Totah-ly Organized

What Should I Put Here?

2012-01-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

Tiny drawers in an old desk, a shallow cupboard in the kitchen, a recessed well under the stairs - these are all places that clients have pointed out to me and asked, "What should I put here?" I'm as clueless as they are about what should go in those spaces. They're asking the wrong question. It shouldn't be, "What should I put here?" Instead, we need to ask, "What do I need to keep?"

The point of getting organized is not to store as much as possible within our space. The point of getting organized is to function better and feel more at peace within our space.

We start with figuring out how we want our space to serve us. What are the goals and activities we want to pursue? What items do we want in our lives? Once we have determined what we need to keep, then we can think about where to keep it. The tiny drawers in the desk could be a fabulous spot, or maybe not. They might just sit empty, and that's okay.

The "P" in S-P-A-C-E

2011-11-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Many organizers follow the same basic process, but Julie Morgenstern articulates it brilliantly in her classic book, Organizing from the Inside Out. When I get overwhelmed or stuck, I still fall back on Julie's S-P-A-C-E formula: Sort, Purge, Assign a Home, Containerize, Equalize. I teach clients the same thing, always crediting Julie, of course; but I assign a slightly different meaning to the "P." Instead of "purge," I like to "personalize" and "place perspective."

After sorting and taking stock of our possessions, we need to figure out what they mean to us in the context of our lives. We need to ask ourselves: Do these items deserve to be in my life? How much importance do they merit? How much energy am I willing to expend on storing these items and caring for them? Are they an accurate reflection of the person I am striving to be? Do they make me feel good? Do they make my life easier? Do they help me to achieve my goals? Our answers will help us to know what we need to do with our stuff, and will lead us into the next step of Assigning a Home.

Asking the Right Questions about Clutter and Hoarding

2011-08-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

With the popularity of the hoarding shows on cable TV, I've heard a lot of people express concern because they can identify with the reasoning of the people who hoard. Just like the people on TV, they save their items because they have sentimental value; they may come in handy some day; they're unique; or it would be environmentally irresponsible to put them in the landfill. In fact, people who hoard keep things for the exact same reasons as people who don't hoard.

So if it troubles you that you can identify with the people on the TV shows, that alone may not be cause for concern. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Am I having trouble maintaining my possessions? Do I have sufficient storage and am I able to keep track of what I have and get access to it when I need it?

Are my possessions overtaking functional areas of my home? Am I able to sit on the couch, have dinner at the table, sleep in my bed, take a shower?

Have my possessions overtaken my ability to engage in hobbies that I enjoy, either because I no longer have the space or I can't find my supplies?

Am I isolating myself socially because I don't want people to see how I am living?

Are my possessions causing tension in my relationships with my family and loved ones?

Do I put off having maintenance done on my home because my things are in the way?

If my home were on fire, could I reach the nearest exit in any room in the house?

Is the weight of my possessions causing structural damage to my home?

Does the volume of my possessions make it difficult to keep my home clean?

Do I feel unhappy and overwhelmed when I think about all my possessions?

Do I avoid my home because my possessions are too overwhelming?

The problem with hoarding isn't your rationale for keeping things. It's the degree of interference in your life that you're willing to tolerate, in order to avoid letting go. If your answers to these questions trouble you, now is a good time to consider making some changes.

Hoarding is a progressive disorder, meaning that it gets worse over time. If you have concerns that you have hoarding tendencies, it's best to take action as soon as you're aware of the potential problem. The International Obsessive Compulsive Foundation Hoarding Center website has links to excellent self-help books and a variety of web-based support groups. You can also enlist the help of non-judgmental friends and family, or a professional organizer (preferably one who belongs to the Institute for Challenging Disorganization). If your concerns still exist after trying these measures, it may be time to seek a therapist who is knowledgeable about hoarding and its treatment.

Stuck? Take a Break

2011-05-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

While working with a client the other day to organize important papers, I realized a paper was missing. I searched all over, checked all the logical places and several illogical places, more than once. Started to question myself. Maybe I hadn't seen that paper? Maybe I was getting the dates mixed up?

Then my watch beeped. Time to move the car. (Here in San Francisco, lots of neighborhoods only have two hour parking). I took about 5 minutes to walk out into the fresh air, move the car, feel the wind on my face and get my heart pumping while I walked back up the hill to my client's apartment.

I walked back into the room and took one look in a pile that I had already checked twice. Of course, there it was. Right in front of me. Right there all along.

As someone who has a long attention span, I can work for long periods of time, but I've learned that working for long stretches is often counter-productive. I first noticed this when I had to work on a writing project and also had to get caught up on my laundry. To get all the laundry done, I was forced to get up every 45 minutes or so to throw in another load and deal with the load coming out of the dryer.

Each time the buzzer sounded on the dryer, I didn't feel like I needed a break. In fact, I felt like I was in "the zone" or on the cusp of a breakthrough and I was annoyed that I couldn't keep working; but then I started to notice something unexpected. Each time I came back from dealing with laundry, I had a burst of inspiration or suddenly saw solutions to problems that I was having with my project. Each break helped to propel me forward and I was able to accomplish an amazing amount of work.

The Pomodoro Technique is a popular time management technique that incorporates structured breaks into a cycle of work sessions. I haven't actually tried it, but I have my own system of making sure that I have to get up and take breaks: I just keep drinking lots of water. Keeps me hydrated and forces me to get up and take bio-breaks every hour or so.

Trying to work through a backlog of clutter or papers often makes us feel like we can't allow ourselves to stop until we're finished. All too often, we get stuck and decide that we're failures and incapable of doing the work, when maybe, all we need to do is to give ourselves a break. Try it!

Love Labels!

2011-04-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

The stereotype of the organizer with a label maker in her holster isn't too far from the truth. Labels make such a huge difference. Reading one or two words on the outside of a container helps our brains to figure out exactly what's inside, even if the contents are clearly visible.

But I think the biggest benefit of having labels is how they remind us to put things away. We see the label and it beckons us to take the extra three seconds and return items to their rightful homes. Labels remove the barrier of having to spend mental energy thinking about where things go, and suddenly an overwhelming task becomes easy.

Labels are helpful throughout the organizing process, not just on the final product. Use them to label bags and boxes for projects in progress, or while "test-driving" a new system. One of my favorite products is Post-it Label Rolls. They're perfect for those times when you're not ready for permanent labels, but you want something more durable than a sticky note. But no need to be a perfectionist; masking tape and a Sharpie will do just fine, too. (I don't receive any compensation for any products I mention.)

Struggling to get started on an organizing project? Don't think too much about it. Just pick a small area, sort your stuff, assign a home for each category, and label. You can get rid of obsolete items along the way, if you like. Tell me how it goes!

Can You Use a Body Double?

2011-03-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

I came across this article describing the use of body doubles. No, a body double isn't someone to stand in for you when you have your picture taken, at least not in this context. A body double is a person who stays present with you while you do tasks that you know how to do, but can't manage to do on your own.

Some people are embarrassed about needing a body double, because often it's the most "simple" of tasks that they just can't do without another person present. In my experience, mundane, tedious tasks can be some of the most challenging. Rest assured that you are not alone if you need extra support to do boring things like paperwork, filing, and sorting.

Body doubling seems like such a simple thing, but it can have a hugely powerful effect. I've worked with clients who were astounded at the amount of work they got done because I was merely present with them.

It also seems like it would be easy to be a body double, but it's not a skill that everyone does well. The body double has to be in sync with the person working, often without speaking. It's about tuning in and matching rhythms, sometimes setting a pace and modeling an effective work posture; at other times, just following along and exuding quiet support. Some people have a natural ability to do this, while others find it very difficult to hold back their own impulses to take charge of the work session.

Who can you recruit to act as a body double? Friends and family are often great choices, because they may already be in tune with you. A friendly acquaintance, such as a neighborhood teen or retired senior can also be surprisingly effective.

Here are some tips for preparing someone to be your body double:

explain that the idea is just to have a supportive presence in the room, not necessarily to lighten your work load
ask your body double to agree not to initiate conversation while you are working, unless you specifically request it
if you find that chatting helps keep you focused, ask your body double to keep the conversation light
give your body double a notepad in case he or she wants to jot down an idea without interrupting your work flow
experiment with different activities for your body double -- some may prefer the body double just sit quietly, while others prefer the body double do an activity that matches their own level of physical exertion
don't have your body double do an activity that you feel compelled to supervise

One step removed from body doubling is what I call a Virtual Support Person (VSP). The VSP doesn't have to be physically present with you. It can be anybody that you can check in with before, during and after your work session, who will be supportive of your efforts. Some people call this having an accountability partner.

