The Clutter Diet Blog

Windex Here, Windex There, Windex Everywhere?

People often ask me how to organize their cleaning supplies... the main question being whether you should store the supplies together in a central location, or have duplicate supplies throughout the house in each bathroom or on each floor? The answer-- it depends! Let's look at some of the factors:

• Who is cleaning? If you have a housekeeper, that person is likely cleaning in "one fell swoop" throughout the house. The best approach for this is to have the supplies centralized in one place, like the utility/laundry room, with a carrying caddy that is used to easily bring the supplies from room to room.
• Are you a Batch Processor, or a Continuous Processor? I wrote a blog post about this a long time ago (click here to read "How Baking Cookies Relates to Procrastination"), about whether you prefer to batch tasks up and do them all at once vs. doing tasks as they come and handling them in "real time." If you like to clean your bathrooms as you go, such as wiping up the mirror as soon as you notice spots, you will want to keep at least a few frequently-used cleaning supplies in each bathroom. Batch Processors are probably going to clean in "one fell swoop" like a housekeeper, so the centralized approach would be better.
• Do you have good storage where you want it? If you have storage space that is adequate for cleaning supplies in each bathroom, that's great, but if there is only a pedestal sink and nothing else, the centralized approach might be better for you.
• Do you have multiple floors in your home? If you have 2 (or more) floors, you might consider having a duplicate set of supplies for each floor. You could have one centralized caddy for each floor with all supplies, or you could have supplies in each bathroom. If it makes sense, you have the storage, and you have access to another vacuum cleaner, it can be wonderful to have a vacuum on each floor. We once had a central vac system, and you had only to carry the hose around and plug it into the outlet. We ordered a second hose unit for the upper floor so we'd have even easier access.

The perfect compromise:  Have one centralized set of cleaning supplies with a large carrying caddy, then have a few quick-cleaning wipes in each bathroom to touch-up. Disinfectant wipes are so great for touching up right before someone rings the doorbell, or for homes with, ahem, lots of boys... The centralized approach is also better overall for shopping efficiency (knowing when you need to buy things). Getting a large, sturdy cleaning caddy is really key, so choose wisely!

There is not any giant rule from above about these things-- it's whatever works for you! What have been your solutions? Share in the comments!

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I Can't Change...That's Just The Way I Am!

When I worked in Corporate America years ago, I had a terrible boss (as many of you have). He would say all of the politically correct things about wanting "feedback," but when you told him something constructive about his management style, he'd reliably say, "That's just the way I am."

What a communication killer and conversation ender! What he was really saying: "I believe this is a quality I cannot change, and I have no intention of putting any effort toward changing it."

One of the biggest lessons of my life has been that my own limiting beliefs are what hold me back. Here are some of the limiting beliefs I have heard from our members and clients over the years:

• "I'm just not an organized person."
• "I'll never get control of this mess."
• "Organizing is a battle I'll never win."
• "I'm a messy person... It's just the way I am."

Henry Ford said, "Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right." If you think that being disorganized is just how you are, then no matter what blog or book you read or expert you hire to help you, you absolutely will continue to be disorganized. Your belief is the first thing that must change. Our language defines us, especially the language we use with ourselves.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
-Author Unknown

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Oh, Goody! It's National Clean Out Your Files Month!

October is National Clean Out Your Files Month. I know, I know... it's so wonderful, but PLEASE, contain yourself!

I typically recommend two times of the year to clean out your files. You can either do it now during its "appropriate" month, or you can do it in April right after you have done your income tax return. I prefer April, and I do it once a year only. April feels really good because you know you can safely archive things from the immediately previous calendar year. If you want to do it twice a year, you can do your major archiving of financial paperwork in April and go through the content of files on other topics in October. These two recommended times are six months apart, so that works out well.

