Put all that Junk inside your Trunk!
Go Great in 2008!--Get Organized and Get Rid of Clutter.
I've always learned to do what I do well and find people who do the stuff , that let's face it "I'm simply no good at". One of those things is closet and office organization. Not only am I not good at it, I hate it, which by the way is the fundamental reason I'm not good at it. So I was fortunate between Christmas and New Year's to have a house guest whose profession is getting people organized. Based out of Houston, Texas, Susie Murray has tackled some of the biggest closets in the NBA with some big shoes in those closets-- several of her clients are NBA pros with closets that resemble a scene from Land of the Giants.
It began with Big Garbage Bags and encouragement to purge clothes and files that I hadn't touched in the last 6 months. I attempted to save my precious treasures from death by black bag with comments like... "But they'll come back in fashion, but I'll need to look it up some day, but that tea shirt reminds me of Cape May, but it was so expensive" but, but". Well, no ifs ands or buts, my organizing coach was ruthless! Some 6 hours later I could not believe the transformation. The clutter and confusion was replaced by clean lines and color coded hangars that proved soothing to my psyche.
At the end of this month, I will be hosting a Go Wild! Go GREAT! weekend safari in Atlanta, Georgia. where one of the 5 survival skills I teach is "Conservation of Energy" --The need for each of us to save time, money and both physical and emotional energy. Do you know that on the average day, we spend 45 minutes looking for things? "Where are those keys???" Here are a few hot ideas I've picked up from Susie and other organizational experts that may help you get a fresh start in 2008..
1. If you don't have a block of time, begin with just an hour a day commitment to get organized. Ab Jackson in a program called "How to organize your life and get rid of clutter" suggests a 4 box technique for purging what George Carlin reminds us is " the stuff". If you don't hire a professional organizer, consider his audio CD which walks you through the process. At the very least, I would suggest enlisting the help of a friend to help you with dejunking. Trust me, you need someone who will encourage you to put that junk inside the trunk and give it to charity or a second hand treasure shop.
2. "No more wire hangars" What a great scene in Mommie Dearest and also a key to organizing the wardrobe. Use color coded hangars, all the same size which are put in your closet in the same direction. Consistency in your storage tools creates consistency in the end product. Also get it off the floor. Nothing on the floor except the furniture and your feet is a good rule of thumb.
3. "Work the Wall". While I was recently conducting a team building seminar for vacation rental client, I learned about the housekeeping principle of "working the wall". Literally, picking a starting point on the wall and working in a clockwise direction until you return to your starting point. It's rewarding to see your progress when you purge and organize one small section of closet or office verses the trap we've all probably fallen into "Okay I'm going to organize the entire garage today" and by noon, you look around to see you haven't made a dent.
4. Identify "Next Actions". This organizational principle is also critical to Psychological Survival. In a survival situation, people who perish will often panic and say "Oh no, we're all going to die". Whereas a survivors attitude is "What's the very next action I need to take?". In David Allen's book "Getting Things Done" I learned the need to identify 4 Next Actions in tackling my in box "Do it, Delegate it, Defer it or Drop it"
5. Finally, 1 minute of Planning Saves 12 minutes of Action. Do you work from a To Do list each day? If you don't, time is getting away from you. PS: Make that list the night before and leave a clean desk before you go home, and watch how you hit the ground running the next day and better yet---leave work at the office for more quality time at home.
"Never again clutter your days and nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along."
~ Og Mandino
Join us in Atlanta, Georgia for the Go Wild! Go Great! Winter Weekend Workshop. For information, visit us at www.retreatscostarica.com
If you're in the Houston area and need to get organized here's Susie Murray's web-site
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