Some people feel very overwhelmed or anxious about the work, or may not know how to get started. I had one client who told me that her stomach immediately got tied up in knots when she just looked at her mail. If this is true for you, it may be helpful to hire a professional organizer that enjoys working as a body double, but can also provide some extra support in helping you structure the work session in a way that decreases the anxiety and overwhelm you may be feeling. As you become more comfortable doing the work, you can gradually move towards lower levels of support.

I'd love to hear your experiences using a body double.

Sustaining Motivation to Get Organized

2011-02-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

My husband and I were discussing our favorite iPhone games. We narrowed it down to psycho-motor (requires hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills) vs. logic (requires sustained thinking). I much prefer logic games that don't have a time limit. I get easily frustrated at psycho-motor games, and often give up before I get good enough to develop any skill. There have been a few games, however, that gave me enough positive feedback that I was willing to stick with them long enough until I could really excel at the game.

It got me thinking about getting organized. Many of the people who contact me want to go from no skill to excelling, without taking the time to put in the practice. This just isn't realistic. I can't turn someone into an organized person in one or two quick sessions or by virtue of a new filing system. It's my job to make the learning curve tolerable, until my clients start to experience the thrill of doing well on their own. I'm usually pretty successful, but I'll admit, often I'm not sure what it is that I'm doing right.

I'm trying to zero in on what it is that keeps people engaged. What keeps you motivated during the early phases of learning a new skill, when basic competency, let alone mastery, feels like it will be impossible to achieve?

Time to Organize

2011-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, getting organized is not so much about developing the perfect system, as it is about setting aside the time to use the systems you've already got. Have you been waiting for your filing cabinet to automatically sort and file that stack of papers? Perhaps you're expecting your linen closet to suck the laundry out of the basket and fold and put away the sheets?

If you're feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of getting organized, sometimes it helps to focus on your time, instead of your space or your stuff. Start taking 10 - 20 minutes a day to just sit with your thoughts and contemplate being organized. Feel free to jot down notes, make lists or draw, as long as it relates to your organizing goals. Experiment with what time of day works best for you. Maybe you need to consolidate your time into one or two longer chunks per week. That's okay, too.

Once you are consistently spending at least ten minutes a day this way, start using that time to use the systems you have. File some papers. Put away the laundry. Update your address book. Declutter your bathroom vanity. Take note of what works well and what doesn't. Make adjustments, if you can.

Use that time as a foundation to start planning and developing new organizing systems where none exist. If you get stuck, ask friends or family for advice, or call an organizer.

For long term success, learning to take the time to maintain is critical, and it's a habit that you can start working on now, even if your systems aren't yet ideal.

Action Files - Remember to Take Action

2010-12-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, you've set up some boxes, trays, magazine files, or maybe even file folders to contain your action papers, which are those papers that you need to act on or refer to often. As beautiful as your system may look, it won't do a thing for you if you don't remember that it's there and if you don't take action on the papers within. This is a huge stumbling block for many of my clients. I have arrived at many a job where my clients and I have unearthed long forgotten action files.

Action files are the point where paper management intertwines with task management. You've kept the papers, but you need a system for doing the actual tasks they represent. It's all too easy to squirrel away the papers into your action files, and then completely forget about them, along with their attendant tasks.

I prefer a system with some built-in system redundancy, which means having more than one cue to remember to look at my action files and remember to act. It may seem less efficient in the short run, but it's much more efficient than missing deadlines, paying late fees and having people mad at you. I've listed several strategies that I frequently recommend. Find the ones that work best for you, and then use a combination of at least two or three for your high stakes tasks.

use neon colored paper to make an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sign saying "check me!" and attach it to your action file
put a sticky note on the coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, bathroom mirror, steering wheel, front door or wherever it will catch your eye. Ideally, do it in a location where you will immediately be able to go check the files or take care of the task once you see the note
put it on your daily To Do list to check your action files
as soon as you realize something is approaching the deadline, schedule time on your calendar to take care of it
once a week, sit down with your calendar, To Do list and action files at hand, and schedule your tasks for the week
send yourself email reminders
leave voice mails for yourself
use technology to schedule alarms and pop-up reminders
leave the paperwork in view. It can be on a magnet board, clipped to the front of your files, sticking up out of the file
ask one or more people to remind you
find an accountability partner that you can report to

You may not have a calendar. YOU MUST GET ONE!! I am open minded to the possibility that some system exists that allows people to keep track of their tasks and appointments without a calendar of some type; however, I have never been witness to such a thing. If you know of one, please tell me. In all my years of experimenting and researching across a variety of fields: time management, productivity, ADHD management, etc. I have never, ever, seen a time/task management system that doesn't have some type of calendar at its foundation. Assuming you are an independent adult living in a westernized society and interacting with other people, it is highly unlikely you are capable of remembering all the places you need to be and things you need to do, at all the right times. You need some type of external system for containing that information.

The type of calendar you choose should allow you to see more than one day at a time, so that you can also look ahead to upcoming events and obligations, and start preparing for them, at least mentally, if not physically. Ideally, it would also have a place to list your To Do items for the week or for each day, but this can be hard to find, especially if you use an electronic calendar. Whatever you do, choose something that appeals to your senses, so that you will want to use it. Use the strategies listed above to get in the habit of checking it and updating it regularly. Use your calendar as an integral component of planning how you will accomplish your To Dos.

I'd love to hear your successful strategies for managing action papers and their attendant tasks, or any particular pit-falls you may have.

Organizing Your Action Files

2010-11-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

So let's assume you're setting up some type of container(s) for your action files. These are your current papers that you want to keep easily accessible, because you will refer to them often or you need to take action on them. How will you organize those papers?

Let's start with the most basic of systems. A big box, labeled CURRENT PAPERS, or something to that effect, may be all you need. Just drop in the papers as soon as you realize they need to go into the action files. You'll have a rough sense of where things are in the pile, because new stuff will be on top. As crude as it may sound, a simple box like this can be a huge improvement for many who are challenged by paper. When you're asked to produce a piece of paper, you'll only have to look through one box, instead of multiple piles scattered all over the house. Don't be afraid to start with something as basic as this.

If you want something that is slightly more sophisticated, you may want to branch out to three boxes, or trays, or magazine files - any containers that are large enough to hold your volume of papers. Some possible labels are: ACT, for papers that require you to act; WAITING, for papers that require your attention, but only after something happens or somebody else acts first; and then FREQUENT REFERENCE, for papers you refer to often, such as schedules, take out menus or phone rosters.

Come up with whatever categories and labels make sense to you. The goal is to keep your choices very limited so you won't have to think too hard about anything. Yes, you will need to sort through more papers when you are trying to find something, but it will still be a big improvement over not having a clue where the paper could be. In addition, frequently sorting through your other papers will keep the memory of them fresh, so you'll feel confident knowing the papers are safe, and you'll have a rough idea where to find them when you need them.

To further refine these systems, add a container for receipts and a container for the papers that have already been acted on, but now need to be stored in a safe location. For example, the insurance policy, after you have paid the premium, or the kids' immunization records, after they were updated at a recent visit to the pediatrician. Label the container something like, "TO FILE," and then every month or so you can bring those papers to wherever you store long-term papers, and file them away. Okay, you're snickering over my suggestion that you have such a place. I know you probably don't, but let's just pretend for now. I'm trying to gently expose you to how a paper flow system might work, so it won't be too much of a shock to your system once you're ready to try and implement one.

If you think you're ready to get even more sophisticated, you can refine your categories further, but you still want to keep the choices limited. Here are the categories in my action file:

TO DO: bills, or anything that requires my action go here
EVENTS and ACTIVITIES: this is where I put flyers for different events I might like to attend, or tickets or invitations to events that I have already decided to attend.
RECEIPTS/EVENTUAL TOSS: receipts for items that are not tax deductible and don't have a warranty go here, but only until I'm outside the return period. Then I toss them. I also put copies of things like rebate submissions here. Once I get the rebate, I can toss the copies.
PENDING: These are items where I am waiting for something else to happen, or someone else to act, before I can do my part. I also put things here that I need to return to other people - I'm waiting until I have an opportunity to see the person.
REFERENCE: Phone rosters, take out menus, etc.
FAMILY MEMBERS (by name): I have a folder for each family member, so I can safely stash their stuff until I can give it to them.
CURRENT PROJECT (by name): This is where I put things when I am collecting information, perhaps for a project around the house or for upcoming travel. I label the folder according to whatever the project is.
TO FILE: Things that I have already dealt with. No further action is required, but I need to save the paper, either for tax documentation or some other legal or reference purposes. When this file gets fat, I take it upstairs to my file cabinet and file the papers. Because I have gone paperless with many bills and statements, I only need to do this two or three times a year.
TO SHRED: Things I need to shred. I do this when it gets fat, which is usually three or four times per year.

