Over the Door Clothes Hanger

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Pros:

Small
Inexpensive
Door closes with it on (at least on my door)
Removable, not screwed in

Cons:

Not attractive to have in prime living space

Review:

The older I seem to get, the more old-fashioned I seem to become. My husband has moved to shaving with an old-fashioned safety razor and the soap and brush – preferring that to the standard razors used today or even an electric razor. Then there’s how I do some ironing every week (yes really, or at least that’s the goal) – and with putting in that effort, I don’t want them getting wrinkled before getting into his closet. (And I am not running each item upstairs after finishing it.) Therefore I went in search of an over-the-door clothes hanger – in my mind’s eye, I was envisioning something I cannot even find online.

I was fortunate to have a gift card to The Container Store and figured I could find something there. When I looked around, I put the Valet Rod into my cart and started to continue with my shopping excursion. It was larger than I’d wanted and this is what it looked like:

Over the Door Valet Rod (The Container Store)

Then something else caught my eye – a smaller and less expensive option – a smaller “valet” rod. This was a better choice – less expensive, but also smaller and more suited to my uses. A larger version would have simply taken up space and potentially tempted me to use that space. (Have you ever noticed that when you have the space, you fill the space?) Also, this style could easily be taken down when not in use.

Smaller Over the Door Valet (The Container Store)

After I got the over the door clothes valet home, I was thrilled that it fits over the door and we can still close the door – too often these over the door gadgets make closing the door a challenge. I am NOT saying this will be the case with everyone since all our doors are different (and we have an over the door ironing board holder which does not fit as well for closing the door).

I found many different styles exist for this specific purpose. Some looked like you’d need to use only certain hangers, while others require permanently attaching it to a door or wall. There’s also a less attractive one, at least to me. I also appreciate that the spacing provided with this valet would offer it as an option for a place to hang clothes to dry.

1 Style Clothes hanger (organize.com)

2nd Style Clothes Hanger (Bed, Bath, & Beyond)

3rd Style of Clothes Hanger (organize.com)

Here I return to the idea of space needed – ideally, we choose and use tools that help us simplify and support us. A small grooved bracket provides a limited space tool for specifically what I need. It encourages me to empty the clothes promptly – here it is before I take them upstairs.

My over the door clothes hanger filled with freshly ironed clothes before taking them upstairs

It’s easy to buy a valet – one like this or another – to “make” more space for hanging our clothes. This makes it too easy to just add rather than sort and purge our clothes. Remember, tools are supposed to help support and simplify our lives. If you need a tool to hold some clothes temporarily – like where to put your outfits for the coming week, or ironing, etc. – consider one of these over the door clothes hangers.

Book Review: Buried in Treasures

There are 3 names that come up again and again when it comes to the topic of hoarding – from their independent work to their collaborative work: psychologists David F. Tolin, Randy O. Frost, and Gail Steketee. All three wrote, Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding and although it was not the first book I read on the topic, it was the book I was always intending on reading – it’s “that big” a book on the topic. I read it more than a year ago now, and happily made notes (and have the book to refer to) for both this review and how it can apply to those I work with.

First, let me share that I was almost shocked when I found a copy of the book – it was quite a bit smaller than I’d imagined, coming in under 200 pages long. It’s also very much a workbook of sorts for people wanting to tackle their struggles. Similar to many books on organizing and hoarding, it tries to make it clear that unless you are ready to make changes, they will be hard to come by. It is discouraging to hear that the success of “recovery” is minimal; that it takes continued efforts and mindfulness.

This is the case though for all of us – and applies to any changes we want to make. As they say in the book, “People start to work on their hoarding problem when the reasons for change outweigh the reasons for not changing, and not a minute sooner.” Now if you take out the word hoarding, it applies to changes in general. Changes are difficult to make, whatever they are, and we need to be ready and truly motivated.

They spend some time talking about reinforcement, positive and negative, and how these are critical to self-control and exert powerful influences over our actions.

