Your Organizing Coach

Procrastination Strategies

"Talk of the Nation" did a show about procrastination recently featuring psychology professor Timothy Pychyl and philosophy professor John Perry. I read Perry's funny article about structured procrastination several years ago and I still laugh every time I read it. Not only that, it's a good strategy!

A very interesting point that Pychyl brought up is that there's no evidence of the "arousal procrastinator," that is, people who work best under pressure and let things wait until the last minute. Arousal types are characterized by extroversion, sensation-seeking and reducing/augmenting behavior (of desired emotional states).

Lots of people believe that they do their best working right up to the deadline but apparently, that's just an illusion. It can also be learned behavior, if that's the only way a person has ever approached deadlines.

Another fascinating finding has to do with procrastination and self-forgiveness. A study to discover whether people would procrastinate less the next time if they forgave themselves for the current instance found that, yes, it did work that way.

The unexpected result was that this was much more true for the women in the study. One theory is that "procrastination is related to self-worth or self-esteem for females but not males." Who knew?

A third interesting point Pychyl made is that all delay is not procrastination. It's only procrastination when you set an intention to do something by a particular time. So, there's your loophole...

[photo by ShereenM]

Should I Save or Should It Go?

People who are collectors love to tell me that things they've held onto for years and years have actually come in handy, so it was worthwhile to keep it. There's often a note of triumph in their voices when they come to the story's punchline, "and I had one!" They assume that I'm against keeping things and they want to head off any suggestions I might have for downsizing.

Sometimes, the story is that they decided to get rid of a bunch of stuff that hadn't been used in decades and "the very next day" they needed one of those things. They reluctantly decide it's a big mistake to get rid of anything at all, although they would like to have less clutter. What to do?

I heard a story like the latter one recently and it occurred to me that the storyteller was asking the wrong questions to determine what to keep and what not to keep. He asked himself if he'd used the item in question in the past few years and the answer was no. So, out it went.

But if he had asked, "what will I do if I need this next week and I don't have it?" he would've gotten more helpful answers. Could he borrow one, rent one or buy a new one? Could he farm out the item on long term loan to a friend with the proviso that he could borrow it back as needed? Could he make do somehow with items he did keep? And how would those options feel? If none were acceptable, keeping the item would be the best answer.

The idea is to look into the future ("what will I do?") and not the past ("I haven't used this in years") to make your decision. The future is where you're going to use it (or not).

[White elephant courtesy of Lenny Montana's photostream]

How to Organize Your Wallet

It may be small, but your wallet can be chock full of clutter. You don't want to be one of those people who holds up the line trying to find her preferred shopper card, do you? Or the guy with the unsightly rectangular growth on his backside (because we know it's not all money)? Of course not. 

So, empty your wallet and let's see what's in there.

• Coupons:  Are they still good?  Are they worthwhile?  If you're not in the habit of using coupons, they can be more trouble than they're worth.
• Frequent buyer cards:  These can be like coupons.  Only use ones from stores you patronize regularly AND where the clerk asks you for it (otherwise you may forget to present it).
• Membership cards:  Most establishments will allow you to give your phone number instead of presenting your card.  Much less wallet clutter.
• Receipts:  Why are you keeping them?  To balance checkbook?  Tax purpose?  Possible return?  Assign a pocket in your wallet for receipts and regularly take them out.
• Credit cards:  You really only need one, or two if you have a business.  You have to be very organized to take advantage of perks like frequent flyer miles on credit cards.  Make sure using these perks doesn't cause you to buy things you don't need.  And make sure you have time to manage and track your benefits.
• Scraps of paper:  Dedicate some space in your date book for little notes and ideas.  Reminders should go on a dated page.  Phone numbers into the address book, even if they're only temporary. 
• Currency:  Keep your bills in denomination order.  Not only is it easier to find the amount you need, but you will have a better idea of how much cash you have at any given time. 
• Stamps:  Can be handy, but only if you remember they're there.  Otherwise, you'll find them by accident and discover they're 41 centers

See if you can pare down to what you really need and use. The short list:
Driver's license or CA ID card
Health insurance card
Car insurance card
Credit card
Bank or ATM card
BART or other transit ticket
Money!

The Costanza Wallet (George, from Seinfeld) wallet courtesy of shareski's Flickr stream

How to Weed Out Your Clothes Closet

It can be hard to know where to start when you want to pare down your clothes. If you're going to spend some time and go through everything, take it all out and pile it on the bed. That way you have to make a commitment to keeping something by putting it back in the closet. When you flip through the garments on their hangers, it's too easy just to keep everything.

 If you want to do a quicker purge, try my friend Ellen's technique, "Always, Sometimes, Never." Start at one end of the hanging rack and ask your self whether you wear each garment always, sometimes or never.

