What makes an organizing session successful? In the 20 plus years I’ve been working with clients, I’ve observed many things that have created positive organizing visits. Both organizer and client contribute to the success. If you desire a better organizing experience, consider adding some of these “ingredients” into the mix.

12 Ingredients For Successful Organizing Appointments

1. Self-Care – Organizing takes physical and emotional energy. Taking care of your basic needs are essential. It's important that you and your organizer are well rested, hydrated, and have eaten prior to organizing. When you’re exhausted and hungry, it’s more challenging to think clearly, be creative, and make decisions.

2. Distractions – Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Some common ones include phone calls, email, digital “dings,” visitors, pets or children. Think about what you can do in advance to minimize distractions so that you can receive full benefit from the organizing session that you’ve committed time and resources towards.

3. Trust – Establishing a trusting relationship is crucial. You might feel uncomfortable with someone seeing or touching your stuff. Just remember that your organizer needs to be someone you trust. They are there to support and help you and not to judge you.

4. Clarity – It’s important to understand some basic parameters at the start of each organizing session. Include these:

• What is the session’s focus?
• What are your goals for today?
• How many hours will we work?
• Are the goals realistic based on the time allotted?
• Are there any concerns or relevant information that might influence what we’ll do or how we’ll be working?

5. Preparation – In addition to thinking about what project you’ll be working on, collect the basic supplies you’ll need. Supplies might include sorting containers, markers, place to make notes, or receptacles like bins or trash bags for items being donated or removed.

6. Atmosphere – Organizing can be fun, especially if you lighten the mood with music, laughter, singing, and even dancing (and yes, I’ve done them all.)  There are also simple environmental enhancements that can boost the success of an organizing session. If the rooms are dark, turn on more lights or bring in additional lamps. If you respond well to aromas, burn a favorite candle with an uplifting or energizing scent. Consider the room temperature and make the necessary adjustments to be more comfortable.

7. Decisions – The client is the decision-maker and gets to establish the parameters for what stays, goes, gets touched or not. The organizer is the facilitator, supporter, question-asker, timekeeper, goals-reminder, and cheerleader. Successful sessions are client-centered.

8. Strengths – Notice what’s already working well. Pay attention to your strengths and what you’re good at. Collaborate with your organizer to design systems and strategies that play to your strengths and how you process. Some examples include activating visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal or emotional organizing strategies. Denslow Brown, organizer, coach and author, identifies nine of the modalities in her book, The Processing Modalities Guide.

9. Breaks – Include snacks, water, caffeine, or fresh air breaks when needed. It's time for a break when you notice waning energy levels, decision fatique, decreased focus, or agitation. Breaks might also include switching projects midstream. This could be driven by attention needs or a desire to shift to a less emotionally intense project.

10. Letting Go – Successful organizing sessions include letting go whether it’s physical objects, pre-conceived notions, negative thinking, or calendar clutter. While the challenge to let go can range from easy to ambivalent to impossible, clients often share with me how great they feel once they’ve done it. This is reflected in a positive shift in their mood, which is noticeable by their smiles, laughter, giddiness, and open, receptive body language.

11. Review – Know where you are at the beginning, middle and end of each session. Know where you’ve been, where you’re heading, where you are, and what you’ve accomplished. Discuss follow through items to be handled between appointments by organizer and client. Review the schedule for when you’ll connect and next meet.

12. Compassion – The most successful organizing sessions include full servings of compassion. Negative self-talk and disparaging remarks get left behind. Positive language like, “I’m becoming more organized,” or “I’m working on my organizing goals,” is substituted. We all struggle with something. We are all works in progress.

Have you experienced a successful organizing session? What ingredient was part of your mix? Come join the conversation and share.

Do you wish your kids were more organized? Do you get frustrated trying to help them? I was curious about how others taught and transferred organizing skills to their own children. So, I enlisted help from a wonderful group of colleagues (Stephanie Calahan, Leslie Josel, Helena Alkhas, Ellen Delap, Yota Schneider, Diana Quintana and Aby Garvey.) I asked them, “What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that?”  Their responses are motivating and inspiring. My gratitude goes to each of them for sharing their personal stories with us. If you want your children to become more organized, keep reading to discover some kid-tested organizing success tips that might work for you.

What organizing success strategy have you passed on to your children? How did you accomplish that? . . .

7 Kid-Tested Organizing Success Tips

1. Small Steps

“Ever since my son was small we have worked with him to understand how to take big projects and break them into simple doable steps. For example, cleaning his bathroom breaks down into gathering the supplies needed and then cleaning the mirror, counter, sink, tub/shower, toilet and floor. We did this by sitting with him and having him think through the steps and we'd fill in the blanks when he would get stuck. Now that he is twelve, we use the same strategy for his school and extra curricular activities. We found that by giving him the opportunity to think it through first, he is quite independent with most of his work and often gets it done ahead of schedule because he has thought through the variables.“

Stephanie LH Calahan– The Big Vision Catalyst, Business Strategist, Author and Producer

2. Prompts

“The organizing success strategy that I’ve taught my children is to use external prompts to remind them of tasks or responsibilities they need to get done. So if they need to do homework, call a friend, walk the dog, put dinner in the oven, etc. They’ve been taught to set timers, phones, alarms, or use visual and written prompts. I started teaching them this strategy by asking them the question, “How are you going to remember to…” and having them work out the strategy that would best fit the task. It’s not enough to ask them to do something but ask them how they are going to remember or prompt themselves to do it.”

