Today’s book is a little lighter read. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston is a handy feng shui and space clearing primer. It is an easy read with practical tips in language that is understandable even to those of us who usually get hung up on the direction finding side of feng shui. In addition Karen addresses the background of clutter and helps identify what it is and how it accumulates – all in 163 pages.
If you are in the Toronto area, you may be interested in the upcoming speaking tour of one of Karen’s students. Tracey Stanton will be in Toronto April 18th to 20th and will be teaching space clearing and clutter clearing in a three day workshop. I have recently heard Tracey speak on clutter and space clearing and recommend this workshop to both professional organizers and their clients who are serious about understanding more of the underlying issues of clutter. For more information contact Cecilia Moorcroft at 416 535 6007.
Archive for Organizing Strategies – Page 5
Starting to get organized is sometimes the biggest challenge of any organizing project. Where to start? Which pile of clutter will be demolished first?
There are two places in any home that typically have a big impact on one’s outlook on life – picking up one’s spirits and positive outlook. They are the front entrance home and the bedroom.
The front entrance is a place one’s immediately upon entering or exiting the home – no matter how big or small. Since most of us do this at least twice a day, and many of us several times more often, each re-encounter with the freshly organized space will reinforce your ability to take back control of the level of organization in your home.
Your bedroom ought to be a sanctuary for you; a place where you go for respite, to refresh and relax. When you get a grip on your bedroom organization, you will go to sleep feeling more in control of your life and wake up feeling more organized. What a great way to start the day!
If possible, pick something in these two areas of your home with which to start your Spring into Action organizing project. The temperatures are rising. As you shed those heavy winter coats and feel lighter in the sunshine, so too will you feel lighter and more positive with an organized space.
With spring just around the corner, I felt compelled to use the old cliche “springing into action”. Hopefully the weather is at least sunny where you are reading this – as it is while I write, although still very cold – in order to set you in a spring organizing mindset.
One of the most important elements of organizing is to be confident about your ability to make a change in your life and/or space. To do that, it helps to visualize the space that you have chosen to organize and have a clear idea in your mind of what it will look like in its newly organized state.
Pick the space that you would like to organize. Start small. Look over the space very carefully and take in all the detail you can. Now close your eyes. Imagine each part of the space in its newly organized state. What does it look like, feel like, sound like? How will it work for you? How will your life be different when that space is organized? How will you feel when it is organized? Hang on to those thoughts, the picture and the feeling.
Now go for it. If you become frustrated or discouraged, close your eyes again and return to your vision. Revisit all the detail that your created in your vision of look, feel, sound and function. Then return to your task.
Your space will help you attain the organized life that you desire for yourself and your family.
Yesterday I wrote about open versus closed storage. It is important to remember that, while storage containers can be pretty, handsome, calm the visual noise and look very productive on the book shelves of your office, they may not be necessary at all.
Before finding a container for anything, take a really good look at whether or not there is any point in you keeping it. Do you really need to keep all that scrap paper? (Can it be sent to the local school/daycare for crafts?) Do you really need to keep all those trade show giveaways? (Can they be donated somewhere they will be used?)
You get the picture?
Are you using your electronic calendar to it’s fullest potential? It can help you organize some of those annual other repeat events that are worthwhile remembering – like your best client’s birthday.
Book the event into your electronic calendar and use the Recurrence function to book it again the next time it occurs. Then set a reminder a few days ahead so that you can prepare for the event, like calling him/her up with good wishes. Won’t you look organized!
Have you ever found yourself trying to access or put away an item only to find yourself frustrated or irritated by the process? I had this experience just this morning putting away the clip closure from a now empty bag which I had discarded. I went to the drawer to the zip lock bag where the clips are stored. I opened the bag tossed in the clip and closed it up. Then I wondered,
“Why does this need to be closed? Do I think the clips are going to wander around the drawer when not in use and not be there when I want them? Why can’t I just toss them into an open container and skip the opening/closing process?”
And why not? Does organizing have to be complicated or frustrating? No, it does not.
Open storage is great for tossing and dropping when the contents are not likely to wander around, when you might want to see the contents. The container doesn’t travel – like a lunch box would – and the contents can’t move on their own. Open storage is great for children and teenagers and anyone else in the toss and drop stage of life where opening and closing items are additional stages of organizing that will be missed at the expense of the item being stored. Think of toys on a shelf for children or a teenage girl’s clothes in open sliding baskets rather than a cupboard. It is also great for a storage container that you can’t see – such as the clips in the kitchen drawer.
Closed storage is best for when the items can get out by themselves – think of pulling the flour off the shelf and having it spill on the floor if the storage container is not closed. It is also good for protecting the contents, like the flour, from dust or other dangers. Closed storage is also good for just getting rid of the visual noise or the sight of the item being stored. Think in this case of putting a lid on a decorative box of children’s toys that are kept in an otherwise elegant living room or reducing the visual noise of a box of spare computer cables in your office.
Closed storage is harder to get into – open storage is for grab, toss and drop activity. What’s in your home or office that warrants change?
Are you still fussing with liquids and containers when travelling? Have you invested yet in the travel size containers for your business travel kit? Make the commitment. They are widely available in a variety of price points. Do yourself a favour and pick up a package.
They usually come with several bottles and a couple of jars, all measured to meet international travel requirements. I have found them available at Canadian Tire Corporation and the Solutions Store. They fit perfectly and without fuss into most travel kits – even for those of us who don’t travel as much!
Have you got a big project underway at home that is getting the better of you? Is your organization falling apart as this project mushrooms all over the house?
Take a tip from the design world to help get a big project under control. Find a container big enough to hold all the bits and pieces and put the whole project into the container.
- For a child’s school bristol board project a clear garbage bag may do the trick. Use a clear one so that they remember what’s inside and so that it doesn’t end up in the garbage by accident.
- For a sewing or craft project consider a box with a lid. The lid will keep the dust, cat and prying hands away.
- For a project with odd shaped items, consider a basket, laundry hamper or other flexible container to accommodate the odd shapes.
When the project is finished the container can be used for the next project or repurposed elsewhere in the house – the laundry perhaps!
Have you got a pile of unopened mail on your dining room table? Maybe it’s in a pile on the counter. Here’s some magic to make it disappear.
- Take all the mail offers and put them directly in the recycling bin. You can be sure, there are more on their way.
- Take all other enveloped articles and remove the envelopes. If you have to, staple the envelop contents together.
- Divide the remaining articles into three piles Act Now, Follow Up and Think About. Book time for the Act Now items. Most of the items in the Think About you can throw out. You will probably never think about them and they are probably not on your list of top priorities.
Presto! A small pile of items that really require your attention.
For many people the concept of anticipating what’s coming down the road is hard to to grasp. We are all wired differently and not everyone has the same orientation to the future.
In this case, I find helping clients to plan ahead is more helpful. How far can you plan ahead? Many of us work with financial planners to plan ahead for our retirement. That’s a form of organizing the future. Some of us plan ahead for our children’s education with education funds. That’s also a form of organizing the future.
How about planning ahead for summer activities? Have you thought about your children’s activities for the summer? Have you booked the camps that they want to attend? Plan ahead to that you, and your family, are not disappointed by applying or acting too late.
How about planning ahead for the weekend? Have you made plans? Have you organized the gear that you might need for those plans? Are you using the weekend to plan ahead for the next week.
Try writing a list of a couple of things you need for tomorrow to make it an easier day. See if you can get those accomplished today before you turn out the light. That’s planning ahead and organizating your life, one step at a time.
