Living in Vision Coach Lynne Brisdon discusses how to get past your hesitation:

When we have a strong attachment with our stuff our identity can feel threatened if we let go of it. This also has to do with being afraid of change and needing to control our surroundings in order to feel secure. The antidote is to shift to a sense of self identity that is truly about being who you are and not associated with having stuff.

This can also be related to the mistaken assumption that material objects: cars, a new PDA, or outfit, will fulfill us or have us feel complete. We feel good for a little while after acquiring the object of our desire, but we soon end up feeling empty again. We mistakenly equate having stuff with being loved instead of feeling whole and complete regardless of our belongings.

My friends and colleagues in Vancouver have been talking non-stop about the latest real-estate innovation to hit our expensive city: “microlofts”, 270 square feet of compact urban living roughly equal in size to two parking spaces.

In an Olympic-frenzied city with some of the most expensive real estate in the world, I guess it was inevitable that people would start living in accommodations that combine your sink, toilet and shower into a single “washroom enclosure”. But the question on everyone’s lips is “how do you organize your stuff to actually live in such a small space?”

When the CBC interviewed me about this topic, I noted that in a perfect world where you have as much space as you could possibly need, you would just keep everything. But for most of us, organizing our living spaces means making choices. What do you really need? What do you actually use? And what do you just have around because of emotional attachment or memory?

For those of us who don’t live in spacious mansions, these are very practical questions. One way to face it is to ask yourself, what would I keep if I could only have 100 items? Would I keep my Wii? All the DVDs I’ve collected but never actually watch? How many sets of cutlery do I need? Which is more important: that set of coasters that I bring out for company twice a year, or my toothbrush (well, I hope you’d choose the toothbrush, but it’s your choice…)?

We’re moving into smaller spaces and as a result, self-serve storage is a booming industry. It’s not just people shifting gears in a tough economy; many retired residents are moving from 2000 or even 5000 square feet homes into rooms roughly equivalent to in space to these microlofts – and they’ve acquired decades worth of stuff.

But if you’re paying for a storage locker after you downsize, how much would that extra $200 or $300 per month buy you in rent or a mortgage? If you’ve filled up your garage so you have to pay for a parking pass for your car to park on the street, how much are you paying every month for stuff that you might never use?

When I’m working with my professional organizing clients, helping them through the downsizing process is often a cathartic kind of process. They realize what is really important to them. At the same time, they learn how to make smarter decisions about how they use their space. For instance, in smaller spaces, you learn how to turn your coffee tables and ottomans into dual-use pieces and find places for hidden storage.

It’s often a challenge at the beginning, but in the end, they realize better value and a better standard of living from their homes than they ever had before.