“We all tend to be motivated most strongly by immediate rather than delayed consequences. This is a big part of the problem: instead of being able to step back and appreciate the long-term consequences of our actions, we become slaves to the here and now. …long-term consequences, unpleasant as they may be, simply are not very powerful motivators compared to the immediate…” Buried in Treasures

I see this in myself sometimes, and this does seem to be universal – we struggle with what impact our decisions will make down the road. Or even struggle to make decisions in general, though not making a decision is ultimately still making a decision.

I’ve talked before about how I dislike the term “hoarding” and I will even talk to clients about how I myself have some “hoarding” tendencies. On some level, we all do. I do have close to 2,500 books. My husband teases me sometimes about the number of containers I have. I can resonate with the desire of collecting. The authors were sharing a story and although the level of my stuff does not compare, it hit home for me: “…defining himself not by what he did, but rather by what he had and what he hoped to do. … Now ask yourself: is the amount I have proportional to the amount I do?” I, like some many others, have big dreams – many ideas and hopes – and collecting items for that one possible day translates too often into having excess clutter. Now, I evaluate whether the things are relevant for me currently or are more for a dream. I can always find those again if it becomes more than a dream.

The authors spend time talking about some of the common struggles people face – the idea of “how did this happen to me?” There are many tips and techniques they share. Two of them stood for me. One is the idea of the OHIO principle, which I talked about in a previous post – where you move pieces along in your system and aren’t worrying about loose ends because it’s been “handled.” The other was “elaborative processing” where people have “the tendency to think of more and more uses for an object.” I played with this for myself, how creative could I get – and at what point do I not care anymore what it’s potential is.

In closing, another quote – a goal we all share, to find balance in our lives:

“…for most of us, successfully navigating life means striking the right balance between that feels good and what is good. … There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer; it depends on the person and situation. But living a balanced and successful life does involve, at least some of the time, inhibiting things that are immediately reinforcing and instead choosing things that will pay off in the long run. Another way of saying this is that we run into trouble when we become too dependent on immediate rewards, and lose focus on long-term goals.”

Figure Out the Zones

Our lives are full of various activities and interests. These need space to live. Some of these are simply requirements of being alive – we need a place to sleep, shower, get dressed and ready for the day, for eating – you get the idea. Then there are things we want to do. We can break these activities into zones in our homes and how you do this depends on you.

If you or your spouse is an insomniac, your bedroom will likely be relegated to being strictly for sleeping and getting dressed, so any sleep struggles can be limited. Others will use their bedrooms for a relaxing space. I’ve known people who do most of their work from the bed – it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you think about how you want to use the space.

I challenge you to start fresh – make a list of your activities and interests. You can start thinking about what you do in each room in your home, but try not to get stuck thinking you have to do those things in the same room. How are you spending your time? You also want to consider what draws you to working in various areas. Are you inclined to do various things when you have the TV on in the background (or even the foreground)? Are you more comfortable working in the solid dining room chairs and table? There are no right or wrong answers, just information for yourself as you try to figure out setting up some new systems.

Once you’ve thought about your activities, whether current or hopes for the future, you start thinking about where those activities will be best suited. The idea is to acted some dedicated space for these activities and their related items. Some people talk about also limiting how many activities there are in one space. I think this depends on several different factors.

How large the space or room is
How many things are needed for the activity, i.e. if all you need for a reading nook is a light and a place to sit that’s different than a place to put a scrapbook together
How you feel about a more sparse versus full space

Living in old bungalow, all of our rooms are small. When we think about making space for different activities, we need to limit how many in each room. Part of this equation is how much stuff goes along with the activity too. In one of our rooms, there are 3 zones, and that feels tight sometimes.

Also important is to consider alternative storage areas for some things. I have a lovely sewing machine that I almost never pull out. I’m not prepared to part with it, but it doesn’t need to take up a “prime” area either. It won’t matter that on rare occasions I need to go lug it from the broom closet to where I work on my crafts. If I actually used it frequently (or even regularly), I might not recommend storing it further away. It will vary from person to person as well as the need for the item. There’s also the option of storing things higher when they’re used less.

Take your list of activities and look at your answers for the above three questions. Now let your creative juices flow and consider where you want those activities to happen and how you can set up specific zones for yourself.

