NJ Creatives Network September 2004 Meeting

by Eileen Watkins

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Are disorganization and clutter holding you back in your business? At the September meeting, professional organizer Terry Schuster gave NJC members advice on how to become “Clutter Free,” the name of her Fair Lawn-based service.

Schuster, who said she grew up in “a boring, anal-retentive family,” has worked as a professional organizer for over eight years. She holds a BA in social work and belongs to the National Association of Professional Organizers(NAPO) and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. She also teaches classes at the Glen Rock Community School and the Teaneck Adult School.

She began her talk on “Organizing 101” by warning, “You didn’t get messy overnight, so you’re not going to straighten it all up overnight, either.”

Her first recommendation to someone facing a big mess is to break the cleanup process into small, manageable steps.

“If a whole area is covered with papers, the client will say, ‘I just have to lock myself in this room for three days until I get all this done.’ That’s a horrible thing to say to yourself. Who wants to be locked for three days in a messy room?”

Instead, Schuster suggests, “Make a regular, daily appointment with yourself to straighten up. The appointment makes it real.” Each day, attack another area at a time when you’re at your best and brightest. Have a definite starting and ending time, and in between don’t take phone calls or check your e-mail. “If you just focus for half an hour, you’ll get a lot done,” she said.

Start with the most recent mess, Schuster said. Use brightly colored post-it notes to label each piece of paper as to where it should go, such as “Smith Account” or “Taxes.” You can use cardboard boxes to hold your “new” files temporarily until you get your old system in order.

“Take a hard look at everything,” she said. “People keep pieces of paper and don’t know why. As yourself, ‘Is this information obtainable from another source, such as the Internet? Studies have shown 80% of what is filed is never looked at again.”

She added, “People tell me they have to have everything out or they can’t find it, but you keep everything out, you can’t find it, anyway. After a while, you don’t even see it anymore.”

Schuster explained that although she usually works with clients for three hours at a time, to keep them focused, three hours is too long when you work on your own. She advised, “Be realistic—how long can you stand to be at this task? Don’t overdo, or you’ll never come back to it.”

When organizing, set your timer for ten minutes before you’re scheduled to finish, she said, so you’ll have time to straighten up after yourself.

She has found that project with multiple steps cause her clients the most problems. She mentioned a couple of organizing products that can help—a “tickler file,” with daily and monthly dividers, and the EZ Pocket Project Organizer, which can hang on the wall or over a door to hold material relevant to a month’s worth of appointments.

Schuster notes that most of her client have a problem keeping up with their mail—“We get more mail in a week than our grandparents did in a lifetime.” Sort your mail standing up, she said, with a trash can nearby. Re-evaluate all magazines and cancel any you don’t read. She admitted she recently canceled the New York Times after realizing she got enough news from other sources.

She suggested opening bills right away to check for any discrepancies, then highlighting the amount and the due date. Keep all your bills together and pay them only twice a month, she said, asking a company to change its billing date if necessary. Automatic payments withdrawn from your checking account can also reduce clutter from bills.

Schuster also answered questions from NJ Creatives members on home clutter issues, such as the relative who parks possessions at your house and never returns for them. (Not surprisingly, she suggested calling the person to ask if he still wants his stuff, and offering to dispose of it if he doesn’t.)

She said a client often will ask her, “Am I the worst you’ve ever seen?” She tells them there’s always someone worse. She herself has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, and notes, “Some organizers are recovering ‘messies.’”

Besides improving your work efficiency, Schuster points out, there are psychological benefits to getting organize. “If you’re always thinking about those piles of papers, its interfering with your quality of life. All these things you’re not using really weigh you down.” Citing a rule of feng shui, she added, “If you don’t get rid of the old things, there’s no room to bring in new things, in a healthy way.”

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