This week I've been considering the idea that the ability to organize is in a person's DNA, an integral part of their genetic code. Either you have it, or you don't.
The title of this post is what one of my clients said she calls my style of organizing..."Valorizing".
I wonder if we'll see this added to the lexicon for 2015?
I love this! Yes, I am an organizer and as far back as I can remember I've been doing it my entire life, driving my family crazy by decluttering and reorganizing, and now it's my profession.
So, the question begs to be asked, who did I inherit it from?
I'm fairly certain I got it from my Dad. Here's why....a
fter looking at before & after photos of drawers on my
, My Dad recently wrote,
"Organizing drawers may be in your DNA from me. When I was small there was a big drawer in the living room my mother had a lot of small things in like pencils, papers, finger nail files, rubber bands, etc. I decided this needed to be organized. Boy did she get mad. She said it was perfectly fine before and now she can't find anything."
Everything in it's place.
Unfortunately for my Dad, he violated one of the cardinal rules of organizing. You've got to get everyone on board, or at the very least, give them an orientation afterwards.
Also, all I ever needed to know about organizing a basement I learned from my Dad. He put everything in large cardboard boxes by category and then labeled them with a thick black magic marker in capital letters. If you can read, you can quickly find everything you need in his basement.
I
t's going to be cinch to help him move.
People tend to ask me lots of questions when they find out I'm a professional organizer. Often these people readily admit that they don't have the "organizer gene" but they are also reluctant to ask for help, much less paying someone.
I find this interesting. We will readily pay for help in other areas of our life...automobile repair, home remodeling, marriage counseling, medical, dental, psychological, accounting, taxes, catering, landscaping, etc. for things that require skills outside our wheelhouse.
Organizing falls into this category too. If you don't possess the skill and your disorganization is causing stress, taking up precious time, an energy drain, and probably wasting money, why not ask for help?
Last week my husband picked up this little gem of a book for me at a Goodwill store...no lie. It probably was donated from someone who bought it to get more organized!
The author has a page devoted to "Lessons from the Silverware Drawer". If you are a person who thinks they do not posess the organization gene, take heart, go look at your silverware drawer. All the forks are together, they are always returned to this same place after use, they are not kept anywhere else, and everyone in your home is in agreement about this.
These are the 4 core principles of organizing!
But, let's not rest in that success for too long because the author also challenges us to find the following objects within our home.
Be honest, can you quickly locate the following or does it take some racking of the brain, digging through a pile, file or maybe even clearing a path?
1. Birth certificate
2. Safety pin
3. Your checkbook
4. The receipt for your computer
5. An extension cord
6. Your 2009 tax returns
I'm using this fun test with the people I talk to about organizing. It's a quick way for them to see just how organized they are....
or not!
So, were you able to find all 6 items quickly?
Time: 1 minute, 52 seconds