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Let me be the first to wish you Happy National Get Organized Month! I saw a sign hanging in Lowe’s that said “Resolve to Declutter” and it was surrounded by a colorful array of storage containers. It’s that time of year when many of us look around our homes and ask “Where did all this stuff come from?” Taking the first step and staying organized can be daunting, but if you think you are alone, you are not. Here are ten barriers that keep my clients from starting and staying organized. Let’s break it down:

1. Don’t have the time. Time won’t magically appear when you want to achieve something. Use a day planner or your smart phone to schedule the time to organize, have fun, or accomplish something great. When you do, there is suddenly time to be spontaneous!
2. Allowing others to dictate your schedule. I’m not talking about going out and having fun, but I am talking about setting boundaries so others don’t infringe upon your personal time to get your own life in order.
3. You aren’t good at organizing. Some people need more practice than others and developing a habit takes at least 30 days to make it stick. Use books and websites to help.
4. Staying focused. Our brains aren’t wired to stay on task so use cues, rewards, or a stop watch. Use whatever you deem necessary to stay focused on the project at hand.
5. Perfectionism. If it can’t be perfect why start at all? If that sounds familiar, start small and celebrate small accomplishments. Practice saying the words “good enough.”
6. Too much clutter or CRAP: Clutter that Robs Anyone of Pleasure. If your things do not bring you joy, pleasure, usefulness, or life to your home, it should leave your home.
7. Once and done should do it. All homes need maintenance to remain organized week after week, but if you have a home for everything, cleanup will be a breeze.
8. The voices around you. Don’t allow others to make you feel bad about not being able to get organized yourself. Ignore the naysayers and enlist a friend or call a professional.
9. House isn’t big enough. The size or layout of a home isn’t always the issue. Organization methods, storage tools, and less clutter will usually do the trick.
10. Health issues. Even if you have the desire, you may not have the ability or the energy to do what is needed to get organized. Enlist help.

If you or someone you love needs help moving forward in the New Year, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a professional: a cleaning service, a senior care agency, financial planner, insurance broker, senior move management company, or a professional organizer. Professionals are trained to listen and narrow in on your specific needs. They can give you a jump start or much needed tools to help you or someone you love live their best life.

Clutter Quote: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau

When I read this headline, I had to smile: The Green Pope: Francis is putting the full weight of the papacy behind efforts to curb climate change. Many Professional Organizers base their businesses on being ‘green,’ recycling, and simplifying the homes and lives their clients lead. After being glued to the television for the Pope’s entire visit to the United States (I was painting my bedroom at the same time), I couldn’t help but see a connection between this incredible man and some of the same ideals that relate to the environment and the business of professional organizing. After the Pope’s visit, I did some research, and two documents written by the Pope stood out.

The first document was published on June 18, 2015, when Pope Francis released the encyclical Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home. In this document the Pope calls on all nations and peoples to address urgent environmental concerns, including climate change. Francis reported that this encyclical was not really an environmental document; rather, it highlighted the developed world’s indifference to the destruction of the planet while pursuing short-term economic gains. The Pope states, “Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years.” Professional Organizers work with clients every day to set up home recycling centers, and the significance of that labor isn’t lost on us; we are helping our clients save the planet one household at a time.

The second document released by the Pope was The 15 Diseases of the Curia. The Curia Romana is the papal court, or the people who assist the Pope in the government and administration of the church. Pope Francis explains that these ‘diseases’ do not only concern the Curia “but are naturally a danger to every Christian, every curia, community, congregation, parish and ecclesiastic movement.” Number 13 on the list is the disease of Hoarding. In layman’s terms, a person tries to fill an existential void by accumulating materials goods, not out of need but only in order to feel secure and, as a result, burdens the soul. As a nation, we see this every day as shopping has become the national pastime, and anyone can accumulate goods 24/7 by using the internet and television. When people become overwhelmed with clutter and don’t know where to turn, very often it is the Professional Organizer who gets the call for help.

Finally, my hope is that no matter what our religious preference, we all take the words of Pope Francis to heart and be responsible stewards of our planet– our first home.

Clutter Quote: “Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.” Pope Francis

One of the barriers to getting organized is too much CRAP (Clutter that Robs Anyone of Pleasure). It’s work for your brain to filter out distractions in order to get organized, so less clutter— less distractions! To celebrate my 9^th year in business, here are Ten More Myths for Not Unloading CRAP for people who truly want to rightsize their belongings. Let’s break it down:

1. “You can never have too many <your item here>.”

This only applies to blessings. Bending over a huge pile of shoes to dig through every day is no way to choose the pair you want, especially if you end up wearing the same five pair.

