Organizing Tidbits

Tip of the Week, Early May 2012

Here are some interesting, inspirational, and helpful organizing-related stories I've read on- and offline over the past month.

Spring Cleaning of a Different Stripe

The magazine Good devoted a month to daily email tips on spring cleaning, and they went far beyond the traditional cleaning routines and standard organizing projects. These were two of my favorites:

• Better Ways to Sell Your Stuff--10 websites and services that can help you make good on your intentions to sell the unwanted, unneeded stuff that's cluttering up your closets and drawers. 
• A Dose of Your Own Medicine--Tips on bringing order to your medicine cabinet, including how to decide what to toss, options for safe disposal, and recommendations on how to stock a first aid kit with the essentials. 

Get Real

Apartment Therapy is a website dedicated to all things home, including decorating advice, home tours, and how-to articles. Though some of the spaces they feature are too picture-perfect for my tastes, they often have down-to-earth articles with realistic advice. 

One recent article I loved (and can relate to, as our "guest room" is an air mattress on the living room floor) was Real Life Advice: Hosting Guests Without a Guest Room, which includes both straightforward tips (invest in a good air mattress) and reminders for things it can be easy to forget (have an outlet for your guests to use for recharging cell phones and other electronics).

Smart!

Another Apartment Therapy article that caught my attention was 10 Snapshots You Should Keep in Your Phone's Photo Album, which suggests some of the best uses for your smartphone cameras. Two super-smart ones: take photos of the types of bulbs your light fixtures use so it's easy to replace burned-out bulbs, and snap shots of your prescription medications so refills are easier and you don't forget anything when your doctor asks what you take.

Well Said

Finally, two quotations I came across this month that have stayed with me:

"Creation is a better means of self-expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed." --Vida Dutton-Scudder, The Privilege of Age (I love this for its reminder that we're not what we own, but what we do and what we create in the world.)

"There are many trails up the mountain, but in time they all reach the top." --Anya Seton

Your Turn

Have ideas, suggestions, recommended resources, favorite organizing products, or tips to share? Leave them in a comment or post them on The Organized Life's Facebook page.

Practicing What I Preach

Tip of the Week, Mid-February 2012

Recently, my boyfriend and I found a new apartment and began the involved, time-consuming, exciting, and sometimes stressful process of moving from the homes we'd both been settled into (for nine years, in my case). During the course of preparing for our move, making the transition, and getting settled into our new house, I was reminded time and again why so many of my clients have enlisted my team's help with moving house, and found myself being my own professional organizer in a way I'm usually not. 

It would be an understatement to say that having chance after chance over the past few months to practice what I preach to my clients has been thought-provoking and eye-opening, and has given me a totally new perspective on what it's like to try to be organized during a transition like this. I've also been reminded repeatedly that a few organizational basics can help you feel much more sane during big life events. Here are a few of my my thoughts, observations, and a ha moments from this experience.

It's Worth Making Hard Decisions

For all of its charm and benefits, our new home has one big downside: as is typical of San Francisco houses of a certain vintage, it has one--count it: ONE--closet. And aside from a pantry cabinet in the kitchen and a small drawer-and-shelves unit in the living room, it lacks other built-in storage. So we had to get creative to fit the contents of two apartments and a basement storage room (a luxury at my old place), and we also had to do some serious weeding. 

As difficult as it was to part with some of the stuff I ultimately decided to let go of, and as much as I found myself sliding into "But I might need it someday!" thinking (But I might go backcountry camping again soon and need that big backpack, even though the last time I did was 2002), making tough, realistic decisions before we moved meant not having to find space in the new house for stuff we didn't truly use, love, need, or find beautiful in our lives as we're living them now.

Enlist Help, in Obvious and Less Obvious Ways

One thing we knew for sure was that we were willing to invest in professional movers, both to spare ourselves and our friends the strain of having to schlep our stuff down and up stairs and around tricky corners, but also to make it less likely that one of us wouldn't inadvertently damage anything or anyone, and to ensure that the move-out and move-in processes would be as quick and efficient as possible. The movers weren't inexpensive, but they were definitely worth the cost.

