We are living in some chaotic times, which makes it especially challenging to stay positive. But that is exactly when you need it the most. Enter your Reticular Activating System (RAS), a part of your brain that brings whatever you are focusing on to the forefront of your awareness. In this quick video, I share some tips for using your RAS as a way to hardwire your brain to look for positive messages. Try it! It's a simple but powerful tool.

In this quick video, I share my No Negative Self Talk Rule. Language is powerful and you need to make sure that the messages you send to yourself aren't always deflating ones. Learn to rephrase your language to more positive messages. Explore what's at the core of your negative talk, and try to combat it before it leaves your lips.

These are some strange times! Who would have ever thought we’d be hunkered down at home, all trying to get work done, tend to our families, stay safe and healthy, while watching (and stressing about!) a global crisis?
As a productivity consultant, I’m paying close attention to the way my clients, colleagues, and friends are handling this unique time. You might be experiencing difficulty staying focused and productive right now while working from home. While some of you may be the opposite and getting more done than ever! And others may need to just chill out right now and give yourself a free pass to do much much less.

Whatever your situation, I want to help! So I teamed up with my college pal, David Sarnoff, who is a leadership coach, and we made a video with tips and strategies for staying productive during this difficult time (with some additional tips on how to effectively lead a team and treat coworkers with compassion right now).

I hope that you find the information useful!

Harvest Your Potential in Business by Creating Your Purpose and Living Your Passion: The 6 Pillars of Powerhouse Success

Are you ready to create a thriving business that fits into your personal life, and allows you to tap into your unique brilliance? In this entertaining and engaging keynote recorded for the Brazilian Professional Organizers Conference in 2016 (with Brazilian Portuguese captions), Lisa delivers a full spectrum of motivating, inspiring, and applicable techniques to transform your business. Based on her signature system, The 6 Pillars of Powerhouse Success, this presentation provides actionable steps and a-ha moments. Filled with innovative content, you will learn how to create your purpose and live your passion, while enjoying a profitable and productive business. Get ready to dream big, stake your claim, and create the future for you and your business that you desire and deserve.

Most of us want to be more productive and focused. We want to get more done in less time, and work smarter, as opposed to harder. But we also live in the real world, where we have responsibilities, to-do’s piling up, people relying on us, and a laundry list of tasks that we want to get to.

So how do you stay productive and focused, while also giving yourself a break now and then? Enter the Pomodoro Technique.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo (yes, an Italian, hence the name, which means tomato in Italian) in the late 1980s. The premise behind the Pomodoro Technique is that taking short, scheduled breaks while working eliminates burn out and distractions, and improves focus.

So how does it work? Watch this quick video to learn how.

Are you grappling with whether to move forward with something? Having a hard time making a decision? Enter the Fear vs Excitement exercise! In this quick video, I share tips to weigh Fear versus Excitement so you can decide if you are ready to move forward with a project or decision. Fear is a natural emotion that we all feel at times, and it can keep us safe when facing danger or something that we are ill prepared for. Fear can prompt us to do more research when embarking on a new venture, and it can serve as the impetus for better planning. But fear can sometimes also stop us dead in our tracks, serving as a barrier to personal and professional growth. Is there a happy medium? Yes! Let's look at how to find that balance.

Often when we are getting ready to start a large or long-term project, we start trying to Clear the Decks to get smaller tasks and projects out of the way so we can fully focus on the bigger one. Clear the Decks is great in small contained doses! But if left unchecked, it can become a form of procrastination, albeit one that feels productive. We need to set boundaries around our Clear the Decks efforts. In this quick video, I share some tips on how to manage Clear the Decks as an effective productivity hack.

A coaching challenge to help you overcome limiting beliefs. There are lots of limiting beliefs rearing their ugly heads right now. Been working with some of my individual coaching clients on this topic. Thought I’d put a quick video together and share with all of you. Feel free to share a limiting belief that is coming up for you in the comments below! Hopefully you can use this exercise to help you work through it. Visit LisaMontanaro.com for more info.

http://Smead.com/podcast Sress-Free Organizing - Keeping You Organized 250. On this episode, Success Coach and Productivity Consultant Lisa Montanaro discusses decision-making, indecisiveness, and why it's important to make a decision, even if it may be the wrong one.

