It’s never too soon to start planning for the holidays. Those who wait until the last moment to shop, wrap, do cards, bake, etc. usually find themselves up late Christmas eve and worn out by the time the big day arrives. Did you know that with a little planning you can have a very different sort of holiday season?

Here are a few suggestions to get you rolling:

1. Decide whether or not you’ll send cards this year. If you want to be sure you get them out before February, buy your cards and stamps, write your Christmas letter and print your photo cards NOW. Then, schedule a weekend day in the next few weeks to do your cards. Put on some Christmas music. Make a festive beverage, and make doing your cards a pleasurable opportunity to connect with friends and family members. Set a goal to put the cards in the mail the day after Thanksgiving. Once your cards are out, you’ll have one weight off your shoulders.
2. Clear out Christmas decorations that either never get used or that are a hassle to to use. It’s the start of simplifying your decorating process so that it takes less time and can be more pleasurable to do. Decoration clearing can be done right now–before you get caught up in all the activities of the season.
3. Make decorating a fun event. Schedule a date to put up Christmas decorations now. Pick a weekend day to do it. That will give you a deadline to get any necessary supplies. Make decorating a fun, memorable event instead of just one more “have to” on your list of too much to do. Put on the Christmas music. Make cookies to munch, and have hot cider or hot chocolate while decorating. Include children in the process if they are interested or invite friends for a tree decorating party and a shared meal.
4. Simplify gift giving by reducing the number of gifts you give and by giving lots of gift cards. You can reduce the time spent wrapping if you give gift cards because they can be slipped into a pretty card or a Christmas bag. Gift cards allow people to enjoy holiday cheer after the holidays when they use their cards to get things they really want and need. Wrap gifts as you purchase them or schedule parts of weekend days before the last week before Christmas as decorating times. Again, listen to music you love. Fix yourself a warm beverage and reflect on Christmases gone by as you wrap. If you leave gift buying and gift giving to the last moment, you’re setting yourself up for a stressful, exhausting and exhausted holiday. Do it different this year!
5. Limit socializing to a few events with people who matter the most. Saying no to invitations for events that don’t interest you is one way to ensure that what you do will be pleasurable and will free up time to do holiday activities that feed you instead of drain you.

Make this holiday season the kind of celebration that you really want. You get to decide how much or how little you do. Start now by thinking about what it would take to have a season of joy and fun instead of a season of too much to do.

© 2012 Clutter Clearing Community | Debbie Bowie

“Author, Organizing Expert and Feng Shui Practitioner, Debbie Bowie, is a leading authority on clutter clearing to attract more of what you want in life. If you’re ready to clear clutter and move your life forward, get your FREE TIP SHEET, “Feng Shui Tips for Instant Success” at http://www.clutterclearingcommunity.com.

Set Up Homes for Everything!

The other day I was thinking about what it takes to be able to find what you need when you need it. Yes, we professional organizers are a strange lot, daydreaming about what it takes to find things! But, alas, that’s the way my brain works!

The three keys to being able to find things on a regular basis are setup, habit and memory.

Setup–The best way to ensure that you will be able to find things is to create a “home” for everything. A home is the place where an item is stored so you can find it when you need it. Homes don’t just magically present themselves. They have to be set up. Setup takes time and careful thought to determine the best home for each item you own so you’ll know where to go to retrieve it when you need it. You will need to set up all the storage areas in your home, your car, your purse, your garage, your shed, even your wallet. When you create homes for everything, you’ll be creating an initial order. In so doing, you will be laying the groundwork for being able to find what you need when you need it. Setup is an initial action that will likely need evaluation and adjustments over time.

Habit–Having a home for everything is great, but if items aren’t returned to their homes after use, all your work to establish homes will quickly melt down into a mess. The essential habit you need to ensure you’ll be able to find what you need when you need it is to routinely return things to their homes after use. Retrieve things. Put them back. Retrieve things. Put them back. The repetition of putting things away will help you remember where everything is located in your space.

Memory–To be able to find things, you must remember how you set up your space. You must remember the homes you designated for each item. That is no small feat! Homes and offices are filled with thousands of items. If your memory isn’t the greatest, being able to find things will be a challenge. One way to build the necessary neural pathways to be able to remember where things live in your space is to work very hard on the habit of retrieving things and putting them away. If you are conscientious about putting things away immediately after use, that repetitive action will help create the neural pathways for remembering the homes of your things.

