Archive for managing mess

Many pieces of paper with "Alternative" written on them in different colours and fonts.

Decision Fatigue: What it is and how to manage it

Posted by Carolyn on
 July 20, 2023

Decision fatigue is more common than one might think. As an organizing professional I see it a lot. But what is it really, how does it show up and what can be done about it? This blog article takes a look at the idea from an organizers perspective.

Definition
many white tabs with "Option" writing on them in different styles and colours.

According to Wikipedia, decision fatigue refers to the impact of having to make too many decisions, or too difficult decisions, in a short space of time. In other words, it is the impact of that experience that is the fatigue referred to by psychologists.

Decision fatigue is “the idea that after making many decisions, your ability to make more and more decisions over the course of a day becomes worse,” said Dr. MacLean, a psychiatrist. “The more decisions you have to make, the more fatigue you develop and the more difficult it can become.”

What it looks like when organizing.

As I mentioned this is a common experience for me as an organizing professional. Because I work with individuals affected by chronic disorganization, I specifically designed the hands on portion of my business to be face to face with clients for only 3 hr sessions at a time. (Sessions for packing and unpacking associated with move management are longer). The reason is specifically due to decision fatigue.

It did not take me very long as a newcomer to the industry to recognize that clients would literally stop making decisions at about 150 minutes, or 2.5 hrs into our session. I had already been introduced to decision fatigue while taking a Masters in Health Services Administration degree. So, I knew this could be an issue.

There are six ways decision fatigue shows up. Avoiding decisions, or glazing over, is just one of them.Many pieces of paper with "Alternative" written on them in different colours and fonts.

  1. Reduced ability to make a trade off: in this impact, my clients can’t decide between choice A and choice B. If we agree that they will only keep one of two items, they can’t decide which one to choose.
  2. Decision avoidance: this second impact shows up as the client not wanting to make any decisions at all. Clients will sometimes show distraction from our task, ask me to make the decision or, for those who have more self-awareness, simply throw up their hands and state “I can’t decide”. For the record, no, I don’t make those decisions for my client.
  3. Impulsive activity: this is especially true for purchases at the cash register for shoppers. In organizing however, this impact of decision fatigue often show up as “throw it all out”. Clients impulsively decide to get rid of everything because they simply don’t have the mental energy left to decide.
  4. Impaired self-regulation: this is when the client doesn’t hold themselves to their usual standard of behaviour. Clients tend to get irritable and may be short or “snippy” with me or someone else in the family.
  5. Susceptibility to decision making biases: in this impact, the client tends towards an easier decision vs a correct or wise decision. It may be easier to simply not discard anything from a “I don’t like this” clothes pile than to be able to determine if any could hold any more value in the client’s future.
  6. Decision conflict and regret: In this impact the client becomes more and more worried about making a wrong decision. Eventually they just stop making decision altogether.

What do to about Decision Fatigue?hand with pole balanced on it show signs in opposite directions each saying "I don't know"

There are several ways to manage decision fatigue. When working with clients, I use whichever one works. I recommend you use whatever works for you.

  1. Take a break from the project you are working on. If possible physically remove yourself from the location and go to somewhere else even if it is just another room in the house or another office. Spend enough time in this other location doing something else until you feel at least a little bit refreshed.
  2. Change the task. If you are organizing clothes, try switching to working on a work project or making a meal. If possible, try switching to an entirely different task, however, even making decisions about a different set of items will help. If you are sorting clothes, try moving over to books.
  3. Go for a walk in nature. Walking in the woods, in a park or even just down the street will help to refresh your mind and your decision making muscles.
  4. Ensure you are adequately hydrated and have eaten enough to that point in the day. Many times while working, clients forgot to eat and drink. Hydration is most important however, being adequately nourished is also important.

Have you ever experienced decision fatigue? What was your experience? Drop me a note in the comments.

Action Declutter Organizing Challenges Organizing Resources Strategy
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organizing the living room

4 Steps to Organize the Living Room and Reclaim Some Adult Space

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 15, 2018

Wish you could organize the living room for adult space?

organize the living

Boxes and ottomans are great toy hiding spots that children can easily access.

