Blog

While helping clients organize their papers, they express concern that they’re doing something wrong when handling them more than once. What they’re unknowingly asking about is the OHIO (Only Handle it Once) rule. 

Keep in mind, though, that OHIO is a guideline, not meant to always be applied. The intent is to Only Handle It Once, or as few times as necessary to completion.

Scenario 1 

• While scanning the mail, you open an invitation with an RSVP to a neighborhood block party. You put the mail pile on the counter to deal with later. One touch.

• A couple of days later, you notice the invitation in the growing pile of mail and move it to the to-do pile. Second touch.

• Later, you think your spouse may want to go. You pick it up and put it on his desk. Third touch.

• After work, he hands it back to RSVP. You put it back on the to-do pile. Fourth touch.

• Your son is busy at college but maybe he’d like to see his friends. You pick it up to have the details ready, call him but get voicemail. It goes back on the to-do pile. Fifth touch.

• He calls back. You pick it up again and give him the details. He’ll think about it. The paper goes back on the to-do pile. Sixth touch.

• He texts back that he’d like to go. You pick up the invitation, RSVP for your family, then recycle it. Seventh touch.

Scenario 2: 

• You get the invitation, text your husband and son with the details to see if they’d want to go. You put the invitation on the counter. One touch.

• They both reply, you pick up the invitation, RSVP, note the date and time in the calendar, then recycle the paper. Second touch—and done.

We don’t stop to think about how many times we handle the same papers — and how much time we waste. A lot!

Here’s a favorite productivity tip from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. His Two-Minute Rule states that if it takes less than two minutes, do it now. That doesn’t mean two minutes exactly, but just a few minutes to complete quick tasks. Brilliant!

Contact a pro organizer if you want to learn how to get more done in less time.

© 2019 Adriane Weinberg. All rights reserved.

There are times, I am sure, when you have an extra 15 minutes where you just want to sit, relax, and take a few deep breaths. There is certainly nothing wrong with self-care. However, self-care can also take on another form where you want to use those extra 15 minutes to get something done in your home or office. 

In my world, of course, it has to do with de-cluttering and organizing. There have been a couple of times recently where I took that 15 minutes with a client and myself to do just that.

A client of mine moved into assisted living several months ago. During one of our sessions, as I was helping her unpack and organize, I had some extra time. I went through one of her end table drawers in the living room and was able to recycle and trash 95% of what was in the drawer – old catalogs, old address labels, etc. Now, I could make room for other items that were important for her to have nearby in her new life.

In my own life, I love to travel. I always have travel articles and catalogues that I keep in an antique rice holder box (pictured above). When I started going through my collection, I was amazed at what I could recycle – articles and catalogs that went back to 2016. Since the box never looked like it was totally overflowing, I just kept putting more articles and catalogs in it. As with my client, I was able to recycle 95% of what I had stored.

This led me to think what we can all do in 15 minutes to maintain our organizational systems. Maintenance and persistence always seem to be a huge challenge in the organizing world. Developing a system or process is 1 part of the project. Another part is maintaining or tweaking what you’ve already developed.

Consider what you can do in 15 minutes. You never know what you’ll find unless you go through these areas:

• Go through a junk drawer in your kitchen, bathroom, and/or bedroom and recycle, trash, shred, or donate.
• Go through a section of your closet or a dresser drawer when you buy something new and recycle, trash, shred, or donate something old.
• Go through a section of your closet or a dresser drawer when you haven’t bought something new and recycle, trash, shred, or donate.
• Go through a file drawer, if you have paper files, and recycle or shred things you no longer need to keep.
• Go through some bookshelves and box up books you’ve already read or have no intention of reading and donate to a local library.
• Go through your medicine cabinet and dispose of medicines properly – do not flush down the toilet.
• Go through your makeup and discard what is old.
• Go through your spices and discard what is old.

On any given day, we all make choices in our lives as to what to do with our time. With those extra 15 minutes that you have, you could sit back and relax or go through an area of your home or office to see what you no longer need. What is your choice today?

