Your Organizing Coach

Manage Expectations with Email

People put a variety of information in their email signature files, from business phone numbers to favorite quotations to colorful images of their signatures. I recently got an email that had a very clever sig line, as follows:

"I reply to emails at 8AM, 2PM and 4PM.
Calls returned: 10-11AM, 1-2PM and 5-6PM."

Short and sweet, gets right to the point.

If you find yourself constantly interrupted by emails and calls (and can't seem to resist answering/looking at them), try managing the expectations of your correspondents this way. Tack a similar phrase onto the end of your outgoing voicemail, too.

The Organizer Sees It Differently

I went clothes shopping last week with a friend who had volunteered to help me upgrade my image. I haven't been completely happy with my professional look and she has a great eye for clothes.

First she asked me to find pictures of clothes that I liked and identify what colors I liked and hated. We got together over coffee and she made some notes based on my choices, then we went to the shops.

She walked down the racks saying "this," "this, "yeah, this one," while I stood by holding the hangers. Sometimes I'd say, "uh, I don't think so..." and she'd reply, "Just try it. For me." She quickly picked out a stack of garments, most of which I never would have chosen for myself.

And, amazingly, almost all of it looked great on me! I discovered that pale pink is my color. I have never, ever worn that color (well, since age 4) and I own nothing in it right now. But I'm sure going to change that.

The interesting thing to me was how productive and eye-opening it was to shop with someone who knows what she's doing and is focusing all her attention on me. The same thing happens to my clients when I work with them to get them organized. They see things that were unclear before and that suddenly seem so obvious. We come up with ways of doing things that seem completely right, but were easily overlooked before.

Having another pair of eyes seeing what you see and reporting a different view is powerful, and helpful, stuff.

Li'l sweater and hat courtesy of Mantofev.com.

A Little Music Can Help You Declutter

I got this great tip from one of my fellow Ladies in our Ladies Who Launch business incubator a few weeks ago. Zorha told me that she likes to put on headphones and listen to music while she's going through piles or boxes of stuff.

The entertainment value helps the time go by, of course, but the headphones also serve to isolate her from the things she's handling and that makes it easier for her to release them. When she's in her own little musical world, she feels detached from everything else around her.

If you find it hard to get rid of stuff because of all the associations and reminders and emotions it brings with it, try a little music and tune out.

(Swarovski encrusted headphones pic from Desinformado.com)

Desktop Clutter Made Artistic

The upside to having waaaay too many folders on your Mac desktop is that you can win a contest for most artistic creation using said folders. Last month, Gizmodo sponsored such a contest. Here's my favorite, the 2nd place winner, with a lovely rendition of a MacBook Air by Daniel Lagin:

Computer Clutter

I need to upgrade my computer and I've made the momentous decision to switch to a Mac Book Pro from my old PC. I'll be switching back, actually, since I bought one of those tiny Macintoshes many, many years ago (it was my first computer).

I had heard that someone at the Apple store would move my files to the new computer for me, but it turns out I have to put said files in a folder on the desktop first. That's when it dawned on me that it's up to me and no one else to figure out what needs to be transferred to the new computer.

That means looking through about a billion folders and figuring out what all that stuff even is before I can decide whether to keep it or not. As long as the memory holds out, it's easy to keep filling up your computer with junk you use only once, or never, and then forget about. It doesn't help that the files are called XRY22T7 or something equally obscure.

The insidious problem with computer clutter is that tools like Google Desktop search allow me to find anything I need very quickly. That means I don't have much motivation to keep the machine uncluttered.

In a way I'm lucky, as my Apple store personal shopper pointed out to me. If I were upgrading to a new Mac, it would be so easy and tempting just to dump everything into the new machine. Migrating from a PC is not that easy, so I can be more disciplined.

It'll be like moving to a new home, all clean and shiny because I haven't brought over anything more than the items I really need and love. Of course, soon enough I'll start cluttering up the MacBook too... (Mac pic from ShadyL via Flickr).

The Art of Slow Living

Slowing down to combat the stress and dehumanization of modern life isn't a new concept, but it's been taken to greater and more charming heights by Ella and Bruno Contigiani. Their "slowmandments" offer tips about avoiding multitasking and hurrying and a few more novel and Italian-inflected ones, such as the ones below.

"Write your text messages on your cell phone with no symbols or abbreviations and get in the habit of starting with “Dear…”

"Don’t force yourself go shopping; most probably there is enough food in your cupboard to make something tasty for dinner"

This wonderful sentiment is on their home page:

To stay for all your life a free thinker: this is the meaning of Slow living; to have the courage to stop, ponder and made your own choices before external events and trends will sweep you away.

Use Your Laptop at the Beach (!?)

I'm buying a laptop soon. One of the big reasons I want one is that I'm itching to do my computer work out in the garden, now that warm weather is here. I'm already wondering how I'm going to see the screen when I'm sitting out in the sun.

So I surfed around and came upon this wacky product on Lifehacker that shades the laptop screen. Some commenters point out that you could make one of these yourself with a cardboard box or a couple of file folders. This one does fold up neatly and attach to the lid of the computer, and that's kind of nice. Don't think it's designed to keep out sand though...

Criteria for Decluttering

It's simple. Whenever you're torn about getting rid of something or keeping it, ask yourself these two questions:

1. Do I need it?
2. Do I love it?

If the answer is yes to either one, you keep it.