Here are some of my favorite file management tips to motivate you and inspire you, should you decide that this celebration merits some appropriate filing festivities:

• Invest in good quality filing cabinets and supplies. This does NOT mean spending a lot of money. If your city has a used office furniture liquidator, you can get killer deals on scratch-and-dent filing cabinets there (along with shelving, desks, and even sticky notes and markers sometimes!). You can also check thrift stores. Test the drawers before buying to make sure they work smoothly. I believe in using hanging file folders, and I do pay a little extra for the better quality ones so that the metal pieces don't come unglued and fall out easily.
• Don't stuff your file drawers too full. How many of you are avoiding filing because you can't stand plunging your hand into the tight drawer, getting paper cuts, and fighting to get the papers into the folders? Adjust your drawer space so that you can easily get the folders in and out and leave some room to grow, too. If you are running out of space, guess what? It's National Clean Out Your Files Month! Go for it! You can also archive older files to another location to free up some space.
• You have my permission to NOT use manila interior folders inside the hanging folders...unless you want to! But if you're just filing reference material that may not be accessed for a long time, you really don't need to use an interior folder. Use the manila folders if you'll be accessing the information frequently or taking it with you away from the office.
• Box-bottom folders can be just the right solution if you have some thick files. I like the 2-inch capacity size. These are specialty hanging folders that have a creased edge on the bottom to expand and hold a big chunky pile of paper. That is, if you must keep it that way.
• Always ask yourself, "Can I get this electronically instead?" If the answer is yes, and you have a great backup system, please shred and/or recycle that file!

So break out the champagne, or at least order a pizza, and get those files in order. What's your approach to your filing system? Do you have files, piles, stacks, or boxes? Share in the comments!

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4 Ways Clutter Can Kill Your Sex Life

Yes, you heard me correctly... I am talking about how clutter affects your time in the bedroom. Although I am not privy to exactly what goes on behind closed doors, I have seen a lot of marital conflict during my 9 years as an organizer, and I have seen a lot of messy spaces that go with it, so I am drawing my own conclusions... here are four more reasons you might want to get organized:

1. Disorganization increases conflict. I have personally witnessed arguments over piles of paper and "stuff," disagreement over the use of a space, and anger over excessive shopping. Conflict and frustration also surround lost items, wasted money, and wasted time. Conflict is not conducive to intimacy!

2. Physical clutter in the bedroom, even on the bed, may literally be in the way. I have seen some bedrooms that would be difficult to sleep in, much less, well... you know. If clutter is overtaking the flat surfaces in your room, it may be impairing your ability to enjoy the space. Enough said.  ;)

3. Clutter in the bedroom reminds you of other parts of your life that might be stressful. Piles of laundry, piles of work materials, kids' toys, paperwork, and other similar stressful clutter means that you are reminded of those things constantly as you look around. You also wake up to that every day and are instantly reminded again of the undone work and cleaning demands. It's not very romantic to look around you and see your unfinished stack of employee reviews, your husband's unfolded underwear, and some Dora the Explorer toys, and then step on a few Barbies or Bratz dolls on your way to the bathroom. Imagine a relaxing space that is just for the two of you... a place of rest and renewal that is an oasis from your daily stress.

4. Clutter steals your time and energy-- time and energy you could be spending on your relationship. As I say in my book, all clutter is ultimately just delayed decisions and delayed actions. It's very much about procrastination. Deciding where to keep it, whether to keep it, what to do to dispose of it, etc. It saps your time away every day, little by little. Each item is something that individually pulls on you and drains your energy until you decide what to do with it and then take action. Imagine having all of that time and energy back-- reclaimed-- to spend on your partner! We're talking about some serious sparks!

Has clutter affected your relationship? Does one of you have a disorganization problem that has spilled over into your intimate time? Have you successfully solved this and want to share your tips? DO TELL--in the comments!

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Check Us Out When You Check Out at the Supermarket!

Just can't help myself... I had to mention to my beloved blog readers to check us out in FOUR magazines this month! They are November issues but they come out in October, so they are all on the newsstands right now. When you're checking out at the supermarket, you can thumb through and find me!

• Nov. Better Homes & Gardens, page 78 (cover headline "12 Smart Ways to Organize Your Closet"- also features our product, the Simple Division® Garment Organizers)
• Nov. 1, Family Circle, page 147 (cover headline: "Declutter Your Life")
• Nov 3, Woman's Day, page 100 (cover headline "5 Clutter Busters- They'll Surprise You")
• Nov. Good Housekeeping, page 180, "21 Ways to Make an Entrance" (about entryways)

Also note-- I am doing a contest with Good Housekeeping right now where the big winner gets me in his/her house for two days with $1000 of products from the Container Store. Enter the contest here at http://budurl.com/ghclutter. Other prizes include memberships to our program, phone consultations with me, and autographed copies of my book The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life. The contest entries close on November 30, 2009.

