Back To School Tips And Strategies So You Can Relax A Little

The school bell has rung, the temperatures are starting to cool (knock on wood), and there's a certain calm in the neighborhood during the day - school is in session. In your home the evening may be everything but calm as you juggle homework, last minute supply needs, meal preparations, chores and .... a little break to relax as a family. Here are some ideas to help you actually get to relax.

Simplify mealtime with ultra fast meals. Scrambled eggs embellished with cheese, onions, and mushrooms served with fruit. Grilled cheese and tomato soup (my favorite!). Hummus and pita with a cucumber and onion salad dressed with plain yogurt. Hot dogs with carrot and celery sticks.  These are our favorite meals that can be fixed in 15 minutes or less and with a minimum amount of heat in the kitchen (because it's still a little warm outside).

Use the secret weapon for helping kids focus on homework: music. Ask older children to create their own music playlist on their mp3 players. The rules for the music choices are: the music must be liked but not so much that the student starts singing along and it's not so engaging that the student is focused on the music rather than homework. Mozart and Bach are splendid backgrounds to homework. And yes, these composers often are the choice of my student organizing clients. It's easy to put these composers on your stereo for younger children to enjoy.

Have a set chore time for everyone. It will be much easier for the entire family to get chores done if everyone is working together.

Have a set bedtime for both you and your children. Thirty minutes before bedtime start slowing things down: turn off the TV and dim the lights.

Speaking  of TV: TV and social media (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, etc) are distractions. They absolutely must be off while focusing on homework. Texting is also a distraction - put the cell phone in a different room.  Rather than a complete prohibition of these electronic distractions consider using them only during 10 minute breaks between assignments. BUT, still no TV.  Plots on TV last longer than 10 minutes, and TV is infamous for holding people's attention so firmly that it's difficult to disengage.

Analog timers are among my favorite organizing tools. Use it to time breaks. Having a hard time getting motivated? Make a deal with yourself to work just 15 to 20 minutes on that task you dread.  Focus on the time period rather than the task.  You will be a little further along when the timer dings. By the way, an analog timer is one where you watch the time sweep. It is not a digital timer. The old KitchenAid timer is a great example of an analog timer. My favorite timer is the Time Timer.

Boost your technical skills so you can act more effectively. There are two upcoming events in St. Louis to help sharpen the saw. Acumen Consulting in Brentwood is offering Word and Excel training on August 29 and 30. Please see the flyer for more information. The second event is the time management workshop, "Time Management Strategies That Will Make Your Life Easier," presented by internationally renowned time management expert and author Harold Taylor.

I learned something in a recent training class that really drove home the need for this upcoming class: most people learn their time management strategies in high school. When we were in high school the world was a very different place. Personal computers and cell phones did not exist. The pressure to do more with less time did not exist to the extent it does today. Until September 1 you can register for this time management workshop for half price! It's easy to register - just see the side bar.

It's a little hectic now, but life will feel calmer as your family falls into its back to school routines.

Two Events That Will Help You Get Organized

If  you're a typical person you have an electronic item or two (or three or four...) sitting around gathering dust. Consider these statistics provided by the EPA for the year 2009:  

• 438 million new consumer electronics were sold;
• 5 million tons of electronics were in storage;
• 2.37 million tons of electronics were ready for end-of-life management; and
• 25% of these tons were collected for recycling

My thoughts are 5 million TONS of electronics are sitting around gathering dust and only 25% of the disposed of electronics are recycled! We can do better than that! Luckily, there is an upcoming electronic recycling event being held in Webster Groves on Saturday, August 6 from 8 a.m. until noon at the Moss Field parking lot of Hixson School (off of S. Elm).  Please see www.webstergroves.org for more information.

Certainly recycling your broken and obsolete electronic equipment will give you more space, but have you ever wished for more time? I can't wave a magic wand to provide you with an extra hour in your day, but learning how to manage your time well might have the same effect. The fact is we all get 24 hours in a day. The president of the country, the president of Google, the Supreme Court justices, J.K. Rowling and you get 24 hours. Are you accomplishing what you want to accomplish? If not then consider attending the workshop "Time Management Strategies That Will Make Your Life Easier" which is presented by renowned expert Harold Taylor on September 23 from 9 a.m. until noon at the Brentwood Community Center. You can get more information and register at www.haroldtaylor.eventbrite.com.

