3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Excavating Those Piles

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

In just a few hours, I'll be on my way to the Pennwriters conference! Not only will I be recharging and learning stuff, but I'll also be presenting on Organizing by STYLE. I'm very excited!

Unfortunately, too many deadlines too close together and a return to running Mom's Taxi Service have led to a time crunch, so I'm re-posting a previous blog post. This one appeared in February 2017 but, as I look around my house in the wake of the end my semester, my daughter's return from college and preparation for a conference, it is (sadly) very appropriate. 

And exactly where my organizational attack needs to start. Next week. :-)

See you then!

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I'm an I need to see it/drop and run person.

This combination makes me the Queen of Piles.

This drives my husband a little bit crazy, and, truth be told, it bugs me, too.  While I'm still very much a work-in-progress, I have found a few ways to deal with the piles, and even make some of them go away.

Do you put things down instead of away? Here are three questions to ask yourself so you can do things the other way around.

Is it always the same stuff? At my house, it's usually the homeless items that end up in piles (next to the things I don't want to forget to take care of). While I can't quite bring myself to get rid of the reminder piles, eliminating the piles of homeless items is as simple as finding them a home.

Is it always the same place? Most homes have spots that are clutter catchers -- the kitchen counter, the dining room table, the dresser in the bedroom. Ask yourself whether the items that are piled there should be stored nearby, or if the spot is merely convenient. Then, organize accordingly.

Will a strategically placed container solve the problem? If so, maybe, just maybe you can keep the pile. Just make sure that the container is sized properly. Too big, and you'll lose sight of what you need. Too small, and you might as well just keep the original pile.

As an I need to see it/drop and run person, I've come to terms with the fact that piles are a part of my life. But, by asking some strategic questions and employing the right tools, I can keep them under control.

The Test of Time

Photo: myrfa via Pixabay

Although my organizing and clutter-busting has come a long way since I started organizing by STYLE, there are almost always hot spots in my house. And, as with anything else we pass by often enough, I don't even see some of them anymore.

One pile in question has been living on the step in my office for longer than I can remember. I can't really even call it a hot spot, as I don't usually drop new things there. It came to be when I was doing one of my attack-the-office sessions, and it was a small price to pay for a neater space overall.

What was supposed to happen was that the stuff in that pile (homeless stuff that had accumulated in my work space) would get put away.

How often have I written about finding homes for things? Piles like this are the reason. Homeless items don't miraculously find themselves a place to live. If your house is anything like mine, they make up the bulk of the clutter.

Last week, for some reason I don't quite know (perhaps it was divine intervention -- and no, that's not sarcasm), that pile began to irk me, and I decided it was time to do one of my low-key stealth attacks, also known as organization games. I realized that if I simply picked up one thing every time I walked by the pile, and made a decision about it, I could make that pile go away. That was, I must admit, a pretty exciting prospect.

Some of the stuff on the top was actually easy. Yay! Progress.

Then it got a little harder, so I decided to dive into the middle of the pile where the older stuff was. One box seemed to be taking up a lot of space. Moving it would yield a substantial payoff. I pulled it out.

The manuscript for my first novel.

Generally speaking, I'm not an I love stuff girl, but I must admit to a sentimental streak. I remember putting this box there, planning to recycle it and its contents. I even picked it up a couple of times, but couldn't quite bring myself to get rid of it, so there it sat, collecting dust and attracting more things to the pile.

I weighed it in my hands. It was time.

Photo: stevepb via Pixabay

One of the organizing strategies I love is the one that allows us to set (some) things aside temporarily, getting rid of them later only if we haven't missed them in the intervening time. Usually, with the odds and ends that make up most piles in a household, packing them away for a month is sufficient. Six months is more than enough for most of the rest, even for I love stuff folks.

My novel came out in 2014.

I'm glad I didn't just stick it in the basement. Although it would have made my office life neater, I can promise you it would still be gathering dust there if I had. Now, one published novel, two works-in-progress and more blog posts than I can count later, I'm ready.

As I've said over and over (and over) again, organizing is a process. Sometimes, time is an important part of the process. While I'm not advocating letting things pile up in your workspace, I am saying that sometimes, the rules don't apply. Sometimes, we need to let time take the lead, and respect our need to do things on the timeline that makes sense to us. It may mean that things are less-than-perfect  in the meantime, but it also means we're less likely to make decisions we regret.

I don't regret keeping those pages, nor do I regret the fact that it took me three years to reach the point where I was ready to let them go because that's how long it took me to reach the point where clearing the space was more important than keeping the stuff in the pile.

All too often it's all too easy to force ourselves into decisions that meet other people's needs. Unless your stuff is interfering with your ability to live your life, cut yourself some slack.

