organizing stuff Archives • Page 3 of 7 • Helpful Organizer

Keep or Not Keep

May 15, 2017/2 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

If you had to guess the dollar amount of new, unopened items in your home, what would you guess? Don’t count food or paper goods. Count surplus items, unopened gifts, new clothing that hasn’t been worn, backup items, unopened craft items, new shoes that haven’t been worn, unopened tech toys, new books that haven’t been read, and any other such items. What would your guess be?

It’s estimated that the dollar amount of new, unopened items in the average American household is $7000.00. Do you believe it? I didn’t until I started counting. So, start counting? What do you come up with? Please share.

There are many reasons we purchase things that we don’t end up using, just like there are many things we hold on to for no valid reason. Making decisions on what to keep or not to keep can be challenging. Are you having trouble making decisions? Is it a struggle for you to get rid of things? I’ve devised a Keep Quiz that will help. Here are the instructions. Ask yourself the following ten questions. Please answer them honestly, and then follow the rest of the instructions.

Is it practical and will definitely be used?
Does it hold value and significance to me?
Does it fit my lifestyle and is exactly my taste?
Would it be very expensive and time consuming to replace?
Is it a genuine treasure and irreplaceable?
Does it help me live the life I want to live?
Is it one-of-a-kind and unique?
Was it hand-made just for me?
Does it hold tremendous personal value to me?
Does it bring me joy?

If you answer yes to 6 or more of the questions, yeah for you. It’s a keeper. If you answered yes to only 1 or 2 questions, it’s time to let it go. If you answered yes to 3-5 of the questions, give yourself 3 months to use the item. Put a sticky note on the item with the use-by-date. If, in 3 months, it hasn’t been used, let it go. However, if the item is meant for display, put it in a prominent place for 3 months. At the end of 3 months take the Keep Quiz again and see if you get different numbers.

How did you do on the Keep Quiz? Did it prompt you to take some action? I hope so. Please share.

Determine, Decide, Dispose

April 15, 2017/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

How easy is it for you to get rid of stuff? Deciding what is worth keeping and what needs to go, can be difficult. I follow a three step confirming process. These three steps help me confirm what I have, and decide what I need, use, and want. The first step is to determine what I have. The second step is to decide what stays and what goes. The third step is to dispose of stuff. Let me explain how this confirming process works.

The first step is to determine what I have. This means gathering and assessing. I pick a small group of items to work with at a time. Instead of working with all my clothes, I work with just my spring wardrobe. Another example is instead of working with all my books, I only work with my organizing books. This helps reduce the time needed to complete the process, and helps prevent procrastination. Once I’ve chosen which category I want to work with, I gather the items into one location and assess them.

The second step is to decide what stays and what goes. I find it helpful to have criteria for what items stay and what items go. I call them my confirming guidelines, and they help me make decisions.

Examples of confirming guidelines:
1. It has to go if it’s broken, damaged, or missing parts, and you’re not going to fix it or pay to have it fixed within 3 months.
2. It has to go if it hasn’t been used in the past 3 years and won’t be used in the next 3 years.
3. It has to go if it is more than one size too big or too small.
4. It has to go if it’s torn, stained, or moldy, and you’re not going to fix it or pay to have it fixed within 3 months.
5. It has to go if it doesn’t reflect your current lifestyle. (Use 3 year timeline.)
6. It has to go if it’s very similar or identical to another item. Keep three favorites and the rest have to go.
7. It has to go if you’ve already purchased a replacement for it.
8. It has to go if it’s something you don’t like, or something that never worked right or fit right.
9. It has to go if the reason you’re holding onto it is not a good, valid reason. (See blog articles)
10. It has to go if it brings negative thoughts or causes self doubt.

The third step is to dispose of the stuff. It helps to schedule a day for removal, whether it is donations, items to be recycled or items to be given away. Voila! Confirming process complete.

