Greetings from Santa Cruz!  I'm back in the office and my head is spinning with all of the new ideas I have from attending the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) annual conference.  I was sad to have the conference end, but it is exciting to be back to work on building and improving my consulting business.

Here is the recap of my final day at conference...

My day started with a break out session on creating a lifestyle business.  The concepts were based on the Timothy Ferriss book "The 4-Hour Workweek".  http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/ One concept that I took away from this session was to consider decreasing the amount of information that comes into my world. I know that I can find the information when I need it, so why do I want to clutter my mind with it constantly.  In fact Tim Ferriss says that "a wealthy of information creates a poverty of attention." I left the session with some thought provoking homework.  If I had a heart attack and could only work 2 hours per day, what would I work on?.  If I had another heart attack and could only work 2 hours per week, what would I work on?  That is a big concept if you spend a lot of time working on tasks that keep you busy, but they are not urgent or important.  Definitely something to think about.

My second session was focused on helping clients maintain the results they achieve during our work together.  I learned a little more about how to help my clients get through the roadblocks that might keep them from maintaining their organized state after our work together is finished.  What I really learned in this session is that it is not enough that I change the physical office space, paper piles, or email inbox, it is really about the change I make for the client. I will always be thinking "What can I do to make this stick?"

The third session was probably the most valuable for me for the entire conference.  The topic was quantifying results for my clients.  This is an area where I was struggling, because each client's situation seems so specific that it seemed difficult to measure.  I learned that I was asking the wrong questions and that what I considered a successful result might be different than what my clients think.  As organizers, we may be striving for more than change than even the client wants.  And ultimately, it is the client's view of the results achieved that matters. I will be changing the way I gather information before the project begins, so that I can show my client the results they achieve.

The conference ended with a closing keynote with Michael Port, author of "The Think Big Manifesto", http://www.thinkbigmanifesto.com/, and other business books like "Book Yourself Solid", "Beyond Booked Solid", and "The Contrarian Effect".  I had the opportunity to meet him the evening before and had an idea of his concept of the Think Big Revolution http://www.thinkbigrevolution.com/, but I really understood it after hearing him speak, and reading the book.  The book is a quick read and VERY thought provoking.  I suggest that everyone on the planet read it. My feeling was that those in the room who "got it", really got it, and the rest were left scratching their heads and wondering why he was chosen to speak to a group of professional organizers.  For those organizers that didn't "get it", I hope in my heart that someday they do.  It is a powerful idea that will change the world.

I was fortunate to speak with Michael again after the keynote, and he was very generous with his time and his insights into business, marketing, and bigger thinking.  I have to say that I feel different today and now that I have this knowledge and I cannot ignore it. Those of you who know me well are shaking your heads in agreement.  So watch me and see how my big thinking effects the world!  And I will be watching and standing along side others who think big too!  In the words of my mentor, Barbara Hemphill, "Together we are better!"

Until next time...

Tamara Meyer
Personal Productivity Consultant and Speaker
Meyer Professional Organizing, LLC
www.meyerorganizing.com