Peace of Mind Organizing

That craving for order

4 January 2008

On New Year’s Day, I was inclined to write in my journal. I wrote about my aspirations for the year, and so forth. In years past, I wrote in my journal quite a bit…it was a real stress reliever for me. Now, I pretty much write only on special occasions.

Before I sat down to write in my journal on January 1, 2008, I decided to read the entry I wrote on January 1, 1998. I don’t throw away old journals; they’re stored in a filing cabinet drawer. I found the 10-year-old spiral-bound book (I use Miguelrius journals, like this Bright Spot one).

It was an interesting read. My aspirations have certainly changed, since I was three years into my freelance writing business ten years ago. (I’m happy to report that some of aspirations were realized.) But there was one theme that still resonates 10 years later: I wrote about my need for order. I wrote about how important order was for me, how I knew how to achieve it, but how it always seemed to be just beyond my reach.

That craving for order still resides within me. I know now more than ever how to achieve order. And I achieve it regularly. But I have not mastered maintaining it. I’m still always searching for the perfect system, when I know that the perfect system for maintaining order resides within me.

I hope that 2008 is the year that I figure out a way to maintain the order I crave. After a crazy busy December, I’m starting the new year out with a pretty messy home and office. I’ll get that cleaned up fairly easily, because I really do have a place for everything. But the thing I want to work on is establishing the routines and habits that allow me to effortlessly pair “A place for everything” with “Everything in its place.” I need to put stuff away! That’s the key to living mess- and clutter-free.

Happy new year!

1 January 2008

I just love the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I usually try to spend time cleaning out/cleaning up and planning. This year, I didn’t really, because I was visiting my parents in Walla Walla, Washington until the 28th and mostly I’ve been relaxing since I’ve been home.

But here it is the first day of the year and I find myself wanting to write down goals, figure out systems for making life easier, and (still) cleaning out/cleaning up. My office needs some major help, which I’d hoped to accomplish yesterday. So the plan today is see how much progress I can make in decluttering and straightening up my office in half a day and spend the other half knitting and/or filling in my notebook at the wonderful knitting social community, Ravelry.

One of my goals for 2008 is more regular blogging, so starting my day by posting here seemed appropriate. I think the theme of 2008 for me is going to be time management. That seems to be my biggest challenge. As my business has grown, I’ve had some difficulty balancing the work obligations (working with clients, keeping up with my training and education, staying on top of my NAPO St. Louis responsibilities, and keeping my business running smoothly) and my personal life (keeping a semblance of order in the house, doing things with and for family and friends, having fun and, of course, knitting). If I can master that balance in 2008, I’ll be very, very pleased. In any event, my trying to come up with solutions to achieve that balance should be helpful to my clients!

As we contemplate this new year, I wish for you the opportunity to set and accomplish goals that will make you really happy.

You gotta love Thanksgiving!

22 November 2007

There are many things to love about Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday whose whole point is to be grateful for the wonderful things in our life. It’s a holiday celebrated by cooking and eating wonderful, comforting food. It’s a holiday in which most of us spend time with family and/or friends. And it’s a universally American holiday. Virtually all Americans celebrate it. So you can say “Happy Thanksgiving!” to anyone and not worry that you’re being insensitive.

I know most bloggers are blogging about what they’re thankful for today. I’d like to be different. But I really can’t resist making a short list of some of the things I’m grateful for:

• My wonderful, supportive family (husband, parents, brothers, four-legged family members)

• My incredible friends

• My knitting group

• My good health and great genes that allow me to stay healthy with minimal effort

• My terrific clients whose trust I’m so honored by and who teach me so much

• My colleagues who share so much with me

• My professional organizations (NAPO, NSGCD, the Garden Writers Association) that offer me so much education, excitement, collegiality and, yes, friendship

• The Internets

• My iPod. And podcasts

• My DVR. God, I love that machine.

2007 has been an amazing year for me. I have no reason to believe that 2008 won’t be even better.

Clutter and stress

5 November 2007

I just discovered something about myself. I’ve always known that, for me, clutter causes stress. And stress tends to cause clutter. Typically, my stress starts because I’m too busy. When I’m busy I have no time to put anything away. The clutter grows and grows and looking at it stresses me out. It’s a vicious cycle.

That’s why I named my business Peace of Mind Organizing. Because for me, as I’ve discovered in many of my clients, the absence of clutter (and the presence of organizing systems) reduces stress and promotes peace of mind.

Now here’s my discovery: if I’m not stressed, the clutter doesn’t bother me. Right now, I’m just the right amount of busy. I’m busy with clients but have a couple of “desk days” at home. And I’m plowing through my to-do list, which is the most wonderful feeling. (High on my to-do list was updating my website, which you may have noticed I’ve accomplished, with the help of Nora Brown, web designer extraordinaire.)

But my desk is covered with paper. And, strangely enough, that’s not stressing me out. Maybe it’s because I’m functioning just fine with the clutter. Or maybe it’s because I know that I could declutter my desk in just a few minutes if I took the time to do it.

I don’t know that this is an earth-shattering discovery, but I find it interesting.

