Organize!

By: Andrea Schuch

I was recently inspired to get my house, office and car organized. I like the way an organized house (and everything else) looks but with two kids at home and a husband overseas, there is only so much time and unfortunately, it doesn’t go towards cleaning. Now that my kids are moving around (Henry took his first steps recently), those little hands gravitate towards anything within reach. All the more reason to put everything where it belongs and not have things laying around waiting to be pulled on top of one’s head. I took the long weekend to clean up and make sure everything was washed, vacuumed and dusted before I took off for my in-laws for the week. This activity was very freeing and felt like I was taking a load off my shoulders. The only problem is that for everything I cleaned up, I saw ten more things to clean or to pack up that I didn’t want to clean anymore. This made me think that if there was less “stuff” around; I could really appreciate the nicer things more and have more brain power to take care of the things that really matter. I guess I’m just going through a purging phase where I feel like I need to get rid of all of it…
I was recently talking to a designer who said she feels that if a person is organized, they can accomplish more and better quality work. I really feel this way in my life and definitely notice that I feel like I’m getting more done – this may not actually be the case but it definitely makes me feel better. Another designer, in a completely different set of circumstances, told me that she needed to have a clear space to clear her mind. While two years ago I would have thought nothing of it, the post-baby me surely finds respite in a clean desk and neatly stacked and organized papers.
So although my desk doesn't show of it, my home surely does this week and here are a few tips I have to share:

1. Deadlines! Without a deadline, things never get done in my house. My husband would agree that I'm a 90% person. I power through the first 90% and then float around for the last 10% of any project. With a deadline, That 10% floats a little faster.
2. Focus on what you really want to see. I've decided that I only want to see the nice things. I'm packing up everything else so all that's left (besides the kid's toys) are things that I love to see. It really relaxes my mind and lets me focus on the things that I really need to.
3. Take everything apart and put it back together. I know this sounds like a lot of work but for me, this is really what it takes. If I take everything apart, I might find a great place for something that I didn't see before. As designers, we often use this with clients but I don't always think to do it for myself.

Translating this to helping clients is really what we are great at in the design industry. Usually we can spot a few things to change when walking into a client's home - the trick is to get the client to see it too.

What is your favorite organizing trick?