One of the most important talents to have in surfing is balance.
And it’s the same for organizing your physical environment, your
time and your life in general. At one extreme you can be too
organized and anal and spend all your time maintaining and tweaking
your systems and never produce anything or move forward. You may
never get in the water because you’re waiting for conditions to be
perfect.

On the other extreme, you can never find your keys or your
checkbook or your reading glasses and spend all your time weeding
through the stuff in your life and never produce anything or move
forward. You’re out there living life but it’s wipeout after
wipeout.

The balanced person finds just the right amount of organization
he or she needs to have a productive, fulfilling life and as much
peace of mind as possible. You are in the zone, catching wave after
wave.

Over the years I’ve been organizing professionally, I’ve come up
with the Seven C’s of organizing.

Call

Call someone to support you. Most people with organizing
dilemmas put handling them off because they hate to work alone on
something so daunting, or they need the perspective of a friend or
professional organizer. So give someone a call and ask for help.
Then set a firm date to start. Think about what time of day you
have the most energy? Are you a morning lark or a night owl? Plan
to tackle your project in accordance with your energy levels.

Many clients have told me they held on to my card for a year
before calling me. Making the call and asking for help is a big
first step.

Collect

After you’ve identified your organizing project, get your tools
together. You should have following ready: screwdriver with both
Phillips and regular tips in a variety of sizes; tape measure,
shipping tape, box cutter, scissors, black Sharpie pen, tablet and
pen and clipboard for making notes, and of course … the Brother PT
Touch labeler and extra label tape.

You might also need file folders, hanging files, plastic
containers of various sizes and shapes. You will probably need
rags, window or surface cleaner and other cleaning supplies, like a
broom and vacuum. It’s possible you’ll need gloves and a mask if
you think you’ll run into rodent droppings and other potentially
dangerous stuff.

Clear

Empty the whole thing out. Most of my clients would do anything
to avoid this part of the process. Whatever you’re organizing,
you’ve got to completely empty it out. When you clear every item
out of a space, whether it is a drawer, a closet or a whole room,
it can be overwhelming. For a while you move one unorganized bunch
of stuff to another area and it can seem chaotic.

Make sure you plan enough time for your project so that you do
not run out of time or energy before you have put things into
place. For example, if you have an hour, tackle a drawer. A closet
can take two to 12 hours or more. A garage is at least a day’s
worth of work, often more.

Clean

Once your space is cleared, take the time to give it a good
cleaning. Vacuum, sweep, dust and do all the necessary work to make
the space spic and span.

Consider

Does this item belong in this space and if not, where does it
go? Or, do you need to keep it at all? Is it trash, recycle, give
away, donate, consign or keep? Look at each item and make a
decision. In the way that Clearing was physically challenging, this
step is mentally and emotionally the most difficult and will take
some time. Remember to ask questions like: Does it serve me? Does
it fit? Will I really read this? Can I find this information on the
Internet if I want it later?

Contain

Choose the appropriate container for the item and put it away.
Your organizer can help you choose from a variety of possible
solutions, as we are paid to be up on all the latest containers and
gadgets out there. But if you shop at Target or the Container Store
you should be familiar with enough of what you’ll need. Some of it
is obvious, like an important piece of paper needs a file and a
label and needs to go into a file cabinet. Or a sweater needs to be
folded and put on the shelf or in a drawer.

Celebrate

Ride the wave all the way into the shore. Don’t forget to
acknowledge yourself for your hard work, and spend some time
appreciating it. Live with the new space for awhile before tackling
another project. Enjoy the clarity and balance the seven C’s of
organizing can provide.