Whether your desk is at the office or at the home office, it’s a place where productivity is key. But if your desk (like many desks) holds too much paperwork, how the heck do you get anything done?
Over the next four weeks, I’ll show you my expert tips for turning your desk from cluttered to calm. That way you can focus and do your best work! Let’s start with paperwork.
There are three major traps that people fall into when it comes to their desk. Do any of these sound like you?
Trap 1: Wanting everything at hand.
While a Homer-Simpson-esque desk setup where all the buttons and knobs are within arm’s reach sounds nice, it’s actually very good for you to have to get up to get things. According to the University of Michigan Human Resources, you should get up and move around “approximately three minutes every 30 – 60 minutes.” If your printer is a few steps away, turn printing into a mini-break and get your body moving.
It’s also good to have some room around you! You can stretch out and actually do things with your desk. If you have everything you could possibly need on your desk at once, where do you put your coffee?
At Organize to Excel, we’ve seen just about every kind of closet there is! Big closets; little closets; closets that used to be organized; closets that have been a mess from the start. Every person’s is unique, and the goal is to make the space work for YOU. But what’s it like? Many people have never worked with a professional organizer before, and don’t quite know what it involves. Today I’ve compiled some of the common questions I get about what it’s like to get your closet professionally organized. If you’re curious about something I don’t cover, ask me in the comments!
When is it time to hire a pro?
That’s a great question, and there’s no single answer to it. There are lots of different reasons to hire a professional organizer to help you with your closet! Some of them include:
It takes longer than you want to get out the door in the morning, because you spend time searching for clothes.
Every time you try to organize your closet, you end up frustrated or distracted.
Life got in the way: you moved, or had a baby – anything that disrupted your normal organizing routine so that clutter piled up.
You’re moving, and don’t want to pack up clothes you don’t wear.
You just plain don’t like organizing!
All of these are perfectly valid reasons to hire a professional organizer. We’re here to help you live an easier life, whatever that might mean.
Do I need to do anything before the appointment?
Prior to your appointment, your organizer will give you a call to go over the game plan for the day. This is a great time to discuss what your goals for your closet are, and what you’d like to focus on. If you don’t know, that’s fine! Your organizer will help you define what “organized” means to you, so you both know what you’re working towards. If you like, you can share pictures of your closet with your organizer, so they can get a better idea of where to start.
Other than that, there’s nothing you have to do. You don’t need to “tidy up” for your organizer, or prep the space in any way. Some clients are already comfortable with decluttering, and prefer to purge before we get there so the session can be focused on organizing. That’s fine, too!
Storing your clothing and accessories in a way that makes them easy to access and put away is pretty much the goal of this entire series of posts! No matter your closet style, no matter what you store in your closet, I want to make your life EASIER. Here are my tips for choosing the right closet storage tools for you.
Remember: whenever possible, use or repurpose any closet storage tools you already have on hand. Decluttering your closet only to clutter it back up with organizers is not the goal here, and using or repurposing what you have makes economical and ecological sense.
Shoe Organizers
Shoes do not belong in piles! It makes them hard to find and easy to damage. The cheapest option is to keep them in their original shoe box. They’re stackable, fairly sturdy, and you can use a written label or picture on the front to identify which shoes are where. Shoe organizers are usually better space-savers. Check out this one made of recycled plastic bottles
Stackable Containers
I love labeling containers clearly and precisely, but the easiest way to know what’s in a box is for the box to be see-through. Transparent, stackable containers are fabulous for shoes and accessories–but they’re not the most environmentally friendly. If you’re in the market for clear plastic, I highly recommend that you check out your local thrift store before buying new.
More environmentally-friendly options include these stylish boxes, complete with a little label.
This is week 3 of my closet organizing series, and it’s time to do the dang thing and organize your closet! Empty part (or all!) of the closet, and try these tips to create an organization system that’s unique to you.
Keep Like with Like
Keeping similar things together means you can visually assess what you’ve got. When your sweaters and pants and skirts are all in a jumble on the closet floor, it’s hard to know how many of each thing you have. Separating items by category keeps your wardrobe balanced. It also makes things easier to find. Just like a file folder with subfolders inside, you can create a system in your closet that makes locating items simple. No more digging through piles to find that one sleeveless top you know is somewhere in there. It’s with the other sleeveless tops!
Of course there are many different ways to categorize items–you don’t have to do it by sleeve length. Use whatever method works best for you. If you’re not sure which to pick, roll a die and pick one at random. Try it out for a few weeks and see how it feels!
You can sort by
clothing type
color
season
sleeve length
occasion…
There are tons of options! You can even sort by outfit! If there are pieces you know you always wear together, group them.
