Tips on Organization

Not long ago I went to a moms’ workshop on organization.  The speaker was Dallas-based professional organizer Lorraine Brock, the owner and president of GetOrganized!  The focus of her talk was actually about getting the items off your “to do” list and scheduled into your calendar.  It was a big a-ha moment for many of us.  So often when my “to do” list reaches epic length, I get overwhelmed and paralyzed.  I cannot do any of it.  But, Lorraine stresses moving from the generic “someday I’ll get to this” list to the “I’m doing this activity on this day at this time” and putting it on the calendar.

Here are a few other hints she had for us:

1)  Do a brain dump daily.  This is where you write down everything you can think of into a notebook, calendar, whatever.  Basically get it out of your head and onto paper, so you won’t forget it. (I already do this into my Leuchtturm1917 Journal that I used for Bullet Journaling.)

2)  Always have your calendar on hand.  It does not matter if it is paper or digital, but don’t leave home without it.

3)  Stop spending time with unimportant people.  Ouch!  This is not as harsh as it sounds.  The idea here is that if you say “yes” to one person or activity, then you are saying “no” to something else.  Make sure you are spending your valuable time where it matters most...with your family!

4)  Give yourself a buffer around activities.  You know surprises and the unexpected will crop up.

5)  It is OK to spread a larger project out across several days.  Tackling that huge walk in closet will not be a short-time activity, so schedule it a chunk of time each day for a week.

6)  Teach your kids to brain dump, too.

And finally, Lorraine touched on what we were probably really at the workshop to get help with...the “How to Organize.”  Ha ha ha.  She used the acronym SPACE to teach us how to organize a closet, drawer, room, or whatever.

Sort...  

This is not decision time.  Line 10-12 boxes along a wall and sort all the like items together by categories.

Purge...  

Now to decide what goes and what stays.  Purging is much, much easier when you actually see that you have 15 staplers and 12 hole punches and a book box full of sharpie markers...just saying.

Assign...  

Putting things in their forever home.  Put items away in zones depending on who uses the item and how often.

Containerize...  

Find the best containment system for your items.  Don’t be afraid to use your label-maker.  I know you have one!

Evaluate...  

Remember to revisit your organization every once in awhile and check that things are still working.  If there are issues, tweak the system!

And, Lorraine's final gold nugget...if something comes into the house...something else has to go out!