Why Gifting Experiences Is the Best Gift to Give

The holidays are upon us, and along with them comes the tradition of gift-giving.

Do you give experiences rather than things? Some prefer giving and/or receiving a shiny, wrapped present while others prefer an experience. At the same time, giving experiences rather than things is easier than it’s ever been.

Let’s explore the topic of giving experiences instead of things.

Why do we give presents?

During the holiday season, it’s become part of our culture to give gifts. You may be wondering, but why do we give presents? Turns out there are quite a few reasons why.

Some are:

  • As a way to say “I’m thinking of you”
  • To show appreciation
  • Thoughtful gesture
  • Tradition to follow

None of these reasons are bad or wrong. In fact, the thought behind a gift can be a way to strengthen the relationship between the giver and the receiver.

Disadvantages of too many toys

Although children love unwrapping presents and getting things, an article from Parenting Firstcry¹ explains that there are disadvantages to giving your child too many toys.

Some downsides for children include:

  • Kids won’t appreciate or value the things they have.
  • They bounce from toy to toy, which can hinder their concentration development.
  • Children won’t foster their creativity or imagination by making playthings from everyday household items.
  • “Boredom comes easily because kids know they will get something new when they ask for it. Toys may turn into an addiction to fight boredom and stress.”

However, there are families who simply don’t want their home to be filled with toys. Often children get so many, they forget what they have and only play with a select few. This also leaves parents wondering how to organize so many toys.

Benefits of giving an experience

Delicious Experiences² posted an article with some incredible benefits of giving an experience.

You get to be excited at least twice – if not more! You are excited when you initially open the gift. You anticipate redeeming it and you’re thrilled when you do.

You enjoy a social experience. Most often, these are planned for you and the giver, so you share the experience and the memory together.

You create lasting memories. This is the biggest advantage of an experience. These positive memories will last a lifetime.

When you give an experience to a child, they will remember the time you spent with them much more than they will remember a toy.

Being the giver of an experience yields just as many joyful, exciting memories as being the receiver!

Ideas for gift experiences

The list of ideas for gift experiences is extensive. Hot sauce enthusiast? There’s a kit for that. New dog mom? There’s a box for that. Skincare lover? Yep, there’s a… well, you get the picture.

The following list is for adults, children, and families. It’s broken down into the four categories of experiences, services, classes, and memberships.

Depending on your physical location, there are other experiences you can gift such as:

  • surfing
  • sailing
  • canoeing
  • rafting
  • ice skating
  • skiing
  • snowboarding
  • mini-golf
  • indoor waterpark
  • indoor rock climbing
  • indoor playground
  • indoor trampoline park
  • indoor gym

More services that can be given are for:

  • a barber (haircut, straight razor shave, beard trim)
  • dog walker
  • driver (Uber, Lyft)
  • salon services
  • personal shopper
  • pet sitter
  • in-home chef
  • meal prep

Additional classes can include:

  • archery
  • boxing
  • chess
  • golf
  • kickboxing
  • meditation
  • photography
  • pilates
  • rock climbing
  • scuba
  • technology
  • tennis
  • woodworking
  • yoga
  • zumba

Memberships can also include

  • local swimming pools
  • nature centers
  • museums
  • amusement parks
  • gardens
  • wildlife sanctuaries
  • outdoor theaters
  • aquarium pass or membership
  • children’s theater tickets or membership

There are experiences for just about every hobby, interest, and passion.

Charitable Gift Experiences

What?? Yes! Not only can you excite your loved ones, but you also can give back to charity in the process. CreateJoy compiled a list of 16 Amazing Subscription Box Gifts That Give Back to Good Causes.³

Here are a few they suggested:

  • Brother’s Coffee Box – You’re gifting new, ethically-sourced coffee brands to your friend or family member each month and donating $1 to Grounds for Health to support cervical cancer screening and treatment.
  • Kirills Tea Box – This box features premium tea bags filled with handcrafted loose leaf tea blends, made with whole herbs, whole spices, and honey sticks for sweetness. They donate to organizations doing humanitarian aid work across the globe.
  • Life’s a Wave Beach Box – It’s packed with 5-8 sea-themed items, that bring relaxation and rejuvenation to your loved one despite beach season being months away. The proceeds from each box support clean and healthy oceans.

Or you can simply make a donation to a charity on behalf of your loved one.

Shopping local is always a great way to find unique gifts while supporting your local businesses.

