Peace of Mind Organizing

Adapting to the new normal

13 August 2012

I wrote this blog post last week, when the temperatures in St. Louis were still blazing. Thankfully, things have cooled down a bit (the high today is only supposed to be 84!), but I think my thoughts remain valid. And I’m pretty sure we’ll see some pretty hot temps in August!

It’s amazing what adaptable creatures humans are. When circumstances change, we change our standards.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’ve had a very hot summer in St. Louis. It’s all anyone seems to talk about. Before the end of July, we’d already had 11 days where the temperature reached 105 or above. This is not the desert; these temperatures are crazy.

In the past, when we’ve had heat waves, they’ve been short-lived. So we would accept them as temporary (if miserable) anomalies. This year, week after week we’ve had triple digit temperatures. And we’re adapting.

My dog isn’t getting late-afternoon walks any more (it’s just too hot). He’s adapting. We’re adapting to the fact that our electricity bills are going to be extra high. I stopped rescheduling appointments with a client who doesn’t have central air—if we wait for it to cool down, we’ll never get this work done. So we just work in the heat, drink lots of water, and sweat a lot.

Is all this adapting good? I think it is, as long as we don’t lose sight of what we want. In other words, we should try not to use the new normal as an excuse to stop doing beneficial things.

For example, if you have an exercise routine, like running, that might not be safe to do during a heat wave, find a way to exercise indoors, rather than giving it up completely. Or if the heat makes it impossible to do yard work, set the alarm clock a half hour early and do it before it gets insanely hot, rather than letting your yard turn into a weedy wasteland.

Of course, this applies to many other situations. If your mother moves in due to health concerns and you become a caregiver, you’ll adapt to an entirely new routine. But that doesn’t mean you should let go of doing beneficial things for yourself. If you take a job an hour away, you’ll be spending a lot more time in the car. But maybe you can adapt by listening to audio books and make the commute time beneficial.

Things change. We adapt. Just try to make adjusting to the new normal as beneficial as possible.

10 Best Organizing Sources list

10 August 2012

My esteemed colleague, Linda Samuels of Oh So Organized! and author of the book The Other Side of Organized: Finding the Balance Between Chaos and Organized” (which I reviewed here) has created a list of the 10 Best Sources for Organizing Help on her blog.

I am so honored to be included on this list, in the category Best Organizing Tips Blog. This is what she had to say about my blog, which made my heart sing:

My friend and colleague, Janine Adams is a wonderful writer and blogger with a fabulous sense of humor and style. Just visiting her blog leaves me feeling uplifted and calmer. She always has something interesting to say or share about organizing, products, and habit changing.

Be sure and check out the complete list. There are some great resources there and I’m honored that my blog is one of them.

On being an order catalyst

8 August 2012

One of the roles I frequently fill for my clients is what I like to call an “order catalyst.” They often find that they simply can’t do organizing tasks on their own. But when I’m there, sitting quietly, they can go about getting their organizing work accomplished, be it decluttering, sorting, or going through their task list.

I’m not the only one who does this. It’s something that many professional organizers (or even friends) do. In the study of chronic disorganization, the term used for this is body doubling. I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of that term. I don’t think it is very descriptive and I don’t think it conveys the real benefit of the work. That’s why I coined the term order catalyst.

It looks like an easy job. I’m with the client, sitting companionably, sometimes handing her items or working on a small task that will help achieve her goals. If an outside person were to come in, he or she might wonder how I was earning my fee.

But it’s not as easy as it looks. Once I recognize that this will be the purpose of the session (it’s rare that we schedule one of these sessions in advance), I must refrain from offering unsolicited advice. I resist the temptation to chat to fill the silence. I have to sit still, staying in one place (that alone is hard for certain people), so I’m not a distraction.

And I also have to turn off my inner critic who worries that the client might think I’m not doing anything or she’s not getting her money’s worth. I know that I’m offering a truly valuable service; I just sometimes worry that the client won’t recognize it. It’s not a particularly reasonable worry. The client happily hands over payment, sometimes adding, “I couldn’t do it without you.”

