Franklin Covey Failure

It is with a heavy heart that I write this. I have been a devout follower of Franklin Covey planning systems for well over a decade, but alas, we must go our separate ways. What could possible tear me away? Is it that lousy iPhone app that just wasn't up to snuff? Or a fabulous new planning system I just love? Sadly, no. It's neither. Franklin Covey isn't the company I fell in love with all those years ago, and I don't want to stay with the company they've become.

Last fall I ordered my usual supply of paper planners for the family for the upcoming new year. For some reason, FC shipped it in pieces, and only billed me for the first piece. Being a good person, I emailed them a few weeks later and offered to pay the balance. I got no reply, so a week later I called. I was told it was their fault for shipping late, and "not to worry about (the balance)". Classic good customer service, right? After the call, I finally got an email, which confirmed my balance was considered "paid in full". This was in December of 2009.

Last month I was searching in an old email account for a lost contact when I stumbled over an email from FC. Attached was an invoice for the balance I had tried to pay 6 months earlier. Now, it was sheer luck that I ever saw that email, as it was an old, obsolete address I never use. The email was obsolete, the attachment was hard to open, and the invoice numbers were internally assigned at FC, i.e., they didn't match an order number or anything I had on record. In fact, FC decided not too long ago to wipe out all customers' accounts and start their website from scratch. My 10+ year history of orders was gone. But somehow they managed to save an old email address and a "past due" balance. Interesting.

I emailed the finance department back and forth a number of times. The woman I spoke with (via email) never did explain the new invoice numbers or account number they attached to my "past due" bill. I did make her show me what they were supposedly for, so at least I could check if I'd every used the supposed products. I sent her my entire paper trail from my attempts to proactively pay the balance in the past, but she said that all of the customer service reps I spoke to, online and on the phone, were ALL new and incompetent. You know, I learned to keep paper trails like the one I had from FC. One would think they would be anything but incompetent. And just for the record, the finance woman had a poor English skills. Enough said.

I paid the bill. It was for $ 38.57. I'm an honest person, and I think that maybe, perhaps, this might have been the money I owed last fall.

However, if you tried to pay a bill, repeatedly, and you were told you didn't have to, and then had all traces of your account and history wiped out, and then received a bill in a suspicious manner with all the tracking numbers changed and no paper trail, would you pay it? Would you trust a company that told you their own people were often and consistently wrong?

This isn't the Franklin Covey of the past. I don't know who or what is in charge there now, but their company has gone down the toilet and fast. They should be ashamed of how this was handled. If nothing else, the way they handled this $38 bill cost them the hundreds of dollars a year I usually spend there, as well as all the good press I've given them, which I am formally rescinding with this post. When I find a suitable replacement source for my planning needs, I'll gladly share it with you all. In the meantime, please keep my tale in mind and do not patronize the new Franklin Covey.

Organize Now!

That's not me yelling at you; that's the title of the latest organization book I picked up. I'm a total lit junkie, so I read all the time, but I don't often find a book I like well enough to give it the ol' college try. Organize Now! by Jennifer Ford Berry may be one of those books.

The first thing that caught my eye is that the book is spiral-bound, which implies quick reference and interaction to me. Sure enough, there are checklists for each week, along with space for notes. And, although there are 52 weeks of topics, the author invites the reader to use them as she feels best. Good - that means I can skip stuff I don't like! Oh, did I say that out loud? I meant I can skip over areas in which I'm already perfectly organized. The book is a compact 6" x 8" or so, so I can bring it with me if I like, and has hard covers to endure the trip. This author obviously has a real life and thought of some of this stuff! Actually, she's a professional organizer in the NY state and has kids and everything. See? She is real after all. Here's her website, Organize This Life.

This week I'm trying Week 1: Organize Your Mind. Ha! Oh, sorry, was that out loud again? Actually, it was really easy to incorporate the weekly goals into my usual weekly planning (I use a Franklin-Covey paper planner, not a PDA or computer program). I just added the goals to my tasks or appointments or on my Compass Card as needed. Most of the goals for this week are very useful and practical - basic, "square one" stuff that I should be doing all the time. Some people may find it redundant, but I needed the reminders. For example, one of the goals is to get 7 hours of sleep a night. No, I don't, but I am keeping track of it this week and actively working on getting more and better sleep. Two of the more challenging goals are to well, make goals, and to eliminate negative "energy drainers" in my life, including unhealthy relationships and clutter and unfinished projects. I kind of feel like if I could do all that in a week, I would be the one writing the book, but I appreciate the direction she's taking, starting with taking care of the reader herself before worrying about where to file receipts. That's nice.

I don't anticipate doing everything in the whole book, and I won't bore you to tears with tales from my sock drawer, but I will let you know my overall opinion of this book over time. There are SO many resources out there that it's a relief to find a really good one. I'm hoping this is one of them!

Namaste'

The Lost Art of the RSVP

Our family hosts several large gatherings each year - a Beware of the Irish toga party in the spring, various birthday parties throughout the year, and other casual gatherings. These events usually involve weeks of planning and hundreds of dollars, both of which we gladly invest in the interest of giving our friends a good time. In recent years, however, we've noticed a disturbing, and perturbing, trend: no one RSVPs anymore. I mean, NO ONE.

