Ready, Set . . .”GO”

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, …

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, …

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 – …