Your Organizing Coach

The Seven Deadly Organizing Sins: Wrath

2009-11-05T12:37:02-08:00

This is Sin #5 on the list, which also includes lust, gluttony, greed and sloth. Wrath, or anger, is sinful because it's destructive. It can harm others and it can harm you as well.

Here's a scenario: Overwhelmed Olivia decides to beat clutter once and for all. She buys an organizing book and sets aside a weekend. By Sunday night, she's only on the third cabinet and she feels frustrated. Then she gets mad; mad at the book, which she throws behind the bed, and mad at herself for not being able to get this project done.

Her anger really comes from trying to achieve a goal with an impossible timeline. Even if you've got a team of people dragging all your stuff into the driveway for you to make rapid fire decisions on, you're still not going to finish in a weekend.

Olivia's goal also may not be realistic because of other time and energy commitments. She's bound to feel angry if she never has a spare hour to go through that back closet.

To avoid sin: Be kind to yourself. Know that you are doing your best and that perfectionism is your enemy. Do no compare yourself to others, especially people on TV shows! You have your own unique talents, energy levels, working styles and preferences.

Why I Procrastinate

2009-10-29T13:53:21-07:00

Why do I procrastinate? Yes, I do it too! I distinguish between taking personal time and actual procrastination (which is an essential skill for solopreneurs), but procrastination does happen.

When I'm procrastinating it's usually because I think I won't do a good job or I think I'll outright fail at something. So, it's fear, mostly. When I'm trying to think of something to write on this blog, I reject lots of ideas because they seem too obvious or I don't think I have anything interesting to say about them.

I don't like to fail or to be wrong. No one does. I have to take myself by the hand and reassure my scared little self that if I don't do anything, that's another way of failing, so why not "just do it"?

What's the worst that could happen? That people will think I'm stupid and irrelevant. Actually, what's even worse is that no one will pay attention to me! Again, if I don't give them the opportunity to ignore me, I also don't give them the chance to read something that might interest them.

Being more objective about my task helps me. As a professional organizer, it's part of my job to write posts that help people. I do it because it's my job, not because I want people to like me (okay, I do want that, but I can't focus on it). I can't help all of the people all of the time, but I know that some of my ideas are good and will help some people. That's enough.

Other reasons to procrastinate: you prefer thinking up ideas to doing the actual work, you don't want to be controlled by others ("you can't make me!"), you always put the needs of others before your own, or you can't get going until you're in crisis mode.

How do you procrastinate and what do you do about it? I don't think it's possible to completely avoid doing it; just learn to recognize it and fix it. We all need little tricks up our sleeves to get going again.

Hand holding from dino_olivieri's photostream.

Are you Doing Important Stuff, or Just Urgent Stuff?

2009-10-15T17:28:56-07:00

Urgent sounds important, but it's really not. It may be important to someone else, but your involvement is often just a waste of time. Tasks that are urgent require you to act quickly and that means you don't spend time thinking about whether you should do them. They're also often the result of poor planning (or no planning) and bad time management.

The words urgent and important are borrowed from Stephen Covey's four-quadrant division of work. As you might guess, people often find themselves stuck doing mostly Quadrant 1 and 3 tasks, just because they have a deadline and someone else is waiting for them. You can't completely avoid these, but at least make sure you minimize Quadrant 3 tasks, which are things like pointless meetings, requests for information, most email, many phone calls.

As for Quadrant 4, obvy, stay away from time wasters. A certain amount of brain shut-down time can help you be more productive; just don't get carried away.

The most important area to spend time in is Quadrant 2. Why is this so hard? One reason is that sometimes these projects are only important to you. That means no one is waiting for it; there's no outside accountability.

To make progress on important projects, you need to value them enough to carve out time in your schedule to work on them. You are not going to find spare time to devote to them. Look for time in your week that's not quite as busy as the rest of the week and block it out for personal project work. That means actually write or type it into your datebook at a specific time on a specific day.

Ultimately, these are the projects that will bring you the most satisfaction and pride of accomplishment. Not all the fire drills and all-nighters that seemed important at the time. Start today on honoring the commitments you make to yourself.

Are You Committed to Getting Organized?

2009-09-29T15:17:28-07:00

Have you tried to get organized in the past and just gave up? The culprit might be your level of commitment. If you're in a situation where you haven't gotten organized for a long time, or clutter has been building up for many years, you're taking on a big project. No doubt about it. Your commitment must be strong or you'll slow down and get discouraged, or stop altogether and decide that it's hopeless.

