Gaylord Palms is Awesome!

Looking back after 5 days of vacation with my boys, I realize that the hotel we stayed at was likely the BEST place I have ever stayed. I've traveled all over the world, stayed in the Ritz-Carltons, Westins, Marriot Grands.

All those places never made me feel appreciated for visiting.


The hotel was beautiful, no detail overlooked.
The staff was friendly and made us feel welcome.
The pool was .....well....It had an OCTOPUS slide!



There was just something magical about the Gaylord Palms.
Our room was in the Everglades area, with all the sounds of the animals and swap critters singing. Even live alligators (big hit with my boys).

It was a delightful vacation.
I had so much fun. My boys did, too.

....Please be patient while I ramp up to business mode.

What vacation spot has surprised you?

Yeah, I can do that

My client, "Mary" called me up the other day. She was looking for some help getting a few items assembled that she purchased for her new home.


I had helped Mary move into her home in May, and I was more than happy to help her out again. She was looking to get her patio furniture assembled, a TV cabinet and some shelving in the playroom.

-Her patio set went together very easily. Looks great on her new patio.
-The TV cabinet had a problem with one of the doors. She needs to call the manufacturer and get a replacement piece. It was damaged in shipping.
-The shelving in the playroom is saved for my next visit.

Mary could have assembled them herself. My engineering brain helps me put things together a bit quicker. Plus Mary was able to work on some other things around her home.

My job is all about helping people feel better about their home.

What ability in your brain helps your clients?

9 Time Management Tips

Do you feel the need to be more organized and productive? Do you spend your day in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much?

Time management skills are important. You may find yourself performing many different jobs during the course of a single day. Here are a few time management tips will help you increase your productivity and stay cool and collected.


1) Realize that time management is a myth.
No matter how organized you are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All you can actually manage is yourselves and what you do with that time.

2) Find out where you're wasting time.
You may fall prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. Do you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls?

3) Create time management goals.
Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters.

4) Prioritize ruthlessly.
You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your goals. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish?

5) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.
No matter if your running a household or a business, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. Ask for help.

6) Establish routines and stick to them as much.
While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.

7) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.
For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it.

8) Be sure your systems are organized.
Are you wasting a lot of time looking for papers and files? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your filing system slowing you down?

9) Don't waste time waiting.
From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a book you wish to read, a checkbook that needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to jot ideas.

You CAN be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management and taken control of your time.

How do you manage your time?

Off to Be a Kid Again!

I am off to beautiful Orlando, Florida with my family.
Looking forward to just being a kid again.



Plans are to play poolside, tour the Kennedy Space Center and visit Sea World.


My boys have been counting down the days for weeks.
They are so excited about this trip.

I am very thankful to be able to take them on this trip.
I have never been to Sea World or the Space Center.
So, I am pretty psyched for this trip, too.

Where is your favorite amusement destination?

Happy Birthday Matthew

My son turned 9 years old yesterday.

I cannot believe it!
I still feel 22 years old?

An amazing young man, who knows how to take care of his mommy.

He made me breakfast in bed this morning.
He does this at least once a week.
He picks out flowers for me when we go shopping.
He helps around the house and is very protective of me.

I am incredibly proud of him.

Every year on my boys birthday, I take the time and write them a letter. (click here for previous post)
It is a wonderful tradition I truly enjoy.

Another tradition is making birthday cakes. I was kinda bummed this year when he did not want to make his birthday cake. We always create some elaborate theme and I pretty much let them decide what they want.

This was his cake from last year, "animals about to be wiped out by a volcano and lava." Sweet theme!
This year he wanted a cookie cake.....Boring.

But, this was his choice.
It was what he wanted.
Our tradition was cast aside this year and I was a bit sad.
Matthew had a wonderful birthday and he devoured his cookie cake!

Traditions are great, but you have to be prepared for changes.
I am not giving up my letter writting tradition, no way.

What traditions have changed over time with you?

An Extra Helping Hand

Sometimes you just have to ask
for a little help.

Asking for help is difficult for me.
My mom is always telling me that
I cannot do it all.
I am getting better at allowing people to help me.

Last week, I helped Leasa get her home organized.
(little delay in posts due to summer fun)
We worked on several areas of her home.

1. Master closet.
Sorry no pics, we jumped into the project so fast we forgot.
All her clothes were pulled out, boxes and bags too. Then we sorted out what she was going to keep and donate. And put grouped similar items together when they were returned to the closet.

2. "Guest coat" closet.
Kinda of a strange little closet used as a catch all for extra items or "I don't know put it in here" closet. Again, we pulled everything out of it. Got rid of many extra bags and papers, few "why do I have these" pictures, found her kids christening outfits and set some items for donation.


3. Kitchen pantry.
There were too many of those plastic grocery bags and a few items that were not being used. Once we got the items out, I cleaned up the shelves and put the items that Leasa was using back. The things not needed were tossed.

In the end, I continued to help Leasa go through the many of the other kitchen cabinets and junk drawers. Having a little bit of extra help, went a long way in getting her home organized.

Plus we had a lot of fun and laughs along the way.

When do you ask for help?

