Lori Cela

Lori Cela CPO® is a Certified Professional Organizer and mother of 3 in Powell, Ohio. She loves to help others get organized and simplify their lives to make time for what really matters.

  • Organizing

    Time 4 Organizing

    My Journey of becoming a Professional Organizer

    When I was growing up in ex-communist Albania, I remember I wanted to be many things but I can say for certain that Being a Professional Organizer never crossed my mind. I don’t think it was even a thing back then.

     

    I wanted to work in different embassies around the world, live somewhere else and experience other cultures. The latter part I achieved although not quite in the way I’d thought. Hello USA 🙂

     

    I wanted to be a teacher and I did teach English and French for a while. I have a lot more respect for teachers anywhere because my mom was one for her whole life, but mostly from my personal one-year experience at this amazing and humbling profession.

     

    I also loved numbers and logic.  Math was my jam. I found comfort in solving problems, and knowing there was certainty at the end. I still do, to this day after much gray hair and wisdom have happened. I went and became an accountant because at that time a straight-A student wanting to make a comfortable living could either become a respectable doctor, a lawyer or an accountant. Funny, eh?

    A Professional Organizer was not even in my radar.

    People always ask me why I started my business. There was a light bulb moment to be honest with you (I can tell you the date, exactly where I was and what I was doing, lol) but it wasn’t an overnight decision. I always describe it as the end of the journey of finding myself. It is home, it is me.

     

    Most of us have sort of a semi-conscious internal idea or checklist of who we are, where we’re going and how we’ll get there. What we do in our daily life may or may not check off all the little boxes on that internal checklist of what makes us happy.

     

    Running one of our family restaurants in Powell, Ohio for 6 years was very exciting, challenging and certainly stripped me of my shyness and pushed me out of my comfort zone. To put it mildly. In hindsight, perhaps it was a necessary growth step in my journey. Isn’t that how it all works out?

    Everything that has happened to you has led you to now.

     

    After a while, you know deep down of what is right for you and what makes you ultimately happy. Some of us are lucky to find that job that ticks off all the items on our fulfillment checklist. Others will keep searching, inside and out.

     

    I had this deep desire to connect with others, to help and be of service. I could not save a life by doing surgery like my amazing grandparents did, I didn’t have the lifelong patience to be a teacher like my mom. I could not work in embassies and get involved in foreign politics. Too late for that. That wasn’t me. That little bit I had figured out.

     

    What better way to make the world just a bit better than using my talents of making sense of things and emotions that wrap around them?

     

    After being a mom of 3 with over a decade of experience by that time, I knew all too well what families were struggling with. I knew first-hand what a full-time working mom faces each and every day. I had been that mom.

     

    I knew how hard it is for a stay at home mom too, keeping it all together and trying their best. I had been that mom.

     

    I had been the 9-5 job mom, part-time work mom, self-employed mom, restaurant manager mom, accountant mom. You name it. All part of the journey of not only understanding myself but also being able to relate to so many other folks out there today.

     

    I experienced first-hand that life can get crazy busy. And a disorganized house really was detrimental to my mental and physical health. Stress and anxiety would take over if I did not have proper systems set up at home that enabled me to keep things in check and have time for what mattered to me the most.

     

    Yes, this is what it was all about. Making time for what matters.

    Investing in some time to get organized, maintain the systems you set up, so those systems keep working for you.

     

    With that knowledge, I created my business so that other busy, professional families can make time for what’s important. Whatever that means at any moment, I wanted others to break free from the chains of clutter and disorganization and live their best lives possible.

     

    You should be able to spend time with your loved ones, making connections, pursuing hobbies, taking up new passions, playing with the kids, growing professionally, traveling or just doing a whole lot of nothing, relaxing on the couch sometimes which is perfectly A-OK. It all should be done at YOUR terms though. When life demands it or when you choose to. Not putting out fires day after day and just surviving at parenthood and life.

     

    I want you to stop being a prisoner of the mess, the lost time wasted looking for things and the guilt and shame that comes with the thought that there should be a better way. Life should not be spent chasing after piles of stuff to find what’s needed and wanted.

