Organizing Essentials: A Place for Everything

I recently read somewhere being organized means that one is able to find what they need in 60 seconds or less and that it takes 5 minutes or less to pick up a room/space.  Don't fit the description? No worries, we all need help.

Before we go any further, I have one disclaimer:  Hopefully (and ideally), one has completed a decluttering session and determined that each remaining item is useful or beautiful.  Why spend time and money organizing things that do not add value to your life? 

Today, our main goal is to find a single home for everything, which will ultimately create our organizing systems.   To do so, we begin with these tried-and-true guidelines to help us find the right place for our stuff:

1.  Like with Like:  One of the basics.  Here, similar items are kept together.  This makes it simple to find something.  It also helps us to know where to put additional acquisitions or when to pare down, if necessary.

Example:  Pajamas tops and bottoms are in the same drawer.  The broom, mop, and vacuum stay in the same closet.  All batteries are stored in a single storage bin.

2.  Put it where you use it:  Wherever you use an item, store it nearby so that it will be easier to get and easier to put back.  This rule allows us to place items in unconventional, albeit more efficient, locations.

Examples:  Lint rollers may live near the front door so clothing is quickly cleaned before heading out the door instead of running back to the closet.

3.  Create zones:  This guideline streamlines certain tasks by grouping together all items necessary to complete the task for easy access.

Examples:  A coffee/tea zone near the coffeemaker in the kitchen; a basket with all products needed to get ready in the morning beneath the bathroom sink;  a homework drawer with paper and writing tools near the kitchen table.

The first few guidelines aid in finding homes that make sense for all of our stuff.  But, adding another level of organization can sometimes make things even more efficient.  After narrowing down a general area, consider how often you use an item when determining it's home.  If you use something: 

• Once a day/week:  keep it on the counter or in easy to access locations, like the front of a drawer.  
• Once a month:  keep it in a cabinet.  
• Seasonally:  keep it in a harder-to-get-to storage area, like the cabinets over the refrigerator or the top shelf of a closet.

After taking the time to find a place for everything, try making labels to help you (and others) maintain your hard-earned organization.   Labels clear up confusion and also serve to make us put things back where they belong.  At the end of the day, remember the law of diminishing returns and the difference between organized and neat - we only need to be organized enough  to make our lives run smoothly!

Here's to being one step closer to being organized!

My thoughts on Minimalism

"Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives.  By clearing the clutter from life's path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life:  health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution."  

-Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

There seems to be this new buzzword floating around more these days - minimalism* - and I decided to learn some more about it.  After following some blogs and reading some articles on minimalism, I understand its appeal - the beauty of living without bondage to stuff.  As a human product of consumerism, I grapple with the difficulty in finding worth outside of our physical possessions; our society linearly correlates status with ownership.  We find comfort in owning everything could possibly need, even if we have no idea where it actually is in our home.  Our drive is often fueled by the desire for the next thing on the list:  a bigger home, a nicer car, another gadget or smartphone.  The mantra of 'Just-In-Case' reigns supreme.

As with most things, there are extremes.  Some folks latch onto the idea of minimalism, taking it to one end of the continuum of owning almost nothing, while there are TV reality shows about folks who cannot seem to let anything go.  Most of us think of ourselves somewhere in the middle, being responsible by having items on hand for emergencies, but also slightly in denial by holding on to jeans and dresses from our days of optimal metabolism (as I guiltily walk to my closet).  

The goal of minimalism is to find the right balance.

Ironically, there is no right or wrong way to look like a minimalist - its principles are grounded in perspective, one that focuses on living right here, right now, not the nostalgically in the past or impatiently for the future.  It relates to the "no bag for your journey" approach that Jesus told his disciples when they were about to embark on their mission.  Minimalism is about living with only the necessary so that we are available to experience life with intention and purpose, not for the sake of obtaining more or in fear of losing our precious stuff.  What constitutes 'necessary' varies from person to person, to family to family, from season to season.

As "neat" and "organized" are not the same, the difficulty with minimalism arises in one's ability to accurately defining what is truly necessary, filtering out the influence of our culture from our real needs.  It's about letting go of the motion of acquiring for frivolous reasons:  sales, newness, convenience, therapy, or status.  It's about taking a look at all the stuff (and this includes our schedules) and weighing the pros and cons.  It looks at quality over quantity.  It appreciates simplicity and generates gratefulness.  It encourages us to value relationships, enjoy our work, and pursue our passions.  At the core, minimalism asks us to dictate how we spend our time, intentionally instead of haphazardly.

