The Burning House

In Parade magazine of all places I saw a mention of a book coming out called The Burning House by Foster Huntington. It is also a blog, and it documents through photographs of beautifully arranged objects what a person would take if they could only grab a few things and escape from their burning house. It's a powerful question and the images are also powerful, able to communicate what a person values above all else at a single glance. I find the blog fascinating and I'm sure the book is interesting as well.

What would you take?

Practicing extreme self care

**This post was originally published in my monthly e-newsletter, Lelah's News. Don't subscribe? Sign up here!

A while ago I read an article about dealing with emergency situations in which the author advised that to better cope, one should practice "extreme self care." In other words, make sure you get plenty of food, water, rest and whatever else your body needs to keep functioning at its highest level. Though that is probably most difficult to do when in an emergency situation, it makes sense. I was inspired by the phrase “extreme self care” and wondered why not practice that every day? How better can we honor ourselves and keep ourselves most productive and happy than by getting the rest we need, the nutrition that fuels our bodies, the exercise that makes us feel good and anything else that a body in particular might need (some time to yourself, a daily does of chocolate). Self care keeps us healthy and sane.

As the mother of a six-week-old, I know that taking care of yourself isn't always easy and it isn't always the first priority. Getting one's teeth brushed can seem like quite an achievement some days. But when you take care of yourself you can take care of others so much better. Therefore, I advocate extreme self care as a lifestyle choice that can make any day more manageable. To practice this, sometimes you simply have to give yourself permission to put yourself first. Once you do that, finding the time in your packed schedule to take a walk just to see some green trees or to refill your water bottle and make a healthy snack is no longer indulgent but necessary, vital, non-optional.

Try it and see how it positively impacts everything else in your life.

Organized people are lazy

Laziness is underrated as a motivating factor. I'm a hard worker, but I'm lazy in the sense that I don't want to spend extra energy doing something that can be done more simply, more easily or more quickly. I think a lot of organized people are also lazy people in this same way. They know that if they have the elements of their lives as ordered and streamlined as they like, they can spend less time on the minutiae of life and more time doing the things that are important to them. I particularly think that organized people have an advantage over disorganized people in that they are not constantly reacting, not constantly bombarded by "emergencies" of their own making and are not caught up in a feeling that everything is urgent, because everything is behind where it needs to be.

When an emergency really does crop up, then an organized person has the flexibility to put other things in their life on hold and deal with it, without causing too much damage. This results in less clean-up, less work. For me, I don't want that extra work, so I get organized at the front end to avoid it. And it works most of the time. When I do get overwhelmed with stuff, the laziness factors in when I stop taking on new responsibilities for a little while in order to get back to my natural equilibrium. Once I'm back in my comfort zone, then life can speed up as it is bound to do. An outside person might call that laziness in a pejorative manner. I think it's common sense, being true to yourself and knowing what makes you comfortable and happy. If that's laziness, so be it.

Need a professional to help you get to your natural equilibrium?

Call Lelah at 818.269.6671

or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Get Lelah's News

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. It seems that there is always something going on somewhere around the world to make us think about our own level of readiness for a disaster or unforeseeable event. Take the time to go one step further. Reflect, then act, and make sure you have a few vital items in place, like extra water, food, flashlights, batteries, sturdy shoes, medications and first aid equipment. A lot of these are items we take with us when we go camping, so my husband and I just make sure our camping equipment is up to date and stored in a secure and accessible location.

For more disaster preparedness checklists, visit the Ready.gov website.

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by yoppy

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

A year ago: working clean, emergency preparedness and organizing myths

Last year during the first week in May I posted about the idea of "working clean" as applied to any workspace, with some thoughts on David Allen's GTD concept of the productive state.

I also offered a few ways you can prepare for an emergency. These go beyond merely stocking up on bottled water and refilling your flashlight batteries. Last year the impetus for the post was a wildfire in Santa Barbara. Since then, we've had more wildfires in Southern California as well as earthquakes. There's never a bad time to get yourself better prepped for an emergency situation.

 

Last, I countered the organizing myth that organizing takes up a lot of time by sharing some way you can improve your organization a few minutes at a time. This is how I keep myself organized, in small chunks here and there throughout the day, week, month and year.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com 

10 best reasons to get organized

I've been giving a lot of thought to the tangible benefits of getting and staying organized. I see them in my own life, and in my clients' lives every day, but I wanted to share a few of them here.

