Q “Now that you have seen my disorganization and mess, tell me, am I the worst that you have seen. Are there other people that are more disorganized than me and have more mess than me?”
A Yes. Always.
It often takes a lot of courage for a seriously disorganized person, or family, to let a professional organizer into their home. For that matter, many of my clients have not had anyone into their home for a very long time. They are too ashamed. Their embarrassment and concern that they will be chastised by friends and family ensure that those friends and family will never be invited over. Their embarrassment is expressed in a desire to know they are not the worst or most disorganized people I have ever worked with.
The reality is that there are a lot of people in this world with a lot of stuff they a) don’t need b) don’t use c) don’t have room for and d) don’t know how to manage or part with. The impact on their lives is no different than the impact on the disorganization in the life of the clients that express their frustration and embarrassment in the form of today’s question.
If there weren’t lots of disorganized people in Canada, the country would not support the growing roster of industry professionals such as the members of Professional Organizers in Canada , now with over 600 members, or its affiliate, the National Association of Professional Organizers in the United States.
More important, however, is how each individual or family, struggling with disorganization, gets a grip on their lives so that they too can live to their full potential, unencumbered by unnecessary activity or belongings; otherwise known as “stuff”.
So if you are wondering if anyone else in the world suffers from disorganization like you do, the answer is yes. Lots of people. Now what will you do to manage it?
Archive for Accumulation – Page 3
Q It seems that every surface in my home has stuff on it. My home is cluttered but I have no other place to put things. What else can I do?
A It is human nature to put an object down or away in the place of least resistance or the most accessible spot when we are finished with it. For many people, that spot ends up being an empty flat surface. The result can be a cluttered space with every flat surface filled and, in worse case scenarios, several layers of objects on every flat surface.
Switch from horizontal to vertical storage strategies and habits. Vertical space is up and down space in your home. The floor, counters and table tops are horizontal space. Keep your horizontal space clear and your home will look and feel less cluttered and be easier to move around in.
Book shelves are great vertical storage and can be used to storage an array of items besides books. Putting similar items in containers such as boxes, baskets or other plastic containers on the shelves reduces the messy look of many objects. A hook on a wall is another simple and effective means of using vertical space, great for clothes especially in a child’s room.
Here’s an interesting site for those of you living in small spaces. What’s not to love about a site named Loving. Living. Small?
Still trying to get that seasonal clear out completed? Hop over to Dim Sum Mom and hear how she accomplished it for a family of six: that would be Mom and Dad, son and triplets!
OK folks, time to clear out the closets. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find as many unused coats in your closets as possible. Think of the space you could free up! Think of the warmth you could pass on to someone else!
Bob McGee from Toronto’s CHFI FM radio station is, for the 5th year, collecting coats for children this weekend. Here is the link to the details where you can drop off the coats.
http://www.chfi.com/events/more.jsp?content=20081020_142107_26440
Let’s make this a challenge. I’d like to see how many coats this blog can send out to Bob and friends to help keep the kids warm. Add your comments and tell me how many coats you are send up. I’ll report the tally on Monday.
A client recently expressed the following frustration:
“I have too many casual-use dishes, and they are taking up a lot of space in my cupboards. But I can’t bear to part with any of them. One set (of about eight) was given to me by my late mother and includes a set of casserole dishes, mugs, coffee pot, salt and pepper shakers, butter dish with cover, and so on. These are my favourite, but they’re not microwave safe. The second set (of four) was given to me by my daughters when they were younger, one of the first gifts they bought for me with their own money. They’re pretty, and I like the shape of the bowls, but some have broken so now there aren’t enough. And they don’t go with anything else I have. The third set are plain white, which is practical because I can use them to supplement my good china. All three sets came with cups and saucers, which I never use and would give away, but I don’t like to separate them from the rest of the set. Do you have any suggestions for how to reclaim space in my cupboards?“
This is a classic expression of the frustration we all experience when objects pile up and emotional ties prevent us from letting them go. Here are some suggestions that might help you in this situation:
- If you like the objects, get them out of hiding and use them.
- Consider that your mother probably did not expect you to keep the dishes forever and would be very sad that you were experiencing so much stress over them. Who would she suggest that you give them to or what would she have liked you to do when you were finished with them?
- Move the dishes out of the cupboard and lay them out in a different room. Taking items out of context often helps the sorting/separating process by changing perspective.
- Play the strangers, acquaintances, friends game. Which of the dishes are friends and which are strangers? Send the strangers away.
- The emotional attachment in this case is not likely to the dishes, which are at the end of the day, just dishes you are not using. The attachment is to your mother and your daughters. Rather than keeping a cupboard full of dishes, pick one or two which serve as a representation of the love you have for them and send the rest away.
- Often by giving items which hold a strong emotional memory to someone or someplace of significance to us, the emotional attachment to the object can be diminished by the emotional experience of the giving. Are your daughters setting up their own homes yet? Could they use the dishes? Do you know a single mother who is struggling to make ends meet? Would she enjoy some lovely dishes? You get the picture.
- Take a picture! Get a friend or family member to take a picture of you using the dishes and with the entire set. In the case of the dishes your daughters gave you, have them in the picture too. You can now save the picture to remind you of the dishes and to elicit the same feelings of love for your family members without keeping all the objects.
Are you feeling hemmed in when sitting at your desk?
Take a quick inventory of what’s on it: computer CPU, printer, screen, keyboard, telephone, several “In” piles, three projects in process (at least that’s what you can see well enough to count).
Move all the hardware off your desk. Do a quick sort of your In piles into four file folders: read, call, write, decide. Put them into a vertical file holder on your desk, to the left if you are right handed, (vice versa) with the labels facing toward you. Make sure the three projects are in some form of file holder and add them to the vertical file holder.
Take a quick inventory of what’s under it at your feet: computer CPU, printer, several pairs of shoes, gym bag, handbag, assorted brief cases or other business cases, recycling box.
Move the CPU and printer. Put the shoes, gym bag and any other clothes in the closet or in a bag hanging behing the door. Put the business cases in the closet. Use the recycling box for the sorting in the second paragraph above.
Enjoy your space.
We all have dishes, pots and perhaps many other items in our homes that we used seldom if ever. In this case, the client rarely if ever served fondu and now that her children were away at university, it seemed even less likely she would ever use it. The client was not interested in a garage sale and the pot contained enough sentimental value, that she wanted to find a new home where it would be used.
Sound familiar?
A helpful approach to shedding these objects is to ask yourself a) how often do I use it? b) how easily can I replace it or borrow another one if and when I do need it.
Ask around family or friends to see if anyone else would like a fondu pot or if they have family heading off to university or setting up a home that might like one. If they already have one, ask if you could borrow it from time to time.
For many people, the traditional children’s gifts or tokens at Valentine’s Day are plush toys and chocolate. This year, I was particularly challenged as my 13 year old daughter has given up chocolate for Lent. We no longer accumulate plush toys as she has purged her collection down to her few very favourites. My solution is to bake a (vanilla) cake for the family and yes, it will be pink or red(ish).
Do you have suggestions to offer the readership? What do other people use as clutter free, candy free gifts or tokens to the kids?
Add you comments below and let us know your solutions.
