On the 19th I was part of “Project Sleep Warm & Well” a local MLK
Jr Celebration service project. One of the churches in our town has
contributed space in the winter as an  overflow shelter for the homeless. These terribly cold nights it’s clearly a blessing to have a warm shelter available. The church has had to make room for the individual egg box foam pads,blankets and pillows that are bagged together to make each individual “bed”.  In addition there are the yet unassigned blankets and pillows.

Thus the church storage space is doing double duty.. You can
imagine! We set to sorting through everything in thecloset,cleaning the space, and putting things back so they would be easier to use. Here is where the “DATE” comes in.

We were NOT making decisions about any of the church stuff BUT we
could let the church folks know what the space contained and WHEN
the contents had been reviewed.Thus boxes,now tucked up on the
shelf, are marked “MISC BOOKS” 1/’09. And there are boxes labeled
“OLD CHURCH MUSIC 1/’09.” It may be several years before anyone has
time to look at those boxes but they will know that the boxes have
been there at least since January ‘09.

When you put a box away- label it with not only the contents but
also the date! If you don’t go back to that box for years you can
be more realistic about just how much use that particular item
truly gets. Or you may want to deliberately set something aside to
decide at a future time. You won’t have to guess -the date will
tell you ” time to consider this again.”

To me there is no hard and fast rule about how long you should keep
something- it depends on so many factors BUT if you want to have a
clearer sense about the stuff you are keeping, use the date to
help.

Also-when labeling the big cupboards “Unassigned blankets and
unassigned pillow”etc. we wrote Jan ‘09. When things are being
tucked back in, people will see that at least as of Jan ‘09 this was
how the space was organized. Over and over I have found that the
date adds a friendly challenge- “OH- that’s how it was in Jan ‘09!

So this year– do use dating magic to help you!
Wishing you a very Happy & Organized 2009!

1) Relish life …

2) Let go of things you don’t love or use…a super time for FREE
at the curbside or yard sales if you enjoy them! (Or just take
the stuff to your local good will!)

With all best of wishes, Joanna

p.s. Basements are good places to declutter on TOO HOT days – other
indoor spaces at times when it is truly too rainy to be outside. Tackle
a small area with gusto – and get outside again soon!

Decrease the volume and you will find it easier
to stay organized.

Mind you, it  takes an odd kind of bravery to be able to admit,
“In reality I DON’T have time to read that __________  every week.”
It takes courage to say, “I know enough about that topic for right
now. I can go to the library or re-subscribe when I REALLY need
more info.”

BUT piles of unread magazines or dozens of unread e-zines won’t make
you happier or smarter.  I promise.

Once you are clear about that, you CAN (yes- you really can)
cancel a subscription. Sure you can GIVE away the extra magazines
AFTER your receive them, or delete an e-zine but even that takes
time and attention. It IS possible to unsubscribe!

If you feel burdened by the ton of subscriptions piling up… try
cancelling at least one and see how it feels.

I said “of course”, figuring that she and I would work out a
solution. She had a wide variety of travel cases, each one filled to
the brim, but they were just adding to the endless number of
pre-trip decisions.

We did our standard first step: old sheet on the bed and empty
everything out onto the sheet.  Then we sorted by major category:
all the tooth stuff in one pile, all the shampoo in another and so
forth- tossing out anything that was gross. Of course we also had a
give away pile. (I’m sure you know that unopened little bottles
shampoo, moisturizer, etc., that you aren’t going to use are very
helpful to homeless shelters.)

My client travels lots – with different kinds of trips having
different requirements.  So we talked about her travel needs and
came up with a system that felt almost life changing to us both!
Ready?

We figured out her categories – labeled big clear zip-lock bags…
voila!  Sorting into the bags was easy.  We decided this was a
great system and I said I would write it up as a tip.

Here are her categories – yours may be different:
1) Every Trip (this bag is all ready for any sort of overnight etc.)
2) Long Long Trip – stuff like medicines that can’t be purchased in
other countries, a little iron and so forth
3) Walking Trip- includes hat/shoes/fleece that are only used when
she’s in Scotland
4) Trips with _______ (could be trips with kids/ trips with the dog
and so forth – the things you need ONLY if you are going with
_________. )

The stuff STAYS in the zip locks! Each zip lock gets replenished
with it’s particular category and there you are…toss in the
appropriate zip lock(s)for that trip. Obviously the “Every Trip”
zip lock will get the most use.

She’s promised to let me know how it works for her; I will try
it too. If you have another system that you really like -  do
tell!

The wheels start turning … what’s in THAT box? Let’s see, well it was
probably two summers ago when you put it up there… hmmm. Tick tick tick
whrrrrrr buzzzzzzzz. Hmm- well maybe the present is in the other closet! This
box isn’t the right size – but what’s in it? No time to take it down now…
supper has to be on the table in minutes and then there’s the Committee Meeting.

