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

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.

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.

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.