    Yes, let’s make Time 4 Organizing so that you can have time for what matters to you.

    That is a not so short story of how I started my business.

     

     

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  • Organizing

    4 Steps for Organizing the Garage

    Guest Post by Michael Nokes

    Garages are one of the hardest working areas in our homes and often the most neglected. Personally, for me, it is the first space that I see when I pull up on my driveway so getting it organized is especially important.

    It is a pleasure to collaborate with like-minded professionals such as Michael Nokes with Your Garage Guys .

    Read on for more tips and check out their website for amazing garage storage solutions!

     

    For many of us, the garage is our personal storage unit. We put away excess items that we don’t always need to keep them out of sight. And sometimes a dismissive attitude toward storing belongings in the garage can create a cluttered nightmare. The car no longer fits, your important tools and equipment become inaccessible and finding any belongings when you need it becomes an hour-long project.

    The garage is an excellent storage space. With the right mindset and systems in place, it can be functional for all your needs. In this post, I will cover a list of things to do and types of systems to consider for getting the garage under control.

    Declutter

    Chances are you have quite a few things in the garage you don’t really need. The standard decluttering process of “Keep, sell/donate, and throw away” is effective for the garage because the opportunities for selling and throwing away tend to be more abundant than in other areas of the home.

    The more effort you put into this first step, the easier the job is to organize everything you keep. Focus on keeping necessities and tools and be strict against belongings the family has outgrown, old documents, and any gear that is past its effective usage.

    Picking Storage Systems

    There are two main features across garage storage you’ll need to weigh: accessibility and capacity. The more you try to fit in one area, the more difficult it can be to reach. Conversely, easy to reach items can use up more room.

    One way to balance this is to layer your storage according to your needs. Any layered shelving system and overhead racks work great for this task.

     

    Hang everyday tools and items on the wall or a shelf. Store seasonal and lesser-used items up high or on the bottom shelf. This method keeps belongings flush against the wall and utilizes otherwise unused ceiling space.

    For items you don’t use every day, store them together in containers. This saves you space and maximizes the capacity of your storage systems.

     

    Group and Label Items in Containers

    One of the best benefits of an organized space is that it eliminates the time to search for belongings. Unlabeled boxes can completely waste that opportunity.

    Sort items by category – camping, tools, cleaning, sports, decorations, and so on – place them into containers and label them. Make labels large and easy to read since visibility in the garage can be spotty.

    Safety First

    As a final check, make sure the garage is safe if you have pets or children. Oil, antifreeze, cleaning solutions, sharp and heavy objects, paint, and electrical equipment are typical items to store in the garage. Consider hanging some of them up high or locking them away in cabinets.

    Decluttering and reorganizing the garage is a large project that can take several hours or days depending on the situation. But the return you get is tremendous. You’ll save hours searching for lost items, tools will be easier to access, and you’ll finally be able to park the car inside. Don’t hesitate to do it! Plan a weekend to get it done and you’ll be grateful that you did.

     

    Michael Nokes works for Your Garage Guys, a garage storage and organization company in Columbus. He enjoys sharing tips on home organization and improvement. When he’s not working, he likes hiking, playing guitar, and spending time with friends and family.

     

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  • Organizing

    Will it stay that way?

     

    This is an interesting question I get asked on a pretty regular basis. Many people don’t think they can maintain so they don’t even try. Here’s my Professional Organizer’s take on a recent work session:

    I was finally placing labels on the new bins and putting on the finishing touches. The pantry looked perfect.  We had powered through three hours of completely reorganizing the space and it looked like an organizer’s dream.

    Then, my client stepped back to look at it and there it was. THAT question again:

    “Will it stay that way though?”

    I could see the doubt and hesitation in her eyes. No there was nothing that did not make sense from the pantry. Yet, this question has surprisingly surfaced quite often with many of my clients and especially doubtful family members.

    Think about it. It probably has occurred to you too. You see something pretty, an organized shelf, a neat room, an awesome playroom and you think to yourself:

    “That could never be my house”, or “that wouldn’t last the weekend with my kids”.

