For today's blog post, I would just like to share a testimonial I received from one of my clients with whom I've been meeting weekly for the past 6 weeks. The whole thing was too long to post in its entirety on my Testimonials page (what a wonderful problem to have) so I am sharing it here.

"As a new mom who recently went back to work, I quickly found myself struggling and frankly drowning in all of my responsibilities. I felt like I was trapped in a movie reel that just kept playing the same scenes over and over and over again. I was barely keeping it together and by "it" I mean it was all I could do to get up each morning, make sure my baby boy got his bottle and got to daycare with all his food and maybe I got to take a shower. My work at work was not being done and my work at home was, well, being ignored completely. Our condo that everyone says is "so big and spacious" was literally swallowing my husband and me whole. I hated the fact that my son was already growing up in an unorganized, chaotic mess and I had no idea how to fix it. I tried to put things away only to find that they didn't have places and never stayed where I wanted them to. I tried to file paper and sort mail. I bought containers and "system" things but nothing worked. I refused to let anyone who offered help me. I was embarrassed that I couldn't do it all on my own, but I knew I needed help, it just couldn't be from my husband, my mother in law or my own mother.  For some reason, they were too close and only made me feel worse about the state that I had let our home get to.

The achievement feels good, but I ran this race for my sanity. The longer distance pretty much guaranteed I would have to train, and when I have a regular exercise routine I am a MUCH more happy, less anxious person. Just ask my husband.

Besides the obvious fitness benefits, exercise releases endorphins; brain chemicals that create a sense of well-being and make you feel like everything is going to be okay. Focusing on my breathing as opposed to piping in music through headphones turns a workout into a meditative routine and really un-clouds my mind, as if that physical energy is being directly converted into mental focus. Hammering out a long run or simply getting out there for a quick jog injects a sense of achievement into my mornings, the effects of which last throughout the day resulting in increased productivity. I've known all these things for a while.

While training for and running the half marathon, however, I learned something new. In pushing myself to attempt longer and more difficult workouts I gained a tremendous sense of perspective. The world didn't end when I stepped outside my comfort zone. When I ran through the foot pain and leg cramps, I discovered that I am capable of running 10 miles without being out of breath. That I am capable of running for 2.5 straight hours. Had I given up, I never would have seen that light at the other end of the tunnel! It's amazing what the human body can do if you just ask it nicely.

De-cluttering is a similarly difficult mental and emotional exercise. You may find yourself face-to-face with some deep-seated fears (e.g. the fear of letting go) or facing decisions that you've been avoiding for a long time. Ask yourself, will I be okay if I push myself outside of my comfort zone? Ask yourself, what is the worst thing that can happen? More importantly, ask yourself, what is the BEST thing that can happen? Chances are you will feel a little discomfort temporarily and then once it's over, a sense of achievement and clarity. It's amazing what the human mind can do if you just ask it nicely. 

My Finisher's MedalMaintaining organization, like maintaining physical fitness, requires constant effort. You can put the perfect organizing systems in place but if you don't stick with them you'll fall back out of shape. This requires facing your fear of making mistakes every day. Over time you can build your organizing muscles so the maintenance becomes almost painless. Your organized environment will nurture you back, because simplicity and order are fitness for your mind and soul.

During the months I was training for the race I had some amazing breakthroughs on how to re-organize my own office and business operations for the better. I truly believe that the exercise is to thank for that mental acuity. As the weather turns chilly, I can't wait to move my workouts indoors to the yoga studio and build on that momentum.

Before your next power organizing session, squeeze in a power workout. It'll put you in the right frame of mind to take courageous, mindful and decisive steps toward your organizing goals.

• drink 8 glasses of water per day
• actually sleep between the hours of 11p-7a
• 3 hour-plus aerobic or strength workouts per week
• plan meals and buy groceries based on the food pyramid
• take my vitamins and calcium supplements every day
• 10 minutes quiet reflection every day

Perhaps 6 resolutions seems like a lot, but these are 6 specific actions that support 1 goal: GET HEALTHIER. If I'd simply written, "My New Year's Resolution is to Get Healthier," what do you think my chances of succeeding would be? I would have a vague, overwhelming goal looming over my head instead of a handful of do-able actions. Most likely sometime around March I would start kicking myself for not making any changes yet.