Categories are hard for a lot of people. The trick with categories for action files is that you want to focus on how you will use the paper. What will you do with it? Why are you keeping it? Look for the common themes of how the paper serves you. Don't worry if the subject matter is vastly different. For example, you might have a folder for upcoming events, and it might include the following: an invitation to a one year old's birthday party, theater tickets, a flyer for a lecture at the local university, the reminder card for your dentist appointment, and directions for your upcoming meeting with a new financial planner. The similar theme is that you're keeping all the papers because they provide details that will help you to attend certain events and activities.

Regardless of how detailed your action files are, it's important not to let them get cluttered up with obsolete, irrelevant papers. As you use your system, keep an eye out for items that are no longer current. Toss outdated schedules. Throw out invitations and flyers for events that have already taken place. Toss receipts once you're sure you won't be returning an item. Throw away product literature for items you have decided not to purchase. Throw out menus for restaurants that have gone out of business. Keep things current.

The most beautiful, well-thought out system will do nothing for you if you don't remember to look at it, so that will be my next topic. In the meantime, please share your questions or let me know what works best for you.

Containing your Action Files

2010-11-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Last time I discussed two variations of how action files are used - one is a tickler system that actually prompts the person to know what to do, and the other is a system that just serves as a holding zone for things that need action.

Most of the people that I work with would not do well with a tickler system. It requires too much forward thinking about dates and trusting oneself to look in the folder every day; but they like the idea of something that prompts them to act. They rely on external cues, because they fear they won't remember on their own. So I'm going to be discussing systems that serve as holding zones, but also provide some visual cues. Today, I'm discussing just the container itself. In future posts, I'll discuss how to organize the papers within the container, and then finally, better systems for remembering to take action on those papers, because visual cues alone often aren't enough.

Many people are convinced that "out-of-sight" means "gone forever," so I like systems that keep papers safe, but allow you to see enough of them so you can feel confident the papers aren't lost. Magazine files and stacking trays can work well. I prefer clear materials with wide openings, so they don't become black holes. Other options are desktop hanging files or a file sorter. Peter Walsh has a nice product line of clear, desktop filing supplies. En masse, his products might look a bit scary if you're organizationally challenged, but just take a few deep breaths and look at each item individually and let yourself get comfortable viewing them. By the way, I'm not affiliated with any of these companies and I receive no compensation for any of these product links. I just want to give you a sense of what I'm talking about.

To keep things visible when using opaque files, you can place the papers vertically, instead of horizontally, so the tops of the papers are visible sticking up out of the files. You can do this with all the papers, or only the most important (which is what I do).

I also like a system that allows for some papers to be fully left out and prominently visible, yet still safe. I use a binder clip to attach the things I'm prone to forgetting about to the outside front of my desktop file. A magnet board on the wall above your action files may be another good option, but keep it small and purge outdated papers often, so they don't become visual clutter.

I don't recommend you purchase supplies right away. Feel free to experiment with different things you already have on hand. But once you have a good sense of what type of product you want, then allow yourself to splurge, if necessary, to make it something you find appealing. Most office supply stores now offer designer lines of various products and files in attractive colors and prints. There are also many boutique companies that specialize in beautiful office supplies. Just do an internet search for "stylish office supplies," to get an idea of what's out there.

If you respond better to sentimental things, then use something from your home that has happy memories. A favorite serving tray or heirloom place mat can mark the space where your action files live. Or keep a family photo or favorite quote displayed adjacent to your files.

Natural products vs. sleek acrylics, neon brights vs. earth tones, kitschy country vs. upscale metropolitan... have fun and choose whatever it is that delights you. You will be much more inclined to use things you love.

Next time, we'll talk about categorizing those papers.

How Will Your Action File Serve You?

2010-10-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Does your action file tell you what to do, or is it more of a "holding zone," keeping all your papers safe until you are ready to act. When I work with clients on creating a system to manage current, active papers, this is one of the questions we discuss.

Some want a system that will remind them of what they need to do and keep all the pertinent papers safe and accessible. This works well only if they remember to check the system regularly. You may have heard of a tickler file, which files everything by the day of the month on which action is needed. You have to look at each day's folder, to find your action items.

One critical piece for success with a tickler file is being able to plan ahead. For example, let's say you receive a wedding invitation for November 28. If you place the invitation in the folder for November 28, quite possibly you will be caught without a wedding gift or clothes to wear when you look in that folder the morning of November 28. Instead, you might want to put the invitation in the folder for November 18, and write a note to yourself on the invitation to get a gift and make sure you have something appropriate to wear. You'll have to move the invitation forward each day until you accomplish those two tasks, and then you can set the invitation into the folder for the 28th, where it will be waiting for you on the big day.

The second type of system is one where the action file contains the papers, usually separated by category, but you maintain a separate system that will remind you of what it is that you need to do, and then you go retrieve the papers from your action file, when you are ready to act. Many use some version of a calendar or To Do list to prompt them about what it is they need to do, but others may depend on cues such as nagging from a spouse or threatening notices in the mail.

Using this type of system, like the tickler system, also requires some planning ahead. When you receive that wedding invitation, you'll need to think through the various tasks that you will need to accomplish in order to attend the wedding, and you'll need to make sure you have a system in place to prompt you to do those tasks.

Enough for today. This is just the underlying foundation of how action files can help to keep you organized. And for those of you who are organizationally challenged, just thinking about these ideas may be fairly mind bending. I'll give you some time to process this information, then be back later with what I find works best in the real world.

Where do I Put This?

2010-09-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Figuring out where to put things can be a real dilemma. This became clear to me several years ago, when a client asked me this question and my response was, "Where would you think to look for it?"

I was totally caught off guard when she answered, very sincerely, "The last place I saw it."

"Oh Caroline," I thought to myself, "you still have so much to learn."

So I have refined my question. Now I ask, "Where would you like to be able to find it?" This gets clients thinking about how and when their items are used, and we often discover that conventional organizing principles will serve us quite well.

Here are the conventional basics on where to store things:

Store items close to their point of use - the games close to the game table, the pans close to the stove, the bath towels close to the bath, etc.

A close cousin to the above, is to store things where you can put them away most easily. You may use your dishes at the dining room table, but it might be easiest to store them close to the dishwasher.

Store what you use most often in the most accessible spaces (usually between your hips and shoulders, and not hidden behind anything), and less-often used things in less accessible spaces

Store things in a space or container that roughly matches the size of the item. For example, don't place dozens of loose bottles of toiletries in a cavernous shelf in the linen closet; or don't try to wedge two thick pillows into one shallow dresser drawer.

Okay, but what if you are not conventional in your approach to organizing, and you are more of a visual-spatial person who looks for things where you last saw them? In that case, the challenge becomes keeping things visible, but not having an environment become so visually cluttered, that you can no longer see the distinct items.

Here are tips for those who wish to remain unconventional:

Use open shelves and shallow tables to give yourself lots of flat surfaces, without having to store things several layers deep.

Use visual markers for stacks of papers. Colored pieces of construction paper, inserted between groups of papers, can serve as landmarks for when you need to retrieve something.

Make sure your piles are stable and supported so that they don't fall into each other.

Keep traffic paths clear and wide. Don't store things on the floor, except perhaps for items like large suitcases that can be tucked away in a corner.

Keep functional surfaces clear so you can use them. Don't allow your stuff to encroach into spaces you need for sitting, eating, cooking, socializing, working, sleeping, pursuing hobbies, etc. If necessary, use tape or some visible means of defining a boundary around the areas you need to have clear for the activities of life. Do not let your stuff take over your life!

Let me warn you that this approach is usually not practical if you live with other people. They won't know where to find things, and they may move things while trying to figure out where to put their own things.

A blend of both conventional and unconventional strategies often works well. Define "zones" where similar types of items are kept, but within those zones, use your visual-spatial system. So maybe you can put all your tools are on the tool bench in the garage, but not squirreled away into tool boxes. Or store all your papers along the back wall in your office, but stacked in piles on shelves instead of neatly stored in file cabinets.

What storage strategies work well for you?

Like with Like

2010-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sorting into categories may come naturally for many, but for others, it comes about as naturally as nuclear physics.

Why is it important to sort into categories? One reason is because that's typically how things are stored. Think about shopping in a department store. If all the items were jumbled together - lingerie with table ware and sports equipment with cosmetics - it would make it very difficult to know where to find what you came to purchase.

Sometimes, one person living alone can remember where everything is, even if it isn't sorted by category. But if there is more than one person living in the home, having specific storage locations for different categories of items helps everyone know where to find things, and more importantly, where to put them away.

Another reason to sort things is because it helps you to know what you have, and put all your possessions in context. Once you discover that you have 40 pairs of jeans or 5 ice-cream makers, it's a lot easier to make decisions about those things.

