National holidays can inspire!

Do you ever envy postal workers, bankers and teachers for their days off? Okay, no one envies bankers right now, but they do get an enviable amount of days off! How do they do it?

Simple: structure. When you’re working for yourself, nothing dictates the structure of your days — unless you do it yourself. It might seem a little odd, but it is possible to set some inspiring time off by copying what federal and state workers do.

How to get all the major holidays off

Ready for a little project? Here’s what you need:

• A calendar that you like (paper or electronic)
• A pen in a fun color that reminds you of holidays (or font color if you’re electronic)
• A list of national holidays observed in 2012

Step 1:

Look over the list of 2012 U.S. national holidays (Canada’s here) and decide which ones you want to observe:

Monday, January 2: New Year’s Day
Monday, January 16: Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, February 20: Washington’s Birthday
Monday, May 28: Memorial Day
Wednesday, July 4: Independence Day
Monday, September 3: Labor Day
Monday, October 8: Columbus Day
Monday, November 12: Veterans Day
Thursday, November 22: Thanksgiving Day
Tuesday, December 25: Christmas Day
Tuesday, January 1: New Year’s Day

Step 2:

Add them to your calendar.

Do it inspiredly. Add them in a fun visual way that reminds you to take them off. For example, I use my pink watermelon-scented marker and put a lovely stripe across the day. When I see it there, it reminds me not to plan anything. And it smells fruity.

On my Google calendar, I create an ‘event’ that takes up the entire day and I label it. Again, seeing this so visually reminds me not to plan anything and hold it as a precious day off.

Step 3:

Define what you want and won’t do on your days off.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Have you ever had a day off that, by the end of it, it didn’t feel like a day off? You filled it up accidentally with stuff you didn’t enjoy? Me too. We don’t want that to happen.

What you want to do:

Clarify for yourself: Write a list of ways you’d like to spend your days off. Set an intention.

Ideas? I like sleeping late, long stretches of reading, playing with Inspired Cat 1 & 2, making yummy food, crafty projects, doing jigsaw puzzles, laughing with Inspired Spouse, and going on adventures. I often like planning nothing at all and deciding moment-by-moment what to do. I like flirting with boredom — it’s a great contrast with my work life.

So, write for yourself how you’d really like to spend that day. Don’t just read this article. Seriously. Pick up some paper and write down what you’d like to do with your days off. You’ll be amazed at how freeing and fun this is.

What you won’t do

Also, define what you don’t want to spend that day doing. Me? No work-work. No bookkeeping. No email. Often no internet. No desk-clearing. It is a day off, after all.

What are your boundaries? Add them to the page. Brainstorm the kinds of things that you want to be free from on that day.

Reality may strike and you may have to pay the bills (like I will on MLK Day) or other random to-do, but the rest of the day will remain yours. Sacred. Nourishing.

Step 4:

Communicate it.

If you were a post office, everyone would know you’d be off on national holidays. But deciding to observe them yourself will take a little educating.

Think of the key people who will be impacted by your decisions to take time off — and give them notice so they can accommodate. Post it on your website, email people you interact with frequently, and mention it conversationally.

Communicating it is helpful to others but it’s especially great at helping you stay accountable for taking the time off.

That’s all there is to it!

1. Choose the holidays
2. Write them down
3. Define what you will and won’t do
4. Communicate it

This is all it takes for teachers, government workers and bankers to get their days off. You can too! But wait…

Bonus Advanced Step

Schedule your vacations.

While you’ve got your calendar open, why not think about when you want to take vacation time this year. Crazy? I know.

If you want to take a vacation, the best way to get it is to set it. This is an advanced skill because most self-employed people are accustomed to going without, pushing through, nose to the grindstone forever.

Look over the year. When do you want to be off for a longer period of time than a single national holiday? When does your family have time off? When are your clients or customers on vacation themselves (and thus not responsive to your product/service anyway)?

