Lug, Wash, Dry, Hang, Fold, Put Away. Repeat.

023

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time in my laundry room. We recently updated our appliances which motivated me to re-organize the space. If your laundry room is a potential organizing project for you, too, here are some ideas to consider:

Look at what IS working:
For us, the bins for too-small clothes for my two younger sons work great, especially with the “donate” basket on the shelf between the bins. Clothes that my middle son outgrows go into labeled bins in the crawl space, to be used once the youngest son is big enough. The clothes the youngest son outgrows goes to our younger cousin or into the donate basket.

Look at what ISN’T working:

My aging washer and dryer worked only with a lot of squeaking and leaking. We replaced them – hooray! Quiet, leak-free, clean and so quick!

Got Clutter? Use up the random products you have collected over the years, then purge your recycling.

Unruly piles of clothes can indicate a problem.
   

      Is the clothing dirty?  If yes, make a concerted effort to get all the clothes actually clean at the same time. Set a timer, dedicate a Saturday, and catch up. All the way to AWAY.

 Do you lack flat space for folding your clothes?  If yes, set up a portable table or install a counter top near your laundry space strictly for sorting and folding clean clothes.

Do you have just too many clothing items, for yourself or other members of the family?  A nice family I worked with had a mound of t-shirts for the teenage sons just outside the laundry room door. The mound was almost as tall as me, so I assumed there was a table under the mound but it was all clothing. That is waaaay too many items. A friend with a large family limits the total number of clothing items per person, just to make laundry time easier. They replace things more often, but they save in space and effort!

 Do you lack a laundry system?

If yes, it’s time to create one! Dedicate a day or two a week to plow through the piles of laundry. Or tackle it every day, by completing a load every morning or every other, depending on how quickly the dirty clothes pile up.

I employ the everyday method, usually getting a load all the way to folded / hung up before we leave for the day, or before dinner. This requires a habit, but it is worth it!

Get everyone involved in the system! Even the youngest child can put their dirty clothes in the hamper, and everyone can help put away, too.

A few words about hangers:

  • Invest in nice hangers, either plastic tubular or felt-covered. Quality hangers treat your clothing better, offer a better visual presentation and help maintain a little space between your clothing on the closet rod.
  • We hang most of our clothing items the moment they come out of the dryer. This minimizes wrinkles, and cuts folding time down to about a minute a load.
  • Buy hangers in different colors for different family members, to save time sorting.
  • Purge wire hangers. They bend, rust, snag fragile items, and they look terrible. Return your hangers to your dry cleaners, most will recycle.

So, if your laundry room is the most used room in your house, too, spend a little time and effort on it this week to make it run more smoothly!

Who’s Driving This Car Anyway? You. You Are In Charge. 

Image

Every day, we’re bombarded by unwanted pressures influencing our decisions.  To improve time management, clear mental clutter and find Peace of Mind, it is important to remember Who Is Driving This Car, Anyway?  You are.  You own your decisions.

It’s hot outside, but a client just purchased flannel sheets… patterned with snowflakes. Why?  Because he keeps a running list of household items he needs, and then peruses emails from his favorite retailers, waiting for a good sale and free shipping.  He found some high quality sheets on clearance, got a great deal plus free shipping.  This client is driving the car.  He’s in charge, and uses retailer offers to his best advantage.

Speaking of sheets, another client asked “Why should I buy sheets in January?” Major retailers typically offer White Sales and special deals on bedding, towels, etc. in January, but she resents pressure from outside forces to buy bedding only in January.  If we need new bedding now, why wait?  And if we don’t need bedding or towels, we may succumb to advertising pressure and begin to think maybe we really DO need them, since the advertisements say we do.  This client is in charge, and will buy bedding based on needs, not on advertising pressures.