Ahhhh, can you hear it? Stop. Listen closely. Is that the sound of an empty house? Oh my goodness! Are you actually at home – alone? That’s right folks. The kids are back to school and that morning cup of coffee hasn’t tasted this good in almost longer than you can remember.

Thank you Fall for showing up – right in time to save us from completely losing any semblance of sanity! While you sit for an extra 5 minutes, enjoying the sound of silence and taking another sip-o’-joe, you may begin to look around.

What you are looking at is the aftermath of summer:

• Collections of odd paraphernalia from summer crafts
• Flotsam and jetsam of beach and pool excursions (Wait. Whose towels are those?)
• Outgrown and short-lived children’s summer clothing and shoes
• Vacation pamphlets and souvenirs

Amidst everyone else’s debris, there are some of your own items that need attention, yet it’s hard to know which and where they are. Here are 3 suggestions from a Professional Organizer and mom of three grown children:

1. Pamper yourself. You made it through the summer. You planned and chaperoned and hosted and entertained. And now that everyone is back to their normal routines, start your autumn out by putting a date on the calendar for you. Get a massage. A manicure. Go out to lunch. Take time to get yourself settled down and focused for the season ahead.
2. Make a List. The start of a new season comes with a host of tasks, commitments and appointments. Go through each area of responsibility in your mind and write it ALL down on your list. Doing this type of “brain dump” will help you capture everything while you are able to quietly focus. Getting it onto paper and out of your head will also relieve stress and help with better sleep. So, before you jump in and start running from one new event to the next, have an extra sip of coffee and take 10 minutes to write down a list of everything that needs your time and attention:
   1. Home – are there any service people that you need to call – plumber? electrician? roofer?
   2. Car – is there an inspection due? Do you need to replace your windshield wipers? Is an oil change needed?
   3. Medical – do you or any other family member need a doctor or dentist appointment?
   4. Organizations – do you belong to any organizations that require your attention; PTA? Church? School? Club?
3. Clear your space. An organized space will help with clearing not just your environment but also your head. Organize an entire room or just one work area. Set things up the way you want them to be and allow your environment to support your productivity.

Take these three small steps and enter Fall confidently prepared to harvest the rewards of the season.

Remember the Trapper Keeper days? And the 5-subject notebook? We all used them as students but why don’t we use them today? The concept is still the same, it’s just the subjects have changed.

To-Do’s: Instead of subject, separate your to do’s into broad categories (personal, business, church for example). Use a 3 or 5 subject notebook as your one place to store it all. Create a system to prioritize like highlighting or numbering. Don’t forget about those to do’s that you keep putting off. Mix these in with some of your urgent ones.

Projects vs. To Do’s: There is a difference. Projects are made up of a lot of to do’s. That’s why a project can seem so overwhelming and never gets done. Break up that project and add those to do’s to your list.

Notebook vs. Stickies: Is your desk or computer overrun by sticky notes? Use the divided notebooks to keep track of your to do’s/ideas/projects. Stickies should be used temporarily. Regularly transfer that information to the appropriate section of the notebook.  

There is no one way to keep track of your to do’s. Build upon the systems that are currently working for you. But take it one task at a time and be patient. Conquer a couple each day or set a time limit. And in today’s digital era, sometimes a good old notebook will do just fine. Just be sure that you don’t lose it because you can’t back it up!  

People hire organizers because they feel their lives are out of control and they are unable to get organized on their own. Frequently the problem is simply having too much stuff to organize. Often the weight of too many possessions can wear us down. When our space is cluttered and dis-organized it can impact every facet of our lives.

When the burden of too much clutter is lifted from our shoulders, we can feel physically lighter, more energetic and less stressed. This relief can lead to increased work productivity, greater enthusiasm and better relationships.

The question we need to ponder is why do we purchase so much in the first place?  There are a number of explanations for this compulsion. Often, we simply want to possess the latest and greatest stuff because we think it’s fun to own!   We live in a consumer culture and we often validate ourselves by what and how much we can accumulate. Consumerism and materialism are promoted by advertisers in print and on TV and computers in the form of commercials. According to Annie Leonard who wrote, “The Story of Stuff”, the two main activities Americans engage in are watching TV and shopping. We are bombarded by advertising and are exposed to approximately 3,000 ads per day. We see more ads in a day then people saw in a year 50 years ago. Couple that with the fact that the average house size has doubled since the 1970’s and it becomes easy to see why we accumulate so much “stuff”.

Sadly, in order to maintain our lifestyles of consumption, many people are working 50+ hours per week. We work until we are exhausted and depleted and then we shop to make us feel better. We return home too tired to do much else than watch TV and the cycle begins anew!

Is this the way we really want to lead our lives? If so, fine. If not, then it’s time to rethink our goals and blithely step off that hamster wheel of consumption and examine saner options.

Part of being organized is organizing your time and schedule.

That can look like many things: maintaining a written planner, using and sharing an online calendar, time blocking, scheduling appointments as well as daily tasks, or creating a timeline for big events. And, while creating a timeline is a great way to keep track of any project or event that you are planning, it is a most valuable asset in managing a move. 

Why is a timeline so vital to the relocation process?

Moving is uncomfortable and inconvenient at best, and downright exasperating and stressful at its worst. This is due to the infrequency and unpredictability of the process.

This isn’t an undertaking the average person practices over and over again throughout the year. We don’t move to a new home every week! Therefore, we don’t get the opportunity to hone and streamline each step of the process. And, even if we do sharpen our skills, there are some factors that just cannot be foreseen. Housing deals fall through, moving trucks get delayed, people in our lives have emergencies that need to be handled. Making a timeline cannot change these unexpected delays but it can put us in control of how to manage them and that’s what being organized is all about – being prepared.

Whether you are moving next year or this summer, it is never too late to create a timeline for your move.

Here are three simple steps to get you started:

1. Make a List. Write down everything you can think of that you will need to get done before moving day. For example: 
   • Interview and hire professionals for assistance: a realtor, organizer, stager, movers, pack/unpack team (do this early – moving seasons get hectic and you won’t have many choices if you wait for the last minute)
   • Declutter and stage the house 
   • Pack  (if you plan on doing this yourself)
   • Give notice to landscapers, schools, clubs, jobs
   • Change address with the Post Office
   • Notify utility companies
   • Plan for travel (don’t forget your pets!)
   • Plan for child and pet care
   • Take a day or two to keep adding tasks to your list as you think of them.
2. Pull out a Calendar. You may want to have a calendar or planner devoted just to this. If you use a digital calendar, make your moving agenda a separate color so that it stands out. Check it weekly, and daily as your move date gets closer.
   • Begin by filling in all fixed dates. Fill in your timeline with things that are certain. Do you have to close on your new or current house by a specific deadline? Are you starting a new job on a specific date?
   • Add in the rest. Once your fixed dates are filled in, go to your list (see step 1) and add in ALL the items. If you have more time, you can simply assign them to a certain week on your timeline. If you’re on a time-crunch, be more date-specific so that you can insure that nothing slips through the cracks.
   • Details. Add details such as contact names, phone numbers and email addresses to your timeline. Include contacts for schools, movers, realtors, stagers and organizers. Adding these details to your timeline will help by keeping all your essential move details in one convenient location.
3. Overestimate. If you haven’t moved in a while, estimate the amount of time you will need to pack and double it. This is a time-consuming process.
   • If you are packing yourself make sure you order your supplies at least one week in advance of starting.
   • Allow several weeks for packing.
   • Packing paper is something that you can overestimate with as well. It is frustrating to keep running out for more supplies once you’ve hit your packing groove.

A moving timeline may seem like extra work for your move right now, but the small bit of time taken to set up this management tool will support you throughout the process and keep you in the driver’s seat.