Setup, habit and memory. Where do you get hung up in this process of finding what you need when you need it? Do you struggle with setup, either because you have no clue how to do it or because you have difficulty making time for setup? Is your “put things away” habit weak? Or, is your memory your weak point? Perhaps you set up your space nicely but struggle with the habit of putting things away. If losing things is a constant challenge for you, identify where you struggle–with setup, habit or memory, and take steps to address your problem.

If you are at a loss for what to do to make real progress to improve the odds of finding things on a regular basis, remember that help is available from both coaches and professional organizers. Being able to find things on a regular basis is a great way to lower stress and feel empowered. It’s worth the investment of your time and money to improve the conditions for finding what you need when you need it!

© 2012 Clutter Clearing Community | Debbie Bowie

“Author, Organizing Expert and Feng Shui Practitioner, Debbie Bowie, is a leading authority on clutter clearing to attract more of what you want in life. If you’re ready to clear clutter and move your life forward, get your FREE TIP SHEET, “Feng Shui Tips for Instant Success” at http://www.clutterclearingcommunity.com.

Today I took half an hour to reorganize my computer desktop. What a difference that has made! Before I did that I kept drifting to tasks that were not very important. I had great difficulty even deciding what was important to do. There was so much visual stimulation that I just took the easiest path–which happened to be doing whatever was right in front of me. It was the exact opposite of intentional activity. Now I know how my clients, particularly those with ADD, must feel.

Before I could get any relief, I had to take the leap of faith and stop trying to be productive so I could get organized. Then, once I was organized, the quality of my actions immediately improved. And, I noticed that I was also much more relaxed and less anxious while working.

Would stopping to take 15 minutes to clear clutter affect your productivity? Do it! Silence all those energetic distractions. Then pay attention to how much easier it is to determine your priorities and take action. Sometimes putting a stop to ineffective action is the best answer!

© 2012 Clutter Clearing Community | Debbie Bowie

“Author, Organizing Expert and Feng Shui Practitioner Debbie Bowie, is a leading authority on clutter clearing to attract more of what you want in your life. If you’re ready to finally clear the clutter from your life and move your life forward, get your FREE TIP SHEET, “Feng Shui Tips for Instant Success” at http://www.clutterclearingcommunity.com.

I got my organizing gene from my mom. She was highly organized and ran a tight ship when I was growing up. Not only was I blessed with her organizing gene, but I also had a skilled model for getting and staying organized. She was always restoring order in our home where I lived with my parents and two brothers.

So, when I started noticing miscellaneous papers floating over the tops of three counters in her kitchen as well as her desk, I was at first curious, then alarmed. Something had changed. And, it wasn’t the quantity or type of paper that flowed into Mom’s house. When my step-father’s health declined and he eventually died, I finally felt I had permission to closely examine all those papers. Mom needed my help to manage her finances because her focus was on her husband and, I later discovered, because she really was not cognitively capable of doing so herself.

I had noticed my mother’s significant short term memory problems for some time, but I tried to explain it away as normal aging. My step-father’s health crisis made it very clear that Mom has dementia. During that difficult time she exhibited significant confusion, and it was obvious that she was unable to make decisions, cope in new environments and learn new things. The sea of papers was the most visible symptom of her cognitive decline in her home. Changes in her brain made it more and more difficult for her to make decisions about what to do with incoming mail and my step-father’s medical papers. Her way of not handling her papers was to drop them on an empty counter. Then she would look at them over and over again.

Mom’s sea of papers reminded me of what I so often find in the homes of clients who hire me to help them make peace with their papers, particularly those with ADHD. It is well known that those who have ADHD often have frontal lobe deficits. The frontal lobe is the area of the brain responsible for executive functions like short-term memory, decision-making and prioritization. I am guessing that Mom’s dementia has been affecting her frontal lobe for some time.

If you have always had difficulty managing paper, don’t leap to the conclusion that you have dementia. I share this information with you because you may know someone like my Mom who once was very competent at managing papers but who with age has become less capable of paper management. It could be an early sign of dementia. It’s easier to be helpful and loving with a person who is having difficulty with the details of life if you have some idea of a possible cause of the decline. Changes from previous levels of functioning are information you can use to determine the best way to be helpful to a beloved family member.

