Posts Tagged ‘declutter’

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The Holiday Season: There’s Still Time to Organize and Simplify

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

There’s still time to get more organized for this holiday season; don’t give up yet if you’re feeling overwhelmed. This free, recorded webinar is about what to do with all the “stuff” and how to manage our time more easily.

A book coupon for my book, Organize for a Fresh Start: Embrace Your Next Chapter in Life is at the webinar site, too. (To read a chapter of the book, go here.)

Click the “Have an Organized Holiday” picture below and you’ll see the instructions for downloading the recording and/or glancing through our organizing tips slides. Listen, read or both. (Or save them for use next year!)

The webinar recording kicks off with my organizing tips for time management over the holiday season, followed by tips from a colleague about organizing your home and belongings. This is the recorded version of the “Have an Organized Holiday” webinar, hosted by our publisher.

And until 12/31/2012, get a coupon for my book and other organizing books. Yes, 2012. Click on the graphic below.

I also wrote about  5 Ways to Simplify Your Holiday Season for my publisher’s blog site.  You’ll miss the book coupon, though, unless you go to the webinar site.

January brings another webinar, which will be released mid month as a recording/slides download as well. “Help Me Organize after a Life Change” is about how to get back on track, organized and moving forward after a big life change: divorce, marriage, caregiving or even an adult diagnosis of ADHD.

I’ll cover some themes from the book, and a framework to follow for getting your home reorganized and decluttered to move forward and into your next chapter of life.

 

 

 

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Posted in Holidays, Next Chapter, Time Management | No Comments »

Do Your Surroundings Become You?

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

You can read several meanings into this blog title, can’t you? Do your  surroundings inspire you? Or do they bring you down, with more clutter than you can tolerate? Does the clutter reflect how fast your life is passing by? Do your things bring you comfort or is it more like protection from something else?

If you’ve been through a big life change lately – of your choice or not – then your surroundings really may not become you. Perhaps a parent or spouse passed away. Your relationship splits up. You choose to leave corporate for another career or to go out on your own. You or someone you love is facing major surgery or treatment. You decide you want to move and downsize.

When the dust settles, you may find yourself surrounded by your past—your belongings or home reflect who you were before your transition, but now things have changed. You may be feeling this already – that some of your belongings are no longer  in  sync with the person you are becoming. They really feel  like … clutter.

What to do ?

Approaching life in chapters allows you to close the door on the past (while still honoring it) and fully embrace your present. When you live this way, you give yourself permission to declutter so you’ll be be more comfortable with choices you make. You’ll keep the best or the essence of the past and bring it forward, while  making room for your next chapter’s experiences.

What is “organized enough” to you? Only you and your household members are the judges of what is “organized enough.” If you try to organize to someone else’s standards, the systems will be harder to keep up with because they were not designed for your lifestyle or ways of thinking and remembering. And so the clutter returns in these cases. Find your own answer.

Your values relate to organizing.  Values help you figure out which belongings you really need in your life. Love to learn? Weed out and reorganize something else, not the books. Keep what you love, what gives you joy, sustains and motivates you.

Decluttering and reorganizing systems plays a big part in keeping our calm. If we hold onto the ways we used to manage life and our things, and yet this life change has occurred, it’s harder to accept what is and move on.

Suddenly these systems work against us instead of with us, even if they once fit beautifully into our lives. New systems for new times. Systems do outgrow their owners, especially as we experience life’s changes. A parent moves in, you adopt a child, add a puppy, or are widowed: in each case, your systems need to shift as your circumstances change, so that you keep up (and keep calm!).

Declutter – internally: Internal clutter includes old ideas, attitudes, beliefs and reactions which no longer serve the person you are. They may be hold-overs from how you were raised or from a past relationship -but there’s the point – these are in the past. You may believe what others say about you, just because they’ve always said it (distracted, not creative, not with it). But these gremlins, too, can be decluttered. New chapter, fresh start.  

When we declutter, the mental and physical space we create by letting go of things that belong in our past gives us new energy for our next chapter. Our focus is forward, with respect for what’s behind us— because what’s behind us is a large part of who we have become.



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Posted in Harmony at Home, Inspiration, Next Chapter | 4 Comments »

10 Ways to Declutter Your Mind

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Declutter your brain

Declutter your mind.

It’s the fastest way to combat that feeling of constant distraction.

That nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something – or someone.

Declutter and you’ll find focus again.

My mind starts working in too many directions.

Think: pinball machine, with way too many pin-balls flying around.

And what happens when we don’t focus on just one of those pinballs?

We drop the other balls. The others drop through the gate.

We lose. We get stressed.

Stress and clutter are tightly linked for me and many people I organize and coach with.

Is it like this for you?

I start forgetting things.

I say things which aren’t quite what I mean – not as articulate as I like to be.

I don’t listen as well; I’m not as present.

I don’t get as much done – in my personal or my business life, cuz it’s all just too darn cluttered up in my head.

