Keene Spaces
The Keene Spaces blog is devoted to helping you
create a space in which you can function and feel good.
We've all heard the phrase "waste not, want not". It means that if we don't waste what we have, we will not be in need in the future. In general, I think this is a great rule to follow. The recent recession has caused a lot of us to rethink how we spend our time, money and efforts, and motivated us to reuse and recycle a lot more. But what happens when you take this philosophy too far? As I talk to my organizing clients about why they keep as much as they do, I often hear them say "It would be a shame to let anything go to waste". The irony here is that they are, in fact, wasting an awful lot by hanging on to so much stuff.
Last weekend I participated in a Home Show. See my previous blog on the topic for the details. In a nutshell, I was feeling a bit frantic right before the show, and shared some of my own feelings about dealing with disorganization. I promised a follow up, so...
I would deem the show a success for my organizing business. It was great exposure for me, and I met a lot of people who are eager to get organized. I also learned a few things about home shows - things that can easily be applied to every day life, not just booths at conventions. So I'll keep my summary more generalized.
Be flexible. Life is good at throwing curve balls. Often, there isn't much you can do about that. You'll avoid a lot of stress and frustration if you learn to go with the flow. If your plans go awry, and you feel like it's the end of the world, ask yourself, "Will any of this matter tomorrow, next week, or next year"?
Posted by: Teri Keene in Untagged on
Mar 6, 2009
One of the most important jobs of a professional organizer is to educate clients and the general public about the benefits of being organized, and how to achieve that goal. Today and this weekend I am participating in my first ever Home Show - you know the ones where vendors set up booths to sell their wares and tell people about their services. There are usually a lot of cheap giveaways and free samples. I'm nervous as heck, but I live in a smaller city, and many people here aren't familiar with what we organizers do. If I expect to grow my client base in these tough times, I have to plow through my jitters and start educating!
Getting ready for this show, I'm reminded of one of the greatest rules of organizing: Baby Steps! There were so many details to think about in putting it all together. How do I attract people to my booth? What do I say when they get there? What do I give away? How do I make the sale? How do I do all of this in a very small space? How do I do it all by myself? VERY overwhelming! And I'm an organizer! I can only imagine how difficult a big project is for my clients who have trouble getting and staying organized.
Most of us are now participating in some sort of in-home recycling effort. But what happens when your recyclables start to become clutter? Not everyone has the room or the incentive to keep up with recycling efforts. But because of green guilt, we let our milk jugs, soda cans and glass jars pile up until it's convenient to get rid of them the responsible way.
How much does your recycling plan affect your lifestyle? Does it get in your way? Have you changed how and what you purchase in an effort to be more environmentally responsible? I think a large percentage of our population, myself included, is baby-stepping into the "green" world. If it weren't for the small financial incentive from my city, I would probably be doing less. I have to pay 50 cents for every bag I put at the curb, so it behooves me to put as much as possible into the recycling bin they provide! I also get a few bucks a month from the cans I take to the local recycling center. I haul my glass in at the same time, although I get no compensation for that.
Oprah recently aired a re-peat of a program about organizing. It was called "Oprah's Messy House Tour", complete with goofy jingle. In this program, professional organizer Peter Walsh surprised people in their homes and helped them clean up their clutter. Many organizers have a lot of love for Peter Walsh, not just for what he can do with a cluttered space, but for the attention he brings to our profession. He also has the wonderful ability to explain to people what clutter really represents.
Peter emphasized in this program that the physical clutter in your home is often a reflection of the clutter that is present throughout your entire lifestyle. The apathy and sense of defeat with which people view their jobs and relationships shows up physically in their closets, kitchens, and home offices. When we don't respect our possessions, we show people that we don't respect ourselves.
It's mid-February. Is it too early to start thinking about Spring Cleaning? The cold weather seems to be lingering on and on where I live, making it hard to accomplish much outdoors. Maybe starting indoors is the answer for those of us who have the urge to organize something. Think of your inside chores the same way you do your outside chores.
Love gardening? When was the last time you repotted your houseplants, or gave them a good pruning? Pull out those dead leaves. Trim back a few of the unwieldy branches. Give the leaves a good dusting. If you have to repot them, find something beautiful that fits your decor and gives you fresh feelings of Spring.
Part of being organized is running an efficient household budget. Where are you spending your money? Could you be spending less? Here are a few easy ways to cut back on spending in your home. You don't even have to give up what you love. You just have to be more creative and do a little bit of planning.
Lose your landline. Maybe this one isn't so creative, as more and more people are going this route. If you have a cell phone and carry it with you all the time, why pay for a landline that isn't portable? If you feel you need to keep your landline and you have a DSL internet connection, consider switching to an IP phone service like Vonage. It's cheaper, comes with more features, and the sound quality is the same as or superior to a typical landline.
Clutter brings with it a good deal of guilt. But guilt, like clutter, needs to be purged from your life! Below are some thoughts that hold us back from doing our best organizing, and some tips for dealing with them.
An organized room has to be pretty: Not so! Who decides what pretty is, anyway? A few days worth of mail on the kitchen table, or a pile of shoes by the front door is ok, if you can find what you need when you need it. But if you're taking more than a minute to find something, or you're tripping over the pile of shoes, a better solution might be in order.
Once it's organized, I'm done: Organizing is a process as well as a project. We get behind sometimes, and that's ok. But once it's all picked up, it has to be maintained. Putting organizing systems in place that work for you, and keeping up with them is essential to staying organized.
The following is a typical conversation I might have with someone who discovers that I am a professional organizer (PO): Friend: "You're an organizer?? Wow! I could really use you at my house!" Me: "I'm sure I could help you. What sort of issues are you dealing with?" Friend: "Oh, you know, the usual closet clutter, and my basement could really use some help." Me: "So, what's stopping you from getting it done?" Friend: "I never have the time. I work at it when I can, and I had my basement in really good shape last summer. But now it's a mess again." It's at this point in the conversation that I feel like people are apologizing to me for not being as organized as I am. They say they could really use the help, but seem to feel like hiring someone is an admission of failure or perhaps a lack of a basic skill. What I and all the other POs would like to tell you is, STOP BERATING YOURSELF! Accumulating clutter is natural at times. When it shows up to stay - that's when you need to take back control.
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