Getting committed starts organically. You look around one day and realize that you really want to change your environment. Something clicks inside you and you know you've got to do it now if you're ever going to do it. The question is, how do you stay committed?

Of course, the first answer that comes to my mind is to hire a clutter coach like me to help you. But let's look at what a coach can do for you and see if there are ways you can coach yourself.

As I mentioned, creating a goal or commitment isn't usually the hard part. It's the follow through, the actual doing, that can grind on and on, way past the end of your initial enthusiasm. It's kind of like being in love. At first, you are starry eyed and believe that nothing can go wrong. Then you start seeing bits of reality creep in and they tarnish your original image of love.

Some relationships die at this point. The ones that continue do so because of commitment. You realize that the love relationship you wanted is always still there, despite morning grumpiness and badly squeezed toothpaste tubes.

Coach yourself to remember what was originally exciting and stimulating about your commitment. Feel in your bones the wonderful benefits of decluttering that room, for example. Would you feel lighter? Clearer? More energetic? What about honoring yourself? Making a decision and following through on it? Accomplishing a feat that you weren't sure you could and then feeling proud of yourself? Envisioning a thrilling goal and then seeing it as reality?

A simple way to keep your organizing vision in front of you is to collect pictures that embody it. These can be of actual, organized rooms or they can be of serene landscapes, happy scenes or other inspirational images.

If you've started to get organized and there's a place that you've made to look exactly the way you want, take a picture of it and post it. Appreciate what you've done. Celebrate it. This picture can also come in handy if the area starts to get cluttered again. It will serve as a reminder of how you want it to look so you can use it as a template to re-achieve that look.

Acknowledge that you can get organized because here's photographic proof right here that you've done it! If you did it once, you can do it again. Expect that you'll be successful based on that. Positive feelings about your accomplishments are powerful motivators. You don't need to know everything right now about how you'll do it. What you need most is to nourish your commitment so it will carry you through.

Branch and water in my favorite colors from austrini's photostream.

A Conversation about Clutter with Nicolette Toussaint

2009-09-11T09:46:00-07:00

I met interior designer Nicolette at a networking event (we are indebted to Irene Kohler, moderator of Linking Northern California, for introducing us) and found a lot of common ground in the subject of clutter. Her clients have needed organization as much as the space planning solutions she provides, so she had quite a few questions for me. This post, which is a conversation between the two of us, is also up on Nicolette's site. She has also posted about storage, clutter, and "too much junk." Below are links to several earlier posts she has written about related topics.

I love the furniture she suggests here! Beauty and organization should go together.

Nicolette: Claire, I admire what you said on your website about your services being confidential and "non-judgmental." Although I am scrupulous about confidences - I name clients only when they have given me permission and otherwise use pseudonyms - I'm challenged when it comes to being judgmental! I confess that I once turned down a date with a guy mostly because the floor of his car was awash in six inches of flotsam and jetsam. To my mind, that meant that he wasn't good relationship material. (Perhaps this was because I had recently divorced someone who filled every nook and cranny of the house with magazines, books, collections, clothes, you name it!)

I think that "Collectors", like my ex, who can't bear to part with anything, need to work with an organizer before they even consider interior design. While only a few people fall into my Collector category, everyone you work with needs organizing help. How do you go about working with your clients?

Claire: I like to find out what kind of person the client is. Usually I start by asking questions about the space in question:

What works?
What doesn't work?
Why is this here?
Do you use this?

I ask obvious questions because I find that people overlook those themselves. Once I know what they want, I figure out what's realistic and simple. I have a client whose home office is also a playroom. This combo works for her because she likes being in the room with her children, and it's next door to the kitchen so they are nearby when she's cooking. For someone who needs quiet concentration time, I would not recommend this.

On the other hand, sometimes people set up fancy home offices that they never work in. When I ask why, it turns out that it's too cold, it's too far from the rest of the house, it's too dark, it's too noisy, they can't hear the doorbell, etc. Personal work style and preferences have to be accounted for. Just because your house has a room labeled "home office" it doesn't mean that you have to work there.

Nicolette: Your questions are similar to a questionnaire I use to create the "program" that guides my design work.