10 Ways to Declutter Your Mind

  1. Pick something, ANYTHING and finish it.Don’t waste time deciding if it’s the “right” thing to finish. The point is to start making those pinballs go away, one by one.
  2. Write down whatever is in your head. On whatever is available. Don’t go looking for the perfect list or notepad or your phone. Grab whatever is nearby and just get it out of your head. Later, sit with your temporary list. Think about and process each item on the list. Decide what deserves space on  your regular  task/to do/next actions  list. Consolidate.
  3. Walk away from your desk. Go do something. Get some energy out of your body. I go out to the deck and take a few deep breaths. I walk away from work and I see things differently.
  4. Use your phone, tape recorder, Dragon software or anything that will hold your voice. Record everything in your head. The specific tool does not matter. What does matter is that if you’re highly verbal, talking out loud to declutter your brain will be more effective for you.
  5. Create  something if you’re artistic. This could be something beautiful made of fabric or it could be a  visual mind map. Take a break to clear your head and  process while you take the creativity break. Or draw the mindmap if that will help get stuff out of your head. The non linear, creative and kinesthetic all  tied into one.
  6. Take a walk and literally, go smell the flowers. Let the  aroma fill your senses and clear your head. Get perspective and then see if you still need to write  down what’s in your head. You may just have needed perspective or a break.
  7. Call up your accountability partner, your friend,  your organizing coach. Talk out loud about everything that’s in your head, or that one thing you can’t  figure out on  your own. Talking it through out loud, with some good and powerful questions, will release the clutter and you’ll start  solving whatever that problem is you’re wrestling with.
  8. What do you need to let go of? And how have you let go of other things; would that work in this situation?
  9. How else can you occupy your mind – fidget to focus (ADHD book title) is apt here – if you listen to music or a book while you work, would that clear the clutter and allow some focus?
  10. Go play with your dog. Call your child/grandchild/nephew. Step into work or out of work, depending on where your head is at.

And Then Going Forward:

How did your mind get cluttered to begin with?

Answer that question each time you feel this way, and you’ll get to your own set of insights.

Some options until  then:

  • Use a calendar and a to do list. Appointments versus stuff to do.
  • Keep a projects list.
  • To trap your creative ideas you don’t want to forget, buy or repurpose something beautiful. Something unusual.
  • Take time in the a.m., mid day and definitely end of the day to empty your head.
  • Begin to notice how much you can handle in a day, what your limits are, and what causes the cluttered mind feeling ?
  • Notice how certain people affect your feeling of a cluttered mind or whether it’s  certain types of projects.
  • Is it a certain time of day – then clear the clutter as you begin that part of the day.
  • Sometimes,  it’s the feelings around the stuff, not the stuff itself. Learn to notice how you’re feeling and recognize what the real, root cause is. Get this under control and things will seem calmer.

So what’s decluttering your mind these days? And how can I support your decluttering efforts?


Resources:

Stress management posts by 22 organizers/other professionals – requested & aggregated by Calahan Solutions, productivity specialists.

Coaching/organizing: Click here for support.

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Posted in AD/HD, Habits | No Comments »

Declutter in 5 Minutes: Your Ideas List

Friday, March 11th, 2011

I needed someone’s business card this morning. I only keep the most recent cards, before I’ve put them into Outlook Contacts, which I live by.

I found the card, but I took literally 3 minutes to look through my stack of about 20 cards. Why do I have 20?

One presentation this week and one networking group = 20 cards to decide on.

So I made decisions on who gets to live in Outlook Contacts, because I actually do want  to keep up. (And, here’s another hint: I put a task reminder into my calendar to check in monthly with groups of or certain individuals. I would never naturally remember to do this. )

What else can you declutter in just a few minutes?

Why bother with the little stuff?

Two reasons  (1) Little stuff grows up. Into big piles of stuff.

And (2) the little stuff thinks it’s hiding, but it’s really not. It lives inside our drawers, closets, on our shelves.

Though it’s behind closed doors, we KNOW ABOUT IT.

We remember there’s stuff there and we feel … guilty, annoyed, like a fake. The monkey’s on your back.

And the little stuff adds up: I spent 2 minutes today, but if I’d let that pile get bigger, I would’ve used up more time looking for this one card.

When there’s more  stuff to look through, there’s more wasted time in looking for the one thing you really want.

Little stuff decluttering ideas

And by the way, you will be amazed at how great this makes you feel.  On top of the  world.

These are ideas which would take from 3 – 15 minutes.

  • A junk drawer.
  • Business cards stack.
  • Pencil tins or those pencil drawers that have more pens and pencils than you’ll ever use.
  • One section of your recipe box/book.
  • One bin of arts and  crafts materials, or one shelf.
  • Receipts.
  • Mail.
  • One  file folder.
  • One drawer in the bathroom.
  • Your utensils holder in the kitchen.
  • The linen closet (maybe 10 minutes here).
  • One pantry shelf.
  • One box of DVD’s, movies, photos.

When –Make it easy

The easiest way, so that you hardly notice you are decluttering, is as I did it in my business cards example.

You go looking for something and you declutter that small space.

You put away the laundry – and declutter one drawer.

You cook dinner tonight, and while you’re waiting on a part of the meal, declutter the utensils holder or your recipe box.

When you file something away next  time, take 2 minutes and weed out a file.

You sit at your computer on Monday — and declutter your file folder. Just one.

Set a timer if you need to or if you’re not cognizant of time going by so well.

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Snow & Clutter, part 5: When it’s All Clear

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

And When You’re Done

Boy doesn’t it feel great when it’s all clear, that snow or that clutter.

I feel  good that I’ve accomplished something pretty big and strenuous when I finish plowing all our driveways.

It’s all clear and ready for use, ease of use.

It feels good that it’ll be  easier for us to drive the cars, for the propane gas truck to deliver, and of course, for what the dogs need.

DSC_0162

Also, it  requires patience, which I’m sometimes short of, so I’m proud when I keep my patience the whole ride.

And it looks beautiful – for as many feet of snow mounds we have, somehow they look more beautiful when I’m done.

I feel calmer with less snow on the driveway.

As with your stuff, it’s often looking out at the space you’ve cleared that is the finest reward you give yourself.

Or sometimes it’s that you’ve done something really great for co workers or your family.

It always feels good, to clear the clutter or clear the snow.

End of series — I hope I see green lawn soon now that my tribute to the snow is over.

lake view from dr window

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