A common strategy for sorting is to put "like with like," or group similar items together. Sometimes, this concept can cause problems. Some items may be similar, but serve very different functions. For example, those 5 ice-cream makers may consist of one that is a family heirloom; one that works great but only makes a gallon at a time; one that makes 5 gallons at a time and is great for your annual summer party, but inconvenient for day-to-day use; one that is a nice conversation piece on the kitchen shelf, and one that travels well, so you take it on camping trips.

In a situation such as this, I would sort by function, instead of form. The family heirloom goes with other sentimental pieces. The easy to use one-gallon maker is a kitchen appliance. The five-gallon maker gets stored with other summer entertaining equipment. The conversation piece get stored with other ornamental display items, and the one for camping stays with the camping supplies.

If you get stuck thinking about categories and "like with like," try asking yourself these questions:

When do you use the item?
For what activities would you use the item?
What other items do you also use at the same time?
Under what circumstances would you need to retrieve the item?
If you were shopping for this item, in which department of the store would you expect to find it?

Some people have a natural inclination to focus on the uniqueness of each particular item, and end up with more categories than they can manage. If you have that inclination, challenge yourself to look for similarities. You can still appreciate the unique qualities of each item, and having similar items grouped together will allow you to compare and contrast all the more.

Next up, I'll discuss how to figure out where to store your items.

Sorting

2010-07-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am such an organizing geek! But probably not in the way you might imagine. I'm not the neat-freak, love to spend my time at The Container Store, let me have a night alone with my label-maker type of organizing geek. No, I like to get analytical. I like to pick apart the process and figure out how to apply it in a wide variety of situations.

Consequently, I spend lots of time thinking about sorting. After defining goals, sorting is the next critical step in the organizing process. You can't even begin to think about putting systems in place, until you know what it is that you need to organize!

Ultimately, sorting comes down to putting like with like, but it can be a multi-step process, and there are different ways to define "like with like."

So what do I mean by multi-step process? Well, it means, you'll often need to do several rounds of sorting the same items. Here's a typical scenario for sorting a family room that has a chaotic accumulation of things:

Round 1: Get rid of obvious trash: empty soda cans, cellophane wrappers for the video games you bought last month, broken toys, old TV Guides, etc.

Round 2: Sort into very broad keep/go categories. Choose whichever categories work for you, but keep it limited to no more than 4 or 5: Trash, Keep, Give Away, Sell, Recycle, Not Sure, etc. Don't break things down into too many sub-categories. For example, instead of Sell on eBay, Sell at Garage Sale, Sell at Consignment Store, etc., just combine them all into the same "Sell" category.

Now each of the categories that you created above has become it's own mini-project. Eventually, you will need to deal with hauling away, recycling, selling or donating the items, but unless you can't move forward until you follow through on those plans, I suggest just moving those mini-projects out of the way for now and staying focused on your original goal.

Round 3: Sort the Keep items. Again, use broad categories: Books, Toys, Clothes, Tools, Papers, etc. If there are too many disparate items, you can sort by where the items may eventually end up: Kitchen, Garage, Bedroom, Family Room, etc.

Round 4: Move your Keep categories toward their eventual destinations. For example, take all the bedroom items into the bedroom, or tools out to the garage. Don't worry about actually putting the items away, yet, unless it's very quick and easy. The point is to just move them toward their final destination in order to get them out of the way.

Notice that at this point you are having to think about where to store things. If this is a problem for you, just assign the stuff that has an obvious storage location that works well for you, and then you can figure out what to do with the remaining items later on, once you have identified your remaining available storage locations.

Round 5: Further refine your sorting in the room that was the intended goal. In this example, we were working on restoring order to the family room, and we have decided that books, toys and media equipment is what belongs here. All other items have been removed, or at least tucked in a corner out of the way. Now we can focus on sorting and assigning storage for the items that are staying. Books can be sorted by author or genre and placed on bookshelves. Toys can be sorted by type (push toys, games, balls, dolls, etc.) and stored in appropriate locations. Media equipment can be separated according to CDs, video games, DVDs, etc. and put away in the media cabinet. After this round, your room should be coming together, but you may have to do some further refining.

On the other hand, you may decide you don't want to refine things to the degree that I've suggested. If you're happy just to have the books on the shelves, the toys in a bin and media equipment in the storage cabinet, in no particular order, then that's okay! Stop there and call it a job well done!

This is just one scenario, and you might notice that along the way, we have created several other projects to be accomplished. That's normal. Don't let those new mini-projects distract you from your original goal. Stay focused and don't be discouraged if you have to handle the same objects several times before they are eventually put away.

Next time I'll discuss more about "like with like."

Only Handle it Once?

2010-07-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I talked about "jigsaw puzzle" organizing, and the fact that you sometimes have to handle things several times before you know what to do with them. Many people think that organizing means putting things away in appropriate containers, and they expect professional organizers to know immediately how and where their things should be stored. But that's not how it works. Before you can even think about putting things away, you have to sort what you have and choose what you want to keep. Sorting is often the most time consuming step.

There are several different approaches to the sorting process, which I will describe in future posts, but for today I want to stress the point that you may need to review some things several times before they eventually get put away (or tossed, recycled or donated). This flies in the face of some often-cited organizing advice to follow the Only Handle It Once, or OHIO rule.

I understand the good intentions behind the OHIO rule. It's true that the majority of clutter exists because someone couldn't decide what to do with it, so instead, decided to do nothing. There is a phenomenon called "churning" which describes what people who hoard do with their papers and other belongings. They pick up each item, can't decide what to do with it, and put it back down in a different pile. Things get moved around, but the piles never go away. People who hoard and churn like this usually need professional help to learn how to make decisions and manage the anxiety they may feel. For them, OHIO may be an important part of the process, but I've seen the principle applied when it's not necessary, and it can be paralyzing.

Lots of people struggle with clutter, but very few hoard. The vast majority know what to do with most of their stuff, and it's just a relatively few number of items that leave them stumped. If they are trying to follow the OHIO rule, then progress comes to a halt when they come to those tough items. I prefer to set these items aside in a "not sure" box, and keep on going through the rest of the clutter.

Once everything has been sorted, it's much easier to review all that remains, review the goals, and take a second look at the "not sure" items. There's a good chance that you will have decided what to do with several of them, just by virtue of having looked at everything at least once and having a clearer vision of the big picture. For those items that remain in the "not sure" box, you can set them aside while you get on to the next step of the project.

What items would be candidates for your "not sure" box?

Jigsaw Organizing

2010-07-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a scenario that often occurs during first sessions with new clients: We will be working in a "dumping ground" room full of several years' worth of possessions that the client has been avoiding. The client will pick up the first thing from the top of the pile, look at me expectantly and ask, "Where should I keep this?"

My answer? "I have no clue."

My clients' expectations that I will automatically know how to deal with each item the first time I see it tells me a lot about why organizing is such a challenge for them. It's hard for them to grasp that organizing isn't about automatically knowing how things should be. Which is actually good news, because it means that organizing skill is not something that you either have or don't have. It's a process that can be learned. I'll admit, it comes more naturally for some than for others, and some may learn it only to discover that they don't enjoy it, but the point is that it's a matter of process, and not some mysterious, intuitive knowledge that only some of us possess.

So, imagine you have opened a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle box. You pick up a random puzzle piece. Could you place that piece exactly where it needs to go to fit in the puzzle? No, there's a lot of prep work to be done first. You might start by finding all the straight edge pieces and building the frame of the puzzle. Then you might group other pieces according to color. If you have a picture on the box, you might use that as a guide to figure out where the pieces go. Most likely, you will handle some pieces several times before you find the right place for them.

Getting organized is much the same. First, you have to sort things out. Imagine if those jigsaw puzzle pieces were mixed in among odd bits of trash, pieces of other puzzles, and some duplicate pieces to the same puzzle. Then you'd really have a lot of sorting to do! It would take you awhile to pare things down to just the puzzle pieces that you need for your particular jigsaw puzzle.

If you've ever done a jigsaw puzzle, you may have noticed that it's a slow process in the beginning, but then it gets easier and easier to place the puzzle pieces as you get more of the puzzle completed. Much the same with organizing. It takes some real commitment to tough it out during the sorting process when everything is jumbled up and overwhelming. You need to be willing to handle some pieces several times until the big picture starts to emerge and you start to understand how everything fits together. More to come in future posts...

To Make Things Easier, Just Get Started

2010-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to podcasts from Dr. Tim Pychyl, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He offers great information about the causes of procrastination and what we can do to overcome our tendencies to procrastinate.

"Just get started," is Dr. Pychyl's mantra. Although this can sound overly simplistic, there is scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of this approach. Dr. Pychyl's studies showed that participants reported feeling less overwhelmed and more positive about aversive tasks once they just got started. The mere act of starting the tasks resolved many of the negative feelings associated with the task.