: EcoSystem's Bada table folds to become a love seat

Many of my clients need to create what I call "hybrid rooms" in their homes. You know, a kitchen-office, or a laundry room-play room. But I haven't come across a playroom-office before. When I work with these rooms, I often recommend "convertible furniture" - pieces that can serve more than one function or change size.

Claire: Wow, that is some cool furniture! My focus is more on process than products, although I do recommend simple things such as using an artist's taboret for office supplies because it can roll away when you're not using it. Some taborets are unassuming enough to stay in view in the dining room and not scream "I work here too!"

Earlier, I mentioned the beautifully appointed office that isn't used. I'll suggest setting up a real work area in the dining room (there are often tell-tale items in there already). I like to work with what my clients have, and who they are, and keep it as simple as possible. I look for ways that dining room workers can store their supplies so that they're easy to put away. I urge them to get in the habit of stashing everything away in the evening and getting it out again the next day so they can use the dining table to eat.

For those who rely on seeing a pile of paper to do the work, this is a challenge. In that case, we create ways to organize their workflow so they know what to do in the morning.

Nicolette: What common hybrid rooms have you seen? What combinations of activities work well, and which don't?

Claire: Guest rooms are mostly underused, in my experience. Either they're wasted space, or they become storage rooms, the bed piled high with boxes of Christmas ornaments, old tax returns, etc. I've recommended that clients ditch the bed and get a convertible sofa instead. If the mattress isn't that comfy, they can top it with an Aerobed. That makes space to use the room for something else, such as an office or playroom. If a room is in use, it's less likely to fill up with junk.

Nicolette: As a designer, I find that it's not only important to have enough storage, but that the convenience of storage is also an issue. When I design a room, I make sure that the things that a person uses daily can be accessed without crawling on the floor or climbing on ladders. Recently, I planned a layout for a couple who was moving into a condo, and in the early stages of the project, I visited their old, pre-move apartment. Every available surface was piled high with books and papers. This is exactly how the offices of the attorneys I worked with years ago -- at a nonprofit, public-interest lawfirm that shall remain nameless -- looked. I was afraid to walk in for fear of knocking over piles of "discovery" papers.

But they knew what was in the piles. I saw this as a symptom of poor planning, not as an indictment of their behavior - they seemed organized in other areas of their lives. But they really didn't have places for newspapers, for books, and for projects that involved writing and reading papers. In their new space, I made sure that they had about a dozen baskets that would hold 8.5 by 11 inch papers and would fit neatly into their bookshelves. I also recommended hassocks that could be used for storing newspapers and books, and I used credenzas as room dividers. So far, their new place has remained neat.

Can you tell me how, as an organizer, you help people who are drowning in papers?

Claire: The biggest challenges my clients have regarding paper is that they won't put it away for fear of forgetting about it, or they resent doing the work of putting it away. So, making it easy and/or keeping it visible is paramount. Open shelving, literature sorters and stacking trays can help. For reading material, open baskets and containers near seating (where they will read) works well.

I like the Pendaflex Pile Smart line of office products. They have a binder clip with a big label area on it. That way, you can pile papers, but they can be clearly marked with the clip. The label area is re-writable too. I am not against piles. I'm against not being able to find things. Labeling containers is also helpful. I like your idea of having baskets on the bookshelves. For a unified look, they'd probably be all the same size and color.

Labeling is good so it's easy to see what goes in which container. I also think labeling has a motivating effect. When you see the label Dwell Magazine, you want to look around for one to put in there. It's like doing a puzzle. Not everyone needs labels, but I have had clients whose lovely baskets eventually turn into miscellaneous catch-alls.

Nicolette: In some ways, designing interiors that help people to live happier and healthier lives is a bit like herding cats. I have owned cats for years, and I have had quite a bit of success in training them. For example, they trot off to their “den” at night when I give them the command! The secret is to observe and understand what they are inclined to do naturally, then bend that native behavior in desired direction, rather than trying to counter it. People are not all that different. I got the idea of shaping a room's interior around the occupant's habitual behavior after reading a book written by journalist Amy Sutherland. Amy used reward and non-response to condition her husband to perform chores, and then wrote a book about it. It's called What Shamu Taught Me about Love, Life and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers. Here's a cool coffee table from BoConcepts. I love how papers can be tucked out of sight inside.

