Systems & Techniques Archives | Page 3 of 26

Procrastination isn’t healthy…or is it?

by Filed Under: Organize, Planning & Goals, Productivity, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset 2 Comments

Procrastination isn’t healthy, at least not when it’s chronic and habitual procrastination. Procrastination has been proven to impact every aspect of a person’s life, including our home, business and organizing projects. The scientific studies actually argue for and against procrastination so I’ll share a bit about both sides of the coin.

There are ways to overcome procrastination and to make it work in your favor. Some of us are more prone to procrastination than others. I find I often procrastinate for two different reasons and my theory is that the why behind the delay tactics can tell you a lot about healthy vs unhealthy procrastination. In my research about personality I discovered that certain people might be more inclined to procrastinate and for different reasons…so there ‘s no “RIGHT or WRONG” answer in this post, there’s both!

Scenario A involves my procrastinating when I’m really confident about a subject based on previous knowledge and experience. For example preparing for a presentation that I’ve done multiple times and have a good sense of how long preparation will take me. This is my most common form and what I consider GOOD procrastination. This type of procrastination isn’t fear based, I understand why and how to get to my outcome and that outcome doesn’t require a lot of decisions on my part. I’m confident that I will accomplish my goal and meet any deadline required. Some scientists consider this Active procrastination. We can recognize this type of procrastination when we make a conscious decision to delay our actions because we like a bit of pressure, may be currently working on more valuable tasks and are confident in our ability to complete the task on time.

Scenario B involves procrastination when I am totally overwhelmed, I don’t know where to begin and the subject is unfamiliar to me. I find or create excuses not to begin, which are usually fear based. If I’m honest with myself the only way to beat the head game is to admit that self talk is dragging me down and find my way through (perhaps by asking for help!), not around the task. This kind of procrastination crosses over to the BAD side… Some scientists consider this Passive procrastination. We can recognize this type of procrastination when we become paralyzed by indecision and we fail to take action and complete tasks on time. This type of procrastination isn’t healthy. It’s fear based, keeps us from making decisions, learning new things and moving forward.

The science behind procrastination goes much deeper than I cover here but the bottom line is that we procrastinate when we have to make decisions about what we are doing with our time and when we are going to do it (now or at the last possible moment?)!

The really important thing to understand about procrastination is what is behind your procrastination. Is it a delayed decision or are you making a conscious decision to do something later? If it’s the former, it might not be such a bad thing.

If you find that your stuck and overwhelmed then you need a SYSTEM to help you move beyond your procrastination. Some truths about procrastination…Procrastination begins with just one thing distracting us & taking us off track. Systems work to move us beyond procrastination, here’s how you can create your own…

Find your why & let that motivate you!
It only takes ONE small distraction to send us down procrastination alley…something like checking emails, or Facebook, grabbing a snack. You know your tactics.
Knowing why we are procrastinating can help us move beyond it. Is your procrastination a confident-I’ve got this scenario or fear based overwhelm?
Find an accountability partner or system
Work in intervals, using time boxing or other techniques to break larger projects into smaller tasks
Take healthy breaks between intervals-eat brain boosting snacks, drink water, rest your eyes, do a meditation, you get the picture, but set your clock and get back on task when the scheduled break is over
Eliminate distractions, turn email notifications off, close other browser windows, put your cell phone on silent, put a do no disturb message on your door etc

When do you find yourself actively or passively procrastinating and why? What systems do you use when you find your in a procrastination zone? Please share how procrastination impacts you in your daily life in the comments below.

How to ask for Help & get what you need

by Filed Under: Organize, Paper management, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources

It can be really tough for some of us to ask for help when we need it! I’m guilty of not asking for help and I’d much rather help others than ask for what I need. Helping others is why I began my work as a professional organizer and it’s deeply satisfying to see others make huge transformations and shifts because they were courageous enough to ask for what they need.

Starting my business (especially as an organizer) has required and inspired me to ask for help on a more frequent basis. There’s a certain mindset about asking for help that many of us have learned, especially women! We often think that in asking for help we are showing weakness, we think we should be able to EVERYTHING ourselves…or some of us are taught to think this way.

This is an old programed mindset that we can all choose to free ourselves from.

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you. -Althea Gibson Click To Tweet

As incredible as it is to be strong, independent women (or men), it’s also totally necessary to ask for help in order to grow personally and professionally. Maybe we are afraid to ask for help! But living in fear means we are limiting our growth, freedom, creativity, health and future. So absolutely YES, being fearless means asking for help! My clients model that for me on a daily basis.

How to ask for Help & get what you need

Determine what project or task you need help with

Make a list of people who you can ask for help (identify individuals or types of professionals)

Match the task with the person

Make the ask and don’t do so in a way that belittles yourself, we all deserve to receive help!

