Dear   ,  
 

Happy Father's Day, Anniversary, Graduation, and first day of Summer! 

June is a busy time, with lots of parties and visitors stopping by.  Are you ready to have people drop in on your house?  How can you get ready for summer without
shoving everything into the nearest closet or throwing it down the cellar stairs?   Read below for some tips on Organizing in a Hurry! 

Also find more info this month on recycling, a class on downsizing for seniors, and a great idea for a wedding gift that's not just another fondue set.  Give me a call if you could use some organizing help.  I'll help you graduate from Cluttered to Clear!

- Maryann Murphy 

Organizing in a Hurry!

A client of mine recently confessed that whenever he had company coming to visit, he did a "clean sweep", sweeping whatever clutter was out on the tables or the floor into boxes, and then putting those boxes up on a shelf.  His place looked organized, but the boxes never got emptied, and important paperwork and other items got lost.  I did it the other day myself when company was coming - after all, I'm a professional organizer, so my place has to look neat and tidy all the time, right?  And then I spent 20 minutes the next morning looking for my missing pair of shoes!

Do you ever shove things into closets, push them under the bed, throw them into the back room (and then NEVER show anyone that room)? 

This kind of "tidying up" tends to happen when we're in a hurry and visitors are coming.  So how do we tidy up in a hurry without losing our things forever?  Here are a few tips:

• Start with the room your visitors will see first. You don't have to tidy up every room in the house if your visitors will just be in the kitchen (and maybe the bathroom).  Besides, their first view makes the biggest impression, so if they come in the front door, see how nice and neat it looks, they'll think that's the norm for your house.  Then when they get to the back rooms (if they ever get there), they'll believe you when you tell them you have a very messy nephew who's visiting (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it)!
• When you start your clean up, take a minute to grab a box or bag for each room in the house.  Then as you move through one room at a time, put the extra items you find into the box for where it's supposed to go. Don't throw everything in one box; make decisions about where it goes next - laundry room, home office, daughter's bedroom, etc.  That way, at least you'll be able to find things in the right place when you look for them next.
• Crank up the music! The right music gives you more energy, and can even make it fun. Set a timer for each area and see how much you can finish in 10 minutes (items shoved into the wrong drawers do not count)! 
• Use this time to get rid of things permanently.  Often my clients have trouble deciding whether or not to get rid of old magazines, broken chairs or musty papers.  When you've got the pressure of company coming, you may find it's easier to make those final decisions about trashing or recycling things.  As you look at your rooms through the eyes of your impending visitor, you may suddenly realize that you don't need those things anymore and you're willing to donate or recycle them.  USE this change of heart, and instead of shoving them into a closet, put them directly into your recycle bin or donation bag, and put them directly in the car or at the curb so they do not come back to the house.
• Of course, the best way to avoid the clean sweep dilemma is to get organized, create consistent places to store everything you want to keep, and then schedule time to stay organized every day.  If you need help creating an organizing system, call me to schedule an appointment.  I can help you find a place for everything so your next "clean sweep" will only take a few minutes and actually work to keep things where they belong!

• Member, National Speakers Association and NSA-NE
• Chronic Disorganization Specialist, Institute for Challenging Disorganization
• Chair of Education Task Force, National Association of Professional Organizers New England chapter
• Member, Mashpee Hoarding Task Force
• President, Marion Toastmasters Club
• Secretary, American Business Woman's Association of Cape Cod

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www.maryannmurphymsw.com

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