Another bit of help I enlisted was the expertise of Deb, one of my team members, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of how to responsibly reuse, donate, or recycle pretty much anything, and an excellent network of connections that can help get unneeded stuff into the hands of people who will gladly put it to good use. Having done a huge amount of weeding, I didn't have it in me during the time I was also unpacking and getting settled in the new place to find new homes for the stuff I'd left behind at my old place. Deb did a bang-up job of dispersing it, and knowing that almost all of it was donated to agencies that need it made me feel better about deciding to part with it.

Don't Expect Perfection Right Away

Finally, if you're wondering whether professional organizers' homes are perfectly orderly and organized within a day or two after a move, I'm here to report that the answer is an emphatic NO!--at least not for this professional organizer. As much as I wished we didn't have to spend the better part of a week surrounded by boxes and chaos, I reminded myself that getting settled would take time, especially since we didn't have a team to help us and were getting acclimated to our storage-poor house. 

To keep ourselves sane, we focused on getting at least one room feeling settled, dedicated ourselves to doing at least a few hours of organizing work per day (but no more), and invited over for drinks friends we knew not only wouldn't mind the craziness but also would help give us new perspectives on how we'd started to set things up (and, as it happened, would also help us rearrange furniture to make a few of our rooms flow more smoothly).

We've got a few more spots that still need some attention, and several things that, even post-weeding, still don't fit where we hoped they would (who knew I had so many files?!), but little by little, we're getting organized and are creating a comfortable home. And over and over, I smile (or, ok, sometimes groan) when I find myself in a situation in which I more than anyone need the insight, coaching, and guidance I find so easy to share with clients. 

So the next time you hear me say that I know what it's like to struggle with organizing challenges and make it through to the other side, know that it's not just lip service. 

Now if you'll pardon me, several piles of random stuff seem to have sprouted up on the kitchen today, and I hear them calling my name.

"If the Old Doesn't Go, the New Doesn't Come"

Tip of the Week, January 1 and 8, 2012

My friend and fellow professional organizer Sophie O'Neill includes this saying in her email signature: "If the old doesn't go, the new doesn't come." I've read that line more times than I can count, but each time I see it, the power of it strikes me all over again.

We're so often used to holding on to things we have (or had) that it's hard to make space--physically, mentally, emotionally--in our lives for what's yet to come. If you've ever held fast to a relationship that didn't work out, to opportunities that didn't come to pass, to experiences you had that ended, or to objects that remind you of any of the above, you probably recognize what I'm talking about.

Why We Hold On

With the exception of those people who can easily shed the old, it's difficult, if not downright painful, to part with the past. We often think that letting go of that relationship that was happy and healthy for a long time (until it wasn't) is a way of protecting ourselves from future hurt. Keeping a grip on past experiences--and often the physical stuff that went with them--is a way of reminding ourselves what we were and what we've done. And keeping mementos is a way of connecting ourselves not only with our own histories, but often with the histories of those who've come before us.

Letting the New Come

As one who has boxes of memorabilia, hundreds of digital photos on my computer, and a head full of memories, I'm certainly not going to advocate walking away from the past and everything associated with it.

What I do preach, though, is the wisdom of that simple phrase I learned from Sophie: if the old doesn't go, the new doesn't come.

All of us--myself included!--have at least some old beliefs, limitations, mindsets, and, of course, stuff--that we've been holding onto for a while, sometimes for much of our lives. As we begin a new year, I challenge you to take a hard look at those things and to be ruthless in clearing out the old ones that have impeded the arrival of new relationships, experiences, and opportunities in your life. That doesn't mean tossing out the beloved old china set you inherited from a favorite relative; it means finally passing along the stuff you're keeping only because "it might be valuable" or "I might use it" someday to clear out space for the stuff you truly cherish, or simply to clear out space for new possibilities.