A Day for Me

My friend, Deb Sorenson, recently posted a story about a wasp.

Which inspires this post.

I had a client scheduled for today.
The whole day.
Monday we started working on clearing out the basement with plans to continue today and Thursday.

Well, her mother went into the hospital and is quite ill.

Appointments cancelled. (bummer)

Or is it.......

I was able to sleep in.
Take care of a few items.
Test drive my dream car.
(original VW Beetle convertible)
Go for an awesome bike ride at Munson Park trails.
Have a little siesta.
And it is only 4:30pm, who knows what is come before bed?

I really needed this break. A full day just to do what I wanted to do.

My client having to cancel her appointments was a bummer,
no way was I going to let it ruin the day.
Instead. I made the day, My Day!

Perhaps you cannot afford a day.
Grab a moment, 10-15 minutes, to just enjoy yourself.

You've earned it!

When was the last time you had a day to yourself?
What did you do?

Organized Solutions Strikes Again

This may be the same article as published in the Sylvania Advantage.
However, this is from Dot newspaper promoting Organized Solutions.

Thank you Sharon Lange. You ROCK!!!!

WOW!! Quite a surprise. Watch out AP wire! Here I come..........

Where has your business, or life, had a surprise publication?

Vision Board Progress

I made a Vision Board at the start of this fabulous year.


Hung it in my bathroom.
Look at it and
Read it at least twice each day.

It has been great to have when days are tough and I may be feeling stomped on because it reminds me of my goals and wishes.

Now, on the majority of the days when all is the best, it has been amazing to look at and see all that I am working toward.

Yes, I put check marks on the tasks completed:
New phone
My vacation
New bike
New camera
..... and our countdown to our family vacation!

What's great is my boys keep me accountable.
They come and read through the words.
We talk about the pictures.
They ask me what item I am working on that day.
How great is that?!

Quoting my Vision Board:

"The magic comes when the belief in yourself is so strong
that you can actually see yourself succeeding."
What goals have you achieved, or working towards, in 2007?

Summer Vacation Week

Bit of a vacation week....
thought I should say "HI!"
I spent the last three days at camp with my son, Matthew, for cub scouts. It was so cool to see what a truly great young man he has become.



He passed the beginner's swim test (25 yards out and back).
He earned a marksman award for BB gun shooting.
He performed his first flag raising ceremony.
He whittled away at sticks like crazy.
...... All sorts of other cub scout stuff.

The best part was hearing from the other Dads what a great kid Matthew is. Of course I know this, but it IS special to hear it from other parents.

Tomorrow, my boys are going to our BNI meeting.
I said "our" because I always refer to Organized Solutions
as "Our" business. They are my partners in its success.

After BNI, we are heading to Cleveland to visit the Zoo and the
Science Center.

I am so looking forward to getting away with just me and my boys.
We are going to have so much fun!!!

Where are you slipping away to this summer?

Who Are You?

How to you gain trust and credibility with people who have no idea who you are?

You know you are fun.
You know you love what you do.
You know people need your services.
You know you are a fantastic person.
You know the work you do is beneficial.
You know you are honest and considerate.

But, no one knows that until they know you.
Until people know you, getting them to use your services
might be tricky.

You might get a response
similar to as The Who sings,
Who the %#*@ are you?

That is not desirable.


Personal introductions, word of mouth, networking are all methods to boost your image. These may not reach a large audience of your clients.

Publications, do.

From my first publication to my most recent article,
these have brought me clients and raised my credibility.

I have complied 10 articles/stories/publications in a new blog:
Organized Solutions Publications.

How have you gained trust and credibility?

6 Benefits of Getting Organized

1. You will be able to relax more.
When you're climbing over clutter or struggling to find something in your filing cabinet, your blood pressure is bound to go up. By getting organized, your stress levels will go down and you'll be able to live a more relaxed life.

2. You will have more time for yourself.
By being more efficient, like getting your projects done quicker and less time looking for things. You'll spend less time 'working' and will have more time for yourself and the things you love to do.

3. You will feel better.Being disorganized often results in embarrassment. You may feel concerned when visitors drop by your home or office and see things out of place. Get organized, and you'll always feel good about your surroundings.

4. You will be healthier, as well as your family. Get organized and you'll have more than enough time to exercise and cook healthy meals for yourself and your family.

5. You will do better professionally.An organized person gives a much better business impression than someone who cannot find a phone number, has an office piled with cardboard boxes or is always late for appointments.

6. You will achieve more.When you're disorganized, there are barriers that hold you back from reaching your goals. But organized people find ways to eliminate tasks that are not necessary and to streamline those that are taking too much time. This leaves plenty of time to work on achieving all of those goals on your list.

How do you feel when you get organized?

Sweet Website!

First, My logo was revised.
Then, New business card design.
Now, My new website is live! (Yeah!!)

Huge thanks to Maxx Grafx for working with my ideas and
coming up with a sweet looking image.

What's cool, is I have the ability to update the website myself.
I will have my speaking schedule, new tips, before & after photos, and any other words of wisdom I come up with to share.

Please check out my website and give me your thoughts and criticisms.

What would you like to see on my website?