Your Organizing Coach

Give Your Belongings a Home

2010-08-26T13:19:39-07:00

Time for a new book chapter. I've been posting them every Wednesday but yesterday, well, I forgot. So, herewith, Chapter 5, or buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #5

Assign Homes

It’s much easier to put things away when you know where they go. How do you know? You just decide. Base your decision on how much there is, whether you need it to be handy and what size and shape container makes sense. For example, paper can go in stacking trays, wall mounted slots, cute baskets, paperboard magazine holders; etc. Use what appeals to you and what is logical to you.

To improve their effectiveness, label your containers. You may think it’s obvious but your brain will recognize a labeled container much faster than an unlabelled one, which makes putting things away easier.

Right now: 
If you don’t have containers yet, start by labeling your piles with Post-It Notes. Note: try to resist buying containers until you know what size you need.

What I'm Really Up To

2010-08-21T12:57:15-07:00

I want to dig a little deeper. I often read and hear from people that productivity is just about doing a lot more, a lot faster. That it’s contributing to the out-of-control speediness of modern life. That what we really need is less of everything so that we can appreciate life, and so on.

I realize I need to be perfectly clear here that despite all my helpful and groovy how-to posts, I am certainly not advocating that you just do more stuff faster. What underlies all my work, here on the blog and with my clients, is guiding folks over the humps that are preventing them from doing what they actually want to do.

Here in my particular corner of the world, what I see is that people don’t get around to doing the things they really want to for reasons that have to do with time and stuff (i.e. “productivity” and “organization”). That’s my approach, my whatever-colored lenses; other approaches are equally valid.

What I’m really about is how you can have a life that makes you happy (your personal brand of happiness) and feel good about yourself (and how you are in the world). Questions? Ask away, in the comments section below. Comments are also very welcome.

Happy balloon photo by me.

Hi, glad you're here! Come on in.

2010-08-21T12:34:11-07:00

There's a ton of info in my posts about overcoming procrastination, getting things done and reducing clutter. All the things that get in the way of you living the life you truly want to live. Because that's really what it's all about.

Start with my free ecourse that will take you through the seven steps to getting organized at home or at work. The ecourse begins at the beginning, defining why you want to get organized, so that you'll have the motivation to see it through.

Daily Practice for Those Little Messes

2010-08-18T12:08:00-07:00

It's Wednesday! That means time for a new chapter. You can read them here every week, or buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #4

Tidy Up

Daily living involves getting stuff out, using it, moving it around and combining it with other stuff. No one stays organized at every moment because life creates little messes. So make it a daily practice to clean up those little messes. Just as it’s better to wipe up a spill right away, the ten minute tidy up will keep your space organized with much less effort than spending half of Saturday on it. If you do this daily, ten minutes should be plenty.

Schedule your tidy ups for transition times, for example, when you get home from work, right after dinner or right before bed. Visit your clutter spots and put things away. This way you aren’t interrupting another activity. As with Simple Way #15, these mini sessions help you segue mentally to the next thing.

Right now:

 Make a list of three spots to tidy before you go to bed tonight.

Don't Put Off Shredding

2010-08-11T10:28:00-07:00

Here's chapter three of my new book. Every Wednesday there's a new chapter. You can read them here, or buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #3

Shred
Almost every day you get mail that’s got sensitive information in it that should be shredded. Don’t stack it up somewhere to shred later! Shred it right away. Otherwise, you end up with a shopping bag full and the idea of sitting next to the shredder for an hour is not very attractive (it’ll be too loud for you to watch TV at the same time). Get a quality shredder (one that won’t jam or freak out over staples) and put it where you usually sort mail and paper. Then you can shred as you go.

What you shred depends on your personal comfort level. Some people like to shred anything with their name and address on it, but that’s a lot of work and will not do much to protect your identity. The important items to shred are ones with your signature, social security number or any account number (this includes credit card offers). Additionally, anything with legal or medical information about you should be shredded.

Right now: 
If you haven’t gone through today’s mail, look at it now and see if you can find something that needs shredding. Then shred it!

30 Minutes to Less Clutter

2010-08-09T19:49:26-07:00

Want less clutter on your desk? Can you spare half an hour? What if it would make the following half hour twice as productive? And the hour after that too? Spending time on organizing is a great investment because it always gives you a high return (unlike many investments these days).

Starting

Figuring out how to start is often the hardest part of decluttering. The big secret is that it really doesn’t matter, just make a decision and do it. I’m going to suggest one of many possible approaches to structure your half hour, and that’s triage. Triage is all about decision making. It provides a simple structure to guide you and it depends on quick, resolute judgments that you act on right away.

In the medical world, triage is used when there are many patients and limited resources. Care is denied to those who will probably not live, so that those resources can help more patients who probably will live. I can guarantee you that you don’t have enough resources to manage all the stuff that’s currently in your life. Becoming skilled at triage (AKA, ruthless decision making) means more of your time and energy goes to the important stuff.

