How to Analyze Your Type
My sister Jeanne lives in Texas. She is the baby of the family and my junior by 3 years. When it came to cleaning up our shared room, I was the one more worried about not having it clean. If it was not clean, I didn’t go out and if Jeanne did not share in the work, I didn’t care. I wanted to go out. I love her still and she me. At least I believe so.
I was exchanging emails with her and she wrote to me, “God is not the author of chaos.” I realized how true this is. In addition, today at church, my pastor was teaching out of Ecclesiastes. Verse 3:13 struck me. “…..and also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.”
I thought of the connection of the two. While you are in the elimination process of the clutter (chaos) set the GOALS of reward for your labor. Small rewards for the work done. Set them room by room.
Suggestions: Clean a drawer or cupboard and get a treat (candy bar, bag of peanuts, ice cream bar, box of raisins, you name it.) Finish a room and get a treat (night at the movies, massage, pedicure, manicure) What would be yours?
Before I help someone de-clutter, I ask them to figure out what type of clutter personality they are. Knowing will empower them to stop the habits that got them there. Which are you? There are 9. I will only show 3 this week. Yours may be in next week’s blog.
1. PERFECTIONIST: This was me. My home was a wreck but I’d start by cleaning something that would not show any organization at all. For example: THE OVEN. Oh, it was meticulously done but did not make a dent in the chaos. I was indecisive. Couldn’t figure out which approach was best ….. so, I decided not to decide. Too much to do and not enough time to do it perfectly
2. REBELLIOUS: Growing up Mommy said you must always be clean and neat in all you do. When you move out you didn’t do certain things just to show who was in control. However, carrying on with these habits, as you get older, is paying a high price to show you can steer your own ship.
3. RELAXED: Work is for the outside world and home is a place of relaxation. However, a cluttered home assaults the eye. It does not welcome you home to relax but can cause “strain, pressure and jangled nerves.”
Let me know if you have started and are stuck. Or are stuck and just can’t start. I would love to help. Someone has agreed to allow us to follow along with her organizational choices. We will have before and after pictures as we step through her journey together.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Organizing Your Home
WHERE TO BEGIN?
My Dad was an engineer (mechanical & electrical). His mind worked in a very linear fashion. Mine, growing up was all over the place. In retrospect, I should have congratulated him while he was alive for not pulling all his hair out or mine for that matter.
His repetitive truths have come back to me at certain times during my life.
“Close the door because the heater is on….you don’t live in a barn”
“Bad company makes for bad habits.”
“You need to make your decisions, don’t let life default choices for you.”
“Measure twice & cut once, except in your case. Measure four times and cut once.” HA! HA!
The last listed is the one that sticks with me the most while organizing. Let’s start with a list of DO’s and DON’T”s.
DON’T:
* Try to do everything at once.
* Buy storage or organizing items until you have finished your purge & sort. You may not have realized you already have something that fits in that spot perfectly.
DO:
* Make your tasks manageable with the time you have available. Try 15 minutes at a time. I needed to make it a game with a timer to stop me from distractions or dawdling.
* Realize it will look a bit messier before it looks fabulous.
* Clean up! Wipe, sweep, vacuum or dust before returning everything back.
* Repurpose anything that is “beautiful, useful or joyful” before purchasing new.
* Focus on one task at a time to keep the mess from spreading too far.
* Use this mantra: completely empty, sort, purge, clean and put back.
Let’s start with the 3 A’S….. ASK yourself these questions.
1. What works in this room? Ex. – I love where my spice rack is for its ease of use or I love how my island stores my bowls. You get the idea.
2. What doesn’t work in this room? Ex. – My dishes are in a cupboard too far away from the dishwasher / sink or my counter is cluttered and I sure would love to use that work space. Again, you get the idea.
3. What is essential? Ex. – What do I really use? Not the rice cooker or sandwich grille, but I do use the blender, can opener, food processor….
4. What is causing the clutter? Julie Morgenstern states it best. “Clutter is rarely caused by incompetence or laziness. Typically it is caused by technical error, such as in the way you’re setting up your system.” You may have a heavy workload, sick child, parent or partner and have no time to maintain order. You may desire order but find chaos as your comfort zone and think “I work best in crisis mode. Figuring this out will help you stay organized.