I recently told a client to "observe the animal called Lena for the next week and tell me what her habits are." I wanted her observations because if I understand my client’s natural tendencies, and learn what features of the built environment are helping or hindering a desired change, then I can re-design the room accordingly. In Lena's case (that's not her real name) she needed a place to hang book and gym bags that was near the door - not a dozen steps across the room and in a closet that was already too crowded.

Claire: What you told Lena is similar to what I tell clients when I coach them to "become a detective of your own life." The idea is to watch yourself when you come in the house. Where do you put the keys, the mail, your bag, the newspaper? Does it all go in one place? What about your jacket? Then where do you go?

Make things easy for yourself. If you have a front hall, put a table there that's big enough to accommodate the mail and your bag. If you don't, set up an incoming-outgoing station as close to the door as possible where those things can be parked.

Nicolette: Many of us here in the Bay Area live in small spaces. Do you have any special advice for us?

Claire: Well, the first step is always paring down. Deciding that you really can live without the spare blender in the back of the cabinet, the stack of magazines you're going to read this weekend, etc. People keep a lot of stuff "just in case" or because they stopped using it but never got around to getting rid of it. As for occasionally used items, you should ask: Could I borrow or rent one? Could I make do with something else?

The second step is maximizing storage. This is a dance of using that hard-to-get-at space vs. being able to access things easily. Naturally, people want to just pick something up off a shelf without climbing up a ladder. The trick is to identify the things they want to keep but don't use often. I had some clients who have a huge book collections and many of the books are over-sized; art books, coffee table books. They installed a bookshelf about 18 inches down from the ceiling that went around the kitchen, down the hall, and into the office. They have a portable library ladder to reach them. This saved two large bookshelves worth of space.

Nicolette: I have used that trick too. Many older Bay Area houses have high ceilings, and it's often quite easy to put a bookshelf above a door frame, or extend it across two door frames. The frames even help support the shelf. It's not like you need to look at that photo book about the museum's Samurai Exhibition every day. But if you're going to use that high space well, you need to be clear about what you're going to store there. I'm going to specify a different width lumber for a shelf that holds over-sized art books than I would for paperbacks.
Then again, a high shelf like that is great for things that are bulky and lightweight, such as guest pillows or towels. If I know that we're going to store linens, I will probably specify an enclosed cabinet or a shelf that can hold storage baskets, because linens usually aren't going to make good display items...

Claire: As a first step, it's important to find out how clients want to use their space. Many times clients want to rush out to the Container Store and buy some cool containers. You probably run into this too. Clients who want particular pieces of furniture regardless of how they're going to fit in or work with their lifestyle. I've often worked with folks who already went out and bought a bunch of baskets or boxes and they turned out to be completely useless. But they looked nifty!

Nicolette: Oh, yes! I had a client run out and buy a wonderful desk, only to discover that once it was in her office, she couldn't open the drawers wide enough to get things in and out of them. And then there was the family of seven who didn't have enough living room seating for everyone - but they did have an over-stuffed Chesterfield chair that had a footprint as large as a loveseat that would seat three people!

Claire: Encouraging clients to be realistic about how much time and energy they want to spend on organizing is really important. If they want their home office to look like Martha Stewart's, they need to realize that she (or her assistant, more likely) spends a lot of time keeping it Martha-ized. I suggest that "done" is better than "perfect."

Nicolette: Some people - I call them "Collectors" - have trouble getting rid of anything. (I alluded to one, my ex-husband, at the beginning of this blog, and I wrote about Collectors in an earlier post.) Have you encountered them? If so, how do you help them?

Claire: I write haiku poems about clutter. Here's one about Collectors:

Museum lovers
Create their own collections
But lack the warehouse.

When Collectors really can't part with anything, no matter what condition the things are in, it doesn't work to apply logic. As you mentioned, this is a tricky topic. I will ask if there are other family members who would want some of the heirlooms. Sometimes I suggest photographing them. These days you can make lovely coffee table books yourself and that would be a great way to preserve and honor the memories associated with the possessions. Sometimes it works to sort the things and then have the client select the ten best from each category. Another tactic is to buy a display cabinet for the objects and then choose only what will fit inside it.

The collection is about the past. I had a client who consulted me because his sweetheart feared there was no room for her in his life. His home was still full of stuff that belonged to his deceased wife. We worked on ways to honor his previous marriage, while still welcoming the present and future.