    The thing is while you might be right in some instances of staged photos and unrealistic house settings, in many other cases you are NOT.

    Unless this is a case of a more extreme disorganization or underlying psychological personal issues, there is no need to be hesitant to get organized just because you think you can’t maintain it.

    Questions and doubts :

    “Oh yes it looks gorgeous because you know what you’re doing but I don’t know”

    “I might have to bring you back here every week to keep this up!”

    “Do you think I can maintain this?”

     

    I am here to tell you that yes, you can and this is why:

     

    • You made the best investment and worked with a trained Professional Organizer, who has hours and hours of education classes and experience and knows the best way to set up a proper organizing system. No, it is not just about throwing your stuff away. Do you remember those 2000 questions I asked at our consultation and then during the work session? It was not all chit-chat. I was learning about you and how your family functions. This system is tailored to your unique lifestyle and reflects that.

     

    • There are labels now where there were none before. I am glad you listened to me and agreed to label things. Unless you live by yourself, labeling will ensure that other family members know where to look for things and where they should go back after they have been used. (honestly, even if you live by yourself the power of labels is just so special, I’d always tell you to anyway.)

     

    • The randomness is gone and instead, we have structure. You can’t put the pasta on the shelf that is now clearly for breakfast items. Most likely you won’t. Why should you? As humans, we are wired to want “easy”. And randomness is NOT easy. It actually is way more work for our brains to figure out where that last bag of dark brown sugar is (hoping that we still have any stuffed in a corner somewhere) than to look straight into the Baking section bin.

     

    • Organizing cuts down on your decision making. You don’t realize how tired you are, how many things are on your mind and to do lists. Setting up a new system in your pantry, kitchen or closet etc may feel different and foreign the first few days but it makes your life so much easier in the long run. You will not have to dedicate ANY thinking power to where shoes, papers or kids stuff should go. You just know. With that energy drain out of the equation, you can focus more on other areas of your life that need your energy and attention.

     

    • I honestly have yet to meet someone that says “ I regret getting organized”. Most of the amazing folks I have had the honor to work with have confirmed that their initial hesitation about maintaining it simply has not come true. No, a pantry will not self-maintain. You will still have to give it a touch up from time to time, readjust and reevaluate placement of foods etc. The family’s needs will change after all, and the system should be adjusted to reflect that. My promise to you is the same answer that I gave my client as she was pondering her family living with the new pantry:

    “It may not stay picture perfect, but it will NEVER go back to what it was”.

    Drop me a line in the comments and let me know what you think.

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  • Organizing

    8 STEPS TO GET ORGANIZED IN 2018

    The start of the New Year feels like turning a new blank page on your life story. This new beginning tricks us into thinking that we will finally get motivated to do all the things that we have been meaning to. It is supposed to inspire us to do better and achieve our dreams. So that’s what most people set out to do without a clear game plan and how to stick to it.

     

    Do you remember last year when you said, “this year I will get it together”? You were probably one of thousands of people who vowed they would finally get organized.

    It is too hard. There is too much stuff, not enough time. Don’t know where to start. This will never end. I would rather be doing something else. I can’t do this.

     

    January came and went. Some quit within the first few weeks. Then you gave up too. Perhaps you lasted more than others and got a few things done but it did not get anywhere close to making your New Year resolution a reality.

    According to statistics, about 80% of people will give up on their New Year resolutions by the second week of February.

     

    Personally, I don’t like resolutions. I do not see the point in deciding to do something in a grandiose fashion at the beginning of each year then running out of steam or energy just a few weeks later. What is always left is feeling like a fraud and a failure.

     

    Most resolutions do not work due to a number of reasons. They often are too generic, too broad. No specific steps or timeline is planned to help achieve it. And sometimes they are plain unreasonable ( Me? Workout every day? Maybe in 2019. I am too busy this year).

     

    So instead of feeling discouraged that the resolutions are once more failing you, follow another approach that is much more likely to produce results.

