The cost of disorganization is high. For instance?
•late fees on bills and credit card payments
•poor credit rating for late payments
•overnight fees for mailing time-sensitive information
•loss of early bird discounts
•time & money wasted on upkeep and maintenance of unnecessary stuff
•storage unit costs
•loss of non-convertible living space
•time & money wasted looking for or replacing misplaced items
•stress-related health issues

A recession is already a stressful time requiring more attention than usual to lessen the cost of disorganization and poor health fallout. The best part is it's totally preventable! Read the following 5 tips to see how.

#1: Think Lean: Cutting Financial Costs
It takes time to review your finances, it's tedious and no one wants to do it. It also takes a lot of organizing skills just to find and sort through papers, plan and schedule the related tasks.

It took me a few hours to find hardcopies or backup of all the financial information I wanted to review, putting it into a format I could make sense of and then implementing the cost cuts and adjustments I wanted to make. But after I finished I felt great and I succeeded in: cutting my car insurance by 30%, adjusting client billing rates, cancelling two recurring charges on my credit card, getting a better deal on my phone and internet service, buying cheaper health insurance, and narrowing my marketing plans. I'll save over $1,000.00 a year.

So getting lean is well worth the effort. If you'd like to give it a try, but don't know how to get started, contact me for a consultation on setting up a simple profile you can manage yourself.

#2: Think Thrift
What do you already have that you can use rather than buy new?
But wait! That doesn't mean go overboard by saving all your stuff unnecessarily - "just in case." During a recession you might need your living space more than you need your stuff. You may want to convert a spare bedroom, basement or garage into a home office or space for a renter. So thin out that unnecessary stuff by continuing to recycle and resell even if you reuse and repurpose.

For example - what do you do with those super old textbooks and encyclopedias from the 70's that ebay doesn't want, the library doesn't want and even freecycle.com turns down? Donate them to a large charity like the Salvation Army. They will donate the books to a recycler who assures that the entire book gets ground up. The books are recycled into cardboard and other low grade paper and not dumped in the landfill. The books are re-born into something useful, and everybody wins!

#3: Don't Freeze - Focus!
Getting focused is largely about what you choose not to do, rather than what you choose to do. It's a matter of setting aside other work or projects to concentrate on a priority, a kind of temporary clearing the deck of distractions so you can reach a goal. Getting focused is how we get things done. During a recession, there can be more things to get done than usual. Watching our money, making repairs rather than buying new, shopping with coupons - it all takes time. And sometimes the sheer volume of what we have to do makes us freeze right in our tracks.

#4: Health is Wealth now more than ever.
Stress over economic concerns and job worries wreaks havoc with your immune system and your health in general. Fast food sales skyrocket during these times as people (mistakenly) believe they are saving money and getting more bang for their buck. Eating cleanly and well does not have to be expensive. If you can't afford the health club or are cutting back, you can create a home gym for almost nothing and still get a fantastic workout in 30 minutes contact me to find out how. And walking - one of the best exercises in the world - is free. There are lots of hills in the Seattle area to help you firm up your quads and glutes in no time! Now more than ever you need to put yourself at the top of your own list!

#5: Get Closure and Just Do it.
Projects that never get completed and constant barrage of more and more tasks to do can really take their toll on you. I'm a big fan of closure. That means that if you take on a new volunteer obligation, finish the work on an old one and close it down. Closure also means be real about your daily to-do list. Why torture yourself with a long list you can't realistically accomplish? Instead of 30 items, put 20 on there and finish/complete/bring to closure 15 of them. Now, that's a good day!

Part of what generates our bottomless to-do list is the fact that we are "always on". Besides email, cell phones, and text messages, there is now Facebook, MySpace and Twitter generating more contact, more communication, and more action. "Always On" has its place and a huge positive side. But it can mean that your day swells up with even more things to do. If you're challenged to be productive now, adding more can put you over the top, physically and emotionally. Be smart about how you handle yourself. Remember, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

Get er done - it's your present!

Have you ever noticed how a lot of what you deal with on a daily basis is actually old stuff? You find yourself continually distracted by the old or unfinished projects and tasks. And they can really zap the life out of you. For instance:
• The rising stack of magazines you ordered, but never have time to read?
• The healthy eating plan you started but by now the healthy food is rotting in the fridge, the cans of black beans are way past their expiration date and you’re back to living on cookies and cereal?
• The bathroom remodel that still needs the lighting fixtures installed?
• The too big/too small/those might come back in style clothes stuffed in your closet that you have to fight through every morning?
• Tax returns from the 90’s that still need to be filed?

