ARTICLES - YOUR JUNK OR YOUR LIFE

The Langley Times
January 19, 2004
Al Irwin - Times Reporter

YOUR JUNK OR YOUR LIFE
Declutter and Create Time for the Important Things, Like Family and Friends

Disorganization and clutter can steal your time, crush your creativity, and even get you fired.

That's the word from clutter buster Ranka Burzan, of Clean and Tidy Solutions in Langley.

Wallets, jewelry, money, and keys are the things people most often misplace. "You want to go to work, and you can't find your keys, so you are late for work."

"I had a client who was fired, because she was constantly late. She could never find the projects she was working on. She was good at her work, she was a sweetheart, but she could never find anything in her home, or in her office."

Her card describes Burzan as a professional organizer of home, office and classroom, and in addition to one-on-one visits, she writes, and holds workshops to teach people organizational and decluttering skills.

And she will help people tidy their cluttered homes for a real estate sale.

When people clutter, "they lose control over their lives, their projects."

"And they are constantly buying, because they don't know if they have things in their house. They go out and buy duplicates, triplicates. And God forbid if somebody calls and says: I am coming for a cup of coffee. Then you have to shove everything in the corners and drawers. Then they leave, and you don't know what you have there. Clutter creates confusion."

"I have clients, and they move one box from one corner to another, a box full of things. I say, let's get that box out of there."

Clutter also creates stress, and Burzan advocates trading in your chaos for serenity.

By letting go of things you don't need, simplifying your life, focusing on important things, like the people in your life, you can come home to a peaceful, orderly place and escape the chaotic world, she says.

"You are only supposed to keep the things that you love, or you use. The rest has to be somewhere else."

And while it may be fine to store things in garages, attics or basements while you think about whether or not they will be needed or useful, Burzan doesn't recommend a lengthy deliberation process. Basements and garages can become full of unused possessions too, just more junk dragging you down.

"I had one client, she was a very wealthy woman, I asked her what is there (at a storage warehouse). She said: I have no idea."

When the two went together to the storage warehouse the client decided she could live without it all.

"She got rid of everything."

"You are paying (storage) for nothing."

Burzan recommends people cut back on buying, and for every item bought, "get rid of at least one, two would be great, but at least one."

Burzan was conducting a workshop last week, for students at Elly Morgan's Kwantlen University College program - Employment and Education Access for Women.

Burzan said people spend at least one hour per day looking for things they need.

That's weeks of time, over a year, and Burzan says many people spend much more time than the norm, and their searches for missing items are often futile.

By contrast, it takes Burzan from six to 12 hours to declutter a house, with a willing participant.

"It just depends on the amount of clutter, and it also depends on you. If you are ready to declutter, if you are ready to get rid of your junk, then we will spend six hours, probably. I am not going to throw anything away. I don't have a right to do that. However, I will encourage you, if you are not using your things, to get rid of them."

Some homes have taken three days.

"I did a kitchen recently, it took me six hours. I organized, and I cleaned, and a put a system in place so everything is visible, everything is labeled, everything is contained."

Many of her clients are successful people, "but in their homes they don't know how to function, they don't function."

"In a cluttered, disorganized home (or workplace) you are constantly under stress, and constantly in confusion. And (my clients) are constantly frustrated. You know, these people work hard, but they are always circling, they are always spinning their wheels."

Burzan has operated Clean and Tidy Solutions for the past one and one-half years, but says she honed her organizational skills in a classroom of special needs children over 15 years, and as the operator of a day care for another five.

"I was always organized. I was always called a few other names, like anal. Now I am making money being anal. Pretty good."

In her workshops, Burzan offers: 12 steps to conquer clutter; quick tips to get you started; tips to defeat procrastination; time management and tools and resources to guarantee success. In her home or workplace visits, she will help her clients sort and purge, eliminating junk and organizing what's left.

She also teaches how to reduce stress through time management and organizing everything from your closet to your kids.

She recommends starting with the most evident problem area. If it is your kitchen, start there. Work with the most visible clutter, then on the things that are in drawers or behind closed cupboard doors. The kitchen can be the primary room of the house, used as a dining room, to do bill paying and tax returns, as a family meeting room, and homework area. She recommends clear plastic containers for chips, cookies, pasta, dry beans or peas, to keep them fresh, tidy and visible. If your kitchen is an office or homework area, keep pens, calculators, envelopes, stamps, and other stationary in a closed, portable container.

To organize a bedroom closet, empty it completely. Decide what to keep, and what to chuck.

Burzan doesn't come with a tradesman, like the TV hosts of Clean Sweep. She says shelving and closet organizer items are readily available from stores like Ikea or Home Depot. Wicker baskets can be used to store videos, remote controls, books, magazines or children's toys in the living or family room. In the bathroom, she suggests homeowners "think vertical" and install shelves for towels, hair products or lotions.

But she cautions against too many shelves, or baskets, which can become cluttered as well.

"Sometimes, people exhaust that too. They don't have one inch of wall. You have to declutter."

And establishing a system for her clients to follow improves the success rate, she said. "Giving them things to do, a list, everything is visible."

"It has to be visible. Everything has to be reachable, everything has to be accessible, everything has to be at their fingertips." Some people seem more able than others to stay on the track she sets for them. A decluttering is one thing, but the client must maintain the program. Burzan estimates it only takes 10 minutes of putting things away each day, to keep up with the program.

"Some do and some don't. Some call me over again and again, to touch up." "I think I am a great motivator for people, because I work hard."

"I motivate people to do their best. I want to see results…if I am working three or four hours, I want to see something done."

"It doesn't matter if I organize your home, you have to maintain (the system). Or hire me (again). I am more than happy to oblige.

Contact Burzan at ranka@cleantidysolutions.com.

Elly Morgan's
Employment and Education Access for Women is a part-time program for mid-life women seeking career and life direction: Elly.Morgan@kwantlen.ca