Peace of Mind Organizing

Past, present and future

7 January 2010

I was re-reading Judith Kolberg’s excellent book, Conquering Chronic Disorganization, recently and was struck by one of her concepts. (One of the things I love about this book is that new things jump out at me each time I read it.)

Kolberg writes about applying the concept of “Past, Present and Future” when sorting belongings. This can be very macro — you can designate a room, say the extra bedroom, to represent the past. When sorting, you stash all the things that represent the past (old bills, trophies, memorabilia, old tax papers, etc.) into that room. Same goes for present (stuff you’re using now) and future (stuff you might need later). Once that gross sort is done, you have a sense of how much stuff you’re hanging onto because of memories and how much stuff you’re keeping because you might use it some day.

My favorite application of this concept is on a smaller level. I think it applies perfectly to paper. When I’m sorting paper with a client, I sometimes encourage them to think in terms of past, present and future.

Past papers are those we hang onto for archival purposes only. They can be stored in a filing cabinet and don’t have to be very close at hand.

Present papers are those involving current projects. I keep my present papers in an Elfa rolling file cart under my desk, because I want them within arms’ reach. When the project is finished, if I need to hold onto the papers they go in the archives (in other words, they become past papers).

Future papers are those you’re keeping handy for future activity. Examples include invitations and coupons you can’t use now but might use later. Receipts that are waiting to be input would be future papers. (After entering, they become past papers, if you need to hang onto them.) I store my receipts waiting for entry near my computer. And my coupons and invitations in a designated spot near the door.

What I like about this is that it can allow you to do a very gross sort, into just three categories. Then you can prioritize going through them. This gets you thinking about what you’re hanging onto and why. And it also gives you a clue about where these papers need to be stored.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by paper, you might want to give it a try!

Elfa sale!

4 January 2010

The Container Store is having its annual sale on Efla shelving, drawers and other products. Through February 15, 2010, you receive 30 percent off of Elfa products and installation.

I love Elfa. My yarn stash is organized in a bank of Elfa drawers. The files I like to have close at hand are stored in an Elfa file cart which right now is a bargain at $69.30. It’s well made, on wheels, and is deep enough to hold a substantial number of files. It fits nicely under my desk.

I don’t have an Elfa closet system, but I wish I did!

If you’ve been thinking about using Elfa, now’s a good time to buy. Customer service at the Container Store is excellent. Give them your measurements, and they’ll give you free closet design.

Highlight reel for 2009

31 December 2009

2009 was a year of ups and downs for me. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. As I finish inputting data into Quickbooks for the year, I realize that my revenue is down, which isn’t great. I’m chalking it up to the economy. But so many really great things happened in 2009 that I view it as a year of success and progress.

Here are some of the highlights of 2009 for me:

Going to Australia and speaking at the AAPO conference. My brother has lived in Australia for 18 years and I’d never visited. It took the promise of meeting some fantastic organizers to get me there. I had such a great time meeting the enthusiastic Aussie and Kiwi organisers. Having such a great reception for my talk on harnessing the power of the internet was the icing on the cake. And it was absolutely wonderful to spend time with my brother and his family in their natural habitat. I can’t wait to go back.

Starting the Declutter Happy Hour e-course. I’ve been wanting to develop some kind of product to help people who live outside of St. Louis. So I partnered with life coach Shannon Wilkinson to create what I think is a really unique product that combines organizing expertise with the power of hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming (NLP). It started out as a teleclass and then became a 28-day e-course. I hope it’s the first of many products I develop. Working with Shannon has been an absolute treat.

Getting my CPO-CD® credential. I’m really proud of the work I put into becoming a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization® and the learning and knowledge it represents. The highlight isn’t just passing my peer review and receiving the credential. Experiencing the mentoring from the fabulous Margaret Pearson-Pinkham, CPO-CD® and completing the written and oral assignments were richly rewarding.

Working with professional organizers in my own home. As I mentioned Tuesday’s post some of my favorite blog posts of the year were about how I worked with professional organizers Karel Worley and Aby Garvey in my own home. Talk about fun! And I’m still reaping the benefits. The NSGCD requires people in its Level III certification program to hire a professional organizer. It’s a brilliant idea. I can’t wait to do more in 2010.

Doing more public speaking. In 2009, I spoke to eleven groups (including being on an NSGCD panel), the most I’ve ever done in a year. Each time I do it, I get more comfortable and enjoy it more. I hope to do more speaking in 2010. (If you have a group who could use a speaker on organizing, check out my Speaking page.)

Getting some fantastic, regular accountability. This year I started accountability sessions every two weeks with Margaret Lukens a professional organizer in the San Francisco area whom I’ve long admired. On some occasions, we’re joined by the inspiring Wendy Davie of New Zealand. Having that kind of accountability—and having the ability to seek advice from these great pros—is an incredible opportunity.

Getting more involved with NAPO. I’ve been very involved with my national association on the local level, being a founding board member of NAPO St. Louis (and president for the last two years). But this year, I became more involved on the national level, joining, and eventually chairing, the Quick Poll Committee, serving on the national Nominating Committee to select candidates for national office, and helping test the new NAPO website, prior to its premier this summer. It’s great to be able to give back to an organization that’s done so much for me and my business.