The new year is wide open. I hope these early weeks of 2012 give you the chance to appreciate the best of the past and to clear out whatever no longer serves you to make room for what's ahead.

What to Give Yourself This Holiday Season

Tip of the Week, November 13, 2011

While chatting with my parents on Sunday, they asked what day I'd be flying to Virginia for our Thanksgiving celebration next week, and for a moment I was baffled by their belief that the holiday would be coming so soon. But as I've been obliged to admit so many times before, they were right.

The start of the end-of-year holiday season induces in some people a wave of glee, in some a wave of nausea, and in many a wave of something between those two. Whatever your feelings about the season, I won't try to change them. What I will do, though, before things get too crazy, is to ask you to consider making real strides to keep yourself sane, solvent, organized, and as happy as possible over the next 6 weeks.

To that end, here are 5 things I hope you'll include on your list of things to give yourself in the weeks ahead.

#1: Freedom from unrealistic expectations

The expectation that you can and should turn your home into a winter extravaganza out of the pages of a magazine, or that every inch of your living space should be perfectly orderly before guests arrive, is bound to make you crazy or miserable or both, unless you happen to have nothing else to do for the next month and a half other than decorate and organize. (I'm going to guess that's not the case.) As I urge my clients throughout the year, the trick is to find your own reasonable equilibrium and aim for that, not to try to conform to other's expectations.

#2: The right to take a pass

While there may be some holiday events that require that you at least make an appearance (the office holiday party, a close neighbor's open house, Thanksgiving dessert at an important family member's home), forcing yourself to go to others that aren't particularly meaningful or appealing may leave you exhausted and resentful. Give yourself a few Get Out of Jail Free cards for those events, perhaps mailing a simple gift or note with your regrets and your wishes for the season.

#3: Permission to pass up a bargain

Supposedly good deals crop up everywhere over the next few weeks. If you find a gift that's already on your list at a particularly good price, but all means, go for it. Be wary of buying things you hadn't intended to, though--especially if you don't have a specific recipient in mind (if they're gifts) or don't have a very solid need for them (if they're for you). As is true year-round and especially so when stores encourage us to get up before dawn for "doorbuster" deals, buying things just because they seem to be bargains often means spending more than you'd planned and winding up with clutter.

#4: The gift of help

Even if your holiday preparations and celebrations aren't elaborate, chances are they involve time, effort, and energy, especially when you're also doing everything else you normally do. Don't try to be a holiday hero and tackle it all on your own. Whether you pay for help (by ordering your Thanksgiving meal from a catering company or hiring a crafty neighbor to wrap your gifts), enlist it (by having family members pitch in with food prep or pre-celebration tidying), or simply accept it when it's offered (many guests really do mean it when they ask what they can do to lend a hand), you'll save yourself time, stress, and frustration.

#5: Your own definition of "happy holidays"

Finally, tricky though this can sometimes be, do your best to define for yourself how you want to observe the season, whether that's an all-nine-yards weeks-long celebration with all the trimmings, a few small events with especially close friends and family members, or simply a week of watching cheesy holiday movies and drinking hot chocolate. By not trying to shoehorn yourself into others' ideas of what the holidays are or should be like, you'll be more likely to make it through the end of the year with less stress, less clutter, and more happiness, however you define it.

Get It Done Month, Week 2: Lessons Learned

Tip of the Week, October 9, 2011

Welcome to week 2 of Get It Done Month. (Missed the Tip from week 1? Read it here.) I'm very happy to report that I've accomplished the task I committed to last week: ordering a replacement shade for the broken one in my bedroom. What a relief to finally have that off of my shoulders! I'm ready to move on to a new project this week (more on that below).

I'm also happy to note that several readers shared with me the tasks they wanted to (and in some cases, successfully did) tackle last week. Kudos to those folks, and here's to your continued success in the weeks ahead.