Write in your vacations — and start the delightful process of deciding how you want to spend them. Wouldn’t it be great to start the year already knowing when you’ll get a break?

Inspired to try it? Made you think? Feel free to share your thoughts below!

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Hitting the bumps?

On the path to a more creative, organized life, some people start clearing out their stuff and hit a block. They can’t move forward.

When this happens, most people assume that they just need to dig in and try harder. I don’t. When you hit a block like this, it means that you’ve bumped up against an invisible structure that’s been protecting you.

Invisible barriers that stop your progress (but also keep you safe)

“If I can finally see my desk, I will have to write the book I’ve been talking about for years”. If writing the book feels loaded and daunting, can you see how having clutter on your desk creates safety?

“If I finally get my financial records in order, I will have to think about how I’m going to deal with my retirement.” or “If I get rid of all these distractions in my life, I’m going to have to face how unhappy I really am.” No wonder we don’t want to get organized. No wonder the clutter keeps coming back when these overwhelming issues and frightening decisions lurk, invisibly, underneath your stuff.

When I was getting organized, one of the scariest things I bumped up against was, “If I get rid of all this crap, then I’m going to have to show up in the world and be visible.” Terrifying. My stuff was keeping me safe.

Safety is good. Release is lasting.

The visible and energetic clutter in your life has been serving a purpose; it’s been keeping you safe. But you probably know that it’s not making you happy or helping you feel deeply, satisfyingly fulfilled.

In some cases, hitting a bump in your organizing is just a strategic issue. You need a new folder or a label maker. Very straightforward.

But when you feel fear and loathing toward something in your space for either a long time or with great intensity, pay attention to it. You may want to do some deeper work to clear what’s underneath. There are several things you can do to help shift how stuck and how scary it feels.

The 5 levels of release

Your heart can only carry so much. So these five levels of release help you clear what’s on the inside. Suddenly, making decisions about the physical stuff is much easier.

There are no shortcuts to clearing the inner stuff. There is no way around, but through. In truth, when there are big issues underneath your disorganization, the best way is go all the way to the bottom of it – and go gently. Taking your time and being patient with these steps can make a real and lasting difference to your heart and to your spirit — and helps you clear the inner stuff for good. You’re worth it.

1. First of all, notice what’s happening. What behaviors and actions do you notice? Perhaps you notice that you avoid certain topics, or certain areas, or certain projects. What is happening for you in this circumstance?

2. Unearth your beliefs. What do you think or believe about this situation? When I felt so scared of being visible, my belief was that I would be laughed at and I would lose control over my sense of safety. I thought I would be hurt. Notice your thoughts and beliefs.

3. Next, feel your feelings. In other words, make space in you to feel whatever comes up. You feel overwhelmed and tired. Maybe you feel sadness or grief. Maybe fear. Make space for whatever feelings are present in you and know that at the bottom of all feelings is love. Sometimes it just takes a while to get there.

4. Consider what you’d like. If this situation could go any way you wanted it to, what would you want? What would you wish for? What would you choose?

5. Then make a choice to act. What step do you want to take? In my case, I chose to leave a job, a relationship, and a lot of negative beliefs behind in the span of about a year. You don’t have to start there. What I really started with was balancing my checkbook. Cleaning cat puke out of the carpet. Asking to be tested for ADHD. I took small steps. Some of them were painful. Some of them were easy. All of them got me to where I am today – joyful, free and alive.

Don’t go it alone

If you are in need of releasing some of the inner burdens you carry, I highly recommend proceeding with allies. If you have just one person in your life you can entrust with your truth, it can make all the difference in the world. Share with someone who won’t give advice or tell you what to do. Share with someone who accepts you no matter what you do, whether it’s a friend, a counselor, or a family member.

Releasing is also more powerful and lasting when it has some structure. I highly recommend the workshops at Wings Seminars in Eugene, Oregon for releasing what doesn’t serve you. I also adore The Work of Byron Katie. And the Enneagram. And family constellations. All of these are incredible tools. The best part of all is in using them, you’ll meet additional allies who are on the path with you.