What should guide your actions:

  • Your beliefs, faith, personal goals and objectives
  • The needs and wants (within reason) of your loved ones / the people you are responsible for
  • Your own needs and wants, in that order
  • Your work responsibilities, your own agenda, personally and professionally, and the tasks attached

What should NOT guide your actions:

  • Indecision. Fear. Procrastination. Inertia.  Busy work.
  • Pop-culture pressures.  Anything you see on TV or in a catalog, article or newspaper, unless it fits in with the list above of “Should Guide Your Actions”
  • The unsolicited suggestions or opinions of strangers, or other people’s drama / goals / objectives

I mentioned in a paper management class last week that we should unsubscribe from every Catalog.  We live very happily without an item until we see it in the shiny pages of a catalog.  And then we are reeled in with the artfully crafted ad and MUST HAVE that piece!  A class participant shared an insight she gained from that statement:

She has been struggling to stay inside her weekly food budget. She dutifully reviews the grocery store ads for the best deals on her food items, and uses coupons, too.  However, she lets the ads dictate her grocery list, instead of looking first at what she already has on hand in her kitchen.  The stores were driving the car, not her own needs.  She will now shop for what she needs, and not just what is on sale.

I read an article last week about how double spacing between sentences is now outdated, and everyone should single space after a period.  The writer reasoned that the age of computers has eliminated the need for double spacing as fonts are more readable now than on a typewriter.  Reading this reasonable (single spaced) article could influence me to edit the last 20 years of my articles, just to conform to this writers’ assertion.

But… it turns out, I don’t care.

I don’t care if my sentences are single or double spaced. Perhaps I should, and perhaps I will try to start that new habit, but probably not.  I could spend hours and days adhering to some stranger’s suggestion.  But I won’t.  Because 1.  both ways are technically correct, 2. I have other things to do with my time, and 3. I’m driving THIS car.

Get clear on your own beliefs, values, needs and wants. Make sure you are the one Driving This Car.  You will make better decisions, and be less likely to cave under external pressures.

Strike the Balance Between ‘Too Much Emotional Clutter’ and “Ruthless Purging’.

My clients search for motivation or inspiration to “ruthlessly” purge their clutter, once and for all.  “Ruthless”, that’s their word, from three people in one week.  What is ‘Ruthless’?  In this case, we’ll use “cold, merciless or hard-hearted”.

Clutter is defined as anything we don’t need, use or love (if I knew who said this first, I would give them credit).  Our stuff turns into clutter for a number a reasons, feeding a number of emotions.  Love, sentimentality, desire, want, fear, anxiety, apathy, need.  When we take the emotion back out of our clutter and look at it purely in the context of “I need this” or “I don’t need this”, suddenly, it’s easier to get rid of our clutter. 

So, for purposes of clearing clutter, “Ruthless” can be a useful emotion.  As cold and uncaring as the word sounds, I absolutely agree that sometimes we need to be detached and unemotional about our stuff if we intend to clear clutter and restore order.  To change our environment, we may, indeed, need to remove our emotions. Emotions aren’t bad, but they can make us hold on to stuff, to clutter, long after it ceases to be useful, needed or helpful.

How to move from Drowning in Emotional Clutter to Ruthless Purging?

  1. Choose charitable donation destinations that you are emotionally attached to.  Knowing that others will benefit from your purging efforts will make it easier to finally let go and donate your clutter.
  2. If you have clutter for emotional reasons, make clearing clutter a pleasant task:
    1. Keep your eyes on the prize.  Imagine how good you will feel when the clutter is gone.  Imagine all the benefits that will come from clearing a space.  And give yourself a reward to look forward to, for when you are done with today’s project. 
  3. If you have clutter for emotional reasons, make clearing it a social event: 
    1. Take a picture, text a friend.  Ask for support from your friends and family. 
    2. Share the news that you are de-cluttering, and you will be amazed at who will understand.   We all share similar struggles.
    3. Have someone, like a professional organizer or objective friend or family member, help you with your clutter project.  The objective person is not emotionally attached to your stuff, and can see your stuff just as stuff.  Useful or not useful, whole or broken, usable or spoiled.  Objectivity is a great lens through which to view your stuff.
  4. If you have clutter for emotional reasons, make clearing it a meaningful event:
    1. Saving something to give to someone some day?  Write a note, or even give it to your loved one now!
    2. Grab the notebook, write down next actions for your items. 
    3. Take a picture, or jot down a few notes in a journal about your items, and then let them go.  We are not neglecting a person or the memory of a person by clearing some clutter. 
  5. Let go of negative emotions as you clear your clutter.  Emotions and sentimentality can be both negative and positive.  If an item generates a strong response inside, determine if it is a positive one or a negative one. Keep the stuff that makes you feel good, and feeds your love of others.  Anything else is not worth keeping.
  6. Imagine an open hand.  Clench up your hands tightly, in fists, squeezing very hard.  Feel how your arms and shoulders start to tense up, too?  Now relax and release your hands.  Wiggle your fingers, feel the blood rushing back into your fingertips. Imagine goodness flowing into your open hand.  Yes, this an analogy, not even a very subtle one.  We hold on tightly to our clutter because doing so is a habit.  But it feels SO GOOD to let some of that go.  And once our hands are open, we are ready to receive new goodness.
  7. Cut yourself some slack through this organizing process because we may mourn when we give away things.  But the benefits outweigh the pain!

