Victims of Mess
Messy Home Drives Man to the Brink In a recent news article, a shooting incident occurs when a family man returns home to a messy house. This is a pretty extreme incident relating to clutter and mess, and may not drive the average person to such measures, but it does raise the issue: what is the breaking point for people living with clutter, and how far will they go? People living around mess seem to be used to it and not really see it. But, what about the "other" people who do see it and have to live with it, like the kids, or an intolerant spouse? While many people sink into apathy over the condition, there may be the one instance where someone says, "I've had enough!" and go on a rampage. I only bring this news article to your attention to help raise awareness to mess. It can be harmful to your health. Full story at:
http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/local/stories/local_21028224.shtml
New Message Board
Share your organizing troubles We now have our very own message board at Organized-Living.com. It's so new, in fact, that there are only a few messages posted there by people I threatened if they didn't post (just kiddin). I hope to see this develop and grow into a useful and informational resource for people, so please join and start posting! http://forum.organized-living.com/tool/mb/cynders
Freecycle Stuff
Giving and Getting It ... Free I stumbling upon something recently that's apparently been around for a long time (where have I been?!), and I'm here to spread the word! It's the Freecycle Network (www.freecycle.org) ... "made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns." I just joined my group in my area and am anxious to offer something now ... I must go searching around now and see what I can give away! Check out the web site for more info. You can also read a recent news article on this, "Everything From a Printer to a Pail of Dirt." Please add comment if you've done this, or plan to do this, or whatever!
Organize for Disaster
Disaster Season This month we've been seeing news sources reporting that June is the start of hurricane season. Although some of us may not live in places where hurricanes threaten our town, there are always other natural disasters, no matter where we live. Judith Kolberg was kind enough to send me her newest book, "Organize for Disaster." I haven't had a chance to read it yet, however a good scan of the book shows it to be a great resource of information relating to dealing with disaster.
Now, I'm pretty certain Judith didn't send me her book because she thinks I'm a disaster, or not prepared, or anything like that. I do think it was out of the goodness of her heart, wouldn't you agree?
And, if you haven't read a recent article posted at our web site, be sure to read it -- Organize Your Pets for a Disaster; It May Save Its Life and Yours.
Checklists to Get Organized
Manage Your Tasks When there becomes more than one task to something you're doing or researching, it becomes a project. Some projects only involve a few tasks, while others are more extensive and take many tasks to complete. This is where a checklist can help you manage all the tasks relating to a project, or series of actions relating to a big task. Getting organized is a project if it clutter needs to be removed. It involves preparations (like getting sorting boxes), purchasing items to store items in, setting the day to tackle an area, then sorting the items, getting them into their storage or display places, removing the things you're not keeping, and finishing with a vacuum or dust sweep of the area not previously visible before. If you're planning to sell the items you're not keeping, than another project is made -- a garage or yard sale. This involves a different series of tasks, and another checklist should be made to ensure everything gets done for a smooth sale. Click here for a good checklist for a garage or yard sale. For a library of other useful checklists for the household to help you stay organized, click here. Cyndi Seidler
Professional Organizer
www.organized-living.com
Eco-organizing™
New articles posted To kick off my campaign on eco-organizing™, I have written a couple articles for a little more in-depth information about the principles of it: Eco-styled Living Helps Optimize Resources In Your Home Eco-organized™ Homes Lead To A Healthy Environment I'm very excited about utilizing these priniciples and helping others organize their home toward more eco-friendly living. Cyndi Seidler
"The Eco-organizer™"
Eco-style
Smart Living tips from The "Eco-organizer™ " With all the clever techniques to living smarter, more organized lifestyles, it's time to go a step further and get organized with style -- eco-style, that is. My newest campaign is to not only help people get organized, but to help them get "eco-organized." That means developing certain habits of recycling and utilizing recyclable material to preserve our natural resources. What most people don't realize about clutter is that it is unhealthy. They just see it as a nuisance or interference. However, truth is, clutter collects dust and dust is not healthy for us to breath. Clutter isn't the only thing threatening our well-being. Junk that accumulates and sits around without meaning, use, function, or value makes our lives more difficult. A good "junk sweep" helps people let go of belongings they no longer need, helping to streamline their living environments. Some of this junk can be recycled -- given to a charity that will distribute it or selling it at garage sales or Ebay. Then, we get into buying habits. Often times when people get rid of things, they need or want to replace it with something else (like, a new piece of furniture that is more functional, for example). Eco-style is about recycled merchandise. Why buy a brand new coffee table when you can get an old one and refinish it? Why go out and get an expensive new sofa rather than a used one that can be reupholstered or covered? Become eco-organized and start practicing organic and recycled living. That means clear out the clutter, get rid of the junk, and buy what you need for organized living from recycled material! Read my latest press release about Eco-organizing! Cyndi Seidler
