In this day and age when just looking at social media can take up a whole day finding time to get uber organized will be difficult. Taking a break from the whole social media, unless it is for marketing a business that supports you, is a great idea for making time to get organized. Using the I-Deal-Lifestyle™ method of getting organized permanently will create a system you will use forever. You may get the organizing bug but not know where to start, and how to figure out what stays and what goes. I say don't worry about making decisions about what to keep, donate or throw in the beginning stages of getting organized. In fact, I don't care if you get rid of a thing. Being perpetually organized has nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with getting rid of anything at all.

The first steps to being perpetually organized is to understand what that means. Perpetually organized means you are organized moment to moment, day to day, month to month and year to year. It means, that no matter what kind of mess the kids, your partner, or you have made, it is a quick and easy fix to having things placed back into their permanent home, and out of your way. The normal cycle of perpetual disorganization is that you spend hours getting everything put away, to the best of your ability only to have your space look like a cyclone a few days later.

The I-Deal-Lifestyle™ method makes like a whole lot easier to access your belongings and stuff, and then to put it away after use. The steps are below:

Marla Stone's I-Deal-Lifestyle organizing methods

1. figure out what you value in life. Values are things you like to do, things you enjoy, guidelines for you perfect lifestyle, what kind of people you like, behaviors you approve and of, what you believe. Examples: making money, leisure time, giving back, peace and quiet, performance, health, family time, being altruistic.

2. hydrate and stretch. organizing is an act of labor. It is time consuming in the beginning to get everything correct, and it is a lot of physical work. The reason most people find a professional organizer to help them.

3. clear your entire space except for anything heavy or electrical devices that are connected i.e. tv, stereos, heavy rugs, furniture, artwork. Get everything out of closets, drawers, cabinets, under bed, garage. Every scrap of everything out, out, out of your space.

4. categorize everything you own, every scrap of paper, every book, every knick knack, clothing, memorabilia, small devices, utility items, sports stuff, toys, personal items, bathroom and kitchen and pantry items. Categorize, categorize, categorize. All like objects with like.

5. look at your belongings in their categories, and see what you want to keep using this criteria, asking yourself:

• Will I use it
• Does it serve a purpose
• Is it sentimental
• Do I love it

6. after figuring out what you will keep versus what goes out of your life. Fine tune the broad categories. So now all light bulbs with light bulbs, nails with nails, romance  novels versus decorating books, receipts with receipts, statements with statements, pants with pants and then by color, vases with vases. After fine tuning see if the items are a reasonable amount of stuff to keep. Use the criteria again to see if you want everything that you chose to hang onto once again.

7. based on size of category find a container, bowl, box, bin, shelf or drawer to put your categories away. Always use a container for every single category no matter how big or small. So for instance when all 35 paperclips are found in your home, put them in a plastic zip lock bag, or a small container. Do not put anything loosely back into a storage area.  When things are not contained they will start to schmoosh together with other items nearby.

8. decorate your home by moving furniture around so you experience better energy and flow. Add cabinets, dressers, garage racks to house anything you keep to keep items off floors and surfaces.

9. invite your friends over and show off your accomplishments.

10. enjoy your space based on knowing your values and choosing items to keep that make sense with what you truly value in life!

Book a Professional Organizer to help you now at www.i-deal-lifestyle.com
​or call 949-709-7000 to talk to a pro organizer for ideas and tips.

When a good part of your life is focused on cleaning up after yourself and your family members, it is time to evaluate your household's function and organization, or lack thereof. Creating and setting up a system for long-term organization takes some effort, time, and an understanding of what you value most in your life currently. Having a home system and an aesthetic environment is key to having the motivation to keep your space free of clutter and perpetual disorganization.

Sometimes our spaces reflect a past part of our life. For instance a whole cabinet of crafts, old exercise equipment, torn and tattered furniture, or old stuff that is not serving a purpose. Understanding what you actually use in your space and how often, and where you use it, understanding what in your space serves a purpose, and what is sentimental or you what you love to have around is the key to having an organized self and space.

Envisioning a space that you love can be as simple as identifying which store is your favorite store for furniture and design. Is it pottery barn, crate and barrel, z gallerie, or traditional or modern furniture stores? Are you seeking something ultra modern or boho circus? Do you like rustic, or country fixins? Whatever your dream style is, define it. Get it crystal clear in your mind. This will lead you to an organized lifestyle.

