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By Elaine, March 8, 2010 7:53 am

March 8th is a special day….a day that has been celebrated  annually since 1911…it is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

It is International Women’s day and I will be celebrating at the KV Networks 5th annual
International Women’s Day Breakfast this morning. I am excited to hear this years guest speaker Mary Schryer . She is the MLA for Quispamsis and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

This day is a celebration of achievements…of  moving  towards equality…making the world a better place for everyone.

It is hard to believe that just last night Kathryn Bigelow made the Oscar history books by taking home the Oscar for best Director….can you imagine…

How many other firsts are we still waiting to achieve?

This is not a day about feminism…it is a day to celebrate Women, our accomplishments and contributions.

I would like to share this article by Jennifer Parmalee who cites this startling statistic “Worldwide, women and girls bear the brunt of poverty, hunger and discrimination, comprising more than 60 percent of the world’s chronically hungry – now charted at a record one billion people. Inherited hunger – when malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished children – is a huge obstacle to development, from Afghanistan to Haiti.”

So I ask again….How are you Celebrating International Women’s Day?

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By Elaine, February 5, 2010 10:34 am

Sometimes we get too serious..work too hard…and forget to have some HaHa…today go and have some…not some….lots of  hahaha…ok got to go…there is some paper that I have to crumple up and laugh about….and I might roll around on my belly and giggle some more….oh and don’t bang your head when you are laughing so hard!

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By Elaine, January 30, 2010 11:15 am

Not the Nirvana that “Smells like Teen Spirit” but the kind of Nirvana that Buddha described as ” the perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states”.  This may be a bit deep when the topic of organizing is on the table but really….perhaps it does go that deep?

Ok…warning….I am going to get all wordy here…I love words so humor me please.

Lets talk about the afflictive state, afflictive being something that is disruptive or troublesome.

Well hello…not being able to find your stuff, being late for everything and living in chaos…is that not an afflictive state.

Are you  absolutely begging for the “6 steps” that will bring Nirvana and banish the “afflictive state”?

Here they are in order; Dream, Plan, Sort, Purge, Re-organization and Maintenance…Simple words.

So how do you put these simple words into action…

On this last weekend of January I would like to share something with you that will help you to reach Organizing  Nirvana. Over the past 2 years I have been working on a collaberative project with Kim Eagles. We have created a series of Home Organizing Videos that incorporate the “6 Steps” that we use every day to help our clients.

Knowing  that geography, finances and privacy issues prevent many of you from being able to access the help that you want compelled us to create something just for YOU.

This series of videos is available today as a download at www.organizingconnection.com

Some of the rave reviews of this series…

had the opportunity watch the Kitchen DVD in the Organizing Connection series and was so excited to finally have such a thorough and straight forward resource to recommend to my blog readers and clients.  The DVD is professionally done and is refreshing and smart.  I so appreciate that it directs you to organizing success by walking you through the organizing process step by step using clear and concise directions.  It’s like having a Professional Organizer at your disposal 24 hours a day, you can’t go wrong! Laura www.orgjunkie.com

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By Elaine, January 10, 2010 3:08 pm

Why is it that some people accomplish so much and still have free time to play and have fun while others are always struggling to get something done…anything done?

I know why, you also know why.

It all happens so innocently.

•    You raise your hand to volunteer one more time…even though you know that you are already overcommitted.
•    You sit down in front of the television and get sucked into the vortex of mindless viewing.
•    You spend hours with needy clients that drain you of your energy.
•    Family members call or drop by unannounced because they know you will be there…of course you will be there…you work from home!
•    You answer the telephone every time it rings.
•    The sound of the e-mails as they arrive in your inbox are like a beacon to come to the party.
•    You start to do some research for an upcoming workshop and you get sucked into the web of the internet, realizing 3 hours later that you had not finished the research that you intended to do.

You are a victim of “Time Hijackers”!

people on clock

Volunteering, TV, Needy Clients, Family Members, telephone, e-mails, the internet…..Blah…Blah…Blah….the list is never ending.

When you allow others to manipulate your time you are allowing someone else to determine what is important for YOU!

What will it take for you to put a STOP to the hijacking of your time…your life?

First you need to be aware that you are letting these people and events take your precious time and then you need to be aware of how you want to spend your valuable time.