Workforce Shelving Units

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Workforce Shelving Unit

Pros:

sturdy
easily assembled and dismantled
roomy

Cons:

some slots
fixed shelving, not adjustable
no shallower options

Review:

As an organizer, I can go gaga over boxes and containers. Shelves, well, it depends. When it comes to just your average utility shelves, it generally leaves me ambivalent. Too often, I’m disappointed with the quality or style (and hard to make an argument for something decorative!). After working with a client who had several of these Workforce Storage Shelving units, I decided it would meet our needs.

Our wrapped Workforce shelving

We started with 2 (and haven’t yet picked up more) – one for the basement and all the paint we’ve accumulated and one for the garage for camping and other miscellaneous items. As you will see from my before pictures, we had no organization for these things beforehand – or rather, they might be somewhat organized, but still chaotic. I started with clearing the spaces where we wanted the shelves to go.

Garage before, piles of camping stuff

Piles of paint - before getting the needed shelving

Since I’m a fan of using the timer, I timed how long it took me to unwrap and assemble a shelf – it took me under 7 minutes. It would have been less too, as I thought we were missing a foot for the shelf and spent time taking the 3 feet off only to find the missing foot and putting them all back on. For me, as a relatively short person, putting the top shelf on was a little challenging since I couldn’t see well. I was impressed with the details on the bars – so I took a picture – and you can see the narrower area, but there’s also the mottled area past the smooth part. The idea is that all of the smooth area will be within the unit, and this makes it clear when it has been assembled snugly.

Rod for the shelving, showing the details

One of the reasons I was drawn to this brand, was in seeing it elsewhere, I saw that it was sturdy. I was honestly amazed by the fact that they don’t wobble. Even looking at alternatives in the store, many would jiggle as I touched them. There is little to none with this shelf. You might be shocked to see one of my after pictures – there’s stuff on the top, but not on the bottom. “What are you doing? You need to put things at the bottom first, give it some stability.” Although we did do that with the one for the basement, these shelves are sturdy enough, I felt comfortable loading the camping gear on the top.

Garage, with the camping gear on the shelving

Often when I look for utility shelving, I’d like adjustable shelves. I dislike wasted space; especially unnecessary wasted space and I want to be able to put what I need to onto the shelves. These shelves are not adjustable. They also have slots on the shelves, another thing I’m not crazy about. It’s amazing to me how easily bottles tip on shelves with slots, even the smaller slots – going against what seems logical. I understand part of the reason for the slots is that spills won’t catch on the shelves. Nevertheless, I knew most of what we were storing would be larger items, and I could give up the idea of solid and adjustable shelves for the solid Workforce shelves. My husband and I were pleased to find that the shelves fit gallon paint cans on top of each other.

Basement, with the paint loaded and through the doorway to the left can see how clear the previous area is now!

As I’ve already said, we both liked these well enough that we’re thinking of getting more. I wish they offered a narrower option – we have a narrow broom closet that needs better shelving, but even at the 18 inches, it would not fit in the closet and allow us to get into the deeper areas. For most areas, these shelves don’t take up too much room and provide great storage for larger items. I’m impressed with their stability, empty or filled. Now that we have a place for the paint supplies and the camping gear, we’ll be able to easily put these away now that they have a place.

Review: Organizing from the Inside Out

At this year’s NAPO conference, Julie Morgenstern gave one of the keynote presentations and after that, she signed her books. I didn’t bring the one book I owned for her to sign – Organizing from the Inside Out. Although it’s been a number of years since I’ve read this book cover to cover, I do periodically reread sections. I also liked this enough to borrow Organizing from the Inside Out for Teenagers from the library and then to buy a couple of books at NAPO (which I then got signed!). I look forward to making time to read those down the road.

One of the things that I appreciate about both books I’ve read by Julie Morgenstern is that she insists you find your way to the organizing answers. If you’ve read her book, you’ll have seen many similar posts from me. I also use a quote from her in almost every presentation I give since it resonated deeply for me:

Being organized has less to do with the way an environment looks than how effectively it functions. If a person can find what he or she needs when she or she needs it, feels unencumbered in achieving his or her goals, and is happy in his or her space, then that person is well organized. ‘Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work, and relax exactly as we want to. When we are organized, our homes, offices, and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want, and where we are going.’ — Organizing from the Inside Out, first chapter

This is a critical piece to me when I talk with people – that what is important is their definition of being organized.

