Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Let’s talk about something called The Possession Cycle (Terry Prince, CPO-CD). Terry says that there are three stages in The Possession Cycle. First, things are Acquired. Second, things are Used. And, third, things are Disposed.  Acquire-Use-Dispose.

Hmmmm…. Acquire-Use-Dispose. So, THAT’S how it’s supposed to work! Genius! What happens when it doesn’t work that way? Well, clutter is what happens when things get stuck in a particular stage of The Possession Cycle.

Can you think of things you Acquired that you never Used or Used only once or twice? I’m thinking of some clothing, in particular, and cool new kitchen gadgets that turned out to be not so cool after all.

And then there’s the Dispose stage.  Hmph. Why does it take me so long to dispose of things that I no longer use? Someone else could have gotten years of use out of that hair diffuser attachment to my blow dryer (when perms were still in) had I not held onto it for so long.

Now, what if YOU didn’t actually do the Acquiring? Other people might Acquire things for you. Do you have a kind friend or family member who loves to shop at garage sales for you? Are there others in your life that can’t pass up a sale when they see something that reminds them of you? Have you inherited items that don’t match your style or interests?

Try to remember that the good people who Acquired these things on your behalf did so with your best interests at heart. They gifted this item to you because they thought you would want it, love it, and Use it. If that is not the case, I am certain that they would not want you to continue to have bad feelings every time you look upon their gift (whether it is displayed or stored away).

To prevent clutter from growing, make sure that all your Acquired things keep moving through The Possession Cycle. Once you’ve Acquired It, either Use it, or make plans to Dispose of it. Someone else NEEDS it. I promise. You can do this.

(The Possession Cycle is used by permission from Terry Prince, CPO-CD, http://www.terryprince.com.)

”Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (New International Version)

How Does Clutter Happen? is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

To get the most benefit out of organizing your space, you’ll need to get crystal clear on the organizing concept of NEAR and FAR. If you practice this one organizing principle, you’ll be far less frustrated and tired about your stuff. Think Sesame Street’s Grover…

1. If you use something EVERY DAY, then it deserves a space NEAR where it is used. And, you should probably leave it out in plain view. (Think of your toothbrush, cell phone, coffee maker, or keys.)
2. If you use something RARELY, IF EVER, then it deserves a safe, appropriate long-term storage space FAR away from your primary living space. And, it should definitely be well out of sight, if not off-site. (Think of Christmas decorations in the attic, an ancestor’s preserved wedding dress for future descendant’s use on a guest room closet’s top shelf, or a college student’s furniture over the summer in a climate controlled storage facility.)

Those are the two bookends of NEAR and FAR. Let me share with you what is in between… the GRAY area.

1. NEAR (see #1 at the top) – things you use EVERY DAY. See the top of this post, item #1.
2. JUST OUT OF ARM’S REACH – things you use a FEW TIMES A MONTH. These items should not occupy what I call your “prime real estate.” For example, if we’re talking about your home office, and the items in question are your monthly bills files and your checking account bank statements. These items are very important, but they should not be on the flat surface of your desk directly in front of your computer monitor. That’s your work space. If it is too cluttered on a daily basis, it is hard to keep track of what paper needs to be processed when. And, things get lost. These files should be just out of arm’s reach, perhaps in a rolling crate, portable plastic bin with a lid, or a file drawer.
3. UP HIGH OR DOWN LOW OR IN THE BACK – things you use a FEW TIMES A YEAR. These items should be behind closed doors (closet, cabinet or drawer) and should be in a part of that space that is less accessible to you. For example, if you are shorter than average, you will want to put these lesser used items on the top shelves of cabinets or in the back of a deep drawer. Or, if you have bad knees and find it hard to bend to look for your items, you will want to put these lesser used items on bottom shelves of lower cabinets.
4. FAR – things you use ONCE A YEAR or only a FEW TIMES EVERY FEW YEARS. See the top of this post, item #2.

If you begin to arrange your space using this principle, you’ll be amazed at how much time and frustration you will save yourself. And, cleaning will take less time because there isn’t as much stuff out to have to clean around. Bonus!

Humor always helps me remember things better. So, I wanted to share with you Sesame Street’s Grover teaching us the concept of NEAR and FAR. His exasperation at the end of this short video is priceless – and a great reminder of how our stress and exhaustion levels can rise quickly, if we don’t follow this simple organizing principle. You can do this.

Near or Far Organizing is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

Are you an “out of sight, out of mind” personality? If you file things away, do they disappear from your mind entirely? Hot Files might help keep you more organized.

My son, a senior in high school, had two stacking trays in which he was trying to keep track of everything. It wasn’t working. So, I recommended a Hot File area and some categories. Here was his customized solution.

Examples for a Teenager

• Work (employment documents, assignments, etc.)
• Church (events he’s helping plan, devotionals, etc.)
• College Applications (applications in process, resume, essays, etc.)
• Kudos (awards, certificates, birthday cards, etc. – to encourage him when he needs it)

He still puts his incoming, unprocessed mail in the top stacking tray, using it as his “Inbox”. I’m not sure what he’s using the bottom tray for yet. Oh wait, you say you’re not a Teenager…?

Examples for an Adult

• To Pay (bills to pay)
• To Read (magazines, flyers, invitations, etc.)
• To File (you’ve already addressed these items, they just need to be filed)
• To Shred (items you’ve identified as needing to be shredded)
• Waiting on Someone Else (items-in-waiting, you are depending on someone else for the next step for these)

Try out some Hot Files for yourself. You can display these on your desktop in a “Step File” (see picture above) or in the front section of your filing cabinet. Keep us posted on how they help. You can do this.

