Lisa Geraci Rigoni, owner and chief declutter officer of The Organizing Mentors, has been assisting her clients reclaim their space both mentally and physically for more than 10 years. Rigoni and her team also coach clients to help implement productive strategies and inspire confidence while organizing.
Laine Hardman started Tidy Up to help Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland residents gain control of their personal lives. The mom of four works to create peace of mind through helping clients or their children with orderly kitchens, toys, closets and more.
Suzan Stacy of Organize by Suzan was inspired to start her own business after organizing her family’s home of 45 years into her mother’s downsize. Her business now offers customized organizational strategies for moving services and to transform residential clutter.
Why declutter?
Rigoni: Regular decluttering is part of all of our lives, whether we are conscious of it or not. We clean out our refrigerator, we sort through mail, when the kids (or adults) grow out of clothes, taking out the trash, doing chores. … The challenge is when all that gets piled up and it becomes an overwhelming task. Having less clutter is beneficial for every part of your life. It affects our focus, confidence and health … along with many other areas.
Stacy: It is important to declutter because “stuff” or “clutter” actually has an energy to it. Living in a cluttered environment is very draining and can put up blocks to all different areas of your life, including relationships. I have actually seen clients lives change as they go through the declutterring/organizing process. It seems to lift a burden and opens all kinds of doors. And I don’t mean that in a “new age-y” way. For instance, someone has gone through a rough divorce and their home has become a cluttered dumping ground; it’s like that is a blockade to keep potential relationships away. When they get to a point where they want to date again, as they clear out their home and get rid of the excess it seems to open up their lives to make room for someone new. They are no longer embarrassed by their home, they have more energy, more time, etc. And this same principle would apply to all areas of people’s lives.
Strategies for sorting and storing paperwork
Hardman: I think the most important thing to remember when working with mail and paperwork is “touch it once.” By this I mean when opening mail, have a system already in place with files labeled: “Action,” “To Read,” “To File,” “To Pay.” Anything you don’t need goes right in the recycle bin—right now. Same goes with paperwork. Set up a system so that you have files ready so that when you get home from say, the vet, you can put that paperwork right into the dog’s file. If you don’t have time to file right now, keep a ‘To File” file so that you can tackle this when you have time later. If space is tight in your filing cabinet, you can use the following system: Files that you need more often should be kept in a filing cabinet near your desk or work space (your “prime real estate”). Files that you need less often, like wills, real estate papers, taxes, birth certificates, etc., can be kept in a waterproof plastic file box in a closet. This might help you avoid bulging and tight file cabinets.
Rigoni: The biggest struggle we see is with mail and kids’ school papers and craft projects.
For mail: nip it in the bud—when you get it from the mailbox, immediately separate the recycling (promotions, magazines you do not want, flyers and such) and pop right into recycle bin. The rest open as soon as possible and put them where they need to go: bills, future events … and envelopes go right in with recycling. For kids’ projects and school work, have them pick out a few things they would like to keep. When my daughter was young I used to send her little pictures and drawings to her grandparents and aunts and uncles. They really enjoyed receiving something in the mail from their granddaughter and also being able to put the artwork up on the refrigerator. I like keeping things with a hand print or something personal she wrote about herself or family member. I still only keep my daughter’s projects from the start of the year and the end of the year, to see how she has improved in each subject.
Maintaining a neat workspace
Hardman: The top of your desk should be set up in a way that works for you. I like horizontal stacking trays with files that I need daily stored in them. A lot of people like vertical file holders. Whether you keep the files in alphabetical order or most-used files on top, or grouped by category (kid, bills, action), it just has to work for you.
Rigoni: Try to only keep out what you need at the moment. This is actually an area I sometimes struggle with because I seem to have too many things going on all the time. So if you came over and looked at my office area you would never believe I was a professional organizer. It does work for me and that’s how we treat every one of our clients. If it works for them and they can function, then it works for us.
Stacy: Containers. Sort and purge everything on and in the desk. Determine where items will live (on top of the desk? in a drawer?) and then find containers to help it stay that way. Especially drawer organizers—they keep things from sliding all over the drawers and reverting right back to where you started.
Back-to-school shopping advice
Hardman: Keeping one plastic bin of extra school supplies is a great idea. When shopping for back-to-school items, buy an extra box of pencils, index cards, filler paper, glue sticks, etc., so you have it on-hand when needed. Same for printer ink and tri-fold posterboards. This helps avoid the 9 p.m. run to Staples the night before the project is due.
Rigoni: Definitely go through what the kids brought home last year and did not use. We used to set up our dining room table and collect all the potential school supplies from around the house. That way when we went shopping we knew exactly what we were lacking and could just focus on that.
Stacy: Enjoy the time with your children, make an event of it. Take them to lunch after. And buy Crayola. Not off brands.
Keep your kids accountable this school year
Hardman: I have four kids and they are all very different. One likes to keep her work organized by class and carries it all every day. Another kid prefers to keep his work together based on which day it is and what he needs that day (he doesn’t go to every class every day). Always, do a purge at the end of the semester. They may need to keep old work at home for later but maybe not in their binder and/or back pack. Let them determine what goes and what stays. It is also a good idea for working adults. Every two or three months, purge old papers, expired coupons, catalogs that never got read, magazines that you aren’t going to get to, etc. Maintenance will keep you from that feeling of “it is all too much, I don’t know where to start, so I am not even going to try.”
Rigoni: My daughter likes to use a productivity book. She received one in middle school and has used one ever since. During each class she would write down what she needed to do for homework and when it was due. Also, set some time aside before the weekend starts to look at what needs to be accomplished by Monday. That way the kids aren’t waiting until Sunday night to look and see what is potentially due the next day. It also
helps when the parents are organized themselves. Again, whatever that looks like to them.
Stacy: Set up a caddy with all items the student will need for the year; pencils, crayons, colored pencils, highlighters, ruler, compass, protractor, calculator, notecards, Post-its, etc. (This will all depend upon grade and subjects.) The Homework Caddy is sacrosanct. Items in it are to only be used for school work. This way they can take the caddy with them wherever they are working on homework and not have to waste time looking for any tools. And for papers: set realistic goals depending on the child’s age and inclinations. For some younger children, a realistic goal might simply be making sure papers get back and forth to school safely.