Wrapping it all up… or not

There are many gifts you can share with the ones closest to you. Consider who you are shopping for and what will best fill up their emotional bank. There are creative ways on how to give experiences as gifts to someone, so you will still have something to hand them during this holiday time.

Professional Organizing is a gift that will give back. Dennise is available for both in-person as well as virtual organizing.

If you know someone who would love support in getting their time management skills, schedule, and productivity in good order, look no further than Dennise to help set an incredible foundation for the new year.

Click here to set up your free consultation with Organized MD today!

¹ https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/are-too-many-toys-harming-your-childs-development/

² https://www.deliciousexperiences.com/blog/posts/%207-reasons-to-gift-experiences

³ https://www.cratejoy.com/box-insider/gifts-that-support-a-cause/

Time Management & Productivity

Often we hear the term time management and productivity and assume they are one-in-the-same. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s more of a cause-and-effect relationship. Time management affects your productivity. Let’s dive further into these ideas.

What is Time Management?

One life skill that will help you succeed, both in your personal and professional life, is time management. Skills You Need describes time management as:

“the art of having time to do everything that you need, without feeling stressed about it.”

In an If, … then situation, your if is time management. If you don’t have a handle on your time management, then you will be stressed and your productivity will suffer.

How Do You Improve Your Time Management?

Not sure how much time things take? Track it. Take a week or two and track your activities every 15 minutes. At the end of the week, evaluate the amount of time you spent doing different projects. Now you have a good idea of how much time to allot in your schedule for different things. This also shows you the times of day when you’re most productive.

The Importance of Time Management

Schedules, plans, priorities, and to-do lists can be part of our daily routine, especially when it comes to work, so it’s important to know how long specific tasks take. You’re able to plan your day and time appropriately which will help eliminate stress because you won’t have to rush or worry about not having enough time to do your best work.

What is Productivity?

Productivity is defined by James Clear as:

“a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task… getting important things done consistently.”

In an If, … then situation, your productivity is the then. If you have good time management skills and allow the appropriate amount of time for a task, then your productivity will increase and you will consistently provide quality work. You won’t be stressed or speeding through your to-do list in order to check things off.

How Does Having Good Time Management Benefit You?

There are numerous benefits of alloting the correct amount of time needed to meet your responsibilities. Although the benefits will be determined by your goal, Lucemi Consulting lists some of the values of good time management.

  • Less stress
  • Better work-life balance
  • Greater focus
  • Increased productivity
  • Less procrastination and distraction
  • More time to think and strategize

These benefits are not limited to the workplace. As more and more people continue working from home, these are beneficial to create and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Can Time Management Negatively Affect Productivity?

Because these philosophies go hand-in-hand, if you don’t have a strong time management strategy in place, there will be negative effects on your productivity. Mind Tools lists some unfavorable outcomes:

  • Missed deadlines
  • Poor quality of work
  • High stress
  • Procrastination

When you’re feeling rushed, you aren’t able to create the high caliber work that you’re capable of. Knowing how long an activity takes will allow you to plan for it so you can produce work that meets your standards.

8 Time Management and Productivity Tips

The same tips and strategies don’t work for everyone, but here are some ideas you may find helpful when trying to improve your time management and increase productivity.

  1. Keep a planner or to-do list so you know what is expected of you at all times.
  2. The night before, get things ready for the next morning so you can sit down and get started right away.
  3. Determine your task priorities and focus on the one with the highest precedence.
  4. Keep your workspace organized and free of clutter, especially if you are working from home.
  5. Limit distractions by closing the door, silencing your cell phone, closing your email, and keeping your distance from others who may distract you.
  6. Plan to work on more difficult tasks during the time you are most focused and productive during the day.
  7. Allow for breaks in your day, especially during the times you are less productive.
  8. Utilize tools like time management apps that will help you stay productive. There are apps for tracking time, keeping track of lists and projects, prioritizing tasks, staying focused, storing your notes and ideas, collaborating and sharing with teammates, and sharing schedules with family members.

Find which tips will benefit you the most with improving your time management and productivity skills. 

Not Sure Where to Start?

Do you find yourself running late? Rushing to get things done? Stressing out your family while you yell orders to get out of the house on time? Frustrated that you keep missing deadlines? Are you ready to put a stop to the madness and get a handle on these things?

Put my training to use. Let me help you or your family create time management systems that  serve your busy lifestyle. Set up a free consultation today and we’ll discuss your current situation, your goals, and how to reach them. Click here to book your free time management consultation!