Whether you are paying for help or someone is doing something just because they love you, remember that gratitude goes a long way so show it off a little or a lot.

Return the favor, pay it forward and go help someone else ASAP!

What kind of help are you most afraid to ask for? What help is easy to ask for?

Cultivating a Green Thumb

by Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques Leave a Comment

Are you cultivating a green thumb and want a potting area for all your gardening supplies? Or maybe you feel you have tried and failed because you just didn’t have the right tools and knowledge in place? If you are ready to whip your garden area and tools into shape for the most beautiful and successful spring garden, read on!

Your gardening supplies and growing area can be indoor or out. Thank about your garage, a greenhouse, shed or a sunny spot in the house. For loads of inspiration, head over to my Garden, Storage and Organizing boards on Pinterest.

To begin, determine the area where you can conveniently store gardening supplies. Whether your in a condo or small space and plan to learn to better care for your indoor or patio garden or you are a master gardener planning to start seeds and do extensive gardening, some common sense storage tips and best practices for maintain tools will go a long way towards cultivating a green thumb!

Once you have determined where you can set up your gardening space, start by clearing out the area of anything that doesn’t belong or assigning zones for the space to keep like items together. If the space is shared, how else do you use it?

In this initial planning and research phase, wait to make those purchases until you have sorted, purged and determined your layout and needs.

Will you be starting seeds and need shelves, lighting and seed storage? Take a quick inventory of what you have and what you need while determining where you will do these activities or store the supplies and tools, either permanently or seasonally. List categories and quickly sketch “Zones” including measurements to determine what will fit before making larger purchases such as shelving, lighting, pegboards or other necessary supplies. Don’t overlook functionality (power access, mobility), lighting (windows, existing fixtures) and frequency of use (for each category). Try to keep systems modular if possible so they can be re-configured as needed.

Gather your supplies; gloves, bags and boxes (for giveaway and trash/recycling), sticky notes, permanent markers, label maker/labels, a variety of storage bins, various hooks (command and lg ‘ladder’ hooks) and any shelves or other items you need to install. Start with what you have and make a list of smaller storage and organizing tools you will need as you go.
Sort; I suggest working clockwise in the space (just easier to remember and follow this path with all organizing projects). Work your way around the room or space one wall at a time around sorting items into keep, donate and toss.
Repair & Clean the space as you go and make basic repairs/maintenance updates and taking note of damaged items and things that need to be cleaned. If you have time to do garden tool maintenance now, great! Garden tools should be cleaned, sharpened and oiled on a regular basis. This site has everything you need to know about maintaining your gardening tools!
Group items by category into bins or zones, and if you don’t have an immediate way to store/re-install an item make a note and set the item in the general zone where it needs to be stored and come back to it. If you are able to move everything out to a holding area (the lawn, a patio, middle of the garage etc) then keep things grouped by categories (potting tools, garden equipment, seed starting, hand tools etc) in bins to be returned when ready.
Install hooks, shelves, containers etc. This can be done one wall or zone at a time or with the whole space if it’s been cleared.
Return items to their new homes, this might require grouping and labeling items into bins, installing pegboards or slat walls with hooks, simple hooks or nails, shelving, bins/baskets etc.
Maintain, the most often overlooked step in all organizing projects! This will not put themselves back so you will have to do this, as well as clean, repair and replace plants and garden tools as needed.

Storage Tips: Go vertical and don’t forget overhead storage space! Make sure these systems are well secured!! Give them a good tug to make sure things don’t come tumbling down when you or the kids go to grab something.

Keep heavy and more frequently used items lower to the ground (but make sure they are water proof if necessary) and lighter and less frequently used or more dangerous tools mounted up high for safety.

Keep it practical! Your garden work space doesn’t have to look like a magazine shoot, it just has to be tidy, easy to use and functional!

I hope these tips will help you to cultivate a green thumb for all your planting projects this spring! Get out in your garden! What are you planting this Spring? Please share in the comments below!

Caring for our Lovely Linens

by Filed Under: Closets, Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

I was inspired to write this post after finding sadly rumpled fitted sheets and other linens jumbled into closets and baskets time and again. Our lovely linens are slept on every night, they dry us off daily after we shower or wash our hands, we count on them to keep crumbs and stains off our tabletop and other surfaces. I love linens, old and new…I adore their function and beauty so lets give our linens some love and learn to care for them to help them last.

Think about all the linens you use in your daily life, how and where you use them, store them, fold them and treat them. Though I don’t necessarily fold everything as Marie Kondo does, I do take the time to thoughtfully fold or hang each linen, giving them adequate storage to keep things neat and tidy and allow for easy access.