Did you notice the list contains only Do's, and no Don'ts? I figure by drinking 8 glasses of water per day, my intake of caffeine and alcohol will automatically go down (or my eyeballs will be swimming). And I figure by bringing tons of healthy, whole foods into the house, the amount of sugary and salty snacks I consume will decrease (the grocery budget is finite after all). No fads around here, just the common sense stuff we learned in kindergarten.

This New Year's, don't resolve to just GET ORGANIZED. Instead, resolve to take specific actions like:

• this evening, put a basket on the counter to hold incoming mail
• spend 10 minutes tidying up before bed every night
• by the end of January, clean out the junk drawer
• by the end of February, donate clothes you didn't wear in 2010
• keep your keys on a hook by the front door
• practice Mindful Handling of your possessions

Remember to K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple, Sweetheart. You don't really GET ORGANIZED, same as you don't really GET HEALTHY. It's a journey rather than a destination. Let's learn to BE organized and BE healthy, even if we only create 1 new good habit every 21 days. You know how to eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time. Here's to baby steps we can actually accomplish in 2011!

I can sum it up in a nutshell (hopefully some of you can appreciate my shorthand):
The Mall : Amazon.com :: The Grocery Store : Safeway.com | Peapod.com

In other words, you can order your groceries online and have them delivered to your house. It's second nature to avoid the shopping malls at all costs in December, but your local grocery store also turns into bumper carts this time of year. Don't you need to spend your precious time cooking, not shopping?

Some of the many reasons why these services are awesome:

• You don't have to lug shopping bags across a 23-degree, sleet-covered parking lot
• For new customers, delivery is free
• The website is organized in "aisles" so it's an intuitive shopping experience
• You can perform a quick search for products as opposed to trudging the aisles
• Safeway.com remembers everything you've ever bought in-store with your Club Card
• You automatically get Club Card discounts on everything you buy
• The big one: you can sort by price

Insider hints:

• Safeway truck drivers do not expect tips. Peapod truck drivers may.
• Try RetailMeNot for Safeway coupons and Peapod coupons to save even more

If I've learned anything as a Professional Organizer, it's this: done is better than perfect. Heck, if my groceries show up at my front door, even if I didn't get the exact brand I originally wanted that's still darn close to perfect.

Happy cooking, baking, eating, and staying indoors in your pajamas with a glass of wine!

1. Tasks & To-Do Lists – Responsibility means that nothing falls through the cracks. A reliable task management system is crucial! Try the task features built into your e-mail program or your smart phone, or use a paper planner if that’s more comfortable. What’s important is to choose a system and stick to it. Record every task there, and in turn you will be able to trust & lean on your system. Refer to it daily; prioritize and re-prioritize.

2. Calendar – Whether you use a paper or electronic calendar, it should have multiple views, such as daily, weekly, and monthly.  Most importantly, your calendar must be portable!  If you rely on a calendar that is embedded in your email, it’s important to have a mobile version so you can view, add, edit & remove events on the go.  This is a major benefit of having a smart phone.

3. Email – Create a series of sub-folders either by project, by sender, or whatever makes sense to you.  Delete junk email right away, and if a message can be processed in 2 minutes or less, do so immediately.  Create rules to filter messages into folders that can be reviewed later, such as “Newsletters,” or “Coupons.” Aim to clean out your inbox once a day.  If an email requires a time commitment, put that task on your To-Do list and file the email for later.

4. Computer Desktop and Electronic Files – De-clutter your computer desktop by deleting shortcuts for programs you rarely use (this does not delete the actual program). Drag and drop shortcuts to frequently-used programs onto your bottom Windows taskbar where they take up less space and are always accessible.  Quickly consolidate files on your desktop into a “Favorites” folder that you create; then categorize & file them as time allows.

5. Desktop and Paper Clutter – A file sorter and a few manila folders get active papers up and off the desk, yet still within reach. Always keep your planner or to-do list handy and near the phone, on the right if you’re right-handed or vice versa. Stacks of papers from past projects should be filed or archived. Taking 10 minutes to tidy up your desk before leaving the office each day can really kick-start your motivation the next morning!