 If you, too, search for inspiration and motivation to clear the clutter, try one of these tips to make the transition! 

Keep the Vacation Going with an Organized Re-Entry! 

Keep the Vacation Going with an Organized Re-Entry! 

Why?

A friend suggested that, for every day we’re on vacation, it takes an equal number of days to get back to normal.  If you’re gone a week, it will take a week when you get back to feel like you’re caught back up, organized, focused, productive, etc.

We travel several times a summer.  Weekends at a family lake house, trips to see friends a few states away, and destinations like Washington, DC and Philmont, NM this summer.  But using my friend’s math, if we travel 2 or 3 times a month, and the first day or two back are a struggle, we could spend a lot of time struggling.

Instead, I would love to keep that relaxed vacation feeling as long as possible, and not ruin it with the ‘just got back struggle’!  So plan ahead for your “Re-Entry”!  When you get home:

  • Unpack your car.  All the way.  Clothes, shoes, food wrappers, etc.  If you’ve been to the beach, do a quick vacuum (or have the teenager do it).
  • In my case, repack the car for your business week (i.e., put briefcase, tool kit and supplies back in my van).
  • Start a load of laundry.
  • Eat dinner.
  • Check mail and messages.
  • Unpack your bags, and put everything away.  Yes, everything.
  • Keep a running to-do list with you all the time, and add ideas for when you get home to it as you travel.

There are lots of ways to travel better, too, to make re-entry easier. 

  • Tidy up before you leave.  Nothing kills a vacation buzz quicker than coming home to a mess. 
  • For longer trips, keep a large envelope for receipts, programs / brochures / tickets from destinations, and other keepsakes, to look at later.
  • Employ a laundry bag.  We always use a dirty laundry bag or standing cloth hamper when we travel.  As we unload the car, the dirty stuff goes straight to the laundry room, while the clean items (if there are any) get unpacked and doled out to their owners to put away.
  • Leave your travel toiletry kit packed all the time.  I have a purple travel kit with all sorts of “Mom” stuff in it (first aid kit, small sewing kit, and eyeglass repair kit, etc) packed all the time.  In addition, we carry personal toiletries in a couple of Ziploc bags inside the purple kit.  Upon arrival home, the purple kit goes back in the closet, the Ziplocs get emptied immediately, and our stuff gets put away (at least by the next morning, when we use it all to get ready on a Monday!).
  • If you go the same place regularly, leave an empty bag in your closet or near the door to toss things for next time.  Right now, I have ready 2 bags:  1 bag of items to take to the lake house; and a bag of gifts for a big family birthday party the end of the month.   You can organize your next trip as warp up from your most recent trip.

So, organize your Re-Entry and keep the relaxed vacation feelings going!  Dedicated to my awesome accountability partner, Jan!

What’s Lurking In Your Garage?

ImageIs your garage scary?  Why are garages such an organizing challenge?

  • Everything is just bigger.  We have to organize bicycles and yard implements instead of dishes, books and papers.
  • Garages are used by every family member, and sometimes by people who don’t even live in our homes.
  • We can look past the clutter in our garage for a long time.  If we use our garage for parking our cars, we just pass through the space when we come and go, and turn a blind eye.
  • If we don’t park in our garage because it’s full of clutter, the usage and priority slip even further, and it sinks even lower down the to-oganize list.  And the dread monster and feelings of overwhelm build….

I’ve worked in a lot of garages lately, so I know it’s a great time to tackle garage projects!  If you, too, are challenged by your garage, here’s how to organize the space, tame the monsters, and breathe easier.