I've often found this to be true, and knowing it helps me to stay on course with some of my less enticing tasks. When the alarm goes off at 5 a.m., I remind myself of the good feeling I get once I've been exercising for about 10 minutes, and it helps me to get up out of bed and hit the treadmill. If I have a big writing project that I've been putting off, I'll tell myself to just open a blank document and start recording ideas. I know that this will inevitably lead to me feeling excited about the work and eager to continue with it.

I also see this in action with my clients. One of my biggest challenges is enticing them to just get started when they are learning new habits. It can often take several pep talks and a few phone calls or emails between sessions, but once they actually start doing the tasks, they almost always report back with amazement about what they were able to accomplish and how it wasn't nearly as bad as they imagined it would be.

So if we know that things will get better once we just get started, the question becomes, how to start? Dr. Pychyl has lots of advice for that, too, but what works best for me is to identify the first tiny step. It could be gathering supplies, opening a document, looking up a phone number or putting on my running shoes. Just that single step will often get the ball rolling, but part of the key to why this is successful for me is that I also give myself permission to stop if I don't feel like going any further. Ninety percent of the time, I want to take the second, third and fourth steps, but if not, it's okay if I stop after the first step. I don't think this method would be so effective for me if I didn't absolutely know that it's okay for me to stop after the first step.

What are your strategies for just getting started?

How Old is that Make-Up?

2010-06-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Ever get an eye infection from using old mascara? I keep two Sharpie pens in my make-up drawer, one black and one metallic, and use them to date make-up, lotions, sunscreens, etc. upon opening.

Where are My Sunglasses?

2010-06-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

I can't find my sunglasses. I know I had them, in the case, on Sunday afternoon as I was getting out of the car. I entered my house carrying my purse and my sunglasses, and that's the last time I remember seeing them. My purse is right where I left it, right where it belongs. My sunglasses are nowhere to be found.

I am decluttered. I am organized. I have a place for everything, even a place for my sunglasses. However, I am also cursed with episodes of absent-mindedness and I lose things at a frequency that is very embarrassing for a professional organizer to admit.

I have gotten better about being mindful and putting things away while I am thinking about it, lest I leave the mail in the freezer (brought in the mail with the groceries), my watch in my underwear drawer (watch usually goes in a little dish on the shelf above my underwear) or my cell phone on the bathroom counter (I don't think I need to explain this one.)

I'm great, when I'm mindful. The problem is, I don't know how to always be mindful. These episodes tend to happen when I am happy and excited about something. It's almost as if life needs to knock me down a peg or two when things are going really well. That's okay, because life is still good and I'm good at rolling with the punches, but geez, it would be nice to find my sunglasses.

How do you develop mindfulness in the face of absent-mindedness?

Decluttering One's Self for Others

2010-05-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting post over at Oprah.com, asking how to declutter when everything is good. After reading, the bigger question in my mind, was whether or not to declutter your own stuff just because someone else wants you to.

Occasionally, I hear from people who are calling me at the request of a partner. I'm always very careful to assess what is going on. I'm certainly not qualified to be assigned the role of referee in a relationship dispute!

At the risk of sounding like a dime store psychologist, I think it's a good rule of thumb to never try to change someone's core personality, or never promise to change your own core personality, in the hopes of saving a relationship. But I do think there are times when you can ask for, or offer to learn, new habits.

So when I get one of these calls, I ask about the person's history with clutter and disorder. I want to know his or her perception. If he says, "I've always been this way and I don't really understand why she's so upset, but I'll do anything to save the relationship and I need you to tell me what's wrong with me and how I can change," then a million little alarm bells go off in my head and I don't take the job.

On the other hand, if I hear, "yeah, I've always been a bit lazy about weeding out my clutter and putting things away. This is something that would probably make my life easier, too. We just decided it's better if I work with an objective third party instead of my partner," then I'm willing to consider the job.

Have you ever tried to change your clutter habits for someone else? How'd it go?

UFOs are Real

2010-05-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

UFOs... that's what one of my clients, who is an avid crafter, calls her unfinished objects (projects). I don't know a creative person who doesn't have at least a dozen UFOs, which can be very dangerous if not dealt with properly.

UFOs can suck the zeal out of the most passionate artist. They stir up feelings of failure and shame. I've seen wonderful artists refuse to pursue their passions because they feel guilty about all their UFOs. These creative people, who thrive on having an outlet, close the door on activities that nourish their spirit. They slowly start to shut down in other areas of their life, as well.

Or sometimes, they decide what they really need is a new hobby, and they escape to the excitement of acquiring a whole new set of tools and materials. The pattern repeats itself, and eventually leaves them broke and even more cluttered.

So, what to do?

Strategize to finish some of those UFOs. My same client belongs to a knitting group, and every so often they schedule a "UFO day," when they only work on unfinished projects. I think this is a great idea, and one that can easily be adapted by individuals. Schedule a UFO date with a friend and keep each other company while you do those tedious finishing tasks, or switch it up a bit and finish each other's work!

If inviting a friend over isn't practical, schedule a day for yourself on your calendar. Find someone to take the kids. Line up some favorite music, podcasts, DVDs, or anything else you'll enjoy as accompaniment. Make it a game to see how many projects you can finish on that day. Reward yourself that evening (or the next day, if you're a night owl and you prefer to work into the wee hours).

So now you're either laughing or cursing at me, because I just don't get it and there's no way in the world you could possibly devote a day to yourself. Okay, I won't try to convince you otherwise. Let's just move on.

Recognize that UFOs are part of an artist's life. Instead of bemoaning them, make room for them. Gather them all together, and choose a space that will keep them well preserved, but provide you with easy access should the mood strike. It's up to you to decide how much space you want to devote to UFOs, but when the space gets full, something's gotta give. You can either make a commitment to finish some of those works of art, or decide to let some go. Check your local community resources for hobby groups or youth organizations that might take your UFOs to use the materials or finish the projects themselves. Some communities have art salvage stores that accept donations of craft materials. Freecycle is often another good way to see that your materials find their way to someone who can use them.

Take a critic's view of your work. Although I'm generally not very crafty, I do like to knit. When my work in progress becomes a UFO, it's usually because I have realized that the finished product is not going to be up to my satisfaction. If the project is one that I'm enjoying and am very invested in, I might tear out the bad work and redo it. But often, I decide the project itself is not worth the effort to finish. Sometimes, I'm on the fence. In those cases, I put the project away for awhile and return to it later to review with a fresh eye. I analyze where I went wrong and how I might improve my results. If I feel energized to finish, I do the tear out work and go for it. If not, I let it go.

Value the process, not the product. You may not end up with a sweater, a novel or a birdhouse, but your UFOs have brought you many intangible rewards. It's often these early UFOs that allow you to practice your craft and eventually lead to the creation of a masterpiece! Your UFOs most likely were an important stress reliever and gave you many hours of contentment. It's okay to appreciate your UFOs for the intangible rewards they bring, and let the materials go once you lose zest for the project.

What UFOs are causing you angst?

Learning from my mistakes

2010-04-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

The other day I had the embarrassing experience of showing up for my first appointment at a new client's home, only to find out that we didn't have an appointment scheduled.

It was entirely my fault, but this new client couldn't have been nicer or more gracious about it, and so far, she hasn't canceled our actual appointment date, so I'm hoping she is willing to give me another chance. I often have to remind clients that professional organizers aren't perfect, but I hate to prove it so early in our relationship!

As a recovering perfectionist, I always try to look at mistakes as learning opportunities. So what did I learn in this case? After examining the email path that led to my misunderstanding, it was clear my mistake was in cutting corners. Had I followed my usual habit of reviewing all notes and communications prior to my first visit with a client, I would have easily caught the fact that we had never confirmed that date. I also made the mistake of not looking too closely at my calendar, which is on a PDA. I completely overlooked the question mark after the client's name, which is my shorthand to indicate that the date was only tentative and needed to be confirmed. Had I followed either of my usual protocols, I never would have shown up on the doorstep that morning.

So was I done examining my mistake yet? No, because then I had to ask myself why I would be so careless. Most likely the answer is because I was preparing to fly out to the NAPO conference the next day, and I'm a bit of a nervous traveler. I had a million little tasks floating around in my brain, and I was very preoccupied. I know that I need to give myself some recovery time to get back in the swing of things after a trip, but it's clear to me now that I also need to give myself more prep time before a trip. I also need to manage all those travel related to do's as effectively as I manage most other to do's. For some reason, I never entered the tasks onto my calendar and instead relied on my unreliable brain to keep it all straight. Lesson learned. Duly noted.

What mistakes have you made recently, and how will you avoid them in the future?

Laundry, dishes, or paper?

2010-04-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Which of these three is the hardest for you? My vote would be paper. Dishes and laundry, I can pretty much maintain without too much resistance. I'm able to mindlessly weave them into my routines as I go about my day.

