Organizing is like Exercise

When I thought about the fact that I would have to exercise for the REST of my life the thought was kind of depressing. I knew then that I would need to continually find something that motivated me (which often changes) and that I would have to enjoy it - or at least different aspects of it - in order to keep it up.

Organizing is like exercise... We have to find what motivates us and we need to find enjoyment in the process.

If we expect to organize, be done, and "relax," we are believing a lie and will most likely become overwhelmed, disappointed and give up. Realize that it is a lifelong process - once you reach your initial organization goals it requires maintenance to keep it up...forever!! On the bright side, once you find processes and systems that work for you - and you practice them - it does get easier.

The same goes for weight loss or exercise. You work hard, seek assistance to reach your initial goals (by joining a gym, hiring a trainer, becoming accountable with a friend) and then you maintain...for the rest of your life. At times you need to revamp, rededicate, work a little harder to get "back on the wagon" (does that sound familiar??). So, knowing it is a life long commitment requires that to keep it up you better make it enjoyable!!

Actually, a lot of things fit into this category: eating habits, our health, relationships, laundry...think on that awhile!

Chinese Philosopher Lao-tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." If we see that journey just for the end location we miss out on the scenery and the adventure of the travel/process along the way.

Organizing can be a fun, enjoyable process. It is important to make it fun. I have included a couple of ideas to try while organizing your life, your home, your routines, etc...

First, write out your projects - break the big ones (like organizing the whole house) into smaller ones (list each room or area). Being able to check off completed projects will motivate you.

Second, include things that make you happy while you organize:

• drink you favorite drink
• light your favorite scented candle
• play your favorite CD
• laugh and take breaks
• work with someone you like (a family member, friend, Professional Organizer)

Third, celebrate your accomplishments:

• Have friends & family each pick a goal to surprise you with a reward. For example, if your goals are to clean out the guest room, finish your back taxes, create a 2 week menu, clean out the garage, get rid of 20 bags of "stuff" from your home - then have each person pick a goal. When you reach that goal they can surprise you with your reward. It may be a lunch out, a Red Box movie night with girlfriends, a CD you've been wanting, time together, etc... Have fun with this.
• If you don't have family or friends with a vested interest then do this yourself. For example, put $100 away with each goal accomplished to go towards a trip you have dreamed of, buy one place setting of new dishes so that when you are done you can have a dinner celebration with friends, share your 2 week menu and recipes with all your friends, get a pedicure (and you can't have one before you reach your goal! :)), have a potluck with your 5 favorite friends, find a new park to take your dog for a walk in, etc. Remember you don't have to spend money - be creative and think of some fun rewards.
• Make sure you write these down. Hang the list inside the cabinet door in your kitchen. I love to hang things inside the cabinet doors because I see them often but my kitchen remains uncluttered.

Lastly, make up games to challenge you while organizing.

• Time yourself and see how fast you can fill up one bag to get rid of.
• Pretend and plan that you are making your garage into a "Home Depot."
• Have you and your kids blast the music and dance around while you put the laundry away! It will become a tradition that they love!

Try some of these things and let me know if they motivated you and/or helped you enjoy the process a little.

Feel the fear and take the leap anyway! Some of you may have anxiety to ask for help. Be honest and open. Tell someone how you're feeling. Ask them to help you or help you figure what your first step is or to pray for you and keep you accountable. This year is all about being honest and making changes to improve your life and the lives of those around you!!

Living Life with ADD

See if you can relate to any of the following:

• Do you feel overwhelmed by home and work?
• Do you find that forgetfulness and lack of planning add to our daily stress?
• Do you feel that daily life is too complicated?
• Are you often late?
• Do you find that you don't have time to relax or enjoy life?
• Is it difficult for you to reach a decision - sometimes in the smallest tasks?
• Then, compensate by avoiding making decisions or letting circumstances make the decisions for you?
• Do you tend to develop addictive patterns of stimulation seeking?
• Do you let "escape" activities interfere with responsibilities?
• Do you tend to hyperfocus and lose track of time?
• Do you live in crisis mode, reacting to the demands of circumstance?
• Do you have a home cluttered with "reminders?"
• Are you often forgetful or have difficulty remembering to do future tasks?

All of these are characteristics of an adult who struggles with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Judith Kolberg and Kathleen Nadeau, PH.D. have written a book called ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life. It is a must read book for adults with ADD and all Professional Organizers or Coaches working with clients that struggle with ADD. The book is easy to read and provides specific organizational issues AND practical solutions. The solutions are provided in three levels:

1. Creating your own structure and support
2. Structure and support from family and friends
3. Structure and support from professionals (Professional Organizers, ADD coaches and Psychotherapists

So, you can implement the ideas immediately on your own and be guided to the support that you will need to keep on track and make changes successfully.

