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Sharing Organizing News With My Mom

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

When I saw that it was my Mom on my caller-ID this morning, I smiled to myself. I always enjoy hearing from her. It’s nice to chat, listen to her current news, and share my own. The news I shared with her today was about the 30-Day Minimalism Game that my husband and I are participating in for the month of June. I explained that the game is played by getting rid of one thing on the first day of the month, two things on the second day of the month, three things on the third day, and so on. Whoever can go the longest and get rid of the most things, wins. She was amazed that we would play such a game, and impressed that we were still at it on day 15.

I shared with my Mom how we got inspired to play the game after bringing the film Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things to a local theater, and viewing it with 80 other interested viewers. It was an inspiring film that moved my husband and I into action. As of this date, we have each gotten rid of 120 things. So far it hasn’t been too difficult for either of us, but the game instructions warned us that it gets much more difficult after two weeks , which is now. (I’ll be writing more on the subject when the month is over.)

My Mom shared that she has been cleaning out and getting rid of stuff also. She mentioned that she got rid of some extra bed pillows that she wasn’t using. She also went through her wardrobe and got rid of some clothes that she doesn’t wear. The last thing she mentioned was donating her old greeting cards to St. Judes for recycling. This made me smile even more.

It’s always wonderful to get a phone call from my Mom, but it’s even more special when she shares her organizing stories. As a Professional Organizer I can’t helped but get pumped up when I hear stories about other people organizing and cleaning out their spaces. If you have a story to tell please share it with me.

Lessons Learned From Clients

June 6, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Being a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) is educational and rewarding. As a member I receive valuable training, business support, and resources. One of the best benefits is the collaboration with other Organizers. There are several smaller groups within the association, and one that I belong to is Golden Circle. We meet 4 times a year to discuss a specific topic, to offer each other support, to get to know each other a little better, and to socialize. Last month we met to discuss lessons we’ve learned from our clients. Everyone had such valuable insights to share.

One important lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not easy to accept reality, especially when it means that our dreams are unattainable. For example a client of mine had collected large amounts of books with the dream of spending hours enjoying her books. Although she wanted my help to sort, reduce, categorize, and organize these books, the reality was that her eyesight was going, and she would never be able to read the majority of her books. My practical, organized self, encouraged her to reduce and let go, until she said to me one day, “What if the doctors are wrong, and my eyesight improves?” That is when I realized that she wasn’t giving up on her dream. So, I needed to respect that, and not be a dream crusher. Coincidentally, it was not an easy reality for me to accept.

Here are some lessons we (Professional Organizers from NAPO-NE Golden Circle) have learned from our clients:

It’s necessary to give up our right to be right.
We’re like Velcro. We throw out solutions and some stick and some don’t.
Everyone is good a something.
We’re done when our clients are done.
There is value in talking and communicating, not only physically organizing.
Our clients motivate us to walk the walk, and organize and reduce in our own homes.
Everyone organizes at their own pace.
It takes courage to ask for help.
We never know someone’s whole story.
If we can remain neutral, we allow our clients to arrive at their own best solution.
We affect each other in powerful ways.
We all need personal support in our lives.
The first step for change is a shift in perspective.
You’re not a hoarder if you can see the floor.
Running a home is a business in, and of, itself (the business of living).
Sometimes it’s about me, the organizer.
We don’t know what we don’t know.
Organizing is not always a priority.
It’s all relative.
GRATITUDE!

Another lesson I’ve learned is that simple solutions are often the best solutions. To read more, click here.

How To Get Unstuck When Organizing

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

Organizing is action. So the best way to get unstuck is to take action.

When I was working with a client who was downsizing, she got stuck when we addressed her books. I found her standing in front of her two bookcases, with a puzzled expression. When I asked her what she was thinking, she said she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to start or what steps to take to reduce the number of books she had. This feeling of not knowing what to do, stopped her from taking ANY action. So, I guided her towards action. I picked up a book and asked her what she wanted to do with it. She could keep it, donate it, recycle it, or, if the book belonged to her husband, she could ask him what he wanted to do with it. We created 4 stacks and sorted all the books from her two bookcases. By providing her with 4 categories and the direction to sort the books into one of those 4 groups, she was able to take action and become unstuck.

A similar situation arose when I was working with a client who was avoiding a room in her home that had become a catch all for stuff that her family didn’t have time to deal with or put away. She dreaded going into this room, and got depressed looking at it. Needless to say, I was surprised and proud of her, when she declared that she was ready to tackle this room. Let me clarify. She was ready to tackle this room with my guidance and help. So, once again, I guided my client towards action. I picked up a basket of things and asked her to tell me who they belonged to. That is all I wanted her to do. We had 5 piles by the time we emptied the first basket, items that belonged to her, items that belonged to her son, items that belonged to her daughter, items that belonged to the house (ie. house hold items), and items that didn’t belong to anyone (ie. give away items). As we made our way through more baskets, she marveled at how easy it was to get unstuck and take action once she realized what action to take.