Our lives are in a perpetually fragile state, with our last earthly moments never fully known - and the stuff stays here.  What if our drive was no longer based on what we own, but on who we can become?  People who exude love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  People who help build, not tear down.  For me, it's harder to make strides towards these qualities when my energy is devoted to things.  So, this is my concluding thought on minimalism: holding on to stuff keeps you from being the best person you could be.

If you are interested in generating your own thoughts on minimalism, here are a few blogs that you can reference:

Becoming Minimalist, a blog by Joshua Becker

The Minimalists,  Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

Zen Habits, a blog by Leo Babuata

*Side Note: I know 'minimalism' is often referred to as a type of decorating or artistic style.  What I am speaking to here is more of behavior or mindset, which ultimately would affect design choice at some level.

Still not a morning person...

After three weeks, I accept I am not a morning person, at least not in the conventional sense.  I don’t immediately jump out of bed, fully awake and ready for the world.  Instead, I view myself as just a minimally-productive person in the morning. 

(Does Frankenstein still laugh at me when I wake up?  Yes.  But at least I’m getting stuff done.  Meanwhile, he is still looking for his brain.)

I’m currently reading One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh Oxenreider, and one of her ‘bites’ is to make a morning routine.  It’s a series of events you always do in the morning to get yourself ready for the day.  Inadvertently, that’s what I had done (although, not so eloquently stated) and I’m here to tell you, it works.

Now, when I wake up, I know EXACTLY what’s up next.  I drink my water, clear out the dishwasher, make my breakfast, read my devotional, and make up the bed.  After the bed is made, I’m alert and ready to look at my to-do list and get cracking.  If I am working from home or have an appointment elsewhere, my morning routine gets me going. 

The first few tasks vary from day to day.  Sometimes, I edit a blog post or update our financial documents.  Other times, I open up my Pocket app and select one thing I earmarked to read – this keeps me up-to-date on my various interests.   As a result, there’s a snowball effect.   I find myself completing the important but mundane tasks earlier in the day, leaving ample time for my creative endeavors during my energetic early afternoons. 

The bottom line: I am alert and more productive in the mornings all because I took the time to create a simple, 30-minute routine. 

For those who are morning people, I recognize that you also have a morning routine, but your routine probably only consists of waking up.  I also think that every person requires a different routine.  Some may take 5 minutes to complete theirs, others a couple of hours.  The principle remains the same:  know your strengths, acknowledge your weaknesses, and set yourself up for success. 

Interested?  I highly recommend it.  You could start by going through the process I outline here.  Or perhaps your routine consists of a few tasks you need to just get out of the way, such as starting a load of laundry or exercising.  For those that don’t have much alone time, maybe your routine is dedicated to mediation, praying, or journaling so you can tackle your day centered and rejuvenated.

Honestly, it seems so simple, but only after decades of life did I stumble upon it.  It makes my weekdays start much more smoothly.  On the other hand, the weekends remain a problem for me because I get really spoiled.  D enjoys making breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings, so I dawdle around while he graciously (and deliciously) makes veggie omelets or blueberry pancakes from scratch.  (Seriously, I LOVE that man.)  So on those days, I gladly allow myself the luxury of waiting until the afternoon to be productive.

What are your plans for being more productive in the morning?

The dawn of a morning person

I love my mother.  She’s a morning person – fully awake as soon as her eyes open.  Even though half of my DNA originates from her, my circadian rhythms move to the beat of a different drum.  My mom has nearly completed her to-do list by the time my brain has figured out how to construct complete sentences instead of grunts. Frequently, I pray that those recessive genes would turn on magically and I could become super-productive before 9 AM.  Where there is a will, there is a way.  Hopefully.  Maybe.

Here’s my chance to become more efficient with my time.  Put words into action.  Generally speaking, I’ve made do, but I believe there is definitely room for improvement.

First step:  Set my goal. 

For my typical morning, it is 10 AM before I think about what I would like to get done for the day.  For some of you, that’s awful because I wasted precious time just waking up and going through the motions.  I know, sorry.

