Harmony At Last, LLC

Clutter can simply be caused by excess stuff built up on flat surfaces. There may be frustration related to this situation and it may cause one to be less effective (think of running around the house because you can’t find your keys) although it is not life threatening or extreme by any means. One can pass safely through each room and the hallways. Windows and doors remain open and free of clutter.

Hoarding is different. It’s a mental health issue and causes significant impairment to one’s ability to function within their home. One cannot safely move throughout the house. Hallways, doors and windows are fully blocked. Mold, mice, and other unsavory elements tend to find haven in these homes. The definition of hoarding is:

* Compulsive acquisition and the inability to discard items that most people would consider of limited or no value.

* Non-functional living spaces due to the clutter inhibiting the use of the spaces in the way they were attended.

* Acquisition, discarding, and clutter causing significant distress.

A recent article, “Hoarding Could Take Fatal Turn, Firefighters say”, in the Omaha World-Herald highlights the dangers that fire-fighters face when responding to a fire in a household overtaken by hoarding. This article also includes the Clutter Hoarding Scale created by the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD). This scale is very useful in helping to assess a situation.

You may have also heard of the term “Collyer mansion” to describe a dangerous and extreme level of clutter. Stephanie Calahan wrote a very helpful blog post on this topic titled “Clutter Killed Family in a Blaze and the Collyers Mansion Effect”.

If you or someone you know are experiencing a hoarding situation, it is possible to get help. The approach that I have found to produce the most lasting results is to for a team with the individual, the individual’s family, a mental health professional, and a professional organizer with specific training in chronic disorganization. The NSGCD offers training in assisting people with chronic disorganization and professionals with this education can obtain different levels of designation in the field.

1. Pretend your going to live on a boat. Decide what you really need to keep with you in order to prepare meals in a very tiny kitchen. Most likely you’ll select multi-purpose items to save precious space. While your land-based home may have more space than a boat, this exercise will allow you to really access what is most important.

2. Think like a chef. When you are in the midst of preparing a meal, you want items you use frequently to be easily accessible. Group your kitchen items into categories and plan the placement of them within the cabinets accordingly. If you need to keep multiple categories within the same cabinet, keep similar items next to each other.

True motivation comes from within you. No matter how many cheerleaders you have, you need to find that personal motivation and have a belief that you can succeed.  Here are some tips to help you find your inner motivation and achieve success:

1. Know what you want. You need the clarity of what you want and what success looks like to you, in order to reach your goals. Set your intentions and you’ll be amazed at how the path starts to open up for you. Recognize where you may have been displaying intention deficit and transform it to intention abundance.

2. View roadblocks as opportunities for growth. When a challenge arises, it is an opportunity to grow, adapt, and ultimately become stronger than before. If you see a problem as unsolvable, you freeze up your creative juices to come up with a successful solution.

3. Form a mastermind group. Meet with others that have an intense desire for success and personal growth. You’ll share ideas with them, receive feedback, and get strength from their energy and enthusiasm. You’ll also be able to give encouragement and support to them as they pursue their goals.

It’s so easy to get swept away on the planning of what’s next and where we want to be, that it can be easy to neglect expressing gratitude for the blessings that surround us in the present.

It has become more important to me on my own personal journey to take time for gratitude and to appreciate that which is most important to me in my life. (Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book, Simple Abundance, is a great book for this topic.) As I continued to bring more gratitude into my own life, I realized that I wanted to share that learning with my family as well.

I recently came across an incredible method for encouraging the expression of gratitude within my family. It’s called “Thank Your Lucky Stars” and created by The Voice of Clay. It comes with this great mini pottery vase and twelve stars. You can say something that you’re grateful for as you drop a star into the jar. My kids love it- they each have their favorite colored stars of course! My spouse and I enjoy it as a nice family ritual.

Take a moment to reflect on the good things in your life. As you seek out your next challenge- whether a new organizing project, the next career move, or enhancing your work/life balance- how can you incorporate more gratitude into your day?

“There is a different between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you do it when circumstances permit. When you are committed, you accept no excuses, only results.” Anonymous

A must read article titled, “I’m Messy. It’s in My DNA. Deal With It.” by Susan Stewart was published in the New York Times on March 9, 2008. In it Susan discusses the disorganization in her life with such acceptance and humor. My favorite part was when Susan described how her family handles dirty socks:

“The washer and dryer are in the basement. The door to the basement is near the front door of the house. What would be the point, after yoga class or dog-walking or high school — or any activity involving socks — of taking the socks up the stairs to the closet where we (theoretically) keep the dirty laundry? Removing the socks in the front hall and throwing them down the steps is actually more efficient. When we run out of clean socks, somebody goes down to the basement, forages for socks and does a load of laundry.”

Susan and her family are okay with the way that their household functions today. No changes necessary.

How about you? How do you feel about your clutter? Is it still at a level where you are satisfied with how your household is functioning? Has it gotten unmanageable?

You can check out the NSGCD (National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization) Clutter-Hoarding scale that is mentioned in this article as well. As a Chronic Disorganization Specialist, I use this scale to help me assess a situation when I begin work with a new client.

A very important and sometimes very forgotten part of career growth…

“Make sure that the career ladder that you’re climbing is up against the right building.” Julie Cubino

Here’s a workplace scenario that you may be familiar with…

There is so much to-do during the workday and you can’t seem to get it all done. So you dutifully pack up your laptop and a stack of papers to bring home with you each evening. You end up some days carrying home several bags and they can get pretty heavy. Some evenings you end up getting some things done. On other evenings, the work simply lingers in the bags as the evening unfolds. You have so many other things going on in your evening that you just can’t seem to get to all the professional work you thought you would. The next morning arrives and you carry those same bags back to work. You feel guilty that the papers didn’t get touched. The to-dos weigh on your mind (and on your back as you carry them back and forth.) The cycle repeats. And repeats. And repeats.

How many bags do you carry back and forth to work? How frequently do you get to all of the work you brought home? How weighed down do you feel about the lingering to-dos in your bag? How would you rate your ability to get your work actions done efficiently?

Let’s lift the weight from your shoulders (both literally and figuratively)!

Try a simple step. In any given evening, decide what (if any) tasks that you are sure that you will complete. Be realistic. Some evenings it’s just not going to happen. (Your spouse is running late from work, you’re in charge of picking up the kids from childcare and then preparing dinner… you get the idea.) Other evening you may just choose to complete one or two tasks. Only bring those tasks home and leave the rest at work. Then make time to actually get the tasks you brought home complete. Find success in doing what you committed to yourself to do rather than failure at what you didn’t do.

Now try an even bigger step. Periodically give yourself the opportunity to leave your work at work. No bags, no papers, no to-dos. Total freedom for the evening. Does this step scare you? If you decide to give it a try, take note as to how it feels.

If you feel like delving even deeper into getting to-dos done efficiently, we’re offering a teleclass this Thursday, March 6th from 8-9pm EST.