Sometimes, time is the answer.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys Underlying the Success of the Make it Better Approach

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about my "necessity is the mother of invention" strategy of making it better. Beginning as a form of solace ("just make it better"), over the week that followed, it became more.

Part mindset, part mantra and part strategy, "make it better" became the way I looked at piles, the phrase I repeated to myself as I walked past clutter and the steps I took to make progress when I simply didn't have the energy to take anything more than baby steps.

The mindset: Overwhelmed by burgeoning clutter, yet lacking the energy to really "dig in,"  I adopted the mindset that simply making it better was a good starting point. This absolved me from any guilt and set me up to win every time I took even a baby step. Accepting this as a mindset (admittedly, I had little choice) influenced my outlook, too. Instead of seeing every pile as one more thing to do, I saw it as something I could improve upon, even if only a little at at time.

The mantra: How many times have you walked past a pile and inwardly groaned "that's still there?" "Make it better" gave me an answer to that. That's still there? Yep. Make it better. Since picking up just one thing made it better, I found myself groaning less and de-cluttering more.

The strategy: Small successes inspire big successes. Every time I walked past clutter, the only thing I had to do was make it better. Since every item picked up and put away accomplished this, it was easy to feel successful, one item at a time. Watching piles get smaller inspired me, once I was feeling better, to dig into the clutter that predated my illness.

It took getting sick to remind me of a basic idea: setting small, reachable goals is the key to success, whether in organizing or in life. Because I couldn't manage big, impressive goals, I had to stick to a simple one, and, with time, it proved its value as philosophy, mindset, mantra and strategy.

And I have the clear surfaces to prove it.

The First Step to Getting Organized

I'm in my happy place this week...even if it rained this morning!

Despite my best intentions, clutter often takes over. As a writer and instructor, I'm especially prone to paper clutter, which piles up in everything from accumulated business cards to unconsolidated to-do lists to books and magazines I want to read.  

The accumulated business cards are easy -- they have a home. Once I get past the temporary lapse in my drop and run organizational style, they are clutter no more. Unconsolidated to-do lists, too, are pretty easy to manage. It's just a matter of finding the time to sort and update, or, better yet, setting aside time to do this on a regular basis and storing my lists in the right desktop "container" until I reach that previously scheduled time. 

The reading material? That's another story. One thing that helps me to make a dent in the pile is to take some of it along with me when I travel. I'm particularly fond of stashing magazines in my travel bag, because I can usually find time to read an entire issue (or more than one, depending on the length of my trip and the amount of down time I have) while I'm away. I clip any articles of interest, then recycle the rest of the magazine, ensuring that once it's out of my house, it stays out. And, as a bonus, I travel home just a bit lighter, and, perhaps even a bit smarter as well.

I grabbed one of those magazines on the way out the door on Monday, as we left for the beach. As it turned out, not only did this last minute addition to my tote bag include an article on clutter, but it was also on an aspect of organization I rarely discuss.

For most of us, clutter is merely an annoyance -- something to be sorted, tamed and put away. Sure, we have obstacles -- not enough time, not enough space, a system that hasn't quite come together yet -- but for most of us, it's simply a matter of persisting until we find the solutions that work for us.

For some of us, however, deeper issues are at work. Someone suffering from depression will have trouble with clutter for reasons that are entirely different than not enough time, not enough space and a system that hasn't quite come together. Those who hoard also face deeper challenges than merely finding style-based solutions that work for them. 

In both of these situations, there are emotional factors at work that make the chore of clutter reduction not merely difficult, but truly insurmountable. This article does a great job of exploring them.

All of us are likely to find that our emotional states impact our organizational successes -- or the lack thereof. We may know that baby steps, building on successes and viewing organization as a process are important aspects of getting organized, but sometimes, that's not enough. Until we take care of ourselves, taking care of our things can feel insurmountable. Caring for ourselves is truly the first step in getting organized.

I'm on vacation this week, so I've got the taking care of myself stuff conquered, at least for the moment. What are you doing today to take care of you?

Pixabay

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Keeping it Under Control

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

There's something about writing these posts that keeps me honest. After writing yesterday's post, I took action in three clutter catcher areas, restoring open space in less than fifteen minutes.

That felt good.

Sometimes, the keys to keeping a space neat lie in not letting it get messy (again) in the first place.

Know your trouble spots & prioritize. Which is easiest to keep under control? Which bugs  you the most when it's out of control? If several have gotten out of control at once, where do you start? I did this yesterday. Fully aware that I could easily restore order to several places if I let just one go a little longer, I started with the spots that were easiest to get under control, and was rewarded with beautiful, clear, open space.

