Category: Things You Should Know How To Do

Got Paint?

I just shared this information in my weekly newsletter, and I wanted to park it out here for future use!

Let’s also talk… paint! As I wrote a newsletter about garages, my friend Jen asked “Where  Can I Dump Paint?”  Excellent question, friend, and here are some answers:

  • Paint should be stored inside your home away the extreme temperatures found in a garage.  Paint should never freeze.
  • Check out this non-profit organization, Earth Paint in Wood Dale, IL to recycle your household paint:  http://earthpaint.org/.  
  • Check with your local Habitat for Humanity regarding donating still-usable paint.
  • In the Spring and Fall, check your metropolitan area for paint and hazardous material recycling events.
  • If you live in Evergreen Park, contact Waste Management At Your Door to schedule a pick-up of paint, hazardous materials or e-waste, https://wmatyourdoor.com/
  • If you have to purge paint:
  • Paint should never be poured in the ground or down the drain.
  • If you have water-based or latex paint and can be patient about its disposal, pry the lid off and leave it to dry out in your garage out of reach of children or pets. Once dry, the can should be disposed of in your regular weekly garbage collection.
  • To expedite the drying process or if you have oil-based paint, you can purchase paint hardener (like this) to add to the old paint, wait 20 minutes until it is hard as a rock, then dispose of the can in your regular garbage collection. 

Small Bag of Chargers ALL THE TIME!

In last week’s newsletter, I shared two of my favorite travel tips, my packing cubes and an always-packed toiletry kit.

I was reminded of another favorite travel tip as I packed to travel this past weekend. And I can’t believe I haven’t written about it before now!

I have a small plastic pouch that makes my life better. It lives in my daily go-bag and contains the chargers I might need to charge my stuff.  ALL THE TIME. Plus the cubes to go in the wall or car outlet that hold multiple cords.

For most items, I am pretty tough on the question of duplicates. But this is one instance – tech accessories – when duplicates are OK and even encouraged! It is frustrating and un-safe to be caught without charged tech items.

I travel a lot and even if I didn’t, I’m still on the go ALL THE TIME. This handy little pouch goes almost every where with me. It lives in my go-bag every day for work and gets tossed in my luggage when we travel.


What’s in the bag right now?


We have cords in the cars, too, that STAY IN THE CAR.

Remembering to pack the items is easy. And since I have duplicates, it is also not a crisis if I leave one behind or more likely, share one with a family member that forgot theirs.


The other habit is that I always keep an extra new cord in the tech drawer next to my desk.  Then, if I need to give a cord to my sons (or my mom, like I did a couple of weeks ago) or I need to replace an old cord (like I did over the weekend), I use the back-up one from the drawer and add a new cord to my weekly Office Max order.  So we’re always covered!

Give a little thought this week to what chargers and tech accessories would go into your charger bag to give you peace of mind on the go!

Clutter Hot Spot: Your Tech Accessories

The challenge with this hot spot is that there isn’t always just one spot.

Sometimes the tech pieces

are

all

over

the

place!

The original inspiration for the Clutter Hot Spot series was client interactions in January. And in one week, I had 3 clients who had tech accessories stirred up into every space we were organizing!

IF we ever hope to find them again, we need to assign JUST ONE HOME for our less-often used tech accessories.

In my office, our ONE tech accessory home is a desk drawer. Right next to me as I write this article. It’s not exciting or big or complicated. It holds tech items that we might need again. In preparation for writing this article, I looked in there earlier today. The boxes for my Apple watch and airpods are in there (new-ish). Extra lightning charging cables (we buy these a few at a time), charging cubes, earphone covers, users manuals, the extra cord that came with my new monitor in its labeled bag. Also, mesh bags for corralling tech accessories when we travel. A few items I came across are now obsolete, like my last two Fitbits and their very specialized chargers, and those are all now in the basket in the garage waiting for a E-Waste collection event.

Let’s review the important parts of the story above:

  • One and ONLY ONE home for tech accessories you might need again.
  • The habit of putting tech accessories in that ONE home when we get them, and putting them back in there after we use them!
  • Labeling the accessory and what it belongs with to eliminate future questions.
  • Everyone in the house knowing where the extra tech accessories live.
  • The habit around reviewing the technology at least once in a while, to determine what tech accessories we need to keep and which ones need to move along to E-Waste recycling.
  • Making sure your E-Waste actually gets recycled. Check your local recycling resources for E-Waste recycling near you. If you’re near me, check out my recycling page for resources. (https://peaceofmindpo.com/2019/06/26/organizing-resources-to-reduce-repurpose-and-recycle/)

Look around your home and establish that ONE SPOT for your extra tech accessories, and commit to moving your tech clutter there as you find it!

