My blog has moved!

Hello, faithful readers!  I’ve just moved my blog over to my new and improved website.

You can now find my blog at www.organizinggoddess.com.  Just click “Helpful Hints” from the menu and select “Organizing Tips”.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks for reading,
Sharon

No More Shoulds

I have been urging my clients to banish a certain word from their vocabularies.  It’s not a four-letter word, but it has the same deleterious effect on their psyches.

That word is “should”.

As we go through the piles of stuff that have cluttered their lives, I often hear such statements as “I should read that” or “I should answer that letter” or “I should take that back to the store”.   As soon as I hear the word “should”, I know that there is guilt or shame involved because this task has remained undone. 

That puts a lot of stress on a person. 

Here are some words that I suggest instead of “should”:

• “Want to”, as in “I want to read that”.  “Want to” implies enjoyment in, or satisfaction by, completing the task.
• “Must”, as in “I must answer that letter”.  “Must” implies that there is no choice in the matter  — such as replying to a letter from the IRS.
• “Will”, as in “I will take that back to the store”.  “Will” implies that a definitive decision to do it has been made.

Unlike “should”, these three alternatives imply commitment.  An important next step in all three cases is figuring out when it is going to happen, and putting it in your calendar.   Otherwise this undone task continues to cause stress.

If you find yourself saying “should” about something, ask yourself whether any of those three alternatives could be substituted.  If not, then assume that you will not do it, and let it go.

Honey, I Shrunk the Mail

Is your home or office littered with piles of unopened mail?  Does the ever-growing pile become more and more intimidating?

Let me teach you a few tips about mail that will make you want to rush over and tackle that pile right now!

Through Thick and Thin

Suppose you have an unopened piece of mail sitting on your desk, containing a one-page bill. One page isn’t very thick, is it?  But it’s folded in thirds, so it’s actually three times as thick as it needs to be.  And it’s in an envelope, which adds an extra two thicknesses, plus there’s a reply envelope, which is another two, for a total of seven.

That means this piece of unopened mail is at least seven times thicker than the one page you really need to pay attention to.  If there are any folded inserts, or a cover letter — also folded in thirds — you’re looking at 10 to 12 times thicker.

By opening your mail, recycling all the unwanted parts, and smoothing out the important pages so that they lay flat, you can reduce that pile of mail by 90%. 

Barriers of Entry

Sealed envelopes are very intimidating.   That’s why one of the best organizing purchases you’ll ever make is a letter opener.

With a letter opener in your hand, you’ll feel empowered.  You will know that you are the master of your mail, and not vice versa.  Even if all you do every day is reach for your letter opener and slice open each of those secretive little envelopes, you’ll feel much better about tackling that mail when you have more time.

Don’t Touch My Junk

Many of my mail-phobic clients toss each day’s mail onto an ever-growing pile.  When we finally tackle it, at least one-third of it is obviously junk mail. 

Don’t let the junk mail get into the pile!  As soon as you bring the mail into the house, pull out the junk and recycle it. 

Carnac the Magnificent

Do you remember this gag that Johnny Carson used to do on The Tonight Show?  He portrayed a character called Carnac the Magnificent, who used to hold a sealed envelope up to his head and divine what it said inside.

I have worked with clients who said, “I don’t have to open that envelope.  I know what’s in it.”  Nevertheless, I insisted that we open it — and boy, were they surprised!  One client discovered an unexpected check that was on the verge of being uncashable because she had waited so long to open it. 

Another client, an attorney, thought that an entire stack of envelopes were filing receipts from a firm that did work for him on behalf of his clients.  Once again, I insisted we open all of them, and to his great surprise, he discovered they were bills and that he was several months in arrears.  He got on the phone and settled the amount right away.

Unless you are Carnac the Magnificent, don’t think that you know what’s in your mail.  The only way to know for sure is to open it up.

.  .  .

Okay now, letter openers ready?  Go get ’em!

Mary Poppins’s Closet

Yesterday I engaged my entire family in cleaning out our entryway closet. 

We are lucky enough to have walk-in closets —  designed by California Closets before we bought the apartment  —  so it is actually possible to see everything that’s in there.  Therefore, I knew we had a few items that we could get rid of.  

Frankly, I am amazed at how much stuff we are giving away!

Remember the carpet bag that Mary Poppins carried?  She was able to pull all sorts of incredible things out of it — including a wall mirror and floor lamp as tall as she was!   I think my entryway closet must be Mary Poppins’s closet.  How else to decribe the piles of stuff that came out of there?

Here’s a high-level list of what we are disposing of:

• Coats and jackets
• Scarves and hats
• Hangers
• Shoes
• Umbrellas
• Shopping bags
• Gift bags, gift wrap, tissue paper
• Appliances
• Decor items
• Cooler

The closet still holds plenty of items in these categories.  But we had too much!  Too much to ever use in our lifetimes.  I’m sure there were things that I haven’t touched since we moved in here 10 years ago.

We also pulled out all the shoes and boots that live on the bottom of the closet, vacuumed and cleaned the floor, then put the shoes and boots back in a more rational fashion.  The shoes were so often cluttered in the middle of the floor that I began calling this our “trip-in closet”.

This is a closet that we all use several times a day, and I’m delighted that we can now more easily reach the things we really use and that there is now room for expansion.

Take some time to attack your most frequently used closet.  If it’s too much to do at once, divide it into sections (hanging items, shelves, floor) and do them at separate times.  Get the whole family involved.  You’ll be amazed at how much easier life will be when you’ve cleared away what you are no longer using.

Now, if you know where I can buy one of those Mary Poppins handbags, let me know.

Ballet Flats: A Cautionary Tale

Every so often, I like to write about something really boneheaded that I did.  This is so that you can learn from my mistakes, and also so that you can see that being organized is challenging even for professional organizers.

Thus, the tale of the ballet flats.

Ever since ballet flats became popular a few years ago, I’ve wanted a pair.  This was completely unrealistic, as I’m a difficult fit for shoes, and I hate wearing shoes without socks, except for sandals.  Nevertheless, I dreamed of looking dainty in a pair of ballet flats.

MISTAKE NUMBER ONE:  Longing for something that does not match your lifestyle.

For you men out there who have no idea of what ballet flats are, here is a photo of a ballet flat.  As a matter of fact, this is a photo from the Easy Spirit website of the very ballet flats that I purchased over the summer.  (Isn’t it adorable?)  Easy Spirit is just a couple of blocks from my home, and as I passed the store, I saw a SALE sign in the window.   I happened to be in that rare state where I wasn’t expected anywhere, was not carrying anything,  and did not have my dog with me.  So I went in.

MISTAKE NUMBER TWO:  Allowing a SALE sign to lure you into a store that you had no intention of visiting. 

I tried on different sale shoes, and the only ones that were comfortable were these adorable gold ballet flats.   Plus they were really soft.   My dream of wearing ballet flats glimmered before me, and I bought them.  (Did I mention that they were on sale?)

I made sure that they were returnable (yes, within 30 days) , so that I could break them in at home and then take them back if they didn’t feel good.   Within the first week, it became clear that these shoes were not as comfortable as they had seemed in the store.  Rather than accept that, I went to the drug store and bought some peds to see if that would help.

MISTAKE NUMBER THREE: Throwing good money after bad.

I continue to sporadically break them in, keeping the 30-day return limit in the back of my mind, but never feeling like I was ready to take them for a spin.  Even after the 30 days had elapsed (my bad), I didn’t wear them.  I was in complete denial.

MISTAKE NUMBER FOUR:   Getting stuck with an item simply because it’s too late to return it.

Finally, nearly two months after I bought them, I took them on their first voyage . . . and their last.  They didn’t get any more comfortable wearing them outdoors (and on the subway) than they did at home.  I vowed not to wear them again.

But what should I do with them now?  Donate them?  Sell them on eBay?   Sticking them up in the back of the closet and trying to forget about them was just not an option.  They had to GO!

The answer presented itself two days later when a younger, hipper friend visited us.  I suddenly remembered that she and I wore the same shoe size.  “Do you like ballet flats?” I asked.  She did.  She wore them for the rest of the evening, and I’m happy to say she took them home with her.