How do you know when it’s time to get a new purse? When your dog eats it! Since I hate shopping I usually find myself shopping for a purse when my old purse is showing embarrassing signs of wear. But, most recently I was motivated by the fact that my dog, Oz, had expressed his boredom by chewing up my beloved purple purse!

So, when I made myself go to Kohl’s to search for the purple purse replacement, I was not really up for the task. Despite my attitude, I took my time locating just the right purse. As I made the rounds of the purse displays, I was acutely aware that being a feng shui practitioner and professional organizer has made me especially particular about the criteria for just the right purse. Over time I’ve learned what works for me, and settling for anything less is a setup for disorganization and daily irritation when I can’t find what I need when I need it.

Here are some features that do not work for me:

• deep, large purses–They hold too much stuff, and the deeper they are, the harder it is to see what is in them. They also weigh a ton because I tend to fill the space that’s available.
• zippers for closure–Zippers require added effort to get inside a purse. I knew I’d find that effort irritating. Besides, zippers break.
• purses with no inside dividers–I carry a variety of items in my purse, and it’s easier to find what I need if I have specific locations for things. One big area would become an annoying jumble of stuff in no time.
• purses with no outside pockets–I’ve learned that I enjoy easy access to high use items like my keys and cell phone. An outside pocket is perfect for that. When I don’t have one, there’s no telling where the phone will end up. Then I’ll be cursing as I miss calls while searching through all the items in an inside section.

Features that I have to have:

• medium size, but not too deep–This size is perfect to hold what I need to carry, but it won’t weigh a ton. And, it must be a depth where I can see everything at a glance.
• magnetic closure–This type of closure takes little effort both to open and close. And, it doesn’t break!
• two major sections with a zippered divider, a small zippered pocket on the back wall and an open pocket on the front wall–I use the front section for my wallet, change purse, business card holder and glasses case. The back section is for my small spiral notebook, pens pouch, pouch for earphones and cell phone charging wire, and pouch for occasional use items like special keys and nail clippers. The zippered divider is where I keep high dollar coupons for office supplies and restaurants and extra business cards. The zippered pocket on the back wall holds personal hygiene items like kleenex, a small brush, nail files and a small mirror. The open pocket on the front wall is used to hold lip balms and lipsticks.
• interior fabric that is any color except black or brown–Dark interiors transform purses into black holes and really reduce visibility.
• an appealing color–It is important that my purse be a color that does not clash with my coats and shoes. Its color also has to be dark enough so it won’t easily show dirt. I’m rough on a purse, tossing it into my not-so-clean car and dropping it on the floors of client houses. I never want a yellow or white purse that will look dirty in no time. And, the energy of the color has to be compatible with my current energy. I wanted a purse with a rich, vibrant color like the purple purse was destroyed by Oz. But, when I finally found all the necessary features in a purse, I had a choice between a light purple that was too flashy for me and a pleasant taupe, a nice earth tone. I chose the taupe because earth tones are very grounding, and given the recent challenges in my life, a grounding energy would work well.

Finding just the right purse took me about 45 minutes of searching and thinking and deciding what would work for me. When I left the store I wasn’t completely happy with the color of my new purse because I had wanted a color with more energy, but I chose to compromise on the color in favor of having the best size and internal design. The color is neutral and calming, something I can learn to like a lot.

My new purse may not be the color I wanted, but it’s design is actually better than my mutilated purse. It is not quite as deep as the purple purse, so I can now see everything inside much more easily. It seems that Oz did me a big favor!

When you go shopping for your next purse, it’s worth taking your time to find one whose design and appearance really work for you. Your purse is an extension of you. If it’s a jumble of disorganized stuff, you will not only waste precious time finding things when you need them, you will also be annoyed over and over again as you move through your days. That annoyance is a stressor that costs you vital energy.

By investing time and money in finding just the right purse, you will make an important statement to yourself and the Universe that getting and staying organized is a priority in every area of your life. Know that it may take several purses for you to find the features that matter most. But, when you finally figure it out, you will be amazed at how wonderful it feels to have a stress-free purse!

