Peace of Mind Organizing

Corralling the cords

25 February 2013

Cords. They have been the bane of my organizational existence for quite some time. They’re a necessary evil, but they can be so unsightly.

A couple of years ago, I blogged about using the CableBox from BlueLounge to improve the cord mess in a certain part of my office.

It’s the cords that lead to my desk that have been making me nuts lately.

Here’s the lay of the land: I use a MacBook Pro, which sits to the side of my desk on a little desktop writing desk. I have an external monitor, which is connected via HDMI cable and an ugly mini-display-port-to-HDMI adapter. Also connected to the laptop are the power cord, an external hard drive and, on occasion, a scanner. At least several times a week I disconnect everything and use the MacBook Pro elsewhere. I have an external keyboard and mouse, but they are wireless.

On my desk, I also have a network router to which a printer and a device for our home security system are attached.

I recently took a photo to share with Jen Hofmann at the beginning of our work together in her Workspace and Studio Redesign program. It shows how ugly things were looking.

The desk and its cords were crowded and messy.

Then I got rid of extraneous stuff on my desk, which really simplified things. And this morning, I started realizing that many of the cords I had around were obsolete. The phone cords for my landline. A power cord for a stereo system I used to play my iPod on. A random component cable. Those were on the floor near the surge protector. It felt good to get rid of them.

So I’m feeling better about my cords. Here’s an after shot. It’s not amazing, but it’s an improvement.

The cords are more under control.

I wanted to show you some of the individual solutions that are working for me:

• I affixed this cord organizer from Rolodex (which they don’t appear to sell any more, but here’s one on eBay) to the edge of the desk, so that when I unplug my computer, the cords don’t fall to the ground.

• I like to keep an iPhone USB cord handy, but I don’t need it plugged in all the time. So I used a little felted bowl I knit to hold it, along with a couple of those power block adapters Apple provides to you don’t have to take a super-long cord when you travel.

• The BlueLounge CableBox on my desk streamlines the cords that need to pass through from devices to my computer.

• My scanner’s cord is much longer than I need, so I used this CableClip to bundle it so it can rest out of sight behind the scanner.

Other strategies I use that don’t photograph so well:

• I have a channel attached to the underside of my desk that keeps the power cord for my computer, which is connected at the floor, from dangling. I got that at IKEA (where I also got my desk) many years ago.

• I used a binder clip to gather up my monitor’s HDMI cable (you can see it in the second picture above), but I realized this morning, that I should just buy a shorter HDMI cable. So I invested that $7 at Amazon this morning.

All in all, this combination of cord accessories plus minimizing the cords makes me feel like things are a little more under control. And I haven’t felt that way about my cords and cables in, well, ever!

I love Leonard Cooper, the Jeopardy teen tournament champ

22 February 2013

My husband and I watch Jeopardy! every night, but we’re a little behind in watching our recordings. Wednesday night, we watched the finale of the teen tournament. We were rooting for Leonard Cooper, the cool, smart kid from Arkansas with the awesome Afro.

(I love that his name is like an amalgam of Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.)

The teen tournament has a two-part final with the scores from both episodes combined to determine the first, second and third place winners. The winner receives $75,000. Leonard did poorly in Final Jeopardy on the first night, so he had only $3,000 coming into the second night. By contrast, the leader had $19,000 and the second-place contestant, $17,600. So the odds were stacked against Leonard.

In among the boldest and most impressive playing this Jeopardy fan has ever seen, Leonard had an amazing come-from-behind win. He may be my favorite contestant ever.

Watch this little montage to see what I mean.

Here’s a great interview with him. He’s going to be a great doctor.

I’ll get back to writing about organizing next week.

I'm (finally) on the Pinterest bandwagon

20 February 2013

I have to admit, I’ve been a little slow to the game with Pinterest, the online pinboard social media site that’s swept the nation. Lots of my friends have been loving it for years, but in the past, I’d go to the site and scratch my head trying to figure out how it could be useful to me.

I recognize that it might have social-media value, in terms of upping my visibility on the internet or drawing people to my website. I even have a Pin something on Pinterest square on my Bingo board . (That made my friend, Aby, an expert-level Pinterest user, laugh.)

This year, I finally get it. In the past month, I’ve been using Pinterest for three different projects, and I’ve been benefitting from a friend using it:

• I’m giving a talk on March 23 on basements and garages and using Pinterest to gather together my basement-and-garage organization suggestions. I’ll share that board with the audience members.

• I helped a client find solutions for adding a shower to her claw-footed tub and Pinterest was the perfect way to gather ideas. Once I settled on a kit to order, I had the webpage for that particular product instantly available.

• I’m working with Jen Hofmann of Inspired Home Office on revamping my work space. Rather than creating a collage to identify and share with her my aesthetic preferences, I created a home offices pinboard on Pinterest. So much easier and enjoyable (for me) than glue and scissors!

In addition, my friend Geralin Thomas, who does wardrobe consulting, has created a pinboard just for me. She adds outfits she thinks would look good on me. I can just pull it up on my phone when I’m shopping. It’s heaven!

Now that I’ve gotten over whatever barrier was making me resist Pinterest, the possibilities are opening up. I can see using it to:

• Find client-specific organizing solutions online and share it with the client
• Replace bookmarks for many websites
• Share something from my blog
• Gather knitting project ideas
• Keep track of book recommendations
• Plan a vacation

If you’re on Pinterest, my name there is simply Janine Adams. Feel free to follow my boards!

Eliminating the extraneous

18 February 2013

I recently signed up for the fabulous Workspace and Studio Redesign program offered by Jen Hofmann of Inspired Home Office.