Are you looking to organize the living room and reclaim  a little of the adult space  again?  Have you stepped on Barbie’s shoes one too many times and wish you could organize the living room into a adult rest and relax space for just one evening?

Reclaiming adult space is a common theme for many parents.  No matter how much they love their children, at there comes a time when many parents crave a lego-free zone, even for just a short period.

Organizing the living room by banning Barbie, her shoes and the lego altogether may not be possible, or even desirable, for your family and home.  The living room frequently serves as a multi-purpose space.  In the absence of a large recreation or family room, the living room is sometimes adult relax space, Barbie’s house and lego creation central all at the same time.

Here are 4 steps that you can use to organize the living room to help keep Barbie, the lego and any other toys in check so that when needed, the living room can be the rest and refresh space the adults in your household are looking for.

Step 1 – Identify Easily Accessible Storage Space

Look around and study where you might find storage for toys and other children’s items in the living room.  Storage space, which children can access, doesn’t have to be complicated.  Look for space under tables, a shelf on a book shelf, a shelf in an entertainment unit, storage in an ottoman.

organizing the living room

Here is an example of re-purposing a bureau in the living as a table. The drawers make for great toy storage.

Step 2 – Contain the Chaos

Gather up the toys and see what can be parked where.  Identify a new home for the items.  Larger items can go under tables.  Smaller items can be stowed in containers on shelves, under the coffee table or on a book shelf.

Step 3 – Source out Storage Containers Complimentary to your Living Room Decor

Sure, toy storage can be bright and cheerful and kid friendly.  It can also be adult and decor friendly.  While lego may need to be stored in some form of sorting container, the finished products can be displayed with pride on the bookshelves an entertainment unit.  Consider using a glass coffee table with a shelf and the finished lego items become decorations themselves.

Step 4 – Build tidy up time into play time

organize the living room.

Open containers that match the colour scheme of this living room make for perfect toy storage on the bottom of the book shel

Once each item has a home, and the home has been put into place, the next step is to teach the children to use those containers and return their toys, books and lego to their homes.  In my experience, children understand that they go home after playtime so the toys and books also need to go home after play time.  When we teach them that the toys need to go home to after playtime, clean up is done by the kids, not the adults.

Home Organizing Organizing Strategies
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Letters to Clutter

Letters to Clutter: Tell it how you Really Feel!

Posted by Carolyn on
 February 5, 2017

The Clutter LettersSend me your letters to clutter.  Does this sound like you?

You’re standing in front of your desk, staring at the stacks of paper, frustrated and overwhelmed.  “Why are you still here?  Why can’t you find a file to climb into and make yourself available when I need you?  Somewhere in there is the invoice I’m trying to get paid for – how will I ever get paid if I can’t even find the invoice?”

You open the closet door and glare at the contents.  “I hate you and I love you.  Ugh, how am I ever supposed to make this closet work when a bunch of you don’t fit, some of you I don’t even like and I don’t even know what’s at the back?!”

Your youngster is finally in bed and hopefully soon asleep.  You return to the family room and flop into the chair realizing you can’t even walk on the floor any longer because of the piles and piles of toys.  “Just put yourselves away, why don’t you! [bctt tweet=”Can’t you find a nice basket or box and do the Mary Poppins thing – jumping right into them?” username=”@wellrich”]  And while you are at it, sort yourselves out and take the toys that no one has played with for the past 6 months to the donation centre.  I’m going to bed.”

If you’ve ever talked to your clutter, or think you might like to say something to it, I’d like to hear from you.  Consider writing a letter or letters to clutter and tell it how you really feel.

Why Letters to Clutter?

You letter or letters to clutter will be considered for inclusion in a project being published later this year.  Your letter doesn’t need to be long, 200 – 400 words is perfect although longer or shorter is also welcome.  Start your letter off with “Dear ________ (item or items of clutter i.e. Paper, Baby Clothes, Garden Tools), What am I going to do with you?” and tell the clutter what you are really thinking.