Get Rid of Stuff

November 15, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

It’s hard to get rid of stuff. I know. Holding onto stuff is much easier. I know. Gift bags and tissue paper that I’ve received, I’m holding onto because I intend to reuse them. The same applies to the vases from flowers I’ve received. Shopping bags and take out containers have multiplied in my cupboard. Boxes from recent purchases take up valuable space in my closet. Coupons and receipts fill a pocket in my purse. Face creams, lotions, and scrubs that have been rejected, sit in my bathroom cabinet. I’m not even going to mention greeting cards, instruction manuals, catalogues, adapters, or outdated phones and other devices.

Can you relate? Do you have similar items or even bigger items? Unfortunately, stuff accumulates unless we get rid of it. We have to make a conscious effort to remove stuff from our homes, otherwise piles grow and clutter happens. One successful way I’ve found to combat the piles and clutter is to remove more than you bring in, at least one day a week. If you can do two days a week, that’s even better.

You may be asking yourself, what does that look like? Let me share with you how I removed more than I brought in for a day. Here is a list of items that I brought into my house one day last week:

prescription with receipt and coupons printed on the receipt
5 pieces of mail
one purchase with credit card slip
donation receipt

Here is a list of stuff I got rid of that same day:

everyday trash
everyday recycling
returned book to library
gave 3 lists of resources to a friend
took old TV to dump
dropped off 4 pairs of shoes for donation
dropped off 5 items of electronic recycling

I brought in a total of 11 items and got rid of a total of 16 items. I must admit, I had the urge to clean out the donations and recycling that had been collecting in my garage, and that’s what made this a successful “get rid of stuff” day. The key is to have at least one “get rid of stuff” day a week. Be consistent. That is what will help combat the piles and clutter.

Another successful way to prevent accumulation is to not bring anything in. Have at least one day a week where nothing comes in. I’m not saying leave things in the garage for a day or hid them for a day. I’m saying make a conscious effort to make no purchases and allow nothing new to enter your home for a day. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?

Organizing Made Easy

October 15, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Putting things away is a very important part of organizing. It needs to be simple and easy. If it isn’t easy, we don’t do it. Therefore, a simple storage solution is the best solution.

For example a client of mine mentioned that she was frustrated with her children for leaving their dirty clothes on the floor where they took them off. I asked her where she wanted the dirty clothes. She walked into the bathroom, opened a linen closet, slid out the hamper, took off the lid, and pointed inside. I then asked her where her children changed into their pjs at night. She said right inside her bedroom door. So, she was confronted with a pile of dirty clothes each time she entered her bedroom. I’m sure we can all understand why she was frustrated. Laundry is a never ending chore that is only simplified with help from all family members. Can you guess at the solution we found? We found one that was simple and easy for her children to adopt. We moved the hamper to a spot by her bedroom door and took off the lid, and let all the children know that they were expected to put their dirty clothes in the hamper.

Another example is a client of mine explained how frustrated she was when her children left their bicycles all over the place. They were in jeopardy of getting run over when they were left in the driveway. They were always getting wet when they were left out in the rain. They were tripped over when they were left by the back door. I asked her where she wanted the bicycles to be when not in use. She answered honestly, that there was no specific spot for the bicycles to be put away, but in the winter they were up on hooks in the garage. This is understandable. Often, seasonal items are either in use or packed away. So, after some discussion we came up with a simple solutions. We used tape to mark off parking spots for the bicycles in the garage. We also labeled each parking spot and let all the children know that they were expected to park their bicycles in their spots at night.

In both of these examples we were able to find a simple storage solution with some discussion and planning. I encourage you to do the same. Keeping things organized will be much easier if you do.

An Organized Bathroom

October 1, 2016/0 Comments/in Tip of the Month/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Schedule yearly bathroom purges to help keep your space organized. Items to purge include outdated lotions, makeup, and topical skin products, broken bath toys, soiled bath linens, and expired medications and prescriptions. The Drug Enforcement Administration website has information on safe drug disposal and the national drug take-back initiative in October.

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