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December 27, 2008

Clear The Clutter: Professional organizers help sort out time, space

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS

TRAVERSE CITY -- Ah, yes. Resolutions.

Get skinny. Get rich. Get frugal. Get married.

Get organized.

Professional organizers are so organized, they're already ahead of you on this one. January has been deemed "Get Organized Month" by the National Association of Professional Organizers. And for some people, it couldn't come at a better time.

"I think they're so ready to clear out their Christmas clutter and get their lives back, and I think that's part of it," said Vicki Voisin.

A Charlevoix paralegal and time organization specialist who calls herself The Paralegal Mentor, Voisin writes articles for the National Association of Legal Assistants and has a biweekly ezine. She also teaches webinars like "Time Organization for Paralegals" and "Kick Start Strategies for Organizing Your Workspace."

On a one-to-10 scale of time organization, most people are about a 6, she said. That's partly because managing time is harder now than it was a few decades ago, when she gave her first presentation.

"We have so many more time challenges now with e-mail and Internet and things we weren't dealing with in 1981, especially in the work environment," she said. "Back then it was getting the most done that you could possibly do. We've changed our focus now. It's not getting more done in less time, it's getting the important things done and letting go of the rest."

While most people complain that they don't have enough time, Voisin said one theory has it that only 20 percent of what people do is really important.

"Getting rid of the 80 percent is where you find time," she said, adding that other keys to time organization include proper planning and avoiding perfectionism.

"Perfectionism paralyzes you because it keeps you from starting a project," she said. "Everything doesn't have to be perfect. Done is good enough."

Sue Bauer was the kind of child who organized her Barbie doll accessories according to type -- shoes in one place, dresses in another. Now she rolls up her sleeves and works elbow to elbow with clients who have space organization issues they can't resolve on their own.

"The people I work with are incredibly bright, incredibly creative and have so much going on that stuff tends to weigh them down," said Bauer, owner of Sue to the Rescue in Traverse City. "They just don't seem to be able to get organized."

Many are busy moms or empty-nesters who started drifting after their children pulled up anchor, she said. To help them get started, Bauer listens to what's bothering them, then develops organizational systems that fit their individual way of thinking.

"I set up one woman's office space in a circle because she tended to think in a circular pattern," she said. "There are other people who can't have anything in drawers. It's like a black hole."

Based on the work of Julie Morgenstern, author of "Organizing from the Inside Out," Bauer's five-step method is called SPACE, which stands for sort, purge, assign a home, containerize and equalize.

"I don't ever tell people they have to throw anything away," she said. "But when the project is done, everything has to have a home."

She also relies on insights gained from her background as a therapist and encourages clients -- like the one who kept separate closet space for "good clothes" she only wore for travel -- to examine what's behind their clutter.

"I said, 'What does that say about you that you only wear your best clothes when you're not home?'" Bauer recalls.

Memorable clients include the woman with a rainbow of turtlenecks she never wore but kept in case she needed them, the woman who tidied her unseen kitchen cupboards while the visible counters below were "an avalanche waiting to happen," and the man whose whole house was "a disaster."

"I told him I would be more than happy to work with him but he had to bring in a Dumpster," Bauer said. "He never called back."

While some clients have so much clutter at home it leaves only a path, few people are "total pig-pens," said Bauer, who fills her sessions with lots of laughter to counteract the shame clients often feel. Some may keep a meticulous car or office space, but lose control when it comes to their home.

The key is to look at what's transferable and apply that to other spaces, she said.

"You feel so much better. By freeing up your physical space you free up your mental and emotional states as well," she said. "You truly feel lighter. You can get a lot more accomplished."

Making the most of your time

-- Schedule tasks in a day planner or organizer instead of making lists. Scheduling activities in specific blocks of time helps make sure they get accomplished.

-- Build in an hour at home every day for "productivity time." Plan the hour around your most productive periods and use it to do the things that take the most energy.

-- Break projects into chunks to keep them from being overwhelming. Consider starting in the middle rather than from the beginning. "Most projects have lots of places you can start from," said Vicki Voisin, a professional organizer.

-- Make sure everything you need for a project is on hand before you begin it.

-- Use a timer as an organizational tool. Turn it on for 15 minutes and focus on a single task. When it goes off, set it again or move on to something else.

-- Keep action files on your desk in vertical file folders and use them organize projects. Labels might be: "things to do today," "things to delegate" and "things to do next week."

-- Keep index cards on your desk and use them to jot down things you need to do as you think of them. Drop the index cards in an action file and go on with what you were doing.

-- Organize papers in three-ring binders.

-- Avoid checking e-mail first thing in the morning. "Its so easy to let your mind wander. You click on a link and youre in e-mail land," said Voisin. "You cant be in e-mail land and get work done."

-- Use an Internet password organizer.

-- Dont multitask unless the tasks use different parts of the brain. Multi-asking allows you to lose focus.

Source: Vicki Voisin

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