This article was also featured in the Ft. McHenry Business Association's Winter 2010 Newsletter.

October is a perfect time to make space for holiday decorations by clearing your home's flat surfaces of paper clutter. Plus, won't it be nice to have your tax documents in order when W-2's hit your mailbox in January? Hello early tax return!

Trick or Treat? Shred or Keep?

Here are suggestions from people (not me) who are well-versed on the subject of what papers to keep and for how long.

These online articles are not a substitute for professional legal or financial advice, and Tidy Life, LLC is not responsible for the statements made therein. Consult your attorney or accountant for personalized guidance.

• Julie Morgenstern's The ABC's of Important Papers (navigate using the "Next" button)
• The Paper Tiger's Tax Record Retention Guide from GROCO, LLP, CPAs
• Suze Orman's Financial Clutter: What to Keep and What to Get Rid Of
• What Records to Keep and How Long to Keep Them on CreditCards.com

Isn't cleaning out your files a little less spooky now?

Before

In the old closet, the double shelves up top were great but hanging space was tight. The clothes bar was sagging under the weight of the clothes, so adding a double hang closet rod was out of the question. (It's a good thing we played it safe because we later learned that the old shelves were not properly mounted and could have fallen down.) Shoe racks sat on the floor but were too difficult to see in the shadows underneath all the hanging clothes.

Before

After sorting through clothes and donating extras to Goodwill, we decided to make 2 big changes to make the closet more functional:

1. Remove the door, which swung inward and blocked the right side of the closet
2. Install an ELFA closet system to maximize use of space

During

Here is what the closet looked like after the ELFA installation guy left. He did a great job, quickly dismantling old shelving, patching & painting the walls, and hanging the new system all within a few short hours. He was very considerate and left the space very clean.

The coolest thing about ELFA, and what makes it so quick to install, is that only the top horizontal bar gets drilled into the wall. The vertical bars just hang from the top bar, distributing the weight of the system evenly across the entire surface of the drywall. Genius in its simplicity.

After

What a transformation! The ELFA system provides double hang space on both sides of the closet, long hang space, lots of sheves, glide-out shoe racks, drawers for accessories, and hooks for hanging. The best part? Everything is adjustable! My client and I played around with positioning the shelves until everything fit perfectly. The ELFA system can be reconfigured to support my client's storage needs as they change over time. That's what I call a good investment.

After

After

Before

In my kitchen, 2 shelves in a narrow upper cabinet were dedicated to spice bottles of all sizes. A small plastic bin held several bottles and could slide out easily, but I still had to rifle through the contents to find my spice du jour, and not all of them fit. Occasionally I would curse myself as a spice bottle tumbled down onto the counter. Not cool.

Before

The Process

First, I culled through my collection and disposed of old spices. Did you know that most spices are only potent for 1-4 years? Check out McCormick's The Life of Spice for guidance on streamlining your own spice collection. McCormick also offers a Fresh Tester feature on their website to "find out if your [McCormick brand] spices are past their prime." I believe there are exceptions to these rules, considering that Old Bay definitely still comes in a tin, and occasionally you can still smell the McCormick plant in Hunt Valley while driving up I-83. But I digress.

Next, it was time to dispose of spices I never used. Who needs Pumpkin Pie Spice, anyway? Let's get real here. Clearly I also have Nutmeg and Cloves, and can easily season a pumpkin pie using those were I ever to bake one from scratch, which is unlikely.

I dumped those spices that didn't make the cut, but saved the bottles so I could use them to re-house spices from tins and other oddly-shaped containers. Additional spice bottles were ordered from Spice Barn on the cheap.

After

Requirements for the perfect in-cabinet spice rack: must maximize use of space and allow me to access every single bottle easily, even the ones in the back. Success! I discovered the Spice Stack, which is available in 2 different sizes, the largest of which contains an optional built-in set of measuring cups and spoons. I removed the middle shelf from my cabinet and the 8"w Spice Stack slides in there neatly. Each drawer is labeled, so I can locate everything instantly. Someday if I decide to become a gourmet chef, I may have to get another one. Love it!

After

After

Have a spice success story of your own? Let's hear it! Sometimes the smallest victories are the best kind.

