How Clutter Affects Your Mental Health

We don’t hide our crazy we put it on the front porch and give it a cocktail. 

Although southerners love this expression sometimes hiding your crazy is a necessary thing, keeping your spaces clutter free is emotionally helpful to you and your family. 

Psychology Today reports:

Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli, distracts us, makes it more difficult to relax, makes us anxious, signals to our brains that our work is never done, creates feelings of guilt, inhibits productivity, and frustrates us.

Your home is your sanctuary or at least it should be. It’s your safe haven from the chaos you face every time you go out into the world. If you return from a chaotic world to just another home version of cluttered chaos, over time this stress will have impact on your health and psyche. Clearing the surfaces of clutter by getting rid of it or containing it will help you find the peace you are longing for at home.

Having a home for your things so there is not clutter on all the surfaces is the key to winning your day. 

However; with Pinterest, Instagram and the plethora of coffee table quality books featuring beautifully organized spaces there is no wonder getting organized puts fear into people’s faces. Behind those closet doors lies the reality that we are busy and far from perfect. It makes our fears become reality. All those pictures of matching containers in the perfectly organized closet paralyzes us. 

It’s important to remember, just the act of being organized creates a beautiful, serene space. 

Matching containers and beautiful labels are not necessary for a well-organized space. This is something you can work towards, changing out your containers a little at a time yet all the while living an organized life. In fact, all of your items do not necessarily even need to be contained. Containers are great for many things but at times can be an added frustration.

The goal is to finding solutions that work for you and your family. These solutions come from knowing what questions to ask yourself; starting with "Is this item helpful or hurtful to my goal?" Our organizers are experts at getting to the crux of your problems and developing solutions to help you win your day by streamlining your processes. Let us help you clear the clutter and so that you can recharge in your peaceful home. While we can park our crazy on the front porch and give it a cocktail, some days we just need to relax with the cocktail and contain the crazy.

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On Thursday January 30th at noon, I will be joining Designer Arianne Bellizaire, on her Facebook live show. We will address the benefits and values of having an organized space and how you can achieve that goal.

Interested in learning more? Join the conversation on www.facebook.com/chaosorganizing or www.instagram.com/chaosorganizing.

Like this? Let us know by liking our blog at the bottom of the page and sharing it with a friend who might like it as well. 

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Win the Day, Win a Moment, Win Some Peace

“How are you helping me win the day?”

Many times I am asked to tell the Chaos Organizing Story. Truthfully, it’s not that exciting. The short version: I was a teacher and while I loved being a teacher, I knew I should be doing something more. I couldn’t explain the feeling; it was just something I knew. It took me three years of praying to discover that my passion for organizing could have a purpose. I had a gift that I could share. Fast forward almost seven years later…Chaos has a team of organizers helping clients find peace in their homes, one closet at a time! Or something like that. LOL

I am sitting here with a book to read (one of three) about business ...not the fun side of things for me but something I am learning. I flipped to the middle (hoping something would catch my attention) and the sentence I read was “How are you helping me win the day?” I had an Oprah Aha moment. That’s it! That sentence expresses EXACTLY what I’m trying to help people do. Win the day! Win a moment! Win some peace! 

I get it. The lack of peace that comes with having a busy career, kids, husband, pets and a home to maintain can be maddening. As I brought my 2nd child home from the hospital (2 under 2…crazy!) I felt overwhelmed at the thought of managing it all. But I had a secret weapon in my back pocket that many do not, I had the help of an organized mother and sister who had been down this path. By adopting systems they already had in place, the shift from a family of 3 to 4 went relatively smoothly. Don’t get me wrong, my house was not perfect. There were crazy amounts of toys all over the place. But my keys, purse and sunglasses had a home enabling me to get out the door for work right on time! (Win!) My laundry was not sitting in the dryer, but hung in my closet categorized by color so I could get dressed at a moments notice for any occasion. (Win!) My shoes were put away each night so I could find them in the morning. (Win!) Certain toys were put away in labeled bins allowing me to rotate the chaos of toys floating around my house. (Win!) The best part, we had routines. As a teacher, you have no idea how much peace that brought me. Our morning routine, after school routine and evening routines were posted on our refrigerator and followed most of the time. (Huge win) These routines changed each year as the kids got older but the basics were there and the kids knew them by heart.(Big win!)

So as you sit there feeling overwhelmed in the midst of your after Christmas chaos, happy that school is back in because the lack of structure was getting to you, just know that I understand and want to help you win the day, win the moment, win some peace with a little help from someone with the gift of organization just like my Mama helped me. Now go find a home for your keys.

Reference: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller

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How to Relax in a Busy World

Recently, I’ve been seeing a theme on social media saying it’s ok NOT to be busy. This resonated with me because much of the practices I’ve developed in my home and also in your homes is how to be organized so you AREN’T too busy and can have peace, quality time and feel happiness when you walk in your door. Here are 4 things I do to keep from being “too busy.”