In Organizing from the Inside Out, she spends the first 2 (out of 4) talking about general principles: “Laying the Foundation” and “Secrets of a Professional Organizer.” Part 3 is the main chunk of the book and spends time talking about specific rooms and items (i.e. purses, suitcases, filing cabinet, memorabilia). She wraps the book up with “Time and Technology” briefly, and has a whole book Time Management from the Inside Out (one I did buy and will read!). She also provides several appendices with further resources.

As an organizer, I appreciate that she spends some time addressing the possible things that are getting in the way for people struggling with organization. She also spends time talking about the steps that people often want to skip when embarking on getting organized. She breaks the process down so that it’s easy to understand and follow.

I’ve mentioned before I’m not a big fan of acronyms, I find them hard to remember and largely unhelpful, and she does use one as a basis for getting organized. It’s SPACE: sort, purge, assign a home, containerize, and equalize. Essentially I can appreciate this steps, especially the need to do them in order after you’ve completed analyzing the situation, strategized, and then moving into the attack mode (where SPACE comes in). She offers time estimates for the rooms and items, as many people struggle with figuring out how long things will likely take them.

If only organizing books could solve everyone’s clutter problems! We all know they don’t, sometimes it takes someone else coming in and helping. Fresh eyes, fresh perspective, someone to ask those questions and wait for an answer – these things we cannot always do for ourselves. I love how she encourages you to think outside the box and find the inner style that will make organizing work for you. I also know that for just me, that this is often extremely challenging to actually accomplish – and my organizing struggles are minor compared to some people. Some of her ideas seem great as ideas, but I sometimes question the practicality of them.

There is a plethora of organizing books available, and I would recommend this one. Some of my clients have more than a shelf full of books on how to get organized – and although I’ve not ready most of them (gasp!); this would be one to keep (and yes, I’d encourage you to recycle most of the others). It has the essentials on getting and staying organized, if you can follow her steps. This is probably why there are so many books out there, maybe another speaks to you and your style.

The Cost of an Item

Something weird has been happening to me – and it’s reached a new height. I don’t want more stuff. Now, some of you might be rolling your eyes at me – yet until just recently I always wanted some book or CD (usually several of each) at any given moment. Media is where I tend to collect, despite some women collecting shoes, purses, or jewelry – I’ve had a hard time resisting another book or three. 🙂

I mentioned a while back my husband inspiring me to consider purging most of my cassette tapes, which then led to my examining my movie collection. Meanwhile, he and I are currently going through our CD collection. There’s a local place that is frequently a temptation for me – Half Price Books – where they specialize in media: books, music, and movies, oh my! I enter the store sporadically, sometimes because I just don’t want to be tempted and sometimes because I’ve been disappointed at not finding something to bring home.

Movies have been one of the media I’ve collected – not that my collection ever approached the number of CD’s, let alone books that I have; yet I had over 300 movies at one point. I still peruse the movies they have – especially the clearance area of the movies – since they’re all between $1-3. This is how I achieved the original number of movies – used and sometimes clearance.

Yet now when I look through those movies, I pull something interesting off the shelf and look at it – the idea of paying $2.00 for those, it isn’t worth it. This is truly a little mind-boggling for me. Really. And I can’t say it’s about saving that two dollars plus tax.

What it does seem to be about for me is the greater cost:

the cost of space in my home
the cost of my time if I was to watch it (except I wouldn’t watch it much)
the cost of spending money for something that I won’t truly appreciate
the cost, potentially/probably, of feeling bad at owning it when I next purge (and never having appreciated it)

There are other factors to consider as well:

how much of what you have are you currently appreciating? (I still have over 100 movies and watch maybe 10% of those. Now the movie needs to be pretty special to come home.)
do you have the time or even the inclination to appreciate this new item? (Most movies that come home with me, I usually don’t manage to watch for more than 6 months!)
if you avoided spending on this and that over time, is there something else you’d deeply appreciate? (I’ve been drawn to experiences lately, so I’m inclined to avoid spending on “minor” items and feel good about going for a horseback ride.)