Once it's neat, make it pretty. Maybe even take a picture. When a newly organized space looks nice, we're more motivated to keep it looking that way. That's also one of the reasons that form and function aren't the only considerations when we're choosing organizers. If we like the container we use for reasons besides form and function, we're more likely to use it. And that picture? A reminder of how things can be when we use the systems we've put in place.

Finally, consider the "one thing in/one thing out" rule. I don't remember where I learned this, but I do remember latching onto it very quickly. When you get something new, get rid of something old. That keeps the basic quantity of "stuff" in your house relatively stable, and helps to eliminate that feeling of being overrun by possessions.

I dream of a day when my house will always be company ready. Today is not that day, but I'm okay with that because I know I'm moving in the right direction.

Organization Extra: Letting it Go and Reclaiming the Space

AARP.org

Last Thursday was my birthday, and for some reason, I chose that day to tackle a mountain of outdated papers to be filed. The beauty of the "outdated" part was that most of the pile could be shredded or recycled, and so the mountain is no more.

So, when I came across this article yesterday on items to ditch when downsizing, it struck a chord with me. We're a ways away from actually downsizing, not ready to dispense with our vehicles or move into a smaller house just yet, but a few of the tips are useful even if you're not downsizing in the traditional sense.

I mean, after all, who doesn't want to reduce clutter? And a few guidelines often make the job easier.

Organization Extra: Thoughts While Cleaning Out the Closet

organizedcustomdesigns.com

What's the first thing you think of when you hear Buzz Feed? For me, it's quizzes -- silly quizzes that pop up on Facebook. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to see Buzz Feed pop up in a different place: on my Google search for these Saturday posts. Not surprisingly, the same whimsy BF brings to its familiar posts runs through the more practical ones as well.

At our house, today marks the first Saturday of summer, so I thought I'd share a Buzz Feed post that's more amusing than practical. 102 Thoughts You Have While Cleaning Out Your Closet is a quick read that will inspire that wonderful "you mean, I'm not alone?" feeling, as well as a few chuckles. Maybe it will even inspire a first step toward closet de-cluttering...or maybe it'll just be good for a laugh.

Next Saturday, I'm bringing Buzz Feed back, with some practical solutions that we can implement after we clean out the closet.

Throwback Thursday: Organization Games

Today's post originally ran in June 2013. And yes, I still play these "games."

courtesy of all-free-download.com

I'm not a big fan of household chores. I do what I need to do to keep things running, but tend to put straightening things up near the bottom of the list. Consequently, I tend to tidy in spurts, and in sneaky little ways.


Last week's magazine-a-day campaign is a perfect example of one of those sneaky little tricks. The magazines were (once again) taking over more than their fair share of space, so it was time to take action. The action I chose to take was hardly efficient (get rid of one magazine a day for a week), but it worked. In retrospect, I realized that I used the basic behavioral principle of pairing a pleasurable task (reading the magazines) with a necessary one (reducing the clutter). When it comes to theories, behaviorism isn't one of my favorites, but I have to admit that in this case, it worked. By the end of the week, I'd gotten rid of eight magazines -- painlessly -- and jump-started the desire to keep going. I'm aiming slightly lower this week (reading all those magazines took a bite out of my book-reading time), but hoping that going deeper into the pile will mean uncovering outdated issues I can toss without reading.

courtesy of www.freepsdfile.com

One of the women in the organizing class I taught last spring has an even better system -- her junk mail never makes it into the house. She picks up the mail and sorts it in her garage, dumping the junk before she even walks into the house. Lacking a garage, I've never been able to adopt that strategy, but am working to adapt it instead, sorting the mail immediately instead of dropping it onto to a pile and moving on to the next thing on my list. Because I am by nature a drop and run kinda girl, this is more challenging than it sounds.



This drop and run style often leads to more than just magazines and mail piling up, and has served as -- ahem -- inspiration for another one of my pick-up tricks. Since much of the clutter in my house tends to accumulate on my dining room table, which is centrally located on the first floor of my house, I use a simple strategy of picking up one thing and putting it away each time I pass the table. Simple. Easy. Immediate reinforcement.

Oops. There's that sneaky behaviorism again.

courtesy of amny.com

While adopting the Nike slogan ("Just do it!") would probably make things happen a whole lot faster, my silly little methods end up making an unpleasant task more pleasant. I'm sure my naturally organized
friends -- the ones I've affectionately dubbed "Type A Organizers" -- are shaking their heads at my silliness as they sip their iced beverages in their spotless houses, but the rest of you -- the ones, like me, who struggle to keep up with the clutter that seems to be an inevitable part of life -- know just what I mean.

Please, join me in the games. And if they work at your house too, please let me know by commenting below or contacting me on Facebook. I'd love to hear about it.