LITMIR.BIZ

      Photo Courtesy of Christina Dennis, www.TheDIYMommy.com

      A Butterfly needs easy, fast, and macro-organized solutions that are clearly visible to succeed. Let’s take a look at a typical bathroom closet. The traditional image of organization would be stacked, separate containers for all the different categories and products. One container for pain relievers, one for allergy medication, and another for cold and flu…

      Be honest with me for a second. If you have a headache and you dig out an aspirin, are you really going to take the time to take the lid off, put it back on, and restack the bins to put it away? Nope. You are going to leave it on the counter exactly where you used it.

      Now, imagine for a minute that you could just toss the bottle back into one large, open container that holds all your different medications. Better yet, make this container clear so you can see exactly what’s inside. Would you put it away now? It seems like an unorganized approach to organization, but trust me, this macro system is exactly what will work for you. Sure, you’ll have to spend a few extra seconds digging through the bin for the aspirin the next time you need one, but you will also always know exactly where the aspirin is. Right now, you’re probably asking yourself, “Where was I the last time I took an aspirin?” Taking a few extra seconds to find something isn’t where you struggle, it’s the putting it away part that needs to be easy. Taking a few extra minutes to create a LARGE label for this macro-organized medication bin is going to ensure that your brain registers exactly what is inside, which will alleviate the anxiety about forgetting or “losing” your things.

      Bob the Butterfly

      My first-ever male client was a full-blown Butterfly. For the purpose of this story, I’m going to call him Bob. The first time I walked into Bob’s home, it was instantly clear to me that his organizing style was Butterfly. Every surface was covered with random things. His table, kitchen counter, and even the floor had items, spread out and loosely piled, covering almost every square inch. There was a hall closet immediately to the left of the front door, but when I opened it, a single coat was on a hanger and the floor held only a few pairs of shoes. I noted that the stair banister (which was a full ten feet from the front door) had at least three coats hung on it, and Bob had a huge pile of shoes beside the front door. When I asked him about the coat and shoes in the closet, his cheeks flushed and he admitted to never wearing anything from that closet. He had no idea why he didn’t use the closet; it just seemed easier for him to hang his coats on the banister or over the back of a chair instead.

      Now, some of you may assume that Bob is just lazy. Why would he not just hang his coats in the closet? The truth is, he had to walk farther away from the door to hang his coat on the banister. It would have been faster and required less effort to just toss it in the closet. This wasn’t about laziness; this was about Bob needing visual systems.

      Bob’s kitchen counter was covered in paper. Bills, newspapers, reminders…the pile had spread to over three feet wide. When I asked him why his paper pile had gotten so out of control, he admitted he hadn’t noticed how large it had grown. Bob was so used to the pile, it had become invisible to him. He sheepishly explained that he wanted his papers to go in his office upstairs, but he never found the motivation to take them up there. The pile was too big, too overwhelming, and he simply couldn’t be bothered to organize it. I see this exact same issue in almost every Butterfly home I visit. They either don’t have a dedicated home for their daily-use items, or the items’ “ideal home” isn’t visual or easy enough to use.

      Bob’s office was too far from the front door to be a viable spot for him to drop his mail when he came home. In the absence of a dedicated “spot” for it, he piled it on the kitchen counter. Bob had tried, and failed, to organize his paperwork in the past. He had bought a filing cabinet and even purchased different-colored file folders. Setting up a paper system isn’t where Bob failed; it was taking the time to use it every day that he struggled with. After years of failing, he had simply given up trying. Why should he continue to bother?

      When organizing for a Butterfly, I design the space around eliminating all the excuses. Office too far away? Create a hanging filing system by the front door for mail and school papers. Is the closet not a visual enough option? Take the doors off and install hooks for coats and backpacks instead.

      A Butterfly’s home needs to be designed to transform the one-minute rule into the five-second rule. The one-minute rule is, If something takes less than ONE MINUTE to do, you must do it immediately. For most Butterflies, if you can design a home where it takes less than FIVE SECONDS to put something away, they will have no excuses not to do it.