Working with a professional organizer to help you determine how to set up the space, where to put cabinets, furniture, countertops, amenities is crucial from the beginning of building or renovating a space. Professional organizers will help measure the space, and get the space decorated. Organizers help you pick out items that fit your taste, help get things delivered and put the whole home together from start to finish. Organizers will help you organize your schedule, teach you how to stay focused and become more productive.

Organizers take a look at what you do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to determine the best way to set up and stock your home. You don't have to rack your brain to figure out a good kitchen and or bathroom layout, or how the furniture will be placed in each room. Organizers do all of that for you. They even will help pack and unpack, organize furniture placement, decorate and create an organized space system for the entire home or office.

Going out to different luxury and boutique hotels can be helpful for you to know what kind of decor creates energy and calm. Visiting google images, model homes, or scourging estate sales, consignment shops, or shopping on-line can also help define your true taste and what you truly desire to be in your space. Getting a clear idea on your current taste is where is all begins.

Marla Stone is the CEO of I-Deal-Lifestyle ™ Professional Organizing Services
Orange County, California
[email protected]
Call for a free 30 minute phone consult with an I-Deal-Lifestyle team member. 949-709-7000

Language is the key to chronic disorganization.  Also not getting your needs fulfilled.  Humans do not get enough sleep, breathe, eat, go to the bathroom well.  Humans do not get enough sunlight.  The only thing we usually have is shelter, but some people don't even have that.  The essential things in life that we need are being ignored and replaced with things like too much activity (shopping), polluted air, snacks, laxatives, and social media and television.  We also suffer in the shelter department in the way of inadequate beds, disorganized homes, leaky faucets, dangerous neighborhoods, or dressing improperly for the elements. 

We have confused needs with wants and wants with needs.

To stop the madness and write a list of the things in the "need" category, that you are missing or low on, such as air, improved diet, shelter, hydrating, sleep, sunlight, going to the bathroom regularly and with good outcome (no pun intended.)  

Then write a list of things that you value in life, for instance, being a great parent, or writing a novel, or peace and quiet.  Then write a list of things you absolutely want to do in life before your next birthday.  Then write a list of things you absolutely will do, within the next three years.

Becoming connected to what you want in life is the first step in becoming organized long-term.  Without goals or dreams why bother putting one foot in front of the other, really.  Our goals don't have to be lofty, although I do like to go big on goals.  I would rather say I'll make $5 million dollars over the next two years than $50K.  Go big on goals, as long as you have the abilities to reach big goals then go for it.  If you are illiterate and your goal is to write a best selling novel that is a bit of a reach, but if you won a school prize in the poetry contest, that goal is reachable.  If you want to be an olympic athlete but you smoke pot, eat improper foods and don't train, then, well, find another goal.

The relation between what we need (the seven essential things that keep us alive), what we want in life, and what we will do to get it is the secret to staying on target in life, performance and productivity and efficiency.

Speaking to yourself properly and putting "will" back in your language, "will" get you to your ideal lifestyle.

Marla Stone is a productivity and efficiency lifestyle coach.
Her website www.i-deal-lifestyle.com has similar articles to help you achieve perpetual organization.  She owns a professional organizer business in southern california and travels all over the united states coaching businesses and individuals on how to not only get organized but how to remain organized.

Visiting businesses all over the US and especially Orange County and Southern California has been eye opening and thought provoking.  Here are some thoughts about what I have seen as Professional Organizer in big and small businesses.

1. Employee clutter
Walking through office after office, year after year, the first thing I notice are the boxes on top of file cabinets and hallways, paper piled up on employee desks, bare walls, stained furniture, messy break rooms, broken furniture, electronics, messy utility areas, dated decor, poor lighting and improperly placed furniture, over-utilization of paper, electric usage and way too much coffee and not enough water and nutritious fluids, not to mention old food in the fridge.  

2. Poor Communication
Even the most educated people, doctors, lawyers, university professors, scientists, ceo's, cfo's, bosses, gate-keepers all using improper language which causes procrastination, unfulfilled goals, unhappy relationships, poor customer care, decreased productivity and efficiency and a sense of drudgery throughout the work processes.  I learned all the communication techniques that existed for increased productivity and found they were short term motivators.  I created a communication skill out of identifying improper use of language on a massive scale.  I created a few changes to our language which magically fix our entire beings to stop procrastination, mistakes, and glitches in our goals and quotas.