Nicolette: (Laughing) I have a very similar story about a newlywed couple who had quite a contretemps over a Mexican sculpture called a "alebrije." Even though he liked primitive art, he hated this particular little dragon of hers. He knew that it was a souvenir of a trip his new bride had taken with her old boyfriend, and he just couldn't stand to have his rival in a place of honor on the mantle of the fireplace!

Claire, I love your haiku. It's so uncluttered! Did you know that I often end my blog posts with a bit of poetry? Would you mind being the poet laureate for this post?

Claire: Not at all!

Resource Links

The Clutter Coach's website
Claire Tompkins' blog (she has a great series on the "Seven Deadly Sins")
Comfort and Joy Interior Design website
Comfort and Joy Interior Design space usage questionnaire
Comfort and Joy space planning services
Bada table on Inhabitat
BoConcept Functional Coffee Table
Leather storage ottoman from Improvements
The Study Bed
Pendaflex PileSmart Binder Label Clip
Remodeling plans for a tiny apartment with all the amenities, from Comfort and Joy
More on convertible furniture from Living in Comfort and Joy

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Haiku of Clutter
If I kick that box
Under the desk one more time
I’ll just have to scream.

A Finnish art student decided to inventory every object in her 250 square meter home (about 2,700 square feet) and present it as her thesis. Using archaeological methods, she found that she owned 6,126 objects. Here's her analysis of how often she used each object:

Never used objects - 1457

Objects used less frequently than once a year - 2209

Objects used once or twice a year - 1411

Objects used every month - 587

Objects used every week - 401

Objects used every day - 61

The Four Poxes Upon Productivity

2009-09-10T14:57:47-07:00

I'm starting a new four-part series that will include the Packrat Factor, Procrastinators R Us, Prioritizizing and Paperphobia. Each post will discuss a different obstacle to being productive. Keeping too much stuff, not doing stuff, not knowing which stuff to do first and not knowing where stuff is are all common problems.

The Packrat Factor
This just in: Stuff is not the problem, you are. When you keep doing something that you know doesn’t work for you, well, the problem is all yours to solve. Stuff isn’t going to go away. In fact, there’s more right now than there was a minute ago. Ain’t it grand?

Instead of trying to figure out why you collect stuff, which leads straight to the land of rationalizing and excuses, let’s pause and consider the effect of all this stuff.

A confession: I had to stop writing this article to clear off my desk because I couldn’t focus on it. Now all I see is my coffee cup, my pencil jar, my notebook and the view from my window. Better!

If you can think clearly and act decisively while surrounded by stuff, you don’t have a problem. If you can’t do those things, the good news is, you don’t have ADD, you just have too much stuff. Everyone thinks they have ADD. What they really have is an unwillingness to detach from stimulation.

Show appreciation.
 Become an admirer rather than an owner. The world is full of wonderful things that you don’t currently own. Make that world larger by merely appreciating things you see and not buying them. If you need visual stimulation, go window shopping or indulge in glossy magazines (for best results, find a bookstore where you can sit and read the mags. Do not buy them and take them home).

What about stuff from the past?
Distinguish between things you’ve kept just because you’ve had them forever from ones that have strong feelings attached to them. Memorabilia isn’t just old stuff, it’s personal old stuff that you’re attached to. If you’re not really attached to Great grandma’s tea cozy, get over feeling that you have to keep it.

Re-evaluate every year or so. Over time, things can lose their appeal and relevance. Decluttering is a constant process and it’s also an iterative one. Things that made the cut this year might not in three years.

What about stuff that’s valuable or was expensive?
So, you’ve made some mistakes, bought some things you regretted later. Or you just don’t feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of them yet, even though in your heart of hearts you would never miss them if they were gone. If you keep these things just because they’re “valuable,” you are letting things be in charge of your life. You’re letting their importance dictate what to do with them. Turn it around and be ruthless in judging their value to you, right now.

Pass it on.
 If that thing really is important, why is it in a moldy box somewhere in your garage? Again, be clear about its current value to you. Then set that thing free to find a new owner who will truly appreciate it. There, doesn’t that feel better?

Let the chi flow.
 Just as a room crowded with furniture and stuff prevents people from circulating in it freely, a packratted home prevents energy from flowing. This may seem woo woo to you, but you can feel that it’s true whenever you go into a stranger’s cluttered home. Moving energy around is one reason we go out into nature to refresh ourselves. Nature is well designed, purposeful and balanced. It’s not cluttered up with inessentials. It evokes feelings of harmony and serenity. Your home can be that way too.