5. Why do I want to get organized? For me it wasn’t to say “Look! My home is organized! It was to so I could grab and go, wear the hats I had to without forgetting something, find the papers I needed for school, work, accountant or to entertain without freaking out.
ANALYZE your areas or zones
How do I use this area? Break your room into mental areas or zones.
What functions or activities take place in this room?
Do I do entertaining?
Is this a homework area? Cooking area? Computer area?
How will you “create” your “islands” of activities?
ATTACK your clutter
If you question whether you should get rid of it, don’t agonize. Put it in a box that you can revisit six months later. If you didn’t need it in that time frame, you probably will not in the future. CAUTION: This is an exception to the rule. Don’t box everything for questioning later.
REMEMBER: Beautiful, Useful or Joyful.
Conquer one thing at a time: I started with
Drawers ........Cabinets ..........Under the Sink ..........Hanging Storage ..........Countertops & Work Surfaces ..........Shelves ..........
Refrigerator & Freezer..........Pantry ..........Kitchen Table
Organizing Your Home
WHERE TO BEGIN?
My Dad was an engineer (mechanical & electrical). His mind worked in a very linear fashion. Mine, growing up was all over the place. In retrospect, I should have congratulated him while he was alive for not pulling all his hair out or mine for that matter.
His repetitive truths have come back to me at certain times during my life.
“Close the door because the heater is on….you don’t live in a barn”
“Bad company makes for bad habits.”
“You need to make your decisions, don’t let life default choices for you.”
“Measure twice & cut once, except in your case. Measure four times and cut once.” HA! HA!
The last listed is the one that sticks with me the most while organizing. Let’s start with a list of DO’s and DON’T”s.
DON’T:
* Try to do everything at once.
* Buy storage or organizing items until you have finished your purge & sort. You may not have realized you already have something that fits in that spot perfectly.
DO:
* Make your tasks manageable with the time you have available. Try 15 minutes at a time. I needed to make it a game with a timer to stop me from distractions or dawdling.
* Realize it will look a bit messier before it looks fabulous.
* Clean up! Wipe, sweep, vacuum or dust before returning everything back.
* Repurpose anything that is “beautiful, useful or joyful” before purchasing new.
* Focus on one task at a time to keep the mess from spreading too far.
* Use this mantra: completely empty, sort, purge, clean and put back.
Let’s start with the 3 A’S….. ASK yourself these questions.
1. What works in this room? Ex. – I love where my spice rack is for its ease of use or I love how my island stores my bowls. You get the idea.
2. What doesn’t work in this room? Ex. – My dishes are in a cupboard too far away from the dishwasher / sink or my counter is cluttered and I sure would love to use that work space. Again, you get the idea.
3. What is essential? Ex. – What do I really use? Not the rice cooker or sandwich grille, but I do use the blender, can opener, food processor….
4. What is causing the clutter? Julie Morgenstern states it best. “Clutter is rarely caused by incompetence or laziness. Typically it is caused by technical error, such as in the way you’re setting up your system.” You may have a heavy workload, sick child, parent or partner and have no time to maintain order. You may desire order but find chaos as your comfort zone and think “I work best in crisis mode. Figuring this out will help you stay organized.
5. Why do I want to get organized? For me it wasn’t to say “Look! My home is organized! It was to so I could grab and go, wear the hats I had to without forgetting something, find the papers I needed for school, work, accountant or to entertain without freaking out.
ANALYZE your areas or zones
How do I use this area? Break your room into mental areas or zones.
What functions or activities take place in this room?
Do I do entertaining?
Is this a homework area? Cooking area? Computer area?
How will you “create” your “islands” of activities?
ATTACK your clutter
If you question whether you should get rid of it, don’t agonize. Put it in a box that you can revisit six months later. If you didn’t need it in that time frame, you probably will not in the future. CAUTION: This is an exception to the rule. Don’t box everything for questioning later.
REMEMBER: Beautiful, Useful or Joyful.
