Focus Interview: Laura at
Organizing Junkie

Tuesday, January 6, 2009, by Leigh Anne and Sherra

One Word. One Focus. Every month we'll focus on one word…
JULY = Freedom
The word becomes the theme for our blog posts, quotes and interviews.
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We will be interviewing women who inspire us, encourage us and renew our spirits. Women from diverse backgrounds…women just like you…women very different from you…women who share and teach so we can all learn something new. Their words may be just what you need to read today…

Leigh Anne says…

Organizing Junkie was one of the first blogs Leigh Anne discovered when she entered Blog Land. Laura was always so quick to respond to comments or questions that Leigh Anne had. Leigh Anne also loves Laura’s site because she is an Organizing Junkie Wannabe!! Laura is an incredible resource for organizing anything and everything!! She knows how to focus in on a organizational problem and solve it! They both share a love affair with Rubbermaid too!! Enjoy Laura!

First, a few personal fun facts and questions…

I started my blog “I’m an Organizing Junkie” when my youngest was six months old three years ago and I was looking for a way to connect with other woman. Not only did I find a way to do that but I also found a way to be a stay at home mom while still paying my grocery bill. I’m completely addicted to anything to do with organizing. Unfortunately I don’t also share this same addiction towards cleaning but I’m working on it. Thankfully my kids are at an age (11, 9 and 3) where they can help in that department. I’m also a huge advocate for menu planning and as a result started Menu Plan Monday on my site to encourage others to give it a try. So far over 200 ladies join in the fun each week!

Favorite color:

Pink!

Favorite food you associate with Winter:

Beef Stew with fresh homemade bread from the bread machine

Pet Peeve?

Two opened boxes/jars of the same thing. It sends me right over the edge

What is something that no one knows about you? (that you want to tell the whole internet world)

I like to pretend I can sing Opera and will belt out conversations to my kids in Opera just to annoy them. It’s fun and it’s an instance mood lifter.

One word that describes you:

I was going to say Organized but that’s too obvious so I’ll say Silly instead.

What’s your motto or mantra?

Slow and steady wins the race.

What are the top three things you that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?

1. Organize and containerize of course. Nothing is off limits well except for my husband’s workshop. We’ve agreed I won’t touch that
2. Creating a calming and inviting home sanctuary for my family
3. Not dwelling on the negative but instead I try to be positive about all things and not take life too seriously

Word of the Month ~ Focus

Give us your definition of focus:

Concentrating on one thing at a time and giving it your undivided attention. In other words be present in the moment whether it be with the people you are with or the tasks you are tackling.

Certainly no one can be focused all the time, can they? What are some tips or techniques you use to stay focused?

Keeping an uncluttered schedule. This is very important in our house because too much going on leads to frazzled grumpy people. Therefore the kids are only in one activity each and not usually at the same time. Also during this season in my life I keep my commitments to a minimum as well. I am the parent group Treasurer at my kid’s school and that is it for outside activities for me. It’s hard to say no sometimes but it’s the only way I know how to keep things in our house sane. I despise the frantic out of control feeling that comes with chaos and will do almost anything to avoid it. We lead a very simple lifestyle.

As a mother of young children and running a business out of your home how do you deal with the distractions of daily life that cause you to lose focus? (phone, email, etc.)

Yes that definitely happens especially with my three year old still at home with me all day. He no longer takes naps so it is hard to focus on work during the day. So most of the time I don’t. It’s not fair to my son and he is my first priority. I usually concentrate on my work after the kids have gone to bed in the evenings or first thing in the morning.

Being the beginning of a new year, people often set new goals or resolutions to help them get focused for the new year - did you set any you’d be willing to share with us?

I’m not a resolution girl at all. While I do believe there is a place for goal setting I find that sometimes the concentration on what we don’t have and want can keep us from appreciating and enjoying where we are and what we have right now. I mostly focus on short term planning and living one day at a time.

What is your favorite avoidance behavior - the things you enjoy doing when you are trying to avoid being focused?

This is an easy one for me. Right now I’m addicted to Scramble on Facebook and I can easily get sucked in to just one more game

What is your best advice for women who are searching for more focus in their life?

Reducing the chaos in your life whether it be by eliminating activities or streamlining your systems allows you to live a more simplified lifestyle so you can focus on the things that are most important.

Share a life lesson learned about focus something, perhaps that you know now that you didn’t know when you were 18?

What I’ve learned over the years is that multi-tasking is highly overrated. I know that if I just focus on the subject at hand I can get it done so much faster than if I’m trying to do a million things at once.

How do you make sure you focus on fun and not just work, work, work?!

Well I love to have fun and am game for just about anything. I also love to make others laugh and being silly usually does just that. It’s just a great feeling to be able to put a smile on someone’s face. I’m also fortunate that my work is fun for me. I love to zone out on an organizing project concentrating on nothing else. When I’m done I feel rejuvenated and centered. And if all else fails, belting out Opera will do it every time

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Related Posts:

• Focus Interview: Jo-Lynne at
  Musings of a Housewife
• Celebrate Interview:
  Laurie Turk ~ TipJunkie.com
• What’s Your Word?

Categories: One Word. One Woman.