Releasing the inner clutter will help you proceed in your space with lasting results, more energy and a grounded sense of purpose. Not only will you feel lighter, but suddenly, whatever is cluttering your space seems less loathsome and easy to release.

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All about The NICER Process

Why the NICER Process?

Change is hard. Most creative people have high expectations of themselves and expect perfection the first time they try to do something new. In response to perceived failure, many people use a stern inner voice that hurts the spirit, deflates the ego, and stymies the creative mind. Most of us know this as overwhelm or feeling stuck. It feels terrible and it isn’t very effective.

This process I’m offering to you is nicer than self-criticism. It’s kinder. The NICER Process helps you create behavior change while taking your whole brilliant self and innate gifts into account. And it works. In fact, except for The Wish Kit, the NICER Process is the most powerful tool in the Inspired Home Office magic box. It makes change easier. And fun.

NICER stands for:

• Notice
• Inquire Intuitively
• Creatively Brainstorm
• Experiment
• Reassess

Is change linear?

Many people expect change to be as simple as making a resolution to do something better, faster, perfectly, error-free forever and ever until the day they die. Unfortunately, change isn’t that simple. Getting uncluttered is a process. Getting organized is a process. Setting up effective systems in your business – yup – it’s a process.

And it’s a process that’s thankfully fraught with “failure”. When we make errors, we’re still getting somewhere and we’re also learning new things about ourselves at the same time. If we’re on a plane from Seattle to somewhere lovely like Maui, you’re traveling in the right direction only 10% of the flight. The other 90% of the time, the auto-pilot is making course corrections. And yet, miraculously, despite all these “failures,” you still land in sunny Hawaii and before long you’re on a gorgeous beach sipping from a pineapple.

Hawaii is a stand-in for the vision you have for the space you work and create in. Seattle represents where you are today. The way to get from one place to the other is to start moving and make lots of informed course corrections as you go. That’s what the NICER Process is for. While you’re getting where you want to go, it eases your course corrections, keeps you on track, and helps you have some fun and inspiration in the process.

What if I don’t know where or what my Hawaii is?

If you’re not sure what kind of space you want to work in or you’ve never clarified that for yourself, I don’t recommend launching right in to the NICER Process. The process here is most effective if you already know where you’re going.

To determine this, I strongly encourage you to get a copy of The Wish Kit, which is a workbook that leads you through a series of reflection exercises. If you own it and haven’t used it yet, come to the free class I offer periodically. The Wish Kit will reveal what you want to work toward and give you the excitement and intrinsic motivation you need to do the work. You won’t feel as tired and you won’t get as frustrated as you may have felt in the past.

So how does it help me?

Let’s say you’re working along contentedly one day and BAM! out of the clear blue sky, things fall apart. The desk looks like a monsoon came through. You have 17 voice mails awaiting return calls. You forget to pay a bill and get a late notice. You can’t keep up with your marketing plan. You keep “forgetting” to write blog posts. You can’t find that thing you just filed. Basically, it can help you when anything goes awry and you don’t know what to do about it.

This is a case for the NICER Process. What you’ll see below is a much longer version than the actual 11-step worksheet because I’m explaining how it works. In reality, all you need to do is print off the worksheet and start answering the prompts. It takes about 10-15 minutes. And you’re back on your feet. You’re back in flow instead of losing days, weeks, even years fretting about, avoiding it, and chastising yourself about it. Doesn’t that sound nicer?

The NICER Process Step by Step

Name the issue or problem

Think of this like a title of a movie. Problems are easier to solve if you know specifically what it is, so be concise about what exactly is bugging you, challenging you, or creating difficulty. Name it in just a few words.

Notice

Noticing means taking stock of what is happening in this situation both inside of you and around you. Practice being a compassionate observer of the issue, rather than a critic of any perceived failures. You’ve done the best possible job at solving it so far, so be kind. What happens next will ease your struggle.