  1. Assemble your supplies:  Garbage bags, sharpie markers, a notebook to jot down follow-up tasks, a smart phone to take pictures of items to sell or donate.
  2. Remove items already slated to leave.  Load up and drop off the trash, recycling or donations.
  3. Get a little tough with your loved ones.  It’s time to STOP storing items for family members who no longer live in your home.  Employ both a request and a deadline: “The donation pick-up is scheduled for July 1, take what you want or it goes out to the curb”, or something similar. Image
  4. Break down the cardboard boxes.  It is amazing how many we have, and how much space they take up!  Keep a few, but flatten them for easier storage.
  5. Choose a starting spot, perhaps near a door, and slowly move around the space, making decisions about the clutter you find.  Clutter is defined as anything you don’t need, use or love.  So ask yourself:
    1. Do I need this?  Yes?  Then where and when do I need this? (and store it accordingly)  No?  It may need to go away…
    2. Do I use this?  Yes?  Then where and when do I use this?  (and store it accordingly)  No?  It may need to go away…
    3. Do I love this?  Yes?  Then treat it as treasure and store it in a clean waterproof container NOT in your garage.  No?  It may need to go away…
    4. Other related questions may be:  Do I have similar items that do the same job?  If the item is large and job specific (like Imagecamping equipment), can it be shared among a couple of households (so one of you can get rid of it!?!?)
  6. Brush down the walls and sweep the floor as you move things around.
  7. Once you have decided what stays and what goes away, determine where your items will be stored:
    1. Store similar items together, like seasonal decorations, gardening tools or sports equipment.  This makes it so much easier to find and use things again!
    2. Consider your budget, and add shelves if possible.  Installed shelves are expensive but attractive.  Plastic or metal shelving units are often on sale at the big box hardware stores, easy to assemble, and if the unit is free standing, you can be flexible about where you keep it. It’s amazing what you can store on just one 4-5 shelf unit.Image
    3. Look at the walls for vertical storage, like pegboards, racks or large hooks from beams or rafters.  Too often garage stuff is piled in short piles on the floor, while the walls stand bare.
  8. Most importantly, once you organize your garage, keep it that way!  At least twice a year, run through this process again.  The piles won’t be so tall next time, and the project won’t seem so scary!

4 Lessons We Can Learn From the Moving Process Without Packing a Box

Did you know?  May is National Moving Month!  Home buying / selling and moving can be both exciting and scary.  I have helped Imagewith a few client moves recently, and talked about the process with others.  We can learn a lot about ourselves and our homes when we take on this adventure, or even if we don’t.

Whether you are moving or not, here are 4 Lessons We Can Learn From the Moving Process Without Ever Packing A Box:

To sum up, before I even begin.

  1. Once in a while, walk through your home and look at it with fresh eyes.  Imagine you are seeing it for the first time and consider your first impressions.  Dim lighting, awkward furniture arrangement, old or dingy colors, etc?  If you notice problems, make changes.
  2. Don’t wait, complete maintenance projects as they come up.  Take good care of your home and enjoy living in it more.
  3. Clearing clutter and re-imagining our living space can be great for increasing energy, productivity, focus and clarity.
  4. Purge, purge, purge clutter all the time.  Pick a room every month, to tweak and de-clutter.
    • Imagine you have been asked to move far away and soon.
      • What would you take with you?
      • What would you store back at home that you just can’t live without?
      • Now, look at what’s left….Perhaps some of it could go away, for good.

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with and helping a lot of people with their new homes.  And I learn something new with every client and every new home.

The power of a clipboard.

Grab a clipboard, some paper and a pen.  Trust me on this one.  Grab the clipboard, and walk slowly around your home, room to room, then outside.  Turn on all the lights, open all doors.  Really look at your home, as though you were walking through it for the first time.  Note minor or major repairs, ideas for improvements, and even traits that you love.

We get used to our home and blind to its good and bad traits.  It’s great to have someone with a clipboard (a professional organizer, designer or contractor) in your home for the fresh perspective to help us really see our space, and how to change it for the better.

This is not just a negative assessment.  I was thinking about this blog while standing in my bedroom, and looking around my space, I recognized it was clean, pared down and attractive.

Clearing clutter and re-imagining our living space can be great for increasing energy, productivity, focus and clarity.

I gave a presentation to a group of home inspectors last week – what a great group of people!  One participant told me about a recent move to a new office, and how great the move had been for his business and productivity.  He reported that his home office walls had been slowly closing in on him, so moving to new space was a great boost to his focus, clarity and energy.  He moved only that stuff that he really needed to the new office, and left all the old clutter behind.  Now, when he was working, he only had to deal with the really important stuff and not the clutter.