But paper is a bit different. It requires conscious thought. Read, absorb, process, plan, act. Even if all the tools are right there, it's still requires a lot of mental effort.

I bump up against resistance when I have to combine household chores with thinking. It goes against my usual strategy, which is to make housework as streamlined as possible so that I don't have to think while doing it. I like to reserve my thinking brain cells for something more interesting. What's hardest for you?

Am I the Only Dinosaur Left?

2010-04-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

Ay yi yi my head is swimming. I'm trying to resurrect this blog and create a facebook fan page and link everything together and I haven't got a clue what I'm doing! I attended a wonderful meeting through my NAPO chapter where guest speaker Kerry Rego made me think maybe I could do this. I want to be as transparent as possible to anyone who wants to know about me, but I'm really kind of an introvert and all this socializing is hard! Please tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with this!

Paper, Why Keep It?

2010-04-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, there are no paper police out there, waiting to swoop in and fine you for discarding paper. Much of it can be discarded immediately or within a few months of its entrance into our homes. There are numerous document retention guidelines out there, and I'll leave it to you to do a search and find them. Instead, I'm going to discuss why you would keep the paper.

Legal disclaimer - These are general guidelines and you should always check with your attorney or accountant to determine what is appropriate in your situation. Don't have either of those? How about your HR representative, insurance agent, real estate broker, banker? If all else fails, almost all paper has a phone number on it, so call and ask to be directed to someone who can answer your question.

I've come up with four reasons you might want to keep a piece of paper:

1. Taxes - If it documents any form of income (wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, etc.) or a claim (charitable contribution, capital losses, deductions, etc.) declared on your taxes. Speak to your tax preparer to figure out exactly what documents are important for you, and how long you need to keep them for your particular situation.

2. Proof - If you need to prove something. Often, just one piece of paper can settle major disputes and establish our rights in a given situation. Here are some of the things you might need to prove:

your identity
that you are married or divorced
that you have custody or visitation rights
that you paid the bill
that you are insured
that you were insured at the time the incident occurred (keep old insurance policies for as long as it's still possible to file a claim against them - check with your insurance company to see how long this might be in your situation).
that you are a citizen or legal resident
the terms of an agreement
that you are employed
that you have access to the funds
that you graduated
that you own your home
that you own your car
that you paid for the merchandise
the value of the contents of your home

Keep the proof only as long as you might need to show it. Once the need to establish proof is gone, so is the paper! Also, you only need to keep the most recent and up-to-date document that provides the proof you need.

3. Importance/Convenience - This category is where people have the most trouble. Consider how important the information is to your happiness and well being, and how difficult it would be to access the information if you were to throw away the paper. Medical records are examples of very important information that could be inconvenient or impossible to replace.

Some things, like instruction manuals, are often handy to keep, especially for complex technical gadgets such as a programmable DVR. But instructions for a simple blow dryer probably won't be missed. Likewise, you'll probably never again refer to the assembly instructions once you have put together that IKEA desk, so be discriminating when saving this type of information.

Some papers only need to be kept for a little while, like tickets, invitations, schedules or directions to upcoming events. It would be very inconvenient to lose these things, but only while attending the event is still a viable option. Once the event has passed, the importance disappears, and so should the paper!

Many other types of paper, that we tell ourselves we are keeping for convenience, end up causing us lots of inconvenience. Be honest. Would a five minute internet search really be less convenient than shredding your cuticles as you wrestle with drawers stuffed full of old recipes and travel brochures? Would a trip to the library to check out the latest scholarly texts really be less time consuming than digging through bulging boxes of old college notes? Don't forget to factor in the inconvenience of putting away all the sports gear and hobby paraphernalia that you had to pull out to reach those notes that were buried at the back of your storage closet. Think carefully when you weigh the convenience factor against the amount of space and maintenance the papers will require.

4. Sentiment - By all means, keep those sentimental papers that make you feel good and that you will actually look at and enjoy. But limit how many of these you keep. A few representative pieces are much more manageable and will allow you to enjoy your home and life now, as well as enjoy looking back at your past.

Okay, you say, but what if you're not sure if you're going to need to prove something? Or what if you might want to sell that blow dryer on eBay and you'll get more money if you save the operating instructions? This may sound strange coming from an organizer, but I say, just keep it. A few extra pieces of paper don't take up much space, and it's not worth agonizing over. Just keep it and keep moving. You can always change your mind later, and chances are, if you get rid of the 70% that can be tossed without any hesitancy, you'll have plenty of room to store those few extra pieces that are making your stomach churn.

Can you think of any other reasons to save a piece of paper?

Goals

2010-04-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

I was glad to see that "get organized" didn't even make the top 10 on the list of the world's most popular goals, which can be found at 43 Things. In fact, it barely placed at number 52! I think that's the way it should be. Getting organized shouldn't be a goal unto itself. It's just a way to make one's goals more accessible. What are some of your goals that could be achieved more easily if you were more organized?

Organizing Compromise

2010-03-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Getting organized is all about compromise.Nothing in life is perfect...not our homes, not our possessions, not our families and certainly not ourselves. It may seem counter-intuitive, but after years of working with people struggling to be more organized, I believe the key is to let go of rigid expectations and become more flexible.

Being organized means successfully managing your possessions and the way you spend your time. It starts with a vision for how you want your life to be; and that’s usually the first place you'll need to make compromises. I’m not trying to talk you out of your dreams. I just want your goals to be realistic so that you can actually achieve them. For example, clients have told me, “I want a house that maintains itself,” or “I want a home that always looks like the magazine pictures.” Yes, these things would be nice, but they’re not realistic - at least not without a paid staff! It is possible, however, to develop systems and routines that allow you to spend significantly less time cleaning, or to store your belongings in more aesthetically pleasing ways.

The next place to make compromises is when determining how much stuff your home can actually hold. Very few of us have enough space to accommodate all the things it’s possible to accumulate in today’s busy, consumer-oriented society. You can start by compromising with yourself when making purchases. A “one in/one out” rule will prevent the growth of new clutter.

If your house is already overstuffed, you will have to let go of some items that you think you’d rather keep. Be honest about which items actually get used regularly. Consider which possessions will move you toward your goals, and how many of them you truly need. If your goal is to make your kitchen more user-friendly, keeping a vegetable scraper and three wooden spoons is reasonable. Keeping the apple peeler that looks like a vise and twenty assorted stirring utensils clutters up the drawer and frustrates you.

Memorabilia and sentimental items also require compromise. How likely is it that those scrapbooks will ever become a reality? A few key mementos, stored in an attractive archival storage box will allow you easy access and keep your items safe. A garage full of kids’ artwork that is disintegrating under piles of old clothes and camping equipment won’t provide the happy memories you intend.

If you live with others, then compromise with them is critical. Chances are it has taken you several months, or even years, to get to the point that you are ready to make lifestyle changes and get organized. Your family members, most likely, have not yet come to that conclusion. They may feel as if you are unilaterally changing long-established house rules. You will have more luck bringing reluctant family members on board if you identify common goals and start there. This might require you to put some of your own priorities on hold and instead focus on areas where your family is most willing to go along with you. A bit of patience now will lead to more successful outcomes in the future. Treating others with respect and being willing to compromise will keep them open to your suggestions. Arguments, insults and nagging will only make them more resistant.

Don’t push others to get rid of things they aren’t ready to let go of, no matter how useless the items may seem to you. Instead, bite your tongue, smile and show genuine appreciation for any efforts your family makes, no matter how small. If you are anxious to do more than your family is willing to do right now, then focus on your own personal spaces and possessions, such as your nightstand or your side of the bathroom. When family members see the positive effects, they will often decide to follow your lead.

Finally, to get organized, you have to compromise with yourself. Most likely, you can’t accomplish your organizing goals in one frenzied weekend. Build manageable amounts of organizing time into your schedule over the next several weeks or months. Celebrate each small accomplishment. Work on one new habit at a time and allow it to take hold before you start another. When you backslide (and you will), accept it as part of the process and put yourself back on track. And yes, you will probably make a mistake or two. Accept that reality and don’t let it impede you. Forward progress with the occasional mistake is still forward progress. Doing nothing because you’re afraid of making a mistake will only leave you with a bigger mess in the long run.

I'm back!

2010-03-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a long hiatus. Doing some reorganizing on my website, and decided to resurrect the blog at the same time. We'll see how it goes. Any projects that you've abandoned and are now thinking of revisiting?

Gone for Now

2008-09-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hi, thanks for stumbling across my blog which I've decided to neglect and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I've left it intact, just in case I ever decide to resurrect it. If this is your first visit, please feel free to peruse the little bit there is to see. Kind of like exploring a ghost town!

