I know I furrowed my brow and said, “No. You need to take the time to drink water and eat.” I even tweeted it, and since my tweets go to Facebook, one of my high school friends wrote on my page that she had the same problem. She was so busy at work that she couldn’t eat or drink during the day. Bullcorn. I don’t care how busy you are, you should have time to keep yourself watered and fed.

Excuse me as I drink a sip of water……See, that didn’t take long. Humans require water, nourishment and shelter to stay alive. Water and food are a need, not a luxury.

Even surgeons take time to take sips of water or juice to keep themselves going and take breaks during long surgeries. Keeping yourself hydrated and fed is not brain surgery.

People who skip lunch are not fun to work with. Skipping meals and not being hydrated can lead to overeating since you may gorge at dinner. Lunch skippers may wind up eating whatever they can find in a vending machine and snacking away all day on unhealthy fare.

We need water to live. Water is one of those miracle drugs in a way since it affects every cell in our body. Water aids digestion, carries nutrients to cells, flushes out toxins, lowers your blood pressure, and cushions your joints. Without enough water, you may be as constipated as your e-mail’s inbox with dry skin, urinary tract infections, and reoccuring headaches. Yeah, that’s the “fun” person I want to work with — the non-hydrated one.

By feeding and watering yourself, you will work at your best. “Being busy” doesn’t mean that you’re working at your most productive. Take ten to 15 minutes, close the e-mail and eat your lunch. Your brain needs the rest. Keep your water glass or re-usable bottle handy and drink up during the day, and feel that water flowing through your body to keep all your parts moving.

So please, take down the “Do Not Feed” sign. Don’t be a martyr. Feed and water yourself during the work day and make yourself a better worker.

You learn a lot when you buy a house, particulaly an older one, and I’ve had one learning experience after another since buying my house in September 2009.  My friend Darcy, who is a homeowner in my neighborhood, asked me to share the things I’ve done to my house. My house was built in 1964, but it hasn’t been updated since …oh, let’s see…yeah, 1964. I have some work to do. 

I am fortunate that several of my friends have renovated older homes as well, and they swooped in to lend a hand to Miss Clueless here or give advice over e-mail. My friend Jennifer and I were able to get the hallway door off on moving day – the first actual “renovation” wok occurring at my house. The hallway door blocked the closet door, and it was completely unnecessary. Guess people in 1964 really liked their doors.

My friends Christina and Randy have been systemically changing out my painted over light switches and outlets. The paint was so thick on some outlets that you couldn’t get a plug in. Pulling off the outlets, we discovered several layers of paint. Apparently the thought of taking off the outlets to paint never occurred to the previous owner.

The hallway is long and skinny, and one tiny light fixture made it too dark. Instead of a hallway, it looked more like a tunnel. At a home improvement store, I found a track light. It’s one of those lights that be folded out. Friends Mike and Lisa came over and installed it for me. For Mike to install it, we had to run an extension cord from the bathroom, plug in a lamp and take the lampshade off in order for him to see everything.

Once the light was installed, the different was amazing. Light spilled out everywhere, and two friends asked me I had painted the hallway because it looked fresher and newer.  I feel like my hallway now is more like a gallery.

Another easy change to make is using paint. I am totally in love with my bedroom paint color (Sherwin Williams – Reflecting Pool). Originally, I thought about a pale blue but opted for warmer colors. I’m thrilled that I did. It’s amazing how a paint color changes the whole feel of a room. I swear I’m sleeping better.

Making a couple of changes can have a huge impact. The next project will be MUCH bigger: the short and squatty kitchen. We’re talking total gut job and redo. Just a little spring project! 

My client told me that he learned about how vision works by watching a bicycle race. While watching bicyclists race through a curvy road, he noticed two cyclists far in the lead and asked another bystander if he thought the others would catch up. The bystanders nodded and said, “Yes, the others can still see them. If they can see them, they will catch them.” If the race leaders were not in sight of their fellow competitors, they wouldn’t have been able to catch up.

Sure enough, the other cyclists caught up with the leaders of the race. With a clear vision, the cyclists could see their goal.

We all need a clear vision to meet our goals. Decluttering your house or losing weight is a nice goal, but you need the vision. What does a decluttered house look like to you? What does losing weight look like to you? A vision doesn’t need to be complicated. Post a photo or list of what decluttering looks like to you. If you want to lose weight (like I’m doing myself), hang up a photo of yourself at a healthier weight or hang that killer outfit — the one you loved — on the closet door as a reminder.

