“Time Out” for Organizing

We were recently contacted by Kevin Aeh, a writer for “Time Out Chicago” to perform a closet organizing project for their upcoming design issue.

Lucky guy!  He even got to be our guinea pig.  Kevin is a hip, urban professional with a creative job and an eclectic sense of style.  We liked him immediately and weren’t deterred when we saw the chaos he called his closets. 

You can read his take on our project via the following link: 

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TOCWebArticles1/83/check_out/closet_case.xml

So what are you waiting for?

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Resolve to Live a Simpler Life

I am an experiential learner, a graduate from the School of Life, one who must first make the mistake before “getting” the lesson.  My journey towards simplicity and my mission with White Space ™ to assist others who are seeking more balance, order, simplicity and control grew from my own experience, too.

Simplicity and order were not always a chosen way of Life for me.  During my sixteen year career in the fast-paced, hard-driving world of advertising, I excelled in my drive for the accumulation of “stuff” – stuff to entertain, stuff to distract, stuff to alleviate the basic dissatisfaction I felt with my life and the path I was on.  I accumulated stuff until my closets were crammed, my bookshelves overflowed and my storage space would store no more.

It was during my self-imposed sabbatical throughout which I slowed the pace of my life and cleared the clutter from my closets and my mind that I discovered the joys of order and simplicity.

Sonia Choquette says in her book True Balance that “order helps us to see the patterns of our life.”  William Morris, founder of the American Arts & Crafts movement, said “Have nothing in your home that you do not believe to be useful or beautiful.”

With the ever-increasing pace of Life, there’s no time like the present to examine the “stuff” of our lives and determine what is truly useful and what is holding us back from seeing the patterns in our lives.

Thoreau extolled from his cabin on Walden Pond, …

The Tipping Point of Clutter

I have been carrying around a copy of Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, ever since it first hit bookstores.  I even made my family pull over during a holiday trek into the mountains to search bookstores prematurely because I just knew it had wisdom I wanted. 

Well, nearly three years later and following several incomplete forays into its pages, one of the professional organizers at White Space who knows me well gave me The Tipping Point  on CD.  I was about to embark on a road trip and she suggested it might be a way for me to finish the book.

The good news . . .it worked.

The better news . . .I discovered numerous points of wisdom that were key “a-ha” moments for me.

Consider Gladwell’s point of view on “clutter.”  Granted, he was talking about the information clutter we experience on a daily basis.  According to his research we are now besieged by 254 different messages daily.  And the challenge for marketers is to not only stand out, but to be memorable – or in his terms “sticky.”  The difficulty for them is that our minds are so “cluttered” with the immediate details, information and statistics of our daily lives that we have little capacity left for potential items of interest.

Guess what?!?  The same is true for our physical environments.  When your desktop, closet, cabinets or car are strewn or stuffed with clutter it is nearly impossible to focus …

The Character of Clutter

Clutter has a great deal more value than any professional organizer is willing to admit.  It’s much easier to simply dispense with it and depart another satisfied client’s home, payment in hand.  Yet, after nearly a decade in the business of organizing other people’s stuff I have come to realize that clutter has value. 

Clutter consists of things left undone.  It can be anything awaiting action.  It can contain keys to those areas of Life we avoid or delay.  It indicates potential and unexplored territory; emotionally, mentally and physically.  

It is rich with meaning and potential.  It tells us a great deal about its owner or creator.  It contains keys to the deepest desires and unfulfilled wishes of the creator.  Therefore, if clutter has character, what does your clutter say about you?

Does your clutter contain articles about exotic destinations you have yet to reach?  Are there articles on topics you long to explore, hobbies you wish to undertake, careers you would like – someday – to pursue?  Does your clutter indicate your mutli-faceted interests and enhance your depth of character by its sheer volume and diversity?

Perhaps this explains why we are so attached to our clutter.  Why it’s so hard to throw out that which we have painstakingly accumulated.  And, if we let go of it, do we shrink in stature in our own eyes if not in the eyes of those we know and love?

The answer is NO!  Yes, clutter may contain a peak into our emotional closets, …

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

More often than not, my clients need some motivation to help them take the first step in getting personally organized.  Once it took motivation just to get the client to let me in the door.  She actually positioned herself like a big “X” in the doorway to stop me from peaking into her world of chaos.