I couldn’t believe it! I’d stopped to get gas, had pumped the gas and then couldn’t find my keys. I’ve done that before, so I automatically searched the usual places: the car seat, between the seats, the passenger seat, the front pocket of my purse. No keys. I felt a flutter of panic that was quickly followed by the reprimand of a critical inner voice that was saying, “How could you lose your keys in such a small area!” Since that voice was not very helpful, I quickly switched to a problem-solving voice that instructed, “Just straighten up the inside of your car. The keys will show up when you can see more clearly.”

As I began to create more order inside my car, I had a little chuckle with myself when I thought about my options, one of which was to ask for help. Just imagining myself going into the gas station and telling the cashier that I’d lost my keys while pumping my gas really struck me as funny. It would be even funnier if I told the guy I make my living helping people clear clutter and get organized. I’m supposed to be an expert in not losing things!

When I organized my front seats, I found the remote for my car stereo which had gone missing about a month ago, a quarter, a rock, and a piece of jewelry that had been riding around with me for months on its way to the jeweler to be repaired. Still no keys.

Hmmmm. . . . time to take deep breaths, look in all the same places one more time and as a last resort, I thought back to what I’d been doing when I stopped the car. I’d been talking to my husband on the phone. The phone! Where did I put it? If I found the phone, I’d likely find the keys! Usually I put it in the front pocket of my purse, but I already knew the phone wasn’t there. Ok, if not in the front pocket, where else would I throw the phone without thinking? In the other pockets of the purse! Sure enough, I found the phone and the missing keys. Success!!!

Why do I take time to share this story with you? What are the lessons from this experience? First, I want you to know that I am just as human as you are. I too have moments when I take action unconsciously and misplace things. When I do, I am just as normal as the next person, at first castigating myself for my mistake and then momentarily panicking.

Second, I think losing my keys at the gas pump, when the keys couldn’t have gotten very far, is a hoot! Sometimes you just have to laugh at the absurdity of your situation. That humor helped calm me so I could finally get into the problem-solving mode that eventually led to finding the keys.

And, when I finally did find the keys, I had also located my missing stereo remote and the front seat of my car was neatly organized! When you lose something, it’s always an opportunity to get reorganized. The process of organizing creates clarity, making it possible to find things.

The next time you lose something, silence the critical voice that shouts out first. Have a good laugh. Then go into problem-solving mode and get better organized. By all means, resist the urge to tear your house or car or office apart in your hunt. If you do finally find your lost item, you then will be surrounded by a nightmare of your own making. Instead, laugh, problem-solve and organize! Remember, even professional organizers lose their keys!

It has been a quiet week here in Kilmarnock, Virginia, in the aftermath of my step-father’s death. I’ve been here to make funeral arrangements and support my mother as she comes to grips with the biggest loss of her life.

As is my habit, I’ve watched my mother move through her days both with curiosity and concern. Mom is not only grieving the loss of the love of her life, she is showing signs of dementia. The most obvious sign is poor short-term memory. I’ve been preparing myself for further decline by reading The 36 Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins, a book about dealing with dementia. I know it’s possible that over time she will eventually forget how to do even the simplest of tasks. I dread that time.

My mom has always been very organized. At the moment, for the most part, she still is. It has been comforting to watch her move through her days maintaining order in her lovely home. When she opens mail, she routinely throws away the opened envelopes and junk mail. As she moves from the den to the kitchen, she picks up used glasses and plates to put in the dishwasher. She regularly clears cluttered surfaces, stating that she just doesn’t like to have too much stuff around. Maintaining order is a way of life for her. I am so grateful to have learned the lessons of how to get and stay organized from her. I feel sad when I think about the possibility of her losing that ability to the ravages of dementia.

For now, I take comfort in Mom’s commitment to maintaining order and her ability to tend to her space. What a blessing it is to be her daughter!

What can happen when you don't put things away!

Are you a person who routinely puts things away when you’ve finished using them? Or, are you a person that uses something and leaves it where it landed when you were finished using it? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess which person would be most challenged with staying organized. Regularly putting things away as you move through your day is one of the most important behaviors necessary for staying organized.

 What is the benefit of putting things away?

• You restore visual order. An orderly space is peaceful and feels good. It has positive energy.
• You snuff out a bud of clutter. Anything left out of place immediately creates a negative energy that will attract more of the same. Once one thing is left out, it’s much easier to leave other things out.
• You’ll be able to find the item when you need it.
• You maintain order in your space and a sense of control in your life.

Why doesn’t a person put things away?