Think of your time as money and you have a whole $24.00 each day to spend. After you take away the $7 or $8 for much needed sleep…you are left with a precious $16 to spend on your family, your friends, your business and yourself.

There has never been a more exciting time than the time we are living in right now.

We live in a Time of Choice.
We can choose how to spend our Valuable Time.
We get to choose how we fit people and events into our schedules.
…and believe it or not
We have the POWER to CHOOSE our total experience.

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By Elaine, October 22, 2009 8:52 pm

Yesterday my sweet 9 year old came home from school with a permission form for the H1N1 vaccine.What is a parent to do? I would consider us to be a relatively healthy family. I work from home so I am not bringing the office petri dish of germs home. My hubby works in the bowels of a ship so all he brings home is the stench of diesel oil. The children seem to fare well  in the cesspool of germs at school. Really… other than the occasional cold during the winter and maybe one case of the “Barfy” flu as the kids call it we are a relatively healthy bunch.

Today I posted a question to my facebook peeps for an informal survey on the yeah or nay on this issue. It appears that my question about whether to vaccinate or not has started quite a discussion.

Nurse with needle

I would like to hear what you have to say on the matter.

Are you vaccinating your child?

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By Elaine, October 7, 2009 9:50 am

I love doing things for the first time… today is my first time with a guest post.
Let me introduce Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian who I had the pleasure of meeting in September through another blog I read , Men with Pens. I immediately wanted to know more about Josh and his amazing story. My goal with this blog is to help you to Take Charge! and get rid of what’s holding you back….well I think Josh’s story will help get you back in the drivers seat… it did for me. Enjoy!

The World's Strongest Librarian

Everyone has times when they hurt.  Everyone has moments that feel intolerable. Unbearable. And yet, what feels like the breaking point is seldom anything of the kind. How can I say this? Because unless you’re breaking point kills you, it was bearable.

What do you know about it?

When I was 20 years old, my body and brain betrayed me. I was walking down the street in Washington D.C. when suddenly I hit myself in the face with all the strength I had. This did not endear me to the other people on the street.

But they weren’t nearly as surprised as I was.

About ten years before that, I had been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. Whatever you know or have heard about TS, it boils down to two things:

1. It makes you move involuntarily
2. It makes you vocalize involuntarily

During my teenage years, my symptoms were very mild. Lots of throat clearing, blinking, mild twitches, etc. It actually made me more interesting to people. What attention-hungry teen doesn’t like having a built in icebreaker?

Things Fall Apart

After that first punch, things never settled down again. The opposite, in fact. I screamed every 2-3 seconds involuntarily, remember until I got a hernia.  I hurt myself constantly. I couldn’t go outside. I couldn’t attend school. I was smart and competent and had all the potential in the world, but no hope.

A decade passed in this manner. Finally I got so furious with the situation that I said, “I do not care what I look like, I am going back out in public.”

And I did. And it was miserable for a while.

Two Reactions

There are two things people usually feel when I tell this story. I don’t necessarily want you to feel either one, but I’m going to tell you what the normal reactions are:

1. Wow, how inspiring!
2. I could never deal with that. How does he do it?

Inspiration

The reason I don’t intend for this story to inspire is because all I did is what everyone does when they’re dealt a bad hand.

I survived.

And while I survived, I figured out how to fight. But it took a long time. For too many years, I made the choice to mope and mourn. I didn’t struggle.  I didn’t press on. I curled up in my bed and felt sorry for myself.

How much time did I waste? How many minutes that I can’t get back? I am happy that people appreciate this story. Just bear in mind that I took far too long in resisting. I was willing to be the victim for far too long.

As to point two: maybe you couldn’t deal with it, but you don’t have to. That’s the point. You have your own pain to deal with. You have your own , where is the hardest thing in your life.

And like me, you have a choice. Do you mope or do you take charge? Do you fight or do you watch the sand run out of the hourglass?

Life it too short to deal with on its terms. Make it deal with you. Do not wait. Make a change today. If you are in a situation you cannot control, introduce something that you can control and get yourself some wins.

You’ll be glad you did.

Things are never so bad that they can’t improve.

You always have a choice. You can always choose how you react. You can always control your mind and master your perceptions.

You are not the passenger, you are the driver.

Always.