The Eco-organizer™
www.handygirl.com
Yard Sales
Is Your Stuff Junk or Just Stuff? With the nice days of spring, people are dragging out stuff and playing merchants for the day. As I drive down streets, I see garage doors open or front lawns become display areas of junk. It's like a wave that comes through neighborhoods at certain times of the year, sweeping out all the years of accumulated stuff. I sometimes wonder if they are selling all the stuff that they purchased at other yard sales, as some of it looks recycled to death. And yet, we know one person's junk is another person's found treasure item. I've asked myself if people know that a lot of the stuff lying around their house or garage is actually meaningless junk. It's astounding what they determine their stuff to be once they begin going through it. I'll ask, "What's this?" and they often reply, "Gee, I don't know." If it goes into the sale pile, we only hope that someone else will be able to determine what it is. Some of the items that make it to the sale area however should be displayed in the landfills instead, although people just don't want to admit they hung on to something that didn't have meaning or value at one time or another. It's too embarrassing for them to admit, even to themselves. It's hard to price these meanlingless items of junk, too. How do you put a price on something you can't name? Yet, it must have had some value because you had it, right? So, pricing junk can be tricky. Maybe that's why some yard sales don't have items marked with a price. They wait for a person to pick it up and ask, "How much is this?" and then they can reply, "How much you want to pay for it?" It looks like a negotiation, but it's really a plea to take it at any price (and happy that they finally found a potential owner who knows what it is, most likely). The "put it out there and they will come" is an amazing phenomena when it comes to yard sales. Imagine if everyone cleared out the stuff in their homes every year, how much extra cash that would give them? And better, how much space does that give them? I wonder what's more valuable -- space to live in or a little extra cash? They both look good to me.
Recycling Junk
Eco-organizing™ Redefines Recycling Junk Being labeled as an Eco-organizer™ gives professional organizing new meaning and direction for me. When I see all the stuff people hang onto that they don't need, it's enough to fill many landfills. People don't need everything they have and if they went through all their stuff lying around, hiding in cabinets and drawers, and lurking in garages and other places, they just might consider recycling those things to people who may need them. It's the season for yard and garage sales. Selling stuff you no longer need also helps recycle items to new homes. There's also Ebay where you can auction your items for sale. But, if it's too much trouble to try and sell your stuff, you can always donate them. Ideally, donate to a charity that will preferrably use the items rather than resale them. Toys for Tots is an example of recycling toys. The other side to recycling is to buy recycled merchandise, instead of new (if you must buy!). Flea markets are abundant with recycled goods, and many furniture pieces can be refinished and look like new. Saves costs, saves trees and other natural resources. I'm going to be writing more about this. Eco-friendly products is what "green home" living is all about. Search the internet for that term and you'll see how you can contribute to preserving our natural resources.
Clean up
Community Clean Up You know you live in a good community when your neighborhood association group organizes a clean up. I live in a canyon community and posted on the large wooden bulletin board as you enter the canyon is a flyer, "Canyon Clean Up Weekend." The association arranged for a large dumpster to collect everyone's junk, leaving the perfect opportunity for people to do some serious dejunking! This solves the issue of having to arrange for hauling services or taking stuff to a dump, and having to pay costs for either of those options. Wouldn't it be great if all communities organized a clean up day or weekend? Maybe it's time more people get involved with their own neighborhood or homeowner association and propose it!
Challenging Time
Waiting Until the Last Minute
Can Be Challenging Sometimes, we want to create challenges for ourselves. I guess it's part of our nature. Even I, as organized as I am and try to remain being, still have to challenge myself with time. For instance, today I knew I had an appointment to get to at a certain time. I looked at the clock several times throughout the day and knew I could do something else before I needed to get ready for the appointment. In the last half-hour before I had to depart, I found myself scrambling to make myself decent. Not fun. It's interesting, if we know we have to do something or be somewhere by a certain time, why do we CHOOSE to delay, delay, delay? I can only assume we like the game of challenging time. I've tried to slow or stop the clock, and have even successfully arrived at a destination on time when I've left late. There was satisfaction in that -- but the agony of getting there on time was not so satisfying. I guess life is a game and we choose our games accordingly. So, procrastinators, I will try to admire your game, although personally, I'll opt to play something else.
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