Easter is upon us and for me it brings back lots of happy memories of being with family and all our traditions. In Ireland we didn’t have the Easter Bunny we had the Christian tradition of Lent, where we fasted from all sweets and cookies, it was hard but the reward was a big Easter egg on Easter Sunday. I have continued these traditions in my family and added the Easter bunny and the Easter egg hunt and other Canadian traditions. This year as my kids are older I am going to start new traditions and different gifts instead of the Easter egg.
Our past experiences, traditions and memories define us and as we go through life we will create new ones and pass them on to the next generation. Some people are really good at preserving their traditions and memories, by scrapbooks, photos recording the events. They are catalogued and dated and shared with family and passed n from generation to generation.
There are also those who, love to hold on to everything that has sentimental value, and it becomes clutter as it is not organized and it just builds up.
As an Organizer I love to help people sort through it all and show them ways to store, personalize and share their traditions and memories.
I love Memory Boxes as you can put personal items in there and it is nice to go through it all with other family members or just on your own and reflect.
Shadow boxes are another great way to showcase your achievements, and now with computer technology you can create beautiful albums for all your photos
There are so many ways to personalize and preserve your traditions and memories all it takes is a little imagination and organization. Happy Easter

Today, I was helping an 87yr old client, Henry* who had finally decided after 20yrs that it was time to go through his late Mother’s bedroom and get it organized.This was the last room in the apartment that we had to work on, it was the worst and had boxes of stuff everywhere. I have been helping him for the past two years and we built a nice friendship and he knew that I would respect his Mothers possessions and that we would talk and remember the past and her life. As we sorted through everything, we were amazed at all the stuff we found, a lot of it was junk and some of the clothing was so thread bare it fell to pieces. We looked at photos, each having a story, there was jewelry that were gifts from him and his dad and there were documents we put aside for another day. We found a box in the closet with Henry’s name on it, he had moved in with his mother when she became ill , and he must have forgotten this box. We found original LP’s of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and lots of Big Band Classics, he was delighted with the find. I now have to go buy a record player for him and we have set a date to  get together for a drink and listen to some great music.

Why am I telling this story, there are two reasons; One is sharing what I do as a Professional Organizer and why I am so passionate about it, I get to meet great people of all ages and backgrounds hear their stories and share their memories. The second is, to ask the question; Why do we keep stuff? we can’t take it with us and it is painful and sad for those that are left behind to have to go through it all and try and figure out what to do with it. It took Henry 20yrs and he had to wait until the time was right and to get the help to work on the room.

If you have a lot of Stuff that you don’t want to throw away, as it has sentimental meaning. I love the idea of a Memory Box and if you have things you will want to pass on to family members then create a box for each of them. It can be a family project where everyone can get involved or you can keep it a secret until you are ready to pass it on. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it can be a plastic tote with a name on it or a cardboard box that you decorate. I feel that this has more of a sentimental value.  It is also a lot easier on the person who has to sort everything out after you are gone.

In my before and after pictures you will see the before pictures, I will update to show the after when we are finished, we still have a lot of work  to do!

*name changed 

Disorganization: Disorder, Confusion, Chaos, Disarray and Mess

Stress: Physical, mental or emotional strain or tension

These two words go hand in hand in most circumstances, why I say most is that I know some disorganized people, but it depends on where they are disorganized, I have friends whom I deem disorganized in areas of their homes, yet they seem to go through their daily activities without any stress. I suppose it depends on what their stress triggers are!

As a general rule, where there is Disorganization there is Stress

I will use my son Daniel as an example:

Daniel is a first year university student; he lives at home which should be easier for him as he doesn’t have to worry about cooking or laundry etc.

He was extremely disorganized in every aspect of his daily life, his bedroom was in chaos and you couldn’t see his desk with all the papers. He was always running around looking for things, before he left for class, he was forever misplacing and forgetting things (calculators, lab-coats and goggles) and had to buy new ones.

When his first exams were coming up, you could clearly see the stress, and he was not able to function properly. He suffered from lack of sleep due to studying all night; he was living off energy bars as he had no time to eat.

I felt it was time for an intervention, or one of us was going to have a breakdown.

Time management was the first issue we addressed so that he could establish some order and a routine. We got a large calendar and hung it on the wall; we entered all important dates and class times. He had to learn to plan ahead.

Reorganizing and decluttering his room and desk was the biggest challenge as we had to establish what was going to work for him and if he was going to be able to maintain it.

Daniel’s stress levels are lower now and he sees the difference being organized makes not only to him but also those around him.