What Kept Me Going
In the course of doing what it took to cross The Shade task off of my list, I was reminded of a few things that help make getting things done a lot easier. Here are those lessons learned, and how they can support you as you work on your own tasks and projects in the weeks ahead.

• Done is better than perfect. At one point, I found myself wondering how closely the hue of the replacement shade I was looking at online matched the one currently hanging in my bedroom, and almost abandoned the order I was about to place out of fear that the two colors weren't close enough. (What exactly is "dove," anyway?) Then I realized the color match didn't have to be perfect: I don't spend a lot of time looking at the shades closed, and I can live with two slightly different hues. Plus, I wasn't willing to put off the task any longer in the name of perfection.
• Aim small and low. Truth be told, had I made this task any more ambitious--finding and ordering curtains as well, for example--I probably wouldn't have done it, given everything else I had to attend to last week. Measuring, researching, comparing, and ordering a shade was just right: though there were several steps involved, they were straightforward, and the overall project was a small one.
• Let accountability do its job. A big motivator throughout the week to finish the task I set out to do, especially in the (multiple) moments when I was tempted to do other things, was the thought that if I didn't complete it, I'd have to confess as much to all of you. Having promised to report my progress, I didn't want to have to admit that I'd fallen short.
  

Next Up
With task #1 crossed off my list, I'm ready to move on to a new one this week: updating the information in my PortaVault, the grab-and-go system I use for vital records, financial account details, and other info I'd want to have with me were I ever to need to leave my home in a hurry. Some of the stuff in there has grown a bit outdated, so it's time to replace it.

What task or project will you commit to this week? If you completed one last week, great! Let that feeling of accomplishment motivate you as you tackle the next one. If you're just getting started, keep the tips above in mind and remember that getting one project done is better than getting none done.

Once again, I invite you to share your successes and this week's projects on The Organized Life's Facebook page, tweet them with the hashtag #GetItDoneMonth, or leave them in a comment.

Good luck with week 2!

Welcome to Get It Done Month

Tip of the Week, October 2, 2011

Let me tell you about The Shade.

Back in--yikes--March, the cord on one of the two shades in my bedroom snapped, making it impossible to open. For the past (cough, cough) several months, then, it's been permanently drawn, waiting wearily for a replacement. Quite literally every week I vow to call the shade company and order a new one, and quite literally every week between March and now, I have not. It's time to change that.

Sometimes no matter how good our intentions or how seemingly strong our resolve or how important a task, it takes some sort of kick in the pants to get us to tackle it. As that much-needed dose of motivation for myself--and, I hope, for you, too--I'd like to officially declare October Get It Done Month, and to encourage each of us to use the next few weeks to deal with tasks and projects we've been putting off. Here's some background info on why we procrastinate, how to move beyond, and how to get started on your own accomplishments for the month.

How Hard Can It Be? Why We Put Stuff Off
Given that I've been living with a broken shade for 7 months, you'd think that replacing it would involve weaving a new one myself from the hair of a rare Himalayan animal, not picking up the phone and making a call.

What's with the procrastination? For me, it's a combination of things:

• It's not a fun task.
• It involves several steps (measuring the window, going through my household files to find the make and model of the shade, finding a provider, contacting them, and so on).
• It's not important enough to rise to the top of my list, so it often gets pushed off altogether.
• Despite the annoyance (and semi-darkness) of only being able to open one shade, I've kind of gotten used to it.
  

Of course, the downside of my endless delaying is not only that my bedroom doesn't look and feel the way I want it to, but also that I think about this task every single time I look at The Shade. There are plenty of other things that deserve my mental energy and attention more.

Getting Beyond Putting It Off
The best methods for overcoming procrastination and taking action on a task depend on what's behind the delay. Here's what I need to do to get myself moving, based on my reasons for stalling:

• Come up with a reward for finishing the task so that while the work itself may not be fun, what comes after it will be.
• Write down each of the steps involved and tackle them one at a time; it's a lot easier to think of measuring the window or finding the receipt for the shade in my file than to think of finishing this project in one fell swoop.
• Enhance the importance of getting this done by reminding myself every day that finishing it means I never have to do it again.
• Keep my eyes on the prize: I want my light-filled bedroom back!
  

