You are looking at the title of this post and thinking to yourself “OK, Carolyn has lost it. Why would I go to all this work if I don’t enjoy being organized?“
Because people organize themselves for all kinds of reasons. Some of us like to be more in control of those parts of our lives that our within our control. Some of us are responding to the pressure from our spouses, our kids or – yup, even when in your own home – our parents. Some of us get ourselves reasonably well organized and then feel uncomfortable; its as if the clutter around us fills a void left by something else.
Whatever your motivation for organizing might be, a higher level of organization, supported by a daily 15 to 45 minute ritual as I presented in items 1 to 4, will help you spend time pursuing those goals that are really important to you rather than managing around, through, between, over or even under clutter.
So now that your home is in pretty organized shape, sit back and think about all the things you can focus on now rather than what you “should” be doing about the clutter. You’ve done it. Move on. In fact, you don’t even have to look at the clutter any more since you cleared the floor, de-cluttered your entrances, set up for tomorrow and put things back in their homes. What is really important to you? Planning a favourite meal for your family? Reading a book? Studying for a “feels like its out of reach” university/college degree. Go for it. Make it happen. Enjoy your organization.
Archive for Professional Organizer
It doesn’t happen very often but today is the day I put in a plug for the industry. On the afternoon of the scarey night and just one week before the Canadian national association for professional organizers – Professional Organizers in Canada – starts it annual conference here in Toronto, what could be a better time?
Being disorganized can be stressful and very scarey. Maybe you or someone you know consistently pays their bills late, if at all, because they either can’t remember to pay them or can’t find the bills. Have you ever added up the late fees incurred by those last payments?
This is just one example of the cost of disorganization and there are many more. Costs can be evaluated in money, heartache and physical or emotional stress. If you or a loved one is constantly or chronically disorganized either at home or at work, you already know how painful it can be.
The good news is that there is help. Both the Canadian association Professional Organizers in Canada , or POC, and our American affiliate the National Association of Professional Organizers, or NAPO have online directories to assist you in finding an organizer in your area. In addition, the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, or NSGCD, has resources available on its website for the public looking for information. With NSGCD you can also look up the certificates that a professional organizer may have earned if they are pursuing education with the study group. Here is a list of the certificates that I have earned.
It may be spooky out there tonight, but living your life ought to be joyful, not frightful.
Here is a quick follow up post from two days ago, after I received several questions from clients.
Yes, I really did mean for everyone in the family to pick a colour to be their colour for family organizing. You’d be surprised how successful this can be. Use everyone’s favourite colour to help pick out all kinds of household items from toothbrushes to tote sacks to calendering.
My husband grew up in a family of 10: M&D, 6 children, one maid and her son. His colour was green. There was green thread on his socks so they could be identified in the wash. Naturally, when we picked colours for ourselves and the children for our family calendar – his colour was green!
As we blast into the 21st Century, I am finally hitting the cyberspace community with my own blog. Congratulations to me! And you found it; Congratulations to you! It seems appropriate to start off an organizing blog with the most common question I hear:
Why is staying organized so difficult? I used to be organized, what happened?
Here is what I have come to understand. Western society is moving through an age of accumulation. We are bombarded each day by ads, through many different media, that encourage us to buy, buy, buy. If we were to believe them all, our lives are incomplete if not meaningless without one of each of the latest _____________ (fill in the blank). Add in a pinch of easy credit, a heavy helping of parents or grandparents who have lived through wars, depression and/or evacuation and are therefore reluctant to part with anything. Now bake in an environment where we expect our brains to move at the same speed as our laptop computers, information is available with a key stroke and the pressure on families to arm their children with multiple talent, skills, experience and extra curricular activities in order that the children can succeed, is greater than ever.
Clutter is a delayed decision. It doesn’t matter whether it is clutter in your calendar, on your desk or in your garage. Most people’s clutter reflects an inability to decide what to do with objects or an inability to part with them. Making decisions takes energy (emotional) and acting on those decisions takes energy (physical). If you are worn out from a day managing work, family life, traffic, news and cyberspace communication there is likely little else for managing the stuff or planning your time.
I am left to wonder, not why any of us might be disorganized, but how anyone stays on top of it all?