“…I will see it and remember…” Genesis 9:16 (New International Version)

Home Office Hot Files is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

There are a million different ways to organize your home office filing system. And, there’s no one right way to do it. It’s easy for me to customize a system that works better for a client once I know their needs. Absent me coming to your home, here are some tips that can improve your home office filing system.

1. Use category names instead of vendor names for vendors that are likely to change (e.g. “Pest Control” rather than “Terminix” or “Yates-Astro”; other examples might be Pets, Investments, Mortgage, Phone, Insurance, etc.)
2. Use subcategory names – speaking of Insurance, here’s a category that would benefit from subcategories (e.g. Insurance-Health, Insurance-Life, Insurance-Car, Insurance-Homeowners, etc.; similarly it’s a good idea to have Taxes-2010, Taxes-2009, Taxes-2008, etc.)
3. Use appropriate long-term storage – speaking of Taxes, here’s a category that lends itself to long-term storage. You don’t need to keep Tax files that are older than three years in your primary filing area. Those older files should be in your “archive” filing area (garage, attic, basement, extra closet, underbed, etc. – wherever you know that you can safely store them away from a daily use area)

Use these tips, and customize them to meet your needs.  You’ll find your files will be more accessible. You can do this.

“…searched for their family records, but they could not find them…” Ezra 2:62 (New International Version)

Home Office Filing Tips is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

Tired of having to do crisis cleaning every time you want to have guests over? Or worse, are you’re living a lifestyle of CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Cheer up! There’s reason to hope! I would like to introduce you to The Fly Lady, Marla Cilley.

(I don’t get anything for passing on this great information to you. I was just so pleased with how her principles have changed my way of thinking about decluttering and cleaning, I just want others to feel the same freedom that I experienced.)

The Fly Lady (named so because of her love of Fly Fishing) operates a free website at www.FlyLady.net with some of the freshest approaches to decluttering and regular cleaning around. She has been in CHAOS herself, and she shares exactly how she moved from cluttered and depressed to FLYing (Finally Loving Yourself).

Sheer encouragement. Love it!

To keep her website free, she sells carefully vetted cleaning products, her books, and other items in her online store. I have many of the cleaning products, and they all work exactly as she describes. Great stuff.

If you sign up for her email list, you will get MANY emails each day. As your professional organizer, I recommend that you set up your email Inbox to pull all those into a FlyLady folder, and read them as you can. Otherwise, you may just get frustrated with them and remove yourself from the list. Read the one email with that day’s Mission and complete it to help get you started on your cleaning.

There is a TON of amazing information on her website. Don’t be overwhelmed.

1. Sign up for the daily emails.
2. Take a look at the Beginning Baby Steps section – one task a day

Soon you’ll be on your way to freedom. And, before you know it, you’ll never suffer from CHAOS again! You can do this.

“And I’ll stride freely through wide open spaces as I look for your truth and your wisdom…” Psalm 119:45 (The Message)

Organizing Your Cleaning Schedule is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

Now that you have your mail management area set up, here are:

7 Easy Steps to Manage Your Mail in 2 Minutes a Day

1. Take today’s mail stack to the place you decided to manage your mail.
2. Please don’t open any envelopes yet.
3. Scan the mail stack once.  If  you recognize any junk mail immediately, place these items into the Recycle/Trash holder UNLESS it has any identification information on it.  Those go in the Shred holder.
4. BONUS: It will help you in the long run to make a Prevent holder for the unwanted mail that you receive that you can prevent from crossing your threshold in the future.  Once a month, go through the Prevent holder and call or email the company responsible to have your name removed from their solicitation list.  You will be surprised at how much this will reduce your unwanted mail six months from now.)
5. Scan the mail stack a second time.  Pull out the items that you want to read (magazines, journals, newsletters, newspapers, etc.).  Discard any plastic wrapping, and place the items in the Read holder.
6. Scan the mail stack a third time.  Pull out the bills. Open each outer envelope, and place it in the Recycle/Trash holder. If you pay bills online or in person, place any return envelopes in the Recycle/Trash holder. If you need the return envelope for snail mailing your payment, paper clip it to the bill.  Place them in the Bill holder.
7. Continue scanning the stack for your other categories.  Place them in their respective holders.

Congratulations! You did it! Remember to schedule regular intervals for how often you need to go through each holder to manage its items.

Please post your comments/questions about How to Manage Your Mail.

Manage Your Mail Part 2, System Implementation is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

Losing bills? Paying late fees? Missing critical appointments? Wouldn’t it be great to have your own personal assistant to handle all your incoming mail? Here’s what to do between now and the time THAT great day arrives.

Four Easy Steps to Mail System Set Up

1. Decide where you will manage your mail (kitchen counter, home office desk, family room couch, etc.).
2. Decide your different categories of mail – fewer is better (recycle, shred, bill, read, calendar, someone else, etc.).
3. Decide what will hold your different categories of mail (recycle bin, shredder, magazine holder, folders, stacking trays, vertical sorter, etc.).
4. Assemble your category holder(s) in the one place.

Congratulations! You’ve got the system ready. Next, we’ll work with that stack of mail.

Please post your comments/questions about How to Manage Your Mail.

Manage Your Mail Part 1, System Set Up is a post from: Grow Your Organizing Skills