Peace of Mind Organizing

Change can be good

23 September 2013

Last week, Apple issued a new operating system for its mobile devices, iOS 7. I saw online that it was a huge redesign. At first I balked at updating. (I tend to be slow to do that anyway; I like to wait for the bugs to get worked out.) I wondered why they’d make such a drastic change. The old design—unchanged since the original iPhone—was clearly a winner. I was used to it. It worked well. I had no complaints.

I resisted making the change; I wasn’t interested in going through a learning curve that might make it temporarily more difficult to use my iPhone.

Then I started hearing good things. And I had a chance to get a taste of the new iOS on my friend’s iPhone. So I went ahead an updated.

It might sound strange, but (so far, anyway), the iOS 7 makes me really happy. It’s actually brought joy into my life. I love the lighter look. I love the improved functionality. (So much more weather info available at a glance, for example!) I love the anticipation of noticing new and wonderful things.

Thinking about the experience of upgrading my iPhone’s operating system makes me realize how limiting it is when I’m reluctant to make changes. Things are going great with my business (and my life, really), so my tendency is to leave things alone. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

But maybe I should take (yet another) clue from Apple and consider beneficial changes that could help things go from great to amazing. If Apple is willing to change up something wildly successful, and in the process improve it, why shouldn’t I?

Slow down

20 September 2013

Today I had occasion to choose a card at random from a deck of Pause cards. Created by a Inspired Mastery, a coaching company, each Pause Card in the deck has a potent message for the mindful leader.

This was my card.

I love this message. Five years ago, I wrote a blog post called S-L-O-W down about the importance of mindful living.

I love the message of this card. To me, it’s about looking before you leap and carefully considering before acting.

Have you ever rushed into something and wished that you’d slowed down?

Worth repeating: Life without cable TV

18 September 2013

Almost two years ago, I wrote this post about giving up cable TV. I’ve since written two updates: Update on the cable-free life and A year without cable TV, but I think this post was the most informative of them. I’m an avid TV watcher and don’t miss cable a bit. Between the shows I can watch on my Roku, the Tivo I ended up buying which records broadcast shows for me, and shows I can catch online, I have more than enough to watch. And I’m so delighted not to pay for cable TV!

I’m a huge fan of quality television. I watch a lot of TV and always have. I think it’s one reason I love knitting so much. I can knit while watching TV and feel productive. (And I find the combo really relaxing and fun.)

About two months ago, we canceled our cable TV. I never would have guessed that I would do that. We’ve always subscribed to all the premium channels and it’s hard for me to imagine I’d do without. But here I am, cable-free. Why did my husband and I cut the cord?

• Charter jacked up our bill (again) and they were going to have us pay $135 a month for television alone (we’re satisfied getting our landlines and DSL through AT&T).

• It’s no longer necessary to have cable or a satellite dish to have ample access to quality television.

I’m watching as much TV as ever. But now the internet is my TV provider. We replaced the cable box with a little Roku box, which allows us to easily access streaming video from Hulu Plus and Netflix, as well as Amazon Instant Video. We paid $99 for the Roku box and we pay $7.99 a month each for the Hulu Plus and Netflix Watch Instantly (we were already paying $7.99 a month for Netflix before we cut out cable) and we pay $79.00 a year for Amazon Prime, which, among other benefits, allows us to stream certain content free of charge.

We can watch web-only content (like CBS shows) by hooking up a laptop to the TV. We spent $30 on an HDMI adapter to allow us to do that.

We can also watch live programming on the five major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS) over the air, free of charge. (We bought an indoor antenna to make that happen.)

So let’s add it up:

$7.99 a month for Hulu Plus
$7.99 a month for Netflix (which we were paying anyway)
$6.58 a month for Amazon Prime (and we also get free second-day shipping and Kindle book sharing)

That’s a total of $22.56 a month. Plus there were the one-time charges:

$99 for the Roku box
$30 for the laptop adapter
$50 for the indoor antenna

That’s $179 in up-front, one-time costs.

In the first year, counting those one-time expenses, we will have spent just under $450 on television viewing. If we’d stuck with Charter, that same year would have cost us $1,715 (counting the Netflix we were already paying for). A savings of 75 percent! Not counting the one-time charges, the savings is 85 percent.

That’s huge. And I’m never short of things to watch, because I’m the kind of gal who loves to watch multiple episodes of a TV series in a row. So right now I’m alternating between Parenthood and Sports Night. (Love that Peter Krause!)

I’ll occasionally pay for episodes of certain shows, via Amazon or iTunes, I expect. But that’s okay when I compare it with the money we’re saving.