Hanging vs. Folding
Are you a hanger, a folder, or a mix of the two? I like a hybrid approach where the type of garment determines my storage method. Blouses and pants that crease and wrinkle are best hung up, while denim and t-shirts are great for compact folding. That’s not to say you can’t hang it all! If you’ve got the room, go for it.
This month, we’re organizing your closet! Last week I wrote about how to find your closet style, because defining a goal is the first step toward achieving a goal. But whether you go for minimalism, coziness, or a total glam closet, you’ll need space to achieve it. The best way to make space is to declutter your closet!
When I work with clients, I use the acronym TRACKS to sort and pare it down to the essentials, and you can use it on your own, too.
TRACKS stands for Trash, Recycle, Action, Charity, Keep, and Sell. When I’m decluttering with someone, we go through each item and ask which of these categories it belongs in. Sorting everything into these categories is a big step towards a neat closet!
Trash
It’s the first letter of the acronym, but it’s really the last resort. Only send a piece of clothing to the landfill if it doesn’t fit in any other category.
Recycle
Recycling clothes usually takes the form of donation, but you CAN reuse material in other ways if the garment is no longer wearable. Here’s a neat video about how to make t-shirt yarn! You can also cut garments into rags and use them to clean up around the house.
Clothing is an everyday part of life, which means your closet is a central part of your morning. Does it take forever to find what you want to wear each day? Do you roam the house, looking through piles of laundry for what you want? Getting dressed can be simple and stress-free, but not if your closet threatens an avalanche when you open it. A simple-to-use, calm and orderly closet? You can make it happen! Over the next four weeks I’ll take you through the steps you can take to make your closet work for YOU. The first step: find your closet style.
Why Organize My Closet?
An organized closet brings many benefits! An organized closet…
contains ALL of your clothes, so you only have one place to go to find what you need.
contains clothes you like and wear. You can go into your closet and be guaranteed to pick out something that fits you and matches your personal style.
keeps your clothes in better condition. When they’re wadded up on the floor, or languishing in the dryer, clothes develop wrinkles. The less you have to iron, the longer your clothes will last. And who wants to iron, anyway?
makes it clear which clothes are clean. When your clothes are strewn all about the house, it can be difficult to tell the dirty stuff from the clean stuff. Clothes might go through the wash two or three times! When all your clothes have a home, it’s simple to tell what’s clean.
is decluttered, meaning you have fewer clothes to deal with overall. Things might get worn more often, which gives you a chance to update your wardrobe with current styles without having barely-worn items hanging around for ages.
is eco- and budget-friendly! When you store clothes properly, they last longer and you won’t have to buy new ones. Donating items that you don’t wear gives them a chance to be loved by someone else, too. The longer a piece of clothing stays in circulation, the less new clothing has to be made. Don’t buy into the throwaway mentality of fast fashion!
How do you leave the house in the morning? Are you calm? Are you able to quickly pick up the things you need as you go out the door? Or do you run around, frantically trying to remember where you put your keys last night and forgetting your lunch on the kitchen counter?
If you have children, or need to coordinate with other people leaving the house, the difficulties are multiplied, sometimes exponentially!
So what can help you get out the door with the minimum of fuss and maximum of efficiency? I heard of one woman who was able to get her and her children out the door in 25 minutes in the morning – that’s efficiency. I confess, I like to have more time in the morning to do a few things around the house before I leave.
So what do you need to do to make your morning routine easier on yourself? Ask yourself what it would be like to leave calmly. What sorts of things would you do? How much time do you need to leave for various tasks? What things could you do ahead of time?
Here are some ideas if you are stuck.
The Night Before
Set out clothes, including ironing them if necessary
Prepare lunches, or at least gather together any uncut items – whole fruit, carrot sticks, cheese sticks, crackers, etc. – and put them in their containers or baggies.
Gather any items you will need for the next day- homework, permission slips, items for running errands, meeting materials, etc. – and put them in your bag/briefcase near the door.
I’ve written before about the best way to keep your digital files organized. Today I’d like to go a little deeper into one of those topics: using search to find files on your computer!
It’s important to keep your digital files organized in a folder/subfolder system! However, the old method of clicking through those files to find what you need is outdated. Keeping your files organized saves space on your hard drive and makes all methods of file retrieval easier, but using your computer’s built-in search function is now faster than the point-and-click route. Here are my best practices for using search to find what you need quickly and efficiently.
How to Use Search
Mac and Windows each have their own built-in search functions, and they operate in similar ways. Much like an internet search engine, you type your keywords into a search bar to find what you’re looking for.
On Mac, the global search function is called Spotlight Search. You can also look for files directly in the Finder system. To open up the Spotlight, click the Spotlight icon, or press Command + Space. Then enter your keywords to search. For some more information on how to use Mac’s Spotlight Search, click here.