Keeping Linens Clean

Because I have a degree in fibers, people often pick my brain about cleaning their linens, especially vintage and antiques. Though I won’t go into great detail about vintage linens in this post, I will offer some suggestions for cleaning which will help prevent damage to your linen collection, no matter the age. The most important thing to know is what fiber your linens are made of and feel them to determine if they are brittle and dry, if so they may not be strong enough to clean. Most vintage and antique linens are likely made of cotton, linen or a blend. Special linens like blankets and some towels may also contain other natural fibers like silk or wool. Cotton and linen are fibers made from plants, wool and silk are made from animals, therefore each type of fiber will need to be cleaned differently. If your not sure, check out this post for more helpful info. Generally speaking, treat your linens in a more delicate manner than you might some other household laundry. According to Victoria & Albert Museum (and other textile conservationists),

“If you wish to preserve your textiles, you need to avoid or minimise the need to clean them. It is important to prevent dirt accumulating rather than causing unnecessary damage by repeated cleaning treatments. Not all textiles were originally intended to be washable.”

If you get a stain on linens, pre-treat as soon as possible. Lots of people like to use products like oxy clean, which are safe and effective in a general sense. If you are stain prone and want more specific stain pre treatments, check out these specialized products formulated for specific stains. Use color safe (non-chlorine bleach) on colors, and chlorine bleach on whites as needed (use caution, this can degrade fibers over time). Add vinegar to substitute half or so of the detergent which will help remove extra detergent residue.

Sort linens by color and type of fiber, washing according to labels (if you can find them). Wash towels using cool or warm water (unless you feel the need to sanitize, if someone has been sick for example), without fabric softener which can prevent towels from absorbing water and doing their jobs:). Shake towels when removing from the wash to fluff them up before drying. I recommend cleaning delicate items separately, using delicate laundry bags for smaller items and hang them to dry. Hang dry as many items as possible which can help prevent wear and damage.

Dry cleaning may not be necessary if the linen is made of cotton, linen, acrylic (blends), nylon or polyester. When a label says “Dry Clean”, it is recommended but when the label says “Dry Clean Only”, that’s what is highly recommended to prevent damaging the item. The site “Tip Nut” offers some great recipes for cleaning vintage linens. If you are a linen lover like I am, see this excellent video to learn more about specific vintage linen cleaning products and techniques.

Linen Storage

Where you store each type of linen, will of course depend on your home’s storage spaces. You may have room to store your extra towels in the bathroom, extra sheets in a closet or cabinet etc. Many homes have a “linen closet” in a hallway, outside the bedrooms. These widely vary in size and function. Take a quick evaluation of where you currently keep where. Furniture can also function as a great place to store linens, especially place mats, fabric napkins, table runners and other kitchen/dining room linens.

Overflow and extra storage can be placed in plastic bins if needed. Store less used items with cedar chip sachet’s (I can’t stand Moth Balls-who can!?) to protect them from moth damage. Always, always store linens clean. Body oil and food residue will attract moths and cause long term damage. Prevent linens from directly coming into contact with wood, some plastics and cardboard, which are not archival or acid free. We often find yellow stains on older linens that were stored improperly. If you have vintage or antique linens, invest in archival storage to preserve your treasures.

Kitchen & Dining Room Linens

Since these are often both functional and decorative, there are no “rules” to how many you might have. Some people collect liens, other use paper towels for everything, not sure why when there are so many fun kitchen linens! When it comes to purging kitchen linens, let them go when they are badly stained, miss matched, have holes or are “out of style” or you’ve changed your decor.

The kitchen is the obvious spot to keep towels, rags and aprons as well as frequently used place mats and napkins. If you have a spare drawer or two you can store these items directly in your cabinets. You can also keep some linens in baskets, neatly tucked into your pantry or other convenient spots. Keeping like with like w

ill minimize rummaging through and leaving linens in a jumble. I prefer to hang long table cloth’s and runners, ironed and folded. If you dry clean your larger table cloths, remove the plastic and leave linens hanging. I recommend storing seasonal linens with other seasonal decorations, with the exception of table cloths, which should be hung or folded neatly.

Hand Towels
Dish Towels-some people differentiate -for example using flower sack cloths for drying dishes
Aprons
Place mats
Table cloth’s
Fabric Napkins
Cocktail Napkins
Table Runners

Bedroom Linens

As a rule, keep 2 sets of sheets for each bed in the household, that way you are only storing one set of extra. Reuse, donate or recycle old sheets if they are badly stained, torn or very worn. If you have extra closet space in the bedrooms, you might be able to store bedroom linens in each bedroom closet. This can help to identify what sheets go on what bed!

Keep like size sheet sets together, folded neatly (see how to fold a fitted sheet here) and either on a shelf or in a basket, labeled (with the roo

m/size). Like kitchen linens, bedroom linens can be seasonal and may contain body oils that should be cleaned before storing linens for the season.