There’s also a joy in buying only what you need or are going to appreciate. I was touched to arrive at a client’s and she looked at me and said, “It’s amazing how light and free I feel not buying just stuff and in turn also getting exactly what I need.”

My reasons for not spending $2.00 on a movie aren’t going to match yours. On any item. Yet, is there a way for you to consider the value for yourself of what you buy? With any purchase, the cost is more than financial. I know this isn’t something I thought much about until recently. I was focused almost exclusively on just the financial part – hence why a $2.00 movie with a great actor or a good plot would usually come home with me. 😉

I continue to find this perspective to be unnerving – it’s still relatively new for me. Yet, it’s also tremendously freeing. I wish I could share the internal space I’m in with everyone, just so they could know what it feels like. I encourage you to examine the temptations, the random “unnecessary” items that come into your home, and see if you can find those other “costs” as they apply for you.

Cocoon Grid-It

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

An example of a Cocoon Grid-It

Pros:

versatile
various sizes (and colors) depending on need/want
durable
secure, the items really do stay in place
fabulous for traveling

Cons:

might not be the best for frequently used items
sometimes specific Grid-Its are limited in longer elastic straps
wish they had a tiny size for those small purse items!

Review:

In my newsletter almost a month ago, I shared a video from the winner of the 2011 NAPO conference for Best Technology Product – Cocoon Grid-It. This was definitely a hit with all the organizers at the conference – and long before the last day, the Grid-It’s they were handing out were all gone! I was fortunate enough to pick one up and after my husband got a look at it, we bought more. Need I say more?

Yes, I do. My first thought while I was at conference was that this is one of the few “male” styled tools for organizing. There’s the simply functional, the closet and shelving systems, but many smaller tools and supplies for staying organized are often pink or floral or otherwise quite feminine – these are almost more masculine. They do make a pink Grid-It in a number of the sizes, but otherwise the color options are black, gray, royal blue, or racing red. Unless you get one of their bags, since those come with their own Grid-It with some different accent colors.

As I was first looking at them, I didn’t notice, the elastic bands are sewn in throughout the grid. This means that it controls how much it will move and will hold items in place more securely. Yet this isn’t obvious and the design is well done, it’s a fascinating crisscross of various sized elastic strips. These elastic strips are wide, also useful for holding the items in place.

The smallest Grid-It offered is 7.67 x 4.5 x 0.375 while they’ve finally added the Grid-It wraps which can hold a computer in a pocket and has a neoprene wrap that keeps the device in the pocket and protects the items in the grid while it’s being moved around. Although the computer size is interesting, I find the iPad and e-reader size wraps to be the most intriguing. It could be a self-contained unit that is a grab and go; with everything you need right there.

I don’t know about you, but when I travel, I have so many cords that sometimes I stick them into a baggie or even, gasp, put them loose in one of the suitcases. I have now traveled with my cords and other items all neatly contained in my Grid-It. All the cords were neatly together and easy to access once we’d arrived.

My Grid-It for traveling

As I was playing with the ones I now have, I was considering what to put into it. Although there were tons of things that would fit, I didn’t want to use it for the frequently used items. My sunglasses live in a case, which sits well in my purse and is easy to access while I’m driving. Adding that to the Grid-It would just have made it more complicated to access. As with all organizing tools, sometimes it will work well and other times, it might not be for you. For me, I would love a tiny one, maybe 3 x 3 (or maybe even 4 x 4), for things like just the lip balm, nail file, pill case, etc. that would fit into a small pocket in my purse (I am not a fan of the little bags for that).

I have one set up for working – you’ve probably seen it if I’ve come over – it has a notepad, some pens and a pencil, a nifty measuring tape, and a stack of my business cards. The Grid-It is sturdy enough that I can write on my notepad on the Grid-It. The back of this one has a zipper pocket, which easily holds standard papers folded in half. They also say the back of many of their Grid-It’s can be used as a mouse pad.