I hope you like the articles! Thanks for sharing my joy!

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Yes, You CAN Buy Time...

It's fundraiser season again... time to buy your school's gift wrap, your scout's popcorn, and your football team's coupon books. We all wish this would be unnecessary, but it appears to be here to stay. Think about it, though-- what is your personal time worth to be handling these sales and deliveries with your child? Would you be better off just writing a personal check to the organization instead and dispensing with the whole ordeal? Spending some time cuddling up with your child eating popcorn rather than walking around the block delivering it?

My children's school has successfully done the "No Hassle Fundraiser" for several years. They say, basically, "Yes, we could make you sell gift wrap or magazines or candy, but you don't want to do that, do you? Why don't you just write us a check and we'll forget the whole thing." And I HAPPILY write that check. My kids have not sold anything as fundraisers for a long time. Everyone is very happy about this approach because they value the time savings, and not selling this stuff to each other means LESS CLUTTER too.

I really encourage people to look at the value of their time and be selective about spending it! Sometimes it absolutely makes sense to trade dollars for more time, outsourcing tasks like oil changes and lawn-mowing, for example. But think about it even for things you think you "have to" do, like the school fundraisers. This "How Much Is Your Time Worth?" calculator from MSN.com allows you to plug in your own information to find the actual value of your leisure time by the hour. If you are a stay-at-home-mom, use this Mom Salary Wizard calculator to find the value of the ten+ jobs you are doing!

Whether or not you come up with an actual number per hour, remember that you can always get more money, but you can NEVER get more time. If you waste it, it's gone. It is the most precious commodity we have. What other obligations could you make disappear with a smart decision? Share your thoughts in the comments! (Thanks so much to Anne for this blog idea!)

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How to Make Your Relaxation Time More Productive

Thursday I spoke at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on a panel about work/life balance. One of the themes that kept coming up in our session was "self-care." My friend Renee Trudeau helped put this panel together, and she is the author of The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal, a beautiful book that helps you deliberately focus on caring for yourself so that you "refill your cup" to serve others better.

Are you taking care of yourself by spending time doing things that bring you joy and make you feel calm and centered? Do you have a place in your house where you do these activities? I was just kidding in the title about being "more productive" while relaxing, but you really might enjoy the space and use it more if it were better organized.

You might have a craft room, or a reading nook, or even the area around a bathtub that you've created as a special space for "me-time." For an example, let's focus on a spot that almost everyone has for relaxing-- a nightstand or bedside table.

Whatever your space is, first "Outline your plan." (Read in my book or see our multimedia tutorials in our membership program about our O.R.D.E.R. process for approaching projects.) Think through the functions of what you'll be doing there, and then think through what you'll need for each and gather these items together. In my example, these functions are:

• Reading books: books, bookmarks, sticky notes, highlighters, and pens
• Reading and clipping magazines: magazines, clipping blade, accordion file
• Watching television: remote controls and my special dorky prism bed spectacles
• Doing puzzles (crosswords and Sudoku): mechanical pencils and puzzle books
• Journaling/writing: pens and journals, pads of paper to write down ideas
• Grooming/comfort stuff: nail files, hand cream, lip balm, matches & candles
• Sleeping/napping: eye mask, ear plugs

Next, get realistic about the books you’re actually reading, pare down the magazines, and throw away the tissues, candy wrappers, and other little bits of trash that might be there. Take the dishes back to the kitchen.

If you have remote controls, consider using some Velcro on the backs of those and sticking them somewhere nearby to conserve tabletop space and keep them handy by the bed. If you do this, put the “prickly” side of the Velcro on the furniture and the soft side on the remote, so that when your remote is on the bed or your clothes it doesn’t snag anything.

If you don't have a lot of storage space in your nightstand furniture, you can use one of the bed pocket products that are out there instead. These cloth sets of pockets are secured between the mattress and box spring and hold lots of odds & ends easily. Search online for "bed pockets" or "bedside organizers" to find a selection.

If you found that trash was a problem for you, maybe you need to place a small trash can here. Analyze other needs you might have overlooked. Find homes for the items you need and get all set for some serious relaxation! What are your favorite ways to get some time alone? What spaces in your home do you use to help you find balance? Share in the comments!

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Are You As Green As the Next Guy?

