Your Organizing Coach

Declutter Your Reading List

It's book chapter Wednesday. Here you go! Like it? You can buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #9

Reading List

Reading material constitutes a lot of the paper that people struggle with. If you get two daily newspapers, a few weekly magazines and 5-6 monthly publications, your reading pile gets high very quickly. Clipping articles for later is a good strategy, but it’s also time consuming and recommended only for important information you can’t get elsewhere or will use immediately.

Keep your paper stacks under control by making sure you allow time to read all that you subscribe to and when you can’t, that you get rid of back issues to make room for the new ones. This requires being honest about how much time you can and will devote to reading. Newspapers and news magazines should be the first to go because they become obsolete so quickly.

Right now:
If you still have yesterday’s newspaper or last week’s magazines, put them in the recycling now.

 

It's book chapter Wednesday (um, Thursday). Here you go! Like it? You can buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #8

Reduce Gift Clutter

Request non-cluttering gifts such gourmet food, show tickets, donations in your name, wine, flowers, etc. It may seem awkward at first to tell friends and family about your new policy; after all, they’re giving you a gift! But it can also help them to know that you’re going to like what they give you and they don’t have to try to read your mind. There may always be an Aunt Martha who insists on giving you an unwanted fruitcake. Refer back to Simple Way #7 for advice.

Make it your policy to give clutter-free gifts yourself. Ask what they want. Develop your own selection of gifts such as memberships, special excursions or a personal service that you provide.

Right now:
Make a list of gifts you’d like to get so when people ask you, or when holidays are coming up, you can suggest them.

 

Must You Keep a Gift?

It's book chapter Wednesday. Here you go! Like it? You can buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #7

Unwanted Gifts

Don’t hang onto gifts you’ve received just because they were gifts. Anything that does not please you or have an important use to you is not worth keeping in your life. Of course, it’s important to be tactful and not hurt the giver’s feelings. However, there’s no point to feeling guilty about not wanting a gift.

What is a gift? Ideally, it’s an expression of gratitude or friendship. That’s the most important part. When the giver and receiver participate in this exchange, they both win. Once you accept a gift and give thanks, you are free to do whatever you want with it. The same goes for gifts you give.

Try to avoid getting stuck in believing that it’s your responsibility to find a good home for an unwanted gift. That’s what recycling centers and thrift stores are for. Your job is to get it out of the house as fast as possible.

Right now:

Find a gift in your closet that you’ve been saving because you feel guilty getting rid of it. Put it in your donation bag or pass it on to someone you know will appreciate it.

 

Don't Sort Things Unless Absolutely Necessary

Here's Chapter 6 of my book. Not exactly keeping to the Every Wednesday plan. I may have to spend some time automating this procedure (make it happen automagically!). You can read right now, or buy the ebook here. Note: if you're going to read right now, why not take the action step too? Just sayin'.

Simple Way #6

Avoid Sorting

Don’t sort paper unnecessarily. For instance, If you do not claim bills on your taxes, don’t waste time filing them into separate folders for electricity, phone, garbage, etc. In the unlikely event you need to look at an old bill, you’ll have to thumb through a large bill folder. But that will take you less time than filing each one individually every month.

When you do need to look at those old bills, you’ll know where to go; that one folder. As soon as you finish paying bills, file them. When people have a folder for each company, they often put off the filing and stack them somewhere for later, which means they often can’t find them when they need them.

Right now:

Label a new folder “Paid Bills.” Find those unsorted, paid statements on your desk and put them in there.

 

Give Your Belongings a Home

Time for a new book chapter. I've been posting them every Wednesday but yesterday, well, I forgot. So, herewith, Chapter 5, or buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #5

Assign Homes

It’s much easier to put things away when you know where they go. How do you know? You just decide. Base your decision on how much there is, whether you need it to be handy and what size and shape container makes sense. For example, paper can go in stacking trays, wall mounted slots, cute baskets, paperboard magazine holders; etc. Use what appeals to you and what is logical to you.

To improve their effectiveness, label your containers. You may think it’s obvious but your brain will recognize a labeled container much faster than an unlabelled one, which makes putting things away easier.

Right now:

If you don’t have containers yet, start by labeling your piles with Post-It Notes. Note: try to resist buying containers until you know what size you need.

 

Don't Put Off Shredding

Here's chapter three of my new book. Every Wednesday there's a new chapter. You can read them here, or buy the ebook here.

Simple Way #3

Shred
Almost every day you get mail that’s got sensitive information in it that should be shredded. Don’t stack it up somewhere to shred later! Shred it right away. Otherwise, you end up with a shopping bag full and the idea of sitting next to the shredder for an hour is not very attractive (it’ll be too loud for you to watch TV at the same time). Get a quality shredder (one that won’t jam or freak out over staples) and put it where you usually sort mail and paper. Then you can shred as you go.