While I might envision a “cattle prod” or a back hoe, I usually engage a more empathetic and sensitive approach.   My favorite is the tax deduction incentive plan; aka, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Did you know that the second most overlooked tax deduction allowed by the IRS is called “Non Cash Contributions to Non-Profit Organizations.”  In plain English, any unwanted household items, clothing, books, appliances, toys - basically anything but cash – can be donated to a non-profit group. 

To take full advantage of the deduction, you must create an inventory.  Time-consuming – maybe.  Worthwhile – Absolutely!  Just do the following:

List each item.
Note the original cost of acquiring the item.
Assign a fair market value (The IRS’ standard is “would you wear another man’s underwear?”)
Add any comments that you think will sway a crusty, governmental auditor.
Attach to the non-profit organization’s receipt.
Drop in your Tax File (please tell me you have a tax file)
Wait until tax season to submit.

The total value of these items comes directly off your gross income.  In other words, your hand-me-downs (my Midwestern roots are showing) reduce your taxable income.  In some cases, the deduction can be significant.

In 2002, we helped a …

It’s About Time

I am lucky, one of the fortunate few, who is getting paid to do that about which I am also passionate. I’m a professional organizer. Actually, my title is “Master Simplifier” ™. And as such, I get to clear other people’s clutter, streamline their closets and their lives and help them find time in an otherwise hectic daily schedule.

And while my days may be spent getting clutter under control – one client calls his “Jurassic sediment” – I am here to tell you that I really don’t give a hoot if your sock drawer is organized. In fact, I’m tired of listening to organizers and hosts of the currently-hot, cable space makeover shows, drone on as if having the perfectly organized closet, file system or garage solution is akin to attaining nirvana.

Perfectly aligned containers, fewer storage spaces jammed to the fagers and closets that no longer spring open under the pressure of too much stuff, isn’t going to insure you Peace of Mind. The essence of getting organized isn’t about being “neat as a pin.” Neatness doesn’t equate to understanding what gives you satisfaction. Orderliness may be next to godliness on someone’s list, but on mine it could be an indication of OCD, and that’s the opposite end of the same spectrum.

Wake up everyone!! It’s about saving you time! Precious time – “the one capital every human being has and can’t afford to waste” according to Thomas Edison. (talk about the light bulb!) The one resource we all wish we …

Is Your Desk a Candidate for Detox?

Take a moment and look at your desktop. Is it edge-to-edge paperwork? Are your files in piles so high, people looking into your office would mistakenly think you’re not in? Do your co-workers roll their eyes when they hear you say, “I know it’s here someplace.”?
Or worse, are people in the habit of making a copy of the documents they give you, knowing you may not be able to locate your copy when it’s time to act upon it?

With the increasing demands of our work lives, even the most organized person can easily spin out of control, become buried beneath piles of “To Do’s” and filing.

For years I have listened to clients’ exclamations of knowing what’s in every pile. Of being able to put their hands on any document needed. In reality, I have yet to meet the person who can back that claim.

The paper shuffle has become so endemic that a new term has been coined for it, “infonoia.” “Infonoia” is the fear of being caught without an important document at the time it’s needed. It is, in short, paranoia of lack of information.

Especially today, with the reach and depth of computers, most any document can be recreated on the rare occasion that you can’t produce it when needed. More realistically speaking, the only real value of information is measured in your ability to put your hands on it when it’s called for. In other words, stacks and reams of paper are worthless – aka have no value – …

All the World’s a Stage – Including Your Living Room

With the recent tightening in the residential real estate market, we’ve started receiving numerous calls from around the country inquiring about Home Staging. Home staging, is an emerging practice among home sellers at every price level.

Home Staging is in practical terms, putting your home’s best foot forward. It’s optimizing your home’s appeal and it has real payoffs. It’s been stated that Home Staging can maximize the selling price by as much as 10% while minimizing the time the home is on the market by weeks and months.

Who doesn’t want to sell their home for as much as possible and in as little time as possible? All of our White Space ™ clients, for sure.

Until recently we had only staged homes from clients who came to us originally for other reasons; file systems, storage and closet organization, or general de-cluttering of their homes. We had staged perhaps a dozen homes. We’ve had 50 or more inquiries in recent weeks for our services in this area.

We just completed three stagings and the clients’ reactions were similar. Our client, Andy, said his home felt sterile to him. And Linda said she felt as though she was living in a hotel. Mission Accomplished!!!

That’s a good gauge as to our success in creating a home that potential buyers could see as their home. As of this blogging, Andy’s home has sold and Linda has had much more activity in viewings and interest. She may even be in contract by now.

The most important asset …