1. What’s happening? What do you notice?

Take an honest, non-judgmental look at the situation. Think back over what you’ve observed. Think about the information you’ve taken in through your five senses and intuition. Consider what materials, people, or information are involved.

2. What do you notice is not working for you?

This is a great time to vent about how this situation is really affecting you. Notice what key areas are most troubling. Be specific.

3. What do you think about the situation? What beliefs do you have?

You may have some thoughts about what’s going on. Some your thoughts may be directed at you, at others, at physical stuff, and at any variety of things. You may have beliefs about what’s right or wrong. Take a moment and take stock of what you think and believe about the situation.

4. How do you feel?

Reflect on what emotions come up for you as you think about this situation. Feelings are adjectives. Angry, disappointed, embarrassed, ashamed, enraged, defensive, apathetic, overwhelmed, anxious, confused, befuddled, frustrated, guilty, tired, annoyed, nervous, curious, open, excited, eager, motivated (just to name a few). What words describe how you feel in this situation? List as many as you like. Honor whatever words come up.

Emotions are part of the process and they help you clear the problem from the inside, as you solve it creatively from the outside. It’s a parallel process. Make space for your feelings and be gentle with yourself as they come up.

Inquire intuitively

Inquiring intuitively means trusting the very first answers that come up for you after you ask them. Many people disregard the tiny voice that speaks, the small sensations in the heart and belly, the deep but ethereal knowing. It’s easy to pass over these sources of information when our brains are busy being helpful. It takes practice to inquire intuitively, but the information you receive is essential. There will be time for your brain to pitch in during the next section.

5. What do you want? What is your deeper need?

When you think about this situation, start by listing out what you really want. Don’t edit. Trust what comes up. What do you want?

Once you’ve done that, notice if there’s a deeper need underneath your wants. Sit for a moment and listen for what comes up. Trust it and write it down.

If any additional feelings come up here, be gentle and make space for them. You can also add them to the question 4 about feelings.

Creatively brainstorm

When you creatively brainstorm, you’re giving your creative brain a chance to shine. The idea here is to engage your creativity. Be silly. Be irrational. Be brilliant. Write down things that you might never do. Whatever you do, don’t edit. Just keep your creativity flowing.

6. Take a breath. Then spend 3-5 minutes brainstorming ideas that would meet your needs. Jot down whatever comes to mind and be nice to your ideas. More ideas are better than “good” ones. If you’re stuck, imagine that this is someone else’s dilemma. What solutions would you suggest?

Experiment

At this point in the process, you’ve already purged some of the underlying inner gunk and opened up your inner knowing and your creative channels. Now it’s time to get specific. Now you can start to focus your efforts toward a new creative solution to your challenges.

7. Of the list you brainstormed, which idea would you like to experiment with?

Look over your list and notice which of the ideas you wrote seem appealing to you. One (or several) will rise to the top, so just look over them and put a little star next to the ones that feel attractive to you. Use your intuition, not logic.

Once you know which ones appeal to you, write them in this section. This is your experiment.

8. What would you like to observe as you are trying this experiment? What would you like to learn?

Whenever you do an experiment, it’s important to know what to look out for as you go. This isn’t to punitively catch yourself doing it wrong, it’s simply to notice more acutely what factors contribute to your success. Planning what you’ll look for in advance is helpful.

9. What do you hope will happen?

Here, you’re defining what outcomes you’d like. You’re imagining how this will turn out in the best case scenario.

10. Is there any kind of support or structure you’d like while you’re doing your experiment?

Reflect on whether you need reminders, something visible, contact with people, unscheduled time, quiet, a reminder in your calendar, etc. When you’re doing this experiment, think about what factors would help you succeed and plan them in.

11. When would you like to revisit how your experiment is going?

Keep reading for suggestions on choosing a time-frame.