1. "Always" is for clothing you wear all the time. It also makes you look and feel good. (If you're wearing something a lot that doesn't make you look and feel good, we have to talk...)
2. "Sometimes" is for garments you don't wear that often, but they have a specific function, such as a velvet top you would wear to a fancy dinner or a pantsuit for special business meetings.
3. "Never" is for anything that you never wear because:

• Even though you paid a lot for it, you don't like it
• It doesn't fit
• It doesn't make you look great
• Even though it was a gift, you just don't like it
• It doesn't make you feel great
• It's damaged and not worth fixing
• It seemed like a good idea at the time, but, honestly, you don't like it

Keep the Always and Sometimes items (the Sometimes items might be better off at the back of the closet where they're out of the way). Get rid of the Never items. If it's just that you don't like them, they may have resale value. If not, cut to the chase and donate them to the thrift store.

The quicker you get them out of your life, the better. Why? Because now you have room, physically and psychically, to get some new clothes that you love and make you look and feel fantastic!

Have you purged your closet recently? How did it go?

How to Organize Books

I like an organic approach to organizing books. By that I mean that I suggest paying attention to how you use your books and what works well with your current set up before rearranging them.

• You may find that books you use a lot are already on the most convenient shelf. If not, that's a good place to start. It doesn't matter if those books are on different subjects and are different sizes, keeping them as handy as possible is a good idea. If you have a visual memory, returning your books each time to the same spot makes it easier to find them next time.
•  If you like a fun, decorative look to the bookshelf, arrange your books by the colors of the spines. When I first saw this method it seemed silly to me, but then I realized that it would be easy to start remembering my books by their colors.
• If your bookshelves are spaced far apart, maximize the space by putting your books on the shelves horizontally. This also makes it easier to read the titles.
• Use loosely grouped categories where needed. My bookshelf has several sections: professional reference, travel, decorating and home care, and gardening are some of them. Not all the books are categorized. It makes sense to categorize them when I'll refer to more than one at a time.
• Once you start reorganizing, make sure you really want and need each book. People often find it very hard to get rid of books, but just like anything else in your home that you don't use, books can be clutter. Release the ones that aren't serving you anymore.

Gorgeous bookshelves courtesy of chotda's flickr stream.

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Conquering Perfectionism

I wrote about perfectionism back in December, but it's a topic that comes up a lot, with clients and in everyday conversation, so I'm addressing it again.

This time I'm going to quote from a great book about procrastination called It's About Time by Dr. Linda Sapadin. Perfectionism is one of six ways that she identifies as procrastination styles. The others are dreaming, worrying, defying, crisis making and overdoing.

I won't go into what makes a perfectionist procrastinate because you probably already know! Instead, I'll paraphrase what Dr. Sapadin suggests to get over it.

• Do some creative visualization. Perfectionists are often tense. Use the visualization to show yourself that everything is fine, including you.
• Realize that the rest of the world can't live up to your high standards. Then realize that you can't either, because they're impossibly high
• "Strive for excellence rather than perfection." Focus on excellence and you'll focus on results. Focus on perfection and you'll get lost in all the tiny details before you can get to the results.
• Stay with what's realistic, not what's ideal. There are many ways to achieve any result and your choice may be informed by time and resources available. If you're realistic about that, you can still achieve excellence.
• Don't think in terms of "all or nothing." Life is not a pass/fail course. Give up rigid ways of thinking for more creative possibilities.

See if any of these techniques work for you. Try to resist trying each, in the order presented, even if you are a perfectionist!

Terrific Home Office Tips

I just came across a stupefyingly comprehensive list of ways to make your office more productive. It covers everything from getting a great chair to deducting it from your taxes to setting it in the right spot, feng shui-wise. Don't see how I could improve on this, so just go read it!

Decluttering in Depth

Okay, so maybe it is time to declutter than closet. This basic technique works for desktops, drawers, cupboards and any other spots where you keep a lot of stuff together. It's not for attics or out of the way storage spots where you're allowed to keep things that are rarely used and off-season clothes. This is for high traffic spots.

The idea is that you have to take all the stuff out of where it is now in order to properly sort it. When you try to sort things inside the closet you just end up pushing them around and peering into the dark area in the back and saying, "well, I guess all this stuff can just, uh, stay in here." It kind of fits and you know it's there and the closet is too small to get into and really do anything constructive anyway.

So, you have to pull all the stuff out. Note: this can be a messy, time consuming project. Don't squeeze it in an hour before you have to leave the house. Plus, give yourself enough room to sort everything you take out. Making one big pile on the floor won't help.

• Put things with other like things as you go. Clothes go with clothes. Sporting goods, games, appliances, camera stuff, memorabilia, etc. You don't have to be too exact, but you want to know how many blenders are in the closet, for example.
• Look through each category pile individually. Get rid of multiples. Be honest about whether you're going to fix the broken things (maybe you've already replaced them?). Think about donating that lovely coat you never, ever wear so someone else can enjoy it. Think also about donating that insanely ugly hat you received as a gift and never, ever wear so that, however inexplicably, someone else can enjoy it.
• Take a hard line on what goes back in the closet. Each item must be:

1. Useful in your life now, or
2. Loved and desired, or
3. Both of the above

You have to make a commitment to each thing when you put it back in the closet. You use it, you need it, you like it. Now you know what's in the closet and, most likely, you can actually get in there and find something. Yay!