Yes, even a productivity evangalist has her challenges. I dislike burocracy and paperwork as much as anyone else.  A small but growing pile taunted me at my desk. So I moved to another room.

Unfortunately, my conscience follows me everywhere. I know I have to fill out those forms.  And not just one page.  We’re talking projects.

This week, I decided to take the bull by the horns.  I used Toodledo to set goals and plan tasks related to a couple of projects that I’d been avoiding for months.

I also looked at my Vision Board and decided it was high time to put life and business goals in Toodledo, using the sub-goal and task capabilities to prioritize and organize my work ahead.

Let’s face it: with no destination and no map, we spend a lot of time wasting time.  I doubt there are very many accomplished people out there who got there without diligent planning.

Bottom line: I invested a little over one hour in planning, and it’s already paid off in spades.  I went from not knowing where to begin to having a plan, and taking daily steps towards my goals.

If you’ve not yet tried Toodledo, don’t worry.  You can start small  - with a goal as simple as “pay bills” or “follow-up with prospect ABC”.  Give me a call if you could use a hand making sense of that never-ending flurry of sticky-note to-do lists.  ARoundTuit Productivity Coaching is available nation wide.

“I bet this is the worst mess you’ve ever seen”, you say. “Not by far”, I say, and close the subject.

But then, what do I think when I enter an office (or an entire building) full of clutter?  In-boxes filled with hundreds of unread emails? Months and months of unopened office mail?

Or,when I meet a talented professional who’s disorganization is hurting his or her career?

In most cases, these thoughts come  to mind:

1. Your are under a lot of stress. It is eating away at your career and your happiness.
2. I am really glad you called me.  Your struggle is my strength. I can help!
3. What can I do to make a big positive difference as quickly as possible?

I have met many people who experience their disorganization as a personal failure.  They operate under the assumption that because they are great at many things, they ought to be naturally great at staying organized.

Of course, this doesn’t make any more sense than a surgeon feeling incompetent because she can’t do her own car repairs (or whatever).   This kind of thinking comes from a place in us that wants to be naturally good at simple life-skills. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by the multi-billion dollar market for productivity products and services, it’s not always as simple as we’d like.

Call an accountant for the books, and lawyer for the contracts, and a professional organizer to boost company productivity.  It’s an investment you’ll be happy you made!  And I’m proud of you that you made it.

We all know someone who thinks the world would be a better place if only we (or they) could “fix” our weaknesses. True, in theory.  In reality, trying to “fix” ourselves or someone else often leads to disappointment at best, conflict, low self-esteem and  dissolved relationships at worst.

The hallmark of my organizing and coaching services is that they are strengths-centered. What does that mean? Strength-centered services focus on leveraging your strongest skills and abilities to compensate for your areas of challenge. I also affectionately call this “the path of least resistance”.   Meaning, rather than try to fix you, we look at the challenging task, to see if it can be made more easily manageable, delegated or (best of all) eliminated!

What does this have to do with my recent vanishing act? While I have been away from blogging and tweeting, I have been focusing on learning the therapies to treat our youngest son, recently diagnosed with PDD-NOS, or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I’ll spare you the gory details on the disorder, and skip to let you in on the life-altering fact I  learned in 2008:  Just as we human beings are, for the most part, very similar but somewhat different on the outside, so too are our brains very similar, but individually unique.  This is no secret to people familiar with neuro-science, occupational therapy, education (especially Special Ed), and many more “neuro-professions” (I coined that myself – what do you think?).

The bottom line is that people with major neurological differences (like ADD/ADHD/LD) experience aspects of life and living differently from “typical” people.  They hear, see, feel, smell, and relate differently to our shared environment.  It’s up to us: parents, teachers, friends employers and co-workers, to help people with differences adapt to face challenges and leverage strengths.

If you are struggling with organizing or time management, and have failed at “tried and true” methods, you may consider that your brain is just “wired differently”.  You probably don’t have anything diagnosable, but even if you do, you should know that there is a productivity consultant who won’t make feel inqdequate because of it.  I don’t want to fix you – I want to help you discover the systems that match the way your brain works. 

Don’t think that because nothing has worked up until now that no one can help you.  Contact me for a complimentary phone consultation and find out how getting ARoundTuit can change your life!

With best wishes,

Lauren

Many people enjoy their jobs, and many don’t.  Some people can work *just* for money, and some can’t.  We can get all kinds of non-monetary benefits from our jobs: recognition, personal growth, learning new hard and soft skills, to name a few.  But, the most amazing benefit of all is when our job is aligned with our personal core values. In those cases, working is *hardly* work, and the money becomes the cherry on the cake.

If you’ve always dreamed of being able to say “I can’t believe I get paid to do something I love so much”, or “I would do this for free if I didn’t need the income”, then maybe it’s time to look into finding the job of your dreams!

That’s a maybe. Here’s what is almost certain:

1. When you leave your current job, the company will probably find someone at least as good as you to replace you.
2. When you leave your current job, the company will move on.
3. If you never the job leave on your own, they may one day ask you to leave.
4. At the end of your life, you won’t be glad you missed out on living your dreams.

Drop me a line, and tell me what’s on your mind!

All the best,  Lauren