Lost and Found

2008-02-23T06:36:00.001-08:00

I stumbled across these Twelve Principles for finding lost items. The reference to relaxing with a pipeful of tobacco makes me think it's a bit dated, but the basic premises are still good.

When I'm looking for a lost item (yes, even professional organizers occasionally lose things!) I immediately start formulating a back-up plan and considering how much time I want to devote to finding the item before I move on to the back-up plan. Sometimes it's easier to go straight to the back-up plan, such as when I'm running late and can't find my car keys. I can just use my spare key and look for the lost key later. Other times, I'm willing to devote a lot of time looking before having to resort to the back-up, like if I've lost a client's check and I really don't want to call her, admit my failings and ask her to reissue the check. Somehow, just knowing there is a back-up plan settles me down so that I don't make a catastrophe out of the item being lost, and I am able to move forward.

Anxiety

2008-02-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

I attended a great continuing education course yesterday, where I learned a lot about management of panic attacks and other anxiety disorders. What I found most interesting and encouraging was the scientific rationale and research data that strongly support lifestyle strategies such as getting enough sleep, exercise, relaxation techniques, limiting caffeine and journaling. Sometimes these recommendations almost sound cliche because they are given all the time, but there really is solid data to support their effectiveness.

Great Option for Toy Rotation

2008-02-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

I often recommend rotating toys to my clients with young kids, and now there is a great new option! I saw a mom on the Today Show this morning who has started an online toy rental business called Babyplays.com. Parents receive a package of four to six pre-selected toys each month, which they can keep for as long as they like and then send back when the child stops playing with them. Great solution for reducing toy clutter and getting kids (and parents!) used to the idea of quality over quantity.

3-26-10 Update. Babyplays.com is shutting its doors to revamp and relaunch in the fall. I'm leaving this post anyway, because I think the idea has merit.

50 Ways to Lose Your Clutter

2008-02-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I heard some great advice from a registered dietitian. She had a list of 50 ways to improve eating habits, and encouraged her clients to choose one or two new habits to implement per month. This was much less overwhelming, and ultimately more successful, than adopting a totally new dietary regimen overnight.

So here are my 50 Ways to Lose Your Clutter:

"Erase the Evidence" or in other words, clean up after yourself!
Cancel any magazine subscriptions if you are more than 3 issues behind in your reading.
Never buy something the first time you see it. Give yourself a 3 day waiting period.
Set a limit for how much you will spend on non-essentials each month.
Keep a donation bag in your closet and in your laundry area. Feed it regularly.
Take all the stuff out of your kitchen, and put it in boxes in an adjacent room. Put things back in the kitchen as you use them. Seriously consider donating things that are still in the boxes after a month, or at least store them elsewhere.
Clear off one small area that you use often (bathroom counter, desktop, kitchen table, etc.) and make sure it is clear before you go to bed every night. Clear off a new spot each week.
Call the toll free number listed inside your catalogs to take yourself off their mailing lists.
Put a trash can and recycling receptacle in every room where trash and recycling are generated, preferably located along the exit path out of the room.
Always take something with you to put away when you leave a room.
Put a hamper wherever dirty laundry accumulates.
Spend at least 5 minutes a day creating and then maintaining a mail management center.
Take yourself off junk mail lists. A few clicks from these two sites and you'll be well on your way: http://www.recycleworks.org/junkmail/residential.html , and http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/FinancialPrivacy/your-41-pounds-of-junk-mail.aspx?page=1
When you get the urge to go shopping, go for a walk instead.
Clear a space of honor with a prominent location in your home and display some sentimental items that are currently stored away.
Spend an hour a week (at least) using and enjoying your craft supplies. See how long you can go before you run out.
Make your bed everyday.
Take all the stuff out of your bathroom, and put it in boxes in an adjacent room. Put things back in the bathroom as you use them. Seriously consider discarding or donating things that are still in the boxes after a month.
Spend 5 minutes every day putting things away.
Spend 5 minutes every day gathering things to donate.
Spend 5 minutes every day envisioning how your would like your home to look. Write descriptions and draw pictures. Include as many descriptive details as possible.
Develop an awareness of how you spend your time. Use a timer and keep a log to record how long it takes you to complete any task.
Spend the first 15 minutes of your day doing the task you dread the most or working on the project you've been avoiding, then revel in the fact that the worst part of your day is over!
Remove one knick-knack per week from each display area. Put them away to rotate with the seasons or donate them. Don't stop until you can't get used to how bare things look, even after a full week.
Fill a bag with trash every day as soon as you come home. Tell yourself that you're not "home" until the trash is out the door.
Establish a one in/one out rule. Make sure that you donate or discard one item for every new item you bring into your home.
Raise your standards: If you don't love something or use it regularly, don't keep it in your home.
Use an attractive container such as a wicker basket or linen-covered box to corral clutter that collects on your horizontal surfaces. Empty it when it gets full.
Pack up 75% of your kids' toys, and do an exchange every month or so. Notice how much better your kids play when they aren't so overwhelmed by too many choices!
Spend 5 minutes a day to choose 3 things you will accomplish the next day. Write them down wherever you will remember to look at them and then do them!
Clean out your car while you pump gas. Most gas stations have trash bins right next to the pump.
Create a launch pad/landing strip where you can place things that you need to take with you when you leave or put down when you come in.
Choose one item of clothing or one pair of shoes to donate each week.
Every time you're tempted to purchase an item that you don't really need, instead put the money into a fund to save for a pleasurable activity such as travel, tickets to the theater, a massage, etc.
Put things away during the commercials.
Take all the stuff out of your desk drawers, and put it in boxes in an adjacent room. Put things back in the drawers as you use them. Seriously consider discarding or donating things that are still in the boxes after a month.
Spend 5 minutes a day, or 30 minutes a week purging old files.
Find a clutter buddy and take turns spending an hour a week keeping each other company, either in person or on the phone, while you declutter.
Choose one book per week to donate.
Sign up for online bill pay.
Discard expired medications. Check your local community resources for safe disposal guidelines.
Create a household notebook to hold take-out menus, frequently called phone numbers, kids' sports schedules, team rosters, invitations and tickets for upcoming events, etc.
Host a monthly swap meet to exchange donation items with friends. Left-overs go to a local charity.
Talk to at least one person each week about your efforts to reduce clutter.
Take weekly pictures of your "clutter spots."
Gather all the items you are keeping that need repairs or work (such as shoes that need to be resoled or pictures waiting to be framed). Use masking tape and a marker to put an expiration date on each item. Schedule time to do the needed repairs, and if you haven't followed through by the expiration date, donate the items.
Spend 10 minutes a day to catch up on your reading.
Forgive yourself for unwise purchases and don't hold the items hostage, hoping they will make sense after another 5 years in your garage. Let them go and get on with your life.
Establish a daily 10 minute family ritual during which everybody picks up after themselves at the same time every day.
Choose one receptacle for your magazines, and purge when it gets full.

Mail Management Center

2008-02-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Managing the mail doesn't have to the dreaded chore that many consider it to be. The trick is to have a place to put the stuff you need to keep, as well as a place to put the stuff you can get rid of. Once you get used to having a place to put things, you won't be tempted to just put it back down on the kitchen counter and shuffle piles around or stuff them into any available hiding place.

I recommend the mail management center go as close as possible to wherever you tend to drop your mail. You will need a trash or paper recycling bin and some type of self-contained receptacle with dividers to hold the mail you need to act on.

I personally use a small desktop file with hanging files in it. Here are several options from The Container Store: desktop files. Other options could be binders with pocket dividers, a literature sorter or stacking trays.

The goal of the mail center is to act as a filter and holding zone for all papers that come into your home. It is not intended for long-term storage of paper that you need to keep.

Notice that I haven't mentioned anything about "only handle it once." I think it's more efficient and effective to sort it first into a safe place so that you can act on it when appropriate. Once you have acted on it, you may be able to toss it, but often additional steps are required. You may need to keep it handy for further action, file it for safe-keeping, pass it on to someone else or shred it for security. These can all be done as individual steps and you can handle each paper as many times as necessary to get the job done.

Here are the categories I have in my mail management center:

Phone Numbers: Rosters for schools, sports teams, etc.
Events and Activities: Invitations, tickets, flyers for upcoming events, schedules for things I'd like to attend, etc.
To Pay: Bills.
To Do: Things I have to do or I will incur a negative consequence.
Maybe Someday: Projects that I might do or purchases I am considering.
Don't Lose This in the Meantime: Things I have to hold onto until someone else takes action or until something else happens. This is where I might keep paperwork regarding a credit card dispute if I am awaiting a call from the credit card company. I also keep papers here that I know are important and don't seem to fit anywhere else.
Toss It Once It's Done: Things that I only need to keep for a short time, such as receipts for relatively inexpensive items during the return period; or copies of rebate forms, which I can toss once I get the rebate check.
To File: Things that need to be filed away in my archival or working files. (Archival are things I rarely need to access, working files are those that I access several times throughout the year, but I don't need them to be at my fingertips.)
To Shred: Things that need to be shred.

