What Does an Organized Life look Like?

As a professional organizer for more than 10 years, I believe that there are two major components that defines an organized life:

  • The amount of stuff we have in our living spaces.
  • The amount of stuff that’s in our mind, thoughts & emotions.

An organized life is not meant to be rigid and uncomfortable. However, there should be a degree of routine & predictability. Our lives are not meant to be perfect, nor should we expect them to be, but there should be some semblance of peace, harmony, and Divine Order.

“Life is like an ocean, always moving, changing, developing and we need to be like a well-seasoned captain of our vessel.”  CSRoth

We must invest some time and thoughts into our future by determining how we will achieve an organized life, an un-cluttered mind and a un-cluttered space. It is very difficult to change something, without understanding our current state and our desired outcome. It is not always how the situation looks, it is how we look at the situation. In order to minimize the chaos and cultivate an organized life, we must learn to plan for, and manage change in ourselves and our environment. 

Over the years, I have found that some people want change, but most people are used to doing things the same way. We don’t always have to make change happen, we simply must allow it to happen and not resist it!  Otherwise, major changes in our lives will cause an inordinate amount of stress and anxiety.  A new house, new job, new baby, etc.  All of which should allow us to assess our life as it is and consider making slight adjustments, as we prepare for our next season.

  • We want life to be flexible and spontaneous.
  • We want life to be simple and not too stressful
  • We want some control, but not utter chaos
  • We want to have fun and enjoy life at its fullest, every day!

All of these things require some degree of organization… So, how do we get there?

Here are a few suggestions that will help:

  1. Jot down some notes on how are lives and atmosphere look and feel today.
  2. Take a look at those things that we would like to see changed in our surroundings, big and small.
  3. Ask yourself will clutter of any kind, have a negative impact on those changes?  
    • For example, do we just need a bigger house, or we might be amazed at how much more room we already have when we simply un-clutter and organize our living spaces.  

Although there may not be just one answer, an organized life will look different to different people, but we all must start somewhere. So, let’s take one step at a time, one day at a time…

Love in the Garage…

This is LOVE at its Very Best! I must remind you that I am a professional organizer and my dear sweet husband is a Collector of EVERYTHING, so you can’t even imagine how HAPPY I was when he agreed to work in the garage with me. Well, since almost everything in it was His anyway. But I have digressed… So, we worked for a few hours and I agreed to have his FAVORITE meal for lunch.

As we were eating, he said the most endearing thing, “Honey, I really had a lot of FUN hanging out with you today!” He must REALLY LOVE ME, even after 39 years!!!

A Labor of Love!

“Visualize”

Copyright: antonioguillem

Close your Eyes and Visualize a Place of Peace, Harmony, and Grace…

A Place to Relax where you can Unclutter your Mind…

Create an Atmosphere that will produce Clarity and Focus …

Copyright: belchonock

“See More Floor”

Over the years, as a professional organizer, whenever I was in the process of decluttering a room, or space, I would always tell my clients that you want to “See More Floor”! To be honest, I never really thought a lot about. But I am currently working with a client on a HUGE organizing project and our mantra is “See More Floor”! So this is my advice to you…

  • Focus on one area, room or space at a time. Unfortunately, most people will start in one area, get distracted and then move to another area. 
  • Start Small and Stay Focused! 
  • Don’t spend hours and hours at any one time.  Take regular breaks.

Now take some time to clear your mind, do something relaxing like watch TV or read a book and then come back to it.  It may take longer, but your space will stay uncluttered longer and you won’t become discouraged and wore out during the process.

Remember that a whole New “Life After Clutter”, but it will require a Mindset Shift!

Ready for Purple Heart Pick-Up

You may not remember, but we started this major organizing project earlier this year. My client has been out of the house for several years and now we need to sort and purge throughout the entire house as we prepare for renovations early next year. We are ready for the first of many Purple Heart pick-ups. We have over 16 huge bags of just clothes and shoes. Here are a few project update pics…

Next month, we start working on the basement. Stay tuned for more pics…

What Does an Organized Life look Like?

Based on the comments I received over the past several years as a professional organizer, there are two major components that defines an organized life:

1. Stuff, clutter, items, boxes, etc.

2. Thoughts & emotions.

Life is not meant to be too organized, we don’t want to live in a rut, however, we would like to have a degree of routine & predictability.

“Life is like an ocean, always moving, changing, developing and we need to be like a well-seasoned captain of our vessel.”  CSRoth

We want change but we are kinda used to doing things the same way. It is interested that major changes in our life causes MUCH stress!   A new house, new job, new baby, etc.  All of which causes us to assess our life as it is and consider making major adjustments.

  • We want life to be flexible, spontaneous, but to be prepared for the unexpected drama
  • We want life to be simple and not too stressful
  • We want some control, not utter chaos
  • We want to have fun and enjoy life at its fullest, every day!

All of these things require some degree of organization.  So how do we get there? I believe that that in order to minimize the chaos of life, the one thing that had to change was YOU!   “It is not how the situation looks, it is how we look at the situation”.

We had to take a real serious look at what we wanted and need in life.  Now life is not perfect, nor should we expect it to be, but there should be some semblance of peace and order.

Suggestions:

  • Take a few moments to invest in our future.  Jot down some notes on our life as we know it today…. we might be amazed at how our life looks on paper!
  • Take a look at those things that we would like to see changed, Big and small.
  • Does clutter of any kind, have an impact on those changes?  For example, we need a bigger house.  Again, we might be amazed how much more room we might have when we de-clutter.  I need a new job, because I can’t ever seem to get anything done around here.  Etc. etc. etc.

It is very difficult to change something, without understanding our current state and our desired outcome.

So, I guess that there is no one answer, an organized life looks different to different people…

My Role continues to evolve…

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I’ve been in business as a professional organizer for more than 10 years now and I still love it more every day.  Many of my clients have said that 15% of my role is to be an organizer and 85% is therapist and yet, my role continue to evolve. Although it may be hard to believe, my only mission is not to simply persuade you get rid of cherished possessions, but with tender care, I help facilitate you through the organizing process. I must be patience, but at times, firm to guide you through making very difficult decisions, because I understand the emotional attachment, we have to our things that are now a lifetime of memories. Over time, stuff has just continued to accumulate, so part of my role has become to help my clients to reclaim their peace of mind by understanding how/why they have cluttered up their lives, and then take the appropriate steps to de-clutter, and return balance and harmony to their space.

So much has changed in the last few years, and I believe that I too must continue to change to better serve my clients. As you may have heard, I’ve collaborated with Dr. Sis to develop a program entitled Move Your Mountains. This on-line program is designed help women take back their power by identifying their relationship between emotional and physical clutter so that they can heal their energy and access more profound self-discovery. So, if you are in a place where you are ready to find greater joy in your life, we hope that you will consider joining us.

In the meantime, please take a moment to listen to one of my more recent inspirational podcast. As we look ahead, we just don’t know what’s waiting for us right around the next bend…

Tackling that Closet, Again?

It may be time again to tackle that closet! In the past few years, our wardrobes have changed drastically. We’ve gone virtual, we’ve had to be Zoom ready and now many of us are transitioning back to the office. Then on top of all that, the weather in the DMV it’s HOT and wet!

Copyright: vectorlab

How are you managing?

Pls leave me a comment and let me know…

I’m looking forward to hearing from you and have a great weekend!

Conquering the Paper Clutter Monster

One of the most Notorios Culprit in the Organizing World is the Paper Clutter Monster!!

One of the biggest challenges in organizing is decluttering paper. Paper comes in your mail every single day and just continues to accumulate…But it can be conquered!

Here are a few tips that may be helpful!