Go Organize: Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps (3 page)

SPOTLIGHT

After you use the Searchlight to identify the problem areas you want to change, move on to the second step of the Lights On Organizing System, the Spotlight. A Spotlight is a powerful stage light controlled by a person. The light is used to focus intensely on specific areas. In the Spotlight step, you focus on the problem areas and create a plan for changing them. You will set goals, create your vision, and develop a plan with the help of the Spotlight worksheet on pages 233–235.

There are three steps to successful goal setting:

 


1. Create the “big picture” of what you want.
   

 


2. Break this vision down into smaller pieces that can be achieved one step at a time.
   

 


3. Decide when you are going to reach this goal by setting a deadline. This gives you a specific date to work towards.
   

GREEN LIGHT

Once you search out problem areas and set goals for organizing those areas, you've got the Green Light to take action: Proceed, move ahead, take your foot off the brake, and begin. Go, go, go! Here are some things that will make the work of organizing easier:

Containers

Don't rush out and buy all new containers. First, find out if you have containers that you can use in your home. There are many things that can be recycled and reused as containers: shoe boxes, cereal boxes, plastic fruit containers, baby food jars, checkbook boxes, glass mugs, baskets, and large packaging boxes, just to name a few. You can paint or decorate these reused containers to make them more fun and appealing.

Baskets are great containers that help cut clutter in three ways: First, things are contained without having to be folded perfectively (and who likes doing that all the time?); second, it limits the amount of things you can keep; and third, they are attractive so they can be left out in a room rather than hidden in cupboards or drawers.

When Sherry's daughters were young, they had a drawer where they kept their crayons and colored pencils, but the crayons and colored pencils were scattered throughout the drawer. She decided to buy a container for them. Sherry sorted the crayons and pencils and placed them in the container. She was so proud as she didn't usually use containers. The next morning the crayons and pencils were dumped out of the box. It had become a trough for the toy horses. She tried to salvage the pencil box several times over the next few years only to find it serving as a cash register for her daughters' make-believe store, an altar piece for some tribal activity, dollhouse furniture, and a boat for dolls. The container was never used as a pencil box and the crayons and pencils were scattered all over in the drawer. Sherry concluded from this experience that containers didn't work.

What she didn't realize is, she did have other options. She could have purchased other containers for her girls to use for their play, or she could have purchased a drawer divider rather than this type of container for the crayons and pencils. She could have labeled the container and explained to the girls what the container was to be used for. If one type of container doesn't work as you intended, don't give up. Containers are a marvelous way to organize and stay organized.

Tip:
If you do buy organizing supplies, such as containers, save your receipts in case you need to return them. It will save you time and hassle when returning. Place an envelope in your planner or purse to keep receipts in.

Organizing Tool Kit

Having a kit you can move from room to room will save you time. Essentials in the kit are a timer with the hour and minute features; tape measure; wide, double-sided sticky tape; cleaning cloth and cleaning spray; notepad and pen; hammer and screwdriver.

Timer:
When you start to work on a room, area, or project, set a timer. A timer lets you focus on the task at hand without being distracted by the clock. When the timer goes off, you're finished for that session, unless you are in a good rhythm. In that case set the timer for more time. Also, use it when you take breaks to remind you to come back to the project.

Tape measure:
This is to measure the size of your containers and the space where you plan to use them. It can also be used to measure the size of what you are going to store (height and width) so you can purchase the correct size of container.

Wide, double-sided sticky tape:
Use this under containers in any drawer to keep them from sliding back and forth.

Cleaning Cloth and Cleaning Spray:
As you clear off shelves and flat surfaces, give the surfaces a good cleaning while they are empty. You'll have a fresh start when you place items back on them.

Notepad and Pen:
Use these to jot down notes as you go — things you need to buy, measurements you have taken — and record what works for you and what doesn't work for you in each room.

Hammer and Screwdriver:
These are to hang pictures and for lots of other uses. If you share tools with someone else in the house, I suggest you don't share the items in your organizing tool kit or they may get lost.

Work From the Inside Out

When you start working in a room, work from the inside out! This means if there is a closet or drawer, start there first. Why? There are two primary reasons:

 


1. There are always things out in the room that need to be put away into a drawer, bookcase, cupboard, or closet. If you start organizing the open areas of the room before organizing the closet, drawers and shelves, you are wasting time. It is a waste of time to put items into a closet or drawer because when you start organizing that space, you will just have to take them back out again.
   

 


2. You will always create space that you can use for other items. Save yourself time and energy, work from the inside to the outside.
   

Set Time Limits

Remember to use the trusty timer in your tool kit. When starting a project (be it a full room, a closet or a drawer), there are two ways to do it:

 


1. If you are dreading the task with much trepidation, set your timer for twenty minutes to one hour. When it goes off,
   stop
   , unless you are in a great rhythm and you know you won't get burned out by working for a longer period of time. I don't want you to work until you get burned out. Set your timer the second time for twenty minutes and see how you are feeling at the end of this time period. You can work for longer periods of time, but don't work so long at one time that you don't ever want to return.
   

 


2. Start working and keep on working until the task is done. You know yourself, and you know if this will work for you.
   

Just by knowing you have a set time limit can make a difference mentally and physically.

Categorize Your Spaces

As you organize in a room, categorize all of the spaces in it, including closets, drawers, shelves, and open spaces. There are four categories for space:

 


1. Premium Spaces:
   This is the space that is at your eye level and just above, reaching down to about waist level. It is “right in your face” and is the easiest and most convenient to use. You don't need to bend or stretch to reach this space. This is the area you get in and out of on a daily basis. Use this only for those things you use regularly.
   

 


2. Secondary Spaces:
   Items placed here are those used about once a week — things like table linens, extra food items, fine china, or sheets (if not stored in a linen closet).
   

 


3. Semi-Storage:
   These are items that are used once a year, such as holiday items, seasonal dishes, seasonal clothes, and camping gear. Store these items where they can be accessed but aren't taking up valuable space within your home. These items can be kept in your attic or storage room, and then rotated in and out of your cupboards, closets, and living space as needed.
   

 


4. Hard-Core Storage:
   These are items placed in labeled plastic bins that “live” in your garage, shed, or storage room. These containers only need to be opened every few years. These boxes could contain yearbooks, childhood items, memorabilia you have inherited and are passing down to other generations, and items you are storing for your adult children who have moved out of your home.
   

I have a storage space under the stairs in my utility room. It needed organizing! I evaluated this space by using my Searchlight, and I rated myself and this area as a 1 on the wattage scale. I didn't even know what was in the space. Using the Spotlight, I set goals to add shelves and to arrange this area so it was useful. I would also write down in my notebook what I stored here.

When I started using the Green Light, I set my timer for one hour. I dreaded this project, but just by knowing I had given myself permission to only work for a set length of time gave me a whole different attitude. When the timer rang, I was surprised because it didn't feel like I had been working that long. I reset my timer and kept on working until I had reached all of my goals. Setting a time limit made all the difference in the world.

Putting Things Away

Have you ever noticed that putting things away seems more difficult and time-consuming than getting them out? It might not be that it is hard; it could be that you need to learn different habits. How hard is it to hang up a blouse instead of tossing it on a chair, which will mean you have to spend more time putting it away later? When the closet is organized into categories and there is space to hang clothes, it is easier to put them away.

Every item needs a home — a permanent place where it is kept — to make it much easier to know where to return items after using them. When there is a place for everything you use and you know where to return things, it takes less time and actually is easier to put things away than to toss them somewhere to be dealt with later.