NAPO-NC Responds to Quality of Life Study with Four Success Strategies

In the spirit of GO MONTH (Get Organized) I had to share the results of this recent study on Quality of Life as it relates to organization.

Triangle – RALEIGH, NC. – In a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Professional Organizers, 96% of respondents stated that they could gain more time at home if they were better organized, and a surprising 91% claimed the same in their professional lives. In fact, 71% went so far as to state that the quality of their lives would improve if they were more organized.

Clearly these numbers indicate why so many people make “getting organized” a New Year’s resolution. For those planning to tackle their personal or professional organization in 2011, the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-NC) offers the following strategies:

1. Be specific. Lori Bruhns, President of NAPO-NC, suggests that “’Getting organized’ is too vague for someone to actually tackle. Instead, we encourage people to specify ways in which they would like to become more organized, such as ‘I’d like to streamline my morning routine’ or ‘I want to leave work with a cleared desktop.’”

2. Take baby steps. NAPO-NC Treasurer Tracey Gritz, notes that “Sometimes a job seems insurmountable. Taken all at once, it may be. But, if you stop and list out all of the small steps that it takes to get to the end, you suddenly have series of very do-able tasks that will lead to the successful completion of your goal.”

3. Reward yourself. “Take the time to play a board game with your family, go out for coffee with a friend, invite people over to celebrate, or take a long bath to reflect how far you have come in the space,” states Stefanie Watkins, NAPO-NC’s Vice President.

4. Enlist support. Karen Krasner, Director of Community Relations for NAPO-NC, recommends “telling a friend or family member what you hope to accomplish and when you plan to finish. Ask them to keep you accountable by checking in with you periodically to see how it’s going.”

If you are one of the 96% of people who believe they could save time at home by being more organized, implement the above strategies and contact me! I can help with a one-on-one organizational assessment of your home or office and provide hands-on help to clear the clutter and simplify your life.  Call or e-mail: 317-867-1540 or jnusbaum (at) simplifiedspaces (dot) net.

Originally posted 2011-01-13 08:30:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Let Go and Lighten Up in the New Year!

If you’ve ever said, “I’d get rid of this, if only I knew where to take it…” If this is your situation — you’re ready to let go of some belongings, but you want them to go to appropriate and worthy new homes — then I have some ideas.

But if you begin to waffle before you let go, remember that just because you paid good money for something, it might come in handy someday, someone gave it to you, or it’s beautiful or useful, doesn’t mean that it’s beautiful or useful for you right now. Pass on what you no longer need, use, or love to someone who will appreciate and use it now.

Recycle what you can…

In addition to the usual newspaper, plastics, metal, and glass that you can recycle through your city’s residential program, find out about the other special facilities that may be available to you.

These services and facilities (there might be several separate locations for various recyclables) may surprise — and delight! — you with what they accept: anything from scrap metal, copper pipe, and aluminum siding to phone books, computers, foam packing peanuts, and printer cartridges. Old paints and varnishes, poisons, aerosols, motor oil, and all manner of other icky and toxic stuff may also find a safe home if you do a little research. To dispose of cell phones and rechargeable batteries, check out Call2Recycle.

…and throw out what you must.

Let’s face it: there are some things that are so awful that they can’t even be recycled, so pitch ‘em and don’t look back. For large amounts of stuff to dump, think about coordinating a group of neighbors to share the cost of renting what becomes a “community dumpster.” Then have fun filling it up!

How about a trade?

Hold a swap party! Get a group together to exchange clothes, toys, CDs, tools, or craft materials; or check out Swapstyle.com, an international, online, virtual swap party.

Donating feels great!

It’s also easy, and it puts items into the hands of those who will benefit greatly from them.

* Friends and relatives are good folks to start with, especially if you have exceptional stuff, sentimental items, or family heirlooms that shouldn’t be tossed or donated to just any old place. You can feel good knowing that the people you’ve selected to receive these special items will love them as much as you do. (Just make sure that they really do want your cast-offs so that you aren’t creating a clutter problem for them.)