Complete projects as they come up.  Take good care of your home and enjoy it more.

I often hear how sellers get their house ready for sale by clearing clutter, and sprucing up the interior and exterior. Some of these sellers are so enamored with their spruced-up homes, they choose to stay or regret having “made do” for so long.  A few years ago, a client invested $10,000 in kitchen updates to make her home more marketable for listing it for sale.  She liked the new kitchen so much, she decided to stay.

Purge, purge, purge clutter – All The Time!

It’s always a good time to get rid of clutter, whether you are moving or not.  Lighten up, open up your home and storage spaces, pare down and live simply.

Some friends are moving this summer, and they have been clearing clutter and slowly-but-surely packing up their belongings.  She recently asked: “If I can live without this stuff for 6 months, why can’t I live without it forever?!”  Great question, especially if it helps you to sort and pack your belongings and clear the clutter!  Some of your belongings really are needed, or are loved treasures, but some may just be clutter.

 

So whether you are selling / buying / moving, or staying right where you are, there is much to be learned from the Moving Process.  Take a fresh look at your home and your stuff, and live better!

What Do “Fat” Pants and Empty File Cabinets Have in Common? 

What Do “Fat” Pants and Empty File Cabinets Have in Common? Well, let me tell you.

Recently, a client rejoiced about losing 50 pounds over a two year period.  Awesome!  However, she can’t seem to part with a few pair of pants from those past heavier days.  Her concern?  “What if I gain some weight back? I’ll need these (old, stretched, faded) pants.”

Another client recognizes that his work office is overcrowded.  He and I have worked for months, converting his papers to either digital documents or to shredding.  And even though he has lightened his paper load considerably, he is still hesitant to get rid of the old empty file cabinets. “What if I accumulate all that paper again?”

“What If?” or “…Just In Case…” is what “fat” pants and empty file cabinets have in common.  We rejoice with positive change, but don’t always trust our good fortune or good intentions to last.  So we keep clutter, instead of purging it.  And it piles up.

We all have some “What If? / Just In Case” items cluttering our space or brains.  I’m a planner and a Mom, so I spend a lot of time considering “What If? / Just In Case”.  For example, I packed for a 7 mile hike last week – “What if it rains? Or someone gets hurt?  Better pack the rain gear, first aid kit, and some extra water, just in case.”

Some “What If? / Just In Case” is necessary.  But saving too much for “someday” gets us into trouble, by subconsciously giving us permission to fall back into past negative behaviors.  Or we crowd our closets and offices with STUFF saved for “What If? / Just In Case”, for some possible future far down the road.  And all that STUFF gets in the way of today’s reality.

I helped a client de-furnish her space last week.  We moved a large table out of her living / dining area, and moved a desk, chair, box fan and mirror out to the curb.  Some stranger will come along, pick up the items and be happy.  She let go of the “What If? / Just In Case” items, and has more room to breathe and move, plus less visual clutter.

How?  She knows she has all the stuff she needs, and now she needs clear space and peace of mind.  She has changed her habits over time, and knows that regardless of what life brings, the uncomfortable chair and outdated desk won’t be needed.  Empty boxes or furniture is great, but sometimes attracts more clutter.

Over the weekend, another client was seeking motivation to go through some clothes, papers and religious items.  I suggested she start looking at her stuff with the belief “I know I have everything I need”.  Then she supplied the important rest of the question:  “Since I have everything I need, Could someone else use this, more than me?”  The coat we save for “What If” could keep someone warm today.  The old dishes or household goods could help a woman getting back on her feet after homelessness.

So when “What If?” or “… Just In Case…” has got you stuck, change your internal sound track and make some changes.  Tell yourself:

  • Letting go of STUFF will provide me with Peace of mind, clear and uncluttered space, perhaps a little extra $$ in my pocket or a charitable donation tax write-off.  Those are real and immediate benefits, to counteract the vague and uncertain “What If? / Just In Case”
  • I have everything I need.  And more.
  • Since I have everything I need, I can let some things go.
  • If I let something go and then someday need it again, I can borrow it / rent it / be creative and make do.
  • Having the fat pants / empty file cabinets will tempt me into sliding back into old and bad habits.

Conquer “What if?”  or “… Just In Case…”, make some permanent positive change, and purge that clutter!  Gone, gone, gone is Good!!

