SPRING FORWARD

Few things come as easy to me as organizing. So when invited to write about this topic, it was like the mothership calling me home. The only challenge is narrowing down a topic of organization such as workplace, home, time, bills, cleaning schedule, life, etc. The list is endless. Friends have always said I am super organized and have called upon me for help. I have organized garages, basements, moving sales, elementary school classrooms, and small living spaces for friends over the years. A dream of mine would be "personal organizer", with personal being the key word as I would need some sort of certification to be classified as professional, and this girl is done with school!

Thus, as I lay awake in bed, my body rebelling against the time change, I contemplate all this season of new beginnings means. New season, new challenges, a birthday month, new blossoms on the trees in Texas as we actually have a spring season down here, and a new home! We are looking for a new place to live, a fresh start for "my boys", my fur babies, and I as the property we currently live on is being sold. So, the obvious category to write an organizing story about is how to organize a move, right? However, anyone can pack up boxes, write the name of the items on said boxes, and designate which room they will be delivered to. Plus nowadays, moving companies include packing as part of their services, so those that have the money to do so typically choose that convenience. The real challenge comes in dealing with the clutter before the move. This is an area I happen to excel in!

A common mistake made by many is the mentality of "I will deal with that later, after the move". Let's pack that stuff up in boxes marked miscellaneous and we'll deal with them later. Let's rent a storage unit for the stuff we don't need right now and go through it later after the move. We'll toss those in the spare bedroom for now and go through it later after the move. All very understandable mistakes made at a time when just the move itself seems insurmountable. But when cold, hard reality hits, those boxes of miscellaneous end up in the garage or basement. The one month of storage you paid for becomes just another monthly bill six months later. The spare bedroom you wanted for a spare office, craft room, or perhaps, a guest bedroom becomes a space that just causes stress and you close the door on the room and , thus, dealing with it at all.

Personally, that is a recipe for chaos in my world, but I totally get it, and you will find no judgement here! Life is busy at best; everyone gets snowed under at worst. I come from a long line of procrastinators and pack rats (my pc words for hoarders). Whether it's nature (I'm adopted), or nurture (I decided long ago I would not be like that), here I am happily writing this piece to the softly falling rain, dizzy with the thought of helping others with one of my passions; organizing! The trick is where to begin?

Baby steps are best for those easily overwhelmed by clutter. Start with one room only. Next, pick one area of that room focusing on items you will not need or use before the move. I designed an organizing hack, a three step process, a few years back when a friend asked me to help her organize her basement. I use three sheets, a red one, a yellow one, and a green one. Yes, stoplight inspired! The red sheet is for stop-I don't want to get rid of that item. The yellow sheet is for pause-I'm not sure what to do with this item yet, and the green sheet is for go-get rid of this item. I no longer need/use this item anymore. Spread the sheets out and go to work sorting items onto them. Don't think too long, work quickly knowing this isn't the final say yet. This system has proven to be efficient and low stress in several organizing favors I've since helped friends with.

Sentimental items such as jewelry, photo albums, and items worth money such as antiques are definitely red sheet items. Items frequently used, needed , or beloved make easy decisions for the green sheet. The yellow sheet is where hiccups can occur. Everything I read about organizing suggests going by a six months to one year rule for items you are unsure of what to do with. If you have not needed or used it in the last six months or longer, you do not need it anymore and/or will not miss it. Most friends have been just fine with this rule and saw the wisdom behind it. Others that were more reluctant to move these items to the red sheet were comfortable once they made the final decision and I moved the items for them.

Once the items have been sorted, the rest of the decluttering before your move becomes a piece of cake! Green items get boxed up and labeled for moving, yellow items are usually gone by now, and red items have three further choices:

1. Throw away

2. Recycle

3. Donate

Donating and recycling have become so convenient for us, it's literally a crime not to use these services. One friend could not stand to give away these things herself, so I loaded my own car and took them myself. Also, natural disasters tend to motivate people to give things away. It is the mentality that others need it more than you do. I once cleaned out an entire closet after hurricane Katrina. Weather related natural disasters have become so common, likely one happened or is happening right around your move.

So, in closing, as we all spring forward this week, as some emerge from COVID hibernation, and as many of us reset and regroup from an unprecedented year, may your next move be refreshingly stress and clutter free! The nice thing about the ideas in this story is that they can be applied in many situations, not just moving. The icing on the cake is that your new season could include a tidy work space or a decluttered closet or room to fulfill an optimal quality of life.