10 DeClutter Tips

This is a room in my house, from a couple of years ago, when I had scarcely a moment to breathe. This room, like many of your rooms, became the catch all room; the room I could close the door and ignore. During this period of my life, so much was coming at me, that emotionally I could do little more than eat, sleep, work, and take care of my family the best I could. This room is a clear representation of how emotional clutter can manifest itself through physical clutter. So how did I attack this room? 

 By using several of the  10 DeClutter Tips, 

I was able to restore this room to it's natural order. 

10 DeClutter Tips

1.  Take one area and focus only on that area; it can even be a category.  For example, in my room, I took out all the boxes and either broke them down or put a couple aside to be used later for storage or give away.  Once that was done, I focused on a square foot under the window.

2.  Set aside time.  I had to schedule the time to get this task done......things that are scheduled normally get done. 

3.  Find homes for all the objects.  Many things in my room had homes, I just had not taken the time to put them there.  

4.  Make a decision. "Clutter is the result of delayed decision making".

Be willing to make a decision and quit hanging on to things.....just because. 

5.  Visualize the end goal.  Don't start anything without an end goal in mind.  My goal was to bring order to the room and to be able to vacuum the floor!

6.  Work in short spurts.  Working for about 25 minutes at a time, taking a timed 10-minute break, then working for another 25 minutes will help you not burn out so easily.

7.  Have supplies on hand......garbage bags, a box for items needing 

to be relocated and a box for items to donate.  

8.  Put on some music.  It feels more fun to have some music going.  

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had it right when they sang whistle while you work!

9.  Don't organize clutter. Organize and label only what is really necessary to keep. 

10.  Don't buy storage containers until you know exactly how much of something you are going to keep and where you are going to store it.  When you buy storage containers, you don't end up using, you have only added to the clutter. 

Now, figure out what area of your home is causing you the most stress and apply some of these tips.  

Today just might be your day for a new beginning!

peggywbarnes@gmail.com

252.670.2951

ADHD and Organizing.....It Can Happen!!

I hear it all the time from clients or prospective clients:  I have ADHD or my kids have ADHD or my husband has ADHD.

I, myself, am convinced I have ADHD and I am a professional organizer! Granted, I am one of 7 children, growing up in the 60's when those acronyms meant nothing.  I am sure I had traits even way back when but had to somehow learn to cope and teach myself a new way to do things.  

Here are five strategies I have learned that have helped this distracted, procrastinating gal.

1.  I talk to myself, not crazy talking to myself, but talking my way through.  I remind myself to stay on task, to stay focused on my goal and to keep pressing on to completion. Sometimes, a task is best completed in small increments, rather than doing it all at once, and if that is the case, then that is certainly how I attack that task.  

2.  I keep a list of what I want to get done that day. I take some time, the night before to write a list, that goes in the car, of errands I need to run.  I write a list of things, that stays in the house, of the things that need to get done at home.  I scratch off what gets done and move forward to the next day's list of what doesn't get done. 

3.  I make sure my environment is not too cluttered.  Clutter, in and of itself, is a total distraction and takes up brain space you need to use to stay focused.

4.  I put everything away by category.  If it is related to laundry, it is in the laundry room.  If it is something that has to be done, it goes in my to do pile. I hang my clothes up by style and color, i.e. black shirts, white shirts, gray shirts, then black pants, gray pants, white pants, etc.  Putting things in categories helps you put things away more consistently and find things more easily. 

5.  I have figured out how much time it takes for me to complete certain tasks and I am realistic about allotting the correct amount of time to get them totally completed.  I don't pretend it is going to take me less time than it normally does and I keep myself focused on the clock so I am not late leaving the house.  

Yes, this ADD/ADHD girl has conquered the beast.....most of the time.  There are times I get bored, distracted and off track but with these strategies in place, it is easy to get back to where I need to be and get things done.  

Math....It Really Is Important

 

The other day it hit me.....a lot of the things I do are based on basic math principles. 

Here are several examples:

• If you want to weigh less you have to eat less junk food and exercise/move more.  

• If you want to have less clutter, you have to bring in less and get rid of more.

•  If you have only so much square footage, you can't fit more than that amount of stuff  into it.

•  If you want to have a successful marriage, you have to spend more time working on it  and less time fussing about it.   

•  If you want to increase the odds of raising responsible kids into responsible adults,  you have to take more time to nurture, teach, discipline and love them and less time  yelling at them, berating them, buying them stuff and expecting someone else to raise  them for you.

• If you want to have financial peace, you have to spend less and save more.

• If you want to be happier, you have to spend less time worrying, fretting and complaining and more time figuring out what you can do to change your situation, changing what you can and developing an attitude of gratitude. 

•  If you want to feel better, you have to spend less time indulging what you know you shouldn't be indulging in and more time on things that are good for you.

• If you want to make a difference, you spend less time on yourself and more time on helping others.

• If you want to live purposefully, spend more time doing the things you are created to do and less time comparing yourself to others.  

More and Less......basic math principles that equal some great results. See, you should have paid attention to that math class in school!  It really is important. 

How good is your math? 