Reassess

Reassessment comes after a certain amount of time has passed and you want to check to see how well your experiment went.

There are two basic ways to revisit your experiment. One of them is formal. You plan in advance when to check in to assess progress and discoveries. I recommend this when you’re first learning to use the NICER process. Take a guess as to how long you’d like to run your experiment before reassessing it. Putting a date in your calendar, or post-dating an email to yourself, or following up with a coach can really help.

The other way to reassess is more casual. You notice on the fly. In one of my examples, the cat was leaving gross bits of food on my desk and I was attempting to eliminate this behavior. Without any formal check-in, when I noticed new bits of food regularly I knew I needed to reassess and tweak the experiment again. The more you do the NICER process, the more naturally you’ll catch your experiment going well and going awry.

12. What did you notice while you were doing your experiment?

Think back to the observations you made. What stands out for you?

13. What went well? What aspects of the experiment worked?

It helps to notice the positive first so that even if it bombed, you can summarize any good that came of it. What you discover reveals your natural strengths.

14. What didn’t work as well as you hoped? What did you notice?

Again, be specific without being judgmental (if you can). What you’re doing here is compassionately witnessing the things you don’t enjoy or that don’t come naturally to you. When you know these things (and thus yourself), you can plan around them better.

15. Based on what you know now, what tweaks would you like to try out next?

Does anything jump out for you at this point? Knowing your strengths better may help point out some options for you. If you notice that you need more than a small tweaks, it’s helpful to start the NICER Process from the beginning and bring new eyes to the issue.

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Even though you sit there regularly, you probably haven’t taken a good look at your desk since you set it up.

Maybe you’ve noticed it has some quirks, but I think about your desk all the time. In fact, everywhere I look, I see desks that aren’t right for you because they were designed for someone who’s five-foot-ten and neat-to-a-fault. Like a high-end tuxedo with cummerbund and tails — nice to look at, but not ideal for everyday use.

You should see me on Sunday morning scanning the glossy ads in the paper, grimacing and muttering about at the advertised desks that pass for functional. Or when I’m in the office supply store – woe to the clerk who asks me if I found what I need. It pains me to see these miserable creations because you deserve a desk that allows you to be expansive and creative. Not cramped. Not squinched. Not in physical pain.

So, I want to share with you the three secret problems that make your desk so uncomfortable. These secrets will give you the information you need to adapt your current desk to suit you, or the specific details you need to buy another one that you will love.

Problem 1: Height

A dear friend of mine moved into a new home with built-in desk and cabinets. They were gorgeous, but she’s a petite gal – and she was miserable in her oversized digs!

If your back aches and your wrists are sore, don’t berate yourself for your bad posture. It’s not you, it’s the height of your desk! Most desks are designed for an average-height man (5’10″) so that the desktop comes to a height of about 29-30″. No offense to the guys, but that’s too tall for the average-height woman (who’s typically 5 inches shorter).

In other words, once size does not fit all — and this affects your body. If your desk top is too high, your elbows and wrists must be at an acute angle when you type and mouse around. Ouch! If you raise your chair up enough for the desk top to be at a proper height, it causes your legs dangle at an obtuse angle, cutting off circulation, throwing you off balance, and affecting your spine.

To discover what height you need, grab a tape measure and a buddy. Position your chair at a comfortable height and put your hands out as if you were going to type. Have someone measure the distance from your palms to the floor. That’s how tall your desk should be, minus the height of your keyboard.

Height adjustment work-arounds:

• Shorten the legs of your desk with a saw (measure twice, cut once)
• Put wood blocks under your desk to raise it up
• Use a height-adjustable bar stool that has a foot rest
• Take off the legs and replace them with IKEA’s adjustable height legs
• Get a height-adjustable quilting table from your local sewing center and to use as a desk
• Make an investment in a motorized desk top that can be raised and lowered

Problem 2: Depth

The depth of your desk is the space between the front and back of your desktop. For a lot of people, there isn’t much room for anything besides the monitor and the keyboard. Many desks come with attached shelves that have limited functionality, but take up a lot of space. Some desks are triangular and get narrower toward the back so they can fit in a corner.