Keynote in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Brazilian Professional Organizers Conference in 2016.

In this keynote, Lisa reveals smart branding, marketing, and networking strategies for business owners. Hear about the mistakes most business owners make and how to avoid them. Learn to establish power partnerships with other businesses, the media, and networking groups. Covers how to develop an elevator speech, a Unique Selling Proposition, and a tag line that captures your business brand.

Visit http://www.lisamontanaro.com/napo-charlestonbootcamp/ for details and registration. Hope to see you there!

Visit www.KickButtBusinessBootcamp.com for details and registration. Hope to see you there!

Go to http://www.lisamontanaro.com/napo-chicagobootcamp/ for details and registration. Would love to see you there!

How would you like to be a fly on the wall during a business consulting session? This interactive learning opportunity will feature role plays of a business consultant and client in action. Learn the process of business consulting, including gathering information, active listening skills, asking probing questions, reframing, evaluating, problem solving, and offering customized solutions. Discover your peer’s business challenges while also gaining business consulting process skills to use with your clients in the future.

Objectives:
1) Learn about business challenges that other attendees are facing that are selected for role plays during the session.
2) Watch several role plays of a business consulting spotlight session and learn about the various stages, skills, and steps involved.
3) Have the opportunity to ask questions of the business consultant about the underlying subject matter of the challenges presented, as well as the business consulting process.
4) Be given the opportunity to practice business consulting skills with a partner or with the presenter.
5) Gain confidence in your business based on the challenges presented and solutions offered, as well as confidence in business consulting skills to use with clients in the future.

http://Smead.com/podcast Life Hacks: How to Get More Hours Out of Your Day - Keeping You Organized Podcast 106. In this episode of the Keeping You Organized Podcast, Professional Organizer Lisa Montanaro discusses how to get more hours out of your day by adjusting small things in your daily routine.

Assista à entrevista de Lisa Montanaro sobre o mercado de personal organizer nos EUA e entenda como ela fez uma carreira de sucesso nesta área.

Você já se inscreveu para o Personal Organizer Brasil 2015?

Participe do maior evento para profissionais de organização do Brasil e amplie o seu conhecimento para crescer neste mercado. Acesse o site www.personalorganizerbrasil.com.br

NAPO 2016 Conference Session in Atlanta, GA, Presented by Lisa Montanaro.
What's Next: Planning an Effective Business "Exit Strategy"
When will your business come into maturity? Reap the benefits of your investment of time, energy, and finances and funnel it into a well thought out exit strategy. We will cover selling your business/portions of it, licensing/selling your intellectual property, creating do-it-yourself services, having employees or independent contractors run your business, obtaining a position as an "in-house organizer" for an organization, engaging in a complete career change, or simply retiring. Case studies will be presented of organizers that have taken various paths with their business once ready to move on. This session is perfect for a veteran organizer wondering what's next, but also for beginner and intermediate organizers who want to think ahead and have a game plan laid out for the different ways that their business can eventually mature.

Everyone knows someone who works full time, volunteers, runs a successful blog, and somehow still finds time to go grocery shopping, cook organic Instagram-worthy meals, foster a loving relationship, walk his or her adorable Boston terrier, and, oh — train for a half marathon. These kinds of “super-achievers” have the same number of hours in the day as the rest of us, but somehow, they always seem to get more done. How do they do it? Lisa Montanaro is here today to offer some tips to help you utilize those hours effectively. As seen on http://fox40.com/

http://smead.com/Director.asp?NodeId=... Replay from our Live March 10, 2015 Organizer411 event.

http://Smead.com/podcast Crazy Busy is Not A Badge of Honor - Keeping You Organized Podcast Episode 070. In this episode of Keeping You Organized, Certified Professional Organizer Lisa Montanaro tells us why we shouldn't be proud of the fact we are so busy.