Triage breaks down into three categories, according to our friends at Wikipedia.

1) Those who are likely to live, regardless of what care they receive;
2) Those who are likely to die, regardless of what care they receive;
3) Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome.

On your desk, this means

Category 1. Stuff you like and need that will be put away;
Category 2. Stuff you don’t like or need that you can immediately decide to ditch;
Category 3. Stuff that you need to deal with right now.

Let’s do half an hour of desk triage. Remember, triage is speedy because lives are at stake. The more quickly you make decisions, the clearer your desk will stay. You may not get through your whole desk in half an hour, but you’ll complete a section rather than just rearranging the piles.

If you have a lot of paper, choose a small area, perhaps just a section of your desk. Triage will get you through the purging and decision making. I’ve added some post-30 minute clean-up suggestions if you want to keep going.

In a hospital, triage patients are sent to different areas depending on their category. On the battlefield, they are simply marked with colored tags. On your desk, use Post Its to mark your piles. Allow enough room for sorted piles. A card table is great, but the floor will work too.

Phase One

This is the gross sort. You’re deciding whether papers belong to category 1, 2 or 3. You’ll need a timer, 2 piling spots, and containers for recycling and shredding.

Set your timer for 15 minutes. Start with the pile on the left side of your desk and move across to the right without skipping over anything. Don’t let your eyes wander. Each time your gaze passes over the desk, your mind starts to run in different directions and you get distracted. Focus on one thing at a time. Take a pile to your sorting area with your back to your desk so you can’t see the other piles.

Pick up the first item in the first pile. Is it category 1, 2 or 3? Don’t read or think too much about an item; you only need to identify it for now. Quickly define each: Need it? Want it? Ditch it? Too late? If you can’t decide, choose category 1. Put it into the correct pile or bag. Repeat until the timer goes off.

Phase Two

 Set the timer for ten minutes. Sort the paper in category 1 by topic. If a topic does not come to mind, ask yourself why you are keeping the item. When you go look for it again, you’ll think, “where is that information about ______?” If someone asked you, “do you know where the ______________ is?” Use that word.

Choose broad topics; it’s easier to look for a particular item in five possible folders rather than 50. Right now, you’ll just create separate piles for each topic. Label the piles with Post-Its. If you run out of room, stack the piles alternating horizontal and vertical to keep them separated.

Post triage

File! If your file cabinet is a disaster area, consider getting a temporary file box to use until you can revamp it. That way your newly sorted papers won’t get lost again. Note: you’ll probably have a stack of keepers that you want to read; those don’t get filed, but they need to go somewhere where you’ll see them and read them.

Phase Three

 Set the timer for five minutes. Now we’ve come to category 3. These papers were out on the desk because you’re using them to remind you to do something. This is not an effective strategy. You need a list. A list allows you to see at a glance what all those to-do’s are. When they are piled up or spread out, you can’t get the whole picture.

Your to-do list can be in a notebook, on a pad of paper, in your PDA, a whiteboard, on your phone; wherever you will be most likely to look at it. For each reminder, create a to-do. To do for stack of marketing letters: address envelopes, stuff them (including business cards), stamp and take to mailbox. To do for event flyer: Add event to calendar and make a note to RSVP (if necessary) on calendar several days before. To do for pile of business cards: enter into computer contacts list or put into alphabetized card box. To do for information about you frequent flyer program: read it right now to see if there’s a time limited offer you want or throw it out, knowing you can get the information from their website.

Now, you may be thinking your to-do list will get unmanageably long. Yes, it will. But it’s not any longer than it was in your head, or spread out around the house. Before all these things were on the list, you were by turns overwhelmed and in denial about how much you had to do. Now you can see it in black and white. This is your current reality. When it’s all in one place you can make informed decisions about what you will and will not do.

Post triage

Make looking at your to-do list a habit. Send yourself email reminders if necessary. Where you keep your list is up to you. The important part is having one place to look for your tasks.

If you have years of backlog, the whittling down may go slowly. Use triage as often as you need it. Set a timer to help you stay focused and speedy and not find yourself deep in reading an hour later. A timer is also good to reassure you that you’ll be free of this tedium soon.

Make sure to keep up with current paper so it doesn’t become part of the backlog. That is, don’t stack new paper on top of old piles. Spend the first five minutes of triage taking care of the new stuff.
An unexpected benefit to this method is that you may be inspired to keep less stuff once you realize how much work it is to keep it all organized!

Remember: it’s your stuff, you’re in charge.

Getting Organized Ebook on Sale Now

2010-08-05T12:58:00-07:00

Last week I had a great plan to publish my book one chapter at a time every week for a year. And at some point offer it for sale, after I made more edits, polished it up, changed around some stuff, added new ideas, etc. When I told a friend about this brilliant plan she looked me in the eye and said, why don't you just publish it NOW?