I love serving as an order catalyst. Sometimes it feels a little like I have a super power.

If you have difficulty getting organizing tasks done, despite your best intentions, you might consider enlisting the aid of an order catalyst. Hire a professional organizer. Or if that isn’t feasible, enlist the aid of a supportive, calm friend. Perhaps you’ll be able to return the favor. It can be amazingly powerful!

My new blogging schedule

7 August 2012

Since April 24, I’ve been blogging here five days a week. At that time, I made a 30-day commitment to blog daily. That was 105 days ago and haven’t missed a Monday through Friday post, except for Memorial Day.

In that time, I also started a new blog, Organize Your Family History, in which I’m writing about keeping focused and happy as I work on genealogy research. I made a commitment to post there about twice a week, though I don’t have it on a schedule.

I’m away visiting my parents this week and that’s given me the chance to think about my blogging schedule. And I’ve made a decision.

I will still blog five days a week. But instead of posting here on my organizing blog Monday through Friday, I will post here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and on my genealogy blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

It’s much easier for me to keep commitments when I make them public, thus this blog post. Check back tomorrow for an organizing-related blog. I did post to Organize Your Family History today, too. (Found my first immigrant ancestor!) Please check it out!

The value of saying no

6 August 2012

On her Facebook page my buddy Gerailn Thomas shared the following words of wisdom this past Friday:

It’s Okay to Say No

I immediately clicked “Share.” That concept is something I’ve been thinking about a lot for the last month. As of July 1, I’m doing very little volunteering for my professional associations. And the openness and freedom this has created has brought enormous peace of mind.

Since the beginning of 2006, I’d been an active volunteer for the National Association of Professional Organizers, serving on the board of directors of the St. Louis chapter, and serving as a volunteer on several national committees. For six straight years as a NAPO St. Louis board member, I attended monthly board meetings. I’ve missed only three or four meetings in all that time.

My board service ended May 15, as did a national committee chairmanship. That freed up a chunk of time.

I served on the national board of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization as its marketing director from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012. That was a huge investment of time. Huge. And when my term ended it opened up so much time on my calendar.

I love that spaciousness so much (I’m filling most of that time with my new passion, family history research) that I immediately started saying no. I’ve been asked to do several things by both NAPO St. Louis and ICD and my (very quick) answer is “No.” (In my head, sometimes, I’m saying “NO” or even “NO!!!”)

Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy I said yes to those commitments and never gave any thought to quitting early. I benefited enormously from the work and was also happy to contribute. But now that they’re over and some very able people are doing the work I used to do, I see the value in saying no.

For me, right now, here’s a short list of the benefits of turning down further volunteer opportunities:

• My time is my own
• I’m not under constant time pressure
• My to-do list is much shorter
• I get way less email (making my inbox zero habit easier)
• I’ve stopped worrying that I’m not doing enough

That last point is sort of ironic, since I’m doing very little. But I had a tendency to overcommit myself, so that none of the volunteer jobs got as much attention as they deserved. Or at least it felt that way.

My own commitments tended to be professional. Yours might be personal or kid-oriented. But if you’re feeling frazzled, maybe you should consider dropping some of your commitments or, at the very least, saying no to new ones.

I’m here to tell you it’s quite liberating!

App of the week: Maps

3 August 2012

I used to carry around a GPS. And I would always mute it, because I found the voice disruptive. Mostly I just wanted to know how long it was going to take me to get to my destination.

As soon as I got my iPhone, I kicked my Garmin to the curb. (Actually, I gave it to my husband.) I don’t need it any more. I have the Maps app.

This app, which uses Google maps, allows met to search for a location as though it were a google search or (as is more frequently the case) find an address in my contacts list. It instantly maps it and, if I want, gives me directions from my current location. It tells me how many miles away it is and how long it will take me to get there. It will show me traffic along the way, if that’s a concern.

As far as I know it doesn’t read turn by turn directions aloud, but, as I mentioned, that’s not an issue for me, since I always muted my Garmin.

