Peace of Mind Organizing

It's that time of year again: the annual Elfa sale!

8 January 2015

The more I use the Container Store’s Elfa shelving and drawer system, the more I like it. I use Elfa drawers in my home to organize my yarn collection. I also have an Elfa office in a closet. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Elfa designers to design closet and drawer systems for my clients. Recently, we created a wonderful Elfa desk for my client’s young daughter, who is an artist. It stores all her art supplies and gives her a great working surface upon which to create.

Right now is a great time to buy Elfa because they’re having their annual sale. All Elfa components are 30 percent off, as is Elfa installation. For many people, Elfa is easy to put together. But if you’re having a closet system put in, going with their installation service is a nice perk.

This sale usually goes until about Valentine’s Day. You can design your closet or storage space online or, if you’re in a city with a Container Store, take your measurements into the store and work with an Elfa designer. Here in St. Louis, I’ve had many great experiences working with Elfa designers.

2014 highlight reel

29 December 2014

My favorite week of the year is the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I love taking stock of the year just past and planning ahead to the coming year. I also like creating a little order and just sort of getting my ducks in a row during a week where most of the world isn’t doing much work (and therefore I have time at home).

As I’ve done the last couple of years I’m sharing my highlight reel with you.

I led even more organizing teams. I love helping clients create dramatic change by bringing in teams of talented organizers teams to help them achieve their goals. In 2014, I led 83 teams of various sizes. (I see from last year’s post that I led 36 in 2013.) I love my work.

I went on two planning retreats. If you read this blog regularly, you know I love planning and goal setting. This year, I traveled twice to do planning with friends and colleagues. Taking the time and getting away for this type of thinking is so valuable.

I said goodbye to Springpad but said hello to SentrySafe. Last year I was so excited by my burgeoning relationship with the personal organizer app, Springpad. And it was great while it lasted. But Springpad went belly up in June. In the fall, though, I developed a relationship with SentrySafe the premier maker of fire proof storage. In 2014, guest blogged for them, and participated in two Twitter parties.

My genealogy research and blog have grown by leaps and bounds. In 2014, I took four trips in support of my genealogy research, which I find increasingly fascinating and satisfying. My blog, Organize Your Family History, grew substantially in readership—over 50,000 page views in 2014, as compared with 18,000 in 2013.

I broke my wrist, but it didn’t slow me down. On December 3, I fell and fractured my wrist. That’s the bad news. The good news was that I was able to continue working, thanks to my amazing organizing team members. It made me realize that these days my work is done with my brain and mouth, not my hands and arms. So my clients continued to be served, despite my being on the injury list. (Can’t wait to get rid of this brace in a couple of weeks!)

I published my 1,000th blog post. I love this blog and I’m proud of the fact I’ve stuck with it for eight years without a lapse. On December 9, I published my 1000th post here.

I wrote a novel. As I did in 2004 and 2009, I wrote a 50,000 word novel in a month, as part of National Novel Writing Month. That is such a satisfying accomplishment, even if the novel is far from being ready to publish.

I found time to read. I love reading fiction and I love my Kindle Paperwhite. It makes it so easy to read little bits at a time. Using Springpad and then Evernote, I kept track of the books I read this year, taking note of the title and author after I finish. I read 38 books in 2014—and I still have a couple of days to squeeze in another!

If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to create your own highlight reel (for private or public consumption). I think it’s really valuable to focus on the accomplishments of the year as you contemplate a new year.

Worth repeating: Keep it simple and give clutter-free gifts

22 December 2014

And now for my annual plea not to give gifts that will clutter the recipient’s home. A nice bonus of most of these gifts is they don’t require leaving the house to purchase, so they’re great for Christmas procrastinators. I wrote this post two years ago and I stand by it today.

I’m all about letting the holidays be easy. And I’m also very keen on not giving gifts that might weigh the recipient down. I see in my clients a tendency to hang onto items that were given as gifts, even if the items aren’t used or loved.

So every holiday season, I bang my drum for clutter-free gift giving. Here are some ideas on things you can give that won’t risk turning into clutter:

• Electronic subscriptions or gift cards. Every year my brother and I renew our parents’ subscriptions to a digital photo frame and an email service. (They don’t have—or want—a computer.) Another great option is a Netflix or Hulu Plus gift subscription. (Personally, I love receiving iTunes gift certificates.)

• Give the gift of time together. Instead of exchanging gifts, why not go out to lunch and a movie with a friend? Or, if you have friends or family a distance away, give the gift of regular phone calls. Or a plane ticket to come visit. It’s about your relationship, not the stuff.

• Offer a service. Do you have a friend who could use some help around the house? Either offer to do it yourself, or hire someone who can help. That can work well for housekeeping, errand running, babysitting, all sorts of services.

• Give edibles. Cook or bake something and deliver it yourself. Or, if your gift recipients live out of town, order them something consumable. I always like Wolferman’s but there are lots of wonderful options out there.

• Share your special skill. Is there something you do well that others don’t like or know how to do? Share it! For example, you could help a friend clean out her files. (I love other people’s paper!) Maybe you could give someone a lesson on how to use Pinterest. Or teach them to knit. Or organize their music on their cell phone.

• Make a donation. If you and your gift recipient share a passion for a cause, consider giving a donation to that charity in your friend’s name. It doesn’t create clutter and it makes you both feel good.

One of the things I love about clutter-free gift giving is that it’s much easier on the shopper. Some of these ideas take very little time. And many don’t cost much money. Everybody wins.

Last December, I appeared on the local morning program Great Day St. Louis, talking about clutter-free gift giving. Here’s the video, if you’re interested:

Regaining control of my office

18 December 2014

I strive every day to whittle my email inbox down to zero. It’s a strategy that has worked well for me for going on four years.