Types of Clutter

Your clutter might include one of the following items or you might have your own version of clutter.:

  • Costume jewelry
  • Inherited jewelry
  • Inherited dishes, flatware, glass/crystal
  • Paper
  • Sports equipment
  • Particular sports equipment e.g. A bag of balls, an old croquet set, a bag of hockey equipment
  • Clothes that don’t fit
  • Clothes that aren’t liked
  • Clothes in general
  • Childhood books
  • Memorabilia
  • Photographs
  • Someone else’s items e.g. a spouse’s sports gear, clothes or other items
  • Tools
  • Leftover renovation material e.g. tiles, paint, fabric
  • Craft goods

How and Where to Send you Letters to Clutter

Identify yourself only by your initials and your town of residence.  Individuals will not be identified in their submissions and any particular identifying information will be removed.

Send letters to me, Carolyn Caldwell at [email protected].

Looking forward to receiving your letter or letters to clutter and seeing what you have to say to those trinkets collecting dust on the shelf.

Organizing Challenges Organizing Resources Organizing Strategies Uncategorized
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Organized for sports hooks for bikes

Organized for Sports – Get Hooked!

Posted by Carolyn on
 February 9, 2016

Staying organized for sports can be a time consuming task, whether its for your own activities or those of your children.  Some sports are heavier on the gear side, some on the logistic side.  Some like hockey require both since both teams and gear are involved.  Add in an animal, as with horse back riding, and the need for organization gets that much greater.  Your 4 – legged friend is counting on you to be, and stay, organized!

We don’t have a horse in our family but we sure have a lot of sports activity and sports gear.   Over the years there have been soccer balls and team uniforms, baseballs and bats, inline skates, hockey equipment, swim team/practice equipment, sailing gear/tools, skis and ski clothes.  As my children get older, the number of sports has decreased but the sophistication and expense of the gear has increased.  Sound familiar?

Organized ski instructor locker with hooks.

Use Hooks to stay Organized for Sports

How does a professional organizer tackle sports gear for their family?  I’m a hook person and to stay organized for  sports gear, I head first for a hook.  The advantages of hanging sports gear on a hook are many.  Here’s just a few:

  • Gets the gear off the floor and away from harm (dogs)
  • Allows it to dry and breath (swimsuits, life jackets)
  • Uses vertical space for more efficient storage (bicycles, skis, ski poles)
  • Costs very little compared to cupboards
  • Keeps the gear accessible to grab and go

Which Hook?

Depends.  I have several different types depending on the type of gear, how heavy it is, who uses it, whether off season or in season storage and whether the storage location has to change from time to time.  Here are my 3 favourites and hopefully some ideas for you to use as your own.

  • 3M Command Hooks.  These are movable without leaving marks, scratches or holes.
    Sailing bag on hook.

    An empty sailing bag stays clean, dry and out of the way on a hook.

    I use them to hang my name tag, knee brace, helmet, kids stickers, pocket reference book and keys in my ski instructor boot locker.  They can be used for judo or karate belts.  We use them for empty sailing gear bags, life jackets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Vinyl-coated screw in hooks.  These are widely available across North America.  They are great for bicycles and heavier gear that involves weight. They are particularly good for items that need protection from the hook or are wet (paddles).

Hooked Bikes5kOrganized for sports hooks for bikes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Nails. What can I say – they still make the least expensive, universal hanging device.  Nails are effective hooks.Cottagers know this better than anyone and use them for paddles, life jackets, cushions, towels and anything else that needs getting up off the dock, floor, deck or ground.

You may have your favourite sports gear hooks as well.  I`d love to know what you use.  How do you store  your favourite sports gear?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organizing Sports Gear
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Organizing with our ears involves using what we hear to help us organize.

Organizing with our Ears – Auditory Processing Modality

Posted by Carolyn on
 October 14, 2015
Organizing with our ears involves using what we hear to help us organize.

Organizing with our Ears – Auditory Processing Modality

Organizing with our Ears is the second in a series on organizing using one’s processing modalities.  In 2010, Denslow Brown of Coach Approach for Organizers and Organizer Coach published The Processing Modalities Guide.  This is the second of nine modalities that Denslow addresses in the guide.  Auditory processing involves what we hear.  It includes sounds around us as well as what we say.