My goal is to be actively attacking my daily agenda by 9 AM, eliminating 60 minutes of unproductivity.  (Please, be patient with me.  Baby steps, here.)  The words actively attacking may seem a bit much, especially since I have more energy in the afternoon.  But here, active means that I am intentionally getting things done that contribute to my larger goals, no matter how small or mindless the task.  

Second step:  Identify the bottlenecks.

The first one is obvious:  I wake up like Frankenstein no matter how much sleep I’ve gotten that night.  Sometimes, I set my alarm 30 minutes before I need to get up to perform the ritual that is getting out of bed.  While there are possible external influences that contribute to my morning condition, such as a bad diet or poor sleep patterns, I am choosing not to focus on how I wake up.  Maybe in round 2.

Another, more approachable bottleneck is my lack of direction in the morning (when I can sometimes be seen walking like Frankenstein).  While I do have to-do lists, I don’t always have a game plan.  No plan of attack often results in working hard, but not smart.  It takes longer for me to do things because I am working in fits, moving between multiple tasks without finishing one before the next.  Furthermore, I tend use the excuse of ‘not being awake’ to not do anything of significance and dawdle at the computer.  Not so organized, right?

Third step:  Get an action plan and work it.

The plan begins the night before, where I group things on my to-do list into mindless and mindful categories.  The mindless items require little thought to complete and are a great starting point for me.  Examples are:  filing paperwork, flagging and deleting email, updating budgets, searching for new healthy recipes, defrosting items for dinner, planning afternoon workouts.  The idea is to have about 45-60 minutes worth of stuff to get done.

(If you’re curious, some of my personal goals are to try new and healthy meals, increase my aerobic threshold, and save up for our big vacation.  So, all of these mundane tasks are important in the long run!)

Next, since my brain wants to take its sweet time waking up, I decided to create a warm-up routine to get it going.  It’s super simple:  pour glass of water and drink it.  Repeat.  Empty dish drain and/or dishwasher.   Make breakfast and eat it.  Make the bed. 

Then I’m off to start attacking the mindless items on my to-do list first, followed by increasingly mindful ones. 

I’m giving myself 3 weeks to try this plan out, to see if it works.  Stay tuned!

Any other ideas I should incorporate into my plan?  What has worked for you?

Ways to find efficiency

My goal is to do the most with the least – get the maximum output with the minimum input. 

Jarod Kintz, This Book Has No Title

Being organized is about being efficient, controlling the chaos of life by maintaining what you have with the least amount of effort. Think about one area of your life that is disorganized (and we ALL have at least a few areas). 

Maybe it’s  morning time where there is perpetual frustration, last-minute searching and panic or the dreaded tax-season scramble to find receipts and invoices.  It could be the constant mess that is our closet, garage, office, or bedroom.  Instead of remaining in a state of inefficiency, perhaps it’s time to pull off that bandage…

Most times, it boils down to making things simpler, such as taking a hard look at possessions and processes, making sure everything adds value and eliminating non-essentials.  Sometimes it is a lack of specific goals or objectives; other times, it’s a desire to be in control of everything and refusing to delegate.  And yes, laziness and procrastination are often the main culprits of disorganization (although, they can be used to highlight ways of creating efficiency).

 Since there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ method, here are a few principles that I frequently use to find efficiency.  This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good start:

·         Prioritize and Optimize.  Practice following the 80/20 rule – 20 percent of the things you do give you 80 percent of the overall result.  Identify what those things are and make sure you get those done.

·         Excess brings stress.  Plan for the future, remember the past, but LIVE in the now.  In general, the less STUFF you have, the easier it is to maintain.  Sometimes, this is a thin line to walk, especially if you are a very sentimental person.  Consider that a few very meaningful items can represent a memory or person better than a vast collection that is difficult for you to maintain or even display.  This principle also works well with scheduling by committing to things that are in alignment with your priorities first.  Don’t be afraid to say no.

·         Make friends with routines.  I know some folks don’t want to become boring, but a strategically crafted routine can help maximize your resources while minimizing effort.  For instance, preparing your lunch, outfit, and schedule the night before can help those of us who are not fully coherent in the morning.  Blocking off uninterrupted time at work can lead to increased productivity, allowing you to tackle the most critical aspects of your job (see Prioritize and Optimize).

·         Practice makes permanent.  Think of organizing as a skill, not just a way of being.  In order to become better at a skill, one must practice it.  Often, an innate tendency toward disorganization is really just a collection of bad habits formed over the years.  These bad habits can interfere with becoming organized, so taking the time to practice habits that make us more efficient can be worthwhile.