Sheets-flat and fitted in various sizes
Blankets
Duvet’s
Duvet Covers
Coverlets and quilts
Pillows

Bathroom Linens

Fluffy towels, who doesn’t love them!? Some people use a different towel every day, which honestly seems excessive to me, especially since we use our towels to dry off our Clean bodies! I recommend changing towels ever few days to week, depending on your personal preference and lifestyle. I prefer a tri-fold for towels, which make them look neat when hanging on the rod but also allows them to evenly dry between uses. However you like to display your towel, use the same fold when you store them so that you are not re-folding when you put out new linens.

Hand Towels
Bath Towels
Wash cloth’s
Floor mat’s
Beach Towels

PS…I didn’t mention Ironing…did you notice? Bah, I don’t love to iron and tend to go for fabric’s that don’t require it, or I steam, or I store up ironing and do it all at once while watching a movie! How about you? Do you like to iron, love to do laundry, hate to fold? What’s your least or most favorite part of taking care of your linens?

Love or Loath Laundry? Quick Laundry tips

by Filed Under: Closets, Home, Kids & Family Organizing, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 1 Comment

Do you love or loath laundry? I don’t mind it but I know for so many people Laundry is not about love, at all! That’s why I work with my clients to create a laundry schedule, including what I to keep on top of weekly laundry tasks.

In creating a laundry schedule I ask a few questions to help determine what the best household action plan for doing laundry…here are some questions you can use to create your own laundry schedule.

How many household members? How many loads of laundry per person per week do you generate?
How many “able bodied” people do you have do delegate laundry to? Kids age 10+ should start learning to help with laundry, including having a laundry basket in their room, helping to bring laundry to the washer/dryer, helping to sort, fold and put laundry away.
Do you have a cleaning person that helps with laundry? If so, what day do they come and what laundry tasks do they do or could you delegate to them (sheets and towels or more)?
Do you and your kids do sports activities or work that generates extra dirty (stinky:() laundry? If so, how soon after these activities do you need to wash things (to re-use or prevent smells)?
Do you take a lot of things to the dry cleaner? If so, do you have a pick up drop off service or is this something your drycleaner offers?
Do you have a lot of ironing, do you like to iron?

With all this info in your back pocket, calculate how many loads need to be done per week and who will do them. Then, take a look at your weekly schedule and assign laundry tasks by the date to yourself or other household help (kids, spouse, cleaning helpers etc).

I change and wash whites, or linens (towels, sheets and the oddball other white items) on Wednesdays and thus the term Wednesday Whitewash! Maybe doing a couple loads mid weeks and more on the weekends makes sense to you and with your schedule or maybe your weekends are busy with family activities and your better off tackling one load per evening through the week.

Keep Laundry Contained

In my observation, many people do not have laundry baskets, have them where they need them (in the bedroom, bathroom or closet) or seem to use them at all! I find laundry in piles on the floor, draped over furniture, hanging form hooks, light fixtures and everywhere else you can imagine. If you don’t know what’s clean and what’s dirty, you will constantly be re-washing items or at least giving your nose a workout with the sniff test. Keep dirty laundry contained in a basket or bag and use this to take laundry to your laundry area and then sort (or buy bins with sorting compartments if you have room). There are tons of great laundry basket options, like these available…so measure your space and determine what/how many you need and invest!

Minimize Maintenance

When you buy new clothes, think about their laundry requirements.

Sort laundry by color and by weight. I don’t like to wash my husbands heavy duty work pants with my delicate tops or undergarments (which should be in a bag). Sort weekly loads by dark/light/white and weight. This helps keep clothes looking newer longer.

Do you love linen but hate ironing? Maybe these things should be kept for less frequent use or sent to the dry cleaner?

Keep it Green Clean

Do you dislike using dry cleaners because of the chemicals? If so, look for a green cleaner in your area. While we are talking about green options, look for cleaning products that are phosphate free and use minimal scents and chemicals (though there seem to be more an more products on the market to mask odor-that doesn’t mean it’s really clean!). This might seem obvious but wash things only when needed. If you’ve only worn something for a couple hours, didn’t sweat or spill on it, then wear it again before laundering. This is not only going to save you time, it will keep your clothes looking new longer and will save resources (water power etc).

Consider hanging delicate, knits and lightweight items to dry (like the French do!). I use a collapsible laundry rack to dry about 1/3 to 1/2 of every laundry load, it takes a bit more time to dry but it keeps my clothes fro wearing out as quickly and saves energy. When it comes to stains, do pre-treat as soon as possible and if your really stain prone, check out these stain specific products (not all stains are alike!) by Carbona.

Any way you schedule it, whether you love or loath laundry, having this household task in perpetual motion will keep you from melting or collapsing under this task mountain!