My Grid-It for working with clients

Overall, this is a great product, which can fill many different needs. As long as you consider your needs and decide this can meet them. (I think this way about all organizing tools!). It’s wonderful to see an organizing product that can fulfill so many potential needs. I also saw as I was getting the links for this post that if you buy a Grid-It this month (July), they will donate part of their proceeds to The Wounded Warrior Project in honor of our veterans – of which I do work with a couple of. 🙂

As usual, this is written as unbiased as possible, without compensation, and simply because I’ve now used it.

Guidelines for a Happy Home

Have you seen the “rules” of a happy household – where it starts with “If you take it out, put it away”? Many of them are useful rules for limiting the degree of chaos, while others are to make Mom happy! If we could all put things back where they belong when we’re done with them, we’d have greater organization. Sometimes this is easier said than done.

Mom’s 10 Commandments For A Happy Household

1. If you take it out, put it away.
2. If you eat on it, wash it.
3. If you turn it on, turn it off.
4. If you mess it up, clean it up.
5. If you drop it, pick it up.
6. If it rings, answer it.
7. If it barks, walk it.
8. If you open it, close it.
9. If I cook it, eat it.
10. If I say do it, don’t ask why.

I know from my own behavior that there are times when I’ve taken something out, and after I’ve finished using it, I think to myself – “I’m going to use this again tomorrow…” Then, there are times that I say to myself – “I’ll put it away later…” To some extent, I think this applies to all of us – even the most organized – we don’t always put things away right after we’re finished using it. Nor do I think we have to.

What we do need to work on is getting it put away regularly and before too much time has passed. If I toss my tissues toward the wastebasket, when I walk by it, I then bend down, quickly pick them up, and put them in the trash. If I make a pile for another room, when I next get up and move around, I grab the pile and move it into the right room.

I’ve talked about this before in “Getting Things to Their Home,” and focused on finding ways to “Make It Fun.” There are other ways to work on these applicable rules for organization – use a timer. You might be rolling your eyes at me – here she goes again with that timer. Yet seriously, if you have a stack of CD’s that haven’t been put away, time yourself on putting them away – or time yourself with whatever it is that isn’t getting put away.

Another way to approach working on putting things back where they belong is to set the timer for a set amount of time and work on it until the timer buzzes. Use the timer to help you – whether to time yourself or you designate a specific amount of time with it.

It is easy to say to yourself, “I’ll just do it later” and that “later” doesn’t arrive (or it arrives in a week or a month). If you make it part of your routine, just those few seconds of picking up the trash that missed the trashcan or whatever it might be – your home can be that much more presentable and more importantly, pleasing to you. There’s not many of us who don’t automatically close the drawers and cabinets in our kitchens – and might even dismiss that as easy – yet it’s the same idea – “If you open it, close it.”

Putting something away after we’ve taken it out can be just as easy, we just need to work on making it as automatic as closing the drawers after we’ve gotten something out of it. The timer can help with the idea that it’s more time consuming than we realize. In working to keep things organized:

If you take it out, put it away.
If you eat on it, wash it. (I don’t do this each time, but I do it regularly!)
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you mess it up, clean it up.
If you drop it, pick it up.
If you open it, close it.

None of these things would take us that much time – test it out and use your timer to find out for yourself.

Find Your Motivation

We all have different reasons for why we want to get organized or even to stay organized. There is no one right answer – what matters is why you want it. Do you know what your reasons are? It’s worth it to give it some thought and find as many reasons as you can. These personal reasons are what can help get you going if (or when) you falter.

Some of what I hear a lot is how overwhelmed people feel with what they’re dealing with – from piles of boxes on an unused room to the mass of papers they have to a house that has simply collected lots of things. It doesn’t matter what the size or scope is, what matters is how it feels to you. A few people are concerned about how their loved ones are feeling and reacting to the state of their home. Others are adjusting to difficult transitions in life – from the death of a spouse to downsizing (voluntarily or not) to new health issues.