"SIMPLIFY" is the mantra for adults with ADD. Simplify your morning routine, your dinner menus, your laundry procedures, your kid's lunches, your closet and wardrobe options, your agenda, your information intake (newspaper, magazines, mailings...), your possessions, etc. Simplifying reduces the options available when making decisions. From there, with creative (and FUN) strategies, structure and support life changes can be made.

There is always hope for a better tomorrow. Take the first step. Read ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life and get the support you need to make some changes. Take small steps into 2009 and by the end of the year you will look back and thank yourself.

Parking in the Garage

The cold weather is coming!! One thing I am thankful for and love is going straight from my warm house to my car without stepping outside and without scraping the frost off the windshield!! But, for those of you whose garages serve as storage areas for excess stuff instead of a place to park your car, you may not have this luxury.

This was the case for a recent client. BUT, she decided to change that! She decided to have a party instead. She invited two of her wonderful, servant friends to help her and I clear out her garage. The weekend prior she and her husband did some preliminary work. They got rid of 15 bags of trash and had a general idea of what to keep and what to get rid of.

As you can see she hadn't parked in her garage for some time!!

The party started at 1:00!! Her and I started clearing things out of the garage and hauling things to the curb for a scheduled big trash pick up the next day. The first friend showed up at 1:30 and joined in. By 2:15 we had the garage cleared out, swept clean and ready to do the real organizing.

Remember, the first step is to plan. We talked through our zones and planned out the best locations for each. The second friend showed up just in time for the second step - sorting!! We sorted, went through each pile, contained, labeled, wrote a list of extra supplies she needed to purchase and hand-drew a picture for the tool zone and storage wall which will be finished at a later time.

Now, catch this...by 3:30 we were done!! Here is the picture I took at 3:30!

And here is the curb!

Aahhhhh, the freedom and "weight" that is gone when you simplify the stuff you own.

Some people may be groaning or getting hives just thinking about their own garages (or other problem areas) but DO NOT FEAR! Those of us, like me, who love to organize get a contagious, exhilarating feeling knowing what possibilities and amazing results can be achieved!! We can even have FUN! And we can help you have fun! Have a party with your friends! Give it a try!

Transformations

All of us encounter setbacks in our lives at one time or another. Something changes... a death, a new baby, a move... Maybe you haven't identified exactly what it is in your life but maybe you can relate to this client. She has allowed me to share this for those of you who are struggling with getting organized and moving on with the life you want to live.

"Tammy" had a baby AND moved with her husband across the country to an area where she had little extended family support. Then she had another baby and moved again... Her home was not the first priority and being a perfectionist and struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder she just couldn't keep up. Then she had her third child. She finally, after working through the anxiety of letting someone come into her home, let me help.

In this post I will feature the "dining room." This room was being used for miscellaneous storage and had never gotten unpacked and therefore was not being used. She desired for this to be her children's playroom. She envisioned crafts, games, a cozy television area, a table to create things, etc. After talking with her about her dreams for this area we created three zones: crafts, electronics, and games. Simple, huh??

Now we have a plan. Remember that is the first step. Next, we started sorting. No decisions yet, just sorting. Of course, I am always forgetting to take before pictures so here is a mid-way-through-the-sorting picture:

After sorting, we went pile by pile. We donated some things, moved some things to other areas of the home - some for permanent storage and some to go through at a later date, we recycled, and sent some things to the trash bin.

Now that the room is finished there is nothing in the room that doesn't fit into one of the three zones. The electronic zone has a cozy couch, a television, and a television stand that also stores the children's music. The game zone has two shelving units that hold all of their games. There is a table that can be folded down or kept up for games, crafts, homework, etc.

And the best part...this awesome craft armoire!! They had this beautiful armoire in their garage not being used. Her husband added a shelf and we measured out the space to purchase clear storage for all of the craft mediums. The kids were so excited about their new room that they spent several days "crafting." They can clean up, too, because everything has a home!

What areas are unused in your home? Or filled with clutter or unpacked boxes? What are the possibilities? Don't be ashamed. Focus on the small steps that lead to the end result!! Dream big and then lets get it accomplished so you and the people around you can live a full, abundant life!!

The 123's of Organizing

I wanted to explain the 123's of organizing just about anything. I will feature before and after pictures from Megen's quilt studio. Below is the row of cabinets that line one wall of her studio.