* Groups you belong to — a faith community, school group, club, or sports team — may hold rummage sales where you can share your abundance and benefit a group you care about at the same time.

* Charities such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, and Easter Seals accept donations of many things; plus, they may even pick up your discards right from your house. And listen up, all you sewing fans: Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul also accept fabric scraps.

* Other charities have specific “wish list” needs that you may be able to fulfill with things you’d like to get rid of anyway. Try contacting the United Way to see if any of their member organizations have such needs.

* Excess Access keeps useful stuff out of landfills and links donors with charities.

* Childcare centers, preschools, grade schools, camps, or after-school programs may enjoy your extra toys and art/craft materials, while libraries, nursing homes, or hospitals may welcome your books, CDs, magazines, videos, and DVDs. Children’s groups may also like your fancy “dress-up clothes.”

* High school, college, and community theater groups may love your old bridesmaid or prom dresses, dance-recital and Halloween costumes, and antique furniture or period housewares to use as set dcor or props.

* Speaking of bridesmaid and prom dresses, investigate the Glass Slipper Project, a Chicago-based organization that provides disadvantaged teens with prom dresses.

* And how about your wedding gown? The nuptial police really will not come after you if you donate it (or sell or consign it, for that matter), and the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation’s Brides against Breast Cancer program even makes it easy.

* Do you have excess building materials? Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore accepts usable cabinets, lumber, windows, hardware, fixtures, lights, flooring, and more, while Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit group that repairs the homes of low-income families, is looking for your extra tools.

* Women’s and children’s clothing and shoes, as well as toys, may find a welcome home at a women’s domestic-abuse shelter, while men’s clothing will benefit men in homeless shelters. Consider also Dress for Success, a national group that assists low-income women looking for work.

* The Lions Club or New Eyes for the Needy will take your old eyeglasses.

* There are food pantries in most communities that feed an ever-growing population of citizens without enough to eat, and they’d welcome your monetary or nonperishable-food donations.

Giving things away can also take other forms…

* Check out the Freecycle Network, a national movement with (many!) local groups that connect those who want to give away their stuff for free with those who want to take it off their hands.

* Or put together a Circulation Celebration: On a specified day, people take anything they no longer want to a central location, and anyone who wants it can take it, with no money exchanged at all. It’s truly intended to just move things around — no profit motive at all.

* If nothing else, set something out to the curb with a big “FREE! TAKE ME!” sign on it. I’ll bet it walks.

Maybe you’d like some cash for your goods?

Garage sales — especially ones with several families or a whole neighborhood participating — are a time-honored method, but there are others:

* Sell your general merchandise and collectibles — just about anything, really — through eBay, the huge, sell-it-yourself, online auction site. If you’re a little low tech or strapped for time, work with a service that sells your possessions online and then ships them for you for a commission or fee.

* There’s also Craigslist, a free, giant, online version of a local newspaper’s classified ads.

* If antiques are your bag, consult an antiques mall about selling your wares for a fee or commission.

* Take your books, CDs, videos, DVDs, and video games to resale stores that buy them outright.

* Clothes, shoes, and accessories may fetch a fine price at resale shops that either buy them outright or pay you a commission after they sell. Most accept women’s clothing, but some also sell — or even specialize in — children’s, teens’, men’s, or vintage clothing; household and decorative items; and furniture. These may also be the right places to take dance-recital costumes and Halloween costumes prior to Halloween.

* Likewise, there are consignment and resale shops that deal solely in musical instruments, toys and other children’s goods, and sports equipment — great for selling and buying, since the kiddos keep growing!

But what if you have painful or sentimental things — love letters from a failed relationship, or your child’s first dinosaur diorama — that aren’t exactly the kinds of things you’d donate or sell?

* First be very certain that you’re ready to say goodbye. Visualize yourself letting go of the item and see how it feels. If you feel liberated and wonderful, go ahead. If you feel regretful and sad, wait awhile and try visualizing the release later.

