Welcome to my newsletter! My mission is to offer you some helpful organizing and productivity tips, share useful tools, fun stuff, and occasional random Anne insight based on whatever shiny objects I happen to be chasing at the time. I need a name! Please share any ideas you have in the comments. In the meantime, enjoy Anne’s Untitled Newsletter Project. :)
Nobody’s Perfect...
Like many of you I’m sure, the start of the year has me craving for a refresh. It should come as no surprise that for me, that usually involves organizing stuff. If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen some of my pictures. I’m a professional organizer, but I’m also a human being with a family and a life, and nothing stays fully organized. Yes, even I have to organize and periodically re-organize stuff. Life is fluid and so are your spaces.
In the kitchen, I re-organized the ‘tea and packet’ drawer to accommodate accessories for the new air fryer.
Then, frustrated by the mess on the top pantry shelf, I repurposed an old cube shelf that had been sitting in the garage for months to make use of all that empty space:
In my office, I created a file on my computer desktop called “delete this stuff” to put things I download but know I won’t need forever in an effort to keep my desktop clean. My plan is to add looking there to my Sunday review time (more on this in another post!) and do just that: delete that stuff.
It’s important to remember that organizing is an on-going process like working out or losing weight. You can get in shape, but maintenance is always part of the process. Good systems help.
March Product Spotlight
Kitchen Organizing Hero: The Turntable
If you’ve never incorporated a lazy suzan or turntable into your kitchen or pantry, you are missing out! They come in a variety of designs, sizes, and materials. Big ones make pantry corners instantly useful. Smaller ones work to make bottles in a cabinet easy to access. My favorite brands are OXO and MadeSmart. Their quality and design tend to stand the test of time
Productivity Product of the Month
Science and best practices of productivity consultants show that blocks of focused time can help you get more done each day. Twenty-five minutes of work on a single task with no distractions, often referred to as the Pomodoro technique. Enter the FOREST app.
It’s essentially a timer, but with a twist. When you start the timer, you plant a tree. If you allow yourself to be interrupted by picking up your phone, your tree will die. If you keep at it, you can grow a nice healthy forest. Over time you can earn rewards to acquire different species of trees. You can even use it with partners and compete with other uses. Bonus: as you earn rewards, the company plants ACTUAL trees. Good for focus and the planet.
Thoughts and Observations
I love the whole lifelong learner thing. I love history, and reading about any and all sorts of systems and productivity tools. Here’s some deep thoughts based on what I’ve been reading…
From Atomic Habits by James Clear
Attaching one small routine to another can lead to big change. I’ve attached two things to my morning: Emptying the dishwasher first thing while listening to a 15 minute news of the day podcast on my Alexa. The effect? 1) It’s easier for the family to clean up after themselves throughout the day. 2) I avoid all day news surfing which I’ve determined isn’t great for my mental health.
From Washington, A Life by Ron Chernow
A reminder that genius and flawed thinking can live in the same person. Despite his awareness of the immorality of slavery, George Washington did little to try and change it. But without him, his intellect, his character and his vision, it is unlikely the America we know would exist.
News About StepOne
New Services
Do you struggle managing your time? Do you have a million projects swirling about at work or at home that you can’t seem to get traction on? Still trying to find that elusive work-life balance? I can help. I now offer productivity consulting services to help you with prioritizing your tasks, establishing routines, organizing your space and your time to help you get more done. Over a series of six online sessions, we find the tools and techniques best suited for you to help you get and maintain that ‘productive day feeling’. If you’d like to learn more, you can schedule a free discovery call with me here.
COVID Protocols
At this time I am serving clients in-person and virtually. I only work in-person when social distancing guidelines of six to ten feet of separation can be maintained, and I am always double-masked. In many instances, I work independently in a space, conferring with clients only at the start and end of a session or via phone or video. Virtual organizing and productivity consulting are excellent alternatives, with clients working hands on with step-by-step guidance from me along the way. Questions about working together? Send me an email, let’s chat!