As an invested parent I did all I could to make sure my children were well rounded. That “all I could” included parent involvement in their education. I visited their schools often and let the teachers know I was watching and interested in what they were teaching my children. I valued those teachers who shared their best with my children and the good teachers KNEW they were valued!

You too can use parental involvement to boost the education your child receives. Your home should be the place where the value of education is shown in many ways.

My guest on The Organized Woman Show this week was RaDawn Pack. A master teacher of 24 years. Listen here to learn from RaDawn. Below are more parent tips for your child’s success in school:

1. Parental Involvement includes Establishing Rules

2. Parental Involvement includes Exuding Positive Strength

3. Parental Involvement includes Expounding your Expectations

4. Parental Involvement includes Exemplifying your Expectations

5. Error on the Side of Growth with Parental Involvement

6. Parental Involvement includes Expecting Greatness from your Children

YOU are the driving factor in your child’s school success. The teacher shares important information, but YOU are the coach and umpire combined. YOU hold so much power! Magnify your power through parental involvement. Enjoy this new school year and show that child of yours that real power is love, strength and discipline combined!

I recently read the book ‘Getting Organized’ by Chris Crouch. He focuses on changing behavior and points out that anytime we encounter a new idea there are three possible outcomes:
1. Nothing will happen
2. We will alter our behavior in some minor ways
3. The idea will significantly change our behavior and our life forever

A year ago I worked with my client Susan in Alpine, Utah. She greeted me when I arrived with this statement, “I am just NOT an organized person!” “My mind does NOT work that way.” She and I worked side-by-side for a total of 10 hours. Susan learned, as we organized her kitchen, pantry, and family management center that, in fact she WAS an organized person…Her mind DID work that way. She went on, as can most of my clients after working on 3 spaces beside me, to organize the rest of her home so her home spaces “worked nicely” for her. (She had considered up-sizing so their family of 7 could be comfortable in their home. She found this was no longer needed.) Changing behavior through change to home and business spaces is my specialty.

At ORGANIZING Mind over Matter we teach you that when you learn a better way, you need to realize the benefit of it’s application in your life. To make that stretch, you need to move beyond the comfortable. Is better organization of YOUR time and space a better idea? If so, now is the time to begin changing behavior ! Take a look at my before and after photos to:

1. motivate you AND
2. get a few ideas of how to tackle your own spaces.

Listen to my podcasts or Email me at 801-623-8411 to talk about beginning your change!

4 Keys to Sort through Sentimental Clutter

One of my recent clients, Miss M in Springville, Utah was a sentimentalist. She was attached to her sentimental clutter. She was a wonderful mother of 4 and loved every outfit her children had worn through the years.  She also had many toys that they no longer used but had been kept for sentimental reasons. After I shared and reinforced the tips below, through our side-by-side work, she was able to understand that living in an orderly home brought much greater joy to her and her family than did the “stuff” they retained from the past. She learned that sentimental clutter is like heavy chains she was carrying  around day in and day out. These are my tips to overcome sentimental clutter:

1. Honor the past, but choose to live in the present
2. Set realistic limits – numeric or space related
3. Consider space saving alternatives for item display
4. Be cautious about what you buy in the first place

In Summary:

• Sentimental clutter can be overcome by making behavioral change a process. It takes some real thought and contemplation. Once decided, the change becomes permanent.
• Sentimental clutter is often based in fear of loss. Decide if the items you are holding on to are serving you in your current life. If they are, display them in a way that honors the memory.

As owner and trained professional organizer at ORGANIZING Mind over Matter, I have loads of experience and may be able to help you clarify your wants and set up systems to meet your goals. Miss M of Springville, Utah had tried unsuccessfully to move beyond the sentimental clutter surrounding her. For her, success came in stopping the rationalizations that had become a part of her “inner talk”. She needed to answer to someone else. I was trained to help her rethink her wants.

Because you found this useful, here are a few other articles I have written that may also catch your attention:

• Before and after photos of home spaces
• How to change behaviors

If YOU have tried to overcome sentimental clutter and struggle with setting up lasting processes and organizing systems to support your best life, call Vicki now at the number listed here.

1. Break the project down into smaller steps until they are manageable.
2. Prevent distractions and interruptions from occurring.
3. Get organized – Being unorganized causes chaos and is very distracting
   When you are organized, you are better able to focus on a task instead of the clutter
4. Do NOT demand perfection from yourself. Perfectionism causes postponement.
5. Create a mental picture of the project you wish to complete.
6. Reward yourself. Give yourself points or prizes as you work through the task.
7. Avoid overextending yourself. Evaluate your obligations and then prioritize them.
   Is there anything you can omit, delegate or move to a different time frame? Set realistic goals. When possible, finish each task before starting the next.
8. Make the task at hand as pleasurable as possible. Ask yourself a question, “Can I make this more enjoyable in any way?”