I encourage my clients to set smaller goals that lead up to the bigger goal. For decluttering, the first goal may be to recycle all newspapers and magazines at least once a week. To move forward in weight loss, focus on losing weight in five or ten pound increments. It’s always best to set smaller, bite-sized “mini-goals” to reach the Super Duper Mega-Goal. Because if you can see it, then you can catch it.

Happy Mardi Gras and Super Bowl Weekend!

When I bought my house last fall, I knew it needed some updating. Nothing had been updated since it was built in 1964. The good thing is that anything I do is an improvement! As I wrote my house project list, I could feel myself getting overwhelmed. It would have been easy to write up the list and not look at it again.

My friend Donna Smallin wrote in her book The One Minute Organizer that trying to organize the entire house at one time is like trying to eat a chocolate cake in one bite. So true! When you have a cake, you have to slice it and then eat it bite by bite. I tell my frustrated and overwhelmed organizing clients the same thing. Bite by bite. Little by little. One thing at a time.  

When you face a big task, break it into bite-sized pieces. Cross each “bite” off the list as you accomplish it. Then reward yourself when you accomplish your task. Perhaps a bit of chocolate?

The best way to prep for the morning is to do it the night before. What can you do to prepare for the next day? Here are a few things you can do:

• Lay out bowls, cups, glasses, and spoons for breakfast.
• Lay out the clothes you’re going to wear tomorrow.
• If you iron, iron. If you don’t iron, run wrinkled clothes through a few minutes in the dryer.
• Make lunches. Put a sticky note on your keys to remind you that lunch is in the frig.
• Make the coffee so you only have to push the button in the morning. Yeah, some of us really need to get a programmable coffee pot.
• Shower the night before.
• Sign the school papers and make sure everything is in the folders to return to school.
• Gather up all the books and homework and make sure they’re in the backpacks.

A little time in the evening can save you so much time in the morning. Sleep tight!

If you need some help, several websites offer great tips and advice to help nudge your resolutions along. Visit The First 30 Days blog at: http://www.first30days.com/blog/main/2009/11/11-11-the-four-pillars/. Different experts offer advice on everything from health and exercise to debt reduction and dating. Each section has daily tips as well. These are doable movements forward toward your goals. Each day, a different expert writes the blog post.

Zenhabits.com is another website that has a variety of information for those seeking to change their lives. His daily blog is always inspiring and helpful.

FranklinCovey.com offers help for those who want to create a mission statement and goals. It doesn’t matter if you want a mission statement for yourself or your business. A couple of other helpful sites are mygoals.com and the federal government.  

Here’s to a productive and Happy New Year!

1. Appropriate Use of the Word “Hero.” The word is bandied around so much that it’s losing significance. Just because someone is famous doesn’t make them a hero or even a role model. Captain Sully, who landed a plane in the Hudson, is a hero. People who helped others during 9/11 and the Tsunami are heroes.

2. Having Less Stuff and Saving More Money. How much stuff do we need in our lives and in our homes? It’s unfortunate that the economy is deemed healthy when we’re out spending money, not saving it. A little less retail therapy leads to less stuff coming in the door, and that’s a plus.

3. More Laughs. Laughter is the best medicine. Seek the funny, my friends.

4. High Quality Customer Service. I can’t tell you how many conversations my friends and I have had about banks, airlines, and other businesses who have shown poor customer service and downright disrespect of customers. I really hope businesses get it and improve their customer service. Suze Orman is encouraging people to change from national banks to credit unions, and The Huffington Post also suggested that we all move our money from national banks to community ones.

5. Cure for Shellfish Allergies. Where’s the cure? I miss crab cakes and shrimp po boys. Science is obviously ignoring this important issue. It can be a shot or a pill. Either way, I’ll take it.

6. Being Kinder to Mother Earth. It  doesn’t matter if climate change is happening or not. I’ll let the pundits and politicians fight that out while reading about mutating frogs, melting ice caps, and the weird weather. We should be kinder to our planet. I’ll admit that I’ve spent most of my life being a rabid consumer, but I’ve been trying to be more green. It helps that my new neighborhood has an excellent recycling program.

7. Smarter Cars and Roads. I want a car that will drive itself to work. A couple of years ago, I saw a show about adding magnets to the roads to keep traffic moving and eliminating snarls. Can you imagine how much time we would save? Especially in a city like Houston! So I’m waiting for smarter cars and roads.

8. More Decorating Shows on HGTV. Is it me or do more of their prime time shows seem to be on house buying and staging? Even when I was house hunting myself, those shows bored me. Can we get a few more decorating shows back in the prime time hours?