But, What If It Is Amazing?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” – Marianne Williamson

It is so easy to believe the bad stuff. And there is a lot of bad stuff sometimes, I know. Most of our brains, especially brains with ADHD, or anxiety or depression, trend negative.


I pride myself on having a positive inner narrative, of making sure I keep an eye on the good things inside and around me. I know I am a much happier person that way, much more productive, certainly more pleasant to be around, and with positivity and good energy to share. And I do.


Recently, I identified a place in my mind where Fear had snuck in. In one small area, I had let fear guide me, keeping me from moving ahead on a project. And when I identified fear in one place, I also realized that I had let the fear in one area leak quietly into other areas of my life as well.


Sneaky thing, fear.


Fear was keeping me stuck. I had fear of failing and of succeeding, at the same time. Go figure! Illogical, of course, but sometimes our thoughts are illogical!


I worked through some things over the last week, using tools I have from my coaching practice on my own challenges. The first step is awareness that there is a problem. I completed perspective work, I listened to my intuition, I checked in on my own needs and values. Yes, I coached me with my coaching tools!


And what came to me was, “Fear can be scary, but what if the other side of the fear is AMAZING??


What if this scary thing, when I get through it, results in something totally awesome? Fear wants us to believe that negative things can happen, and they can, but so can amazing things, in equal measure. The AMAZING results are actually more likely than the failure, in this instance.


So let’s ask…. (and we will stick with organizing, though you can swap that word out for anything else you want, too):


What are you afraid of?

  • Afraid of failing at organizing?
    • Every thing we try is a learning experience, there really isn’t failure there.
  • Afraid that organizing might be difficult?
    • Ok, but how much more difficult is it to struggle every day?
  • Afraid that organizing might be easy, and I’ll realize I should have done it years ago?
    • Ok, but why bother beating yourself up about the past? Show past-you some grace and enjoy today’s success.
  • Afraid that the path might not be easy or straightforward?
    • It won’t be, and that is ok, too.


Now that I am aware that Fear had me stuck, I am looking more to the AMAZING part.

Yes, I have work to do. I already had work to do, now I can do without being afraid, too.

Yes, things may get hard. But things were hard anyway, and now maybe they can also get easier!

Fear is scary, but join me on the other side of Fear for AMAZING!

Go-mugs, Water Bottles and Blender Pieces, Oh My!

Go-mugs, water bottles and blender pieces, Oh My!

(We attended my niece’s elementary school’s presentation of The Wizard of Oz over the weekend, and the title just came to me!)

I have presented hundreds of times to thousands of people in my time as a professional organizer. I know what jokes will work or not. And I can bring up common hot-spots and know which hot-spot mention will elicit a groan or exclamation.

Enter… go-mugs and water bottles, and to a lesser extent, blender bits and pieces. At a presentation last month to parents of high schoolers, the mention of go-mugs and water bottles sparked a lively discourse – “Some are so old the writing is all washed off!” or “That one leaks but it’s still here!” or “We don’t even know who that one belongs to or where it came from!”!

Organizing these items is another small but mighty project with a potentially big impact!

How To:

  • First, we open all the cabinets and drawers and pull out ALL THE PIECES! Bases, lids, accessories, sleeves, hooks, rubber gaskets, etc. Oi, all the pieces!
    • And since these are all portable beverage carriers, we also need to check in the cars, cupholders and under the seats. We need to look in all the backpacks, briefcases and sports bags by the door, too. Collect all the extras from EVERYWHERE and give them a good wash.
    • Next, we pair up all the pieces. Top with bottoms, rubber gaskets with lids, straws with squeezy bottles if you use those (we don’t), etc. Since we’re talking about blender / smoothie cup pieces too, we match up the cups that go with certain blender bases, as well.


  • Once we have the pieces all paired up, line them up on the counter (gulp). Yes, all of them.
    • Take a deep breath. Look at all of them. There are probably some that need to go.
    • Part with the easy ones – the unpaired bottoms or tops, the leaky ones, the childish ones and your youngest is now a teenager.
    • You can also send the ones that don’t belong to you back to their owners!
    • Decide how many is enough and how many are too many. I know this may be tough, but you can try these strategies:
      • Sort them by owner – I am the coffee drinker, so the portable coffee mugs might go in the Colleen pile;
      • As another example, each of us has our own Swell bottles, so I might put each of those in each person’s pile.
      • Utilize what I refer to in my presentations as Mug Math. Ask Yourself:
        • How many people in my house drink coffee? (1)
        • How many cups a day? (2) and
        • How often do we run the dishwasher? (Every day / every other day)
        • So, in theory, I need 4 mugs. OF course I have more than 4 mugs. But do I need 40? No. Same goes for go mugs / water bottles, etc.