Overcome procrastination by simply beginning. I wish you success as you begin once again! If you don’t know how or where to begin, I may be able to help.

1. Begin with your PAST life history to date. Make it easy! Maybe a 2 pager on your computer.
2. Begin your paragraphs with the word “I”.
3. If you want to make it a more detailed writing, biography questions to get your mind thinking could include:

• What was your favorite place when you were a child?
• What is the most interesting characteristic you posses?
• What about my employment do you like or hate?
• What did you feel like your first day of school?

Two pages is all you need to catch up. If you would like more questions to get your mind working, click here to access my Personal History Questions. Once that is done, then you can move on to your CURRENT writing. Journal it! Here are my tips for journaling:

• Write one day a week for up to 1/2 hour
• Pick 3-5 of the most interesting weeks happenings
• Confine it to a certain space  (I use a 9” X 5”  notebook and put 1 week on one side of each page)

Once you have become comfortable with writing biography pages weekly , it is time to consider keeping a family history. I learned this formula for family history keeping  at a BYU education week class four years ago and have done it every year since. It takes me 2 hours a year to update from beginning to end. It really has been SO EASY for me. A down-loadable sample of the one pager follows, but these are the main parts of the page:

1. At the top include your name and the year
2. One photo from a very memorable event that year
3. A few sentences for each of the categories listed below:

• Family
• Health
• Home
• Church
• Employment
• Education
• Friends
• Holidays
• Vacations

Click here to download a sample of  My Yearly One Page Family History. For many years I thought I was just too busy to take on writing biography pages weekly or to keep a yearly family history. Then I learned the easy way to begin and maintain. Planning and upkeep make it sustainable. If you would like to begin your personal written biography or family history, these ideas may be just what you were waiting for!

Get started this week. Begin by investing 30 minutes this week in writing biography pages and presto/chango…no more guilt!

Vicki's 2009 Family Reunion Fun

Organizing family reunion  fun is not an easy task, but a systematic approach is helpful. In a previous article, I shared some tips for putting together a general master plan for family reunion fun.

In that article I promised theme ideas, favorite activity ideas and photos suggestions. I am a woman of her word. Here you go:

Family reunion themes for family reunion fun! – Your theme is what makes your family reunion fun and most memorable. Here are a few favorites my extended family have chosen the past few years:

• A Blast from the Past for family reunion fun: Meals = favorite meals from preparers childhood. Activity = ‘hide & seek’ or ‘no bears are out tonight’. (Be sure to assign a young child with an adult supervisor.)
• Where in the World for family reunion fun: Meals = country of preparers choice. Activity = go hiking and call it climb the Swiss Alps or do a swimming activity and call it Hawaiian fun.
• Western Roundup for family reunion fun: Meal = hot dogs and hamburgers, or chicken tenders named prairie dog nuggets. Activity = while roasting marshmallows tell ghost stories around candlelight. (Books of ghost stories can be found at your local library or local bookstore.)
• Summer Olympic Games for family reunion fun: The lodging was called Olympic Village. Activity = Synchronized swimming with judges and audience participation. The reunion finale was titled the Olympic Ribbon Ceremony.

Family reunion awards ceremonies for family reunion fun! – Some of my favorite reunion awards are these:  Best Gymnast award for the most wounded attendee. Best Balancing Act for the attendee who balanced well reunion events and family care. The Get Up & Go award for the attendee who typically rolled out of bed at noon. The Miss Universe award for the attendee who needed lots of spotlight attention.

Memory photos for family reunion fun! – Think ahead and schedule family reunion scrapbook time as you near the end of your reunion OR provide family reunion photo CD’s as a reunion parting gift.

To listen to my 16 minute audio show on this topic, visit The Organized Woman Show and look for show number 038 titled Organizing Family Reunions.

To learn my tips for designing a family reunion fun master plan, click here.

Two of my favorite ‘family reunion websites’ are these:

www.familyreunion.com AND www.familydetails.com

Began to plan with a master plan that includes family reunion fun. Include themes, activities and memorable photos in your plan. Bring your family together and feel the love surrounding you!

Vicki's 2009 SIBLINGS & families REUNION

The reason to plan family reunion fun is to reunite your immediate or extended family. Few of us live next door to our siblings or cousins like was done in the “old days”. Geography divides us. The main reason to plan family reunion (s) annually is that it brings your family back to once again grow together.