9. The Golden Rule. Imagine if we all practiced this on  a regular basis! Like I said in my last posting, it would be nice if everyone was treated with respect and without regard to who they are.

10. A New Duran Duran Album. Okay, this is a totally selfish wish. Come on, guys! My fellow Duranies and I are waiting. Again.

I know what you’re thinking. I left out two important things: world peace and jetpacks. I know. We were promised jetpacks by now. As for world peace….I’ll leave that to the beauty pageant contestants to handle. 

Happy New Year! I wish you a new year and a new decade filled with joy, peace, and laughter.

If I ruled the world, there are things I want to see the backside of in the new decade. Here they are in no particular order and have absolutely nothing to do with organizing. Let the eye-rolling begin.

1. Faux Celebrities. Enough of people who are famous for being famous or trying to be famous. I won’t name them here because they don’t need me to. You know who they are. I prefer people who have substance, skills, and something worthwhile to offer the world. The one good thing about empty husks is that they blow away in a strong wind, never to be seen again. Here’s to hoping!

2.  The Phrase “The New Normal.” We use to call it “change.” The phrase has been overused since 9/11 in describing our new way of life after any type of tragedy, incident, or other life-altering event. It became seriously overused to describe the recession aftermath.

3. Banks Behaving Badly. I’ll agree with Suze Orman on this one when she spoke at the Texas Women’s Conference in November. She said banks do not respect us and are raising their interest rates, fees, and charges all they can before more strigent regulations kick in early 2010. She encouraged all of us at the conference to join credit unions instead since they’re only allowed to raise credit card interest rates to 18%. The bad behavior of some national banks have led to some of my friends and I to think about our grandparents who kept money in coffee cans buried in the backyard. Suddenly, it seems like a pretty good idea.

4. Celebs and Politicians Behaving Badly. Lindsey, Brittany, John Edwards, Mel, Tiger, Mark Sanford….. The list goes on and on. Once someone believes they’re untouchable, the rug is pulled out from under them. A politican rails against gay rights, and he’s arrested for picking up a male undercover officer. Oops. The squeaky clean, married athlete actually has a score of girlfriends. The child star turned adult parties so much that she passes out in public. My favorite is when they ask for privacy but then go on a media tour. Go away and get some rest, rehab and much needed therapy. Then come back when you grow up. We always like a comeback story. For reference, see Robert Downey Jr.

5. Stupid Violence and Fighting. When my siblings and I use to fight over something, Mom would take it away from us, saying “if you can’t play nice, no one gets it.” To quote beauty pageant winners, world peace and respect for all men, women, and children would be a nice change. No one should suffer because of their race, beliefs, religion, gender, political ties, health insurance, and all the other things that make us the unique, messy individuals we are. 

6. Reality Dating Shows. Well, they haven’t worked out very well for the couples, but I guess they’re good for ratings and those craving trash TV. I’ll admit that I watched a couple of them over the years until they got too painful to watch. I cringed when drunken girls cried about how they loved a guy they knew for five minutes.  Dating is hard enough in real life, but to have it on TV complete with a fully stocked bar, a stripper pole, and a D-List celebrity is hard to take.

7. Taking Off My Shoes at the Airport. I hate taking off my shoes at security. You have to put more thought into shoe and sock choice for the airport. I’d rather make choices based on fashion rather on my ability to slip them off and on without falling over on my face in the security line. I’ll admit I’m that shallow.

8. The Faux War on Christmas. I get tired of hearing about the war on Christmas when there’s no war. I have friends and colleagues who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanza, and absolutely nothing.  I respect them to respect their beliefs and traditions, and I have no problem saying Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas,  or a hearty “Yo, dude”  whatever the case may be.  

9. Movies Commercials That Show Too Much. Granted, it does save me money. I don’t have to see some movies because I’ve seen the best parts in the commercials or previews.  And why oh why do they have to replay those ads over and over and over again? I was ready for the freaking Twilight movie to open because the commercials were everywhere, and I thought I was safe watching HGTV. And don’t get me started on the ads in the corner of the TV screens. Ick.

10. People Talking on Cell Phones in the Bathroom. C’mon, it’s bad enough people talk way too loud on the cellies in elevators or walk around talking to themselves with the Bluetooths on, but the bathroom? Really? Everyone should have time to do what they need to do in the bathroom without talking on the phone. The people you’re talking to don’t really want to hear your end of the “conversation.” The rest of us in the bathroom don’t want to hear your conversation either. We definitely wouldn’t ask to borrow your phone.

So there’s my list. What’s yours?