In any situation where there isn’t enough depth, you’re likely to have a lot of piles in random locations (on top of the shelves, boxes, on the floor, tucked into crevices) because there’s nowhere else for you to put things. It’s not you, it’s your lack of space.

Ideally, the depth of your desk is about as far as you can reach in front of you while seated in your chair, plus 6-12 inches.

Depth adjustment work-arounds

• If it’s possible to remove attached shelves, do it. If you need overhead storage you can purchase shelving that attaches to the wall, but leaves desk space open.
• Attach your monitor to the wall with a special contraption that lets it swing closer to you when you need it.
• Get a keyboard drawer that allows your keyboard to be tucked under the desk (this does affect height, so check it first)
• If you have a triangular desk, seriously consider getting a rectangular one.
• Remove anything from your desktop that you don’t use regularly (printers, tape dispensers, and staplers are common culprits)

Problem 3: Width

My first desk was so skinny, there was barely room for a pile and my laptop. Over time, the pile got taller and taller and taller. Where else was it going to go?

Especially for visual and tactile people, having a wide-enough desk is crucial to staying organized. You need enough room to spread out, see what you have, and still have space to work. If you have clumps of piles everywhere or you regularly lose stuff that’s right in front of you, having a too narrow desk could be the culprit.

Having a desk that is as wide as your arms can stretch in both directions is a start. In the best case scenario, you’d have two or more equally wide desks in your space at right angles to each other.

Width adjustment work-arounds

• Get out a measuring tape and measure your desk. How many inches short is it from being as wide as your arms can reach in both directions?
• Shop in your own house. Do you have any tables or other furniture that might give you extra space — either to swap out with your desk, or add to it at a right angle?
• Dream: What would your ideal desk be like? You might want to do some research to see what’s available. Use your creativity!

I hope this information is helpful. It can be unnerving to discover that your desk is thwarting your best efforts to stay clear and organized. If you’d like more support, consider coming to my free Wish Kit Class next week (details here).

What’s your experience with your desk? Feel free to share below!

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One week, two free classes!

You can choose! Or attend both!

Option 1 for cluttered creatives:

You’re not doomed to fail forever at keeping your space clutter-free 

One of my blog readers wanted me to teach about this topic, so it’s what I named the class! Come learn the essentials about the true nature of clutter. It’s not you! In fact, you’re going to leave this 1-hour call feeling amazingly good about yourself and hopeful about your own process. I’ll also be answering your questions about the upcoming 10-week clutter-clearing class, For Haven’s Sake.

Time: Friday, September 16th at 8:30am Pacific/11:30am Eastern. A recording will be provided for those who can’t make the class.

Sign up here: http://www.inspiredhomeoffice.com/products/for-havens-sake (scroll to the white form toward the bottom)

Option 2 for overwhelmed idealists:

Keeping to do and don’t forget paperwork in sight but off the desk top  

Get acquainted with my creative, intuitive and effective ways to keep what you need visible. Even if you’ve tried a lot of solutions, you’ll be delighted with how different and effective these ideas are — and how much better your desk looks, feels and works as a result. I’ll also be taking questions about my upcoming 10-week class, Inspired Organizing, which starts next week.

Thursday, September 15th at 9:30am Pacific/12:30pm Eastern. A recording will be provided for those who can’t make the class.

Sign up here: http://www.inspiredhomeoffice.com/products/inspired-organizing (scroll to the white form toward the bottom)

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That back-to-school feeling is in the air. It’s September and, if you’re like me, you’re hoping to make the most of the months ahead. You’ve got things you want to accomplish in the remaining months of 2011.

And then, there’s the reality of the place where those plans and projects would ideally take place. If that desk would just stay clean. If you could just keep track of the things you need. Having a non-functioning workspace thwarts your goals and dreams.