We tend to toss our belongings around without care or respect. We live in a disposable society; stuff is (relatively) cheap to buy and replace. New purchases are shiny, exciting and carefully packaged, yet are soon relegated to the back of closets and junk drawers. Paperwork and junk mail bombard us daily and we can't keep up. Clutter is the side effect of this disease.

Whether we realize it or not, we're faced with a decision every time we:

• pick something up
• put something down
• buy something new
• get something dirty
• break something
• use the last thing in a box
• empty a bottle
• remove a paper from an envelope

This decision is 2-fold:

1. What will I do with this object now?

• keep it
• return or exchange it
• wash or clean it
• refill, recharge or repair it
• put it away or file it
• throw it out or recycle it
• donate it, sell it or give it away
• put it in storage

2. When will I do it?

• Now
• Later

Most of the time we don't practice mindful handling of our belongings. We toss something wherever it lands, AVOIDING the 1st decision and defaulting to “Later” on the 2nd one. The clutter grows and so do our stress levels.

Every time you are presented with a decision, one of 3 things can happen. Know that you are in control and can choose your outcome:

Clutter Decision Matrix © Tidy Life, LLC

For big things, the consequences of delaying decisions may be obvious. If you bought a new refrigerator and it didn’t fit between your kitchen cabinets, you probably wouldn’t waste time deciding what to do (exchange it) and when (ASAP) because it’s huge and in your way.

But I mean it when I say that every thing you handle is a candidate for clutter. The little things accumulate and clutter turns into a big problem.

You open a piece of mail and toss the envelope on the counter. You drink all but ¼ cup in that 2 liter bottle of soda and put it back in the fridge. You don’t know what to do with all those shells you brought back from the beach so you shove them in a drawer. You don’t know how to fix the broken CD player so it sits in the corner. You toss your dirty socks or towel on the floor. You try on those jeans and hate how they make your butt look, but still put them back in the closet. You don’t know what to say in response to an email so you let it sit in your inbox. You wonder if something better will come up for Saturday night so you never RSVP to that invite. You get the picture.

For 1 day, try practicing mindful handling and make decisions as opportunities arise.  Anything you start, follow it through to completion, even if for now that means putting a task on your to-do list. The lack of clutter and unfinished tasks left in your wake at the end of the day may just motivate good new habits for the future.

If you find this exceedingly difficult to put into practice, or have a backlog of clutter to work through and would like support, let me know.

Taming the Cable Jumble

Today's big confession is that while I keep my desktop very neat, the cords underneath recently turned into a total disaster. After rearranging the home office and finding new homes for our printer, scanner and other peripherals, we were left with this lovely mess:

Before

It annoyed the living heck out of me, not to mention spawned dozens of dust bunnies. While I knew I could clean this up MacGyver-style using cable ties, painter's tape and a shoebox, I decided to try a few cool organizing products and call it "research." I'm thrilled with the results:

After

The black disc on the wall (already present in "before" shot, we cheated a little) is a $5 Cord Grommet from Staples. Normally they are used on conference room tables but they're also the perfect solution for running wires behind the wall without leaving a rough edge of drywall exposed (our printer & scanner now live on wall shelves to free up desk space). To create the openings, hubby used an appropriately-sized hole saw (circular drill bit) and the discs popped right in!

The gorgeous white box is the Cable Box from BlueLounge ($29.95). I like how it kind of blends in with the baseboards. Why spend $30 on a plastic box, you ask? I needed something that would double as a footrest, and nothing else I could find was sturdy enough. IKEA's SIGNUM Cable Organiser is cheaper at $10 but not sturdy. For more cord control strategies that don't involve a box on the floor, check out this great Top 10 List from Lifehacker.

We also got a 7-port USB hub from Radio Shack ($29.99) to consolidate the various USB cables looping under the desk. It gracefully connects multiple devices inside the cable box, with only 1 USB cord sneaking up behind the desk to my laptop by way of a Cable Drop from BlueLounge ($9.95 for a 6-pack).

Finally, the remaining visible cords were neatly tied up with Reusable Velcro Cable Ties (found at Home Depot). Et voila!

See you next Monday for the next Mini-Makeover!