I took a deep breath and realized she was right. Not that I won't make any edits (it's virtually impossible for me not to), but giving myself permission to make edits constantly could mean that it will never be ready for sale. I don't want to be one of those people who writes a book and then sits on it forever. So, herewith, the book is ready! This page will tell you more.

Oh, I still will publish chapters every week, but you can have immediate gratification by purchasing it right now.

Woman reading from cliff1066™'s photostream.

Donating Clutter

2010-08-04T10:58:44-07:00

Here's the second chapter of my new book.

Simple Way #2

Donations
Make it easy to give things away to charity. It’s one thing to decide that your old green sweater or the picture frame you got as a gift and never used can go. It’s another thing to get it out of the house. Here’s how.

Put an empty shopping bag in your closet. Whenever you come across an item of clothing you don’t want anymore, chuck it in there. Put bags in other places too; the kitchen, the garage, the front hall closet; wherever you might encounter something that makes sense to donate. When you have a bag filled up, make a trip to the donation station and drop them off. Don’t forget to start a new bag!

Right now: 
Find a bag and put it in your bedroom closet. Label it “Donations” so you don’t forget why it’s there.

Take the Organizing Challenge

2010-07-30T10:20:00-07:00

Here's how it works. Find a spot where clutter has been allowed to congregate (and propagate!) This could be your desk, your kitchen counter, your dining table, your briefcase; wherever. Set your timer for one minute. Ready, set, go! Race around putting away as much as you can from that clutter spot. Sound effects can help: "Whoa!" "Yikes!" "Outta my way!" "Aaaack!" Hint: if you don't need sound effects, you're not moving fast enough.

Time's up! How did you do? Rate your performance below.

I put away 10 things. You are an organizing Jedi knight! If there was any clutter still left, I'll bet you could eliminate it in another minute or so. You wasted no time trying to remember what drawer to put the thingamajig in. The added benefit is that now you know where everything is!

I put away 5 things. Not too shabby. One minute isn't very long. You may have had to think a bit about where things went, which is part of the reason for this challenge. The more you have to think and re-decide, the longer putting things away takes. That means identifying specific, easy-to-reach homes for your possessions is critical to keeping that clutter from breeding.

I put away one thing. Hmm, either that one thing was the size of a baby elephant, or you need to refine your stuff storing skills. When tidying up is time-consuming drudgery, your motivation to do it will be approximately zero. On the other hand, when you know exactly where things go, you can polish off this task in no time.

I didn't put anything away. Were you overwhelmed because you knew you couldn't make much headway in one minute? Did you not even know where to start? I made up this speed challenge because I know that decluttering has to be somewhat automatic if you're ever going to fit it into your day. Imagine if every time you took a fork out of the dishwasher you had to figure out where to put it! You'd be living in chaos-land. Imagine that everything you own is a fork and find a fork drawer to put it in.

How did you do? Let me know in the comments section.

Racing dogs from Nebbish1's photostream.

Get My Organizing Book for Free

2010-07-28T11:09:33-07:00

Get my book one chapter at a time for free! I've written the second draft of my book, 52 Simple Ways to Get Organized. I could start on draft number three, but I want to get it out there where it can help people (that why I wrote it). This will be kind of a beta version of my book because I'll be asking for your feedback as I go.

The deal is that I'll post a new chapter here on the blog every week, probably on Wednesday (I'm making this up as I go along). I will also offer a subscription program so you can sign up to get a new chapter every week via email (should be up by next week). After a year, you'll have the whole thing!

I can’t guarantee that what you'll have will be the same as the finished book because 1) I will use reader feedback to make it better as I go along and 2) I find it very hard not to rewrite things when I get a brainstorm to do so. Ideally, the final version will be even better.

The book is made up of 52 short chapters. Each chapter is about an organizing tip or technique, briefly introduced, with an action step you can take right now. It could be used as a year-long program to gradually create your perfect organizing system. It can also work if you open it at random when you just want to know one quick improvement you can make right now.

My style is more Heloise than Proust (i.e., short, not long). I like to address a specific problem with an immediate solution so that you can get back to whatever you were doing, and be doing it more easily. Without further ado, here's chapter one.

Simple Way #1

Piles
Feeling overwhelmed by those piles of paper everywhere? It can be a challenge to figure out how to tackle them. My suggestion: start at the bottom of the pile. The stuff on the bottom is older and by now most of it is irrelevant. Isn’t that handy?

It’s usually much easier to make a decision about something that’s been hanging around for a long time. Sometimes the decision gets made for you because you’ve missed a deadline or an offer. Sometimes you’re just not interested anymore so the energy has gone out of it. Just say goodbye and toss it.

Right now: 
 Go find a pile, pull out the bottom piece of paper and see if you can get rid of it. If not, put it where it belongs. If for some reason you can’t do that right now, at least stick a Post-It on there telling you where to put it.