* If you’re not ready to let go, perhaps put these items in one big box so that they’re not scattered all over, ready to emotionally ambush you every time you see them. You can even inject a little humor to help you detach by labeling the box something like My Big, Bad Box of Horrible, Awful, Icky, Very Sad Things.

* If/when you are ready to let go, take some pictures if they’ll help you to release your mental hold on the objects. The photos will spark your memories, so you may not need to keep the physical objects themselves.

* Create a little ceremony, or share a story about the item with someone close to you, to send it off with the dignity and respect that it deserves as an important, although perhaps bittersweet, part of your past.

* And lastly, this suggestion may strike you as a little “out there” — or perhaps as just right: have a “ritual burn.” Take your painful souvenirs, alone, to a quiet place where you can safely burn them. As you prepare and light a fire, think about what they mean to you. Place them into the fire, watch the flames and smoke curling up, and feel your emotional burden lifting, liberating you from these painful connections.

Sending your belongings to worthy recipients — with dignity and respect — can help you to feel good about letting go of them. Here’s to lightening up and moving on in 2011!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paula_Apfelbach

Originally posted 2011-02-05 18:02:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Drowning in junk: Hoarding called a public health issue

Hoarding is becoming an increasing public and personal health issue. On August 5, 2010, CNN reported on a recent tragic story of an 82-year-old woman who died in her home, but rescue workers were not able to get in the home due to trash and clutter piled up to the ceiling.  They had to drill a hole in the roof to get into the home to retrieve the body. CNN reporter Madison Parks says:

“They and others like them are hoarders, people who amass excessive numbers of possessions and don’t discard them. In extreme cases, hoarders’ obsession with junk has led to fires, attracted vermin, endangered their families, neighbors and themselves to the extent that experts describe it as a growing public health problem.

Hoarding has become so frequent that a growing number of cities have formed task forces to bring housing, elderly services and health departments together to address the cases.”

As a Professional Organizer since 2005, I can attest to this. In the past two years I have seen more extreme cases of hoarding, which has led me to join the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization to receive additional training and resources.

Fortunately, TV shows like Hoarders on A & E are bringing this health issue to the forefront.

The article also mentions that psychiatrists are considering including Hoarding in the Mental Disorders Manual.

I will let the CNN article tell the story.

Here are a couple of books on the topic that I and others in my field, highly recommend. These, and other books on hoarding are available at Amazon.com

 

I welcome anyone who reads this to share their story with me. Talking about it, even anonomously, can be the first step to getting help.

Originally posted 2010-08-23 10:21:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Why Are Our Lives Filled With So Much Stuff?

Why are so many of our lives overstuffed with stuff? Buying stuff. Selling stuff. Eating stuff. Not eating stuff. We buy stuff to store our stuff. When our homes are full of stuff, we rent more places to store our stuff, so well, we can get more stuff. How can any of this be good for us?

We are told by pundits and government officials that the recession is causing us to buy too little new stuff – which is hurting the folks who make the stuff. And yet somehow, we are also told by the same pundits and government officials that we bought too much stuff to begin with, ultimately causing the onset of the recession.

We are told by environmentalists that we need to keep our stuff longer (or perhaps get rid of our stuff and get new better stuff) to be more friendly to Mother Earth.

It is all beginning to make me feel suffocated. We live in a country of great abundance – perhaps the abundance of all the stuff is a symptom of our success. Yet a recent wave of documentary/realty television is dedicated to the addiction of stuff. Shows like Hoarders regale viewers with stories of the millions of Americans drowning both financially and emotionally under the weight of years of accumulated and calcified stuff. Lives are destroyed. Homes are destroyed. And families fail. Not because of hunger or want, but because of excess. As a people, we seem unable to outrun the tsunami of stuff that follows our every move.

As a Professional Organizer, I see it every day. The past 5 years that I have been invited into people’s homes and offices to help them deal with their cluttered lives, has changed my life.

Every once in a while, isn’t there great joy in the reduction of stuff? Isn’t a trip to Goodwill (or even to the dumpster) kind of refreshing? I feel great – I much prefer the feeling of living lighter than of being tied down by stuff.