So the story had a happy ending – for both of us!  I got the offending shoes out of my life, and she got a brand new pair of shoes for nothing.

I have a feeling that a lot of the stuff cluttering up our homes got there because we bought something we thought we would like and then never took action when we realized that the purchase was a mistake.   The easiest way to avoid this is to not let things into our homes in the first place.

I hope you learned something from this cautionary tale.  I know I did.

 

Hooks at Your Command

 

One of my six basic organizing principles is “Think Vertically”.  I advise my New York City clients to take advantage of wall space, since we don’t have much in the way of floor space!  Like skyscrapers, we have no place to expand except up.

 

That’s why one of my favorite organizing products is Command™ Hooks by 3M.   Command™ Hooks come in a variety of types, styles, and finishes — and the best part is, they won’t ruin your wall.  They stick to the wall but are easily removable.   If you need to take one down and move it, no problem. 

 

I have used Command™ Hooks for many purposes:  

• Keep potholders handy next to the stove
• Prevent keys from being misplaced
• Stow my coat on the back of my office door
• Store my handbag inside the closet
• Mount a shoe bag

In addition to hooks, Command™ products include picture hangers, cord organizers, and charging stations.   There’s even a new water-resistant line that can be hung in the shower, including shower caddies and soap dishes.

You can see all of the different Command™ products on their web site.   Be sure to watch the cool video!   You can buy them at the Container Store, your local hardware store, Amazon.com, and at many places on the web.

Before long, I’ll bet they’ll be among your favorite organizing products, too.

To-Do Lists – Paper vs. Electronic

Last time, I wrote some basic guidelines for creating effective to-do lists.  Today I’ll cover the burning question of whether it is better to keep your to-do list on paper or electronically.

Keep It Handy

The most important factor in determining how you are going to keep your to-do list is:  which method will guarantee that you will always have your to-do list handy? 

You want a method that allows you to capture tasks as they occur to you.  Suppose you run into a colleague or client, and make a commitment to find out an answer and get back to him or her.  If you don’t have your to-do list handy so that you can record that commitment right away, there is the risk that it will be forgotten.  We are all too busy to remember commitments made on the fly.

Keep It Real

Have you ever created a to-do list that is so long, you feel exhausted and defeated just looking at it?

Electronic to-do lists have the disadvantage that they can go on forever.  There’s no obstacle to adding task after task after task.   Paper to-do lists tend to be a bit more realistic because they are likely to contain the most current tasks, not every task you ever thought of over the last 6 months.

Using either method, you can keep your to-do list realistic by limiting it to the tasks that are most likely to be done in the next week.   I call that the “Now” list.  All other tasks should be kept on a “Later” list.  That enables you to focus on the short-term tasks, while still keeping track of the stuff that you want to do beyond this week.  You can transfer tasks from “Later” to “Now” as they increase in priority.

Take It Easy

Whichever method you use, make sure it’s one that you can easily maintain.  The most sophisticated task management program in the world is not going to help you if you have difficulty using it. 

If you decide to go the electronic route, make sure that you are comfortable using your program. 

The Bottom Line

It’s completely a matter of preference whether to use a paper to-do list or an electronic version.  As long as you keep in mind the guidelines above — as well as the ones I wrote about last time — you should be in good shape.

You’re probably wondering what I use.  For the last 20 years, I have been a Franklin Planner user.  So I’m in the paper universe and likely to remain there.   My little book contains my prioritized task list for each day, my calendar, and notes that I jot down throughout the day.

What method do you use, and how is it working for you?

To Do or Not To Do

Ah, the to-do list.  Some people hate them, some people swear by them.  As a Professional Organizer who teaches time management skills, I’ve seen my share of non-effective to-do lists.

Here are some guidelines for creating and following a manageable to-do list.

Keep Only One To-Do List

Some folks keep a to-do list for work and a to-do list for home.   This is a clear case of 1 + 1 = 0.  An effective to-do list should help you to answer the perennial question, “What should I be doing right now?”  Unless there are two of you, having multiple to-do lists will only confound the answer.

