Peace of Mind Organizing

The Home Office Organizer: Blog of the Week

17 September 2008

On Wednesdays, I highlight a blog of the week, which is usually about organizing (though sometimes I stray). This week’s blog of the week is definitely about organizing. It’s organizer Brandie Kajino’s blog, The Home Office Organizer.

I love that Brandie has carved a great specialty for her organizing business. But this blog if a nice read even if you don’t have a home office. In addition to great advice on home-office organizing (don’t miss her her top-12 blog-posts entry), there are entries on creativity and self-care, like this recent post on her affinity for jam-making and baking. I love Brandie’s musings and her DIY advice and projects.

Brandie co-hosts an internet radio show called The O Myth (as in Organizing Myths) with Krista Colvin of Organize in Style. Krista’s bog was a blog of the week back in August. Links from the radio show (and sometimes giveaways) are another feature of The Home Office Organizer blog.

If you want some smart, stylish advice for organizing your home and home office (and your life), Make The Home Office Organizer a regular stop in your blog reading!

My last afghan squares

16 September 2008

Several weeks ago, I blogged about my sprint toward the finish line of the Knitting Olympics, where I almost achieved my goal of completing my Learn to Knit Afghan during the Summer Olympics. I did complete all the squares by the Sunday the Olympics ended, but the truth of the matter is that I had to re-knit the last two squares.

This afghan is comprised of 63 squares, each a different stitch pattern. They build on each other and the squares get more difficult, in general, as you knit through the book. So it should have come as no surprise to me that the last two squares were hard. But somehow it did, maybe because they didn’t look so difficult in the picture.

Square 62, the penultimate square, is called Decreasing Seamless Square. It’s knit on circular needles from the outside in, in stockinette stitch. By the time I knit this for the last time, I had considerable experience at it, since I’d started it (and gotten fairly far…all the way through once, in fact) at least six times. So without the time pressure of the Olympics, I fairly breezed through it, finishing it on August 29. Here it is:

Square 62: Decreasing Seamless Square

When I took a look at Square 63, called Increasing Seamless Square, the one I finished on August 24 right after the Olympics, I knew it just wasn’t good enough. I’m not sure how I messed it up, but it wasn’t symmetrical. It sort of reminded me of something my young poodle, Kirby, might knit (if he had thumbs). So I did it again. I finished it on August 31.

This one is also knit in the round, but you start from the inside and increase symmetrically as you go. It’s also knit in garter stitch, which means that you have to purl every other row, since it’s knit in the round. (Knitters will understand what I mean; if you’re not a knitter, just take my word for it that having to purl when you’re knitting in the round is a PITA.) It was very tricky starting with eight stitches on double-pointed needles and increasing from there. Anyway, that’s my excuse for the square not being gorgeous. But trust me, it looks way better than it did the first time I knit it.

Here it is:

Square 63 (the final square!): Increasing Seamless Square

Now that all the squares are finished, I have to figure out how many of them I want to use in the finished blanket (which I believe I’ll hang on the wall in our guest room). Then I have to arrange them. Then I have to sew them together (with yarn), then knit a border around the whole thing. It’s probably good that I didn’t really look past completing the squares when I started this project two-and-a-half years ago, because finishing it is going to be a bear. But I’m really looking forward to that achievement!

Regaining control

15 September 2008

I wrote on Friday about how my house had become cluttered and messy over the past couple of weeks of whirlwind activity and how I had feet of lead when I thought about doing anything about it. I ended that post with “I hope to report on Monday that my life and business are back in order and that I’m feeling clutter-free and empowered!”

I’m here to report that indeed the mess has been taken care and, better still, it was way less work than I expected. I’d built it up into this Big Project, which is what frequently happens when I’m feeling overwhelmed. (I see this in my clients too.)

On Saturday morning, I used “timed bursts,” a concept from my favorite time-management book, Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management, by Mark Forster (link at right). I set my timer for 10 minutes, stopped what I was doing when the timer went off and took a five- minute break, then set it for 15 minutes, followed by a five-minute break, then 20 minutes. By then I was finished with the picking up and putting away. I had hoped to work on my presentation to the Garden Writers Association (which I’m giving on the 20th), on Saturday but chose to knit instead. And that was okay.

