Take Control Organizing

Recently, I was working on a project and I came across the term, “Organizing Your Clutter”.  I have to say, it took me a minute to process what it was saying to me.  Because, really do I want to organize my clutter? Organize my life, yes, organize my kitchen, sure… But organizing my clutter, sounds strange to me.  Don’t we want to get rid of our clutter?  Not organize it, right?

Clutter sometimes feels like a bad word to me.  It suggests the items we refer to as “clutter” is garbage or not worth keeping anymore.  And in many cases, this is true. But don’t we also have clutter that means something to us? Maybe that’s what this is suggesting to us.  This term did not come from an article or any kind of blog post, it is actually a keyword people use when they are doing google searches.  Which I found to be even more interesting… People want their clutter organized.

Clutter happens when we delay making decisions about an object.  When we delay the decision, the item gets pushed aside.  Pretty soon, things pile up and we see clutter!

So my question is this… Do we want to organize our clutter or do we need to start making some decisions?

My opinion is to start making some decisions on what is important and what is not important.

I say we live an organized lifestyle and not just settle for organizing our clutter!

Happy Organizing!

Can organization skills be taught?

There are people where organizing comes natural.  They don’t even have to think about it, it comes easy to them.  They have always been organized and they will remain this way for the rest of their lives.  I am sure you know someone who is like this… For me it’s my father.  He has always had order in his life.  His closet was always neat and organized, and he never had any problems getting rid of anything he didn’t need.

What if organizing doesn’t come natural to you, can it be taught?

What if you were taught as a child would it have made a difference as an adult?

Since my son started elementary school, I have volunteered in his classroom.  In first grade, I noticed he had a really messy desk. One day before he left for recess, I showed him how to organize his papers, his folders, and his pencils and such.

My son is now in second grade, and I still volunteer once a week in his school, every once in a awhile I check out his desk.  His desk has stayed organized!  I only showed him once how to do it… Maybe this skill comes naturally to him too, I don’t know, only time will tell.  In any case, I am very proud of him!  He recently received an award for having a clean desk, so obviously something is sticking for him!

Last week, while I was volunteering, I noticed a little girl in front of me.  She had several papers on her desk, and when people were walking by, they kept falling off the desk.  Her colors were a bit scattered, and needless to say, as an Organizer, I couldn’t just sit by and say nothing… So I went over to her and gave her a quick lesson.

I asked her what papers she needed right now, and asked that she put the rest of them in her desk.  She was very shy, but after we cleaned up the desk, and just had what she needed, I asked her if this felt better to her, and she shyly looked at me and smiled.

Can we teach our children organizing skills? I strongly believe we can.  We just need to be aware and be willing to teach.  It’s these little moments we teach our children which they will remember! It’s teaching by example and showing them the benefits organization can provide them, even as little people, they can still experience the difference!

Like with any new skill being learned, it takes time to master with patience and repetition.

Happy Organizing!