Book Review – The 100 Thing Challenge – Part 1

April 11, 2011

Jennifer Crutchfield Book Review , , , 2 Comments

Today I started reading The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno. I’ve raced right through Part 1 of the book along with the appendices and really want to record my thoughts about it before I go on.

First of all, think about it. 100 things. As Americans we all own many more than 100 things. Most of us own ridiculously more than 100 things.

As an Organizer I can tell you from first hand experience that many, many people own an uncountable number of things. And – I can tell you that these things we own are not giving us satisfaction. They are owning us. We spend time, physical energy, emotional energy, and money trying to manage them.

I started reading thinking we would just be hearing about how to get down to 100 things and how life might change if we did that. What I read was different in that Bruno shared his process of giving things up. He shared which ones were the hardest and which were not as difficult as he thought they would be to give up. His experiences surprised him a bit in this area, which has also been true for some of my Organizing clients.

He also talks about how giving something up can be freeing. For example, I have supplies for making hand-made rugs which I have given as gifts in the past. I enjoy making them. I have a couple of them myself, and I like to give them as gifts. However, I’ve not made a rug in well over a year. In Bruno’s examples, these supplies might be giving me a case of the “shoulds” as I would say. “I should be using those supplies.” “I should be making rugs for gifts.” (I used my own example because I don’t want to take anything away from the book for you when you read it.)

Now, the “shoulds” are a problem in my opinion because they make you feel bad. Nobody I know ever said to themselves, “I should be doing X” and then felt really great about themselves. “Shoulds” are a way for us to criticize ourselves and tend to keep us stuck. “Shoulds” are often left over from a desire that was abandoned for one reason or another. Some times, letting those things go is right and appropriate. However, by keeping the stuff associated with that desire, we keep ourselves stuck in that place in time, unable to move forward.

I was surprised and delighted by how much of Part 1 set up the challenge and went into the letting go of the stuff. Also surprising was the extent to which he discussed the rules and how it all affected his family.

So. What do you think? Could you live with just 100 personal belongings? This question is making me think hard about the things I own and how much of it I could really give up. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to undertake a 100 thing challenge but I will certainly be considering some more downsizing in several areas of my life.

Once you read the book (the first half anyway!) come back and let me know what you think. I’m really interested to hear how it affects everyone’s thinking about the things you own.

Hopefully I’ve done his work justice here with this half-review. I’ll do another when I finish Part 2.

Set a Timer Tuesday – Medicine Cabinet

April 5, 2011

Jennifer Crutchfield Organize, Set a Timer , , , , 1 Comment

Hey Friends. It’s Tuesday. The day when we set a timer for twenty minutes and organize our little hearts out.

Today we’re working on the medicine cabinet. Why?

  • Because medicines that are beyond their expiration date can not only lose their effectiveness but can become dangerous as well. (This is a contested issue so make your own decision about whether you want to keep medicines beyond their expiration dates. Please talk to your pharmacist if you’re not sure.)
  • And because you need to know what you have before you need it.

A short story to illustrate the point.

Shortly after our Sarah was born we took a family walk around the block. Just one block. One of our boys rode his bike with us. On the exact opposite side of the block he wiped out. Hard.

He was wearing his helmet but the bike flipped over him and he had a small puncture wound on his forehead. Have you ever seen a head wound bleed? Yeah. Lots of blood.

But – a friend who lived near the fall came out of her house with a box full of absolutely everything we needed to get the bleeding stopped. One box. Already in the closet. She didn’t have to look for anything. Or wonder where it had been used last. It was on the shelf in the closet ready for an emergency.

(By the way, we did take Jason to the emergency room because he was speaking jibberish for a few minutes there but by the time he was seen in the ER he was all fine.)

Why twenty minutes on the timer? Because it’s long enough to get something done. Or at least get a good start on a project you might have been avoiding. You can do just about anything for twenty minutes, right?

Grab a notebook and pen so that you can add needed items to the list for your next trip to the store. Now set your timer for twenty minutes and here we go.

  • If you have an actual First Aid Kit make sure it’s full of all listed supplies.
  • If you don’t have a First Aid Kit and want one then add it to the list. (This is the easiest way to make sure that you have some emergency supplies).
  • Set aside medicines past their expiration dates if you’ve decided to do so.
  • Set aside any prescription medicines no longer being used.

Add to your shopping list any items that are used regularly but running low.

You’ll have to contact your pharmacy to find out how to properly dispose of medicines that are no longer useful to you. Flushing down the toilet and throwing them in the trash are both sure ways to add to contamination in the water supply and ground. Just a little extra effort on your part can keep this chemical contamination out of the earth.

What have you been organizing lately? Any big projects? Now that it’s really spring time have you started on your spring cleaning? Let me know what you’re up to! I love to hear it!

Guest Post – Country Style Organizing

March 17, 2011

Jennifer Crutchfield Guest Post , , , Leave a comment

Today we are welcoming a guest post for the first time here on the Gather Arts Organizing blog. As much as I love organizing and love telling you how to go about it, the truth is that there are many, many ways to accomplish the same goals. Today, my friend Sherry shares her thoughts on organizing with baskets. Thanks Sherry, and welcome!

original photo here

Actually the title is a big lie, because the tools I used can be used in any decorating style.  The unique organizing tools are functional yet look like a part of your style of decorating.  I’m speaking of Longaberger baskets that were made in America.  Yes, all the other products sold are plastic or fabric and inexpensive, but the baskets hold their value because they are also a collector item.  Here’s a few ways I use mine and hopefully these ideas work for you too!

Mail Clutter

The Sort & Store Large Desktop Basket is perfect for this situation.  I have it in my kitchen right where I sort through the mail.  Mail can become a clutter pile in days, and believe me I always have one pile no matter what’s going on, but the rest can have a home.  Here’s how:

The SSLDB comes with dividers to help utilize the basket better.  The rear compartment is as wide as a file folder so you can add folders that are marked by the month, one for medical receipts, one for financial investment sheets, etc.

The month folder is where you file the bills for that month after they are paid, receipts after you return home from shopping, or anything for that month paper wise that you want to save.  Once the month is over then put it in a file cabinet, a box for tax purposes later, or where ever it works for you.  However they need to be purged when the month is done. 

The medical receipt folder is for the receipts that you get after a Dr. appointment, grocery receipts after purchasing OTC drugs or prescriptions, or unfortunate ER receipts.  There should be a “back up” folder to purge when it gets full too, and it’s helpful to be with the monthly purged folders where ever it was convenient for you to keep it.

The financial statement folder is for your 401K statements, investment quarterly reports, etc.  You can also put your bank statements in here after reconciliation or file those in the monthly folders.  What ever works best for you!

Please customize the folders to best work with your families needs, because above is just an idea of what one Mom does to handle mail clutter.

Other Basket Compartments

The other compartments in the basket are four little ones and I use them for:

  • cash or checks that need to be deposited
  • coupons
  • gift cards
  • stamps

Stay tuned to more posts on utilizing Longaberger baskets to help make your clutter stylish by City Chic on a Farm.

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