How are you?
You might notice something has changed about this post
–I updated the header to match my new hair!
It’s a bit lighter and longer than it used to be,
something fun for my birthday season.
Sometimes I just need to mix up the colors and designs of things to keep it interesting!
When was the last time you mixed things up?
Obviously, it is not all new but I am putting a little spin on what is already working…
And speaking of that,
below is an email I sent out last year.
It just feels like a good time to pull out the duct tape!
Enjoy that below!
Read it and you’ll see what I mean.
And don’t forget that if you are having trouble being optimistic:
about your life,
your projects,
your writing,
your business,
You don’t have to do this alone.
You are welcome to join me on this journey to be more optimistic
with easy to use tools that have been making a positive shift for me this summer.
Join me for the Live Optimism Event
Tuesday, August 27th
5 PM EST
When you join, you’ll get a free printable workbook you can use, and 14 emails that you can turn on whenever you need an optimism boost. (And the live event + replay!)
And now for:
Organized but not anal.
A story about duct tape & your ideas
(Originally written 2023-11-30)
Duct tape is all that holds up the plastic panel on the back of my dad’s truck.
I inherited it so I have the task of keeping it up.
Every so often, I’ve gotta check: how’s my duct tape doing? Is it falling off?
A few weeks ago, I cleaned and waxed the car, removed all the old tape, and put new tape.
If I’d waited any longer that back panel would probably have ripped off in the wind.
Hopefully, it’s good now until spring, but I’ll be checking.
Please know: I am not an anal person.
I have duct tape on my car.
And although I like to talk about being organized,
I didn’t become anal about being organized.
Despite my best efforts, life is life.
But I’m organized or organized enough
–because I have to do other things in my life besides organize and I don’t want to waste too much energy on being a perfectionist…
So sometimes I still feel like things are like that duct tape:
BARELY HANGING ON.
But the point is:
it is hanging on.
And some things quite well actually.
Life is always a work in progress and a balance.
I just wanted to say
if you feel like you aren’t organized and are hitting a wall
if you feel like the only way to be organized is to be anal or perfect about every single little thing…
My news flash is:
there is another way.
You don’t have to become anal to be organized, you can embrace the duct tape method.
Duct tape is not a one-and-done, forever solution.
100% it will fall off eventually, but for now, it works.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, being organized isn’t about one and done solutions.
Being organized is about habits and maintenance.
AKA periodic check-ups.
No, you don’t need to become anal.
You don’t need to be super organized every second of every day to be organized enough.
Your personal way to organize can be held together with duct tape and a couple of prayers, just don’t ignore it forever.
Every so often, take a look at how it is holding up.
In writing it looks like:
– Do I know where am I at in this project?
– Do I know what my past or original idea was for the project?
– Is all of this recorded somewhere?
And:
- Do I really, really know where it is?
- Is there a designated spot for it? – Even if I don’t work on this now, will I be able to find my documents and notes to remember what I was doing later?
If you actually check and the answer to any of these is no– it’s time to replace your duct tape.
You need to spend a little energy picking apart the system holding your project together and tapping it back together more securely.
The sooner you do it, the better…
but as we all know life can get in the way.
But if you can clear a little time and mental space, you CAN get that taped back up.
And boom, you’ll be back on track. For a little while at least.
You just have to remember, every so often to keep checking your duct tape.
And then you’ll be secure.
Focused and Clear on what to do for your writing yet again.
Able to find things.
AND IF YOU KEEP UP THE HABIT of checking your system’s duct tape,
your organizational system will get better and better over time.
Believe it or not: You don’t need to go super crazy to be organized.
You don’t need to be super human or totally anal, if that’s just not who you are.
Stopping and starting on projects does not even need to be eliminated.
But this is key,
You do need to check every so often:
Are things (your ideas) sticking together?
Are they falling apart when you aren’t looking?
Just assume that everything is regularly going to fall into chaos and stop kidding yourself.
It’s a fact. Accept it. BUILD AROUND IT.
Meet yourself where you are, you ain’t never gonna be perfect, honey.
But there is so much cool technology now that’s even better than duct tape (What! I know!)
and many ways to keep things organized so you can find them.
You can even stop and start, handle life, and
still end up with finished, satisfying writing
because you have a system to find and remember things over time.
Just make sure you remember to check on things periodically.
If you’re naturally organized,
including organizing all your ideas and writing,
this message isn’t for you
–you lucky dog we all wish we lived in your shoes.
But for everyone else
I truly believe you can find a system that works for you!
Even if it includes duct tape fixes 🙂
–
And by the way, if you want some help with that…
I can help you organize your writing and ideas with regular check ins.
Want to make sure you don’t forget to organize?
Don’t forget to check in with your organizational systems regularly!
Ensure you’ll always remember to organize your ideas with the
FALL round of the
3 Month Digital Organization Club
opens for enrollment next week.
Where we aim to be just organized enough LOL
so you can find essential notes, ideas, and documents necessary to write for your book or business.
We meet every two weeks so you remember to do a regular check-in.
It’s less anal than checking every second but still keeps it from all falling apart.
Sign up for the waitlist to get notified:
Look out for an email on Thursday, August 29th
(This will be the 1st announcement of the sale.)
There will be an early bird special for 1 week only.