I was thinking of instituting a clean-desk challenge to myself today, documented here. My plan was to start off with a “before picture,” then clear off my desk and make sure it was clear at the end of each business day. And I was going to post pictures to prove it.

But my husband is using my camera, so I can’t document it. The challenge stands, it just won’t be documented photographically. I hope and trust that on Friday I’ll post that I had a clean desk-top every day for five days running. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Clutter can be such a barrier

13 September 2007

It’s amazing to me what a barrier to productivity, to progress, to peace of mind clutter can be. I see it in my clients all the time. And I know from personal experience.

A confluence of events created a mini-hurricane in my office this summer. For the month of August, my office looked just awful. The desk was piled high, stuff littered the floor. I had purchased a new computer (I just adore my new MacBook!), which was terribly disruptive and created all sorts of trash, I was busy with clients and I was travelling, which always creates disorder for me. This actually isn’t that big a deal for me, usually, because at least I have a place for everything. Messy person that I am, I was being lazy about putting things away.

The emotional toll was huge, though. I felt like I couldn’t do anything else until I cleaned up my office. But when I’d try do to it, I’d very limited time, I’d work in fits and starts—never really completing anything—and it seemed like I was just making things worse. I’d spend hours helping clients create order and just not want to come home and do it for myself. It was nutty, because it really made me feel bad.

I was getting other things done, but really I was just putting out fires. Only the most pressing things were getting accomplished. I felt like doing any planning had to wait until my office was under control.

So finally, on a Saturday, I just told myself that all I had to do that day was clean up my office. I’d work on it until I was done. My approach was to start at the door and tackle each pile and mess until it was gone. You know what? It took me at most two and half hours. Which is nothing.

And what a difference it made! Once the floor and desk were clear, my head was clear. I was empowered. I could actually race through my to-do list, checking things off. And, of course, my feng shui is much improved. I have no doubt that the clutter was blocking the flow energy.

I’ve always had plenty of empathy for my clients. But this experience gave me new insights. And it also proved the value of setting aside time for decluttering and staying focused on it until the project is completed. That’s certainly what I help my clients do—it was time I treated myself with that same regard.

Balance

10 July 2007

Isn’t balance always such a struggle? I think in my dream life I’d effortlessly balance work and play, solitude and company, relaxation and housekeeping, client time and desk time, knitting and everything else. And I’d do it with ease and grace. In my current reality, I’m feeling torn in several directions most of the time.

I’ve been fortunate to be very busy in my business lately. I worked many hours in June and July is already booked up. That’s great for my bank account. But there’s non-client work I need to do to keep my business going. There’s a house that constantly needs to be decluttered—or at least stuff put away. There are dogs that appreciate long walks and play dates. A husband to spend time with. I know my struggle for balance is not unique to me!

Today I leave for five days to work with a client in another state. We’ll be working long hours together on a big project. It’s a grubby, exhausting project. But there are a couple of great things about it for me. The first is the tremendous impact my help will have on the client’s well-being. The other is that I won’t have to think about balance. I’ll be away from home, completely focused on my client. When I’m not working, I’ll be in my hotel trying to rest. My husband will handle everything at home. I’ll have two obligations: helping my client and taking care of physical well-being.

Ignoring the need for balance certainly isn’t as healthy as actually achieving balance. But at this point, I’ll take what I can get.

Perfectionism

23 June 2007

I’m a Virgo. Well, actually, I was born on the cusp of Libra, but I’ve always identified myself as being a Virgo. Many professional organizers happen to be Virgos. If you’re in a room of professional organizers and you ask the Virgos to raise their hands, you’ll see a sea of raised hands. Most Virgos are perfectionists. Not me, though. I’m actually a “good enough” person. But many of my clients (Virgos or not) are perfectionists.

At first glance, it would seem odd that a disoriganized person would be a perfectionist. Wouldn’t a perfectionist insist on order? The trouble is that many perfectionists want to make sure they do everything right. They don’t want to get started decluttering until they know exactly how they’re going to do it. And exactly what systems will be in place to prevent the clutter from reappearing. And while they wait for the perfect plan or system to appear, clutter continues to accumulate. And then overwhelm sets in.

I try to encourage my clients to be “organized enough.” To me, that means you can find what you need when you need it. That even if a room gets messy, you can get it back in order fairly quickly.

Take, for example, storing your keys to avoid a mad key search every morning. Keys don’t have to be stored on neatly labeled hooks that would make Martha Stewart proud. They can be tossed into a bowl by the door. If you toss them into that bowl as a matter or routine and if you know to look in that bowl for your keys when you’re on the way out the door, then in my book you’re organized. And that’s a beautiful thing, even if the bowl isn’t (though it could be). Best of all, it’s fairly easy to attain.

The trouble comes when you don’t want to create a place to store your keys until you have just the right key rack. Or you don’t want to get started because your labelmaker is out of tape (or you can’t find it). Or maybe you don’t have the perfect screws to affix the key rack to the wall.

If you’re a perfectionist and you find that’s paralyzing your organizing efforts, I encourage you to let go of the perfectionism and embrace the concept of “organized enough.” Take imperfect steps toward getting organized and before you know it, you’ll have made progress that will make your life easier. Just get started!