Posts tagged Container Store
How to Use Virtual Organizing as the Bridge to Help You Achieve Your Goals

What do tea bags, Elfa drawers, and virtual organizing have in common? The tea bags represent what needs organizing. The Elfa drawers embody an organizing solution. Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.

One benefit of the ‘bridge’ (virtual organizing) is the traveling-the-road aspect. In the time it takes to move from one place to another, you get to:

  • Rethink what’s working and what isn’t

  • Clarify your goal

  • Open your mind to alternate solutions

  • Think creatively

  • Discover alternate possibilities

  • Identify what’s holding you back

  • Mentally prepare to take action

  • Brainstorm with a professional who is 100% focused on your success

In essence, virtual organizing affords you the time and space to think through your organizational challenges and solutions. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong about diving into the action piece. However, designating time to discuss, reflect, and clarify can enrich and empower your organizing outcomes.

 

Virtual Organizing Benefits in Real Life (IRL)

For example, a client might need one or more sessions to discuss their challenges with letting go of sentimental or aspirational clothing. It’s valuable to tease out the thought patterns and potential obstacles. They take time to consider and sit with those ideas before taking action.

Sometimes, they move forward on their own. Yet, often, they find it helpful to devote some virtual organizing sessions to work with me on active editing, decision-making, and letting go. That means we’re not only talking about it, but they are doing the physical work as I support them through the process.

  

Releasing Stuck Energy

I’ve observed something fascinating for myself and my clients. When you begin editing, letting go, and clearing a space, it creates a path for new solutions and ideas. When things remain status quo, the energy in a space and your thinking can get stuck. But once you stir the pot, incredible changes happen.

Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.
— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

An Unexpected Project Outcome

One of the recent projects I’ve been working on is redoing our guest bedroom, which was our daughter’s bedroom. Renovating it has been on my ‘want to do’ list for many years. Finally, its time arrived. I will share more about that exciting transformation in the coming weeks.

However, for now, I’ll tell you about an unexpected outcome. One of the unanticipated side benefits came when we emptied the room to prepare for painting it. I removed the small Elfa drawer unit and temporarily placed it in the pantry. I wasn’t sure if we’d put it back into the bedroom post-renovation. After a few days of observing the cabinet in this other location, I decided to make it pantry-worthy.

I removed the games and playing cards and repurposed the cabinet for tea, spices, and food-related items. I also found these fabulous Container Store Elfa drawer dividers, which keep the items in the drawers organized and in place. It makes me giggle whenever I open the drawer and see those dividers. I love the reimagined cabinet!

If I hadn’t been willing to disrupt one space, I might not have improved another. Like my clients, I gave myself time and the opportunity to think through my organizing systems, get creative, and try something new.

Disrupting a space has value, as does having a thought and accountability partner to help you navigate to the other side of the bridge.

  

Virtual Organizing is an Empowering Path

What have you disrupted lately? What benefit have you received from your virtual organizing sessions? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Do you want help getting unstuck, planning, or creating new organizing systems? If so, I’m ready to help. Please email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.

 
 
10 Best Sources for Organizing Help

Whether you are organizationally challenged, highly organized or somewhere in between, there are times when we want to enlist help. That help can come in many forms like hiring organizational professionals, reading books about organizing, or finding the perfect storage container. Organizing resources are abundant. The sheer volume available can be overwhelming. To help you get started, I’ve narrowed down the options.

10 Best Sources for Organizing Help

1. Best Association for Finding Professional Organizers: National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professional (NAPO)

With over 4,000 professional organizers in NAPO’s easy to search database, you will surely be able to find an organizer. My post, 6 Tips for Hiring a PO can help you evaluate which one is the right fit for you.

 

2. Best Information on Chronic Disorganization: Institute for Challenging Disorganization (ICD)

This organization is the premier resource on chronic disorganization with top-notch education and strategies for the disorganized, professional organizers and related professionals. I’m looking forward to attending the annual conference this September, Overcoming Obstacles in Chicago.

 

3. Best How to Organize Book: Organizing Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin

This book is well organized, easy to use, and features multiple ways of approaching organizing challenges. Donna recognizes that there isn’t a one size fits all method of organizing. For each challenge, she includes multiple solutions supplied by various organizers. You can read the entire book or just the passages that apply to your particular organizing issues.

 

4. Best Book about Challenging Disorganization: The ICD Guide to Challenging Disorganization edited by Kate Varness, CPO-CD, MA

This newly released book is a fabulous guide for understanding some of the core issues surrounding disorganization. The collection of articles by 32 industry leaders includes topics such as learning styles, hoarding, ADHD, depression, and collaborative therapy. I’m honored to be one of the contributors.

 

5. Best Variety of Organizing Products:  The Container Store

This favorite store (online and in-store) is the best place to find consistently stocked, interesting, durable, and beautifully designed organizing products. The staff is well trained, knowledgeable, courteous, and helpful. It’s this organizer’s dream store.

 

6. Best Stylish Organizing Products:  See Jane Work

When I’m looking for unique organizing products, I love visiting this website to see what Holly Bohn, the Founder and Creative Director of See Jane Work has discovered. She has a great eye and finds wonderful new products to add fun and pizzazz to the organizing experience.

 

7. Best Virtual Organizing Help:  Clutter Diet

Lorie Marrero, author of The Clutter Diet and creator of ClutterDiet.com has developed an innovative program allowing anyone to get expert virtual organizing help and advice at an affordable price. Her website is filled with tips, videos, and organizing support. This past spring, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lorie about clutter for our “Ask the Expert” feature.

 

8. Best Organizing App:  2Do: Task Done in Style

There are hundreds of to do management apps, and new ones keep coming. I haven’t tried them all, but I do use this one on a daily basis and absolutely love it! Not only does it appeal to my visual sensibility, but also it allows me to organize projects, actions, grouped and sorted, as I like. It has reminders, alarms, and syncing capabilities. How did I live without it?

 

9. Best Organizing Tips Blog: Peace of Mind Organizing

My friend and colleague, Janine Adams is a wonderful writer and blogger with a fabulous sense of humor and style. Just visiting her blog leaves me feeling uplifted and calmer. She always has something interesting to say or share about organizing, products, and habit changing.

 

10. Best Organizing Blog Featuring Professional Organizers: Professional Organizers Blog Carnival

Janet Barclay, Founder of the Organized Assistant, has a blog with monthly themes like organizing closets, computers, email, and families. She invites professional organizer bloggers to submit posts on a particular topic. Her blog is a wonderful resource for learning about different strategies and getting to know lots of organizers. Later this month, I’m looking forward to sharing my interview with Janet about enlisting help for our “Ask the Expert” feature.

Everyone needs help now and then. If you’re ready to reach out, these “best” resources are a great place to begin. Do you have a favorite organizing resource? Do you have any thoughts about a resource mentioned above? Come join in our conversation.