It allows me to not only search nearby for a business (or category of businesses), but with a touch I can get reviews of those businesses.

Maps rocks.

Worth repeating: Working with a professional organizer

2 August 2012

A year ago (almost to the day), I posted a blog post aimed at helping those of you who might be interested in working with a professional organizer make the most out of the experience. I asked other professional organizers to comment, which made the post even more valuable. I wanted to make sure those who might benefit from it will see it, so I’m posting it again. To get the maximum benefit, go back to the original post and read those comments.

If you’re reading an organizing blog, chances are pretty good that you fall into one of three camps:

• You’re a professional organizer
• You’d like to work with a professional organizer
• You’re a fairly organized DIYer looking for ideas

This post is for those of you who fall into the second category. If you’d like to work with a professional organizer, I’d love to provide you with some advice to optimize that experience, should it come to pass.

Choosing an organizer

• Check out your choices thoroughly. You can find professional organizers at the website of National Association of Professional Organizers and the Institute for Challenging Disorganization. Choose some local organizers and read websites, look at testimonials and before and after pictures. Call any organizers you’re interested in who don’t have websites.
• Ask around. If you know folks who have worked with organizers, quiz them on their experience
• Know what you’re looking for. Do you want an organizer who tells you what to do (some people do)? Or one who involves you in the process of coming up with solutions?
• Trust your gut. If an organizer’s website or telephone manner resonates with you, that’s a good reason to pick her (or him).
• Don’t bargain shop. This is a field where fees are usually commensurate with training and experience. If you’re challenged by chronic disorganization, for example, you’d be wise to select an organizer with training and experience in working with chronically disorganized clients. And you may well pay more for that.

Working with an organizer

• Resist the temptation to clean up for your organizer. If your home is messy, you may feel embarrassed. Try to set that aside so that the organizer can see the natural state of your home in order to help you best. Mess and piles can provide clues.
• Be honest. Try not to anticipate what the organizer wants to hear. Instead, just answer all questions honestly, even if you’re a little embarrassed. Your organizer can help you best if you’re honest in everything you tell her.
• Be realistic. How long have you been dealing with disorder in your life? Probably quite some time. Unfortunately, organizers don’t have magic wands, so we can’t fix things instantly. Recognize that this is a process that might take awhile.
• Be prepared to learn new behaviors. If you’re dealing with a lot of clutter, the first step might be decluttering. But after that, you’re more than likely going to need to change your habits and create new routines to ensure that the clutter doesn’t come back. If you don’t change your behavior, the order that you and your organizer create might be temporary.
• Do your homework. If you and your organizer agree that you’ll do homework, try to accomplish it. If you don’t it’s usually not a big deal. But being honest and realistic about the prospect of what you can accomplish between appointments can help your organizer better plan the next session.
• Trust your gut (again). If you’re not clicking with your organizer, don’t be afraid to talk with her about it. This is intimate work and it’s essential that you have a trusting relationship and work well together. If you don’t feel it’s working with the organizer, perhaps the two of you can come up with a solution. If no solution is in sight, perhaps you can ask her for a referral.
• Keep your appointments. If you book an appointment with an organizer, try to keep that commitment. She’s set aside time for you and scheduled around that appointment. Last-minute cancellations can be costly for the organizer. And they’re costly for you, too, since you can’t get help if you don’t keep appointments.
• Expect backsliding. Most clients experience some backsliding, when life gets in the way and newly learned behaviors fall by the wayside. If you backslide, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed or your organizer isn’t effective. It just means you need to renew your efforts. Or perhaps tweak our systems.
• Be brave. It can be scary to let someone into your house for the first time in ages. It can also be scary to admit to your organizer that you haven’t done your homework or that you’ve not been able to maintain the order you created together. But organizers, by and large, are compassionate and non-judgmental people. Getting past the fear can help put you on the path to an orderly life.

When you hire a professional organizer, you’re making a time and financial commitment to getting organized. Often, you’re making an emotional commitment as well. That can be very powerful!

Do you have anything to add? I’d love to hear from POs or people who have worked with POs who would like to add to this list.