Leslie Josel – ADHD Specialist & Author

3. Routines

“I am a believer in having routines to structure our time, know what comes next and to be more productive. We have a clear routine that "guides" us through the day and the kids grew up with that. From the moment they wake up, through going to school and back, all the way to going to bed at night we follow a "self-care/school" checklist that helps them cross the dots of daily life and lets them know when is work time, when is play time. This also teaches them to be independent and to self-guide. As a parent it is my hope that this will stay with them and help them when they have to leave and be on their own.”

Helena Alkhas– Professional Organizer & Virtual Assistant

4. Practice

“My kids are amazing, organized parents! They are list makers with a family calendar in their kitchens. They organize not only their closets, but also their children’s clothes.  Each has a file cabinet with easy access, simple filing. How did this happen?  It’s all about talking the talk and walking the walk.  Living in a home with organized parents created the expectation that organizing is an important life skill.  We focused on strengths, talked about organizing, and down played perfectionism.  They practiced as teens and young adults.  Now as parents of young children they have created organizing solutions in their own homes.”

Ellen Delap, CPO®  – Professional Organizer, Productivity Consultant & Family Manager Coach

5. Preparation

“August is traditionally Back to School month and there's tremendous marketing pressure to get out there and buy. The girls, high school juniors, know that I'm not going Back to School shopping unless they've inventoried their closets and desks, assessed their needs and wants, and de-cluttered their space.

Piles of paper, old homework and folders head to the recycling bin, used up school supplies are thrown away, and clothes they've outgrown and are usable head to the donation pile. Next, they create a prioritized list of their needs and wants. I assure them that they'll always get what they need and occasionally what they want. What they’ve learned is that, in order to make room for the new, we simply have to let go of the old and outdated!"

Yota Schneider, Seasons of Change Certified Master Coach – Life Transitions Coach, Workshops & Retreat Facilitator, Blogger, & Mindfulness Meditation Practitioner

6. Completion

“There is a saying that goes like this: Don’t put it down, put it away. I used this saying over and over with my two boys. When they were very young I asked them to put something away when they were finished with it. This translated to games they were playing with when they were very young. As they grew older this saying could also be applied to things like clothes (in a laundry basket or hung up), dishes in the dishwasher, homework in the correct binder, and taking things they belonged to them back to their rooms.”

Diane N. Quintana, CPO®, CPO-CD®– Professional Organizer & Author

7. Letting Go

“By organizing and decluttering with my kids since they were very young, I've taught them how to let go of things they no longer use or love. For one of my kids, letting go didn't come easy. It required a lot of patience and a long-term focus on my part, as we spent hours going through her stuffed animals, clothing, toys, and books. I always let my kids make the decisions, and never let go of anything behind their backs. In the process, I've taught them that letting go is a natural part of life and maintained their trust.”

Aby Garvey – Professional Organizer, Author, & Online Class Instructor

I love this collection of strategies from my colleagues! As a parent with two daughters in college and beyond, I have spent a lot of time teaching them organizing skills. The investment was worthwhile. I marvel at how they’ve integrated those skills regularly and naturally into their lives. Here are some more articles about transferring organizing skills to our children:

Failing Your Way to Success by Linda Samuels

Moms’ “To Do” Lists by Linda Samuels

Cutting the Organizing Umbilical Cord by Leslie Josel

11 Tips to Conquer Your Child’s Clutter by Aby Garvey

Which organizing success tips resonate with you? Do you have additional ones to share? Come join the conversation.

Is the desire to be and feel successful in our work, life, and relationships a universal pursuit? It's certainly something we often talk about and strive for. Our personal definition of success varies for each person and situation. During a conversation with my Mom, I was reminded about one of my favorite "success" stories about my Dad.

Like many others of his generation, my Dad worked for the same company for 25 years. He could have easily become a lifer. Due to several reasons, at age 50, he made a bold move. He gave up the familiar along with security of income and benefits to start his own company. With two kids in college and one about to start (me,) he took a big financial and personal risk.

The story goes that on his first day of being his own boss, he went to his newly rented office and worked. Opposite of his normal work habits, halfway into the workday, he left to see a movie. He’d never done that before. Later that night when he got home, he told my Mom about his movie adventure. When she asked him why he went, he said, "I wanted to see what would happen."