2. “I have a terrible memory, so I keep my stuff to remind me.”

Memories aren’t in things. And if your memories are packed away in the attic, that’s not honoring them. Also, are your old memories taking up space for new memories?

3. “My <your item here> is going to be worth a lot of money someday.”

Things are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. The word ‘collectible’ has been overused to the point of preposterous. Look on ebay to see if your item is for sale and at what price. More importantly, has anyone sold an item like yours?

4. “I can’t trust my judgment so I’m afraid to get rid of anything.”

If your knee jerk reaction is to keep something because it’s easier, trust your instincts. If you are 40 years or older, you can trust your instincts about whether you will need something or not.

5. “I’m going to fix that someday.”

Just because you can fix something, doesn’t mean you’ll have time. If a project has been laying around for two years or more, let it go, or pay someone else to fix it!

6. “I can’t trust an auctioneer to pay me what my item is worth.”

There are plenty of reputable auctioneers in our region. On the other hand, you can’t expect to get back what you paid for an item. Call an auctioneer so you can sell many items at once, but don’t expect to get rich.

7. “I have a friend I want to give that to.”

Call that friend to see if he or she wants or needs it before you give it to them. How do you feel when someone drops their stuff on your door step without asking first?

8. “I want to read that someday.”

Set a time limit for reading magazines, clippings and newspapers. Cancel subscriptions if you don’t have the time to read magazines and recycle back issues.

9. “I’m keeping that to sell at a yard sale.”

If you’ve kept items for over two years and haven’t had a yard sale, donate the items. When summer ends, donate any unsold yard sale items and begin collecting for next year’s sale.

10. “My husband won’t get rid of his stuff, so why should I?”

I work with many couples who don’t agree on how and when to let go of clutter. You can only control your belongings so get started! When the CRAP starts to fall away and your spouse sees your relief, he or she may get on board.

Clutter Quote: “Not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts, can be counted.” -Albert Einstein

Let me be the first to wish you Happy National Get Organized Month! I saw a sign hanging in Lowe’s that said “Resolve to Declutter” and it was surrounded by a colorful array of storage containers. It’s that time of year when many of us look around our homes and ask “Where did all this stuff come from?” Taking the first step and staying organized can be daunting, but if you think you are alone, you are not. Here are ten barriers that keep my clients from starting and staying organized. Let’s break it down:

1. Don’t have the time. Time won’t magically appear when you want to achieve something. Use a day planner or your smart phone to schedule the time to organize, have fun, or accomplish something great. When you do, there is suddenly time to be spontaneous!
2. Allowing others to dictate your schedule. I’m not talking about going out and having fun, but I am talking about setting boundaries so others don’t infringe upon your personal time to get your own life in order.
3. You aren’t good at organizing. Some people need more practice than others and developing a habit takes at least 30 days to make it stick. Use books and websites to help.
4. Staying focused. Our brains aren’t wired to stay on task so use cues, rewards, or a stop watch. Use whatever you deem necessary to stay focused on the project at hand.
5. Perfectionism. If it can’t be perfect why start at all? If that sounds familiar, start small and celebrate small accomplishments. Practice saying the words “good enough.”
6. Too much clutter or CRAP: Clutter that Robs Anyone of Pleasure. If your things do not bring you joy, pleasure, usefulness, or life to your home, it should leave your home.
7. Once and done should do it. All homes need maintenance to remain organized week after week, but if you have a home for everything, cleanup will be a breeze.
8. The voices around you. Don’t allow others to make you feel bad about not being able to get organized yourself. Ignore the naysayers and enlist a friend or call a professional.
9. House isn’t big enough. The size or layout of a home isn’t always the issue. Organization methods, storage tools, and less clutter will usually do the trick.
10. Health issues. Even if you have the desire, you may not have the ability or the energy to do what is needed to get organized. Enlist help.

If you or someone you love needs help moving forward in the New Year, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a professional: a cleaning service, a senior care agency, financial planner, insurance broker, senior move management company, or a professional organizer. Professionals are trained to listen and narrow in on your specific needs. They can give you a jump start or much needed tools to help you or someone you love live their best life.

Clutter Quote: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau

Finding the time and energy to garden has been a challenge for me in the past few years. Our property seems to be getting bigger or am I getting older? Regardless of the reason, I’m not willing to give up the great exercise and satisfaction I get from planting my garden, so I need to get more organized to get it done. I also have to be satisfied with an hour or two here and there instead of a full day of gardening. After I planted my garden last year, I took pictures of the planters and the gardens and made a list of the plants I bought at the local nurseries.