R.S.V.P. is short for Re'pondez-vous, s'il vous plait, which is French for "please reply". You don't have to speak French to recognize those letters and act on them! Failing to let your host know if you can attend their event or not is exceedingly rude, and will likely insure that you won't be invited to future events. Think of it this way: If you were talking to your host face to face, and he said, "Would you care to join us for Yahtzee on Saturday evening?", would you walk off without a word, leaving him standing there wondering what the heck is wrong with you? Of course not, but failing to RSVP to any invitation is doing just that. Your host is trying to give you a gift - their event. Without an RSVP from everyone invited, your host can't calculate how much food to have, if he needs to buy or borrow extra gear, or whether to bother throwing the party at all!

Some people claim confusion about the various forms of invitations as their excuse for not responding, but this article will answer any questions you may have. When you RSVP upon receiving an invitation, you can immediately schedule that event in your planner, schedule any preparations, such as buying a gift or having an outfit dry cleaned, and start looking forward to the event. Your host will be grateful for your prompt reply and look forward to your company. It's a win-win situation. So dig through your inbox, your fridge magnets, and anywhere else you may have stashed a pending invitation or two, and RSVP now. Then enjoy your busy social life!

Gotta Love the First

I recently read that it's best to begin a new exercise routine on a Monday because Mondays are a fresh start, you're (relatively) well-rested from the weekend, and if you mess up, another Monday is right around the corner. Not bad logic, if you ask me! I feel the same way about the First of each month. The First is like a Monday "fresh start", but for bigger projects. It's also an opportunity to take care of all those little things that I'd forget if I didn't do them on the same day every month. Here are a few of the thing that make my First list.

*Update my planner. I use a paper planner, so on the First I take out the oldest month and add one for future planning. I save all my old planner pages in storage sleeves for reference.
*Give the pets their monthly medications, like heart worm and flea & tick prevention.
*Plan the next month's budget. Actually, I try to do this before the First. I think of the First as the final deadline for the monthly budget.
*Review my annual goals. If I see any that I've been neglecting, this is when I try to commit to work on it more in the coming month.
*Clean the inside of the dishwasher, the garbage disposal, the detergent tray in the washing machine, the lint trap in the dryer, clean out the fridge, etc... Once you get in the habit of cleaning these things once a month, you'll never have one of those days when you walk in the door and wonder, "What died in here?" again.

Are any of these tasks monumental? No, not at all. In fact, I could probably go a month or two without doing them, but I wouldn't be happy about it. I like starting out the month clean and organized and in control of my home and life. I just like having all my ducks in a row. Or maybe, rabbits. Years ago, I was taught to start every month by saying, "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!" before anything else, for good luck. I have no idea where it came from, but perhaps that's really the most important routine of every First for me. Whether it's blind superstition or balancing the books, the First is all about getting into that "fresh start" state of mind.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy & safe Fourth of July!

Stop Multitasking!

What? This woman is off her rocker. I can't get it all done now, so how the heck am I going to get anything at all done if I don't multitask?

Relax. I'm only suggesting you stop multitasking for a few minutes. Then you can go right back to doing a bunch of different things at once, I promise.

The problem is that we all have so many responsibilities and commitments to tackle. Without a clear view of the big picture and a good game plan, we spend our days burning all our time and energy on the wrong things, and in the end, we lose. Have you ever set aside a whole day to "finally clean up this mess", only to find yourself farther behind than ever the next morning? How many books have you started this year? How many have you actually finished? And how many years in a row have your New Year's Resolutions looked pretty much the same because you never have the time to take on the big goals?

In college we were all looking forward to making it to 27 so we could simply outlive Jim, Jimi and Janis. Now, though, with 27 long behind me, I really need a greater sense of purpose and accomplishment in my life to feel fulfilled. The transition into parenthood can be particularly hard on people who found a great deal of personal satisfaction in their work, and now find themselves home alone with someone who doesn't even sit up, let alone converse. I've personally been a SAHM, WAHM, and working mom myself at different times, so I know each situation affects the other aspects of my life in unique ways. How does it affect you? Why did you choose the life you're living at present? Do you enjoy your work, in or out of the home? How do you feel at the end of the day? How does your family feel?

Admittedly, those are some daunting introspective questions, probably not easily or honestly answered in just a few minutes. Baby steps, baby steps... Try sitting down somewhere quiet with your resolutions and your planner for just a few minutes. Turn off the phone, shut the door, stay up just fifteen extra minutes and compare your aspirations to actual days. If you don't have a planner or haven't written down your goals, just jot down two lists on a blank piece of paper: Someday, and Today. Now pick one thing, just one, from your goal/someday list that you really truly want to accomplish and could actually do so in a few months if you could find the time. What about that photography class you want to take? Or that IRA you've been meaning to set up for years? Now trade one thing on your daily/today list with that one thing from your goal/someday list. You've just made something important to you part of your real life.

You may also notice that there are a few other things you do every day that aren't really necessary, like taking out the trash every single day. Is it really full every single day? Probably not, especially if you recycle. How many hours a day do you spend online or watching tv? Both are enjoyable luxuries (especially now that you've found my blog), but treat yourself to only the best that each has to offer and limit your "mindless" time. Cross off one or two things for good and you've just bought yourself some breathing room each week.

There. In fifteen, maybe thirty minutes you just reorganized your priorities, eliminated several things that were wasting your precious time and started working toward meaningful personal goals. Who knew you were so powerful? I did. After all, you're a mom.