Windows has its own search in the task bar, or you can press Windows + S, and enter your keywords from there. More instructions on using it can be found here.
This month we’re focusing on answering questions about organizing! Last week I wrote about what virtual organizing is, as it’s not a well-known topic. This week, I’ll be addressing another less-talked-about issue.
Here’s one of the questions I received.
“I have a chronic illness that fluctuates a lot. I wake up never knowing what kind of day I’m going to have. Is it going to be painful? Am I going to be fatigued? Am I gonna be totally fine?
I want to have an organized life, but it doesn’t seem possible for me given my illness. How am I supposed to get organized and stay organized when I can’t plan more than a few hours ahead?”
What a question! And what a great opportunity to talk about what organizing is all about.
I get the feeling that when I say “an organized life,” what some hear is “a perfect life.” That’s not quite right. Everyone goes through rough patches. Everyone encounters interruptions! No matter how organized you are, there will always be something that doesn’t go to plan. And that’s okay.
Being an organized person isn’t about being a perfect person who has it all under control. It’s about being adaptable, and learning strategies for managing the tough times when they come. So what do you do when it all falls apart?
When I offer a client virtual organizing, they usually ask, “Well, what is virtual organizing?”.
The Zoom explosion that happened during the pandemic has certainly normalized virtual services. But what’s it like to organize virtually? After all, isn’t the whole point of hiring an organizer that they’ll move your stuff around for you?
Not quite!
What Virtual Organizing Is
Physically rearranging objects is only part of the organizing equation. If I came over while you had a spa day and organized everything for you, your home would certainly be neat … until the clutter came back. And so, the other half of the equation: learning HOW to organize.
At Organize to Excel, our goal is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to get organized and stay organized. Virtual organizing is a distilled version of that! Whether we focus on your closet, your digital files, or your office, during virtual organizing, we work with you to:
facilitate decision-making,
offer expert opinions, and
bust through stumbling blocks.
In the same way a virtual personal trainer doesn’t need to be with you to pass on their knowledge, virtual organizers help develop strategies and create accountability.
So what’s it like to work with a virtual organizer? I had a session with Kristin the other day–here’s how it went!
**All information shared was okayed by Kristin, including images!
Before Organizing
Kristin and I hopped on a Zoom call at the appointment time and said hello. She was excited to work on decluttering her computer desk. Before we started, though, I asked some questions to help define what “organized” meant for her desk. I also asked how she’d like to use the space going forward.
Kristin said her desk felt like it was too small to hold everything she needed for work. I normally advocate that it’s okay to not have everything at hand. It’s good to get up and move around the house! But Kristin shared that she has a disability that limits the amount of time she can spend on her feet. That’s what “organized” meant to her in that space: storing items efficiently so that she could stay seated while working.
During Organizing
I had her step back and stream a little video so I could see what we were working with. As we looked at the desk together, a pattern emerged. Going through the items on her desk, we realized that she had three of the same kind of stress toy! Here’s where the decision-making work started. By grouping items together, we were able to see where she had duplicates, and then decide if the duplicates were necessary. Kristin decided she only needed one stress toy at her desk, and that she could place the other two around the house in other areas where she might need them. More desk space!
We also discovered that she had a lot of personal care items at her desk, like chapstick, eye drops, and hair clips. This made sense for her, but they were all scattered loose on the desktop. We used a bowl that was already there to contain them and claim even more space back.
A number of items didn’t belong at the desk, so I had her make a “go-back bucket” to temporarily store them. After our session, she could pick it up and distribute things where they made more sense. Some things she decided didn’t belong in her home at all. Those that could be donated or recycled were set into separate piles, and the rest went into the trash.
Kristin’s desk was already looking better! Once we had decided what to keep, we strategized about the best way to store everything. I noticed that she wasn’t taking advantage of vertical space as well as she could, so I offered some ideas for how she might change things up.
Kristin’s desk had a scanner, printer, and milk-crate-turned-storage-box spread across it. After Kristin tried a few iterations, we found a great solution. “Never in my life did I think to put my printer inside that milk crate,” she said. But she did and it worked! Instead of taking up precious horizontal space, her scanner, printer, and storage container stacked vertically. As a bonus, she realized that by stacking the printer and scanner, she wouldn’t have to reach off to the side anymore when she wanted to print–a movement that, over time, was painful for her.
After Organizing
Kristin was so pleased at the end of our session! By finding out what being organized meant to her, and using my expert knowledge to coach (and cheerlead) her along, we transformed her work area for the better.
I hope this clarifies what virtual organizing is about! If you have any questions or would like to schedule a virtual session, click the banner below to discuss details!
