Getting Organized: Does it Have to Mean Get Rid Of?

I have noted in earlier posts, that my wife and I are collectors which can pose problems when fighting in the battle to get organized. We have both gotten to the place where our collections have out grown our space for display. This leads to tough decisions about what we want to display and what is going go to the box in the garage. But the temptations keep coming!

I collect caps and have some peg displays and some shelf display space but the collection has grown far beyond that space. The rest of the caps are in two boxes, one in the back of the closet and one in the garage. Understand that many, in fact about 80%, of these caps have a link to some past event in my life. The 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, America's Cup Races, Jimmy Buffet concerts, or the trips to Paris, to name a few. Then there is my Wile Coyote cap (and T-Shirt) collection. I love that guy, he never gives up! On top of that, there are those related to MY teams. Cornhusker National Championships, the Bears of 1985, and now the Padres and the Chargers need that support.

So when one of the few groups I have ever paid to join came out with a line of "collectors caps" how could I help myself? The PGA Tour Partners Club has produced a line of Championship caps complete with their own display stand. The problem is that in order to hang the stand, something else has to come off the wall or it will "look too busy" to quote my wife. The shrine, I mean the wall, is pretty cluttered, even to my appreciative eye, but the decision to move things around is far different than the next issue that came up. Is it time to "get rid of" some of the collection?

Sure, I did get rid of a lot of caps before we moved to SoCal by giving them to neighborhood kids. I mean how many caps with Nike swooshes on them do you need? Not many kids in a retirement community however. I probably don't have to have 10 plus hats with big red N's on them either, but who knows?

So I am wrestling with a decision. Some of the caps have some value and might fetch an inflated price on eBay, if I caught someone on a sentimental day. But the same thing that would create that value is what makes them valuable or of sentimental value to me. Yes, I do know I can't take them with me!

I'll let you know later how this turns out.

Remember, you can let your clutter make you crazy or you can Get Crazy Organized!

Clutter and Creativity: Are They Like Love and Marriage?

A friend sent me a note this morning with a variety of tid-bits about things she thought might interest me. One was a reference to a study that said our clutter problems may be similar to Frank Sinatra's view on "love and marriage."

The studies apparently indicate that the more creative one is, the more likely that person is to be a messie. Apparently they go together like the "horse and carriage!" Here's what I have been wrestling with since she shared this pearl of information. If I qualify as a messie does that mean I am creative? Because if constantly fighting in the battle against clutter is an indicator, I am way more creative than I am giving myself credit for these days.

Get Crazy Organized Is Back

Hey, we're back! My wife and I have been away getting a new project organized but we're back now to share the crazy struggle to get and stay organized. We joined with our friends James and Carol Ann Wiley to tackle the Internet newsletter publishing biz. We developed a monthly newsletter to allow us to share the adventures of retirement life with others. Check out the fre*e newsletter if you're looking for information important to those living in retirement.

http://www.retiredandready.com/ is THE location for you.

As I said, we are back to carry the fight to the Clutter Monster again. We have picked up some great contacts, content, ideas, stories and funny stuff that we are anxious to share with our fellow clutter fighters. The newsletter and blog worlds are not really that different as the key rests in sharing information. Tune back in as we renew the support for our fellow "flat surface" police to keep a place for everything and everything in it's place.

Remember once more, you can let your clutter drive you crazy or get crazy organized.

Getting Organized Closet Raiders!

Just came from lunch with some folks that my wife and I know from an internet learning group we joined. While learning about privacy policies, links and headers,(my head is spinning) one of the young women shared a trick she and her sister use to keep their closets organized.

She shared that she and her sister have been very competitive since childhood. When it comes to clutter they decided they needed to create a positive use for that competitive nature. Here's what they do. Every month or two they get together at one or the others apartment. They have an agreement about how they can go about challenging the closet owner about how things are organized, or messy as the case may be, and what needs to be done to create or return to the agreed upon "organized" state. This also includes the classic, "if you can't tell me when you worn this or used this in the last year or so, it has to go." Here is where they added a twist. "Has to go" can also mean that the non closet owner can take the item! The young woman showed us a belt she said came from her sister's closet a couple of months previous!