Josh The World's Strongest Librarian

About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 68, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.

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By Elaine, October 1, 2009 2:56 pm

I am normally an energetic, enthusiastic WAHM(work at home mom) that lives on this side of optimism…rolling along with whatever comes my way and always seeing the bright sunny side to every situation.

OK…not so much lately…I have been a real Bitch…I could have used a different word or perhaps put symbols for the letters but it would not convey how I have been acting and feeling….Just ask my family… I am not me, and it has really been bothering me…not losing sleep bothering me, but a Bitchy bothering. I went through this checklist, much like Santa does just before sending out those goodies.

PMS - on certain days but not for a whole month or two!

The Scream by Edvard Munsch

Perimenopause – Could be, I am at that ripe age for this.

Depression - Been there, done that, not all the right symptoms.

I could not figure it out…and believe me after years of being in a fog I needed to figure it out!

Then…while catching up on some blog reading and more blog reading, I ended up here http://wahmbizbuilde.com/ and OMG… the answer to my angst was right there in front of me… I was thinking to myself “was she thinking of me as she wrote those words, was she watching me, did she know of my plight personally,are there other people like me”….it was as if the words were there just for me.

And there it was in a funny”Law of Attraction” kind of way, the answer found me… I had my explanation for this “situation“.  This is what I found.

“One of the biggest issues facing you as a work-at-home mom is the potential for burnout. You thought it would be easier to work from home, but why do you feel so exhausted all the time?

When you have to run around frantically every day to keep your business going, take care of your home and try to fit in family time, you’re stressed and unhappy. And you eventually burn out….”

Ok… so now I know that I am not going crazy or slipping into a vortex of depression… yahoo…wait… is that some enthusiasm slippping out… now that I have named it and claimed it, what next?

Time to pull out the strategy tool box, so here are my old stand-bys. Taking a daily walk, visiting my parents in the country (doing that this weekend), decluttering anything (I find this therapeutic)… and finally getting out of my house and seeing real people… I did that last night at the Red Whale with some other business WOMEN. This last one has not been an issue until recently, over the past 2 years I am spending less time with people and more time working on product so I am tied to the computer more that I am used to.

I love to teach others and I constantly take life situations and turn them into a classroom… my kids will attest to that…I drive them crazy with the life lessons.

Did you know there are over 900,000 self employed women in Canada, this is a 2007 statistic,  imagine what the global numbers would be today! I am part of a growing global trend , this is not a decision I made lightly and do not take it lightly or for one moment do I regret it… I would not change it for anything. However, there are times when you just need some help.

This is where the teaching and for me… learning part comes in. I will put my student hat on and would love for you to be the teacher.

Would you please share your SUCCESS strategies for dealing with WAHM burnout. Not just for me but for all the WAHM’s out there just like me who need a little help… to quote one of my all time favourite bands….

I get by with a little help from my friends…

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By Elaine, September 20, 2009 1:01 pm

“If you can dream it you can achieve it” ….Zig Ziglar

For the past six years I have been driven by a single mission. I want to show people how to get organized and not just tell them. Sometimes the things I did made sense and brought me closer to the dream and some days I felt completely lost…

As the days count down to the launch of the Organizing the Bedroom- From Cluttered Nightmares to Sweet Dreams Video set I am reminded that everyone has a dream.

The dream could be…  to meet your soulmate, eliminate poverty, find a cure for Breast Cancer, find a career that fulfills you or create a product that will make someone’s life just a wee bit better.

I would like to share a lovely inspirational montage of the journey towards the DREAM that I have shared with an amazing person… Kim Eagles,my business partner and dear friend. Kim created this awesome video that really sums up the past two years.

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By Elaine, August 24, 2009 7:43 pm

For 30 seconds today I missed “The Office” I once knew.  Not the TV sitcom , but the place I used to hang my hat 11 years ago before I chose the WAHM lifestyle and traded in my office with the big window for an office in my home.

I had the pleasure of taxiing one of the kids to a 9:00 am Doctor appointment at the local hospital. On the way there he asked me ” What were you thinking Mom when you made this stupid early morning appointment”. ….I could go into more about the conversation but that is for another post. …. While he was in with the Dr and I was enjoying the stillness of the waiting room I could hear the place awaken to a new fresh Monday morning. My Spidey senses were on overload.