In the eight years since I last rearranged the furniture in my home office, I’ve spruced it up a couple of times (with the help of friends), but I’ve been feeling like I’d like to change it up a bit more. When I read about this program, I hopped on board.

Jen and I had our first session last week and she helped me realize that I have a lot of extraneous stuff in my office. While I had worked on clearing out and organizing the two closets in my office, I hadn’t done a thing about my desk, which was starting to close in on me. Stuff was there by default.

(Incidentally, I think one of the reasons I’ve been having trouble keeping up my clean desk habit is that so many things actually were residing on my desk that the clear space felt like it was shrinking.)

My assignment from Jen was to touch everything on my desk, as well as the stuff I can see while I’m working, and evaluate it based on the question, Does this represent who I am and where I’m going?

On Saturday, I got to work and it was absolutely liberating! I have a teak desk organizer that we bought in the early 90s. It’s been on various desks in the house, and on this desk in particular since at least 2001. I realized in talking with Jen that there were only about four things in it that I actually used on a regular basis.

So I took it off my desk. Now my desk contains only the essentials. I did keep a little decorative dish that contains sea glass I picked up on my trip to Barbados in November. And I added a felted-wool bowl I knit that at the moment contains my Valentine’s candy. Those two things make me happy.

Here’s a set of before and after photos.

Talk about more visual peace! As you can see, I also cleared off much of the stuff on the bulletin board above my desk, though I haven’t exactly artfully arranged it.

There will be more evolution (I have two more sessions with Jen), but I had just to share the progress I made in a just a couple of hours on Saturday.

It’s been amazingly easy to keep my desk clear since then. (I’m so motivated!) In the morning, my uncluttered desk greets me with open arms.

Pictures speak louder than words

15 February 2013

As I mentioned on Monday, our orange tabby cat, Joe, passed away a week ago. Friends have been asking us whether our standard poodle, Kirby, is missing his little buddy.

Perhaps.

But I can show you one thing he’s not missing: Joe The Intimidator’s practice of staring at Kirby in order to bully him out of his favorite chair on a nightly basis. I documented it a month or so ago.

Kirby's enjoying a nap in his favorite chair.

Joe makes his move

Joe is the victor.

The 60-pound weight difference didn’t matter to Kirby. Joe was someone to be respected. We miss you, Joe, but it’s nice to see Kirby enjoying his chair again.

Come see me live and in person (or on the phone)!

13 February 2013

There must be something in the air. In the four weeks between February 28 and March 28 I have five speaking engagements. You can read all about them on the Events page of this website.

If you live in St. Louis, you can come see me at the following venues on the following topics:

• “Clear the Clutter and Create the Closet You Crave,” The Resale Shop, February 28, 5 to 7 pm (It’s also a shopping event—my talk is just 15 minutes or so.)

• “Letting Go of the Tough Stuff,” Thomas Dunn Memorials Adult Education Program, March 6, 10 to 11:30 am

• “Declutter and Organize Your Home,” St. Louis Public Library central branch, March 21, 7 to 8 pm

• “Tackle the Clutter and Organize Your Basement and Garage,” March 23, 9 am to 12 noon (part of the Get Organized St. Louis Expo—my talk will be an hour)

The fifth event is over the telephone, so you attend whether or not you’re in St. Louis:

• “Stress-free Habits + Rewarding Routines,” March 28, 1 to 2 pm central time (it’s part of the Thrive2013 teleconference series)

Again, visit the events page to learn more. In some cases, reservations are required.

I hope to see you at one of the events!

A tribute to Joe

11 February 2013

My orange tabby cat, Joe, died on Friday. I know that when we bring pets into our lives part of the bargain is that they’ll probably die before us. And it will feel way too soon. But that knowledge doesn’t make losing them any easier.

Joe’s death was sudden. He died in the hospital, two days after being admitted, while we were still trying to figure out just what was wrong with him and how to treat it. He was a very sick cat (lymphoma is suspected), but we didn’t realize he wasn’t feeling well until about three weeks before he died.

Joe, awakened from a catnap

Today I want to post a little tribute to Joe and honor him. We got him in 2002 after I’d signed a contract to write a book about cats, called How To Say It to Your Cat. I didn’t feel authentic writing about cats when I hadn’t lived with one since I was a kid. I had to persuade my husband, Barry, who protested that the book would be finished in six months and the cat would live for 20 years. (Alas, he only lived ten.)

So Barry became a reluctant cat owner. And before too long, he and Joe were devoted to one another.

I don’t know how such a small animal can:

• be so annoying
• shed so much hair
• leave such a giant hole in my heart

Like most cats, Joe lived life on his own terms. When he wanted attention from us, no matter what we might have been in the midst of doing, he got it. Barry and I both work from home and Joe didn’t care if one of us was intently working on something. If he wanted lap time, he hopped in our laps. In my case, he liked lying on my desk, often on my keyboard, or standing between me and my monitor.

He inspired a couple of blog posts. I blogged about his being my role model in persistence and about how he hampered my productivity.

It's hard to type when Joe does this.

One time, shortly after we got him, back when I made my living as a pet writer, Joe walked across my keyboard and in doing so selected everything in the Word document I was working on and replaced it with the word “hi.” That’s how clever he was. And, no, I’m not making that up.

Now that he’s gone, we don’t have to worry as much about keeping doors closed. We were able to take coverings off furniture (an attempt to keep all the furniture from being covered in cat hair). We can have cut flowers. (Joe enjoyed knocking over vases and eating flowers.) I can wear cashmere sweaters without worrying he’ll snag them.

But of course I’d trade those conveniences for having his warm little body curled up on my lap. I’d love to be able to look in his eyes and see his devotion. I’d even like to take a long sniff of cat breath.

Rest in peace, sweet Joe. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our family. We’ll never forget you.