“Refine what you’re doing, try something new, and pave the way for your success.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

That singular event, set the stage for the next 25 plus years as he tested the “let’s see what will happen” theory. He became highly successful in his computer graphics consultancy business as he traveled the world saying, “yes” to opportunities and trying things he’d never done before.

While the lessons I learned from him are many, here are a few of the success rules my Dad modeled for me:

9 Success Rules

1. Try something new.

2. Question the familiar.

3. Fear will be there, but forge ahead anyway.

4. Just because you never have, doesn't mean you can't.

5. Connect people.

6. Say, “yes” to opportunities.

7. The glass is half full.

8. Humor is a good thing.

9. Enjoy the journey.

It’s a new season. It’s a chance to reset your goals, refine what you’re doing, try something new, and pave the way for your success. What does success look and feel like? What are your success rules? I’d love to hear from you. Come join the conversation.

How resilient are you at bouncing back after life throws you a curve ball? These surprises come in degress of magnitude from minor setbacks to the profound. They vary from losing our keys to being so distracted that we put our sneakers in the freezer to having a loved one rushed to the hospital, or pass away. Last week’s post, 5 Success Tips for Life’s Surprises, generated an interesting conversation about bouncing back, which begged to be explored further. I invited several of my wonderful colleagues and regular blog participators (Helena Alkhas, Janet Barclay, Ellen Delap, Leslie Josel, Janice Russell, Yota Schneider, Geralin Thomas, and Sue West) to continue this idea and share with you their best success tips for getting back on track after “stuff” happens. My gratitude goes to each of them for their generous and valuable words of wisdom.

8 Tips for Bouncing Back

1. Relax

"Not all crises are created equal! More often than not, when we find ourselves in the grip of the unexpected, what can help us the most, is allowing for breathing space! Relaxing into a situation can activate our creative thinking and the law of synchronicity. 

Things have a way of falling into place - just the way they're meant to - when we're able to take a step back, breathe, and open up to guidance. From that place, we can evaluate our options, reach out to our support system, and respond from a place of clarity, resourcefulness, and conviction."

Yota Schneider, Life Transitions Coach

2. Respect Self

“I believe that resilience is a funny thing. Unfortunately, there are no absolutes to bouncing back when life hands you a curve ball.  Sometimes, we jump right back in stronger than ever while other times we need to move more slowly to resume our every day.  And I think that is the best way to approach those times. If you are aware, truly aware of what you need – time, quiet, friends, exercise or even just a refreshing ice tea to reset you – and you do it on your own terms in your own way, then the bouncing back will surely come.”

Leslie Josel, Professional Organizer

3. Make No Excuses

“If you want to ‘reboot’ yourself and recover gracefully just stop making excuses for almost anything and almost everything! Make a decision to rarely give an excuse again unless you are point-blank asked to do so or it's absolutely necessary and then, do it as truthfully as possible.”

Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD & Organizing Instructor

4. Activate Healthy Habits

“The ability to bounce back comes from our inner energy reserves. In the most difficult of times we often lose sleep, eat poorly and generally think negative thoughts. However, if we rely on good self care, including healthy habits and positivity, we not only bounce back more quickly, we can also ward off more stress.  This is why a good night’s sleep on a very regular basis is one of my own highest priorities.”

Ellen Delap, Certified Professional Organizer

5. Identify Needs

“An important component of the Minding Your Matters® Flexible Structure Method of organizing and productivity is to select success tools. There are three types of tools: Support, Supplies and Skills. At any given point in life, you may have to employ or shore up one or more of these tools. Understanding that the type and amount you use of each tool varies by circumstance is crucial to navigating the ups and downs of this life.”

Janice Russell, Productivity Strategist

6. Be Proactive

“Sometimes things go wrong due to your own actions or failure to act. Instead of giving up, think of what you can do to prevent it from happening again, then do it – immediately.”

Janet Barclay, Virtual Assistant, Web Designer, & Blogger

7. Draw from Past Successes

“Call it ‘mindfulness,’ ‘awareness,’ ‘observing’ or ‘noticing patterns.’ It’s about using what you know works, for you, not for your spouse or friend.

Find a quiet time and place to reflect. Think about other small or large surprises and changes from your past. Think about how you got back on track. Write down what’s worked for you in the past. If it was a person who helped, what was particularly helpful in what they said or how they said it? Or was it their listening that was most helpful? If you did it yourself, what got you there? What pulled you back?”

Sue West, Certified Organizing Coach & Certified Professional Organizer

8. Evoke Imagery

“To portray bounce back and resilience I use the image of bamboo. It is so tall and majestic, but can bend down to the ground in a storm and slowly, after the storm passes, bring itself up again. That's resilience, the ability to gracefully accept the ‘bending downs’ life brings us and slowly make our way up to the sky again.”

Helena Alkhas, Professional Organizer & Virtual Assistant

Life’s challenges come in varying degrees. When the unexpected happens, it’s useful to have some tools at the ready to increase our chance of successfully navigating forward. Come join the conversation. What is your best go to “bouncing back” tip?