BEGIN TO PLAN FAMILY REUNION FUN WITH A MASTER PLAN –  The whole  reunion should be planned beginning to end by one family member. In my family, I and each of my siblings take a year to plan family reunion events on a rotating basis.  THEN we divide up the reunion responsibilities for the year. We typically assign out one meal and one group activity per sibling.  This plan, family reunion master plan I should say, is not overwhelming for the master planner OR anyone helping. Let’s imagine that YOU are the master planner for THIS YEARS family reunion. Before you begin to delegate, you should decide these things:

FIRST, decide on the type of reunion you will hold from these options:

• siblings only (your brothers and sisters)
• adults only, (your siblings and their spouses/life partners)
• everyone’s invited

THEN

1. Choose a date for the family reunion (You should email all attendees three possible dates and see which are workable for the majority of those attending.)
2. Plan family reunion budget expectations
3. Plan family reunion destination specifics including a map for arrival.
4. Invite the guests.
5. Plan family reunion activity assignments based on the number of siblings you have and the length of your family reunion.

NEXT

• Plan Family Reunion  General Costs based on a per person cost.
• Plan Family Reunion Location Destination(s) according to your preference.
• Plan Family Reunion Activities by holding 1-2 per day and assigning one activity per your siblings attending.
• Plan Family Reunion Meals by assigning one meal per sibling attending. (IF you are a small family, assign a dinner meal and lunch meal . Cold cereal for breakfast is fine.)

To listen to my 16 minute audio show on this topic, visit The Organized Woman Show and look for show number 038 titled Organizing Family Reunions.

To see some of my favorite reunion themes, award ceremony ideas, & reunion photo suggestions; scroll up or click here.

Two of my favorite ‘plan family reunion websites’ are these:

• www.familyreunion.com
• www.familydetails.com

If you use a systematic approach when you design a general plan, family reunion meals and events will be successful in the end. By breaking down and delegating responsibilities into smaller components, success becomes more attainable. Began to plan family reunion fun now. Bring your family together this year and enjoy the support you feel from surrounding yourself with those you love!

As a trained and experienced professional Utah organizer I see daily that organizing saves people just like you valuable time and money. My name is Vicki Winterton. I live in Provo, Utah and work with clients located in the Salt Lake and Utah Valley areas. I am both a home organizer and business office organizer with years of experience helping Utahn’s live a better life. In this Utah organizer blog I share a wide variety of organizing tips for organizing nearly everything including YOUR home, time, family, workplace and life. Even though my focus is Utah, organizer topics I share here can be applied anywhere.

Here are some tips concerning the use of this organizing website blog with postings drafted weekly by Utah organizer, Vicki Winterton:

1. Use the search box at the right to find blog postings with topics that interest you.
2. To visit my website, click on the home page link to the left.
3. Please leave a comment in the comment section near the title of any blog posting. I’d like to know you stopped by. By leaving a comment, you can also share your top tips with future visitors.
4. You are invited to use portions of my articles, posts, and lists.  Because the information posted here is copyrighted, be sure you meet these requirements. You MUST include:

• My name – Vicki Winterton
• My business name – ORGANIZING Mind over Matter
• My online organizing podcast name – The Organized Woman Show
• A link to my website  - www.organize-utah.com

Enjoy your time browsing my professional organizer tips and techniques. I’m Utah organizer Vicki Winterton. Please, come back often.

I am a reader. I have always enjoyed reading books that help me better understand myself, those I care about, and the world around me. The last two books I read, ‘Crucial Conversations’ by leadership consultants Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler AND ‘Without Offense – The Art of Giving and Receiving Criticism’ by Dr. John Lund both taught me how to better handle important discussions in a way that is not offensive and can strengthen relationships.

Patterson and group defined difficult conversations as a discussion between two or more people where: (1) the stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong.

I learned from Patterson’s group that “when participants hold back (because they are afraid of the consequences, want to spare someone’s feelings or don’t want to escalate a conflict) a true dialogue CAN NOT take place.” When you organize your difficult conversations, both participants should be open and remain emotion free.

One of THE most important things I learned in reading Crucial Conversations was to STAY FOCUSED. When I organize my difficult conversations I should be sure I clearly understand WHAT I WANT, WHAT I WANT FOR THE OTHER PERSON and WHAT I WANT FOR THE RELATIONSHIP. I need to also understand before beginning what I DON’T WANT the outcome of the conversation to be. “The only person I can directly control is myself.”

When YOU organize your difficult conversations, the authors of CC suggest you might begin with a dialogue much like this: “I’d like to talk with you about something that is getting in the way of my working with you.  It is a little touchy, but I feel it will help if we can talk about it.  When would you be willing to meet with me and discuss _______?” Dr. John Lund suggests you should ALWAYS ask permission to discuss the issue before you begin the discussion.

