Allow Me Solutions at Global Gals Gathering

Here are my notes from our Global Gals Gathering in April.  They are the notes and may include incomplete sentences!  Have fun reading.

April 9, 2015

Attendees:  Megan, Heather, Beth, Orchidea, Susan

Presenter: Cheryl Hughes, Allow Me Solutions

Cheryl is a do-er.  She loves what she does.   She’s been organizing for almost 9 years.

Back in 1986, Cheryl walked, yes walked, across the country with a group of about 300 people.  Started in L.A.  For global nuclear disarmament. Walked for 9 months.  “The Great Peace March.”  Met her partner on the walk, they have been together for 29 years.

Chocolate, coffee, wine, and a friend.  And you just start.   Doesn’t matter what time of day you start.

Take everything out of the room/space that you are organizing.  Organize a closet – start by taking everything out.  Put items in categories/piles such as sporting goods, supplies, Christmas decorations, tools, pictures, gardening supplies.  Then you can see what needs to go, thrown away, give away, and keep.  Do you love it?  Does it bring you joy?  Do you use it?  If you answer yes, then keep it.  If you answer no, then get rid of it.  If you keep it, it’s a physical burden.

3 containers:  donation, trash, recycle.  Put the items inside a container.  Have each container look different.

Shared space with spouse.  Have spouse put the item in his/her own space, not shared space.

Everything you have needs to have a home.  Avoid piles.  Piles are about indecision.  You can miss deadlines, you can lose money, lose gift cards, not pay a bill, increases negativity.  Solution: sort the piles (filed, needs attention, shredded) and deal with each smaller pile.

Idea: journal, write important items in the journal instead of keeping a physical magazine or article.

98% of the time, containers and cabinets that you already have are enough.  There isn’t a need to buy bins before organizing.   You can get new bins after you start organizing.  Decrease what goes in the landfill, don’t buy unnecessary storage/decorative bins.

If you can store vertically, store vertical.  Put items so they are up and down, not flat.  You can see things more clearly in vertical.  Vertical takes less room.

Put alike things alike. For example, tools in the house, put all the tools in one place.

For donations and returns, put it in the car.  Don’t leave the items in the house.

What is the reason for not making room for items that are in boxes.

Don’t leave things in a bag.  Bags are worse than boxes.  Boxes have boundaries and you can take the lid off to see what is inside.

Cheryl also works with hoarders.  In general, it’s better to let the person live the way they live unless it’s a safety issue or if they are getting evicted.  Repurpose items.  Reduce what goes in the landfill.

Cheryl has a contact for someone who sells on Ebay.  China isn’t worth anything and is hard to sell.  Silver may be sold as is or melted down.

To contact Cheryl Hughes, visit her website http://www.allowmesolutions.com/

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