Consider this quote … the most important things are not things.

And yet, we still hang on to our stuff for a rainy day. Why? I challenge you this week to analyze your motives, emotions, reasons and excuses that you give yourself to convince you to hold onto stuff that doesn’t enhance your life.

Originally posted 2010-07-05 20:28:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Are You Chronically Disorganized?

Does your home or office regularly look like a tornado just blew through?

Do you regularly waste time looking for something you know “is around here somewhere?”

Do you have paper piles on most flat surfaces and all around your office, desk, floor or home?

Has this been an ongoing challenge for you for 6 months or more?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, then you may have characteristics referred to in the Professional Organizing industry as Chronic Disorganization (CD).  Although it is not a medical or psychological disorder (yet), chronic disorganization can cause you real problems.  You may be shaking your head in agreement at this point, because you or someone you know may fit this description.

Chronically disorganized people have likely developed habits that are having adverse effects on their quality of life or those around them.  They are rarely prepared for meetings, appointments, paying bills on time, deadlines, finishing things they start, filing papers, putting things away after using them, or any combination of these.  They may feel they have little control over their lives, as life tends to control them. (Visit www.nsgcd.org - National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization – for a more comprehensive checklist of characteristics).

If you have children at home, be aware that organization (and chronic disorganization) is a learned skill. Children WILL develop the same habits in their life while still at home and when on their own. Is this the kind of pattern you want your children to learn from you? We all know “children learn what they live…” Your bad habits will be modeled to and assimilated by your children. How are you going to get them to learn to clean up after themselves if they live with the disorganized clutter you’ve created all around them?

A person can be chronically disorganized at work but not at home, and vice versa.  Once one gets so backlogged with mail, paperwork, clutter or disorganization, he/she tends to avoid the situation even more.  This willingness to endure the clutter causes further stresses and frustrations due to the overwhelm generated by the thought of addressing (or avoiding) the issue.

Disciplining one’s self to get organized can be as simple as taking the first step.  Ironically, this can be one of the most valuable uses of a CD’s time.  Instead they spend it compounding the problem.  In the “being busy,” they avoid attacking the situation head on.  While in their office, the avoidance is compounded by working around the piles, not realizing the stress they feel is due to the surrounding disorganization.  The vicious cycle continues until intervention is sought.

The good news is, getting organized does not have to be a painful process.  It is a matter of breaking old habits and establishing new ones.  We, as professional organizers and productivity consultants, are available to guide you through the process.  We not only help clean up, we teach you the systems, solutions  and skills that save time and help you maintain the organization.

Soon, a newfound sense of freedom and control is realized.  This rejuvenation then propels you forward, creating a positive impact other areas of one’s life.

The following tips can get you started:

* Commit to putting in a few hours at a time to get organized
* Find an appropriate place (a home) for each item
* Place papers and items in those homes when they are brought into the home or office
* Set up systems that save time
* Purge files, drawers and closets annually at a minimum

* Make a To-Do list EVERY DAY, the evening before

If you’re open to learning organizing methods and processes from reading, our ebook , Home Organization Secrets for Busy Moms is 80 pages of all my best tips, strategies, and photos for getting control of your space and your life.
I also highly recommend Organizing From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. She lays out the organizing process in an easy to follow format.

If you at are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of even getting started or are having trouble focusing on the job at hand, then I have found that it will be difficult for you get started without support. That’s what we’re her for.  We will come to assist you, or if you live out of the central Indiana area, or money is an issue, we can set up phone coaching sessions to assist you. Suffer no longer, we are here to assist you to get back in control of your home, office and your life!

It may not feel possible right now, but I assure you it is possible and it will change your life for the better. But also realize that there is not a quick fix, short of setting your house on fire. It didn’t happen overnight and it won’t be fixed overnight.

As I say to my clients, “you can’t put a price on getting your life back”, and that’s what breaking the habit of chronic disorganization will do for you.

Originally posted 2010-07-16 10:47:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter