LIFESTYLE
 It
creeps stealthily in, infiltrating our open spaces, leaving
chaos and confusion in its wake and completely overwhelming
us before we know it. No, it isn’t The Blob, although
that gelatinous mess would almost fit the same description.
I’m talking about clutter: the archenemy of organization.
Unless you’ve somehow removed your name from every junk
mailing list in the world (and if so, can I get that contact
information, please?) and pay for everything in cash, clutter
is something that everyone wages a daily war with. Some of
us are naturally more skilled at waging that war than others,
which is why I went straight to an expert source for this
article.
Christine Norrbom is a
personal concierge, life stylist, and owner of Upon Request,
and has built her business around keeping people organized.
After years in the corporate world, she decided to step back
and take a breather. It was during this time that she helped
her parents move from their 5,000-square-foot residence into
a smaller, 2,000-square-foot place, paring down unnecessary
items while keeping their precious belongings—in less
than two months worth of weekends. She enjoyed it so much
that she wanted to make a career of it, and Upon Request was
born. Now, Christine is nothing short of an organizing guru.
And frankly, she blew some of my old perceptions of organization
right out of the water.
 As
I found out, there’s so much more to being organized
than simply keeping your surroundings neat and tidy (though
that’s a definite plus in my book). Most importantly,
it can save time—a precious commodity that we never
seem to have enough of. While you’re digging through
seemingly endless unmarked files and random stacks of paper,
or searching for an item while muttering that you just know
you’ve seen it around here somewhere, valuable minutes
are ticking by, chipping away at your productivity. By keeping
things you use regularly in an accessible place, and having
all your tools (office supplies, for example) at the ready,
you save yourself tons of time and eliminate any hassles.
Get this: if you spend five minutes a day searching through
a sea of clutter—just five measly minutes—that
adds up to 1,825 minutes yearly. That’s more than 30
hours per year you could save yourself simply by committing
to a few organizational strategies.
First of all, advises Christine,
you must take a good long look at your clutter and understand
what’s creating it. Do you tend to toss your junk mail
onto your desk rather than into the recycle bin? Is your inbox
a catchall for both work and family documents? Determining
how you function in a room, and what items and documents you
regularly access, is the initial step. From there, you can
make sure that the things you use most often are given priority
space, and the less-necessary things can be tucked away.
 The
key to getting—and staying—organized is to find
a system that fits your true functional needs. And for some,
that means breaking with tradition and thinking outside of
the (storage) box. “We fell for someone else’s
format, and it didn’t work,” says Christine. “We
all need to be sincerely honest about how we function, not
how somebody else wants us to function.” Just because
you’ve got things in a box or a plastic tub doesn’t
mean the contents are in order, and every compartmented drawer
organizer in the world won’t help you if you won’t
use it. Assess what’s best for you personally, and stick
with it. If that means arranging your writing utensils in
a jelly jar or storing important documents in a hatbox, so
be it. Christine herself works out of an armoire intended
for dishes, a confirmation of the adage “different strokes
for different folks.” Christine says, “It’s
not a matter of everything being linear and cold, It’s
what works for you.”
Here are some more
valuable tips from Christine:
Utilize normally-unused
space. Many people forget about the space behind them, for
example, or have bulky items on their desks—such as
computer monitors and speakers—that could be streamlined
with smaller versions. If you study your surroundings with
a discerning eye, you’ll be surprised at how much
space could be available.
Separate personal and
business. You get plenty of clutter from both sides of your
life, so why let it all amass into one huge pile that will
take you hours to go through later? Automatically separate
receipts and documents into “personal” and “work”
categories for a lot less work down the line.
Assign responsibility.
If you have joint bills with a spouse or partner, each should
be responsible for the same bills every month. That way
nothing will end up in a “whoever-gets-to-it-first”
pile. Determine what goes to whom, and keep it that way.
Don’t forget the
car. For those in the Real Estate industry, your car is
an extension of your business. Keep a banker’s box
in your trunk with all the things you’ll need on a
regular basis, plus the brochures and business cards of
added value services. Clearly label the folders so that
everything is easy to find. No need to micromanage! If you’ve
got a lot of clutter and don’t know where to start,
it can be overwhelming to think you need to micro-organize
things. Rather than separating your stuff into lots of different
categories right off the bat, it’s okay to put things
into general categories at first and narrow it down later.
You’ve got to start somewhere, right?
Give yourself permission.
“Designate a junk drawer and admit it,” says
Christine. “We beat ourselves up about not being organized;
give yourself permission.” In fact, she says, most
people actually need three junk drawers: in the kitchen,
office, and garage. Clean them out every three months and
don’t apologize for having them—sometimes things
don’t always fit into neat categories.
Periodically reassess.
Just because you’ve done “the big sweep”
doesn’t mean you’re completely finished organizing.
Every six weeks or so,
step back and reassess what’s working and what isn’t,
and modify accordingly
 Your
spaces don’t have to look like Martha Stewart or June
Cleaver swept through with their powers of super-efficiency;
as long as you’ve found a method that works, it doesn’t
matter how elaborate your filing system or how immaculate
your desk. If all else fails, recruiting some help is always
an option. After all, how is hiring someone to organize our
things much different than hiring someone to clean our homes?
In both cases, we’re clearing our surroundings of things
that bog us down—and gaining precious time in the process.
If you’re ready for
professional help, Christine can be reached by calling (702)
858-0692, or e-mail her at UponRequest@cox.net.
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