3. Robotic and Lifeless Services
Customer care and product development suffering from lack of imagination, creativity, humanistic focus, employees and upper management suffering from sleep deprivation, improper nutrition, stifled dress codes, improper usage of breaks, lack of recognition of interpersonal aspects of employee and customer service and satisfaction, under utilized employee assistance services, lack of visitation and usage or over usage of health services.  Disconnected communications between departments, and disrespectful and apathetic behaviors amongst employees and towards customers.  Tired, grouchy, uncommunicative, resentful employees, long-term challenges unresolved with long meetings and a blah sense of fortitude.

It is a lot to take in, as a person and professional that sees clear paths for companies with great challenges.  Also, as a solution finder, I realize that introducing, encouraging and most of all enforcing specific basic methods, ideas and thoughts will generate greatness for American and European companies and that a great shift instead of a great divide will occur.  

Coming from a long background of corporate sales, training and program development, working for Wilson Learning
(started by Larry Wilson of the One Minute Salesperson and the beginning of International Corporate Training Programs in the 90's), working as a corporate trainer for 17 years and being a psychotherapist and on the panels of EAP's (employee assistance programs) for 10 years I can see that the changes for company growth, executive excellence and leadership, employee consistency, productivity and efficiency is not a matter of a total overhaul, but yet a few tweeks, a few weeks and a few language and behavioral changes.

Working with large and small businesses for many years is very gratifying and the success track of the businesses that have adapted the methods and teachings of www.southocwellness.com have been astounding.  Increase in sales, customer and employee satisfaction are just a few of the perks of the learning curve.  We offer business productivity tools, increased attendance at work, small business coaching, coaching and mentoring, workshops, seminars, business consulting and corporate wellness programs.  Getting better at business is our business.  Getting fame and recognition, a healthy stable in-flow of money, long-term customers and employees, better community relationships, notoriety and respect is earned through language not through time.

Call 949-709-7000 for a free business consultation and get some free career coaching while your at it.

Marla Stone, MSW, Business Coach and Lifestyle Consultant will help you define what you value in life and business so you will move forward to reaching goals, dreams and your ideal lifestyle.

Getting organized by yourself will be overwhelming when you are also getting ready for the holidays.  When clutter reaches epidemic or even mild proportions and you have been at it for awhile, take a breath and call a Professional.  Organizers are people who see your space in a whole new way.  People who organize homes and offices and businesses will see hidden space, space in cabinets and floor space to accommodate all of the belongings and furniture you own.  As Marla Stone, MSW, Professional Organizer explains "a great home and business organizer will utilize space in a very specific and practical way".  

Marla Stone was a therapist and social worker for many years.  Upon retirement she set out to find a different path to helping people.  She stumbled across professional organizing and started her business in Southern California, serving Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego. "I help people from the inside out and the outside in".  Marla acknowledges she has been helping people get organized for 5 years now, and realized the same thing as Marie Kondo, and that is "everything is categorized".   The difference between Marie Kondo's book information in "The Magic Art of Tidying Up" is that Marla goes deeper.  

Evidently you can get organized on the outside but if the inner you is not organized you will mess up your place over and over again, feeling overwhelmed and defeated.  Getting organized starts with what Marla calls "Self Organization" and the "Space Organization" follows.  The inner process of clearing out old wounds, and resentments and grief is necessary for a clear vision of how you want your space to be.

"Know thyself" is the most important concept Marla teaches clients, next is changing the language from "I need" to "I want" and then understanding that nothing in your space is a "need".  Needs are air, food, water, shelter, sleep, elimination and sunlight, the 7 things that keep you alive.  Everything else is "I want or I don't want", or "I will or I won't".  

Getting organized from the inside out and the outside in is not simple, but worth the time and effort because it will change your life permanently and in a very positive manner.

Marla has worked with 1000's of people in her life, to help them achieve self realization and a new connection with their inner values and desires.  Knowing what you value is essential to making changes in life for the better.  If you don't know what you want, no goals can follow.  Knowing what you truly want in life, not what others want for you, is the first step towards self realization.  Organizing you, your thoughts, ideas, dreams and then the outer space follows along.

Getting an appointment with Marla Stone is easy by calling 1-949-709-7000.  She will come and do an assessment of you and your space and then help you get your space where you want it to be.

Orange County Professional Organizers helps people in Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Mission Viejo, Laguna Woods, Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, Dana Point, Coto De Caza, Ladera Ranch, Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Torrance, Redondo Beach, South Bay and San Diego.

Call for a free 30 minute phone consult today. 1-949-709-7000