The one thing I miss is a DVR for the live programming. If I had it to do over again, I might consider spending $99 on a Tivo, rather than Roku, which I now know offers the same streaming services, plus it’s a DVR. But I’d have to pay $20 a month for the DVR service. I’m looking into ways to make the laptop we have connected to the TV serve as a DVR.

Going without cable has been surprisingly pain-free. And I know we’re going to enjoy the savings!

Chipping away at a project

16 September 2013

Sometimes projects, big or small, feel too overwhelming to even start. Sometimes tasks are ongoing or recurring and we have a tendency to let them build up before starting to tackle them.

For either of those types of projects, one solution is to do a little. Just do something. Because a little effort on a regular basis will get the job done, eventually.

I’m experiencing that right now when it comes to getting caught up with my Quickbooks bookkeeping for my business. In the past, I’ve let it build up and tackled months’ worth at a time. I’m happy to say that that’s not been the case this year, but I still struggle to stay caught up with it. As of this afternoon, I was about three weeks behind and, despite some dueling priorities, I decided I had to get at least some done. So I’ve been working on it for the last hour or so and by the time I quit for the night, I’ll at least be caught up with August and I’ll have entered all September deposits and checks. That’s my vow to myself. Knowing I don’t have to do it all in one session allowed me to get started.

I received an email over the weekend from a woman who had attended a talk I gave this summer. In that talk, I encouraged people to just spend 15 minutes a day on organizing or decluttering. Much like my bookkeeping, I urged them to just do something even if the job wasn’t finished.

This woman was kind enough to share with me that she took my advice to heart and 15 minutes at a time, tackled 12 years’ worth of accumulated financial papers. These were papers she hadn’t been able to face after her husband died. Now they’re processed and, as necessary, shredded.

This was a task that was completely overwhelming and emotionally difficult for her. 15 minutes at a time (sometimes 30), she got it done.

So there you have it. Whether you’re looking at overwhelming backlog or just keeping on top of a task (like data entry or laundry) so that it doesn’t get overwhelming, you can chip away at it, doing a little bit at a time, can make it much easier.

Need a reason to declutter? Do it for your pets

11 September 2013

Many of my clients are animal lovers. I’m an animal lover too. I even made my living as a pet writer before becoming an organizer. Perhaps I attract animal lovers.

I’ve never worked with animal hoarders (nor do I aspire to), but I’ve worked in severely cluttered homes that were also home to a few animals. I’m always amazed at how the animals maneuver around the clutter.

For some high-energy dogs or cats, a cluttered environment might feel like a fun playground or obstacle course. But I believe that most animals enjoy an orderly just like many humans do. They want wide open spaces in which to rest and play. They want to be able to get around easily.

This was brought home to me recently when my team worked on decluttering the crowded living space of a home occupied by one human and one young cat. As soon as we would clear a space (the top of the dining room table, for instance), he’d jump right up. Every time I turned around, it seemed the kitty had found a new spot in which to rest.

My favorite such moment was when I looked up and there he was in a china cabinet drawer that had just been emptied:

A little later, my heart sang when he started batting his toy around the newly clear living room floor.

If you’re looking for a reason to declutter your home, do it for your pets. I’m confident they’ll be happier and more comfortable.

Worth repeating: My adventure with a professional organizer

6 September 2013

Back in 2009, as a requirement for the CPO-CD® program, I hired a professional organizer to help me in my home. It was a great experience and I blogged about it at the time. The post is still true (and, I think, interesting). I really loved being in the client’s shoes, and, four years later, I still reflect on that experience when I’m working with clients.

As I blogged about the other day, I hired professional organizer Karel Worley of Clearing Your Path, to come to my house and help my husband, Barry, and me declutter our basement.

We had four hours to spend on it yesterday. Barry was sure that wouldn’t be enough. In that time, we finished the decluttering, though Karel’s going to come back and help me put up some shelving and organize what’s left.

It was tremendous! First, a little background: we have a scary, yucky basement (as you’ll see in the photos below) and lots of room down there. We had a tendency to just dump stuff in the basement, rather than making a decision to get rid of it or store it properly. We also had stuff in the basement that was there when we bought the house in 1992. And, I think, some stuff that tenants put there when we were living in New York from 1997 to 2001.

So there was a lot to get rid of. And a lot of stuff that I feel Barry had resisted letting go of in the past. Okay, me too.

I’m here to tell you, there’s something about working with a professional organizer that shifts the way you think about stuff. Barry was letting things go with abandon. It was wonderful. I let go of some big stuff, like the two file boxes full of files containing background material for each of the articles and books I’d written in the past when I was a freelance writer. It was absolutely liberating.

Here are a few of the benefits that I observed of working this with Karel versus trying to clean out the basment without her help:

• She kept the momentum going. Karel wasn’t still for a moment. When she wasn’t assisting us specifically, she’d work on her own to declutter obvious trash and organize what was left behind.