Organized MD – treating the ill elements of your time and spaces!

Extra Behind the Scenes That Go on With Medical Professionals & The Workplace

Depending on what part of the world you live in, post-pandemic life is slowly starting to open back up. Although some things such as doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals never fully closed, the way they operate has changed significantly.

Appointments Pre-Pandemic

Before the pandemic hit, you went about your medical appointments without a second thought. You would show up, sign in, sit and wait (and wait, and wait) until a nurse would bring you back to a room. There, you continued to sit and wait, and sometimes your frustration or anxiety would creep in. By the time you left, your mind was filled with a not-so-great experience.

Medical Appointments During the Pandemic

During this time, everyone in clinics, offices, and hospitals was on the front line. The public, in general, started to have a different opinion of workers who were putting their lives on the line –  literally every single day.

This is when people started paying more attention to what goes on during appointments and just how many workers go into running our healthcare system.

A Visit to Your Medical Professional Today

There is quite a bit that goes into an appointment. Office staff, nurses, and doctors juggle different, and often extra, duties compared to pre-pandemic appointments.

Let’s take a look at what goes on when someone has a routine medical visit.

  1. You let the office know you’ve arrived for your appointment. Sometimes that’s done via an app, or you call the front desk.

Behind the scenes: There are receptionists taking the calls, there are people either pulling charts and files or getting your EMR (electronic medical record – your file) pulled up and in que for the doctor to see you.

  1. You come in and they verify your information and let you know where to sit to be called back.

Behind the scenes: Not only are receptionists helping you, they are also making sure the counter and pen you touched are sanitized for the next person. When you get up from the chair in the waiting room, someone comes by to sanitize the chair for the next patient. There is also the billing department staff that are looking up co-pays, processing payments, and printing receipts.

  1. A nurse comes to get you, then takes you back to get your weight on the way to the room.

Behind the scenes: Have you ever noticed all of the people working around you when you’re doing that simple thing?

  1. You enter the room where you sit down and your blood pressure and temperature are taken. The nurse asks you routine questions and records the responses in the computer.

Behind the scenes: Before you entered the room, a worker made sure to time the sanitization of the room so it was ready for you – including the chairs, keyboard, desk, exam table, and all needed equipment.

  1. The doctor comes in to see you, sanitizing, sitting, going through his/her laptop, getting your recently updated information. Depending on the reason for your appointment, there are any number of instruments and other materials needed to carry out your examination.

Behind the scenes: The nurse leaves, again sanitizing the gloves or their hands as they let the doctor know you are ready.  All the necessary items were taken from a supply closet or storeroom and set up for the doctor’s use. Keep in mind that all of this is done just for you.

Nurses and clinic staff are human. They need a sip of water, a snack, and a restroom break. This is all timed around your appointments, the doctor, and other patients.

  1. The doctor may require labs to be taken. Normally you have to leave and go to another area for this.

Behind the scenes: There is paperwork being shared as to what needs to happen – x-rays, blood work, you name it. There is a nurse preparing the materials, paperwork, stickers with your information, etc. before you even get to them. Of course, everything is being sanitized which is all being timed out as well.

After You Leave the Appointment

After your visit, there are a lot of activities that go on behind the scenes: workers are dealing with billing, medical notes and forms, as well as additional steps and phone calls/emails/faxes to book specialist appointments. Not to mention the follow-up to ensure your appointments have been booked and you received the information. Plus your doctor calling to give you any medical test results. The list goes on and on…

Patience, Understanding, and Grace

Much of this is a new routine or enhanced additional work for staff as well as ourselves. Please take a moment to stop and think about all the people who are taking care of things behind the scenes so you can visit your doctor. Please extend a bit of grace to everyone involved. If I can help you in any way with regard to your medical clinic routines and procedures, please reach out to me. I have an extensive background assisting clinics and staff with making their office run as smoothly as possible. I am here to help in whatever way I can.

Organized MD – treating the ill elements of your time and spaces!

The Startling Truth About Habits, New Year’s Resolutions, and Quitting

New Year’s Resolutions. You either love or hate them. Or you begin loving them and end up hating them because it doesn’t work.

There are tons of reasons (read: excuses) why we don’t, can’t, or won’t follow through with them. Regardless of the end result, everyone begins with the best intentions – to do something to better their lives.

You want to start the new year with an organized home and office space. You’re super dedicated to this resolution. You go out and buy the inspiring drawer dividers, cute filing system, and bins that you are excited to look at every day. This is going to be great!