Conquer one thing at a time: I started with
Drawers ........Cabinets ..........Under the Sink ..........Hanging Storage ..........Countertops & Work Surfaces ..........Shelves ..........
Refrigerator & Freezer..........Pantry ..........Kitchen Table
Monday, August 3, 2009
How I got started getting things back to simple
I got into the habit of getting up 30 minutes earlier in the day to pray, read my passages on the pursuit of reading the bible in one year and one piece of motivational material. I found that giving the Lord my undivided attention in the morning left me with a day that flowed more smoothly. Not without the normal complications that can happen but with me being at peace that it was in His hands and it would be okay.
One morning I read a statement that stuck with me in a newspaper article titled “45 Life Lessons and 5 To Grow On.” #42 read, “Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.” It hit me….I was a CLUTTER BUG. How did this happen? I was putting things away. I thought. However, how many things did I have that weren’t used or kept because “one day I might need that?” After getting over the shock, I realized it was time to declutter.
The question was how to start….my plate was full. Children, laundry, soccer games practice, volleyball games and practice, dinner, take my mom for her chemo sessions, etc. You get the idea. I dug into my waiting time and thought about the best way to go about it. I realized that I was not going to read the bible in one day or that I did not gain or lose my weight all in one day. I was going to have to tackle this a bit at a time and schedule time to do it.
I started with my kitchen. The place that I seemed to spend most of my time….breakfast, lunch, dinner, homework, science & geography projects…..you get the idea. I went first to my junk drawer and cleaned out my ancient coupons, broken rubber bands, the excess twist ties and the items that were not “useful, beautiful or joyful.” I felt so great about this accomplishment, I wanted to shout and dance the cha-cha. I made a dent. I was ready to take the great plunge.
I found a place in my basement for four boxes and labeled them. REPAIR, DONATE, ASK AND SELL. The REPAIR was for items that were worth keeping a small family heirloom (joyful) that needed gluing. The DONATE was for anything that was going to an organization. I ended up with another DONATE 2 box for things that I was giving to other family members or friends of items they wanted or needed that I did not. The ASK was for my husband or children. The SELL was for the eventual garage sale I was planning on for the next summer. I figured it would take me that long to get through everything.
Next, I’ll share what I found to be great tips and ideas on how to store and what to store that I found. Any questions? Ask away.
"To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." - Ephesians 3:20 -
One morning I read a statement that stuck with me in a newspaper article titled “45 Life Lessons and 5 To Grow On.” #42 read, “Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.” It hit me….I was a CLUTTER BUG. How did this happen? I was putting things away. I thought. However, how many things did I have that weren’t used or kept because “one day I might need that?” After getting over the shock, I realized it was time to declutter.
The question was how to start….my plate was full. Children, laundry, soccer games practice, volleyball games and practice, dinner, take my mom for her chemo sessions, etc. You get the idea. I dug into my waiting time and thought about the best way to go about it. I realized that I was not going to read the bible in one day or that I did not gain or lose my weight all in one day. I was going to have to tackle this a bit at a time and schedule time to do it.
I started with my kitchen. The place that I seemed to spend most of my time….breakfast, lunch, dinner, homework, science & geography projects…..you get the idea. I went first to my junk drawer and cleaned out my ancient coupons, broken rubber bands, the excess twist ties and the items that were not “useful, beautiful or joyful.” I felt so great about this accomplishment, I wanted to shout and dance the cha-cha. I made a dent. I was ready to take the great plunge.
I found a place in my basement for four boxes and labeled them. REPAIR, DONATE, ASK AND SELL. The REPAIR was for items that were worth keeping a small family heirloom (joyful) that needed gluing. The DONATE was for anything that was going to an organization. I ended up with another DONATE 2 box for things that I was giving to other family members or friends of items they wanted or needed that I did not. The ASK was for my husband or children. The SELL was for the eventual garage sale I was planning on for the next summer. I figured it would take me that long to get through everything.
Next, I’ll share what I found to be great tips and ideas on how to store and what to store that I found. Any questions? Ask away.
"To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." - Ephesians 3:20 -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