Of course, categories need to be customized for the individual. If you're having trouble coming up with categories, go through your mail and consider what you will do next with each piece of paper, when you will need that paper again, why you should keep it or who it should go to. You will probably start to see categories emerge. It's also appropriate to create separate categories for an individual project such as research for an upcoming vacation or home remodel.

Regular maintenance is essential for keeping your mail center from becoming overstuffed and unusable. Schedule time for taking care of To Do items, filing papers that will go to permanent storage, and purging papers that have become obsolete. Once things are in good working order, maintenance often takes less than 10 minutes a week. A small price to pay for living without piles and the fear of unopened mail!

Peter Walsh on Oprah

2008-02-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

Peter Walsh was on Oprah yesterday, helping an overweight family deal with their cluttered home. His hypothesis is that excess body weight and household clutter are inter-related and he has written a new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?

I have no doubt that there is a connection, and I have always been conscious of how similar approaches are needed to weight reduction and clutter reduction. In both cases, success is more likely with a slow approach. Both require lifestyle changes that take time to practice and internalize. There will be forward progress, backsliding and plateaus.

Just like most crash diets don't work, neither do rapid clear-outs work for most clutter situations. I am always concerned when I get the call from someone who wants me to come clear out a space in a week. I can almost guarantee the results won't last. I love the calls from people who say, "I need your support for the next several months so I can gradually learn new skills." Now there's a recipe for success!

S.A.B.L.E.

2008-01-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

I heard this acronym that knitters and crocheters use and I just love it!

Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

I think I'll adapt it a bit to be:

STUFF Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

A Place for Everything

2008-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I discussed how I relax the rules on that old cliche, "A place for everything..." But there is one instance when I adhere to the rule very strictly: I always make sure there is a place for me and my family. I start by making sure there is room for us and then everything else fits around the space we have created for ourselves.

Items that get in the way, or distract us from doing what is most important and meaningful, don't have a place in our home. At one time, these items may have been lovingly used in our home, but because we are dynamic individuals with ever-changing needs and interests, they are no longer useful to us. Or we may still need a particular type of item, but we have graduated to a more advanced model; or maybe we decided to simplify to a more basic edition. In either case, we can pass the old version on to someone who will use it and appreciate it. Keeping all those no-longer used items in our home would just prevent us from having a place and a space for ourselves.

I'm not advocating that we don't keep sentimental items, but we need to keep them well-preserved and where we can access them easily when we're in the mood to reminisce or feel inspired. We need to make sure these things don't monopolize so much space that we can't enjoy our present or look forward to our future. Conversely, we need to make sure that we're not keeping too many items for that day years from now when they may come in handy. Not if they distract us from what is truly important right now.

It's also fine to keep beautiful objects that make us feel good when we look at them. In fact, I think we all need to have beautiful things on display in our homes so our eyes have a comfortable place to land. It's just important to make sure we're not keeping unnecessary items that detract from our view.

So the next time you are stuck trying to get organized, ask yourself, are you making sure there is a place for you?

Relaxing the Rules

2008-01-30T08:53:00.000-08:00

Such a familiar old cliche, "A place for everything and everything in its place." I think it scares a lot of people because it suggests a very rigid standard. Personally, I have softened the rule a bit in my own home. Instead of forcing myself to provide "a place for everything," I created what I call "homeless shelters." These are designated, contained places where I put things that don't have a home. I have a few different shelters in key locations in my home: a drawer in my bedroom, a shelf in a family room cabinet, a cubby in the sideboard and a shelf in the garage. Items in the homeless shelters eventually get assigned a home of their own or escorted out the door.

The "everything in its place" part of the rule has been relaxed quite a bit, too. Our rule is more like, "everything in its place as long as you won't be using it again in the near future and it's not in anybody's way right now."

In addition, I have created what I call "holding zones" for things that need to be out of the way, but are too inconvenient to put away at the moment. A covered basket on the kitchen counter and a basket on top of my filing cabinet are my workhorse holding zones.

Whenever I share my relaxed rules, I get comments from people that relaxed rules would never work in their homes because anything left out would get lost in a sea of clutter, or their homeless shelters and holding zones would soon overflow and just add to the chaos. They are right. Relaxed rules don't work so well if you aren't decluttered.

So why am I even posting this? To let people know that being organized doesn't mean slavishly conforming to strict rules. There is lots of room for flexibility. A little bit (or a lot) of decluttering and instituting small systems that make sense for you can make a world of difference.

How Do You Know If You're Organized Enough?

2008-01-27T16:28:00.001-08:00

I have always assumed that people who need organizing help know it, because they feel the stress and burden of being disorganized. But lately I'm becoming more aware that there are a lot of people who have no idea how stressed they really are, or how different life could be with a bit of organization. So I've come up with some questions you can ask yourself.

Do you feel like your home is a welcoming, safe haven when you walk in the door?
Are you able to fully relax in your home?
Do you enjoy what you see in your home?
Are you comfortable letting other people see your home?
Are you comfortable letting co-workers see your workspace?
Are you able to meet your commitments (or at least the ones that don't depend on other people)?
Are you making reasonable progress toward your personal and professional goals?
Are you able to pursue the hobbies, leisure and spiritual activities you enjoy?
Do you have enough free time (you get to decide how much is "enough")?
Are you spending the majority of your time doing activities you consider to be worthwhile?
Can you find things when you need them?
Are you able to keep up with the laundry so that you have clean clothes to wear?
Do you eat a healthy diet?
Do you pay your bills on time?
Are you on time to work?
Are you on time to appointments?
Do you have time for exercise and regular health care?

How did you do? Would your life be different if you could answer "yes" to a few more of these questions? I believe these are all pursuits that a reasonably well-organized person can expect to enjoy, and everybody deserves to enjoy.

Unwarranted Shame

2008-01-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

Recently, a client asked me how it was possible to live to retirement age without having learned how to organize her home. She had been waiting a long time for her organizing skills to emerge, but it just hadn't happened. I told her that was like me expecting to wake up one day with the ability to sing or draw.

Unfortunately, not being gifted at organizing carries a lot of negative baggage that doesn't exist with not being gifted at singing or drawing. I can go through life never being bothered by my lack of singing and drawing skills. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I'm terrible at both.

But people who aren't naturally organized struggle with that reality on a daily basis. They have to work a lot harder to accomplish routine tasks and fulfill their basic obligations, and if they don't succeed, they experience a sense of failure. They compare themselves to their naturally organized friends and feel ashamed and inadequate. This unwarranted sense of shame prevents them from asking for help. As the situation gets worse, it becomes even more difficult to ask for help, and a vicious cycle is created.

So although I think it's sad, I'm not really surprised that some people never get to experience the peace of mind of feeling organized and in control. I hope that changes as more people become aware that 1) it's not a character flaw to be disorganized, and 2) there is specialized help available for those who wish to become more organized.

Defer, Defer, Defer

2008-01-26T19:14:00.000-08:00

After years of teaching kids how to take tests, I realized it's a perfect analogy for decluttering. We teach kids to do the easy questions first and finish as much as they can before they come back to the more difficult ones. I encourage this approach with decluttering. I know this goes against a lot of conventional advice that says to "only handle it once" or "decide and be done," but I've seen too many people come to a decluttering standstill when faced with a difficult decision. I think it's much more productive to defer the hard decisions and plow through the easy stuff first. I tell my clients that if it makes your stomach churn, just set it aside for now.

Often, items that seemed really tough on a first pass will become no-brainers on a second pass. And if not, they'll have been whittled down to a small amount that can be boxed up and stored out of the way for a few months, until the right answer has time to emerge.

But what if you defer everything? I consider that to be valuable information. It tells me you may not be ready to let go, or may need additional support. I'd much rather discover this via the non-threatening exercise of deferring decisions than trying to push you to make a decision and inciting resentment and regret.

Currently Reading....

2008-01-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys, by Marilyn Paul. Love the title, love the concept, love the content, but I find it to be almost too poignant. I have to absorb it in small doses. Ms. Paul presents her seven step process to becoming organized, but it is really so much more than just seven steps. She fully articulates a transcendence out of chronic disorganization and into self-actualization. I disagree with a few of her assertions about not moving on until you've made a decision, but otherwise think this is a great guide for those who are ready to take a slow, deliberate approach and make lasting changes.

A New Venture

2008-01-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

At the risk of this blog either becoming stagnant or consuming all my time, I'm forging ahead. I find my brain runneth over with too much that I want to share. Please feel free to comment and share as you like.

If you came here looking for my business website, here's the link:

http://ctorganizingsolutions.com