• She kept us focused. Knowing she was there for a set period of time, for example, stopped me from spending much time going through the box of photos I found from college and my 20s. I look forward to going through them later, though!

• She offered advice on what was appropriate for donation or sale (and what wasn’t), which was so helpful. I kept second guessing myself on that, though I usually have no trouble advising clients about that.

• She asked some powerful questions to guide my decisions about keeping or letting go of some more difficult items.

In addition, I noticed some things about myself, which really helped put me in my clients’ shoes. There were a few items, not sentimental items, but more like office supplies that I’d used in the past or might want to use again (or perhaps give to clients), that I’m sure I would have rooted for a client to get rid of. But when Karel asked me the same questions I’d ask a client, I resisted letting the stuff go. And mostly I kept it. But I kept so little, I’ll be able to organize and store it sensibly.

Also, I experienced something that I’d seen in clients, but never really understood. I had a couple of items that I didn’t want, but I didn’t want to donate them. Instead, I wanted to give them to someone I know. (I don’t have anyone in mind at the moment.) In other words, I wanted to be able to offer them to someone specific, not just give them to an anonymous person who could use them. In the past, when clients would express this, I didn’t really get it. Now I do.

I’m absolutely amazed we got as much done as we did in just four hours. and I know you’re dying to see before-and-after pictures. So here you go:

The stuff that’s not being recycled, donated, or shredded is being hauled away. (I’m planning to use NAPO St. Louis associate member, Junkman4Hire.com.)

Thank you, Karel, for your help. It was a wonderful experience!!

Decluttering my keys

2 September 2013

I’m a big believer in having one place where the keys are placed when coming in the door. In our house, it’s been a coated-wire basket just inside the back door, where we enter from the garage. We now automatically drop our keys right in the basket.

The trouble was every key we owned was in that basket, so in order to find the keys I needed on a daily basis, I was having to do a little searching. After a few months of telling myself I needed to do something about it, I finally did.

I thought maybe key hooks would be a good idea for our most frequently used keys, but my husband really likes the ease of just dropping the keys in a container. And who am I to argue with ease?

So here’s how it went, step by step. I was a little surprised that it ended up taking two full hours, but it was time well spent.

Here’s how the key basket looked at the beginning of the two hours:

Step One: Empty the container and sort

I emptied the basket and sorting the keys by category. (I discovered lots of non-key items in the key basket as well.) Here’s a photo of the contents of that basket, spread out on my kitchen counter:

There were five categories of keys:

• House keys (a full set for each of us)
• House keys (a subset, for dog walking)
• Car keys (two cars, each with two keys)
• Keys to friends’ homes
• Keys to a work locations
• Untagged mystery keys

Step Two: Solve some mysteries

I took the mystery keys and tried them on our doors. We have a two-family house, but we live in the whole thing. That means we have two front doors and two back doors. And one of our front doors has two locks, though we only use one of them.

In that process, I was able to identify seven previously unidentified keys to our house:

Step Three: Label the keys

I got out my label maker and created labels for all the keys to our friends’ homes and work locations and for the newly identified keys. I didn’t bother to label the keys that are on our daily key rings; we know them by sight.

Step Four: Organize the keys in a new container

Barry and I agreed that the wire basket wasn’t great because keys would sometimes get caught in the holes. So I replaced it with a clear plastic drawer organizer I had on hand. Since one of the problems had been that it was hard to find the keys we needed among the many keys in the basket, I decided to place only the first three categories of keys in this new container. (Main key rings, dog-walkings, car keys.)

I put the labeled friends’ keys on a carabiner and the extra keys for our doors on a binder ring. I placed those two bundles in a basket that sits on the shelf next to the key basket. (That basket also holds eye glasses and cases.)

Step Five: Organize a few non-key items in the container

There were a few items in the old key basket that we like to have close at hand when we’re walking out the door. They include lip balm, lactase enzyme tablets and a little magnifier/flashlight that makes menu reading easier, and a small flashlight for nighttime dog walking. So I took a smaller drawer organizer and put into the larger one to isolate most of those items, so they’re not in the way.

Overall, I’m really pleased with how this worked out. It’s not perfectly organized by any stretch of the imagination. But it is organized enough: The keys we need most often are easier to grab and it will be as easy as ever to put them away. Now we can easily identify our friends’ keys when we need them. And if we need an extra set of our own to give someone, they’ll be easy to find.

(I bet you’re wondering what we did with the keys we couldn’t identify. The organizer in me wanted to get rid of them, but my husband was more comfortable keeping them. I put them in a zip-top bag marked “These keys are not for our house” and put them in a drawer in our extra kitchen where I would know to look for them if we were ever looking for keys that someone said they had given us.)