Confession of a Professional Organizer

Gotta make a confession here.
You may be surprised, then again, maybe not. Like the plumber with leaky pipes and the personal trainer that eats McDonalds, professional organizers are not necessarily the most organized people.


Check out my desk:

This may not seem too bad, though I gotta tell ya it's dragging me down and something's has to be done. It's dusty. Little notes and receipts scattered about. Print outs and faxes that need to be filed. Bills to be paid. Literature and brochures that need should be tossed.

Lately when I come into my office, I just feel blah. Unmotivated to get going. Thought to myself this morning with a little chuckle the famous saying, "Do as I say, not as I do."

So, yes, some professional organizers do NOT have every piece of their lives together (my hand is raised high). Everyone's life gets out of whack and needs to be brought back into check. When you start to feel like life is getting grumpy on you, then you need to make a change.

That's exactly where I'm at. Little grumpy events keep knocking me down. Nothing terribly awful, just enough to knock the wind out of my sails and keep me from soaring. By getting my office organized, I will feel motivated and energized.

So today I'm going to take everything off my desk and dust it. File the papers that need to be filed, toss the items that I'm not using and get my system back together.

Even though I am a professional organizer, my life is not perfectly organized ... and that's OK.

What do you want to confess?

If ...

What if you could?
What if you did?
What if you had?
What if you said?
What if you been?
What if you just?
What if you were?



It's a beautiful new day.

What if ...?

Organizing Rules ... Blah, Who Needs Them?

Organizing is not always about decluttering, purging, tossing, screaming and sorting. Our wonderful friends at Wikipedia define organizing as the act of rearranging elements following one or more rules.
Rules? ... there are no rules listed, I'm not aware of "organizing rules?!"

Anything is considered organized when it looks like everything has a correct order of placement. But it's only ultimately organized if any element has no difference on time taken to find it. In that sense, organizing can also be defined as to place different objects in logical arrangement for better searching.

Taking your space and optimizing it for better searching ... that is how organizing should be thought. This way if your space is organized, you end up saving time and effort searching for your wonderful stuff. Best part ... there are no rules.

Your closet may be very well organized (see left picture). Though optimizing the space by adding a shelf above your existing one ... boom baby! Items on the floor can be stored off the floor and you have gained more storage space without losing any (right picture). Sweet!














Take a tour through your home and jot down a few thoughts as you pass through each room. Look at how you can possibly use your space more efficiently. Chances are you can. I know of places in my own home that need to be tweeked. Break those ideas down into smaller projects and schedule them on your calendar.

Get one project done and you will feel better about your space.
Heck, maybe you'll end up doing another.

What did you think about your home tour?

Moving MY Mom ... Another Dose of My Own Medicine

Starting to get that thick, coating medicine taste in the back of my throat.

First I got a flavor of organizing with my own garage.
Now, I'm moving my own mother. (serenity now ... serenity now)

Helping families move and downsize their homes is something I do all the time. As a senior move manager, becoming the leader in orchestrating the transition for the family to have their loved ones living in a new home is something I truly enjoy. Taking the stress and conflict out of the moving process.

Well, that is until it's my own mother (who I love very dearly).

Buttons are pushed, dramatics are played out and tensions rise.
Aaahhh!

Family dynamics are a crazy thing, having experienced a bit of frustration, eye-rolling, digressing to being a 10 year old chastised over not putting my toys away. When working with your parents, in a flash your parents forget you are an adult and you forget your parents are struggling with little loss of independence. Maintaining a calm and non-eye-rolling front can become quite a challenge.

All went well in the end. Mom is settling into her new home and I have a new found appreciation for the role of senior move managers. If you are looking for some help in moving your loved ones, check out the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) for a listing of people in your area that can help.

What can make your eyes roll?

$50 Garage Make-Over

"Mike" pulls into his garage after a long day at the office. Like every night, crawls out of his car, cleans up and gets his dinner started. He's tired and mentally drained from business meetings.










Mike began thinking he wants his garage more organized, just not sure what to do. It has 50 year old cinderblock walls that are kinda dungeony (its my word, I made it up) looking. After some late night browsing he came across my garage make-over.

"THAT'S IT!"

He immediately contacted me about the pegboard organizing walls I installed in my garage. The pegboard would clean up the walls, giving them a shining new look with loads of options to hang tools and supplies. All of this happiness could be achieved in under $50 for material costs. SWEET!










Mike is now supercharged when he pulls into his garage. The shiny walls have inspired him to refinish the workbench top. He's having fun getting all sorts of hooks and clips for the pegboard walls and arranging his tools for quick, easy access. Best of all, Mike feels awesome when he gets home from work, and that makes me happy, too.

Fall is here.
Did you get your spring organizing garage project done?

Organizing Is All About YOU!

Sometimes you have to get a bit selfish when you want to get organized. You may not be able to convince your significant other/"the other person" that:
"Hey, we need to live a little bit better."

Perhaps they are happy with the way your home is set up. Then again, they could just be a little embarrassed to acknowledge there is a problem and asking for help would just add to those negative feelings.

Once confronted with this situation, try to fall on the old adage:
"Lead by example."

Look around your home and find an area you can conquer the organization of your stuff without the help of others. Maybe it's a kitchen cabinet, your bathroom counter top, a sock drawer or your nightstand. Tackling one small organizing project successfully will give you a sense of accomplishment. Following up with another small project will get your mood rollin' toward pride in your progress.

Choose your areas to organize that involve only your items and interests, if possible. That way you are not interfering with "the other person" in your home. Hopefully they'll see you are feeling a bit better, able to find your keys quickly and overall just more relaxed about your own stuff. Maybe, just maybe, they will begin to clear up their areas too.

You cannot change who people are, though you can alter your reaction to them. If you are feeling more relaxed in your home, it will show. Yes, you may get frustrated at how this "other person" lives, but you can have solitude in your organized area.

If it took several months, or years, to lose control of your home, it will take some time to regain the organiziation again. Be patient and believe that you are working toward success.

Get a bit selfish. (there's nothing wrong with it)
Believe you can get organized.
Make it happen in small projects.
Enjoy your organizing successes, no matter how small.

You are doing a great job!

What area of your home can you organize for yourself?

Original vs. Unplugged

Nothing to do with organizing just can't seem to get this song out of my head, usually a post does the trick. My vote is for the original, never really cared for the slowed down, unplugged version. Perhaps you do which is why they are both here.

Enjoy the day!

Eric Clapton, "Layla" original verison vs. unplugged:


VS.


What two song versions do you want to see battle?