Meet Rachael Ansar | Professional Organizer and Productivity Consultant & Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachael Ansar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachael, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Since starting a family it’s been very difficult accepting and finding a work life balance. It was something I didn’t really think about until it happened. It was actually a little bit of a slap in the face when I realized it made more financial sense to stay at home, put my career on hold and manage my family while my husband continued his work.

While I was a stay-at-home mum, I decided I wasn’t going to allow the (expensive system of sending your children to daycare/preschool) to be an obstacle in reaching my goal of opening up my own business in productivity. I couldn’t exactly let this challenge be the reason to prevent me in becoming a master coach/consultant in time management and streamlining personal or business processes. The realization that I was the only person responsible for my success only made me more determined in succeeding.

My resolution in finding a balance with family and developing my passion (at the same time) became a focus I was not willing to give up. Luckily, I read a book called ‘Essentialism’ by Greg McKeown that supported my journey in achieving my goal. His insightful knowledge gave me the permission to only accept what was “essential” in my pursuit to managing my family, building a business (I thought I could only dream of) and allow myself to let go of the rest without feeling any guilt.

What should our readers know about your business?
I have 25+ years experience in business management and training/education. So starting my professional organizing and productivity business was a natural progression of collaborating all those skills. During those 25+ years I have enjoyed working closely with people who struggle with disorganization/focus (many symptoms familiar with ADHD/ADD). Personally, I have learned to overcome my own challenges relating to ADHD/ADD and can now use some of those skills to leverage my ability and success to reach my short to long term goals.

Exploring what challenges people in changing their habits to become successful in managing and organizing their professional or personal lives is the most rewarding and exciting task I can ever do. I truly understand the pitfalls of being disorganized and overwhelmed with daily tasks or projects. However, there are some simple practices that individuals can learn in order to avoid that overwhelmed feeling. Once those habits become integrated with a person’s daily activities, my clients can become excellent at recognizing what triggers that feeling of ‘overwhelm’ and prevent it from effecting their daily activities in the future.

My mission is to support my clients in reaching their goal of becoming more organized and productive personally/professionally. By helping my clients explore their existing habits that no longer support their goals and exploring the solutions and habits that help accomplish their desired goal. I support the implementation and practice of identified solutions and habits into the daily lives of my clients and celebrate their achievements.

Clients that I have worked with in the past are typically small business owners who are struggling to keep up with their work flow and feel like it is hindering overall growth in what they do professionally. Decluttering, organizing and filtering emails, time and task management, CRM and password management are some of the most popular projects that clients like to streamline in order to be more productive with their time and processes.

The most impactful changes I have made to my own work processes, is working on projects in smaller increments (in the past I always had the attitude to knock something out in one go to get it done – this would lead me to burnout much more quickly and I’d be too tired to do anything else). Turning off all my notifications on my laptop and mobile phone prevents distraction during work hours and family time, and makes me feels a little more in control of my time. These are just small adjustments in my daily life that I recognize as probably the most impactful – giving me back more time that was once wasted.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take them to downtown Denver and hire a couple of scooters from ScooTours Denver. We would then enjoy the ride to Golden, have lunch at The Golden Mill (where there’s lots of different food vendors to choose from) then ride back to Denver to return the scooters.

A meal at the Flagstaff House in Boulder would be an expensive treat (eating up a huge amount of pocket money!). However, the whole experience is truly amazing. The food, the wine pairing, the service and the view is unbelievable. It’s rare to find somewhere like this place.

The Michael Garman Museum and Gallery in Colorado Springs is amazing to visit. Michael was a local sculptor. His work is extraordinary. In the museum you can walk around and explore a miniature city that he created. The level of detail in his work will blow your mind. It’s definitely worth a trip!

A weekend stay at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, CO. Built in 1893, it has so much charm and history and right across the street is Glenwood Hot Springs. Such a great place to take a dip and relax.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
While being a stay-at-home mom for almost 10 years, my professional goals seemed a little hazy. I struggled to find the clarity I needed to make a plan and run with it. My confidence was at an all-time low. I stumbled across Emily Rogers (Life Coach and owner of The Leap to Lead) on Instagram. I enrolled on one of her 10 week coaching courses that provided me with all the promises I wanted to hear. I was desperate to have direction in my life. During those few weeks Emily challenged my habits, thoughts and struggles that were preventing me from recognizing my professional goals. After many weeks working with her, I was able to rebuild my confidence and develop a plan to launch my own business. I feel like I have accomplished a dream far beyond my expectations, all thanks to Emily!

The books that keep me motivated and have positively influenced my life and profession, are “Essentialism’ and ‘Effortless’ by Greg McKeown, and ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. McKeown is a mastermind when it comes to identifying what is essential in accomplishing our goals. At the same time, he empowers us to unapologetically let go of the things in our lives that may be hindering our ability to reach our goals. Clear provides us with a deeper understanding of how to introduce new habits into our lives in order to promote the ‘change’ needed for success. As a mom/wife and a business owner, its definitely a challenge to be constantly managing different hats in order to keep up. However, how we deal with these ‘challenges’ and what we learn from them, only makes us better!

Last year, a good friend of mine Melanie Booher (President & Chief Creative Officer at People First, President at Influence Network Media, Author and owner of MB Consulting Solutions), invited me to write a chapter for a book (Phoenix Style: Stories to Ignite Your Entrepreneurial Spirit) she was working on with her hybrid publishing company. Initially I resisted as this was something completely outside my comfort zone! However, I knew this was a rare opportunity that could only enrich my career goals and contribute to an exciting direction I was heading with my business. With the help of her amazing team of writing mentors and editors, I had such amazing time during the whole process and definitely consider it an accomplishment I am proud of.

My sister-in-law Dawn Banks (professionally known as Dawn Lanceley) is a woman that never stops learning and achieving. I’ve known her for at least a decade and I’m still learning some amazing things about her. Her experiences are so extensive and varied she is like a human search engine. She has an answer for everything. Dawn’s views about the world are always so informed and objective, it’s like having Oprah Winfrey married to my brother. She is always such a positive influence and guide in my life. Her counseling skills never fail to challenge the way I think about the world. I am so lucky to have her in my life.

I recently had the opportunity to work on the Board for NAPO (National Association for Productivity and Organizing professionals) in Colorado. I worked with Kate Hufnagel (Professional Organizer and owner of The Digital Wrangler) who was also a member of the Board. Working with her was a great experience. Her work ethic was so inspiring, She was always so respectful when communicating with others and could turn around any situation in order to get the most favorable outcome. Thankfully, we continue to be friends as we work hard to build our businesses within the world of professional organizing and productivity.

I truly believe Stephanie Simpson’s (Coach, Speaker, Consultant) quote, ‘Surround yourself with people that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel, energies are contagious.”.

Website: monkeypuzzlesolutions.com

Instagram: instagram.com/in/monkey.puzzle.solutions, instagram.com/in/rachaelansar

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaelansar

Facebook: facebook.com/monkeypuzzlesolutions, facebook.com/rachaelansar

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