So far, I have seen Organizing as the main topic in three March magazines. Redbook has a great article on managing your time, Reader’s Digest devoted their “what they won’t tell you” section to Professional Organizers and Oprah’s theme is “De-Clutter Your Life 2014!” in the March issue of O. I’ll give you my favorite parts of each of the three articles.
In the Redbook article on managing your time, they state an opinion I agree with: “We’ve convinced ourselves that extreme busyness is a virtue.” I find this to be so true in our current daily lives. It’s an American theme that we work too much as mentioned in this fact: “Office culture rewards extreme hours – Americans work longer days and have the least vacation time of any country.” So what is the solution? The article suggests having no more than seven items on your to-do list (which is all our brains can handle). Also, prioritize your lists and leave the small stuff (folding laundry) to 5% or less of your time. I say, instead of feeling guilty if you are not running crazy 24/7, try to schedule yourself less. Say no to the extra committee meeting or volunteer job every once in awhile and turn all of your technology off for an hour each evening and half a day on the weekends for family time.
The “13 Things Professional Organizers Won’t Tell You” in the Reader’s Digest article includes a few of my favorite organizing tips for clients. #8 is do not waste your money on a storage unit. “You could buy all the stuff that’s in there for the price of the annual rental fee – and that doesn’t include the cost of the moving truck.” #10 is about having a home for all of your belongings. My advice to my clients is always: if you know where everything goes and spend five minutes a day putting things where they go, you will never have to spend hours trying to find items you’ve misplaced or waste money re-buying things.
Oprah has Peter Walsh giving advice in her March O magazine. My new favorite quote from Peter Walsh is also about having a home for all of your belongings. He says “everyone has a place in their house for forks. If you found a random fork in the bathroom or under the couch, you’d immediately know it didn’t belong there and would return it to it’s drawer without another thought. Everything in your life should be this easy to put away. If an item occupies no specific location when it’s not in use, it becomes clutter.”
Some more quotes from Peter Walsh: “That ugly sweater your mother gave you is not your mother.” “When you put things into a pile to deal with later, you have lost the battle.” I hear both of these excuses from my clients every day. They are afraid to part with a gift because it might hurt someone’s feelings but the person who gave you that gift was not intending it to become a burden to you. The second quote is pure procrastination. Deal with it now so it does not become stress later. This is especially important when it come to mail. Deal with it immediately, don’t let it pile on top of a counter or surface it doesn’t belong.
I am thrilled to see organization getting so much attention in mainstream media and print. Being organized is now the cool thing to do. It’s also a great way to make your life less stressful and increase your time so you can spend time doing what you love.
If you would like some help with your time or clutter management, give us a call at 404-825-2105 or e-mail heather@simplyorganizedyou.com.