·         Do a litmus test.  Can you find what you need in 5 minutes or less?  Do you typically arrive on time to events?  Do mornings run smoothly for you and your family?  Try to find bottlenecks and come up with possible solutions to relieve the squeeze.  Ask questions like “what would make this easier?” or “what is making this so difficult?”  Once you’ve identified these key things, it’ll be easier for you to improve and maintain your organization.

·         “Like with like” and “put it where you use it” are helpful mantras when setting up systems to be efficient.  Try to make systems a ‘no-brainer’.  Think about why soap is always next to the sink. The less you have to think about it to maintain it (i.e., EFFORT), the more efficient it is.  Simplification is key.

·         Give yourself ROOM.  Leaving ‘white space’ can make it easier to deal with the ebbs and flows of life without seriously disrupting your efficiency.  However, without designated empty space, the disorganization cycle easily starts again.  When it comes to scheduling, always incorporate “buffer time” to help give you some breathing room to travel from one place to another or prepare for the next thing.  Another mantra to think about adopting is “one in, one out” – this will maintain balance automatically. 

·         Do not have anything that is not useful or beautiful.  Get rid of stuff you don’t use, need, or find beautiful.  The goal is that everything has earned its value in your life and is worth the cost to store it. 

What ways are you trying to add more efficiency to your life?

Know organization, know efficiency

In a previous post, I wrote about the difference between efficient order (organized) and visual order (neat).  Most of us like things to look neat, but perhaps we'd rather have things working smoothly instead. So, what IS efficient?

EF FIC ENT (/I’ fiSHent/, adjective)

·         (especially of a system or machine) achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.

·         preventing the wasteful use of a particular resource. 

‘Nuff said.  This is the epitome of organization – finding what you need, when you need it with the least amount of effort.  Also, I love the use of “wasted” and “wasteful” here.  Some folks think that getting or staying organized is overrated and not worth the trouble.  In some cases, I agree and understand the value of a mess.  There is a point where more organization does not make you more productive - that's the law of diminishing returns.  On the flip side, some effort (or expense) to organize generates greater productivity, where “a little bit goes a long way.” 

For example, you have a lot of crayons and you make use of a clear box to corral them all.  The amount of effort used to maintain that system is fairly minimal and effective; it only takes tossing the crayons back into the box and putting that box back with the other art stuff.  Done.  However, if you insist on arranging the crayons in ROY-G-BIV order followed by shortest to longest – the system becomes overkill.  Adding those extra steps makes it harder and decreases productivity, which in turn can make us less inclined to stay organized in the long run.  Efficiency is all about doing the most with the least.

**This graph just shows my thoughts, no scientific inquiry was done to construct it**

It can be a very thin line to walk.  Sometimes, adding extra steps helps make better use of other resources such as space or money even though it costs you more time or energy (such as shredding or recycling unwanted documents).  Other times, those steps aid in making things neater, but not necessarily more efficient (like making sure all the magazine spines are facing the same way in their basket).  Honestly, I have always struggled with this concept.  While I love making things tidy and pretty, I have to remember that neatness is not a pre-requisite for organization. 

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that organizing just makes things neater with full of stacked and labeled plastic tubs in (insert your room of choice).  I beg to differ.  Organizing should aim to make our lives more productive.  Maybe we should focus on using organizing tools as a means to an end, such as having more time to relax, more time to learn a language, more money to give to others, or more space to enjoy your favorite hobby.

Here are a few reasons why we should try to make friends with organizing:

1)      to become better stewards of our valuable assets (time, money, space, energy, natural resources)

2)      to enable us to be more productive and reach our goals

3)      to lessen the pains of stress, unpreparedness, and uncertainty

4)      to make our daily lives simpler

Are there some areas in our lives that could use some more productivity?  How about less wastefulness?  
For me, I am taking a hard look at how I spend my time in the mornings.  Left to my own devices, the morning hours would be wasted away doing nothing of critical value towards my goals.  Part of this problem relates to my energy levels peaking in the afternoon and early evenings.  However, that does not mean I should consistently waste those minutes – I’ve been blessed with them, so I need to put them to good use.  So I’m going to try my hand at being more productive in the mornings, so stay tuned – hopefully it will be a positive post!

How have you brought more efficiency to your life?