 1.    Be still

If you are overwhelmed, stressed and unhappy, yet you keep saying yes to everything, then you will continue being overwhelmed, stressed and unhappy. Make yourself a priority and remove the trivial things filling up your calendar. These may be fun things that we like to do, such as football games, social events or parties, but if you are empty and exhausted, these things might not fill you up and could further deplete your energy. Schedule some time to just be still.

2. Use a family calendar

Make thoughtful scheduling choices. True, we cannot get out of many of our work activities or home chores.  But, if we see them on a calendar, we can spread them out accordingly. If I know I’m going to have a busy week ahead, I will spend Sundays doing a little more than the usual weekly reset. Such as, I know I won’t have time for my usual weeknight laundry(or it will be an added stressor) so I take care of it ahead of time or I’ll make sure to leave time the following weekend to handle it. Also, seeing things on our calendar might relieve some stress. You may realize that you are not as busy as it seems.

3.    Minimize time wasters

Looking for your purse, wallet and keys is wasted time. Make them a home and use it. Staring at your closet in the morning looking for something to wear is wasted time. Get your clothes out the night before. Social media is a great way to disconnect but how much time is wasted? Set a timer so you don’t get lost in Facebook land too long. Don’t waste time on people, things events that don’t deserve them.  Be picky about where you spend your precious time.

4.    Get organized

Having a home for everything doesn’t mean your home won’t be messy, but it makes picking up and finding things go much faster (See wasting time!). Science has proven that clutter causes stress and anxiety (mayooshin.com). Less clutter and more organization might not take your stress away but having a relaxing home to come home to could certainly help you find some happiness in your day.

 Being still, using a family calendar, minimizing time wasters and getting organized are only small steps to eliminating the “too busy” feeling that you may have.  The choice is yours.  

 If you need some ideas or help with eliminating some of your stress, let’s set up a consultation!  Give us a call. 

How Anxiety Rules Your Wallet

Written by: Ann Marie Stewart

I am an anxious person who thinks in circles like a dog chasing its tail. Just today, I had a near panic attack on posting for my blog because it was Wednesday and my post would run on Monday. I hadn’t written a word and so here I am, trying to write out my feelings. I have a litany of First World Problems like this that I subdue through various methods. I’ll get to that in a bit.

These heart-palpitating moments did bring up an opportunity for me to write about anxiety and money, so it wasn’t all bad. After all, who hasn’t felt anxiety over money? If you haven’t, you are missing out of some sweet lessons on how fear can simultaneously be your concierge motivator and paralyzer. Fun stuff. Hey, have you checked your credit score recently?

Money Anxiety Disorder

First of all, I guess there is a thing called “Money Anxiety Disorder” so let’s get comfortable with naming the beast. 

It was not without a bit of irony that the best information I got on the disorder comes from an article in Psychology Today (circa 2010) and a more recent one published by Experian (the credit score company). 

Bob Sullivan, a writer for Experian, and who has no degree in Psychology that I can tell, lists out habits that people with money anxiety disorder have such as hoarding money or things, overspending, being frugal to a fault, financial incest (sounds gross but it’s just controlling others with money), financial infidelity (saving or spending without your partner knowing about it), financial enabling (giving others money in a way that leads to dependency), and anxiety. 

Anxiety causes financial anxiety. Yep. I had to read that again too. 

What Sullivan explains is that in a Cornell University study (the link to this in the article led nowhere), people who suffered from anxiety and depression were less likely to put away for retirement. The darker side of this, it is explained, is that they may feel they aren’t going to live long enough to enjoy retirement. 

Now We Can All Feel Alone, Together

According to the Psychology Today article by Brad Klontz Psy.D., three out of four people will name money as their number one stressor and according to information cited by Bob Sullivan in the Experian article, 57 percent of people report that if they were asked to cover $500 unexpectedly that they would have to go into debt to do it. As an added bonus, in case you haven’t been told time and time again, having a problem with finances is one of the leading causes of divorce. So great, now you have more to be anxious about. 

How Stress Takes Money

I don’t know about you, but my former coping mechanisms all involved money. Retail therapy, a hefty gym membership, diet plans, late-night Amazon purchases, a long commute to a job that hired me first so I stopped looking for anything closer, and Diet Coke and the occasional bottle of wine all cost me money and gave back guilt with interest.

We didn’t have overdue bills and it wasn’t like I woke up one day, not knowing beforehand that we were $20,000 or so in debt. I had my excuses: not being able to work full time during student teaching, the cost of having two babies in less than two years, and getting a newer car than was necessary to fit two child seats. These were all choices, however. When we did come out of our fog of terror, we got real about our mistakes and our situation.

How We Conquered Our Finances and Our Stress

You know what we had to do to pay off our debt? We had to stop contributing to our retirement accounts. That was painful. It felt like we were admitting we weren’t quite ready to be adults yet. We then had to use all the money from our tax returns and extra income to pay down our debt. My husband worked a lot of overtime. I had to learn to cook more at home. We had to make a budget, cut up our credit cards, and get ready to stop having any fun. Two out of three ain’t bad.

