What do I love? What drives me $#@#-ing crazy? Answering these two questions – and even better, USING the answers to make changes – are powerful in designing (organizing) a life you (most of the time!) love. In my last post, I said I’d share some of mine so here are a few: (MY) LOVES:

• beach time
• feeling on top of things
• open windows
• down time
• good vibe people
• helping my clients get organized …
• … and hearing about the impact it’s made (Thank you Eric & Hillary for letting me share your email! – check it out at end)  
• great night’s sleep
• waking up to / coming home to a well-ordered, clean, inviting home

(MY) NOT LOVES:

• technology issues (have a whole page on these)
• things not working like they’re supposed to
• feeling rushed
• bad vibe people
• living way under my potential
• dated (digital & paper) filing “system”
• being completely drained by 5:00pm (and sometimes 3:00pm… or 1:00pm …)
• waking up to / coming home to THE OPPOSITE of a well-ordered, clean, inviting home

So how in the world does writing this down make things better? CREATE AWARENESS:  Simply acknowledging the good and the bad by writing it down helps you become more aware of what you need / don’t need in your life. And, like journaling, it just feels good to get it out of your head and onto paper. MAKE CHANGE: This exercise helps you pinpoint things to add to your calendar, wardrobe, space, etc., and what to take out. Think of it as the ultimate decluttering project! GET UNSTUCK:  I save my love/not love lists (and now put the date at the top) so I can look back and see the good stuff that I’ve intentionally brought into my life, often because of this exercise. And, this is big…. It helps you see what’s STILL stresses you out, which for me is a big motivator for change. Ask yourself, “If I don’t change this, what kind of impact will it have one year, five years, ten years down the road?    While I’ve been doing this for years, I loved seeing that Marie Forleo (one of my good-vibe favorites) does something similar:

Doing a stress log gives me power. Knowing I have a place to write down my stresses and a system to deal with them gives a sense of power and strength that I just didn’t have before.

– Marie Forleo

I’ll wrap up with a few tips on how to use: 

• Determine what you have control over and what you don’t. Let go of what you truly can’t change.
• Prioritize what would make the biggest impact if you added / changed / handled.
• Use this “criteria” (both love + not love) to optimize shopping, decluttering, scheduling, dating, creating, job hunting…. the list goes on!
• Feeling frustrated or overwhelmed? This is my favorite time to do this exercise!
• If you have KIDS, this is a great exercise to do with them. Giving them a way to recognize what’s good and not good, and helping them figure out ways to make better = invaluable. 
• Work it! Whether you’re wanting to create an ideal workspace, optimize systems, or pinpoint critical areas of concern for your business, this exercise can be powerful at work, too.

Try it out and let me know how it goes!  And if you need help at home or work, I’d love to help.    xo,