From the Desk of Janet Barclay

I am starting to think there are days for everything – for example, did you know that today is Repetitive Strain Injuries Awareness Day? If you are on your computer for several hours a day, you are susceptible to RSI, but there are a few things you can do to prevent it.

For starters, make sure that your workstation is set up properly so that you’re not putting undue stress on any part of your body. Experts generally recommend that you use a desk with a tray that is slightly lower for your keyboard and mouse. I am no expert, but it’s my opinion that a lot of damage is caused because users have a tendency to keep their hand positioned on the mouse while reading on screen. I certainly found that my wrist pain was reduced when I made a conscious effort to take my hand off the mouse when I wasn’t clicking or scrolling on anything. When I switched from a desktop computer to a notebook, I was worried that working on a higher surface would lead to physical problems, but I’m pleased to say that so far it has not been a problem. This may be in part due to the fact that I am more likely to sit back with my hands on my lap or armrests while reading on screen, now that I don’t have a mouse to cling to.

Of course, another habit that is so important is getting up from your desk and stretching on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it can be hard to remember to do this if you’re involved in a big job, especially a creative project like website design. But just as there are days for everything, there is software for everything, and I recently learned that there’s a program called PRSI Break which is a fully animated stretch break program for computer users. It not only shows you what to do, you can set it to remind you when it’s time for a break. What will they think of next?

If you don’t feel like adding more software to your system, you can always set Outlook or even your cell phone to remind you to take an hourly stretch. Instead of letting your technology hurt you, turn things around and make it help you prevent repetitive strain injury!

Late last year, along with many other interesting projects, I found myself creating four different websites, all of which have been completed within the past month. My clients and I are all so pleased with the results that I just have to share them!

1. The Wildly Organized Brunette – A brand new site, my client wanted a website that would capture the fun side of working with her.

2. Joseph Truscott, Chartered Accountant and Management Consultants – This was a redesign of an existing website, with the addition of some nifty financial calculators.

3. Get It Together Residential Organizing – This was also a redesign, for an existing client who was ready for a new look.

4. Kathy Stinson, Canadian Author of Books for Young People – I hope none of my other clients will be offended if I say this was my favourite project, when I explain that Kathy is my sister and that she was my very first website client. I designed her first site about 10 years ago, and although it’s been updated in both content and appearance a few times, she was also ready for a fresh new look. 

I’m happy to already have a website for another new client on the go, and have even found some time to start working on my own! (You know what they say about the shoemaker’s children going barefoot…)

This is my final week as a member of Professional Organizers in Canada (POC). I joined POC shortly after establishing my business in the summer of 2002, on the advice of Margaret Miller, who was President at that time and one of the association’s founders. Since then, I’ve watched the organization go through many changes.

When I joined POC, there were fewer than 100 members across Canada. A few months later, Margaret asked me to take over for the Director of Membership, who had to resign her position for personal reasons. She told me that it was mainly an administrative role, preparing membership kits and sending them out to new members, but as the membership grew, so did my workload, to the point where I actually had to recruit a volunteer to look after the membership kits while I attended to other Board responsibilities. By the time I stepped down from the National Board in October of 2005, there were over 500 members, representing all 10 provinces.

One of POC’s major initiatives is National Organizing Week (NOWeek), which is held each year during the first week of May, in order to raise the profile of the association by volunteering organizing services to other non-profit organizations.  In 2003, I volunteered alone to organize a file storage room for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hamilton Burlington, which was a huge project that brought me back to their location several times before it was finished. In later years, I had the opportunity to work with other local organizers at Ronald McDonald House and Habitat for Humanity.

The most exciting project I participated in as a POC member was the redevelopment of the website. With the growth of the organization, we needed a more user-friendly navigation system and a membership database that tied directly into the registration process. Little did I realize when I volunteered to head up the project how much time and energy would be involved! It can be very challenging to work with a volunteer committee strictly by email, especially when each committee member is busy running his or her own business. A few committee members had to resign due to other demands, and others just stopped participating, but thanks to a few core members, Alex Fayle, Nada Thomson, and Lynn Fanset, we were finally able to see the new site launched – after more than a year of planning and working with Zoonini Web Services.

Of course, the Annual Conference has always been a highlight, and I’m hoping to attend again, possibly as an exhibitor in the Vendor Expo.

My reasons for leaving POC have nothing to do with the changes in the organization, and everything to do with changes in my own business. When I joined, I was marketing myself as a career consultant / professional organizer – a strange combination, but one which allowed me to use my knowledge of personality type to help others to choose a career or to develop organizing strategies best suited to their personality type. A year or so later, fellow POC member Hellen Buttigieg asked if I would be willing to look after her electronic newsletter, as this was something I did for my own business that she wasn’t interested in learning to do herself. It was then that I realized that I got more pleasure from working on my computer than from hands-on organizing, and I began to evolve from a professional organizer to a virtual assistant.

I look forward to staying in touch with the many friends I’ve made during my time with POC, who are too numerous to mention here. I will definitely stay in touch with what’s happening in the association, due to the many members who have chosen me as their virtual assistant and/or web designer, including Patricia John of Room 2 Room Organizing Services, Cindy Milligan of Get It Together! Residential Organizing Services, Lisa Rosen of ICanSeeTheFloor.com, Hellen Buttigieg of We Organize U, and last but by no means least, Wendy Hollick of NEAT SPACES Professional Organizing Service, who has also become a close friend.

 Special thanks to all those who have accompanied me on this journey!

I was just reading the blog of one of my fellow VANA members, Candy Beauchamp, and learned that the online fax service MyFax is holding a Messy Office Contest! In addition to the $10,000 grand prize, there will be 10 weekly winners and 15 runners-up, so it might be worth a little embarrassment to send in your photo or video. If you’re a professional organizer with a client you think might qualify, why not talk to him or her about entering?

There’s even a fun quiz on the contest site called What Messy Office Type Are You?

Of course the whole point of the contest is to promote MyFax by showing how Internet fax can reduce paper clutter, but that’s okay; it’s still a great idea! But don’t waste time – the contest closes on March 3^rd!

Today I’m going to introduce you to one of my newest clients, Ariane Benefit, of Neat & Simple. Ariane started her own business in 1993 after a long and successful corporate career. No one was more surprised than she was when she was diagnosed last year with ADD. Like many of us, she had always assumed that people with ADD are unreliable, can’t sit still or focus on tasks, and never accomplish anything.

Ariane has learned that ADD is not that obvious. She says it’s kind of like having back pain - you can’t see it, but it sure makes it hard for you to walk, and you find a way to do it anyway.  She is amazed at the number of people who thought her achievements came to her so easily, but for her, it was a painful struggle that she worked very hard to conceal.  She has said that for almost every project she finishes, she probably has at least two that are unfinished, as well as countless new ideas, and as her virtual assistant, I can confirm that this is true! Sometimes it can be challenging to work with her, but because she has been open and honest with me about her ADD since day one, I’ve come to understand that a lot of what we’re doing is brainstorming, and that I shouldn’t try to get a clear picture of what my assignment is until the conversation is reaching a close and decisions have actually been made.

To learn more about Ariane’s experience and how she has learned to thrive despite the challenges of ADD, please read her blog post, How I Survived My Life with Undiagnosed Adult ADD and Learned to THRIVE!  If you know, work with or live with someone else who has successfully overcome ADD, I’m sure she would love to hear about it.

If you’re struggling with ADD or another challenge, whether it is physical, emotional, or mental, just remember that you too can overcome it and be successful, just like Ariane and many others have done.