How Get It Done Month Works
And, of course, one of the biggest motivators for getting this done is the fact that I'm making this commitment to all of you: by the end of this week, I will have ordered a replacement shade. I encourage--and request!--you to leave a comment and ask me how I did (and, of course, I'll share my progress in next week's Tip; for October, we'll go back to a once-a-week Tip schedule).

While you don't need to share the task you want to accomplish with hundreds of people, I invite you to take the opportunity each week this month to commit to a task or small project you've been putting off. Each week, ask yourself these questions:

• What do I want to accomplish?
• Why have I been putting this off?
• What can I do to get beyond procrastinating on this?
• What's the first step I'm going to take to get this done?
  

Want a boost, or want to share what you're committing to? Post it to The Organized Life Facebook page, tweet it with the hashtag #getItDoneMonth, or leave it in a comment.

I'm excited to get my stalled projects into gear (especially before the busy holiday season starts), and I hope you are, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a window to measure.

Get Real to Get Organized

Tip of the Week, August 28 & September 4, 2011

As much as I love Elfa closet systems from The Container Store (and no, I'm not getting paid to say that; I adore them of my own volition), I'm chagrined by the number of clients who point to an image of an Elfa'ed space in one of the store's catalogs or on the website and say, "I want that." That tends to be a clothes closet with ten beautifully color-coordinated pieces on hangers spaced at two-inch intervals, with matching shoes and accessories neatly stored nearby.

The photos do a great job of showing off the system components (which is just what they're meant to do), but they're not intended to be exact blueprints for how any of our own closets will look with even the most fabulous system in place. Using photos like these as anything more than inspiration, general motivation, and a guide to what kind of storage setup might work for you tends to be a recipe for disappointment.

The Organizing Equivalent of Fashion Models
For the 99.99% of us who don't look like fashion models, flipping through magazines or even looking at billboards can be a harrowing experience. The same holds true of looking at images of organization: seeing absolutely perfect photos of immaculately organized spaces can make us feel instantly inadequate and can inspire negative comparisons. Wow--my pantry certainly doesn't look like that! If that's what an organized family room is meant to look like, I'm hopeless! I didn't know my hall closet was such a raging disaster.

To quote a mid-1990s infomercial, "Stop the insanity!" Being organized doesn't mean having to adhere to the immensely high standards someone else has come up with, whether we see those standards in magazines, on TV, or in others' homes and offices. It means getting real about what more organized, orderly, functional, and comfortable spaces would be like for us and then realistically working on creating those spaces, whether or not they bear any resemblance to what we see elsewhere or what anyone else considers "organized."

Go Your Own Way
I recently worked with a client I've had the chance to collaborate with on a number of projects over the years. At the start of our session, she showed me the closet in her home office, one of the spaces we had worked together to transform. As she gave me a tour of the space, pointing out the changes she'd made, she told me that, as she'd worked on organizing the closet, she had kept in mind my advice to focus above all on ensuring that it was functional and usable for her, no matter whether it looked perfect or would be up to anyone else's standards.

The result? She'd created a space that was significantly better for her than it had been, that allowed her easy access to the stuff she needed most often and ample storage for things that were more archival in nature, and that was no more organized than she needed it to be. That meant no perfectly matching boxes, no worries about the fact that some of her 3-ring binders had seen better days, and not a care in the world about what anyone else might think of how it looked. It was, in short, a space that was perfectly organized for her--and that, moreover, she'd kept that way for several months.

Get Real
As you contemplate your next organizing project, take a cue from my client: forget about perfection. Don't force yourself to aim for a space that looks like it came from a catalog when what you really need is one that's functional and useful based on how you actually live and work. Get real about what "getting organized" really means to you and you'll be far more likely not only to reach that goal, but also to keep up your success long term.