The Closet Organizer: Finding balance in a de-cluttered life

Jen is your average busy professional woman, wife, mom, chauffeur, daughter, sister, friend and organizer. She has always admired and envied those who live a truly organized life, with everything in its place. She wants that, too! She finds herself feeling very off-kilter when she sees chaos and clutter in her home. So, she created Organizenvy to document her own journey from envy to Zen, one project at a time.

I am a neat freak myself and a surviving perfectionist so not the best combination. I ask Jen a few questions and how to find that balance. Jen teaches you organization skills that help you with time management and help organize everything around your home.

Jen welcome to my blog and tell my audience a little about you?

I live with my husband and teenage son in Scottsdale, Arizona…which is starting to get a little toasty now as we enter May! When I’m not writing about organizing, decluttering, and finding balance, I am typically watching my son play soccer, going for a power walk, or taking in a movie. I’m a proud horror movie fanatic and a Marvel Universe and Star Wars nerd. Oh, and I love theme parks and roller coasters, too!

Talk to me about how you are helping people find balance in a decluttered life?

I’ve always sought to control the chaos in my home and life. One of the biggest compliments anyone has ever paid me was when they walked into my house and remarked that it felt so calm and peaceful. That’s my ultimate goal in a busy life: to have a peaceful place for my family to rest and recharge.

I started my blog Organizenvy to document my own journey to find balance (or Zen) through organization. When I shared my tips with friends and family, I was surprised by how many thanked me for the ideas. I then realized that my journey could help others on theirs. It’s so rewarding!

Tell me how being organized saves us time, money, energy, and gives us peace of mind?

The great irony I find is that people who are not organized think it takes up too much time, energy, and money to get organized. Sure, if you’re looking at a hugely cluttered space, it is going to take some time and energy to tidy it up. And it might require a little investment in containers or other organization tools. But think about how much time is wasted trying to live in and navigate a mess every day? Looking for lost keys, or that missing shoe, or the eyeglasses you set down somewhere. What a stressful way to start a busy day.

As for money, being organized saves far more than it costs. When you’re dealing with paper clutter, bills get lost in the shuffle. Late fees are charged. Coupons expire without being used. Food goes bad before it gets eaten, or you overbuy because you don’t know what’s in your pantry or refrigerator. The list goes on!

Just imagine the peace of mind if we had all of these things under control, every day. It’s possible by making organization a daily practice!

Can you differentiate between perfection and staying organized?

I can not stress this enough: organization is about practice. It is NOT about perfection. I think the idea of trying to create a “perfectly” organized space scares a lot of people, and they become paralyzed and give up before they even start. The picture-perfect images we see in magazines and catalogs are not necessary for a balanced life. All we need to do is find methods and practices that work for us individually. I often use very inexpensive containers and I hand-label them or use an inexpensive label maker. Function is more important than aesthetics, especially in areas of the home that most people won’t see. Gorgeous, farmhouse-style baskets and lettering look AMAZING, but they are not required to conquer chaos.

The practice part of organization comes into play after the initial organizing project is complete. Finishing that pantry makeover is fantastic! But keeping it organized day after day requires consistent effort. If we can incorporate the practice of putting things away correctly into our daily routine (and reinforcing it with our family members), then we will achieve balance in our lives.

Explain the various roles you juggle as an average busy professional woman, wife, mom, chauffeur, daughter, sister, and friend?

I’m like most 40-something women: we wear so many hats! I work from home, so in addition to my professional work I handle getting my son to after school activities and soccer practice, and I’m the homework helper. Thank GOODNESS I’m good at Algebra! (Next year my son will take Physics…not sure I’ll be much help there.)

My extended family members all live in different parts of the country, so I rely on my strong network of friends for immediate support but I also work very hard to stay connected to the family via text, phone, social media, etc. Life is a juggling act, and it gets crazy. And exhausting. Hence my need to re-center myself! I’m too fidgety to practice true meditation, but I do think that organizing and decluttering become a type of meditation for me.

Give me some tips on how to organize spaces like the bathroom, kitchen, pantry, bedroom, or office. Where do you start?

Here’s my absolute most important tip for any space: you MUST declutter before you organize. Believe it or not, this first step is the hardest for most people. We feel an attachment to our things, and guilt over, throwing a perfectly good spatula out (even though we have ten more perfectly good spatulas), and we feel that our worth comes from having all. these. things. It does not!

Ok, rant over.  But decluttering is a must. If you have too many items for space, it doesn’t matter how many cute containers you buy… space will still look stuffed and cluttered. So start there.

Second, look for ways to maximize space. Tall or stackable containers on shelves, over-the-door hanging organizers, in pantries and closets, Lazy Susans beneath the sink or in the awkward corners of the pantry…it’s all about using every inch of space possible.

Third, organize with efficiency in mind. Group items commonly used together with either near each other or in a single container. I do this in my pantry with the peanut butter and bread, and my “popcorn bin” with popcorn, seasonings, popcorn bags, and a scoop. On (horror) movie night, I grab that bin and we’re off! Don’t hide the blender or coffee maker in a cabinet if you use them every day; instead, find a nice spot for them on the counter. And keep the ground coffee and filters in containers next to the coffee maker so you’re not traveling to and from the pantry. You’ll save so much time this way!

Fourth: label, label, label! I personally feel you can never label too much. Even if you know where things are supposed to go, those labels will keep you from “accidentally” throwing items in whatever bin is closest. Labels will also help remind your family members to help keep things organized, too.

Is getting organized a learned skill? Is it something we always have to work on?

I think getting organized is a learned skill for most of us. And it’s definitely something we always have to work on. But the good news is that ANYONE can learn, if they want to, and incorporate it into their daily lives. For those just getting started, don’t feel like you have to do it all at once. Try taking 15 minutes a day (actually set a timer — I’m serious!) and declutter one area at a time. Once that’s done, organize a cabinet or a drawer or a shelf. I find that completing one small project is almost as rewarding as a huge closet makeover, but not as tiring. And every time a project is complete and we stand back and admire the new space, it motivates us to move on to the next project.

Just don’t give up! Start where you are, keep your goals in mind, and make it a daily habit. Balance is within your reach!