Tuesday, January 8, 2008

My own little power trip.

...my word of the year and SPT.
I know that I've used the word "power" and now "order" in my posts lately and you'll see the word "execute" later in this post; I'm thinking it's sounding like some sort of power trip king or dictator speaking. I am not on any sort of power kick, simply trying to organize my life. So I give unto you my word for the year: ORDER. I've said before that resolutions carry a lot of weight in my mind and I've used this new year to gain ground on a lot of things that I've needed to work on. One of these things is organization, which I feel comes from having order in every part of my life and every part of my home. I know it will be impossible to keep everything in order everyday - because life happens. But I can control day to day order so when time is short or there are emergencies, I can handle things better.

My new found understanding of just how disorganized I am came when my sister called and asked me what I was up to. I said to her I was organizing. She then said, "Michelle you're always organizing - every time I call you're organizing." I thought about what she said and I realized that she was right - way too right! With Thanksgiving and Christmas, it hasn't been easy to put my plans in motion, so I laid low and waiting for after the holidays. Christmas brought a great new addition to our family with this DYmo label maker! It's so cool as you can see by my SPT!




I picked up an excellent book by the TLC's clean sweep organization king - Peter Walsh . It's all too much, it's an easy read and he gets right to the point. Here's some main points from his book to ponder:


To yourself:

1. Your home is within your control.

2. It's about changing your relationship to your stuff.

3. Work with the vision of the life you want to live.

4. If you value an item you need to show it the respect and honor it deserves -display it.


Take Action: He uses this - F.A.S.T

F Fix a time.

A Anything not used for 12 months is out the door!

S Someone else's stuff - return it or get rid of it.

T Trash - Gone forever and trash is your friend.


I would love to pass this on to someone in need of some organizing tips. I felt this book talked a lot more about putting order into every room, rather than just organizing the stuff I already had.



My goal wasn't just for me, I made it our family goal, with an added word that Craig felt would push us along, his added word is: EXECUTE. (goes with the whole dictator theme!) He felt that having this as a goal with order, would not only help us plan and begin projects -but to finish them better and accomplish them quicker. Here are some of our reasons for disorder - what are yours?:


1. Moving 8 times since were married.

2. Moving into a larger home from a smaller home and wanting to fill the space.

3. Stuff working in one room or house, not working in the next.

4. Not finding a place for everything.

5. Buying for the girls, toys and clothes and they either don't use them or use them once.


I don't want to bore you with anymore, but you get the idea! I find that my home is the biggest deterrent to order right now and I'm so so tired of it! This is what I've done to start the new year right:


1. Girls room: Threw away two bags of garbage and took 5 bags of toys they did not use in the last 3 months to charity. I also have a bin of things that are ebay worthy ready to sell. I took pictures of what was inside all their bins, printed the photos on sticker paper and stuck them on their bins and cabinet - so they could remember what they have and not what they don't.

2. Office: I took note of the rules of files to keep and the months and years that you should keep them and threw away everything else. We also rearranged the office to better suite the layout. It just wasn't working! One of the downfalls of moving a lot, is it can sometimes take a year to figure out where everything fits the best. I walked out with 2 bags of garbage.

3. Crafts: Besides organizing my craft room with labels galore -I am making a space for everything. I've also separated into small bins what I need to scan into the computer, music I need to download, and eventually what video feed I need to load onto my computer and put into movies.

4. Early to bed, early to rise: This one is really hard for me, but after reading Rachel's blog about her early exercise hours - I felt that I was cheating myself out of getting up and starting the day with a good honest work out. It's the best time of day to do it, and as long as Craig is in town - you will find me up and going at 6:30 every morning. The catch - I need to go to bed early - have more of a schedule. I can't help staying up late sometimes, but generally, it's early to bed early to rise for me.

I have a long way to go, but I'm really happy with my results so far - and it's only the 8th of January!

Happy be-lated Birthday Mandy!
Happy Birthday Kristi!
PS. Just in that Romney lost, but NH isn't always the tell all state! I so wish we got fox news up here though!

