Organizing a Toy Room

I LOVE before and after pictures!!! Don't you? They inspire! They help you remember what life was like "before"! They remind you of the potential! They motivate you to move to the next space! They even help you remember to maintain!

I have the honor of sharing some before and after pictures of my client's basement (by the way, have I shared that we have been organizing a lot of basements lately?). In the next few weeks I will post the rest of the pictures but today we will see just the zone designated as the play area/therapy room.

This wonderful family has been blessed with four children - two of which have autism. The last five years have been a whirlwind of emotion, therapy, paperwork, learning, hard work, challenging times and joy filled moments for them. In the midst of all that some things were set aside - one being the home. Now, as the family comes to a point where they can focus on their home they have called me to help. I LOVE HELPING!

The basement was an area where things were taken and left until...later! When you stand and look at an area in your own home begin by asking yourself what will take place in this area. This basement needed to have 4 areas, or zones:

1. Toy/therapy
2. Workout/exercise
3. Relaxing - TV/books
4. Game room

Once we talked this out we could begin the organizing process:

• Sort
• Purge
• Assign a home
• Set limits (with containers, shelves, etc)
• Maintain

Remember my acronym SPASM? If not read about it here.

Here it is...what was once the office and holding area is now a bright and cheery playroom used for play and for therapy!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Amazing, eh?

Becoming... In Order To Reach Your Goals

I am going through Darren Hardy's The Best 10 Years material and am learning sooo much. I would recommend that everyone go through it! Last week he talked about goals. I have gained a new perspective! This quote summarizes what I am learning...

“To achieve something you have never achieved before you must become someone you have never been.” —Les Brown

Here is an example of a goal and then asking the question, "Who do I need to become to reach that goal?" Darren uses this example on his blog. I highly recommend you click over to read the entire post! He says,

"Let me give you another example to bring this home for you. Let’s say your goal is to earn another $100,000 this year. Now we need to ask the question, ‘Who do you need to become to be an extra $100,000 valuable?’ Your answer might contain some attributes—stated in the positive, “I am”—such as:

• I am a disciplined master of time efficiency.
• I focus solely on high-payoff and high-productivity actions.
• I wake up an hour earlier and review my priority objectives each morning.
• I fuel my body properly and exercise four days a week so I am energetic and highly effective each work hour.
• I feed my mind ideas and inspiration that will support and bolster my passion.
• I surround myself with peers and mentors who elevate my expectations and prod me to rise to greater levels of discipline, commitment and achievement.
• I am a smart, confident and effective leader. I seek and cultivate the strength and greatness in everyone around me.
• I deliver excellence to my clients and continually find ways to ‘wow’ them, encouraging repeat transactions and abundant referrals.

Before you can have, you must do. And before you can do, you must become."

Very interesting, eh? It makes me think about my goals and what I need to 'become' to reach them and be the best person I can be. And, it is not all about money. Darren is big on life balance. Goals should be balanced around work, family, your calling, mental, spiritual, etc.

What are some of your goals? Has this helped you think about how you will achieve them - who you will 'become'?

Book Review Time

Okay, this book doesn't have too much to do with organizing but I am on a health kick and this book is awesome!!! You must read it if...

• You want some new recipe ideas
• You want to learn about some new healthy foods
• You want to change your way of eating
• You want quick, simple steps to help your family be healthier
• You want to be inspired and motivated to eat "clean"

The books are called The Eat-Clean Diet and The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids by Tosca Reno. My friend, Alicia, was changing the way she eats and told me about them. They are colorful, easy and fun to read AND Tosca uses such wonderful adjectives to describe clean foods through the entire book that whenever I read it my mouth was watering!

I am now drinking 3L of water every day and eating foods like freshly ground (in my coffee grinder!!) flax seed, homemade hummus, whole grains, sprouted Ezekiel bread, ground bison, yogurt cheese and much more. I am sweetening things with agave nectar not the 'poisonous' white sugar!

Okay, okay, you are right, I tend to go a little extreme...at least my kids think so! But, I am feeling great and enjoying the taste of yummy, healthy, pure foods. I shopped at Whole Foods for the first time - a tiny store in midtown Kansas City at 43rd and Main. I love small grocery stores! We do not have one up north or I would go more often. Now, I am making a recipe book on TASTE BOOK (check out their website) of all my favorite recipes for clean eating!

