Table of Contents
Praise for Marilyn Pauls Its Hard to Make a Difference When You Cant Find Your Keys
A book to help you organize and clarify your inner life, and not just your desk. A unique, rich, and unusually practical bookdare to read it.
William Isaacs, author of Dialogue and The Art of Thinking Together
In the midst of the hecticness and anxieties that define living for so many today, we all need a quiet place to stand. Marilyn Pauls book shows how that place can be our office, our home or even the way we go about our everyday affairs. Who would have thought that the mess that is my desk could be a vehicle for deep personal learningabout myself as well as about how to be more effective in the world?
Peter Senge, Founding Chair, Society for Organizational Learning and author of The Fifth Discipline
The thinking persons solution to chronic disorganization. Paul grounds her seven-step path to becoming truly organized in a thoughtful examination of the complex reasons why disorganization is costly and yet why it can be so difficult to change.
The New Leaf Newsletter
Disorder can seriously damage self-confidence, relationships, and your reputation. It results from the conscious and unconscious choices we make, and willpower alone will not get us out of it. We need to look at the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual issues related to how we organize our lives.... Its Hard to Make a Difference When You Cant Find Your Keys is a superb resource packed with sound advice and a holistic sense of organization.
Spirituality & Health magazine
Too many advice books drop us at the doorstep of change and leave us stranded. Marilyn Paul walks us through the door and helps us make sense of whats on the other side.
Douglas Stone, coauthor of Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Marilyn Pauls approach to healing disorganization is a wonderful balance between the practical and the spiritual. If clutter and disorganization are suffocating your spirit, you must read this book!
Cheryl Richardson, author of Stand Up for Your Life and Take Time for Your Life
A brilliant, provocative, and profound book. Marilyn Paul delves deeply into human nature as she discusses organization, and she offers remedies for the disorganized that respect ones intelligence as well as uniqueness. Her approach is innovative and totally convincing. This book goes far beyond all that has previously been written on this subject. A wonderful book that I am using in my own life and recommending to my friends as well as patients.
Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of Driven to Distraction and The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness
Marilyn Paul has managed not only to uncover the secrets to becoming organized, but perhaps even more miraculously she has been able to convey this information in a way that anyone can follow in her new book, Its Hard to Make a Difference When You Cant Find Your Keys. Knowing where everything is, or your stuff is will help you save time, reduce stress, and stop beating yourself up.
Cherie Carter Scott, Ph.D., author of If Life Is a Game, These Are the Rules and Negaholics
Marilyn Paul has transformed organizing into a path of growth for the adventurous soul. Her empathic and creative work shows how the messes of everyday life are an intrinsic part of deepening ones spiritual path. Its Hard to Make a Difference is a must-read for people seeking to bring more of their true selves to light.
Marc Gafni, author of Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment
For teams and workgroups, disorganization disrupts communication and undermines moraleand makes it just plain difficult to get things done the right way and on schedule. Marilyn Pauls unique (and totally engaging!) insights into how to create great team performance will be of value to any organization. No more chasing our tails fixing things in ways that cause more chaos!
Ginny Wiley, President, Pegasus Communications, Inc.
Its Hard to Make a Difference is a well-honed and practical tool for organizing all aspects of life. This book serves as a benchmark for, even while it transcends, the category of self help. Paul shows us how our approaches to organization serve as a window into our bedrock values and identities, reflecting the most fundamental aspects of how we choose to engage the world. She proves an expert guide through the territory of change, allowing us to move past the exhortations and the guilt to personal choice and productive action.
Russell Eisenstat, coauthor of The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal
Based on her work with a broad spectrum of managers and professionals, Marilyn Paul helps readers confront two hard and often denied facts about our own disorder: the chaos we create is more stressful than creative; and it wreaks havoc on the lives of our family, friends, and coworkers. By showing us the way back into a world of calmness and order, she gives readers a great giftthe freedom to be truly creative and effective.
Robin J. Ely, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School
Working parents need to be organized in order to balance all the demands of their busy lives. The approach in Its Hard to Make a Difference When You Cant Find Your Keys can help busy parents transform their chaos into purposeful effectiveness. I highly recommend this valuable resource.
Linda Mason, Chair and Co-founder of Bright Horizons Family Solutions and author of The Working Mothers Guide to Life
ITS HARD TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU CANT FIND YOUR KEYS
Marilyn Paul has a Ph.D. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from The Johnson School at Cornell. She has been a consultant, workshop leader, and coach for twenty-five years. She and her husband, David Peter Stroh, co-founded Bridgeway Partners to help clients improve their ability to work together to accomplish meaningful results. Their approach combines individual development and organizational change with a strong emphasis on the four levels of human experience: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Their many clients include New Balance, Pfizer, the National Urban League, the Home for Little Wanderers, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Johnson & Johnson, Shell, and Jobs for the Future.
Marilyn began creating her seven-step method for personal and organizational change over twelve years ago and speaks frequently on the topics of personal growth, leadership development, managing workload, and improving work and home life. She can be reached by e-mail at marilyn@bridgewaypartners.com, or visit her Web site at www.marilynpaul.com. You can also visit the Bridgeway Partners Web site at www.bridgewaypartners.com.
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