On Sunday, I used timed bursts of 15 minutes to work on my presentation, alternating writing with doing laundry, and that worked very well. It’s not quite finished, but it will be today.

I still have quite a few things to accomplish before I leave town early Thursday morning, but they’re scheduled and, while I’ll be busy, I’m not feeling overwhelmed. I’m just going to have to be super efficient over the course of the next few days and I’m up to the task! That’s so much better than feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed like I was on Friday.

The power of clutter

12 September 2008

As I posted on Monday I had a crazy-busy week last week, leading a team of five other organizers to help a client get his house cleared out. This week, I’ve been doing follow up on that job. There’s been a certain amount of paperwork associated with it. And I had a NAPO St. Louis chapter meeting this week, which always generates paper.

The result is that I haven’t been home much, my work has produced lots of paper, and I’ve been tired. And you know what spells in my house? M-E-S-S.

August was a slow month for me, client-wise, so I had plenty of time at home to tend to my business and to put stuff away when I took it out. I felt in control. It’s amazing how quickly my house (and my offices) degenerated into cluttered messes in just a couple of weeks. And what’s also amazing is how debilitating that is. Looking at the mess just makes me want to take a nap. Knowing that I should be putting away, rather than reading political news, isn’t making me do it. I feel like I have lead in my feet.

I leave town next week for five days to attend the annual symposium of the Garden Writers Association (where I’m giving a talk on organizing your writing business) and as soon as I get back I hit the ground running with the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. With that wacky schedule I know how important it is for me to regain control before I leave town. And I also know that I have a to-do list as long as my arm of things to accomplish before I leave on Thursday. So why haven’t I turned into a white tornado?

I’m actually grateful for times like this because they do such a good job of reminding me how my clients feel. I think the empathy I have for my clients is one of my strong suits, and boy am I feeling it this week. I hope to report on Monday that my life and business are back in order and that I’m feeling clutter-free and empowered!

The Lori Hall Steele Fundraiser Blog: Blog of the Week

10 September 2008

This week’s blog of the week is very different from the organizing blogs I usually highlight.

This blog is raising money for a freelance writer named Lori Hall Steele, a talented writer who is a part of the same online freelance community I belong to, Freelance Success.

Lori’s essay in the Washington Post, which was published on June 23 of this year, is a testament to her beautiful writing. It’s also heartbreaking (please read it) because Lori is gravely ill.

A year ago, she lost the ability to move her feet. The paralysis has spread and, after a diagnosis of severe Lyme Disease, the doctors now think she has ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease). Because of the disease, she cannot work. At this moment, she can’t get out of bed and she’s on a respirator. She’s a single mom and the bank is threatening to take her house.

She has received some emergency support from the American Society of Journalists and Authors, but she needs more. A group of writers has started a campaign (hence the blog) to raise money for Lori. We’re encouraging everyone who’s touched by her story (and please, if you’re not touched, do read that Washington Post essay) to contribute $25.

It’s easy. I just did it. There’s a PayPal button on the Lori Hall Steele Fundraiser Blog. I know times are tough for many people. But they’re extremely tough for Lori. I’m hopeful this campaign, which has turned into a blogathon, will save Lori’s house.

I'm quoted in a national magazine

9 September 2008

The current issue of Arthritis Today, the consumer health publication (available on newsstands) that’s published by the Arthritis Foundation, includes an article by Sharon Anne Waldrop, on six tips to control clutter. In addition to two from me, it features tips by several professional organizers, including Jill Graham of Operation Organize! in Arizona and Rosemary Chieppo of Born to Organize in Connecticut.

My tips include using attractive containers in places where things tend to pile up and handling mail daily.

It’s always nice to be included in these articles. I’m grateful that my past life as a freelance writer sometimes leads to these opportunities!

Too pooped to blog

8 September 2008

Last week I worked on an intensive multi-day, multi-organizer project. I was on my feet for eight hours at a time and when I got home I pretty much did nothing but eat and sleep (and drink wine). I didn’t even knit!

So that explains my sparse posting of last week. I’m back on the four-to-five-posts-per-week bandwagon now.

Since I’m busy playing catch up, I’ll leave you now with a video that I first saw on Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish. I got there via Freelance Success. This video is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.