1. Save time: always know where to find things.
2. Save money: never have to buy duplicates of things you already own but can’t find.
3. Improve your financial situation: no more late fees or dings on your credit score for not paying bills on time.
4. Increase efficiency: make lists so you only have to go to stores once to get everything you need, group errands geographically and use the Internet to cut down on trips to faraway places by having things delivered.
5. Increase your sense of calm: lessen the day-to-day chaos in your life and focus on the things that are most important to you.
6. Decrease friction with people you live with: when there’s a sense of organization and a place for everything, discord over people’s stuff (usually) goes away.
7. Broaden the scope of your physical and mental world: when we feel held back by disorganization and chaos, we use it as an excuse not to redecorate the apartment that is stuck in 1988, or not to embark on a creative project we’ve been thinking about for years. No more excuses. Do it!
8. Give loved ones security: having your end of life wishes written down, your estate planning finished and a plan for how to dispose of your property after your death lessens the stress that your loved ones will have to endure during that difficult time. Do you really want to leave a house crammed top to bottom with stuff for your kids and grandkids to deal with one day?
9. Make emergency situations easier: when you’re prepared for emergencies with important papers, information and objects located, backed up and insured, those difficult times will be less so.
10. Increase happiness: if your neutral mode for going through life is an organized one, it makes it possible for the ups to go higher and the downs to dip shallower. Try it!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Preparing for an emergency

With a wildfire burning less than 100 miles from here in Santa Barbara, I’m reminded of those things everyone knows they should do to protect themselves in case of emergency, but few of us rarely actually accomplish. We put off doing these sensible things, since a part of us always hopes we won’t need them because there will never be an emergency. Not to be clichéd, but the old saw “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” is actually pretty good advice. Obviously, we all hope there won’t ever be an earthquake, flood or fire that affects us or our loved ones, but no one can ever know what the future holds. 

So here’s a short list of items that you really SHOULD take care of, not someday, but now. If you do one a week for the next five weeks, you’ll be done, and except for some minor maintenance, you’ll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are prepared for something less than pleasant to happen.

1. Okay, let’s start with an easy one--smoke detectors. Take a moment and make sure you have the proper number of smoke detectors in your home and that they are in working order. Here’s some great information on smoke alarms from the U.S. Fire Administration: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pyfff/smkalarm.html
2. Next, make sure that all of your vital documents (deeds, birth certificates, insurance policies, etc.) are stored somewhere safe, such as off site at a safe deposit box or in your home in a fire safe box. Here’s a good guideline of what to keep where: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/news/newsreleases/2009/march-26-2009/keep-valuable-documents-safe  Along these same lines, I cannot stress enough how important it is to back up your digital files as well, such as photos, videos and documents you may be keeping on a home computer. If you don’t already have a backup system in place, such as an external hard-drive, I highly recommend you create one immediately. If you can, make a second backup that you can store off site, or use online storage, just in case your external hard-drive gets destroyed in an emergency.
3. For insurance purposes, it is smart to read your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy and make sure you understand it. If you have valuables, such as art or electronics, that may not be covered, consider extending your insurance. Once you understand what you are insured for, make an inventory of all the items in your home. A visual inventory, either photos or video of the items, is a good idea. You may also want to keep receipts and make a spreadsheet or other database of the items in question with information like when you acquired the object and what you paid for it. None of this information will do you any good if it is destroyed in an emergency, so make multiple copies and keep them with your documents off site, and give a copy to a friend or relative to hang on to. Consider also backing up the information online via web storage. Remember that when you make an improvement to your home, or if you make additional major purchases, you’ll need to update your records accordingly.
4. Next, consider what area you live in and what the most likely disasters to affect you might be. I live in Southern California, and earthquakes are always at the forefront of my mind. Fire can affect everyone, either wildfires or residential fires, and flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, frost and heat take their toll on thousands of people every year. Make sure you do research into the disasters likely to affect your part of the world and plan accordingly. FEMA has some great information on its website about different hazards.
5. The last thing I want to mention is in some ways the hardest: estate planning, which basically means what you want to have happen to your stuff when you die. This refers to your will, trusts, dispersal of your money and property and all of that legal stuff. It can also refer to your wishes regarding your body and funeral. It is never too early to start thinking about these things. Especially if you have children or have had a life change since your last will such as a marriage or divorce, you want to make sure that your wishes are backed up by legal documents. This is a pretty huge topic, so don’t be afraid to ask for professional help. Making sure your wishes are known and recorded will ensure you peace of mind and also be a burden lifted from your spouse, children or family upon your death. Please, make sure your affairs are in order as soon as possible. Here are a couple of good online resources for estate planning: SmartMoney and CNN Money

So that’s a lot of preparation for something that may never happen, but it is really important to do. If it is difficult for you to prepare for something unpleasant, think about how much safer and easier it will be for your family in the case of emergency if you take a few steps right now. Get help, from a family member or friend, if you don’t feel like doing it alone, or hire a professional to make a home inventory and get a lawyer to help you with estate planning. Good luck!

Creative Commons photo posted to flickr by 91RS