Working with wonderful clients. That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Being able to help people change their surroundings and habits, and, by extension, their lives. I specialize in working with chronically disorganized clients and the work we do together can be transformative. There’s nothing better than that. The new service packages that I debuted on December 1 this year will help me help clients even more.

Inbox zero, baby

30 December 2009

As I mentioned in my blog post called email liberation, I embarked in 2009 on a goal of having fewer than 15 messages left in my email inbox at the end of each work day. It’s worked out very well.

On Monday, I managed to get my inbox down to zero messages. And it feels so good.

The trick was to actually make some decisions and take action on a few of the lingering messages. A day and a half later and I’m still at zero. Now, I realize it’s a slow holiday week and I’ve been at my desk most of the time, so it’s been easy to keep on top of. But now that I’m here, I hope I can stay here for awhile.

My favorite blog posts of 2009

29 December 2009

I wrote just over 150 blog posts in 2009. Last week, I revisited them and picked out some of my favorites to share with you in this post. The first go-around, I selected 24. But I figure that’s more than you care to see in one post. So I’ve cut that number in half.

I’ve loosely organized them into four sections: insights on organizing, my work with other POs, decluttering a little at a time, and personal posts. Here we go.

Insights on organizing

These posts explored some of my thoughts about clutter.

Question your beliefs. In this post, I explored the beliefs we sometimes hold that keep us from letting go of items.

Standards of clutter. What you might consider cluttered might look just fine to me. Clutter is in the eye of the beholder.

My work with other POs

I had occasion to work with two different professional organizers in 2009. It was fantastic. Not only did it put me in the shoes of my clients, it made me appreciate even more the value that POs bring.

My adventure with a professional organizer. Last summer, I worked with PO Karel Worley to declutter my basement. She turned a daunting process into a breeze.

I’m officially hooked on working with POs. Later that summer, Aby Garvey came to my home and helped me create order out of my cluttered pantry.

Organizing food-storage containers. In a second post about my work with Aby in my pantry, I describe how she rocked my world by revamping how I store my food-storage containers.

Decluttering a little at a time

In 2009, prompted in part by the Declutter Happy Hour telecourse and e-course I created with life coach Shannon Wilkinson, I went on a spree of 15- and 30-minute decluttering sessions. These posts show some before-and-after pictures, proving you really can get a lot done in a short period of time.

The power of 15 minutes. I tackled the area of my living room where I knit. Why do I let it get so messy when it’s so easy to clean up?

It’s amazing what you can do in a half hour. I can’t believe I published a before picture of the area of my office near my shredder. It had just gotten out of control!

Another 30-minute miracle. Miracle is overstating it. But these photos show you can go from disordered to orderly mighty quickly with a little focused effort.

Personal posts

In my blog, I don’t hesitate to expose my personal foibles. These are four of my favorite blogs posts I wrote about myself this year.

On being early. I’m punctuality challenged. Being in a hurry caused me to make what could have been a very costly (even deadly) mistake. I vow to give myself the gift of being early.

We all have fear. A simple ski-lift ride (on a gentle slope) makes me tremble in my boots and reflect on the power that fear has over our behavior.

Why training and credentials matter. I received a big credential in 2009 and in this blog post I talk about what it took and why I think it’s a good idea to use a PO who has invested in training and credentials.

The novel writing proceeds. In November, I wrote a novel in 27 days, just for the challenge of it. In this post, I reflect on how I was able to do that and how it can relate to tackling any kind of challenge (including decluttering).

I hope you enjoy these posts. The archives have lots of hidden treasures in them. I hope you’ll take some time to click around and find some. The tags in the left-hand column can be a great way to do that.

A side benefit to being a blogger

28 December 2009

I just got finished reading through my blog posts for 2009, in an effort to put together a post about my favorite blog posts of the year. (That’ll come later in the week.)

It was a surprisingly enjoyable exercise. There were plenty of posts I didn’t remember writing. I had fun being reminded about certain events. I got to correct typos. I even had some pleasant surprises, like when I came across some especially cogent points I’d made or some turns of phrase that I really liked.

I loved looking at some of the pictures I’d posted. For example, this picture of my cat, Joe, impeding my progress makes me smile. It’s from my August 18 post, My role model in persistence.

It's hard to type when Joe does this.

I was surprised to see that I’d written two different posts about why I love Twitter. When I wrote most recent one, on November 16, I had no recollection of the one I wrote on April 24. And the great thing was that they were nearly identical. My reasons for loving Twitter haven’t changed. Hey, at least I’m consistent.

I just re-read the post I wrote on December 31, 2008, called The glass is half full about how the economic downturn, which had a negative effect on my revenue, had a surprising upside. Technically, I can’t include that in my list of favorite blog posts of 2009, so I’m wanting to give that post a shout out today.

Enjoy this last week of the year! For me, it’s about looking back and looking forward. About setting goals and tying up loose ends. I hope you enjoy it as much as I plant to.

Great Christmas recycling tip

23 December 2009

I subscribe to the Weekly Quick Tip that organizer Aby Garvey sends out every week. Yesterday’s was fantastic. She said it came to her from a participant in one of her online workshops.

Here it is, and I quote:

When you’re unwrapping holiday gifts set aside the gift wrap to run through your paper shredder. Use the shreds to safely pack up your holiday decorations or as beautiful cushioning material for any packages you send throughout the year.

How great is that?

You can sign up to receive Aby’s tips every week. They’re a quick read and they pack a punch.