Organizing with our Ears – Strength and Sensitivity

Like visual processing, auditory processing modality can be described on a strength continuum as weak, competent or gifted. Someone who is gifted might have perfect pitch or be able to identify sophisticated meaning from sound.  Someone who is auditorily weak does not rely primarily on their hearing to understand, learn or interface with the world (that’s me).  Organizing with our ears can also be identified as hypo or hyper sensitive.  Someone who is hypersensitive might become overwhelmed or irritated when there are too many sounds at one time such as in a crowded party room (me again).

Organizing with our Ears – Organizing Strategies

Professional organizers and those trained in processing modalities, understand that using one’s dominant processing modality to organize, increases the ability to stay organized and maintain an organized environment.  Most of us use more than one modality to interface and learn from the environment.  In fact we likely use several.  A few will be stronger, more dominant, than the others, and therefore most useful in staying organized.

If you are auditorily sensitive, many different sounds may be irritating, annoying or exhausting.  Simple, soothing sounds may be pleasing and help with focus. Try the following strategies:

  • Use soothing background music to drown out or distract your ears from a noisy room or street below your window.
  • Use pleasant background music to help you focus on a task.

If you are auditorily strong, you remember items by their sound or a sound associated with them.  Words and tones are meaningful to you.  Try these strategies to keep you organized:

  • Label file folders by names that first come to mind when you think of the contents e.g. “Family Pictures I Would Keep Forever” rather than “Family Pictures” . 
  • Use sounds on your watch to help you keep track of time.
  • Use a timed playlist on your phone or digital music player to help you keep track of time spent on a particular project or task.
  • Talk yourself through the steps of an organizing project.  Write them down and say them out loud while you work your way through each step.

If you are naturally attuned to sounds – and like to play with sounds and words – use that skill and strength to your advantage when organizing.  Next post in the series will look at the kinesthetic processing modality.

Organizing Challenges Organizing Strategies
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We can organize using our eyes if we are competent in our visual processing modality.

Organizing with our Eyes – Visual Processing Modality

Posted by Carolyn on
 October 14, 2015
Organizing with our eyes allows us to use our visual strength to get and stay organized.

Organizing with our Eyes – Visual Processing Modality

Organizing with our Eyes is the first in a series on organizing using one’s processing modalities.  In 2010, Denslow Brown of Coach Approach for Organizers and Organizer Coach published The Processing Modalities Guide.  This is the first of nine modalities that Denslow addresses in the guide.

Organizing with our Eyes – Strength & Sensitivity

We can have little or lots of strength in how we perceive the world with our eyes.   Lots of strength would make us gifted while little strength is referred to as weak.  If we are strong, organizing with our eyes would be natural, easy and help make staying organized easier.  We can also be hypo or hyper sensitive in using our eyes.  Sensitive means we are bothered by, perhaps agitated and likely exhausted by too much or the wrong visual stimulation.

Organizing with your Eyes – Organizing Strategies

Professional organizers and coaches with training in processing modalities understand that the degree of strength and the degree of sensitivity can be used to help a client get organized and stay organized.

If you are visually sensitive then lots of colour might be irritating while one or minimal colour might be soothing.  Try these strategies:

  • Use storage containers that are all one colour, size or shape if they will be used in one place.  Even just one colour will make a difference.
  • Use containers of similar, complementary or minimal colour to contain items that might otherwise look messy or haphazard.
  • Place things in an orderly fashion by size, shape or colour to minimize visual stimulation.

If you are visually strong you remember items by sight.  You can easily identify the visual difference in items.  Try these organizing techniques to take advantage of this strength:

  • use clear containers to help identify their contents
  • label storage containers to identify their contents
  • use colour on file labels or the files themselves to distinguish between different groups of subjects.  For example, client files might be green while marketing files might be red.
  • use visual cues such as symbols, single words or a sketch to remind yourself to do a particular task.