Trailer for my presentation for the Los Angeles Area Legal Recruiters Association on January 13, 2015.

Stop bragging about being “crazy-busy” and start getting things done! Time is one of our most precious resources. Yet we battle daily to make the best use of it. This presentation addresses how to get more done in less time with less stress by maximizing your productivity and setting priorities. Learn to pinpoint where you need to take control. Improve your comprehension and focus and more effectively perform when juggling people, paper, and priorities. Topics Include: self-assessment, tools of time management, how to say no, project lists and to-do lists, conquering procrastination, the myth of multi-tasking, and dealing with interruptions.

Lisa Montanaro is a lawyer turned productivity consultant who helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs and professionals be more focused and effective. Since 2002, thousands of people have benefited from her onsite sessions, virtual distance coaching, online group coaching programs, productivity keynotes and workshops, and corporate consulting projects. To find out more about Lisa's speaking, coaching and consulting programs, as well as her books and multi-media products, visit LisaMontanaro.com.

NAPO 2015 Pre-Conference Session
A brand is a vital part of a business. It is your responsibility to create and promote your brand. Conduct a Personal Brand Audit and learn how to showcase your brand for maximum impact. Discover your Unique Selling Proposition, and convey what you do in a way that grab's people's attention and makes them want to know more. Learn what makes you and your business unique, and how to reach your Target Market and Ideal Client. Craft your Elevator Pitch, which is an expression of who you are, what makes you stand out, and why others will want to work with you. Practice your pitch, and discover how to tailor it to different recipients and situations. Create your Brand Impact Plan for the future.

1) Determine what your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is.
2) Identify your Target Market and/or Ideal Client.
3) Develop a list of Qualifying Questions in order to ensure that you are accessing your Target Market/Ideal Client.
4) Conduct a Brand Audit and create a Brand Impact Plan.
5) Learn about a clever and creative model for crafting an elevator pitch that gets attention and explains what you do, who you do it for, and what results and benefits you bring.
6) Practice your Elevator Pitch in a safe and supportive environment.

It’s so important for organizers to know what makes them unique and stand out from their peers so they can highlight that in their marketing. As a business coach to organizers, I see so many organizers that don’t know who their target market is, what their brand is and how to showcase it to the world. I will help attendees tap into their Unique Selling Proposition, create a brand that shines and feels authentic, and then teach you an easy, fun, clever and creative model for creating an elevator pitch. These are skills you need to learn and have ready in order to effectively market your business.

NAPO 2015 Conference Concurrent Session
It's time to talk money! So many business owners bury their heads in the sand when it comes to money and pricing. In order to be profitable in business, you must overcome money mindset issues so that you value your services and charge what you are worth, develop and implement an effective pricing strategy, and make sure that it is a good match for your business model, market and income needs. Learn how to overcome price objections, and figure out whether to engage in bartering, discounts and pro bono offerings. Discover how to implement policies, such as deposits and retainers, that may help you stop leaving money on the table. If you want to know about all things money, this is the session for you!

Learning Objectives:
1) Overcome money mindset issues that may be holding you back from charging the value of your services.
2) Learn of different pricing strategies that can be used.
3) Weigh the pros and cons of different pricing strategies against your business model, market, income needs, etc.
4) Dealing with, and overcoming, price objections from prospects & clients.
5) Figure out whether to engage in bartering, discounts and pro bono offerings.
6) Learn about different policies, such as deposits and retainers, that may help you stop leaving money on the table.

As a business coach to organizers, I have a front line view of pricing strategies that organizers decide on and implement when running a business. So many business owners bury their heads in the sand and have no idea what is coming in or going out of the business. It is impossible to determine profitability if you don’t know what it costs to run your business. Organizers need to know that they can be profitable if they value their services, develop and implement an effective pricing strategy, and make sure that it is a good match for their business model and market. I will include extensive research and models/case studies without giving actual rates/prices to make sure there are no inadvertent violations of the anti trust laws but while still giving organizers a lot of vital information on pricing that often gets overlooked.