Tag: getting organized

Ways To Put Fun In Your Home Organizing Project

December 31, 2015 / The Organizing Lady

I’ve been seeing Facebook posts of friends taking this time of year to get organized for the new year. One friend even created a year-end challenge for her friends to post pictures in her post comments of what they organized. I thought this was such a cool thing, and she obviously created some motivation for others to join her in organizing around their own home.

The thing I noticed about this was that, in her comments it seemed like everyone posting had fun doing her challenge. Yes, fun! So this inspired me to write about it. Here are some ways I think you might be able to put the “fun” in your organizing project:

Do your organizing project with one or more people

The way I see it, people seem to have fun doing organizing projects when there is someone else with them. As a professional organizer, this is very noticeable because the client did not (or could not) do it on their own. And when I joined them, they enjoyed the process of organizing.

Same goes for friends I’ve helped in organizing their space. They dreaded doing the project until I came along to join them. Somehow the task then became an adventure, and maybe that was just because we were able to hang out and do some productive thing together.

So plan a day with a friend or two or three and tackle your project together. You can even plan to have several friends over and make it an organizing party event. Younger generations would have a blast doing this together, and make the whole project loads of fun.

Talk on phone with a friend or family member while organizing

If you can’t get someone to join you physically during your organizing project, just call someone and put them on speaker while you sort through your stuff. I would, of course, get their agreement in advance to do this together via the phone. And making a phone appointment with them is like scheduling the appointment with yourself to do the task.

I’ve had people call me while they are cooking dinner and describe what they’re cooking, how they’re cooking it and what seasonings are going into it. We end up cooking it together, in a way, because I might suggest tossing something into the recipe they hadn’t thought of before.

Same goes for organizing – tell the person about those slacks you can’t fit into anymore and reminiscence the date you had in it. In the end, we can laugh about how it ended up staying in her closet so long!

Listen to upbeat music while organizing

Crank up your favorite music and let the beat move you to move out the clutter!

I’ve noticed that, when I clean my house, music makes the task much more enjoyable. Without the music, it just feels like a chore. The only down-side is if you feel like dancing and stop the task to do some moves – which actually is NOT so much a down-side at all when you’re having fun!

Just pick up where you left off and let the music move you to the next task.

Eat a delicious healthy snack while organizing

Good food always cheers me up, so make a tasty healthy snack which you can munch on while organizing. As you enjoy the tasteful morsels of food, you just might find it equally enjoyable tossing all the clutter out of your life.

Whatever you do, don’t make a sugar-snack! You will crash and burn out quickly, believe me!

Drink some wine as you’re organizing your stuff

This may not appeal to everyone, but for some people, it just might be the thing to put fun into a project … any project!

The challenge would be to get as much done as you can BEFORE the wine completely takes over your senses. Or maybe, just maybe, it could actually help knock some sense into you and help free you from the boundaries that stuff created for you in the first place. Ya never know. I would have to say all pros on this, no cons.

Take photos of weird stuff you’ve been keeping around

One way to remember those memories of your stuff is to take a picture of it before getting rid of it. Start a digital album online and share all the strange things you’ve hung onto for years.

This way, people can share all that memorabilia you’ve kept around, especially if you provide back-stories with each item. Like, the sweater your mom gave you for your birthday that you never wanted to be caught alive wearing. Or those earrings your friend gifted to you that you thought had to be a re-gifted item handed down for centuries. And so forth and so on.

Now, if you don’t find yourself having fun trying any of these things while organizing, then call me. I’ll bring some wine.

Happy New Year!

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Getting Organized

July 1, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

It seemed inevitable that someday I’d have to inform you about some of the pitfalls of getting organized. Even some doctors will eventually reveal how to stay healthy so you don’t get sick and have to call on them for help.

This type of information puts many types of professionals out of business, but it does become an ethical duty to inform. So, in view of my ethical duty, I wanted to share my observations and findings with you.

What Professional Organizers May Not Tell You

The top ten pitfalls of “When you are organized ….

1. Your family and friends may visit more often and stay longer.

Now that your place is nice and organized, you’ll notice that people stay longer when they come to visit. They might even like your place so much that they want to throw special event parties at your house. That could mean you’ll end up planning more gatherings at your house instead of planning more to-do lists.

Movie scene from Because I Said So

2. You will find things faster and end up saving time.

And we all know that saving time means that all the time you used to spend wasting it gives you more hours in the day. Then you’re faced with figuring out what to do with all that extra time you end up with (since you’re no longer searching for stuff). It might mean that you have more time for the kids or spouse, so you should know about this phenomena.

Movie scene from Adele Dazee

3. Your surplus of food in the cabinets will be diminished.

All that food once hidden in your cupboards will now be found more easily and you won’t end up buying more of something you already have. This could mean fewer trips to the grocery store, or even less food than you’re normally used to keeping around. And it could mean trying to cook up all the surplus of food you had lying around before it actually goes bad.

Movie scene from Cool Hand Luke

4. You’ll have less clothing.

That’s right. After you go through your clothes and get rid of ones you don’t like or don’t / can’t wear anymore, you won’t have the abundance you once had. But don’t worry – your closet will begin to look like it has space in it for more clothing. This should give you the satisfaction that you are now able to buy more if you continue to use the “Buy one, get rid of one” clothing rule.

Movie scene from Bridesmaids

5. You’ll end up in control.

Being more in control of your life has its plus points and minus points. One plus is that you can have more predictability in things around you. A minus is that you won’t get eaten up with issues that arise due to lack of control.

Movie scene from Jurassic World

6. You will no longer have your usual excuses.

All those usual excuses you’ve had for lateness or forgotten appointments because you didn’t write it down are obsolete once you’re organized and you’ll need to invent or have other reasons. Others will expect more of you and the days when people used to rely on the fact you would be late or not show up at all are gone.

Those expectations got you off the hook on numerous occasions, but not once you’re organized. They will probably count on you to be there when you say you’ll be there.

Movie scene from Her

7. You will accomplish more than you bargained for.

As if you didn’t feel you were busy enough throughout your day, now you’ll end up doing more since you’re getting more things actually done out of all that busy-ness. That’s because you’ll be dealing with being more efficient which leads to being more productive and doing more than you were before.

Procrastination may still exist in your life, but not to the extent it used to be. Those lists you’ve been used to staying stagnant will start to have things crossed off, giving the appearance that you’re getting things done you once had good intentions of getting done.

Movie scene from Be Cool

8. Your plans may go off without a hitch.

Surprise hitches often come about because you were not prepared, and these type of surprises become less frequent in numbers when you’re organized. This goes for in-expected guests who were actually expected.

Movie scene from Eating Raoul

9. You could end up spending less money.

Those days of fruitless spending on things you already have may end up being more fruitful because you’re not wasting money on fruitless things. What I mean is, you’ll save money by not spending it on things you couldn’t find before, like another ream of paper, or more pens, or cleaning supplies, etc., things like that.

Movie scene from The Office

10. Your lowered stress level changes your sleep habits.

Being stressed over disorganization and disorder is now a thing of the past and you could find yourself over-sleeping.

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Well, that’s about it. Or, at least all I could think of at the moment. I’d love to hear more from you of any pitfalls I missed. It helps other readers and may shed more light on what it’s really like to be organized.