  • After you have decided which items to keep, let’s think about how and where to keep them.
    • Hopefully the pile has gotten smaller by this point.
    • Next, we need to chose one and only one place in the kitchen for these items to live.
    • If you use these items often, choose a home near the sink for easy cleaning and filling. If you use them less often, choose a location a little farther away from the sink, as that space is always in high demand.
    • As you choose a home, remember you can adjust your cabinet shelves to accommodate tall items.
    • AND… next time you are offered a promotional water bottle at an event, Just Say No!


  • The Keys to Success for go-mugs, water bottles and blender / smoothie parts are: 1. A Consistent Home; and 2. Containers!
    • When we’ve looked at these clutter hot-spots these last few weeks, we know that we want a HOME for our stuff so we can find the stuff again.
    • Having a consistent home for our go-mugs, water bottles and blender / smoothie parts means we will find those items again! If we find a top or a bottom without its match, that’s ok. If we put all the part in the HOME, we can pair them up again. And a home keeps these items from floating around in other spaces in our kitchen, getting in the way in those other spaces.
    • We use containers like these shown, available on Amazon.com or at your local retailer. The containers corral the bits and pieces like lids and bottoms, but they also establish a limit for how many things we have / need!



Try your hand at this mini-project this week and reclaim your kitchen and storage spaces!

Stress-less Gifting: Create a GIFT HOME

In last week’s newsletter, I promised to tackle common clutter Hot Spots, so let’s look at creating ONE PLACE for your gifts and cards to give.

Don’t you love it when you find the perfect gift for a loved one, even if it’s the wrong time of year? So we hold on to the gift, anticipating the joy of giving and receiving.

And, doesn’t it drive you CRAZY when you can’t find that great gift when the time comes to give it!?!?!

Establish A HOME for your gifts-to-give.  As you establish a GIFT HOME,

  • Plan ahead if the GIFT HOME needs to be hidden from curious eyes, with lidded opaque containers or a door that locks!
  • The GIFT HOME should expand to hold more when major holidays are coming.
    • For example, my GIFT HOME is a cabinet in my laundry room. The cabinet is near the door to the crawl space, so Christmas gifts can overflow to a few bins in there as necessary until I wrap them and give them out.
  • Make the GIFT HOME convenient so you will actually stick with putting items there and then retrieving them again. A client had a GIFT HOME in their attic, which was hidden but was so inconvenient that the client didn’t use it consistently.
  • Bonus points if the GIFT HOME is near wrapping paper, shipping boxes and the necessary accessories!



The next level on this project is to use the GIFT HOME for a stash of more general gifts to give.

  • Helping with fundraiser raffle baskets in December, each basket needed just a few things to complete it – fuzzy socks and lotion for one, a Christmas mug or candle for another, etc.  One of my fellow volunteers asked “Do you just have a cabinet with all of these gift things just waiting?” and I answered “Yes!”.
  • Use the dedicated GIFT HOME to hold gifts that you might need to have / give with little notice. If I happen across a fun item, I will purchase a few extras to spontaneously give out. This idea was really helpful when my sons were younger, for that weekend birthday party the 8 year old forgot to tell you about until an hour before! I had a stash of Lego sets that came and went!
  • To be honest, I am absolutely a re-gifter. I use the GIFT HOME to hold onto NEW ONLY lovely items I receive but may never use until I can give them to someone who will love the item more than me. I attach a post-it to remind me where it came from, so I don’t end up giving it back to someone accidentally.



And Now, Gift Cards!

  • Establish a GIFT HOME for your unused gift cards, to use and to give as gifts as needed. Gift cards are $$ already spent!  Let’s make the most of those!
  • We keep a lot of gift cards because we use the gift card fundraiser program at my son’s school. We buy gift cards, and a portion of the sale goes towards tuition.
  • We have a different holder for the slightly used ones, and we note the remaining balance on the card with a sharpie.
  • Working with clients, I can’t even count how many gift cards we’ve found floating around in junk drawers, piles of papers, discarded gift wrap and bags, etc., and then we don’t know if the card is new or used. We can check the balance on the card by calling the phone # on the back, or visiting the website listed.

Do future-you a favor and create a consistent and accessible home for your gifts and gift cards for less-stressful gift giving!

ADHD Awareness Month, for Yourself and For Others

October is ADHD Awareness Month, and I want to help us all be more aware!

ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) is a
“neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults around the globe.” (from adhdawarenessmonth.org)

In my roles as a certified professional organizer, organizing coach and
fellow human being, I interact with many people with ADHD.

And, So Do You.

My next few blog articles will help you get to know ADHD.  I hope to delve deeper, but for now, let’s work on the “Awareness” of ADHD Awareness Month.

Did you know?

·    At least 10% of the population have ADHD, and probably a much higher percentage go undiagnosed or unnoticed. In a classroom
of 20 students, at least 2 have ADHD. 

·   ADHD can run in families, but not always.

  • If you have 10 friends with ADHD, each of the 10 will show their ADHD in a different way. There is no one way that a person with ADHD will act.

  • “ADHD”, at least the “H” part, may be a misnomer as not everyone who has ADHD also has hyperactivity.  ADHD can also show up as inattention, poor focus, poor planning, and poor impulse control and emotional regulation, to list just a few symptoms.

     

  •  ADHD is diagnosed from 2.5 to 4 times more often in boys than it is in girls (https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/adhd-symptoms-in-girls-and-boys).  HOWEVER, ADHD is spread evenly between genders.  The difference is the rate of diagnosis.  ADHD shows up differently in different people, and characteristics like being “emotional”, “daydreamy” or “flighty” can wrongly be attributed to girls just because they’re girls and not because they may have an underlying condition.

     

  • ADHD can be diagnosed at any age. ADHD is diagnosed for  children of school age, but also with the transition to high school or to college, when parental supports and involvement changes and no longer compensates for the student with ADHD.

     

     

  • In addition, ADHD was not understood when most of today’s adults were children and many adults will continue to live life undiagnosed.

     

     

  • Folks with ADHD don’t need to “just try harder”, or “apply themselves”, or have better discipline.  ADHD is caused by a chemical deficit in the brain and not by some character flaw.  Often individuals with ADHD work very hard to overcome the challenges that come with ADHD and have spent their life coming up with coping strategies.

     

     

  • Some of the challenges of ADHD can also be considered benefits. For example, a characteristic of ADHD is the ability to hyper-focus on topics that are interesting to the individual. Of course, the ability to hyper-focus is also what sometimes leads to a misdiagnosis.

     

     

  • There are tools to help individuals manage their ADHD.  There is hope. 

And I think HOPE is the most important awareness of all.  

Being Organized is Good For Your Health!

I didn’t want to scare any readers with a dramatic headline, but the opposite is true, too – clutter and disorganization can be bad for our health!

This week, in preparation for upcoming health and wellness events, I’ve been seeking statistics on the correlation between health and wellness and clutter and disorganization. And, let me tell you, they are all connected.

I have been asked many times before – Which comes first? Health problems that lead to disorganization and clutter? Or clutter and disorganization that lead to health problems? And truthfully, I don’t know the answer. OR, the answer is “It depends”, which isn’t helpful.

More important than the answer to “Which came first?” is to recognize they are related! And clearing clutter and getting more organized can help us to feel better in lots of ways, too!

Most of my articles are how-to articles, but this week, I also want to remind us all of the “Why?” as in “Why do we organize and clear clutter?”

So, first the bad news (the good is coming, I promise!): Disorganization and Clutter in our physical spaces can be dangerous to our health and well-being. Consider:

  • Did you know? Household clutter can harbor bugs, rodents, moisture, mold and dust. Being around these environmental hazards can make us all feel poorly, but especially if we have allergies or breathing issues.
  • Did you know? Clutter can make it dangerous to move around our homes and workspaces. Hazards might include narrowed pathways, teetering piles of stuff and items left on the floor for us to trip over.
  • Did you know? There is a physical weight to clutter. Overpacked purses, briefcases, backpacks and luggage take a toll on our shoulders, necks and backs.
  • Imagine a cluttered car. Now imagine having to stomp on the breaks in that car to avoid an accident. Anything in a car that is not strapped down becomes a projectile in extreme braking or the event of an accident.
  • There are physiological and psychological effects of clutter and disorganization, too. Clutter and Disorganization can exacerbate the symptoms of health challenges such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, to name just a few.

