February 22nd, 2007
Getting rid of clutter for clutter’s sake is not very rewarding. It brings you face-to-face with the accumulation of your life; memories, poor purchases that never delivered the feeling you sought in purchasing it, possessions you have long since outgrown or no longer need. It can feel like trudging through a morass of mud and sludge.
Yet, when motivated by a higher purpose we often find it easier to part with things. Following Hurricane Katrina millions of Americans purged their homes of items they thought would better serve the hurricane survivors; clothing, blankets, household items, furniture and more.
When assisting clients we often find the motivation of “repurposing” possessions a powerful motivator. Things begin flying into boxes and bags to be transported to some worthwhile non-profit organization serving a population in need. (see earlier blog, “One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure”)
I want to share my latest find. A wonderful non-profit with a higher calling that we can all help support while lightening our own loads. “Open Books” is a newly founded non-profit used bookstore supporting literacy in Chicago. I recently learned of Open Books in DailyCandy Chicago when they highlighted the tremendous work of this dynamic duo, Stacy Ratner and Becca Keaty. After successful careers in other non-profits and start-ups, these two formidable and energetic women made a conscious decision to combine their vocation and their avocation.
Open Books will fund literacy programming through the sale of used books. And this creates a wonderful WIN/WIN for all of us storing boxes of dusty …
January 12th, 2007
With getting organized near the top of people’s lists of New Years resolutions, it is easy to understand why the National Association of Professional Organizers (www.napo.net) worked to get January named GO (Get Organized) Month.
When PhD and internationally acclaimed author, Sonia Choquette published her book True Balance; A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit, in 2000 she detailed the attributes of each of the seven chakras, psychic energy centers in the human body. The first chakra, when balanced and healthy provides the foundation for your Life. Sonia (www.inner-wisdom.com) asked me to contribute an article on getting organized in the new year because of its importance to a healthy, balanced state of being.
The beginning of the New Year provides us with the opportunity to reflect on what is working and what is not working in our lives. We pause intentionally to examine the quality of our life and to consciously choose to make shifts in order to experience a more satisfying life. We are, after all, a higher order of being and are granted the gift of free will, the power to consciously choose or not to choose.
Therefore, getting organized takes on more importance. Organization enhances our ability to focus and to not be distracted in a meaningless way by irrelevant “stuff”. And increased focus aids us in living more intentionally, some might call it more productively, each and every day. And intention is what enables us to be more satisfied, more content each and every day, through the exercise of true choice.
So, …
December 15th, 2006
I believe that everyone has an organizational “style” and that, as a Professional Organizer, my role is to help them find it. There are many benefits to this approach:
1. We move into solution mode following a fairly brief assessment. There is no time for judgment.
2. Our clients never feel embarrassed and if they do, we help them get past that momentary feeling.
3. We seek the best solution for our client. We never apply the same cookie cutter approach to every client because it wouldn’t work.
So what’s your organizational style? Your organizational style is often related to your learning style; a) Visual, b) Kinestetic, or c) Auditory.
If you are a visual learner, you will most likely prefer to see everything. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean everything must be out. It does imply the use of bright colors and clear containers for your papers and possessions. In an effort to reduce the visual clutter that often characterizes the homes and offices of visual learners, we find it helpful to create Guides directing them to categorized areas of things. The visual style of learning is the most dominant and typifies creative people.
If you are an auditory learner, we employ a more “logical” style of organizational system. Files may or may not be colorful, but will be categorized topically and then arranged alphabetically within the category. Color does not enhance the sense of order and foundation for an auditory learner. The “architecture” of organization must be logical and orderly for an auditory learner.
For kinestetic learners, we focus …
October 15th, 2006
Help! Ever have that feeling you are drowning in your priorities, responsibilities, “things to do”, places to go, people to see” lists? Do you have too many “to-do’s” and too little time? Can I get a big “Amen?”!
I haven’t posted since Sept. 28 (in case you haven’t noticed). Yes, even my time can get overrun by my tasks.
Time and Trash - the longest lasting challenges for modern society. Years ago Thomas Edison said, “Time is really the only capital any man has and the one thing he can’t afford to waste.” So lack of time is at least as old a problem as the invention of the light bulb!
If this is your challenge, too, don’t allow it to continue. I thoroughly believe that slowing down is the key to accomplishing more - and with a greater level of satisfaction in doing so. In this day and age of more choice, myriad options and greater selection of diversions, pursuits, etc we must become masters of choice. Yes, we must consciously decide what is important to us and what gives our lives the most meaning (read personally and professionally).
Many of us can’t see through the clutter of our lives to determine what is most important to us. Yet, it’s worth the time to sort it out! Commit to yourself to take a few challenging, but incredibly simple steps to define “Satisfaction” for yourself. In an oversimplistic manner, let me suggest the following:
1. Read The Art of Living by Epictetus; the original and …
September 19th, 2006
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 …
September 15th, 2006
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, …
September 10th, 2006
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 – …
