With the heavy snowfall came a real organizing buzz– the snow just keeps coming and people just keep finding order!

I am so surprised how many people have commented to me that they were getting organized while they were stuck at home. I thought it might be interesting to explore some reasons why that might be happening. Here are a few I came up with, and PLEASE feel free to comment on a few more!

• It creates time available to organize. Our regular agenda shifts and our normal routine moves to the back burner
• It provides chunks of time that are required for bigger projects
• There is time to clear the decks of the little things
• Nothing is competing with organizing
• Organizing gives us a sense of accomplishment and it’s a way to not feel stuck

Here are some tips for organizing when you are stuck at home:

• Organize your tax information and be ready now so you can enjoy that spring weather in April!
• Pull out those photographs and spread them out on the dining room table and start sorting!
• Delete all those emails that are clogging your inbox and get rid of files you will never use.
• Clean out that recipe box, you may find the perfect cozy treat.
• Update your calendar with birthdays and anniversaries.
• Update your address list and card lists so you are ahead of the game next holiday season.
• Go through your medicine cabinet to clear out expired medications.
• Clean out and update your music on itunes.

The new A&E Show HOARDERS is really creating a buzz in our industry and I am trying to decide how I feel about it. First, let me say that I know the Professional Organizers featured on this show personally and I have a great deal of respect for their work. My comments relate to the show and how it is produced more than the actually work they are doing.

Although the show “spotlights” organizing and bring attention to a segment of the population we serve, I am not sure it portrays the process well. I have concerns anytime a show has to document a long process over a very short time and accentuates the drama more than the growth. This can make actual hoarding clients shy away from getting help. A typical hoarder client is trying to change the way they think about their stuff and figure out why they are holding and collecting so much stuff. The process is SLOW as they relearn and reframe. Trust is a huge factor. Time is spent making small changes to the “rules” and often that means organizers are working at the hoarder’s pace and making small changes at first. This leads to real learning and an increased chance of results that last. In my experience working at a rapid pace stresses out a hoarding client and they are unable to continue. The work is painstaking at first but learning occurs and the work gets easier as these clients build their decision making muscles.

The show features people who are usually facing eviction and have literally run out of options. At least they are making some movement, and it obviously takes that kind of situation to make a move, but it is like a crash diet the results don’t hold. One thing the show does do is to provide $4,500.00 of after-care to help these people recover from this event and work on their issues. The concern of trauma and maintenance are much higher when the process is forced and accelerated. The danger here is that people who watch this may think that they can just start dumping out their loved ones things over a weekend to address the problem and that is so much more than that. My inbox has been flooded with people who have watched this show and have decided that “they can do this” — and with training, they can. The lead organizers on the show have been specially trained in this specialty.

I guess the exposure is good, but they should be careful to educate the audience to make sure that hoarders who need our help understand that the real process is slower, less dramatic and they have much more control. They also need to know that there are organizers specifically trained for this and compassionate help is out there.

Yesterday I pulled out of my driveway and scraped my car against the corner of my neighbors house. This of course resulted in a srapes along three panels of my car and the corner of my neighbors house FELL OFF! My husband was in the drivway and helped me sort of re-attached some loose trim and talked to the home owner. Finally we both drove off to our appointment and I hear a THUD. I look in my rear veiw mirror only to see all of my husbands papers, drawings and measurements for a closet install scattered all over the road behind me. Apparently he had put these on the roof when he stopped to help! From there it seemed like my bad day was building. I felt like everything little challenge yesterday was overwhelming. Normal things like even deciding what to have for dinner were a struggle.

Looking back, I was building a bad day. If I had changed my perspective, I may not have had categorized the string of events that followed as part of my “bad day” and I may have handled them with a more positive attitude. Shift in thinking are so powerful. Often when people are disorganized, they have “strings of events” that turn south. Try not to wallow in it. Stop and make a mental shift and see how you can get on with a good day!

You will be amazed at what you accomplish when you write it down. Goals are not always about accomplishing, sometimes they are just about noticing and intention. When I look at the goals I wrote down years ago it amazes me that I have just been steadily checking them off almost subconsciously. Often people are not feeling fulfilled and actually sort of beat themselves up about not accomplishing things. I often think that had they written down what they wanted to do, they would see that they are actually getting many huge things accomplished! So write it down this year and watch your dreams come true!

Sometimes being right does not add up to great results. Sometimes we get stuck doing things a certain way because at some point it seemed like the “right” way. As life changes our systems need to as well. Sometimes we get stuck in our old habits and don’t recognize that they are too complicated for our current life demands. If clipping news articles and sending them to friends seemed like a good idea years ago and now you are overwhelmed with papers and clipping it may be time to look at a new way to achieve that goal of sending info to other people. If someone has been fighting with you to make you try a new system-often that makes you hold onto the old system tighter. Especially if you at some point felt it was the “right” thing to do! When we start fighting for our “right stems” we become entrenched in that thinking and really “dig in”. Even when we see that the system is overloaded and not working well, it has now become a matter of principle above all else. Any rational alternative suggestion (like using the Internet) is shot down while you drown in being “right”.

If you notice that happening in your life. Be brave and take a baby step towards making changes. Those changes don’t mean that you are wrong, they simply mean that you have decided to try a new way. It is scary sometimes so surround yourself with people that are going to support your journey and not make you hold onto that old way of thinking.

So many times people call me for organizing help and they ashamed of their problem with disorganization. Some people really understand how to get organized- but are overwhelmed by everyday life and get behind. Others really do not know where to begin and have struggled with being disorganized their whole life. Still others are embarrassed of their failures and often had been made to be feel bad about themselves for their problem.

I feel that is my primary goal to EMPOWER these people to take the next step. It is an honor to be trusted to an exposed weakness and help. I often tell clients “If this was easy, it would be done”! My intention is to help clients get “unstuck” and to give the the hope, resources and hands on help they need to move ahead. Our greatest successes are helping people begin to help themselves.