And how about the birthday/wedding/baby gift you still haven’t bought and sent? The lunch and networking date you were going to make? The doctor’s appointment?
You get the point. All these things literally tie you to the past. And when you’re tied to the past, it’s the past - not what you want now – that is controlling your actions today.

For example, do you scurry past the guest bedroom packed with boxes you never unpacked from your move 6 years ago? Do you get depressed when you look at your action list from a week ago and realize that the same things just keep resurfacing – little irritants that distract and drain you?

Not only do you have to deal with your day to day events, but you’re strapped with a back pack full of yesterday’s leftovers. And every day that you allow more and more to accumulate, it gets heavier and heavier.
Today’s “shape your life moment” is this – take one small step to commit to finishing what you start.

And, as always, it’s just 3 simple steps:

1. Make a new commitment that any new thing you start will be completely finished – one way or another. You will either do it yourself, delegate it to someone else, or dump it off the list.

2. Start to clean up FULLY -- anything that happened in the past that still nags at you. Be patient, but persistent. Take time to carefully consider things in your own life. It’s easy to identify them – they usually make you feel negative in some way when you think about them (mad, sad, angry, guilty, embarrassed).

3. Get help if you need it! Don’t be proud and don’t just let it keep dragging you down! Ask for what you need from others, or hire a coach. Define exactly what it is you need and get their support in a concrete way. Just say no if responsibilities and commitments are stealing your time and your joy.

When you are living in the present and looking forward with expectation to the future, you don’t miss out on opportunities. When you’re distracted or brooding over the past, you tend to be blind to what’s happening in your life and miss out on future potentials. Who do you want to be?

Are You in a Holding Pattern?

I wonder if this holiday season you’re feeling, as I have, a little like a cruise ship in a holding pattern? Cruise ships book their schedule prior to sailing. For example, if you’re on a 4 day cruise, you’re out for 4 days. The ship won’t sail into port any earlier. If it nears its destination ahead of schedule it will slow down or even stop, and stay in this holding pattern until it’s scheduled arrival time.

Sometimes life feels like that. Things might have slowed down for your business due to the economy. You might have a health concern, a financial crisis or loss of a job that’s stopped you in your tracks. Or maybe you’re so overwhelmed with life’s responsibility that you like you’re moving slower and slower until you grind to a halt for no apparent reason at all. But like the cruise ship, it’s only temporary. You do have a purpose and a destination.

Don’t get distracted by your circumstances, by the media’s dire predictions, or your financial situation. Put on your “spirit” binoculars and look ahead. The lights of the port are in front of you. You’re in a holding pattern, but that’s all it is – soon you’ll be moving again. Holding patterns are useful for helping you bring things back into perspective. They help you refocus your priorities. I spent a lot of time resisting my holding pattern, twisting and turning like a worm on a hook until I realized that opportunity was hidden in my adversity.

I took time off, studied nutrition and life management coaching. I researched new ways to make life organization more holistic and even more simple for busy women.
Before you know it, your ship will starts moving again and continue its course. You’ll arrive right on schedule. Don’t be distracted by what’s happening in the physical world. Keep your faith, stay focused, and keep things simple.

Don't Leave Your Goals to Chance

As a personal trainer and life fitness coach, I see many clients grabbing the weights and strapping on their running shoes before they know exactly what it is they want to achieve. My advice is to leave nothing to chance. Research shows that writing down your health and fitness goals makes them 95% more achievable. The more specific you are about what you want, the more likely you will do what is necessary to get it.

First, check your expectations. Are the goals you set reasonable? While it would be nice to lose 20 pounds in 7 days, there is no safe way to make that happen. Unrealistic expectations undermine your efforts and make it difficuilt to stay on track.

Look beyond the obvious. Set goals that can be measured with something other than a bathroom scale - like lowering your blood pressure by 10 points or increasing the distance you can walk or jog.

Keep track of your progress. Journal a record of the progress you make in keeping your goals. It will help you resolve to stay committed. Feelings of accomplishment will provide the fuel you need to continue moving forward.

Think carefully before sharing your goals. Sometimes it is a good idea to share your goals with family and friends and sometimes it isn't. Think about what feels right to you and trust your intuition.

Celebrate every achievement, milestone and moment! Reward yourself! it's a great way to stay motivated.
Review and revise. Life happens when you're making other plans. You may have to modify of change your goals to accommodate your situation.