Use your natural and existing strengths to help you get organized.  Organizing with your eyes is just one way.  Organizing with our ears is next.

Organizing Challenges Organizing Strategies
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Time and hoarding behaviour are linked. Professional Organizers can help you manage too much stuff.

Time and Hoarding Behaviour

Posted by Carolyn on
 September 8, 2015

Time and hoarding behaviour are linked. Professional Organizers can help you manage too much stuff.There is an important and strong link between time and hoarding behaviour.

While sorting, sifting and moving a client’s boxes today, I had occasion to notice the amount of time we were spending moving – sorting – moving  – sorting and moving again.  This particular client has been suffering from hoarding behavior, a mental disorder included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders  fifth edition (DSM V).

What is Hoarding Behaviour?

Hoarding behaviour is characterized by:

  1. An urge to accumulate possessions;
  2. Feelings of anxiety when possessions get thrown away;
  3. Accumulations of items that may or may not have real-world value, (others may consider them garbage or junk):
  4. Enough accumulation of clutter that use of space is limited or prevented;
  5. Disruption if significant and important aspects of one’s life such as work, family life, social interaction and a direct result of the hoarding behaviors.

How to Time and Hoarding Behaviour Connect?

Having a lot of possessions means taking alot of time to look after those possessions.  The more stuff one has, the more time, energy and money one will spend looking after that stuff. In the case of a hoarding situation, some items are constantly being moved from one place to another and back again as they impede the use of everyday required space.  Frequently, every task in the home of an individual with hoarding behavior takes a long time while the tools are located, items are moved to clear space or even just moved out of the way.

In the care of today’s client, she realized that the stuff was preventing her from doing the things that she loved like tending the garden and playing music.  We have slowly but surely sorted and sorted out of the house items that are no longer current, useful or have a role in her current life.  She works hard to resist the urge to bring items back into her home to fill the space.  She is learning to enjoy having clear space to sit and enjoy her home.  it has been a struggle to overcome those urges but she is gradually making progress.  She can now walk freely from one end of her home to the other in a fraction of the time it used to take.  She can find certain things commonplace in an office and use the garden door to access the garden.  With the additional time, she can now tend to the garden.

We have much more sorting to do.  Eventually however, the client will have in her home those items that she needs, that contribute in a significant and meaningful way to her life.  It will take her less and less time to manage her belongings as we whittle down to the essential and beloved.  That leaves more time for the garden, the flute, the dogs and the knitting.  The flute has a home and is easy to find.  The dogs have space to run around the house.  The knitting has a home and the wool is being whittled down to just the very favorite skeins.

This client will never have the magazine perfect home.  She will however, experience less and less anxiety as she tries to manage the urge to accumulate items.  She is gradually getting used to the open spaces; as are the dogs.  Not only the spaces feel like they need to be filled, but without as much stuff, her habits using time also will change.  She is learning to take time to enjoy activities that don’t include moving alot of stuff around or moving around alot of stuff.

 

Slowly but surely.

Organizing Challenges
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Making Fun of Road Trips

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 20, 2013

In my part of the world, central Canada, this weekend celebrates the first of our precious, summer Long Weekends.  Victoria Day weekend is a traditional time for planting annuals, opening cottages and generally getting out and about on bikes and in cars.  So Canadians – Happy Victoria Day weekend!

If you are going to be using your car this summer for travel, whether long distance or short haul, now is a good time to organize your vehicle to ensure it is ready to hit the road when you are.  Here is a short list to get you started:

  1. Ensure your vehicle is up to date with service.  Are you up to date with all the recommended service for your vehicle, especially the safety-related items?  Have your breaks been checked and/or serviced recently?  How about the air conditioning and do your windows all work? Are all the fuses functional and lights/alerts working?  Have you checked your tire pressure lately?
  2. Fill up the windshield fluid and keep a top up bottle handy.  Keeping your windshield free of bugs, especially Friday and Sunday night driving to and from the cottage, is a safety strategy.  Ensure your field of vision is clear and clean at all times.
  3. Keep your car clean to ensure all lights are clearly visible during the day or night.  Car lights are another safety feature. With the dust and mud that often comes with cottage, off road or even highway driving, lights appear dim and are less visible.  Ensure you can be seen at all times.
  4. Ensure your vehicle ownership and current insurance are available to you while you are travelling.  Don’t make the mistake I did and end up with a $65 fine because the current insurance certificate is sitting at home in the filing cabinet.
  5. Clear the garbage and vacuum out winter debris.  Nothing says road-trip-buzz-kill faster than jumping into a car and finding yourself stepping on last February’s disposable coffee cup or the kids fish snacks in the back seat.  You could splurge on car detailing, stop by the service centre industrial vacuum or just pull out your own household vacuum and give your four-wheeled baby a good once over.
  6. Clean the inside of your windows.  Heating and air conditioning in cars often leaves a film on the inside of the windows which can impact how well you see out, especially on a summer day driving into the sun.
  7. Install a garbage box/bag or other container.  Since you’ve just cleaned out the vehicle, why not set it up to stay clean.  Keeping a garbage bag in the car will go a long way to making your regular clean-out faster and easier not to mention keeping today’s disposable coffee cup away from your feet.  Many automotive parts suppliers also carry garbage bins made especially for the rear seats.  Maybe this is the year you invest in one for your back seat crowd.
  8. Check the date on your maps and update if necessary.  Car maps are something we often take for granted – until you realize the road you are looking for wasn’t constructed when your map was printed.  If you prefer the modern GPS technology, ensure yours is updated so it can find that same road you were looking for on the old map.  Consider keeping a map in the car even if you have a GPS; technology does fail.
  9. Check your first aid kit.  Does it need replenishing?  Does it exist?  No one ever plans to need a first aid kit.  Plan to have a good one ready when your unexpected need arises.
  10. Consider travelling with a car box/supply box.  You can call this what you will and, based on your regular travel, it may be big or small.  This is where the “keep the kids busy” activities can reside along with the extra napkins, flashlight (check the batteries) candle and matches.  A strong box with a snap-shut lid will ensure the contents stay inside when not needed and stay clean while stored.  A box is also easy to take out of the car for replenishing and cleaning.

You may have other specific items to check depending on whether you use roof racks or have towing requirements.  This 10 item list will get you started and ensure your road trip is more enjoyable.

Organizing Travel
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Back to the Books

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 14, 2009

Are you a “sticky note” person? You know what I mean; there are some of us who like to make notes on bits of paper to remind us of things. There are a few by the telephone to remind us to call someone, a few on the filing cabinet to remind us where to find something and a bunch all over our desk with numbers, names, notes and reminders that are so buried under the rest of the paper they are long since forgotten.

As an alternative, try carrying a small notebook around with you. Some of us prefer something small enough to fit into a handbag or women’s computer tote. Others keep copious notes and prefer the old elementary school, spiral bound, 8 1/2 X 11 note book. The size is not relevant so pick one that works for you. What matters is that the book travels everywhere with you and is available to jot down thoughts, reminders, numbers and notes. No more lost sticky notes and bits of paper all over your desk. No more stacks of paper with random notes that cause increased stress since you can’t remember where they were from.

There are some people who can translate the “keeping notes in a book” organizing strategy to a handheld organizing device. This takes discipline and the ability to read and write/type easily on a handheld. If you are one of these people, go for it and use your handheld as your notebook. Remember to back up your device regularly.

You may be surprised to find how liberating it is to have your notes and thoughts with you in your notebook when you need them!

Organizing Strategies
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The Ten Minute Challenge

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 11, 2009

The ten minute challenge is one of my favourite organizing techniques. It’s great for getting kids involved in a daily clean up and when used regularly, is highly effective at keeping one’s home organized.

Give each person in your home a bag – the new recycled shopping bags are great for this. Let everyone know they have 10 minutes to fill their bag with items that are not in their homes and need to return to wherever that home is.

A common variation on this strategy is to fill the bag with items that the individual is no longer using, no longer wants, fits etc. This is a great way to show children that items we are finished with can be cleared out regularly and passed on to other children.

Home Organizing
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