What you shred depends on your personal comfort level. Some people like to shred anything with their name and address on it, but that’s a lot of work and will not do much to protect your identity. The important items to shred are ones with your signature, social security number or any account number (this includes credit card offers). Additionally, anything with legal or medical information about you should be shredded.

Right now:

If you haven’t gone through today’s mail, look at it now and see if you can find something that needs shredding. Then shred it!

 

Getting Organized Ebook on Sale Now

Last week I had a great plan to publish my book one chapter at a time every week for a year. And at some point offer it for sale, after I made more edits, polished it up, changed around some stuff, added new ideas, etc. When I told a friend about this brilliant plan she looked me in the eye and said, why don't you just publish it NOW?

I took a deep breath and realized she was right. Not that I won't make any edits (it's virtually impossible for me not to), but giving myself permission to make edits constantly could mean that it will never be ready for sale. I don't want to be one of those people who writes a book and then sits on it forever. So, herewith, the book is ready! This page will tell you more.

Oh, I still will publish chapters every week, but you can have immediate gratification by purchasing it right now.

Woman reading from cliff1066™'s photostream.

Donating Clutter

Here's the second chapter of my new book.

Simple Way #2

Donations
Make it easy to give things away to charity. It’s one thing to decide that your old green sweater or the picture frame you got as a gift and never used can go. It’s another thing to get it out of the house. Here’s how.

Put an empty shopping bag in your closet. Whenever you come across an item of clothing you don’t want anymore, chuck it in there. Put bags in other places too; the kitchen, the garage, the front hall closet; wherever you might encounter something that makes sense to donate. When you have a bag filled up, make a trip to the donation station and drop them off. Don’t forget to start a new bag!

Right now:

Find a bag and put it in your bedroom closet. Label it “Donations” so you don’t forget why it’s there.

 

Get My Organizing Book for Free

Get my book one chapter at a time for free! I've written the second draft of my book, 52 Simple Ways to Get Organized. I could start on draft number three, but I want to get it out there where it can help people (that why I wrote it). This will be kind of a beta version of my book because I'll be asking for your feedback as I go. 

The deal is that I'll post a new chapter here on the blog every week, probably on Wednesday (I'm making this up as I go along). I will also offer a subscription program so you can sign up to get a new chapter every week via email (should be up by next week). After a year, you'll have the whole thing!

I can’t guarantee that what you'll have will be the same as the finished book because 1) I will use reader feedback to make it better as I go along and 2) I find it very hard not to rewrite things when I get a brainstorm to do so. Ideally, the final version will be even better.

The book is made up of 52 short chapters. Each chapter is about an organizing tip or technique, briefly introduced, with an action step you can take right now. It could be used as a year-long program to gradually create your perfect organizing system. It can also work if you open it at random when you just want to know one quick improvement you can make right now.

My style is more Heloise than Proust (i.e., short, not long). I like to address a specific problem with an immediate solution so that you can get back to whatever you were doing, and be doing it more easily. Without further ado, here's chapter one.

Simple Way #1

Piles
Feeling overwhelmed by those piles of paper everywhere? It can be a challenge to figure out how to tackle them. My suggestion: start at the bottom of the pile. The stuff on the bottom is older and by now most of it is irrelevant. Isn’t that handy?

It’s usually much easier to make a decision about something that’s been hanging around for a long time. Sometimes the decision gets made for you because you’ve missed a deadline or an offer. Sometimes you’re just not interested anymore so the energy has gone out of it. Just say goodbye and toss it.

Right now:


Go find a pile, pull out the bottom piece of paper and see if you can get rid of it. If not, put it where it belongs. If for some reason you can’t do that right now, at least stick a Post-It on there telling you where to put it.
 

 

Multitasking vs. Creativity

Here's another, unsung reason that multitasking is not so great: it stifles creativity. I've been reading Marc Lesser's book, Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less. He focuses a lot on what "doing" is. Much "doing" is what he calls busyness. It's extra effort we put in because we feel it's required, or we're just not comfortable not doing, or we crave activity of some kind.

Often we multitask by listening to tapes while driving, or talking on the phone while taking a walk. It feels good to get those two tasks out of the way by doing them at the same time. Yet when we're driving or washing dishes or walking around the lake, we're not really doing just that one thing.

We're letting our minds wander a bit, observing what's around us, feeling the soapy water on our hands. Those are the times when insights come to us. I'm talking about "aha" moments such as the famous one Archimedes had in the bath. And this is not just for artists and scientists. Creativity is important in all facets of life.

The next time your find yourself trying to get too much done in too little time by doing it all at once, remember that if you allow some space, some ease to come in, the answers may come with them. You won't always have a magnificent brainstorm when you let your mind be quiet. Regular practice encourages your brain to think in new ways and make you more productive without working harder.

Peaceful walking from LaPrimaDonna's photostream