"What does getting organized have to do with the planet? you may ask. Great question. Let me explain.

Everyone and everything on the planet is some form of matter and energy spinning together, evolving and all connected. Human beings are a lot of energy and a bit of matter. A tree, on the other hand, is more matter than energy. Let’s take it even smaller now — down to those shoes in your closet. They, too, are bits of matter and energy—the energy of a tree for its wood, perhaps a cow for itsleather and of course the human hands which formed them. Parts of this spinning earth came together to create a pair of shoes whose purpose is to protect your feet, allowing you to walk comfortably. When they are on your feet, supporting you, you give purpose to all the matter and energy that went into that pair of shoes. On the other hand, when they sit at the bottom of your closet, simply gathering dust, the purpose of those shoes is lost.

With this premise, I hope you can see how getting organized is all about sustainability. It’s about making sure that the stuff that you have around you supports and serves you. If it doesn’t, consider that it is actually bad for you and for our planet to hold on to possessions that could be out there serving someone else.

There are lots of reasons for you to get organized - peace of mind, balance, productivity, self-esteem. Allow me to give you one more. Do it for the planet — to sustain this planet for all of our children and their children, and so on. I invite you to embrace this philosophy, make it your own and put some balance back into the planet, and into your life. Turn matter into energy."

Excerpt from the book "Get Organized Today".

Thank you for tuning in to How to Get Organized and Save the Planet in 60 Days. Join us for practical tips, inspiration, and food for thought on living sustainable and organized. Peace.

ADHD is the second most common mental health disorder in adults, second to depressive disorders. ADHD can be a very powerful gift but it is also something that needs to be managed. If you are supporting an ADHD diagnosis in your life, here are five quick ideas to help you find some balance from clutter and balance in life, in general!

0. Carry a small portable notebook, and when one of your brilliant ideas or an action item interrupts you, write it down and then get back to what you were doing.
0. Use timers to help you focus on the completion of a task. Where a watch with a timer to help you keep track of the passing of time. Check out the TimeTimer; you will love it! (see photo, right)
0. Label stuff with big, bright labels: Bills, Project X, Taxes, Reciepts, etc.
0. Simplify a task by breaking it down into smaller parts.
0. Know your power and don't let people get you down (or your own inner voice), because you are remarkable!

And, oh by the way, here is a short list of the many remarkable people diagnosed with ADHD, or where written history suggests they might have had ADHD:
Anne Bancroft - Actress
Ansel Adams — Photographer
Beethoven — Composer
George Burns — Actor
Andrew Carnegie - American Industialist
Cher — Actress/Singer
Sir Winston Churchill — English Statesman (Failed the sixth grade)
Bill Cosby — American Actor, Comedian
Leonardo da Vinci — Italian Inventor, Artist
Walt Disney — American Cartoonist, Film Producer, Theme Park Innovator (A newspaper editor fired him because he had "No good ideas".)
Kirk Douglas — American Actor
Thomas Edison — Inventor (His teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything)
Albert Einstein — Physicist (Einstein was four years old before he could speak,and seven before he could read)
Malcolm Forbes —Forbes Magazine Founder & Publisher
Benjamin Franklin —American Colonial Politician, Elder Statesman, Inventor
Galileo (Galilei) — Italian Mathematician, Astronomer
Ernest Hemingway — Author
"Magic" Johnson — American Basketball Player, Film Personality, Business Man
John F. Kennedy — U. S. President
John Lennon —Musician
Greg Louganis — Olympic Athelete (Diving)
Steve McQueen — American Actor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — German Child Prodigy Composer, Violinist, Pianist
Louis Pasteur — Scientist, developed "Pasturization" (Rated as mediocre in chemistry when he attended the Royal College)
John D. Rockefeller —Founder, Standard Oil Company
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — American First Lady
Suzanne Somers — Actress, Pinup Girl
Steven Spielberg — American Filmmaker
Lindsay Wagner — American Actress (Bionic Woman), Spokesperson
Stevie Wonder — American Musician

You are in good company!

http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/

About a year ago, someone gave me the gift of a lovely little memo book encased in silver. It has a red leather front and silver pen that clasps the notebook shut. Yes, I'm organized, so I put it in a small drawer in my office that holds my reasonable collection of note pads. (I regularly have one that is active to hold all my notes and action items.) This one for me was unique, so I wanted to wait until I had the perfect purpose for it.

Until then, I kept it in the drawer.

The other evening I was pleased when a purpose arose and I remembered the little red notepad. I'd been inspired by a client, who always keeps a pad and pen by his bedside to record thoughts and action items while decompressing from the day. As per David Allen, the productivity genius behind Getting Things Done, it is best to get those thoughts out of your head to free your mind to be more productive, or in this case, to have a restful sleep.

The notebook looked nice on my bedside table and I felt happy I had waited until I found the perfect use for it! But, alas, I had waited too long. After using it to write down a few items, the tiny silver pen was out of ink and was useless! I broke one of the many lessons I share with my clients: Use your stuff! If you keep it, make it active to serve you now because: everything has a shelf life.
The little pen,
Those shoes,
That electronic device,
You, me,
The planet...
Everything.

So use it. enjoy it. Especially if it's beautiful and makes you happy. When you find yourself putting something aside to "save beautiful things for just the right moment," ask yourself, "why isn't just the right moment right now, today?"

If you being amazing is not a good enough reason (which of course it is), as ever let me remind you of the planet. Some natural resources went into the making of that little silver pen.. only to dry up and be wasted. You see, no one was served. Not the planet, not me, not good karma energy to the people who worked hard on the factory line (probably in China) to produce that pen. No one. sigh.

So, go on now, go... take a bath and use those bubble bath salts you have been saving. Use that good china tonight! Don't wait for the holidays. Make sure your beautiful stuff is active. Serving you. Now.

Or pass it on to someone who will. For the planet's sake.

A.K.A at BALANCE: turning matter into energy.