During the two years it took to pay off our debt, we had so much fun. We minimized and made room in our home, we got really comfortable with the library, the children’s museum, and the zoo through the memberships we were gifted during Christmas. We biked to every park within a five mile radius, we played at free outdoor pools, and treated ourselves to 50-cent ice cream cones. I filled the calendar with every free kids event our city had to offer. It was beautiful.

Taking care of our finances is just a part of our daily life now. I use Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar app and it has made budgeting and planning SO much easier. It’s worth the $9.99 per month. For some added incentive, listen to or view Ramsey’s podcast.

If you are interested in getting out of credit card debt and you aren’t sure about going down the rabbit hole that is Dave Ramsey, you might want to read this article by LendEdu on “How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Fast.” This is honestly one of the fastest ways to gaining wealth. 

Ways to De-Stress That Don’t Cost Anything

When I “found minimalism,” I had to change my spending habits and this took some time. There are still some areas I can improve upon but here’s some things I do when I am anxious.

I Give Myself a Time Out. 

My children get a time-out when they are having issues with coping. Why shouldn’t I get one too? I tell my kids that mommy is taking a timeout and I go into my room, listen to music or read a bit of a book or an online article. 

I Take Our Dog for a Walk

Nature is the most wonderful space to get away from it all. Most respected geniuses took regular walks or runs in nature to help gain back their center. You and your dog will be happier for it. Granted, I only get to do this when my husband is at home because it wouldn’t be stress free if I took my children along. 

I Literally Tell My Negative Thoughts to Shut Up

Recently, while reading a book A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti, I was inspired by the protagonist’s practice of saying the word “Stop” to herself out loud to stop negative and harmful thoughts from taking over her consciousness. It works and it’s a relief.

I Listen to Music and Cook or Clean

This is something you do not because it is expected of you but because you WANT to do it. It’s like the errands thing. When someone suggests you run errands to take time for yourself, they are assigning work for you during the time when there should be no expectation of work. 

Your Challenge for This Week

Identify one financial struggle or insecurity you have. Do you spend too much on food or clothing? Are your bills piling up because you don’t have a budget? Do you spend when you are stressed?

Take this challenge and plan your attack. Can you scale back to eating out once a week or go clothes shopping once a month? What bills do you have and what is your game plan for paying down debt? Develop a budget. Where do you go when you are stressed? What might be a better, non-spend substitute?

Want to see more from our awesome guest blogger, Ann Marie Stewart?

For more on the topic of mental health and debt, check out this article by creditcards.com.

Tips for Organizing your Mail

MAIL! It drives us crazy! Yes, me too. I had a beautiful command center system set up until 2016 and with the flood, came chaos for my system. We haven’t gotten back on track until just recently. 3 years people….I’m an organizer who was letting mail get the best of me! Until now…

My old system was perfect for our busy family. We had a piece of furniture with 4 drawers in it so each person had a drawer. My husband and I would put the mail items that needed our attention in our drawers, which was handled daily or weekly. The kids kept their papers that needed referencing throughout the year in their drawers. Their drawers were cleaned out at the end of each school year and the papers were either recycled or filed into a file with their school year at the top.

Simple, right?

Well, after the flood, we remodeled and that piece of furniture is no longer where we walk in the door. What was I thinking? While the mail was getting handled (kind of!), the solution was piles on my dining room table or kitchen counter. Not a solution at all. It was time to find a new system.

Tip: Never handle paper more than once if you can.

Because the old system worked so well, I wanted the new system to be similar. I decided to use my vertical wall space. I ordered a set of these wood wall files from Ballard Design and I love them. Now each person has a pocket. The pockets are (file) deep so our action items are kept in a file folder. (I’m thinking of adding a cup hook for keys on the side as well)

TIP: My junk mail never enters the house. It goes straight into my recycle bin.

School/medical papers that are necessary to keep go into a file in that person’s bin.

My own bin has the following folders.

• Pay/Do: This file usually contains bills, invitations that need a gift (I immediately put the date on the calendar before dropping it into the file.), insurance explanation of benefits for me to double check, etc. If you are one that needs to see items to remember them, try adding a bulletin board or magnet board to your command area.

• Reference: Anything that I may need to refer back to in the coming months. This file is usually empty, but every now and then, I need to hang onto something.

• File: This, too, stays pretty slim. I don’t keep copies of anything that can be found online or that I can easily get a copy of such as statements or bills. I’m pretty brutal about the things I keep in my filing box. (Yes, a box! Not a cabinet!)

I do keep anything I would need for taxes or that would be more difficult to attain. (Lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, birth or wedding certificates, dog’s rabies vaccination and microchip papers, etc.) What do you need to keep? That is something to decide on your own with guidance from your accountant or attorney. I try to file once a month. If you keep more, weekly filing may be needed.

Since I love my SBO community of organizers, I thought I‘d share some tips and tricks from some of the other organizers that I admire. Enjoy!

Tidy Tip from Sort and Sweet if you need help with organizing your taxes! Watch video here.

Christy Lingo @ Simple Solutions has a podcast dealing with paper clutter. (There is an awesome cocktail recipe too!)