Start your conversation with Patterson’s groups ABC’s.

• What you Agree with or on
• Build & add on elements you do not agree on THEN
• Compare the differences

WHEN your organized difficult conversation begins to go bad do these things:

• Apologize when appropriate “The last thing I wanted to do was ___________ (hurt your feelings, make you angry).  I do value you(r) ___________  (friendship, opinion, etc.
• Stay committed to the dialogue. Remember, you organized your difficult conversation so focus on how to move toward what you really hoped to accomplish. Then
• Explore THEIR perspective. Ask questions and mirror responses to guarantee you understand what they are meaning to say.

I do understand that many of these conversations surface when we least expect them. Just this evening I was sucked into one of these difficult conversations which I handled poorly. Medical studies now show that just a modest improvement in the ability to talk and connect with others corresponded to a two-thirds decrease in the death rate of those in later years.

Dr. Lund taught me in his book that when I hope for something that I have very little control over…that is a wish. When I hope, plan and organize something that I do have control over…that becomes a goal.  Let’s take control of our emotions. It is of GREAT value to all of us to learn how to organize our Difficult Conversations. You can do this.

Today is your turn to better someone’s life. Leave a comment telling us what your most difficult conversations have dealt with and what the outcome of that difficult conversation was. Thanks for sharing!

Listen to my online show numbered 032 Organize your Difficult Conversations to hear Laura and I discuss this important issue.

Organize your Vital Records

In a nutshell, your most important papers are called vital records. Organizing important papers is essential and your vital records need to be easily assessable for them to be any good to you. Vital Records are papers with information that is crucial about you, your family, your home, your finances, your health, and your history. (Think: marriage certificates, social security cards, military discharge papers, life insurance policies, etc.) Most of us have had occasion to need specific information and documents at a moment’s notice. Maybe you’ve already thought about gathering your vital records together, but have never gotten around to it. Or, maybe you’ve tried to gather and organize your most important papers, but have gotten stuck. Some of the “roadblocks” to accomplishing this task are:

•we don’t know where to start or what to look for

•we’re not sure what needs to be kept

•the prospect of collecting all the data is overwhelming OR

•there is just too much paper to go through

Well, now is the time to begin Organizing your Vital Records with my 3 Step ACT formula:

First, ASSESS by taking a look at where you are and asking yourself:

1. Why haven’t I done this before?

2. Why do I need to get going on this project?

3. Where am I stuck and why?

4. What is the most important 1st thing I can do today to get all my vital documents in place?

You may recognize some emotional and accountability issues as you begin gathering these important papers—but don’t let them discourage you.

Next, CREATE  – Decide on a planning strategy. To begin the planning stage, I typically begin with six general document categories, then we sub-categorize those according to the needs of my client. Once you have decided on a plan, calendar the task. Begin with a beginning and completion date. Be realistic about the time you will need to invest in organizing your vital records. I would suggest you plan anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months to complete this organizing task. Be sure to work on gathering the needed information each week. Consider options for storage of your vital records by making sure your items are secured.

Step 3 in my organizing formula is TACKLE. This is the step most people actually associate with the project: digging in to the paper, sorting, categorizing, etc.

Your vital records can be housed on-site or off-site. Choose a container that will protect them from damage. For me this includes archival plastic sheets and a waterproof, fireproof portable safe. The labeling is critical! You also need to decide on a location for final storage of these important papers. Some considerations include: a home safe, off-site storage, a safety deposit box, etc.

As circumstances change, so will some of your vital documents (examples: durable financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, or living will). It’s a great idea to review your important documents ‘collection’ yearly. Be sure to let someone you trust know WHERE these important papers are kept, then review them together.

Often, we are left to deal with emergencies without the necessary knowledge and paperwork to make decisions and move forward. In times of tragedy, we find ourselves with mountains of important papers instead of being able to take the necessary time to reflect and mourn. Organizing your vital records is a MOST IMPORTANT organizing project. I am sure that the time and money you invest NOW in completing this project will offer you the security and calm of knowing where ALL your important papers are located. You don’t want to worry about retrieval of these important documents at a time when your emotions run high.

Peace of mind is worth a little time NOW, isn’t it? If you need my experience and help in Organizing YOUR Important Papers, please contact me. This project is one you want to make sure is done correctly.

Available for purchase in September 2010, my VITAL RECORDS ORGANIZER which can be purchased in the WIN store online. For further information listen now to my online show, The Organized Woman Show. Show number 031 deals with this very topic.