I need a lot of stuff that inspires my art.
 Have faith in your creativity. What you need is already here for you. If you’re a visual artist craving stimulation, get out and find it. Go to shops with wonderful wares, visit museums, walk in nature. Inspiration is everywhere. Also, “inspiration” is the breath you’re taking right now. Even though you have a trove of treasures, don’t you find that some of them inspired you at first, but when you didn’t use them, their glow faded? Whatever you’re creating now needs the fresh energy of today and what you find here.

Trees from jumpinjimmyjava's photostream

The Seven Deadly Organizing Sins: Sloth

2009-08-29T12:49:00-07:00

Here's the next installment in my sin series, following lust, gluttony and greed. I am a proponent (and a practitioner) of the lazy school of organizing. Some say that anything worth doing is worth doing well, but some tasks really just need to be dispatched as expediently as possible. Necessary evils such as making the bed should be as easy as pulling up the comforter and smoothing it out.

But there's a limit to the efficacy of laziness. When you commit the sin of sloth, you've stopped being clever and effective. I wrote a post about shoe organizing based on a complaint I heard. A friend's shoes were being ruined because she threw them in a heap on the closet floor where they scratched and damaged each other.

In Latin, the sin of sloth is acedia, which translates to carelessness. Now, possessions are just things, but you might as well take care of them unless you want to throw your money away. Mistreating your stuff is simply wasteful.

To avoid sin:
Find the balance between maintaining your things and your surroundings in good condition, yet spending the smallest amount of time and effort on those tasks. Honor the possessions you bring into your life; or pass them on to others who will.

Lazy feets from That Guy Who's Going Places's photostream.

Meditating Improves Concentration

2009-08-13T15:54:55-07:00

My meditation practice is coming along. I don't do it everyday, but I'm still getting some benefits out of my semi weekly sessions.

One of the benefits is that I'm getting more used to the idea that I will be distracted while I meditate. The goal is not to remove distractions, but to gently set them aside. Thoughts pop into my head and I acknowledge them and release them.

This is really helpful for concentration. When I sit down to write, sometimes I get stressed out when my mind wanders elsewhere and I'm not getting enough words on the page. But when I a) notice more quickly that I've gotten distracted and b) am nicer to myself in disengaging and going back to work, well, the whole day goes better.

You will be distracted. Accept it! The idea is to get past distractions faster so you can get back to what you were doing.

Candles from LDCross's photostream.

The Seven Deadly Organizing Sins: Greed

2009-08-06T10:54:36-07:00

Now we're up to Deadly Sin number 3, greed, which is also known as avarice or covetousness (according to Wikipedia) and even hoarding. Previous entries were about lust and gluttony.

I think gluttony is similar, but greed has an element of wanting to own something simply to have it; not to enjoy it or even use it. This means all that stuff in the storage unit that hasn't been looked at or thought about in years. It means the boxes in the garage full of things that might come in handy someday. It also refers to those two extra blenders in the back of the cabinet that still kind of work.

Holding onto things that do not delight you or make your life easier with their utility is greedy. You're not honoring yourself, or your own values, when all your energy is concentrated on acquiring and hoarding.

Step back and see what really matters in your life. Think about how contented you can be when you're traveling and away from all those anchors, those dead weights (also, think about setting them free for someone else to appreciate them!). See what you can free yourself from and see what other freedoms come from that.

To avoid sin: Stop comparing what you have to what others have, which is a version of comparing yourself to others. I'm not advocating frugality, but just be clear that the things you allow into your life are ones that have a place there and won't just molder away in a closet.

Crowded storage unit from jarrodlombardo's photostream.

Racing Against Time

2009-07-28T11:25:21-07:00

"Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It's an incessant strain to keep pace… And still you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment… Everything is high pressure. Human nature can't endure much more."

A quotation from last week's newspaper? No. This ran in the Atlantic Journal on June 16, 1833.

The moral of the story is that the speed of life constantly accelerates. Always has. There were no "good old days." Whatever systems and coping mechanisms you have in place now may not work in five years, or even next year.

Expect change. Embrace it. You can't predict what the change will be, but you can certainly predict that change will occur. Keep your systems simple and flexible. Check in to make sure they're still sufficient and don't be afraid to revamp them. That's how you stay ahead in the race.

Antique newspaper from pareerica's photostream.