Soooo, if you have a healthy competitive relationship with a friend or a relative, you may want to create an every other month get together to help declutter and organize each other's space or raid each other's closets as the case may be!

Remember, you can let your clutter drive you crazy or you can Get Crazy Organized!

Getting Organized Can Cover Soooo Many Topics

We have recently returned from time in Nebraska but I am still suffering from my brain having been run over by everything paintball. Long story there that I will cover in a later post. It was however, while I was dealing with the paintball people that I realized when we say "get organized" we can mean sooooo many different things. I realized the subject is a great deal larger than storage boxes, files, and other clutter mangement tools for our homes. This got started when a paintball enthusiast told me and my colleagues to "keep our eyes open because paintball was going to be an Olympic sport someday." He may in fact be right about that but by the time it becomes a reality, his already cranky knees will have had him out of the paintball park for a number of years!

I did a small bit of research on the paintball world's aspirations for Olympic status and concluded that this "ain't gonna happn" anytime in the near future and here's why. The world or field of paintball has no organizational framework or infrastructure and is not going to "get organized" for what appears to be a good amount of time. Without an organization to get agreement on and set priorities(read raise money), paintball is not in a position to focus any significant influence on the U.S. Olympic Committee, let alone on the International Olympic Committee and the sport leadership of many of the world's nations. Fixing their lack of organization will take time and with the Olympics only occurring every four years, my enthusiastic acquaintance may have his hopes and dreams fulfilled around 2020! If they achieve the goal before then it may be because they managed to get crazy organized!

The Commitment to Get Organized

I had an interesting experience this past weekend while attending a great Street Fair in one of the communities just down the freeway. Community activities like this are one of the fantastic things about SoCal. Within thirty minutes of our driveway there is a Farmers Market everyday accept Monday and nearly every weekend there is a Street Fair, Art Festival, or Fruit/Veggie Festival. Strawberry and Avocado dominate around here, but I digress!

At the Fair I was standing by the booth of a woman who was marketing herself as an Organization Coach. She was talking with a much younger woman about the frustrations of organizing one's space or clutter. Finally, the young woman said, "Ok, tell me your number one tip for clearing out my office and cleaning up the junk in my apartment." At this point I have to confess to eavesdropping! The woman responded saying, "At home it is best to not allow things to pile up. So, for example, if you do your laundry, make sure you fold it and put it away." To which the girl replied, "Fold my clothes and put them away, yuck." The woman pressed on, "For your office I always recommend the classic rule for paper management," and was interrupted by the young woman who said, "I know, only touch a piece of paper once. I can't do that so that's a waste of time."

At this point I was anticipating a variation on one of the "advice is worth what you pay for it," remarks but the woman just looked at her and said, "Yes, I am sure of that since it requires commitment, Sweetie."

As they say, you can shout the truth from the house tops!

Yours in getting organized,

J. W. Deal

Clutter = Stuff!

When we survey our clutter we recognize a great deal of it as our "stuff." I will not go into a lengthy definition of stuff because it falls in one of those categories like that often ridiculed saying about art appreciation, we know it when we see it. For boys we jokingly refer to it as our toys. For women, many become "collectibles" (I am going to get it for that one.) Whatever we call it the stuff is still stuff!

That said, I want to share a couple of critical standards for evaluating when stuff has become clutter, maybe even junk! These standards are ones you use when the stuff in question has or had a use. In order to be successful applying these standards as part of your strategy to get organized, you will generally treat them as questions and you will need to answer them concretely, critically and realistically. So ask yourself......

"If I needed this item in the future, could I find one like it and what would it likely cost?"

If it is going to be hard to find or if it is going to cost you an arm or a leg, find a place for it and keep it.

"When was the last time I used this item or toy?"

If it has been more than two years and you can't see yourself using it in the next thirty days, throw it.

Simply applying these two standards to things like closet, garage or attic "junk" can go a long way toward either a big pile on the curb or the inventory for your next eBay sale. If it is the latter, just make sure you have the sale because if not you have just move the "stuff" into a different category of clutter.

Remember...you can let your clutter drive you crazy or you can get crazy organized.