Spring Cleaning

This is the definition of spring cleaning according to Google:

spring clean·ing

noun: spring clean; plural noun: spring cleans; noun: spring cleaning; plural noun: spring cleanings

1.     a thorough cleaning of a house or room, typically undertaken in spring.

verb: spring-clean; 3rd person present: spring-cleans; past tense: spring-cleaned; past participle: spring-cleaned; gerund or present participle: spring-cleaning

1.     clean (a home or room) thoroughly.

And according to Wikipedia:

Spring cleaning is the practice of thoroughly cleaning a house in the springtime. The practice of spring cleaning is especially prevalent in climates with a cold winter.

Here in Nashville, winter doesn’t exactly always require down vests and thermal long underwear.  Heck, many of us never even bothered to take out our heavy sweaters this year.  But spring is dawning, and that means it’s time for spring cleaning.

Where did the notion of spring cleaning even come from?  One theory is that it originated from the Jewish custom of Passover, or the religious renewal many Christians experience in preparing for Easter.  Or maybe the credit goes to the Chinese, and the customary house cleaning that takes place before the Chinese New Year.

Regardless, humans are more tired in the winter.  Why is that relevant to spring cleaning?  Hormones in our bodies react to the amount of sunlight we receive, and with the shorter, cloudier days that come with winter, we’re put into a sort of extended sleepy stupor.  Longer, sunnier days bring us more energy, hence the arrival of spring cleaning frenzies.  Just look again at Wikipedia’s definition: the practice of spring cleaning is especially prevalent in climates with a cold winter.  So the math works like this:

Winter = sleepiness = laziness = letting the clutter build up.

Yep, I just gave you an excuse for being lazy all winter.

Actually, Wikipedia did.  And since it’s from Wikipedia, that means it’s completely accurate, right?

But now it’s spring, so that excuse was short-lived.  Sorry.

Along with religious rejuvenation and watching nature’s greenery re-emerge, spring can provide a restart for the soul. When we decide to scrub down every surface in our homes and clear the clutter, we are clearing away the weight of cabin fever and starting anew.

Don’t forget that besides cleaning, the de-cluttering aspect of spring cleaning is just as important.  Just as grime builds up on the inside of your oven, clutter builds up around your house.  If you take the time to actually look at it, you may realize just how much stuff built up over the dark, dreary months.  Purging unwanted items and creating clear, clean spaces brings peace to the mind and soul, and we highly recommend it.

When you’re wiping down the pantry shelves, go ahead and dig through all that food in the back and check for expiration dates.  Cleaning the bathroom drawers?  Surely there’s some make-up or old lotion in there that you tried once and decided you don’t even like.  If you’re never going to use it again, toss it out.  Maybe even take a look at some of those winter clothes you haven’t worn in over a year.

It’s not that hard, and it will help you feel a whole lot better.  I promise.  You are literally helping your house lose weight.  Just in time for swimsuit season, too.

-Heidi

Professional Organizer &  Organizing Enthusiast

Resolutions or Goals? To Set or Not to Set...

I stopped making New Year's resolutions several years ago because this is how it usually went... I would decide that starting January first, I would stop or start some lofty habit. By the middle of February my steam had fizzled out. I spent the rest of the month feeling lousy having disappointed myself, yet again.

I would tell myself that my failure was because "I set unrealistic goals." "I'm a serial high-achiever." "I'm an idealist." But, who was I kidding? I failed because the goals I set and the image I had of myself did not match. I failed because I didn't actually want to reach the goal or to do the resolution I made. Or perhaps I didn't really want to do the work necessary to achieve the goal.

Now, if you are one of those people who can pull off their New Year's resolutions, I salute you, and you can stop reading! But, first, please teach a class so I can attend, because I am not that person.

For the rest of us who struggle with New Year's resolutions, may I encourage us to stop making them? Additionally, can I encourage us to pause before we set any goals at any time of the year? Let's get some coffee or tea and have an honest conversation about our self image. If you're on our website and social media, it's likely because you are interested in organizing. Perhaps you want or need to get organized. Perhaps you feel stuck. If so, this article may help. 

I ask you to consider this premise: to the same degree that you feel disorganized you likely have a correlating sense of embarrassment, shame or frustration. To comfort you, I've included some pictures of my own garage and basement, right now. Yes, even organizers have areas to work on. 

Back to that self-image, as long as we see ourselves how we have always seen ourselves, we will continue to think and to act as we have always thought and acted. If we want to behave differently, we have to grow our mind. Repeat after me: I am the most dynamic and extraordinary of all of God's creation! Try this one on for size: Who I have seen myself to be has served me well, until now. This image no longer fits me, and I am growing. I AM growing.