9 Questions to Ask Yourself In Your Closet This Week

I spend a lot of time in people’s closets.  I love saying that, it is quite the conversation starter!  But it’s true!  I spent an hour, just an hour, in a closet last week with a client, and we made great progress in reclaiming her space!Image

(1)   What is already designated to leave?

Remove it! 

Often when I arrive to help a client clean out his or her closet, there is already a pile of “donations” started.  And perhaps a bag of items to go to the cleaners or the tailor, or a pile of shoes that need repaired.  Or maybe it’s just the overflowing laundry hamper (though I personally would not put dirty laundry in a closet with my clean clothes).

Remove those bags / piles / baskets first, and put them in your car to be dropped off later.  Or take the dirty laundry to your laundry room and start a load.  See, the closet looks better already.

(2)   What will I absolutely not wear again before next Fall?

Put it away for the season. 

There are clothes in your closet from the winter that you will probably not wear again, no matter how cold it gets again this Spring (I know, I live in Chicago).  Perhaps they are Fall colors, or for specific events that won’t roll around again until October.  Items like formal pieces, heavy sweaters and scarves, boots, etc. can probably go away.  Make sure they are clean, and then put them in a container tucked on a shelf or under the bed until Fall. Image

(3)   What will I absolutely never wear again, period?

Let it go.  For good.

Come on, you know the pieces.  The ones that you look at, and you get the furrow between your eyebrows, trying to determine…

(4)   Why on earth did I buy that item? (Maybe it was on sale?)

(5)   What was my loved one thinking when they bought it for me? (And remember the gesture, not the fact that they are not paying attention!)

(6)   When will I ever wear that thing again?  (You probably won’t.)

If you can’t come up with good answers to these questions, it is time to ease out the offending items.  Sell them, donate them, give them to a friend who would look better in them.  Just move them out of your space for good.

And ask yourself a couple more questions, to move along those questionable “Maybe’s”:

(7)   If I was in a store right now, would I buy this item again? (thanks Tamika!)

(8)   Does this item really reflect who I am, and will it ever?

If the answers to these are “No”, the items has to go.  Now.  Trust me.

(9)   What would be better stored somewhere else in my house?

Put it there.

Very often, we run across things in a clothes closet that would be better stored somewhere else.  Papers, Christmas Decorations, furniture, reusable shopping bags, you name it – it may even have a home somewhere else in your house already, and you just need to spend the 5 minutes and put it away.

Wow, 9 simple questions and a little time spent in your closet, and your clothes and space are looking better already!  Way to Go!

I’ll Never Be A Secret Agent (And I’m OK With That)

1 Comment

secret agentI’ll Never Be A Secret Agent (And I’m OK With That).  Or, this article could also be titled “How being organized and predictable makes me a better mom, driver, dry cleaner customer and person.”

I have been thinking a lot about time management lately, to prepare for 2 productivity presentations.

My sons and I like to watch “NCIS LA” together, it’s one of our favorite shows.  The characters, the agents, often discuss how they vary their schedule every day – rarely stopping at the same coffee shop or taking the same route to work, all in the interest of their personal and professional safety.  For them, having a predictable routine could encourage an attack, so they shake it up every day.

I, on the other hand, am apparently predictable.  Or so says my son.  Last week on his birthday, he and some fellow band students stayed late to help with an evening event.  I let his band director know that I would bring cupcakes for the kids who stayed late, to help my son celebrate.  It’s a good thing I did, too, because when I mentioned it to my son, he said “I sort of expected it, Mom, you did it last year for the same reason, I figured you would do it this year, too.  You’re kind of predictable like that.”

Predictable sounds rather dull, but finding out that predictable means I consistently do nice things for my son and he knows he can count on me makes me think predictable is pretty great.

 

I stopped by the dry cleaners this morning, to drop off my husband’s work clothes.

The nice lady I see every week at the Cleaners:  “Good morning.  You’re early today!”

Me:  “Yes, lots of people to see and things to do”.

Nice lady:  “And you’re dressed for working, you must have people to help.”

Me: “Yes!  No jeans or skirts today!”  Then….

Nice lady: “6 pants and 5 shirts this week? Did your husband buy some new pants?”

Me:  “Why yes, yes he did.”   Then, at the end….

Nice Lady: “See you next Monday!”

