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: Kids and Organization

Today's Throwback Thursday isn't another blog, but rather an article I wrote for Teachers of Vision magazine called "Defeating Desk Disasters with STYLE." As a school counselor, I saw so many bright, creative kids done in by disorganization. Most of the time, this bothered them less than it bothered the adults around them, but as they got older, the negative feedback they received began to impact their views of themselves as well.

Organizing By STYLE actually began in an elementary school, when I decided I needed an attitude adjustment to face an office change, and, in fairly short order, chose to take the things I'd been learning to my students. It was so gratifying to watch the changes in them as they discovered that failure to organize traditionally was not a character flaw or a sign of inferiority. It's hard to believe this has been my organizing mantra for almost nine years.

As we move forward here, I'll be doing some posts about using the STYLE ideas with kids. And, if there are things you'd like to "hear" about, leave me a comment and I'll do my best to cook up a reply!

But I Can't Get Rid of THAT!

Photo: Tat via Morguefile

Today, we'll finish off the L in STYLE (Let it Go!) by taking a look at some strategies for (perhaps) getting rid of those I-think-I'm-ready-but-I'm-not-sure items.

One of the best limbo strategies I've ever seen was on a now-defunct HGTV show called Mission: Organization. I wish I could remember which professional organizer to credit, because the idea was genius. Here it is, step-by-step:

1. Find a box, preferably one with a lid or one that can be closed completely (nothing showing).
2. Put all of those "can't quite get rid of it" items inside (by category, if you wish).
3. Close the box and put a sticky note on the top with today's date. 
4. In an amount of time that you determine (I typically use 6 months), if you haven't opened the box, get rid of it without opening it.

There are two key factors here. First, keep in mind that the end purpose of this exercise is to get rid of things, so you need to choose the items that go into the box carefully (don't put your wedding photo, graduation tassel, or your grandmother's jewelry in the box). Second, you need to get rid of it without opening it. If everything going into the box is expendable (by your standards) and you haven't used it in 6 months (longer if you need more time and have a place to store it), do you really need it?

Photo: kconnors via Morguefile

So what about your wedding photo, graduation tassel and grandmother's jewelry? Are they
important enough or attractive enough to display? If not, or if you want to protect them, these kinds of things can go into a box of their own -- maybe even a pretty trunk or decorative container. While the boxes used for the first exercise should be expendable, the ones you use to preserve items of sentimental value should do just that -- preserve them. If you want those items to come out of the box in the same condition they were in when you put them there (not faded or crumbling with age), do a little research to see what kind of container will work best for the item(s) you're storing. Then, find a home for that container.

Another suggestion popular with professional organizers is to take a picture of the item, then get rid of the item itself. Much as I like the idea, I've never quite been able to do that, and I fear that I'd then be left with a pile of photos that needs to be appropriately stored. But, if you're someone who loves looking through photo books and remembering the stories they inspire, this approach may not only work well for you, but free up space as well.

A few summers ago, we went to an open house at the beach. The condo was beautifully decorated, and in one of the bedrooms, framed articles of baby clothing adorned two of the walls. It sounds kind of creepy when I write about here, but it looked really cool. Done well, this kind of repurposing can be a beautiful keepsake.

If this is all sounding too high maintenance, then here's a simpler strategy. Choose a medium-to-large container, preferably with a lid, and find it a home. Use it to collect all of the homeless items that you can't immediately recycle, repurpose or resell. Then, once a week (or month) or when the container is full, go through it and weed it out to make room for more stuff. If you make it a rule to never allow the container to overflow, you'll always be the boss of your stuff -- at least the stuff in that container.

Next week, we'll tackle the E in STYLE: Easy Upkeep....though if you've been following along, you're already halfway there.

Organization Extra: Clearing the Clutter

goodhousekeeping.com

When it comes to letting things go, every organizer has a system, but not every system works for everyone. I mean, let's face it -- it's always easy to tell someone else how to get rid of their stuff.

That's what I like about this week's Saturday Special, "10 Hard Questions to Ask When Clearing Out Your Clutter" -- even if only one or two questions help you make tough decisions,  you'll still come out ahead.

Happy clearing!

Throwback Thursday: Piles. Again.

This post first appeared on The Porch Swing Chronicles in September 2012.

tmq.us

In June, I brought a rather substantial portion of my school office home with me. And, since I wasn't  going back to school in the fall, neither was the stuff.