But a series of events has led me to allow messages pile up in my inbox for the last two weeks. (Two weeks ago, I broke my wrist, worked an intensive three-day move-in job for a client, and then headed straight to the airport to spend eight days with my elderly parents.)

So now, despite having spent some time with it in the 48 hours since I’ve been home, I have 68 messages in my inbox. It feels so oppressive.

Those same events resulted in a messy (physical) desk top, which is adding to my stress.

I have no client appointments tomorrow, so what I know I need to do is implement the third part of my evening routine and sit down and plan the top four things I need to get done tomorrow. If I don’t manage to clear off my desk tonight, then a clean desk will be at the top of that list. I’m going to set a timer and see what I can do about my inbox before I turn out my office light today. And come hell or high water, I’ll get my inbox down to zero tomorrow.

This is what I tell clients who backslide: It’s always easier to get back on the horse than it was to get on it the first time. My desk looks like I’ve had a major set back, but I know in less than an hour, particularly if I work on it while I’m fresh, I’ll get it back under control. And I’ll gain some peace of mind while I’m at it. Same goes for my inbox. I can’t wait to achieve my beloved inbox zero again!

I feel very fortunate to have experienced great habits, even when I let them slide. Tomorrow, I’ll post about my success. (Thank you for providing me with accountability!)

It’s now tomorrow at 5:30 pm, and I’m happy to report that I got my inbox down to zero! It feels good. Doing that required me to make some decisions and take some actions that were lingering too long. I also cleared off my desk, but I see that it’s a mess again! But I’ll clear it off before I leave my office tonight.

An easy way to create a vision board

15 December 2014

I try to make a vision board every year. I love the visual reminder of my goals for the upcoming year and I’d like to think that by creating one, I’m inviting the Law of Attraction to go to work for me.

Do you create one? A vision board is simply a visual representation of your goals and desires. Traditionally, they’re collages created from photos clipped from magazines and glued to poster board (or a bulletin board), but there are all kinds of ways to make them. Check out this Pinterest board of Vision Board Examples to see what I mean.

One reason I like creating a vision board is that it allows me to hone in on my real desires. It also helps me actually picture what I want. And, of course, if I hang it in view, I also get a constant reminder of my goals, which is never a bad thing.

In the past, I’ve had great intentions of creating them, but I found the search through magazines for the right picture frustrating. I’m just not a magazine gal. So I’d start clipping and run out of steam.

A few years ago, I came up with an easier way to create a digital vision board on my Mac, using the Comic Life program that comes loaded on it. (I see that Comic Life is available for Windows too!) Comic Life is a comic-book-making app where I can select a format (say, six square panels on a page) and drag images into it. So instead of clipping magazine photos, I’m using Google Images or Flickr (or my own photos in iPhoto). No scissors. No glue. No fuss. Since I’m not publishing my private vision board, I don’t worry about copyright ownership with these photos.

Here are the steps I take in creating my annual vision board. There are just a few:

• Figure out my goals (up to six, usually)
• Think of search terms for an image that would represent each goal
• Find an image for each goal, using Google Images or Flickr
• Open Comic Life and select a page template
• Drag the image into the template, one per pane
• Save the file and either display it on my computer (it would make a great screen saver) or print it and post it on my bulletin board

This takes me very little time and I’m delighted to say that many years I actually achieve many of the goals on my vision board!

Got cabin fever?

11 December 2014

A winter storm has hit both coasts of the US, bringing rain, snow, and generally unpleasant weather to much of the nation. If you find yourself trapped inside by the weather, here are some organizing tasks you can accomplish. (I published a similar list in a February 2010 post called snowed in?)

Clean out a junk drawer. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with a junk drawer. But if yours has become hard to open and close, now’s your chance to clean it out. Empty it, weed out the inevitable trash, sort the contents and put them back in the drawer, with like things together. Linus drawer dividers from The Container Store.

Work on your holiday cards. Now’s the perfect time to buy some holiday cards and sending them to your friends. Why not let it be easy?

Take a look around your bathtub. Are there abandoned shampoo bottles, slivers of soap, old disposable razors or any other items that you don’t use regularly littering the edge of the tub or the shower caddy? Take a couple of minutes and spruce up that spot.

Clean out a bookshelf. If you have a difficult time putting away books because your shelves are crammed (or if you have to store some books on the floor, or sideways atop the other books), take 15 or 30 minutes and weed out a bookshelf or two. You can sell your unwanted books to a used book store, on Craigslist or to
Powell’s Books (like I do). The result? A tidier bookshelf and perhaps some money in your pocket.

Pick up your pet area. If you have pets, you probably have an area where you feed them that perhaps is a little messy with dropped bits of kibble or what have you. You may have a tangle of leashes stashed somewhere. And, if you’re like me, your pets might have scattered their toys around. Take a few minutes to pick up after your pets. It won’t last forever, but it’ll be nice while it lasts!

Just taking a little time to do something productive might help make it easier for you to relax during your weather-related confinement. You’ll get to enjoy the fruits of your labor while feeling justified in wrapping yourself in a cozy blanket and waiting out the storm.

My 1000th blog post

9 December 2014

Today is a big day. I’m posting my 1000th post on this blog! I find it a little hard to believe. I’ve been blogging just over eight years, which averages to about 2.5 blog posts a week. Right now, I’m blogging twice a week, so it looks like I’m right on track!

I love my blog. I’ve really enjoyed viewing life as a blogger, where every life experience becomes a blog opportunity. I like that my clients can get to know me better via my blog and that I can easily share my lessons as I learn them.

I so appreciate my readers and I hope that you benefit from reading this blog. I have no intention of stopping, so please keep reading!

Photo by Andres Nietto Porras via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License