Fear not, though, because there is good news, too! Getting a handle on your clutter and disorganization can help improve your health and over well-being in MANY ways! Imagine with me:

  • Clear countertops and healthy food on hand in your kitchen helping you eat the way you feel you should for good health. A study from Cornell University found that the more cluttered a person’s kitchen counter is, the less likely they are to make healthy food choices.
  • Individuals living in clean homes are generally healthier than their counterparts living in clutter, according to research conducted at Indiana University.
  • Moving easily around your home if you can clear clutter and reduce risk of tripping or falling.
  • Being greeted by comfortable and inviting spaces in your home, which reduces stress and improves mood and immunity. According to The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression can cause clutter, and clutter can cause people to feel tired and more depressed!
  • Getting a better night’s sleep in an un-cluttered and peaceful bedroom. The National Sleep Foundation states that people who make their beds daily are more likely to sleep well every night, and 71 percent of us sleep better in a clean, fresh-smelling bedroom.
  • Feeling better when you can consistently take your prescription medications when you can find them when you need them, get them refilled on time and remember to take them because your routines support this habit.

So, as we decide to spend time on organizing and clearing clutter this week, let’s remember all the benefits that can we can reap!

Change the Toilet Paper Roll

1 Comment

I had a much more interesting (I think) article topic planned for today. It was going to be visually stunning, thought-provoking, grammatically correct, entertaining and less than 500 words (because a friend told me long ago he would stop reading my articles at the 500 word mark).

However, a much better topic popped into my head as I swapped out the empty toilet paper roll at a client’s house this morning, and now I am going to talk about toilet paper. As a metaphor for life, of course.

Luckily, I have a habit of checking things such as toilet paper levels, hand towels, etc., before I use a washroom. I immediately determined the roll would be done after I was done. And another quick check told me there was no back-up roll in the usual spot.

I could have just left it – I didn’t use 99.5% of the roll, and hey, it’s not my house, after all. But:

1. I am not a jerk;
2. I firmly believe in leaving things better than I found them whenever I can;
3. I know the solution to this problem and it’s an easy fix; and
4. I may be the next person to use that washroom, and then I would be in trouble.

So, I spent the extra 2 minutes and ran downstairs to the pantry, grabbed a 6 pack and restocked the back-up rolls and the fresh roll. I had a few extras left over and left them out for the client to probably stock other places in her home. And here, reader, is the point.

Take the few extra minute to complete the tasks, especially THE EASY ONES because there is not reason not to. And to NOT complete these easy, everyday tasks can REALLY MESS UP YOUR DAY if they are neglected.

What other tasks fall into this category? The super easily fixed problem that could have wreaked havoc on your day later?

  • Put the scissors back where you found them instead of leaving them out.
  • Recycle the empty milk jug and make a note on the grocery list.
  • Empty the trash when it is full.
  • Charge your phone, and if you see your loved one’s phone near the charger but not on the charger, plug it in.
  • Change the batteries in the remote instead of leaving the task for the next poor sap who just wants to watch TV.
  • Change the toilet paper roll, or restock the empty tissue box, etc., and re-stock the back-up once a week.
  • Refill the hand soap dispenser once a week while you’re at it, because running out of soap is a pain.
  • Get gas on your way home when you realize you need it because you absolutely will not remember to leave time for it in the morning. (Don’t argue, you know I am right.)

Do these things. Because they take no time at all and can really keep your week humming along, and NOT doing them can really trip you up.

Do them because you’re not a jerk. Because it takes very little time to leave something better than you found it. Because most problems we encounter are actually pretty easy fixes if we don’t delay. And if you can’t be all these positive things, do the easy task because you may be the one who is majorly inconvenienced later!

Let’s get back to “Because… of External Motivators.”

I helped a client move out an old book shelf today to the curb. Because… tomorrow is trash day.

I spent time last evening with my bookkeeping and readied some invoices to send. Because… it’s the last few days of the month and I send out my billing on the last day of the month.

I reached out to a loved one today first thing. Because… it’s her birthday.

My husband left the house this morning at 6 am to catch the 6:25 am train. Because… well, that’s when it was scheduled to arrive.

I worked today instead of laying on my couch, eating snacks and doing nothing. Because… well, because I would be bored silly doing nothing, but also because… I get paid to work, I like to work and I like to get paid. Money is useful.

These are all examples of External Motivators. Motivation that comes from outside ourselves, from outside forces or sources.

This can backfire, of course, if we ONLY choose to take out the trash because it’s trash day, as opposed to taking it out because the bin is full or something is getting smelly.

It occurs to me that life may have been light in the area of external motivators during the last year. Perhaps we ignored reminders to make doctor appointments because of strict guidelines or social distancing. I just read a New Yorker article about how we haven’t had to Get Dressed in 16 months or so. Perhaps we haven’t tidied up the house too much because previously the expectation of hospitality was our motivator, but after we were unable to host for many months, our practices have grown lax.

As we return to slightly more normal routines, let’s start paying attention to – AGAIN – and get back in the habit of heeding external motivators!