* The first thing I noticed were the two gals having  a Monday morning catch-up chat.  I love people watching, it is somewhat of a sport for me.  They were rehashing the details of their weekends and then with such ease they moved into a conversation about work, and what was happening in “The Office” that day. Office relationships can be tricky( just watch any episode of  “The Office” if you don’t know what I am referring to), however the body language I was watching was warm and comfortable.
* Next it was the smell…..the smell of coffee brewing and clean floors. Yes, obviously the cleaners had been busy on the weekend. You would think that the coffee would have got to me but no…it was the smell of clean.  As odd as this is to admit I find the smell of clean to be an aphrodisiac and I know for a fact that I am not the only woman who feels this way. Especially when I did not have to do the cleaning. My hubby also knows this fact and uses it to his advantage.
* The sounds intrigued me like the various parts of an orchestra. First it was the conversation, then the musical clanging of the keys as someone was opening their office after a weekend, the screech of the hinge on the heavy door opening onto another week of work. What brought me back to the present was the familiar sound of  the computer logging on to a day at “The Office”.

This is when I was jolted back to reality, remembering the Sunday night anxiety and the Monday morning dread that I left behind so many years ago.  Now I am not saying that everyone experiences this but I did many years ago and that precipitated my decision to change the way “The Office” looks for me. All of this happened in a flash…probably only 30 seconds of time.

This is what my Office looks like today. It is a place that incorporates my skills, knowledge and talents…and my sense of humor. A place that brings out the best is me most days and allows me the freedom to live a lifestyle of my choosing. My Office has a computer (my lifeline to the work) that on any given day could be in the Dining Room, the Kitchen, on the back deck or on a good day it could be in the dedicated office. I exchanged a  9 to 5 work day for the flexibility to wake up and start as early as 6:00 am so I am finished before the kids are up. My office relationships include the company of my 3 children, all their friends, and my husband on his week off. It also involves friends that span the globe and with amazing technology like Skype at my disposal I can connect with them any time. The regular pay I used to get has been replaced with an interesting pay schedule that can be compared to a Feast or sometimes a Famine.

In the evolution of work we have more flexibility than ever before. People work full time, flex time and part time. Companies are hiring people to work from their home so they have 24/7 support in countries spanning the globe. More people than ever are leaving regular jobs for the freedom of entrepreneurship. The workplace has certainly changed dramatically in the past decade.

What does your office look and feel like? Why not spend some time making your office an extension of who you really are, enjoying the benefits of working the way that works best for you.

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By Elaine, August 18, 2009 1:13 pm

It has taken almost five years for me to make this first step to writing a blog. With all the blogs already out there I thought what can I say that is new or novel or interesting. I guess if you look at the individual components of my life they may seem quite ordinary, however when you combine the stuff that I have had the pleasure of experiencing it is quite interesting.

* I grew up in a hearing impaired home, we were the loud mouth baby bass family! I was the hearing abled child.
* I walked away from an 11 year career in the middle of an ordinary day, well it was ordinary for everyone else.
* My hubby works away a week at a time. I am part time single mom, having the bed to yourself is not all that bad.
* I had depression of the post partum variety, this certainly helped to put everything into perspective.
* I have a child who has allergies so bad that if I could, I would turn him into “Bubble Boy”, he has protested that one.
* I live with people who have a variety of sensory issues; shirt feels scratchy, peas are too soft, blah, blah, blah
* I have OCD, ADHD and a few other letters behind my name. Fortunately I have learned to use them to my advantage.
* Oh did I mention that working outside the home is virtually impossible so I work virtually. I am considered a WAHM (Work at Home Mom).

I will share my time saving healthy recipes, time saving organizing tips, business building ideas, introduce you to my favorite people, parenting stuff that works for us and pretty much anything that is on my radar.

Communicating and networking are two of my favorite things so please leave comments and introduce yourself. I want to follow you on twitter, we can become friends on facebook or perhaps we can connect on linked in.

This blog is going to be a journal of sorts of all the weird and wacky things that I do every day to live optimistically regardless of life’s endless stream of circumstances. They are my musings on how I can change my part of this world and I hope that you can find some inspiration in them to change yours.

So I will close today with my favorite quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

“You must BE the change you want to see in the world”.