Be Organized Now

  In another post, 3 Best Declutter Questions for "The Collection" , I covered 3 essential questions I ask  clients while helping them decide what to discard.  There are also some basic questions for paper clutter , and if put into practice they build some real "mental muscle" when confronting stacks of paper.  I once watched a particular client in just one session go from total indecision about every piece of paper she touched to literally flipping paper into the recycle/trash piles at a glance as if she were dealing cards!  😁 Question #1 What's the worst thing that can happen to me if it didn't exist?   (If nothing, or something really minor, toss.) Question #2 Is it replaceable (on the web, by phone call to original source, logging in to your account somewhere, etc)? This includes bills and monthly statements... Almost any so called important piece of paper that comes into our homes and requires a payment or has to do with financial, medical or tax-re...

    While wandering through my head one day, thinking about paper clutter, the following occurred to me after working with a particular home organizing client. A couple of my clients (including the one in mind) have kept "pet" snakes among their "collections". Unlike the rest of the accumulations, the snake isn’t usually considered part of the excess, though I wonder about that…  Pet just doesn’t mesh well in my mind with snake . Pet evokes images of cuddly, furry, warm creatures, alternately comforting and/or amusing us as we interact with them through daily life. We speak of loving our pets, as if they were people. Not so the snakes. I haven’t heard that kind of sentimental talk about them yet. Announcing that you keep one elicits a broad range of responses, generally negative; in fact, “aversion” seems mild for the most common reaction. As for usefulness or entertainment value,...

The "collection"?  Yes, that's my euphemism for the mountain of mostly useless possessions the majority of people in the USA live with, aka junk, or "clutter" .😏 And when it comes time to declutter, there are some key questions I use to help clients make decisions about "editing" (discarding) things from the collection.  If you're working with me as your home organizing consultant, you'll hear me ask a the decluttering questions pretty often, especially when you hit a decision-making snag in the process. Maybe you'd like to try the decluttering process yourself with out professional assistance, but you're pretty overwhelmed; possibly you've tried in the past without much success. Maybe these questions will help you, if even on just a small project like a single drawer.   #1 question: If this object were lost or destroyed in a flood or a fire, would you replace it?  NOTE: The "I can't!! It's an heirloom" reaction...