Our garden shed was built on top of an old outhouse and frankly it could withstand a hurricane. It has a waist high counter and wooden shelving. We used leftover linoleum flooring from the kitchen for the floor. It’s just the right size to hold the following:

• gardening gloves and ball caps in a closed plastic container
• small gardening tools-store in plastic carrier or basket with a handle
• gardening planters
• folding lawn furniture stored under the counter
• gazing ball and stone statues for the garden
• rod iron poles for hanging baskets, plant and tomato stakes, and long tools (small shovel, rake, edger)-stored in 5 gallon plastic bucket with metal part up
• items to decorate my screened-in porch
• flower seeds and bulbs in a metal container
• leftover potting soil in 5 gallon plastic bucket with a lid

In the spring:

• Use 5 gallon plastic bucket with handle to pull out weeds.
• Pull everything out of the shed and sweep it out (mice and chipmunks have made their winter homes in my shed).
• Take plants out of the garden that died over the winter.
• Throw out older seeds and bulbs that didn’t make the winter.
• Divide perennial plants if too big and share with your neighbors or replant in other parts of your garden to save money.
• Move other plants around to fill in where plants died or didn’t come up.
• Using pictures from last year, I bought plants and vegetables and planted the planters and the gardens.

In the fall after the first killing frost:

• Fall is for planting, so buy perennials on sale and fill in where plants didn’t live.
• Don’t forget to call 811 before you dig too deep to prevent damage to electric lines and natural gas pipelines.
• Wash out the planters and store in shed.
• Store leftover seeds and bulbs in metal containers
• Donate any ceramic planters or recycle plastic containers you didn’t use

After plants have been hit by frost, I like to fill in with fall décor so it doesn’t look so empty. I use some of the more colorful pots I emptied to hold mums and fill in with straw bales, pumpkins, cornstalks and gourds. Organize your gardening so it’s a pleasure, not a chore.

Clutter Tips:

• Don’t store 9 volt batteries against each other or other batteries. They can spark and cause a fire.
• When you clear the clutter in medicine cabinets donate unused and unexpired medical supplies, to C.U.R.E., c/o Mission Central, 5 Pleasant View Drive, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050.

Green Tips:

• Latex paint disposal: equal parts kitty litter and latex paint. Let sit for one hour and throw in garbage.
• Make the switch to permanent water bottles instead of putting plastic into our oceans. Even recycling plastic bottles produces toxins.

Happy New Year and Happy National Get Organized Month! I always set a few goals for myself and my business each New Year and organizing certainly plays a key role in accomplishing those goals. Over the years clients have asked for my assistance for many different reasons including New Year’s resolutions.

On the other hand, those resolutions are often derailed because “life happens.” Whether you are ready or not, you could lose your job, suffer through an illness, or deal with a divorce. You can’t always be prepared for the ups and downs of life, but being organized can help. Here are my ten organization basics to help you handle the uncertainties of life and achieve those pesky resolutions you are so adamant in keeping. Let’s break it down:

If it takes less than 60 seconds, do it! Whether it’s putting bills away, making a quick phone call, adding a number to your phone, sending a quick email, do it! Take seconds now or hours later.

A home for everything. Finding a home means you know where to put it when it gets misplaced and when you need it — it’s there!

Choose a time management tool. Use a day planner or smartphone to keep track of appointments, tasks lists, self-appointments, and vacation plans.

Keep lists. Use your time management tool for all lists: clothing, household items, food, gifts, etc. Keep sizes and dimensions on the list. Lists save time and money and no more buying things twice (you aren’t the only one).  

Consolidate contact information. Gather mailing addresses, emails, and phone numbers and place them in your time management tool. No more little pieces of paper and sticky notes all over the place.

Convenience is the key. No digging and no searching. Place things where you use them; keep most-used items front and center — no pushing other things aside to get to what you need.

Focus! Small and large task completion requires focus. Break down any large task into smaller, manageable pieces and stay focused: one bite at a time.

Know what to eliminate. Surround yourself with tasks, events, and people who support your goals. Eliminate the rest and learn to say “no” (I have a handout on my website).

Consult the experts. Don’t reinvent the wheel; ask friends for recommendations and referrals; consult the Internet (but don’t believe everything you read); and then trust your judgment.

Maintenance! Things will get out of order (even in my home), so do a little each evening or once a week in order to keep it that way. Have respect for yourself, your time, and your home. Every time you put something away, it’s a gift to yourself.

Whether you are making resolutions are just trying to smooth out life’s bumps in the road, get organized! You’ll be glad you did.

Clutter Quote: “God takes care of the breath of your life; it is your responsibility to take care of the depth of your life.” Unknown