I’m writing to you today because I wonder if this fall you’re ready to learn about gentle, effective organizing strategies. I wonder if you’re ready to feel like the expert you are and finally start making progress on your goals.

Mini Self-Test

If you are (or think you might be) ready for more structure and satisfaction, take this little self-exam and see which description sounds more like you:

Cluttered creative: You’re struggle with a backlog of clutter in you workspace. Some of your stuff hasn’t been touched in a good long while. Your space feels heavy and you resist working there. Is this you? (click here)

Overwhelmed idealist: You’re juggling a lot and haven’t yet found ways to stay on top of your materials and correspondence. You’d like to have more fun, intuitive organizing systems so you can focus on all the interesting stuff you’re doing. Is this you? (click here)

You can participate in the complimentary informational calls I’m hosting next week about these classes! Just click on the links above to find out more!

And, as always, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to get in touch with me. I love hearing from you.

Warmly,
Jen

Care to comment?

Cords.

They always seem to come up in Office Spa Day or in the Wish Kit Class…

“The cords over and under my desk look awful!”

For all the mobile (and stationary) devices we use, juice still comes out of a hole in the wall. And every cord we connect to that area adds to the visual distraction. It might not be visible when you’re seated at your desk, but stand in the doorway. Yup. There they are.

Here’s what I use in my own office. A combination of these:

And this (had to crawl around under the desk to take it):

All together, the hook and cable ties probably cost $0.11 at the hardware store.

Here are some other solutions I’ve seen:

This DIY one courtesy of Darcy (click photo for instructions):

Photo credit: RecyclArt.org

I love the 3M “Command” line of products – they stick to surfaces without damaging them. I just found out they have a kit for cord-wrangling!

You probably have the supplies for this in your drawer — it’s not perfect, but it’s simple and brilliant.

Photo credit: TokesterJokester

Here’s one IKEA cord-taming solution that looks interesting (see all 5 here).

Phot credit: Unplggd.com

Home Depot has some interesting, more permanent solutions (click for images).

Here’s one more from the Container Store called the Cord Zipper. Hat tip again to Darcy!

What do you use?

I’d love to know what you’ve found that works for you. Feel free to email me a photo and I’ll add it to this post or just comment below.

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Written by Lea Jabieski Shulman, one of Jen’s best friends from high school.

Jen and I met our sophomore year in high school. Someone was smart enough to pull the fire alarm on Halloween and managed to give everyone in the school a little recess outside. Jen was standing with a group of mutual friends. She was the one dressed like a hippy, guitar in hand. I’m pretty sure not too many people came to school in a costume that day, but that’s Jen.  She is fun and free-spirited.

I know that anyone who reads Jen’s blog (or who knows what she does for a living) knows she is open about her struggles with ADD and disorganization. I imagine her clients must feel like her best friends; they know she is witty and emotional and flighty and quirky and creative and smart.

But I’m the lucky one who knew Jen before Jen had this amazing self-discovery.

I knew her when she just couldn’t study for a test (but everyone said she wouldn’t.)

I knew her when she lost her pen, her binder, her jacket, her keys…

I knew her when she was day-dreaming, gazing out the window when she was trying to do her homework.

I even knew her when she forgot to feed my cat when my family was away on vacation. (Don’t worry, the cat was fine!)

Jen and I recently reconnected, just as we are rounding the corner of our twentieth high school reunion.  And the more we are getting to know each other again I see how perfect it is that she does what she does for a living. When you have lived what you teach, one can only be seen as an expert. Who better to help people out of their disruptive and disorganized work patterns than someone who can empathize with the same struggles? She lives and breathes the techniques she offers in her guidance, everyday.

Jen is witty and emotional and flighty and quirky and creative and smart. Now I know Jen can add “successful entrepreneur” to the list.

Lea Shulman
Lea Shulman Interiors

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