As you drive to the meeting you find yourself thinking about that box. As you
head to bed you feel your stomach clench as you think about that present – maybe
it IS in the box on the shelf. Grrrrr.  Tomorrow you will take the time to
pull out the step ladder and get down the box AND see!

How could you save yourself all this?  LABELS!!! A plain old black marker
can save you so much unconcious and concious time. When you stash anything in a box-
LABEL it! Write BIG and where you will see it — perhaps several places top/side.
If it is a present and you don’t want the world to know what’s in the box – mark
it in some way that YOU will understand instantly.

That’s the whole thing. Life is too busy and there’s too much of value to do to
take a bunch of energy (and time) trying to figure out what’s in a box!
LABEL IT!

You know that one box is not a major issue but the fact is that they multiply-especially if they DON’T
have labels! And the time you spend trying to figure out what’s in a box could easily be used
to do something that really matters to you!

REMEMBER – This October- try labels!!!

If anyone in your life uses a backpack regularly, do have a look at
this info …

http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/monkey_on_their_back_back_to_school_week/

Meanwhile — Reading the SIMPLE TRUTHS e-letter this week I thought
about you and how absoutely true this quote is when trying to
get organized.

“Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard life is hard. ” *

If you think about organizing your whole space, it can easily seem
impossible. Choose ONE surface, ONE drawer, ONE corner to work on!
Inch by inch you CAN transform your space– faster than you imagined.

* Here’s the site: www.simpletruths.com. I enjoyed the mini-film
version (after turning off the music).The quotes and images are good.

The pull is SO STRONG!!! Even for me, though I spend hundreds of hours
helping folks figure out how deal with stuff that clutters their
space and lives and have become like a hawk about my own stuff.

These words are designed to make us SHOP!

FREE

BARGAIN

10%,20%,30%,40%,50,60% OFF

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

SALE

SAVE

COUPON

They are designed to stop you in your tracks, make you forget
what you were PLANNING to do with your hard earned pennies and getcha!

Instead of getting caught – try using a purchase test, not unlike
my Keep Test. See

http://www.breathing-space.com/documents/clutches_of_stuff_000.pdf

Maybe make a little card to carry in your wallet with these questions:

1) Do I LOVE it?  (Will it REALLY make my heart sing to have it?)

2) Is it something that I have already been wanting/needing for a
specific use? (Or is it the idea of getting a bargain that is
pushing me to buy.)

3) Is it truly a treasure? (Something that I will use and cherish
for a long time?)

Sales and bargains can be great if you don’t let yourself get trapped
into buying stuff that you never needed and may never use.

To actually save money(and space) …test every bargain to confirm that
it will truely be a savings for YOU!

Wishing you a month with time to relish what you already have!

Silva had called me to help her think through her move. She wanted
to take only what made sense – to save on cost as well as to fit
her life into less space in her next home.

Using my “keep test” -
(http://www.breathing-space.com/documents/clutches_of_stuff_000.pdf)
as her measuring stick , she did an amazing job of keeping only the
items that passed the test. ( Note: Her moving sale paid for special
shipping of the desk she loved.)

During the process Silva decided to write down a list of her
reactions to different items and all the reasons that were coming
up for having each item in the first place.  She said she’s gladly
share her REASONS list with you. Here ’tis:

1. I THOUGHT I liked it
2. A friend gave it to me
3. If I have one of these I will do  X_________.
4. It IS (was) ME!!!
5. My friend has one.
6. It’s SUPPOSED to be good for __________
7. It’s beautiful and owning it will make me FEEL beautiful.

Sound familiar?  Do you have others to add to the list? Silva said
she’d love to hear yours…so would I.

At that time her daughter (I’ll call her Sara) was 4.  Toys,craft
materials, and children’s books were taking over the kitchen and
living room as well as Sara’s bedroom and it was making the whole
family miserable. These young parents wanted to provide as much
opportunity as possible but knew that something wasn’t working.

We talked about it for a while and my answer became,”How much
sould she (Sara – not the Mom! ) manage well and what does
she REALLY love?”

Working with that as our measuring stick we were able to figure out
what to do.

This has continued to be a key concept in helping folks make their
spaces work for them.

***

Last week a long time friend and I stayed at a lovely monastery for
a brief retreat.  During lunch one of the monks asked what I do and
we were instantly into a discussion about clutter – yes, even monks!

Asked for my most important piece of advice,  I said, ” If you are
doing what you want to do and clutter isn’t causing problems, then
don’t worry about it. After a few seconds I added, “and less is more.”

There are so MANY helpful strategies. I keep a running list of them
to share with you over time, but bottom line, you have my most
crucial advice right here:

1)If you are doing what you want to do and clutter isn’t causing
problems, then don’t worry about it

2)Ask yourself: How much can I manage well and what do I REALLY
love?

and

3) Less is more.

Wishing you a wonderful couple of weeks. Comments and questions
always welcome.