As a music educator in Massachusetts, I taught in five different schools, sometimes all in the same day. I needed to be able to organize all my belongings and my schedule to make sure that I arrived at the correct school at the correct time to teach the correct type of class or lesson. I also needed to have grades sheets and comments ready for each student on a moment’s notice in case there was ever a discrepancy with a student. Currently, I am the Concert Coordinator, Building Facilitator and Recruiting Assistant at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University. My job requires me to be available to all of the 40 plus faculty members and nearly 400 students every day to adjust the daily schedule, collect program information, answer questions about the building, meet with prospective students and much, much more. With so many facets to the job, I not only need to be organized myself--but I need to help a school full of busy students and faculty members stay organized as well.

The funny thing is that I am very good at what I do, but 10 years ago I would never have been able to do either of these jobs. I used to feel like my brain went blank when I came up against anything that needed to be organized. If a school assignment was too complicated, I couldn’t do it. If my room was a mess, I couldn’t clean it. If I needed to keep track of money, or an important document, I always lost it. I felt like I was just wandering through my life as a spectator or that I was lost in a fog. I felt like I had no control over my own destiny.

Then one day, as a freshman in college, I decided I was tired of feeling this way. Little by little, I started evaluating why I couldn’t seem to get it together. I started to learn about myself, and how I operated. I started creating little rules and tricks to help myself. Step by step, I started to come out of the fog and take control of my life.