Consequently, a chunk of my summer was spent finding new homes for old things...some of which still lingered in various places in my house, homeless, as fall approached. The problem with that (besides the obvious) is that I seem to have harbored a secret hope that everything would magically find its place, and by the time the new school year started, my home would be the epitome of organization. Since this has never happened in any summer in my lifetime, I'm not exactly sure why I thought it would happen under these more cluttered circumstances.

I have made progress - quite a bit of it. But, as I told a friend today, there is no grey area. Everything in my house is either exactly where it belongs or it's in a pile somewhere, awaiting travel instructions. This particular state of affairs leaves me more than a little frustrated because I have so many things I want to do, and the clutter is a distraction. The homeless items keep calling out to me.

And so I've developed a plan because I'm always happier when I have a plan. Those who know me might rat me out, sharing their acquired knowledge that any plan I develop can be classified as, at best, Plan A.

This plan, however, is designed to last.

I can't do it all - that's a given (and not the plan). But I can (continue to) do it a little bit at a time. And so, each day, I'm going to ask myself a simple question: which space am I going to improve today?

The best part of this plan is that there's no guilt inherent in the question - no perfectionism, no "but I just cleared the dining room table off yesterday, how can there be piles on it again today?" involved. Take stock. Take action. Make progress.

Some days, I find the projects. Other days, they find me. After three tries at getting dressed for church yesterday, I left the rejected clothing on the bed. (Yes. I created more clutter.) When I came home, the rejected items were dispensed with. Consignment pile. Donation pile. Definitely not going back in the closet so I can play this fruitless game all over again.

This, of course, led to the domino task of going through other items in the room to see if they could be added to a "one way ticket out of my house" pile. In the end, the bedroom looked better, and I had eliminated items from my inventory.

A pile in the living room was today's casualty, and the day isn't over yet, so I'm planning on taking a few prisoners in the dining room as well.

And the piles in the office? Their days are numbered.

Repurposing: Is it Really Letting Go?

addicted2decorating.com via
42 Craft Projects That are Easy to Make & Sell

It wasn't until I started last week's blog that I realized my third R isn't a Let it Go! strategy at all, but rather an escape route -- and one to be used with caution. While both Recycling and Reselling result in getting things out of our house, Repurposing actually makes it less likely that we'll get rid of the item in question.

That's not always bad. If repurposing a beloved (or simply useful) item gives it new life or helps it earn its keep, then hanging on to it is actually a good thing.....as long as we follow a few simple guidelines.

• Repurposing implies purpose. It's right there in the name. Is the item in question being used, or is it merely taking up space? One or two decorative items that add personality to a space, or a collection that's housed in an aesthetically pleasing way is one thing. A pile-up of "I know I'll use this someday" is quite other.
• For items in limbo, designate a purpose. In our DIY, Pinterest-fueled society, it doesn't take much searching to come up with new uses for everything from empty soda bottles to old furniture. Here's where you have to be honest with yourself. Are you really going to do that project? If so, when? And where will the supplies "live" in the meantime?
• Be selective: You can't save it all, yet the reasons we have for keeping things vary according to both styles and personality. Sentimental people keep things because they make us smile when we look at them or bring back a special memory. The more practical among us save things that solve a storage problem or serve more than one purpose. Those who are frugal often keep a backlog of things they don't want to have to pay to replace. Whatever your reasons, you need to set a limit to how many of those things you can realistically hang on to.

Next week, we'll talk about some ways to make decisions about the things we can't quite get rid of. In the meantime, box up those things you need to hang onto by category (e.g., sentimental value, future projects, I think I'll use this someday, etc.). That will make things easier as we move forward (and no, I haven't changed my mind about "making" you dispose of beloved items).

Next week will also mark my last week posting on this topic at the Porch Swing Chronicles. As we move into the last letter of STYLE in June, and begin talking about Easy Upkeep, I'll be taking all of the discussion here, as a means of both archiving all these posts in one place and continuing the discussion. You can still find me at the Porch Swing Chronicles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Organization Extra: Packing it In

Photo: kolobsek via Morguefile

Since I spent yesterday traveling to the Pennwriters Conference, today's Organization Extra is travel-related. Last week, I shared the tips section from The Container Store (which actually happens to be having a travel sale right now!) This week, I found 6 Tips for Better Organizing Your Travel Bag. Had I been organized enough to read it before I left, I'd have definitely followed their "Keep Clean" tip.

Next time. Till then, happy trails!