Under Control Organizing

Category: Organizing

  • Choose To Organize or Not To Organize: Making Decisions

    We can choose to organize or not to organize We have free will. If we choose to organize, we have to make decisions about our stuff – our possessions. We can: • Keep our stuff, organize in place or redistribute to another location. • Toss it. • Give it away or gift it to someone.…

  • How to Succeed at Your Goal – Step by Step

    To succeed at your goal means that (1) you set a goal and (2) you have accomplished tasks that comprise your goal. Examine the steps needed to succeed at your goal. Define Your Goal and Write It Down Let’s define your goal. A goal is a result that you intend to accomplish. That result may…

  • Organizing Tasks to keep chaos at bay

    Staying on top of our daily organizing tasks and managing our possessions can feel like a part-time job – a job for which our compensation is personal satisfaction, improved productivity and enjoyment. Because the demands of each day don’t allow us much time to organize our personal “stuff”, keeping a daily routine is important to…

  • How to Organize Your Spices

    I’ve learned that the process you use to organize the smallest things in your life, like your spices, is a metaphor for how you organize YOUR LIFE. American poet Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) famously said, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.” Let’s look at the…

  • Is “Organizing” Therapeutic for You?

    The Huffington Post published an article the other day about why cleaning and organizing is therapeutic in stressful times. Although there is some controversy about equating organizing with cleaning, the topic spurs some thought. For some individuals, not cleaning nor organizing is a therapeutic task. For some, the task of organizing is additional stress!! Regarding…

  • What’s Your Style? Setting Up Organizing Systems.

      “I put it somewhere.”  But, can you find it? Finding It Are you setting up organizing systems for piles of papers, collections, or supplies?  Some may suggest that cookie cutter systems suffice, but not everyone thinks the same. To be successful at finding “it” in the future depends on several factors. There’s a better…

  • Minimalism and Organizing

      Will you fill it with stuff, select minimalism as an approach, or something in between?  There’s no right or wrong way, just your way.  It’s YOUR life, not someone else’s. Fill your canvas with what makes YOU happy.  Now, compare this canvas with your actual life today.  Are you burdened with past possessions, or…

  • Why You Can’t Get Organized: When Organization is a Phobia

    Is it “can’t” or “won’t” when it comes to summarizing the reasons people fail to organize their stuff? And does it apply to you? “Can’t” implies inability. “Won’t” is the lack of initiative or desire. The five main reasons fall into BOTH camps: Can’t AND Won’t. CAN’T – Don’t know how Mindy (fictitious name) tells…

  • Why People Hold Onto Stuff

    “Y is a crooked letter.” This was my grandfather’s standard response to the basic question of childhood “Why, Grandpa?”.  My interpretation of that expression is that the answer is complicated.  And, when it comes to human behavior,  it almost always is. Why do people hold onto stuff? The answer is complicated because there are so…

  • The Right Strategy for Decluttering

    “Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” – – A. A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh Decluttering / Organizing Strategy Before you tackle your next decluttering and organizing project, will you plan and strategize?  What motivates and inspires you? I…