Although the above are fine reasons for wanting to get and stay organized, some of them are phrased on negative terms. If we went to a list of our reasons for getting organized and saw as a reason “because I’m overwhelmed” or “because my spouse is always yelling at me” or even “because I cannot concentrate the way I used to” it’s unlikely to inspire us.

Find a way to make the reasons positive. If you’re overwhelmed, you are looking for an easier way to doing things, a way to simplify things for yourself. If a loved one is badgering you, you might be looking for a way to improve your relationship and become closer with them again. Sometimes those life transitions are challenging, yet I believe there are positive ways to view your situation. For me, it was a chance to learn new ways of doing things and I love learning.

The point is that you want to figure out the reasons that matter to you for getting organized – maybe you want more time to enjoy life. I’d suggest that you actually write them down somewhere. I don’t think you need to look at them every day, although you certainly can. The idea is that you have them to pull out when you get discouraged or falter in your efforts. It could also help if you find yourself procrastinating working on things.

When you’re feeling discouraged, you not likely to remember the real reasons why you’re trying to change things. You’re also more likely going to remember the negative reasons, which are not usually motivating! By having a list of positive and personal reasons to change, you can refer to it when you need to. You can even add to it as things occur to you – since life is a process like organizing, your motivation can shift and change too.

Knowing what your motivations are for getting organized is probably the very first step you need to take toward getting and staying organized. Just as it’s hard to remember what inspires you when you’re feeling discouraged or overwhelmed, our reasons for being more organized can get lost when we’re struggling. Those underlying reasons can re-inspire us to keep working (or start trying again). When we have a list to refer to, it’s easier to re-energize ourselves.

Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls

June is National Safety Month, where each week has a different theme – this week’s theme is preventing slips, trips, and falls. This ties in well with organizing – as no one wants to be injured unnecessarily. When we have excess stuff around, on the floor especially, we’re putting ourselves at risk. I say this from experience since I’ve bashed my toes more than once – and not usually from clutter.

You might remember that I have issues with the term “hoarding” and certainly, the concerns of the families is not limited to the “hoarders.” We can surmise from the National Safety Council’s focus for a week on preventing slips, trips, and falls that this is something that applies to all of us – clutter or not. Heck, I’ve broken toes from a certain degree of clumsiness. And that was from major pieces of furniture being where they’d always been! (I’ll take a brief moment to promote the idea of wearing shoes where your toes are covered – and this despite being someone who loves being barefoot. ☺) If we can prevent ourselves from slipping, tripping, or falling, this is what we all want.

Whether you have lots of stuff around or not, it’s important to look around – try to notice those things that we become blind to because we’ve gotten used to them. I’ve tripped over cat accessories, even with them in plain sight. The cat toys now live in a tin, without a lid, over in a corner in our living room. It’s even cute to see the ones that get pulled out and we’re limiting the risk of tripping or twisting an ankle from stepping on them. They also get put back periodically, since if they didn’t they’d be a hazard again.

Stairs are a popular place to put things down on as they wait for their turn to be carried to the top. I do this frequently since I procrastinate making a trip upstairs until I need to. Are you aware when there are things sitting on the steps? It’s remarkably easy to become a bit blind to a constant pile. I rarely put more on the steps than can go up in one trip, and rarely ignore or procrastinate carrying them up. Items along the stairway are a dangerous hazard – it’s bad enough to trip on a flat surface, and exponentially worse on stairs.

This week’s topic for the National Safety Month interestingly coincided with my finishing a book, Digging Out: Helping your loved one manage clutter, hoarding, & compulsive acquiring by Michael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. & Tamara L. Hartl, Ph.D. As a “hoarding” book, it takes a different approach – it focuses on helping your loved one make the home as safe (and comfortable) as possible. It examines what I’ve already talked about – stairs and floors being clear of loose items. They also address other serious hazards – such as papers on or near the stove.

Keep in mind any areas that seem to cause problems – I moved a chest from the foot of the bed since I banged my toes more than once in the middle of the night, to another room. In the spirit of this week’s safety theme, look around your home and office with fresh eyes and see if there are ways to improve safety.