Time Management Is Like Filling A Bucket

One of my favorite time management gurus is Harold Taylor. I read his book Making Time Work For You sometime in the eighties. Until I read Taylor's book, most of the time management material I read focused on getting more stuff done in less time. But Taylor's book was different because he focused on effectiveness. Effectiveness entails being selective about what you do. Effectiveness implies a purpose. Instead of focusing on saving minutes attention should first be directed toward our goals.

Truth be told, it was a line in the introduction of the book that provided me with such a huge revelation that I still refer back to its imagery today. "To be effective we must displace less important tasks with more important ones."

In my mind I saw a 24-hour day as a bucket. Buckets are not very flexible. Trying to add more to the bucket when it's already full is futile. The bucket will not grow just because we want it to hold more.  If what is to be added to the bucket is important, something less important must first be removed. In order to determine what belongs in the bucket - our 24 hour day - we must ask it these are things that are contributing to our goals and satisfaction of life.

Since Making Time Work For You Taylor has written sixteen more books. He frequently speaks at the National Association of Professional Organizer conferences and I have found his sessions informative and fun - he is an accomplished speaker. So it gives me great pleasure to announce that Harold Taylor will be in St. Louis on September 23. He will be present a three-hour seminar to the public on "Time Management Strategies That Will Make Your Life Easier." You will find more information in the side margin of this blog. This is a rare opportunity to learn from the best.

Stump the Organizer Saturday! Newly Diagnosed With ADHD

“Denise, my 15 year old grandson lives with me. After nearly flunking his first semester in high school his pediatrician diagnosed him with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin. My grandson has been taking the medicine for almost a month and let’s just say it’s not going well. His room is horrible. During his first week back from winter vacation he forgot his homework everyday so his starting the new semester with Fs. He has become surly. I see that you work with people with ADD. How can you help him? “ Name Withheld Upon Request

Watching someone you love suffer is not easy. No one wants to flunk. No one enjoys a surly mood – even the person afflicted with it.

I am not a mental health expert nor am I a doctor. But what I hear between the lines is a real concern for your grandson’s behavior – especially his change in temperament since beginning Ritalin. If you have not done so, please express your concern for your grandson’s well being with him in a way that he knows you are on his side. Please, please, please express these concerns with the pediatrician. There are many drugs used to treat ADD/ADHD. Some drugs work better for some than others. Doctors use patient feedback took ensure that patients receive the most effective treatment. It is important to know that drugs do not cure ADD/ADHD.

Dealing with the emotional impact of his diagnosis and learning behavioral strategies for coping with ADD/ADHD are the realm of a psychologist or licensed counselor. Your pediatrician should be able to make a referral so your grandson receives the help he needs.

I encourage you both to arm yourself with knowledge. “ADDitude” magazine (www.additudemag.com) is one of my favorite resources. Look into joining a group such as Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (www.chadd.org) or Attention Deficit Disorder Association (www.add.org). These groups provide support and knowledge. Driven to Distraction (Hallowell & Ratey) is a great book – many of my clients really love it. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize (Kolberg & Nadeau), Organizing Solutions for People with Attention Deficit Disorder (Pinsky) and The Organized Student (Goldberg) are excellent resources for organizing strategies.

Organizing strategies can make a difference in how effectively your grandson operates. Being more effective and productive may lead to a sense of greater control and calm. Here are a few organizing strategies you can put in place now.
* Make sure that your grandson has a student planner and he writes down his assignments and all of his social commitments.
* Use large, brightly colored sticky notes on the front door, bathroom mirror, and locker with checklists of routine things to remember.
* Strengthen his sense of time by using analog clocks and an analog timer. One of my favorite timers is the Time Timer (www.timetimer.com).
* Set up acceptable working periods – such as 20 minutes – to encourage focus. If the activity is not completed in 20 minutes then take a couple minute break then set the timer for another 20 minutes.
* The Sonic Boom alarm clock (www.sonicalert.com)has a really loud alarm and vibrates so even the hard-to-wake wake up.
* Make everything as simple as possible and eliminate unnecessary steps.
I wish you and your grandson peace and understanding as you face this challenge in your lives.