The first step is to create a plan for your space! Ask yourself questions like, "What is this space to be used for?", "What would this space look like if my dreams came true?", "What activities are going to happen in this space?". Plan out "zones" for the different activities that will take place in the room. Try and keep supplies and furniture for those activities in their "zones."

One of Megen's dreams for her studio was to have her beautiful colored fabrics displayed on shelves. Currently they were in these cabinets and hard to see, find and remember what was there.



The second step is to sort! We sorted through all of the fabric, supplies, projects, and miscellaneous things. Create piles all over the room. The great thing about sorting is that you don't have to make any decisions. Don't worry about what you should keep or get rid of. Just sort.

The third step is to go through your sorting piles. Ask yourself, "Do I need this?", "Have I used this in the last year?", "Do I love this?", "Does this make my life better?", "Does it fit with the "zone" I have planned for this space?". You will work through this step with ease if you have thoroughly completed step one.

Steps four and more entail finding a home for your things, containing them, labeling them, and planning a way to maintain them.

We proceeded with step three on Megen's fabric and Works in Progress (WIP). Now, seeing them all in front of her, she could easily decide what to keep and what to donate. We contained all of her projects in the containers that she already had. We labeled them and made a master list that she could refer to when deciding what project to tackle next. These WIPs took up three of the five available cabinets. Pictured is one of the three cabinets.


Removing all of Megen's fabric freed up a lot of Megen's cabinet space. Because her second grand baby was on the way, she was changing her guestroom to a grandchild room. This entailed cleaning out a closet where she kept all of her scrap booking supplies. We planned a "scrapbook zone" for the last two cabinets and continued through steps 2, 3, 4 and more. Now, whenever Megen wants to scrapbook, she can use a table by the cabinets and have all of her supplies at her fingertips.



Think about a project that you want to organize. It can be something as small as your purse. Start with step one: plan. Continue with step two: sort, step three: go through each pile, steps four and more: decide on a home, contain, label and make a plan to maintain. You will be amazed how easy it is when you follow the 123's of Organizing!

Personal Accountability

I just finished reading John G. Miller's book QBQ! The Question Behind the Question. Everyone should read this book and everyone should start applying it to their daily lives. When you read the book you will understand why that sentence is so funny.

Mr. Miller teaches us about personal accountability. He explains how the questions we ask ourselves cause us to blame, complain and procrastinate OR, if we are asking QBQ's, they help us practice life-transforming personal accountability.

On page eighteen he gives us three simple guidelines for creating a QBQ that I must share now so you can begin:

1. Begin [your question] with "What" or "How" (not "Why," "When," or "Who").
2. Contain an "I" (not "they," "them," "we," or "you").
3. Focus on action.

Lets relate this to your organization needs... You may be asking yourself, "Why can't he/she ever put things back?" Instead of that question, which places blame, you could ask yourself a QBQ like, "What can I do to better understand why it is so hard for him/her to put things back?"

Here is another example... You may have said, "Why am I such a loser? I can't even get this little project accomplished." That places blame on yourself and doesn't accomplish a thing! Instead try the QBQ method and ask this, "How can I break this project down and schedule a small amount each day?" This would be transforming! You would have an immediate focus, breaking the project down, and small goals, scheduled small steps each day, to accomplish the project.

Practicing QBQ trains your thoughts and narrows your path toward accomplishment and accountability...truly life transforming!

I will close this by asking myself, "What can I read next to make me an expert in the organizing field?" Hmmm... Organized for Success - Top Executives and CEOs Reveal the Organizing Principles That Helped Them Reach the Top by Stephanie Winston.

Award Winner

Certain people can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. It takes motivation, focus and determination. I had a client recently, Megen, who did just that!

We had finished an organizing session and at the end of the session we had decided on some things that she could do before we met again (her "homework"). THREE days later she sent me pictures of the things she had completed! I was blown away and so impressed at how much she accomplished in such a short time! She earns the Simply Squared Away's Award for "Above and Beyond Homework Completion."

I wanted to share the before and after pictures. Megen had a wonderful space that she was using as her sewing and quilting room. She was ready to organize it, display her fabrics and create a system to know what projects she was currently working on. She wanted the room to have a creative, put together feel to it. Here is part of it before:


Her homework was to paint a dressing table that she already had. It would replace the current embroidery table. She also needed to paint the peg board that was in her garage and put those things in place. Remember, THREE days later she sent me this picture!

I love the "clean" feel I get when I see this finished area! I told Megen that it made me want to come have a cup of tea and learn how to quilt with her! We could probably get an entire quilt done in less than a day!

Hopefully you will be inspired to accomplish a project of your own today!