15 comments:

Rachel Bagley Wurtz said...

What an incredible start so early in the year! I LOVE the label maker! A very creative take on self-portraits, too!

Nice work on the early morning workouts! It's such a great way to start the day, isn't it? I read a quote by Hilary Swank that said, "I rather sleep 6 hours and work out 1, than sleep 7 hours," and that keeps me going. I love it!

Best of luck in all of your Order and Execute endeavors!!!

Wendi said...

Oh Michelle, you kill me! I love your self portrait! You always make me smile.

I need to see after pictures of the organized rooms! I'm a visual person, and how can I copy you until I see it? =)

Natasha said...

Cute SPT!
We have a label maker like that at work . . now I want one at home!

jenny said...

A label maker? Oh, the possibilities! I had to laugh at your sister. I think I too am either organizing or cleaning something at all times.

Great list of goals--good luck!

Marie said...

I am totally with you on #1-4 of why you are constantly organizing. I felt myself calling out, "ME TOO!" Did you hear me?

You have done some serious work in your house! That is awesome. So much organizing and labeling and de-junking and shifting. Work!

Lauralee said...

oh I love it.. love your goal, your pictures.. and what you are trying to do in your life.. it is hard.. we have moved quite a bit too.. in the last 4 years I have moved 3 times.. 3 different houses, different rooms, sizes etc, before that I moved 5 times, so that is 9 times in 12 years.. lovely.. it is tough, but I am a thrower, so that helps.. I don't mind throwing things out.. and I am also a bit of a minimalist.. my poor kids, I am constantly getting rid of their stuff, and won't buy things for them, cause I know I will just throw it away or give it away eventually usually sooner than later..
anyway, sorry for the novel..
good luck, wish I could help you!

lelly said...

sounds like you have your work cut out for you this year!! you are working on some amazing things.

donna said...

Oh i need to get Peter Walsh's book. He is the KING!!!!


After you get done with your house. COme and help me with mine :)!!!!




I am a BIG Romney FAN!!!!!

Jennfer said...

I love your word for the year! I always find that if my brain and spirit are in order, then I can put the stuff around me in order.
Cute pictures!
Happy New Year!
Jenn H

michelle said...

I have to say this is one of the cutest SPT's I have seen! You are so creative! Your word of the year is great! I really am trying to work on mine. Have a great day!

andrea said...

Love your thoughts on this. This is one of my big struggles too. I am trying to rid ourselves of all of our excess. I tried really hard this Christmas to cut back on filling our house with more stuff that I would just give to goodwill by next Christmas. It was slightly hard on my kids but we're having a lot of fun with our snowshoes and ski passes that we got for Christmas this year.

crystal said...

I love your self portrait! It's my favorite I've seen so far--and there are some good ones out there! You just made me giggle so hard. :)

Ok. Wow. Your organization! I'm in total awe! Did you do all this in 1 day????? I just love decluttering. I love the feeling while I haul out those trash bags & charity bags. "Freedom!" (remember, from Braveheart?)

I've been working on the kids' playroom today. THAT is my main hangup; my kids have too much toys. I've been rotating their toys, trading them with the stuff in bins in the basement, but today I CRACKED DOWN. I put so much into the "toy store" bin and made room for the toys they're playing with at the moment--the Christmas loot!

Anyway--good job doing the office. That room can be intimidating.

Holly said...

Thanks for such a helpful post and a big congrats on your organizing! You have made huge progress--hooray!! I need to work on that, it does feel so good and freeing when you're done.

ChiefExecOrganizer said...

Michelle, you need to be in our message boards! Someone on our site posted a link to your post here, and we are getting a kick out of it.

We are the world's first team of "virtual" Professional Organizers, and we give our members a weekly "Menu" plan of projects to do in their homes. Our site is www.clutterdiet.com.

Thanks for the great laughs with your labeled family photos! ;)

- Lorie Marrero, CPO®
Creator of the Clutter Diet®

carlo said...

Loving this! Organizing is a huge need for me but this really hit me:

"Work with the vision of the life you want to live"

DUH momement for me. I need to look for this book...