Confessions of an Organizer

I am a Certified Professional Organizer....sounds impressive right???  Well, here is the truth about me:

1.  I can still be a messy Millie.  Check out this photo of my current work area.  Yes, it all makes sense to me, therefore, I am organized but it is still, nonetheless, messy. 

2.  I do not have my underwear folded or my t-shirts folded and stacked like a Banana Republic Store.   

3.  I do not have matching file folders with matching printed labels.  I have file folders (whatever was available in my home or on sale) some have printed labels and some have written labels....whatever was going to get the job done the fastest. 

4.  I do not have my sheets and towels folded in ways that make them stack beautifully and neatly on the shelf.  They are folded but not precisely.

5.  I do not have all my photos in albums with beautiful trim, borders, and extra accouterments to make the photo explode off the page.....nope, many of my photos are still in boxes (by year!) but in boxes.

6.  I do not have my filing done.....much of it is stacked on top of the filing cabinet. 

7.  My laundry room looks like a laundry room.....with dirty clothes and clean clothes commingled, staying enough apart for me to know what's what! 

8.  Sometimes at night, I leave dirty dishes in the sink.

9.  I haven't been able to let go of my kid's rock collection. 

10. I have a basket of shoes, overflowing, by my back door.  I hate wearing shoes and taking them off, the minute I walk in the door immediately relieves some of my stress.  

So, what makes me organized? 

1.  I can find what I need when I need it because I do not have too much stuff and I know where everything is. 

2.   My underwear does not need to be folded because no one else is going to see whether it is wrinkled or not and my t-shirts are folded well enough.

3.  I can find my paperwork when I need it.....again because I don't keep too much and because it is labeled in a way that makes sense to me for retrieval.  Matching folders are not magic....you still have to have a system that makes sense. 

4.  My sheets and towels have worked just fine not being folded perfectly. 

5.  My photos are in boxes, sorted by year and many of my kids' pictures are in an album for them but I still have a long way to go.  I will never be a scrapbooker, the tediousness of that makes me sweat thinking about it!

6.  My filing is not done...one small stack, on top of a filing cabinet is not killing anyone.  Remember it is small because I don't keep much paper!

7.  My laundry room is a place of function, not beauty.  I can get done what I need done very well, which is evident by everyone in my home having something clean to wear. 

8.  Yes, I am just plum tired some days and I leave the dishes in the sink.  The FlyLady would not approve, however, I do take care of it as soon as I wake up.  

9.  I love my kid's rock collection....I have it in the bottom of a vase with beautiful flora coming out the top.  A beautiful decoration for me.....a great way to keep memorabilia merging it with  with my decorating style.  There is nothing wrong with keeping sentimental stuff, there is only something wrong with keeping too much of it. 

10.  My shoe basket is overflowing but at least I have a basket, right?? 

All this to say, I am not perfect, I am not what many would call "organized" because I think they have the wrong idea about being organized.  As Julie Morgenstern (the organizer guru) says:  "Being organized has less to do with how something looks as how something functions".  My house functions great but does not look like I live in a magazine.  Life is busy and life is sometimes very overwhelming.  I work....all the time, I get tired, I get frustrated, I don't have time to focus on my house looking like a magazine.  I do have time to get systems in place, that work for me and my family and I have time to tweak those systems until organizing is just a side note in my life.  

None of this means that I can't organize to make a house look like a magazine because I can. It's just I know what works for me and I know how I think and my house is organized accordingly. 

So there you have it, the truth about this organizer........I guess Martha Stewart will not be calling to hire me any time soon :) 

It's Constant

The word "constant" has been creeping up in my vocabulary a lot lately.  

Talking to mothers about motherhood....it's constant.  
Talking to wives about marriage......it's constant.  
Talking to people about work.......it's constant.  
Talking to people about relationships.......it's constant.  
Talking to people about bill paying.....it's constant.  
Talking to people about staying organized.......it's constant.  
Talking to people about cleaning......it's constant.

So, what does this mean?  Life is constant.  There is stuff in your life that constantly needs attention. 

So, what do you do?  
Take breaks when you can.  
Appreciate the small breaks you get.  
Realize this is what you signed on for when you became a wife, a mother, a friend, a member of a group, a homeowner, an employee.  

Life ends up not really being about you but you in the context of life with all of the other people in it.  It's just how life is so you can fight it, fuss about it, talk about how bad it is, whine about it, cry about it or nag about it.  But a better alternative might be to embrace it, change what you can about it and find things to be thankful in it.  Your approach and your attitude makes all the difference in the world in having a miserable life or a wonderful life......either way, it's going to be constant.  

Buying Peace

                                                    (photo from knowing-jesus.com)


I was thinking about many of my de-clutter and life coach clients and taking a hard look at my own life. Many of us, me included, have tried to buy our peace through different things, either through a purchase or alcohol or a drug or a person or a lifestyle.  We have mistakenly thought, when I get this, do this, have this or am at this stage of my life, I will have peace.  

Unfortunately, we end up accumulating too much, being with the wrong person, missing out on the gift of today or dealing with addictions because of that wrong kind of thinking.  

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” – unknown - 

Life will constantly give us opportunities that require us to choose peace in the midst of pain, turmoil or the everydayness of life.  The bottom line, you can't buy peace.  You have to tap into the only true peace through God, the One that gives peace "that passes all understanding".