I understand it is not always easy to get unstuck and figure out how to start an organizing project. So remember a good place to start is to take action, and do that by sorting items into categories.

10 Points on Which I Agree With Marie Kondo

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

The popular book by Marie Kondo, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tiding Up” has been a topic of many discussions between my Professional Organizer colleagues and myself. I found that I agree with many of Marie Kondo’s points, as long as you substitute the word organizing in place of the word tidying. Here is a list of 10 points on which I agree:

In most societies tidying (i.e. organizing) is the job that keeps the home livable, but is not taught because of the misconception that the ability to tidy (i.e. organizing) is acquired through experience and doesn’t require training. I agree with this point, because organizing is a skill that needs to be taught, learned, and, most of all, practiced.
Effective tidying (i.e. organizing) is discarding and deciding where to store things. I agree with this point, because organizing is action. It’s discarding, in a timely manner, what is no longer wanted, needed, or used. It’s also deciding where to put things, and returning those things to the same spot every time they are used.
Tidying (i.e. organizing) is a dialogue with one’s self. I agree with this point, because when we perform the actions of organizing, discarding and deciding, we have internal dialogues with ourselves.
Focus more on what you want to keep in your life and space than on what you want to get rid of. I agree with this point, because it’s easier to make decisions when we focus on what’s important to us and worth keeping in our lives and spaces.
It’s easy to part with things where there is an obvious reason for doing so, but it’s much more difficult when there is no compelling reason. I agree with this point, because we often hold onto things out of indecision or obligation.
Sometimes never comes. I agree with this point, because when we use the word “sometimes” it is most likely an excuse. The phrases, “I might need that sometime.” or “I might use that sometime.”, are excuses to keep an item, instead of accepting that we don’t need it, and that it is time to let it go.
If you have lived in Japan or USA all your life, you have almost certainly been surrounded by more than you need. I agree with this point, because it’s estimated that the amount of unopened merchandise in an average American home is $7,00.00.
Clutter is cause by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away, not the effort to get them out. I agree with this point, because more people have trouble putting things away than they do in getting them out.
Discarding hones one’s decision-making skills. I agree with this point, because practice improves the skill of organizing.
Tidying (i.e. organizing) ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in. I agree with this point, because it has been proven that organized people are less stressed.

How to Decide When It’s Time to Organize

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

How often do we organize? Do we let the mess and clutter build and build before you reclaim order? How do we decide when it’s time to organize? The answers to these questions vary for each individual, based on tolerance and desire.

Every individual has their own personal level of tolerance for disorder, meaning how much mess they are willing to live with before they clean it up. If we have a low tolerance for disorder, we don’t allow mess to happen or spread. However, if we have high tolerance for disorder, we find that clutter grows and spreads before we realize it’s out of control.

Additional, every individual has their own personal desired level of order, meaning how much clutter they can live with before they take action and remove it. If we desire a high level of order, we have systems in place that prevent clutter from happening. However, if our desire for order is low, we allow the mess to get out of control.

The best solution is to determine when it’s time to organize, and then take action before the mess and clutter get out of control. Here are 3 basic guidelines we can use to determine when it’s time to take action and organize.

Time Guideline
Quantity Guideline
Visual Assessment Guideline

A Time Guideline is when we use a specific time or day as the cue to take action and organize. Here are a few examples. Every night before eating dinner, we put away what’s collected on the kitchen/dinning room table. Every night at 8:00PM, we organize and prepare for the next day. The last Saturday of every month, we take care of recycle items and donate items. Every September, we clean out the garage.

A Quantity Guideline is when we use a specific unit of measure to determine when it’s time to take action and organize. Here are a few examples. When our inbox is an inch deep, we process all the mail. When the shred box is full, we empty it by shredding it’s contents. When the magazine rack is full, we remove and recycle 5 magazines. When we have two weeks worth of old newspapers, we recycle them.

A Visual Assessment Guideline is when you use a specific visual cue to determine when it’s time to take action and organize. Here are a few examples. When we can’t see the desk, we organize the desk. When the floor of the walk-in closet is hidden, we organize the closet. When there are too many items on the kitchen counter, we clear it off and put things away.

Based on our personal tolerance and desire we’ll be drawn to a specific type of guideline. The key is to find guidelines that work and stick with them, because trouble occurs when we don’t establish any guidelines, we ignore our guidelines, or we’re unable to maintain our guidelines.

So, the best way to decide when it’s time to organize is to first look at our tolerance for disorder and our personal desired level of order. Second, establish organizing guidelines. Third, follow the guidelines that have been established. Remember, the best guideline is the one we will DO.

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