How are we growing? Using myself as an example, my leading phrase for 2017 is "If not now, when?" I decided on this phrase, because I have a habit of feeling overwhelmed by the numerous ideas and projects that I come up with then put off out of fear. This may have served me in the past but no longer. Now, I am growing more bold. I am growing more focused. I am the most dynamic and extraordinary of all God's creations, and I am becoming a newer version of me. That is what I am saying to myself. 

What are you saying? How are you growing?

If you want to see more simplicity and organization in your life -- it doesn't necessarily start with organizing. It doesn't even start with us helping you. It starts in your mind.

OLD THOUGHT:     "I wish I wasn't so busy, I would have more time to organize, to think..." 

NEW THOUGHT:     "I am growing in knowing my own boundaries. I'm growing, and it is helpful to delegate. I have good thoughts and ideas."

OLD THOUGHT:     "I am just not an organized person."

NEW THOUGHT:     "I am growing, and I accept myself just as I am, right now. I am also growing in my skill to organize. I can learn anything."

OLD THOUGHT:     "I don't know how to organize. I don't know where to start."

NEW THOUGHT:     "I am growing. I am competent, capable and amazing. So, I am growing in my skill to organize. I can ask for help. I can do this."

OTHER NEW THOUGHTS: 

"I am growing in patience with myself and others."

"I am more flexible than ever."

"I am growing in boldness."

"I am growing. I can start. I can try. I am more energized than ever."

Let us start here, seeing ourselves with the knowledge that we are growing. By March, instead of finding a resolution list taunting us with failure, we will see a new image in the mirror celebrating its confidence and beauty and tackling life's goals and challenges.

Rest assured, new challenges will come along. New goals will need to be set. Thankfully, these won't be as scary, overwhelming, or hard, because we will have cast off our old garments, our old ways, and grown to fit the new ways required to climb these mountains. Our January self learned to grow. Our January self learned that any new challenge simply requires a new wardrobe of thoughts.

I am so proud of you! It is difficult to face the inner self. It is easier to try and fix external things. But, you are growing, and now it is time. It is time because you are reading this. "If not now, when?" You have got this, so go on; give it a go. One small step. See you later this year!

"Success is a progressive realization of a worthy ideal." -- Earl Nightingale

-Autumn

Organizer and Lifestyle Management guru

Lighten the Load

Why are some of us so obsessed with organizing?  Does it bring peace of mind?  Yes.  Do some of us have OCD tendencies that are only satisfied by making a room look picture-perfect?  Definitely.  People often ask me why I’d want to clean up after others, but I firmly tell them that what we do isn’t cleaning; organizing is completely different.  

Picture coming home from work and the kids are whining, the dog is barking, notifications are chiming nonstop on your phone, you have emails to send and phone calls to make, dinner to cook, and no time to clean up the mess in the living room before that dinner party this weekend.  Your daughter decides she will only eat apples for a snack, and after opening every single kitchen drawer, you still can’t find the apple slicer.  You’re trying to calm down the lack-of-sliced-apples situation when your boss calls asking about paperwork you can’t seem to recall.  Then your son tosses his sweaty shin guards into the living room, knocks over a drink onto the new carpet, and you spend so long looking for the carpet cleaner that it’s too late, and there’s already a stain.

Now imagine that you knew that the apple slicer is always kept in the second drawer to the right of the sink, and that you can cut that apple while on the phone assuring your boss that you do indeed have the paperwork he needs, because you know exactly which file in your office has that specific paperwork.  And you know that when your son gets home from soccer practice he knows to put his shin guards in the bin in the mudroom labeled ‘shin guards,’ instead of on the middle of the living room floor.

Maybe if life was like that, you’d breathe a little easier.  Maybe it would help you to realize that yes, even amongst chaos, you can have your life together.

Now don’t get me wrong, no one has got it all together.  Not even professional organizers.  We’re all human, just like you.  And eight-year-old boys will not always put their shin guards away, even if they know exactly where to put them.

But do I personally keep my files in order, and know where to find my apple slicer?  Yes.  Does it make me feel more in control in my own home, and less burdened?  You bet.

Organizing helps.

That’s why our tagline is what it is: Lifting burdens.

According to a study from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, clutter in the home can actually affect your hormones.  The study found that women living in more cluttered homes had higher reports of depression, whereas those who lived less cluttered homes were able to better control stress and negative thoughts.

Becoming organized is like discovering something you didn’t realize you were missing out on.  Like hearing music for the first time through Beats headphones, or switching from Converse to Nike Frees.  Or sailing.  Or homemade cheesecake.  Or How I Met Your Mother.

I think you get the point.

-Heidi

Professional Organizer &  Organizing Enthusiast