• You were never taught the habit of routinely putting things away. It is a habit to use something and leave it where you last used it. It is also a habit to use something and put it away!
• You have attentional issues that keep you bouncing from one task to another, leaving object litter in your wake.
• You haven’t created a home for the item. There is no place to put it away.
• The home you created is not convenient enough given how often you use the object.
• The home you created has become so cluttered that putting it away is a hassle.
• Putting things away seems boring to you.
• You are rushing and putting an item away will take time you don’t think you have.

I could go on and on with reasons why people don’t put things away. Whatever the reason, you pay a heavy price when you neglect to regularly put things away. Over time you create your own nightmare of clutter and chaos in your space.

Putting things away is a behavior over which you have complete control. It can take only seconds to do if you’ve created convenient homes for everything. Being faithful to the behavior requires self-discipline, but it is one of the best ways to stay organized and directly correlates with feeling in control in your life.

Watch yourself today. Are you taking those extra few seconds (yes, seconds, not minutes) to put things away when you are finished using them? Remember, your peace of mind, stress level, productivity and success are affected by what you choose to do. Make putting things away a priority every day! If regularly putting things away isn’t a habit, make it the next habit you acquire in your effort to stay organized, manage stress, and have the life you really want.

I was recently asked to address the issue of what to do about staying organized when you’ve been leveled by some type of illness. What an important subject! You may have your house all organized and clear of clutter and then break your leg. How on earth can you tend to your house when it takes all of your energy to get to the bathroom and feed yourself, much less do anything else?

My first recommendation is: ASK FOR HELP!!!! I know that’s hard to do with tapes playing in your head that say, “You should be able to do everything by yourself,” and “I don’t want to be a burden to anyone else.” Contrary to popular belief, the people who care about you often get pleasure out of being able to lend a helping hand from time to time.

When I say ask for help, I not only include friends and extended family, but also the people who live with you. They may be accustomed to living in their own orbit, but a healthy functional family is one in which all members contribute, especially in a time of crisis. In particular, ask family members to be even more vigilant about cleaning up after themselves and helping to maintain order in the home.

My second recommendation is: keep paper under control. If paper gets out of control, you are more likely to have negative consequences, like missing a bill payment. It will also take much longer to dig out once your recover from your illness or injury if paper is part of the mix. Paper is one of the hardest things to organize. It also takes more time to organize than most things. And, the energy of paper will shut you down faster than any other kind of clutter. If you do no more that separate out bills from other papers, throw away junk mail and stack up all other papers, like those that require an action or filing, dealing with paper once you are up an around again will much easier to do.

You will have physical challenges from time to time that make it difficult for you to maintain order in your home. Be gentle with yourself at those times and do whatever you can to restore order as soon as possible once you recover. That may require getting some outside help if the challenge you are facing is beyond what you are capable of doing in a timely manner. If you leave your house in disarray, its condition is more likely to deteriorate further which then can become a health risk in itself.

There is still much external chaos here in Richmond, VA, the remnants of Hurricane Irene’s wrath. The damage done by high winds and fallen trees is visible everywhere. Some people still have no power, phone or cable service.

It is impossible not to be affected by that chaos, those disruptions to day to day functioning. The energy of brokenness abounds. Most of us are unconscious of the effect of that negative energy. We are too busy trying to get back to normal in our homes, with our work, with public schools opening soon. There is also the uncertainty of when services will be restored, when school will start given the delays caused by the storm.

When things feel so out of sync, when the negative energy of brokenness is everywhere, it’s very easy to let your day to day maintenance activities slide. After all, you have no hot water, why bother washing dishes. Those dominant negative and unsettled energies attract more of the same. They stress us and make us less likely to attend to cleaning up, putting things away, maintaining order. It takes extra energy to make yourself do the things that you would normally do to maintain order in your home.

If you follow the lead of those negative, chaotic energies, you’ll find yourself inclined to ignore tasks you know you should do. Do them anyway. Consider them an investment in restoring order. So, you can’t make the power come back on any sooner. You can’t get cable up and running. You can’t get the tree branches hauled away soon enough. You can maintain order inside your home. You can process your mail. You can hang up your clothes even if you can’t do a load of laundry. Resist the urge to stop because the power is out or your yard is torn up by a fallen tree. You’ll be glad you did when you are enjoying a calm order in your home environment instead of a nightmare of your own making!