Fast forward to mid-January. The bins are still in the bag and the filing system is sitting on the corner of your desk. You did take out the dividers and they are on the top of your dresser just waiting to hop in the drawer.

You have made the same mistake so many of us have done. We have jumped feet first into an amazing intention, but we haven’t mentally prepared ourselves for what a habit needs to be successful.

Statistics for New Year’s Resolutions

Around 80% of people who make resolutions will fail by mid-February.³

Before it has even begun, 12% of Americans, don’t think they will succeed or follow through with their resolutions.²

Only 19% of UK residents plan on making a New Year’s resolution in 2021.⁴

In 2020, 79% of Australian’s were making the commitment to a resolution.⁵

These numbers aren’t the most motivating. Resolutions take some planning and commitment.

New Habits Take Time

Twenty-one days. Sixty-six days. Two hundred fifty-four days. What?

Depending upon each person and habit, it can take as early as twenty-one days for a new action to become a habit, with the average being sixty-six days; however, some habits can take up to 254 days to become automatic. There are many different challenges you can join and lists with various numbers of steps for how to make a habit stick. These are awesome if they give you the motivation and foundation you need to turn this change into a habit.

To break a bad habit, you must change the pattern. Once the pattern is broken, the behavior is no longer automatic.

To create a new habit, a new pattern must be formed. This needs to be repeated over and over until your brain sets it on autopilot.

There are many suggestions, ideas, and plans for creating habits that stick. What it boils down to is our brain and how it works. Once a behavior becomes a routine habit, your brain essentially puts it on autopilot so you can focus on things that require more focus.

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).

-Stephen R. Covey

Be Mentally Prepared!

Change. Is. Hard.

Before you start, ask yourself why? Why is this important to you? When solidifying this new habit or routine, remind yourself why you’re doing this. Write it down. Post it on social media. Make a voice memo. Put it on your vision board. Do whatever it takes to easily remind yourself why this is important to you.

Humans are creatures of habit. We survive on habits and routines. When was the last time you had to remind yourself to breathe? Turn the lights off when you went to bed? You often drive to or from work on “autopilot.” On the evening of your favorite television show, you make sure certain things are done prior to the start so you can fully enjoy your time.

Your morning or evening routine has become just that – a routine.

When you started, you had to think about it to make sure you got everything accomplished. At some point, you did it without thinking too much about it. Soon, you will be doing this on autopilot as well.

Set Realistic Goals

Biting off more than you can chew is not going to make you successful.

You need to start with realistic goals.

The surface of your desk hasn’t seen the light of day in who knows how long. It isn’t realistic to think you’ll have it all perfectly cleaned and organized in an hour.

It is realistic to…

  • go through the paperwork and make organized piles
  • empty one or two drawers at a time
  • clean and wipe down the top and inside of the drawers
  • figure out and label file folders in a way that will best suit your needs
  • declutter, clean, and organize one shelf today and another shelf tomorrow

It also is a realistic goal to recruit help if you need it. Maybe those bite sizes listed feel more overwhelming than manageable. Ask for help. Is your friend amazing at this? Does your daughter-in-law have a system to die for? If someone can help you set up an approach that will help you to stick with this new habit, then please ask!

Plan for Bumps in the Road

Unfortunately, there will be bumps. You’re going to have to anticipate this and plan how to navigate around it.

The more proactive you are, the better your plan will be. This will increase the likelihood that you’ll be able to keep yourself heading in the right direction.

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently”.

-Tony Robbins

Keep It Up!

Here are more ideas to not only keep your New Year’s resolutions but also turn them into habits.

  • Find an accountability partner.
  • Give yourself grace when you don’t keep it perfectly.
  • Reset and keep going – don’t throw in the towel.
  • Take the time so that you can be successful and create a new habit.
  • Add to your life rather than take away – use positive wording when possible

Bottom line, don’t give up!

Does any part of this sound overwhelming? Call Organized MD.  Dennise can help you to figure out and establish a manageable routine. She will be your accountability partner. She will also help you save time and be more productive. You’ve put it off long enough. Contact Organized MD today!

Organized MD – treating the ill elements of your time and spaces!

1https://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/147192599/habits-how-they-form-and-how-to-break-them

²https://www.finder.com/new-years-resolution-statistics

³https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/new-years-resolution-janine-hubbard-1.5412777

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2020/12/30/new-years-resolutions-2020-and-2021

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/top-5-new-years-resolutions-for-2020-revealed-231157354.html