This is typical.  And as I think about it, being consistent and predictable in my errand running has made it really easy for my Cleaners to take good care of me (and she really is a very nice lady!!).  Interesting.

My oldest son is learning to drive.  Lately, many conversations center on the logistics of driving, but also the spirit of driving.  For example, on the expressway yesterday, we talked about how important it is for all the drivers on the road to follow the rules.  The three lanes of expressway traffic flow much better when slow cars stick to the right lanes, and when the left lane is used solely for passing.  Other drivers depend on us to follow rules and be predictable in our actions, so they can make their decisions, too.

So, looking at my three examples, and taking a metaphorical leap:

  1. Being predictably organized make it easy for my kids and family members to count on me;
  2. Being predictably consistent improves my relationship with others, to our mutual benefit; and
  3. Acting predictably makes for a safer and more positive flow in life.  Unless you are a secret agent.
  4. (I suppose I could be predictably bad, too, if I never showed up for stuff or did things consistently wrong, but that’s not today’s topic.)

Now, I know some instances in life require spontaneity and creativity, and I can step up with both of those, too, I am not advocating only predictable and organized behavior.  I am recommending, however, that you spend a little time today and this week considering how creating and maintaining routines and predictability could improve your performance or relationships.  Meeting the same friend or co-worker for a weekly chat, consistently getting your work submitted ahead of time, creating routines for making everyone’s day less stressful and more enjoyable.  Sounds pretty good to me!  So, I’m ok with never being a secret agent. I have other things to do.

Spring Cleaning For Your Financial House!

It is Spring!  This time of year, we all want to make changes and put things in order for this new season.  In addition, the tax deadline is next week, so let me recommend putting your Financial House in Order, too.    Here are 6 steps to get you started:

 

Shred your discarded personal papers.  Why Shred?  For safety sake.  You want to make it as difficult as possible for someone to commit a crime like identity theft against you.

If you don’t have a shredder, get one.  If (and when) you have a shredder, create the daily or weekly habit of shredding any un-needed paper with personal information on it.  If you tackle this job in little pieces regularly, you won’t amass big piles of papers to shred.  (Note – this is a great job for a helpful child!)

If you already have big piles of papers needing shred, keep an eye out in your community for free Shred Events.  If you just want to catch up and get it all shred at once, you have a couple of options.  The three big office supply stores, Office Max, Office Depot and Staples, all offer shredding services on a per pound basis.  In addition, you could contact ProShred or Shark Shredding , and make an make an appointment to shred all your papers at once.

 

Go on-line and request your Credit Report.  Why get your credit report?  Your credit report is a snap-shot of your financial identity.  Reviewing your credit report may uncover unresolved issues that are harming your credit score, or long-neglected credit cards or accounts that are still active.  Take time to review your report, and follow-up with any issues you notice.  And make a note in your calendar to do it again next year, too.

There are three reporting agencies, Equifax (www.equifax.com), Experian (www.experian.com) and Transunion (www.transunion.com).  I don’t know about other states, but I know that as an Illinois resident, I am entitled to a free credit report from each agency every year.

 

Buy a fireproof Safe.  If you don’t have a safe, invest in one.  Make sure it is fireproof and portable, and that you, your spouse, and one other person that doesn’t live in your house knows where the key is kept.  Store your irreplaceable vital records in there, like birth / sacramental / marriage and death certificates, insurance policies, passwords, Wills, car titles, etc.

 

If temptation to spend is great, physically “Freeze” your credit cards.   I heard this tip years ago, about a woman struggling with credit card debt actually freezing her credit cards in a large block of ice.  The idea was to make it complicated to use credit, so she would have a chance to consider and re-consider any purchase made with credit.  I don’t know if you want to really freeze your credit cards, but you could remove all but one from your wallet and put the rest away somewhere safe, like in the safe mentioned above or, well, a well-disguised block of ice.

 

Make sure your Beneficiary allocations are up-to-date.  Check your retirement accounts, insurance policies, etc., and make sure that the stated beneficiaries are who you want them to be.  Too often we forget this step, and our loved ones could lose out.

 

Add a “2014 Income Tax information” file to the front of your top file drawer, and make a habit of tossing charitable donation receipts and other pertinent tax info in there.  It will make tax time go more smoothly next year.

 

Add these steps to your Spring Cleaning plan this week, and get your Financial House in order, too.