Hasta La Ideas

Physical clutter is easy to identify in our lives because you can touch it, take a picture of it, and point to it during an argument with your roommate/co-worker/child/spouse.

“That thing, right there, should not be there!”

Other forms of clutter are more nebulous. If you are worried all the time, you can’t pack that anxiety up and sell it on Craigslist. If your schedule is overbooked, it’s difficult to know which of dozens of activities is the one too many.

To help identify the non-physical clutter in my life, I give myself a timeout. I’ll sit in a comfortable chair, holding a pencil and notebook, and close my eyes. I try to clear my head of all thoughts. Whatever thoughts slip in, I quickly open my eyes and write them down on the notebook paper. Then, I close my eyes again and try to clear my mind of all thoughts. After about 30 minutes, I’m usually able to settle down and enjoy a few moments of real silence.

When I get up from my timeout, I’ll look at the list and try to address everything on it as quickly as possible. Almost everything I write on the notebook paper is related to clutter in some way — I’ll pick up the phone and call a friend I’ve been worried about to see how she’s doing and if she needs anything, I’ll schedule 15 minutes to research information regarding a decision I need to make, or I’ll make a long-overdue appointment with my eye doctor. Even if I can’t solve the problem completely, doing at least something helps to relieve or reduce the clutter burden I’ve been carrying.

I’ve discovered that a monthly timeout helps me to keep the non-physical clutter from growing out of control in my life. If you haven’t tried it before, give the timeout a try and see what happens. Worst case scenario, you’ll fall asleep and conclude you are free of non-physical clutter.

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Taking a break mid-way through a large project to review what you’ve already accomplished can often help you to reach your end goal more smoothly and efficiently. Whether you’re working on a project at work (planning a conference, putting together a proposal) or one at home (uncluttering your kitchen, organizing your garage), the same techniques for creating a status report can be beneficial.

You don’t need to fill out a form or write anything down — although your manager might appreciate a written status report in a workplace setting — simply ask yourself these questions:

1. What have I achieved so far?
2. What unforeseen problems did I encounter?
3. What delayed my work?
4. What helped to advance my work?
5. What would I do differently?

The answers you have for these five questions can help you to determine:

• What problems you might continue to face as you work,
• if your deadline is achievable, and
• if you need to create new action items.

Identifying what you have achieved mid-way through your work can also give you motivation to keep plugging away on your project to reach your goal. It’s easy to feel like you haven’t achieved anything when you’re stuck in the middle of your work, so taking a break can give you the perspective you need to keep going.

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Back on November 3, there was a fun comment thread on Reddit discussing “Where the h*ll do you put clothes you’ve already worn but plan on wearing again??” Many of the commenters agreed that they use:

ks50: the floor.

DJgiantboydetective: my system is even more involved. I’ve got the “worn once but totally good to go” area, and the “kind of questionable but OK if you’re just going to the store” area. the two areas are very clear in my head, but if you looked at them, you’d think my place just got robbed.

VladimirKal: My floordrobe is organised in pretty much the same way. People can never seem to believe that there is actually an organised mess rather than just a mess.

electrostate: FLOORDROBE. You sir are a genius.

I think the “floordrobe” is where a lot of people’s want-to-wear-again clothes end up landing. It’s especially common when the clothes are casual — jeans, t-shirts, shorts — and when their isn’t a system in place to handle these clothes.

Even t-shirts, jeans, and shorts cost money, though. Walking on your clothes and making them susceptible to more dust, dirt, mites, and dander than they would get in a more protective environment significantly shortens the life of your clothing. When you throw your clothes on the floor, you’re wasting money. I guess if you have a never-ending revenue stream, having to buy new clothes earlier than you otherwise would isn’t such a big deal. However, I think most people want their clothing to last them as long as possible, and throwing your clothes on the floor isn’t a way to make that happen.

To avoid using a “floordrobe,” consider the following suggestions:

1. Get ready for bed an hour before you plan to go to sleep. This way, you have enough energy to put your clothes where they actually belong.
2. Always hang up expensive clothes on hangers, especially when you plan to wear the item again — suits, ties, dress shirts. If you’re worried about these previously worn items “contaminating” your other clothes, hang them up at one end of your closet with a separator (a robe? a suit bag?) in between the two types of clothes.
3. Create a permanent storage area for your casual want-to-wear-again clothing. This storage solution might be a separate hamper in a different style than your dirty clothes hamper, a suit valet, an S hook, a hanging shelf/drawer unit, wall hooks, back of door hooks, or even an empty dresser drawer. Invest in whatever solution you will actually use.

Do you use a “floordrobe”? Could one of these alternatives work for you?

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When uncluttering a space, you typically find a handful of objects that belong someplace else in your home, or don’t even belong to you. In your kitchen you might find a tape dispenser that should be stored in your office, or you’ll find a tool in your garage that actually belongs in your neighbor’s garage.

There is a temptation when you find these out-of-place items to stop what you’re doing and return the object to its far-flung location. Unfortunately, abandoning your work can often result in you sitting on your neighbor’s back porch enjoying a beer and procrastinating instead of keeping on task with your uncluttering activity.

Instead of leaving the room, simply put the out-of-place item into a clean clothes hamper. Then, after you’re finished clearing the clutter and organizing the space, you can attend to the significantly out-of-place objects.

Take care of the items that belong in your home first. Group the items in the hamper by area of your home. Next, starting on the top floor of your home, work your way down to the basement, or, if your home is all on one level, work clockwise from the main entrance. Maintaining this pattern will help you to do as little back-tracking as possible.

After the items in your home are returned to their storage places, you’ll need to create a plan of action for items that belong to other people. If there is just one item, take care of it right then (if it’s a decent hour — but if it’s the middle of the night, you may want to wait). If there are multiple items, pull out your calendar and schedule the times when you’ll return the objects to their owners. Resolve to have all items returned within five days so the objects stop cluttering up your home.

The same thing can be done in an office environment, but instead of a clothes hamper you can just use an empty cardboard box. After you’re finished with your office uncluttering project, walk through your workplace and deliver items to your co-workers.

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Lena Brown Designs, an artist who sells her creations on Etsy, has fashioned a product that makes this organized knitter’s heart go pitter patter — The knitting needle or art tool case:

The case has 30 pockets to hold all styles of needles, brushes, materials, supplies, and tools. She even makes custom cases for people who want more than 30 pockets.

If you’re a whiz at sewing, I’m sure you could make a similar needle organizer. I just love how calm the needles look all nestled in their pockets. They’re protected when not in use and ready for their next project. Finding a pair of needles would be so much easier with a case like this instead of the shoebox I’m currently using.

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