At the Clutter Diet, we teach that there are three kinds of organizing: Planning, Projects, and Systems & Routines. Most people think about us for Projects, like doing a closet or a garage. But Systems & Routines are really the foundation of home organizing-- things like laundry, cleaning, meals, dishes, and maintenance. They keep things moving and flowing properly, preventing bottlenecks and stagnation of stuff.

As we continue to become more environmentally responsible as a nation, our household systems and routines start to reflect that shift. I live in Austin, TX, which is a very progressive city in many ways. For example, Austin has an ambitious and impressive Zero Waste Plan. While I live in a place that is very environmentally conscious, I am quite certain there are areas of improvement for me. I think of myself as being "as green as the next guy"--kind of normal. But I really see that my Systems & Routines have definitely changed over the years to reflect a more green mindset.

Here are some systems that I use in my home and have heard our clients and members using too.

• Cloth napkins. We keep a basket of cloth napkins on the table, and after using them, we hang them over the backs of our chairs if they are still able to be used again and wash them when required. (see photo above) I recommend getting cotton, multi-colored napkins that won't show stains, and don't worry about ironing them.
• Composting. We keep an attractive, open, stoneware bowl near the sink where we usually chop vegetables. We fill up the bowl throughout the day with banana peels and apple cores and the like, and once a day we take the bowl out to the backyard to our compost bin. It's an easy thing to do and we are always surprised at how much we would have thrown into the landfill.
• Recycling. We have a recycling bin in the pantry where we throw our glass, paper, plastic, and metal items. If you have space, it's great to have a pull-out bin in your cabinet area-- we are seeing a lot of that in homes now. And if you keep your recycling in the garage, you can set up a staging area where you temporarily place the items before taking them out later.

Another important factor in "green" organizing is disposal. Use www.earth911.com to find appropriate disposal or recycling resources in your area. Donating items to charity is also excellent recycling, but please don't donate torn up and dirty items to your charity either. Be considerate--the items typically need to be usable and clean.

And of course, we have changed our light bulbs to compact fluorescents, which is why photos taken in my house are always tinted yellowish like the one here. Any photographers got tips on that for me? I love the environmental impact but don't like the yellow pictures. What are your favorite environmental household systems? Share in the comments!

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A Serious Wake-Up Call for a Potential Hoarder

The following is pasted here directly from the public comments on my "Are You a Hoarder?" post, in which I explained some things about hoarding, talked about the new A&E show "Hoarders," and gave some resources for more information. "Misha," the commenter, tells us how watching the show was a wake-up call for her. It was so powerful that I had to just paste it here in its entirety and make sure you saw it, since it might be buried for those who don't read the comments section. From Misha:

I am so grateful for this show. I just recently started the process of decluttering my home. I started to realize I had a real problem after my last move, when my poor friends made the mistake of offering to help me move. It is now time to move again, and I will NOT do that to people I care about ever again. I had started reading books on the issue, which helped a bit. I watched the first episode of Hoarders, and I wanted to throw up. I saw what I would become in 10 years if I didn't make serious changes right now. It's so sad to see people hold on to stuff. It's just stuff! I listened to their reasoning behind saving each little item, and I'm disgusted, BUT I understand them. I have said the same things to myself a million times: "I may need this, I paid good money for this, it was expensive, it's still good, there's nothing wrong with it, it was on sale, I stocked up because it was on sale, it was a gift, i don't like it but i'll make myself use it" ;. As sad as these stories are on Hoarders, I understand each and every one of them on some level. It's all just a matter of degrees. This show has provided me a huge wake up call. I finally had the motivation to get rid of more, and I donated all the items to charity. As the boxes piled up in the car port to be taken to charity, I looked at these THINGS, these OBJECTS that I had allowed to control my life. I have never been so disgusted with myself in my entire life. I felt nauseous, and I couldn't breathe. I think that's what I needed. After multiple trips to charity, I feel like I've lost 50 lbs. Each of those items was a piece of emotional baggage that was holding me back from LIFE. I spent my life tending to THINGS instead of myself. I still have a ways to go, but at least I can breathe when I walk into my home. I keep telling myself, "NEVER again."

Misha, THANK YOU for sharing your experience with us. I believe that when we are brave enough to hold ourselves up and become open as examples, we shine a bright light to help many other people with our stories. We are so happy for you that you have a new lease on life! Readers, have you been inspired by the show, or by reading Misha's comment? Share your own story in our comments-- inspire others!

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