Perhaps in the old days when people worked from 9 am to 5 pm and left work behind when they left the office, it was possible to separate one’s life into “business” vs. “home”.  Nowadays, however, we do plenty of work when we are away from the office, just as we must often take care of personal matters during business hours. 

Maintaining one to-do list will enable you to make the best use of your time, no matter where you are.

Put Tasks on Your To-Do List, not Projects

Are there items on your to-do list that you avoid because they are too big and scary?  Chances are these items are projects, not tasks.

A task is something that you can do and then cross off your list.  A project, on the other hand, consists of multiple tasks.  For example, “Redecorate the living room”.  This is a multi-step project which has no place on a to-do list.  The first step of that project might be “Buy decorating magazines”.  That’s an item that can be done and crossed off the list. 

When you find yourself putting a project on your to-do list, take a separate piece of paper and list all the tasks that make up that project.  Then put the first task on your to-do list, and don’t add any additional tasks until that first one is done.  By tackling it in small pieces, you’ll see yourself progressing on the project without intimidating yourself!

Prioritize Your To-Do List

Faced with a list of tasks, the tendency is to do the shortest and easiest ones first so that you can cross off as many items as possible.  However, at the end of the day you’ll realize you didn’t do anything substantial — just a lot of busy work.

Not all tasks are created equal.  Some items are more important and more timely than others.  To keep yourself on track, prioritize your task list every morning.  If your list is long, then identify the top five items.  If you make it through all of those, then identify the next five.

Rewrite your list every day and reprioritize it, as priorities change from day to day and yesterday’s low priority task could be today’s showstopper.

Next Time . . .

Next week I’ll tackle the burning question of electronic to-do lists vs. paper to-do lists!

Schedule It or Toss It

Did you ever have in your hand an invitation to an event, or a schedule of upcoming lectures, performances, or exhibits that sounded interesting but which you weren’t ready to commit to? 

Chances are you added the invitation or schedule to a pile of paper on your desk, or put it somewhere in your file cabinet.  Months later, you came across it and said, “Oh, I’m really sorry I missed that”, and threw it out.

So what really happened here?

Veteran organizer Barbara Hemphill once said, “Clutter is postponed decisions.”  By refusing to make a decision about this event and putting the paper aside, you essentially turned that paper into clutter.  In the off chance that you discovered it again before the date had passed, you might have made a decision then, and maybe even gone and enjoyed it.  But most likely the opportunity was lost.

Here’s an alternate way to approach this.

You’ve got an invitation or schedule in your hand.  You look it over, then add the event to your calendar with a question mark or a “maybe” next to the name.  You file the paper in your file cabinet.  As the date approaches, you see it in your calendar, pull out the paper, and make a final decision.  If the answer is yes, you make arrangements to go.  If the answer is no, you recycle it.

Isn’t that much better time and paper management?

I’m not suggesting that you have to make a decision on every event the minute you hear about it.  What I am saying is that you need to decide when you are going to decide.  Putting it in your calendar as tentative is a way to remind you later that a decision still needs to be made.  If you are not going to plan when to decide, then you might as well just toss it now instead of leaving it to chance.

Stop Misplacing Your Glasses

Has this ever happened to you?  You put your glasses down someplace, and then you can’t find them because you aren’t wearing your glasses! 

I wear glasses for distance, so I take them off when I get home.   I also need them when I am watching television.   I try to put them down in the same place every time, but the reality is I am not always consistent.

So I vowed to find a product so fun to use that I would be guaranteed to put my glasses there every time.  And I found one!

The Eye Bod

It’s call the Eye Bod, and it is an adorable little glass creature with a bulbous nose and a slot in the middle of  his head just perfect for your earpieces.  

I get such a kick out of putting my glasses on this little fella, so he keeps me fairly consistent.  

I bought the Eye Bod at a fun store in my Upper East Side neighborhood called Maxiga.  If you’re nowhere near the UES, you can buy it online at Joie de Vivre, Moxie, or Gazebo Gift Co.  Or simply search for “Eye Bods Eyeglass Holder” on the web.