Let me know what you think of the book and how it inspires you! It does take some basic organizing and planning to eat right! Cheers!

Inspiring Quote

"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain."

~ Helen Keller

This quote got me thinking! Life is always better when we focus on being a blessing to others. It is all in the perspective! Lets ask ourself, "Who's life can I sweeten today?"

A Stuffed T-shirt Drawer?

This file drawer reminds me of my husband's old T-shirt drawer. His drawer was so stuffed full that I never wanted to put fresh, clean, well-folded shirts into it because I'd have to smash them in and crush down the piles just to get the drawer closed!!

Just like a stuffed full t-shirt drawer these files were stuffed full and rarely used. Nothing could fit in them and they were visually unattractive...which makes filing unappealing!

THE PROBLEM:

That's why I was called...to solve the problem: setting up a paper system...a flow for paper when it comes in the office and to create the file drawers. Where do you put things? Which files should go in which drawers? What do you do with reading material? Where should my briefcase go? Do I need to keep this?

THE PROCESS:

To solve the problem requires understanding it. My client and I talked through the papers, categories, job requirements, frustrations, factors involved in the position (competitors, partners, reference/historical papers to keep, reports, etc). We looked at the space available. I made a plan for each area using some general rules: keep action files closest to the desk, store historical data farthest from your work area, have a "home" for each item.

Then came the organizing process. We sorted all the paper in the office and cleaned out and sorted through all the drawers. I used post-its and made notes on the papers as we pulled them out so we knew what they were. This helped file faster at the end. A LOT of papers went in the trash.

Then, I wrote all the files in their categories and subcategories on the dry erase board. This way we could move things around and the client had a visual picture of what his files would look like - a road map.

Next, we made the files tabs. Smead Viewables (from Office Depot) are what I used for the main category tabs. These are tall, can be read from the front, side and back and are colorful and easy to make. For the subcategories I designed a template that had colors to match the Viewables. I read them off the board as my client typed them in the computer. After diligent fine motor skills the files were finished.

THE RESULT:

Here is one of his four file drawers.

You may notice that there are limited manila folders. I know for some things, especially those things that you pull in and out a lot, you might need a couple. Visually, I love the clean look with out them.

A fresh perspective, the right tools, a plan and hands-on help took these files from the "stuffed t-shirt drawer" look to a "glass front kitchen cabinet" look (you know the ones on Martha Stewart with all white matching dishes spaced evenly - crisp and clean)!! I think I would want to leave the drawer open just to see how awesome it looks. Filing in them would be a highlight of the day, don't you think? Read my client's testimony on my website's home page.

I am always so inspired by my clients that I went home and redid one of my own file drawers!

Be inspired yourself!!

What are you practicing?

Have you ever thought about what you practice on a daily basis?

The more I think about it the more I realize how good I am at certain things because I practice them every day. For example, complaining about how cold I am in the winter time, putting on lip liner, cooking dinner, sorting through my mail, getting frustrated with my child because I didn't discipline the first time they disobeyed... I could think of more but I'm sure you don't want to hear everything I do - good and bad!!

What if we practiced the things that we wished we were good at? Maybe you wish you were more confident so you stop yourself from practicing negative talk and replace it with practicing positive talk. You might have to write the positive stuff down at first and read it aloud every time. Later, after you have practiced it a lot it will come easier.

Or, what if you wanted to be good at keeping your paper under control. First, you realize you have been practicing avoidance and piling. You need to plan how you are going to keep paper organized - set up a system - and then use it everyday. Practice using the system. Practice going through the paper every day. Practice making decisions about each piece of paper.

Or, lets say you want to be an encourager. Instead of immediately thinking about the things you don't like begin to practice focusing on one thing you do like and expressing it. Pretty soon you will start getting really good at it.

Like in sports, sometimes you might need professional lessons! Look at what you want to become good at and think about who might be able to assist you. Maybe hiring a professional organizer or a life coach or enlisting a friend that does this trait well will give you a fresh perspective, a boost, the skills and the accountability you need.

Now remember, you don't become a great tennis player or piano player after 2 lessons and practicing for two weeks. Especially if you have never played before. Some of us have been practicing the things we dislike for our entire life.

Give yourself time. Keep your focus on the goal. And practice, practice, practice...EVERY DAY.