Organizing – Five Ways to Save

Posted on 01/27/2012 by Joyce

Here are five simple ways to approach organizing that can save you time, money and aggravation.

1. Invest time to save time

How it works is that either we take the time to get organized or we end up wasting time looking for things. And we waste both time and money buying things we already own when we can’t find them. Organizing supports a busy and efficient lifestyle. If things have gotten a bit out of control in your environment, you’ll initially need to build some time into your schedule to get things organized into systems.

2. Be proactive rather than reactive

Once organized, take a small amount of time, ideally daily, to use the systems you’ve created. Put things back where they belong. You do this by building organizing into the “nooks and crannies” of your life. However, it’s normal to let things build up a little (see Tuesday’s blog post) – just don’t let things go to a point that they get out of control – or it’s ultimately a lot more challenging to sort it all out.

3. Deal with it now

If you can do things in a short amount of time, do them right in the moment – rather than putting them off. This is one of the keys to staying organized.

4. Schedule your tasks

If you are busy and need to let things go – then schedule time on your calendar to get back to them. Then make sure and follow through.

5. Work with your energy – instead of against it

When you schedule time on your calendar to organize, check your focus and energy and make sure they’re right for organizing. Don’t try to push against your energy and force it. There’s some balance to applying gentle self-discipline versus doing things when you just don’t have the energy for it. If you never, or rarely, have the energy for organizing – and find it confusing and painful – hire a professional organizer to help you through the process.

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When is it Time to Organize?

Posted on 01/25/2012 by Joyce

I tell people that I’m “Wilde About Organizing Homes, Businesses and Lifestyles.” It’s my slogan and it fits me. I enjoy helping people get organized – and teaching them how to stay organized.

Sometimes people tease that I’m obsessive-compulsive. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m a little that way – it makes me a good organizer – however I’m pretty balanced, in the sense that I can let things go. I find that there’s a normal flow with the buildup of needing to organize. For example, sometimes I’m busy with my writing, or I’d rather take a yoga class than do my filing!

Then I start to get uncomfortable. The filing is stacking up; here and there things are getting cluttered. It’s kind of like a wave building up to its peak. Pretty soon I can’t stand it anymore and I need to “get into action” to remedy the situation.

Sometimes when clients contact me for organizing assistance, it feels like they’ve gotten to this point. Things have been put off and built up to a level that they can’t stand it any more!

I always feel honored when folks contact me to help them. I’m the least judgmental person you will meet, and I show up ready to figure things out and help calm things down.

Organizing is sometimes a challenge for people because it just isn’t “in their genes.” Or they never saw it role-modeled. Often their parents struggled with being organized. And usually people don’t know where to begin, or how to create categories, or they find that it’s hard to let go of things… I help with all of that.

For whatever reason, I am naturally organized. I move through time and space in an organized way. And honestly, there’s no mystery to it; there’s no magic wand that organizes things. It’s an ongoing process and sometimes it just requires self-discipline – along with some “elbow grease and shoe-leather.” It’s a matter of making an effort in a focused way on what needs organized. 

Sometimes, when things have built up and I’m ready to sort them out, I tell myself, “Do this for 20 minutes” (or 10 or 30, or whatever amount). Usually once I get started, I can stay with the task for as long as it takes. Once I get myself over the “Get started with it already!” hurdle, then the task isn’t as bad or as hard as I think.

If you don’t know where to begin, are not able to get started, don’t know how to create categories, or are unable to let go of things, it may be time to contact a professional organizer. Give me a call!

Posted in Being positive, Change, Declutter, Organizing | Comments Off

Organizing Ourselves for Peaceful Personal Growth – Part 4

Posted on 01/20/2012 by Joyce

 When we reorganize our physical environment it affects our mental/ emotional environment – and vice versa. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time reorganizing both aspects of my life. Actually, I’ve organized myself from the inside out, you could say.

I do this by really paying attention as life is unfolding. I listen to what’s being communicated by the universe and deliberately make an effort to learn from it. Continue reading →

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Organizing Ourselves for Peaceful Personal Growth – Part 3

Posted on 01/17/2012 by Joyce

In my last blog post I mentioned a quote by Mohandas Gandhi that I like: “Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.”

The attitude reflected in this quote relates to how we can motivate and choose to organize ourselves for peaceful personal growth. Here’s how:

We increase our awareness of what we’re experiencing in our lives by being fully Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness, Being positive, Change, Consciousness, Create, Empower, Goals, Lifestyle, motivate, Organizing, Peace, Personal Growth, Progress, Psychology, Questions, Responsibility, Take Inventory | Comments Off

Organizing Ourselves for Peaceful Personal Growth – Part 2

Posted on 01/13/2012 by Joyce

More thoughts on the subject of organizing ourselves for peaceful personal growth…

About ten years ago I worked in a psychiatric rehabilitation facility as a residential manager. I was given the responsibility and honor of overseeing 15 severely mentally ill individuals. I cared for these special folks with a staff of psychiatric nurses and rehabilitation activity leaders.

I found the residents of the facility delightful – and sometimes challenging to deal with. Equally delightful and challenging to deal with  – though in different ways – were the staff.

The staff members would frequently come to me with their concerns and complaints, which was normal and appropriate. However, I noticed that these discussions felt stressful and heavy and not very productive. I was left feeling that the situations were hopeless and unmanageable and I’d just had things dumped in my lap. Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness, Being positive, Challenge, Change, Co-create, Empower, Organizing, Peace, Personal Growth, Psychology, Responsibility | Comments Off

Organizing Ourselves for Peaceful Personal Growth – Part 1

Posted on 01/10/2012 by Joyce

I’ve been pondering the subject of organizing for peaceful personal growth and wanted to share a story.

I used to work in a psychiatric rehabilitation facility as the residential manager. There were 15 severely mentally ill residents living in the “casa” (home) I managed. 

Often the residents would come to me with their complaints. I made it my habit to receive them – with a caveat. They could complain all they wanted to me, if first they would write a list of 10 things for which they were grateful. Continue reading →

Posted in Being positive, Challenge, Change, Create, gratitude, Organizing, Peace, Personal Growth, Responsibility, Take Inventory | Comments Off