     

    Here are 8 steps to finally get organized in 2018:

     

    1. Get Inspired

    The very first thing to do is visualize what you want. Create a vision board if you like or refresh your Pinterest boards, start new ones with a clear purpose. Get together pictures, quotes and anything that motivates you to get organized. Read up on blogs or get a new favorite book about organizing.

     

    1. Write it down

    Do a complete brain dump and write down every organizing project that you would like done in your house. Be as detailed as you possibly can. Take a notepad and pen and go from room to room. Jot down anything that needs organizing, from drawers to closets, pantries etc. Keep this list handy so you can refer to it often and check items off when completed.

     

    1. Tell someone

    Yes, seriously. Share your goals with a friend or a loved one. Vocalizing it will make it so much more real and perhaps they can even hold you accountable somehow (or even better join in with their OWN organizing quest).

     

    1. Pick your battles

    Prioritize and plan. Choose to invest your time first in the most used areas of the house. Do not go digging into attics and basements just yet. Start with your kitchens or closets. You have most likely suffered a setback because of this in the past. So unless you are obsessed with organizing like I am, and your idea of fun is rearranging your pantry for the millionth time, please be smart about how much time and energy you can realistically devote to organizing projects.

     

    1. Make appointments

    With yourself that is. Make an actual appointment and try your best to treat it like an important deadline versus a chore that can be put off. You would be serious about it if you called me to come over right? Make it a priority but also be realistic about how often you can carve out a slice of time to dedicate to this. For some once a week on a Saturday morning works. Others can only handle every other week. Pick something that works for you and your family.

     

    1. One bite at a time

    Break down larger projects into more manageable portions. That is how us Professional organizers make it happen. Most likely you cannot tackle the whole kitchen in one afternoon. Plan to work on those three upper cabinets the first time and do the lower cabinets the next session, then the spice cabinet, the pantry etc. Check things off your initial list as you go along.

     

    1. Stick with it

    Keep your “appointments” and continue chipping away at the clutter. If a 30-minute session at a time is all you can do then keep using it in the same room and finish one area before moving on to the next. It will only confuse and overwhelm you and make it more likely for you to quit if you keep jumping from space to space. I promise it does get better and dealing with it does become easier as you have less and less.

     

    1. Reward yourself

    As humans, we are wired to pursue pleasure. It truly is quite effective to tie some personal goals to a fun reward for yourself. Perhaps a dinner date, a new outfit, movie or girls night out? Anything that motivates you and reinforces that “feel good” reward at the end. Maybe every time you check off to do or a space from your organizing list you can “pay” yourself something. At the end you can buy that fancy purse you had been eyeing for quite some time. Or donate the money to a favorite charity and help the world be a better place. Win-win

     

     

    Tell me? How do you feel about New Year Resolutions? Do they work for you? I would love to know.

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  • Uncategorized

    Why “good enough” is the new perfect.

    Standing at the bedroom door, I was trying to wrap up our last organizing session. Looking back at the room I could not help but feel somewhat of a disappointment with myself. So much more could be done with that space. Sigh…

    Even a professional organizer struggles with the lesson that sometimes “good enough” is enough.

    This happened to be one of those days for me.

    So there I was, surveying the result of 5 hours of decluttering and organizing. My young client had a hard time parting with her things, her treasures. We had already discussed that during our consultation.

    I glanced at the new piles in the hallway. Trash, donate, belong elsewhere. We discarded very little, in fact much less than we needed to. Most times she could not come up with a reason for keeping anything and what she wanted to do with it. Another sigh…

    Did I do what I needed to do?

    Was there enough motivation? Did my preaching match her listening?

    They say our brains can process about 35-50 thoughts per minute.

    My perfectionist brain really felt like it was on fire with a barrage of questions and attempted answers.

    If there is one thing I will never do is push. As a lifelong empath, I always absorb other people’s emotions and I worry about upsetting or creating discomfort. I tell clients I like to “stretch” their comfort zone instead.

    All this tsunami of self-reflection was stopped in its tracks when a long “WOW” came behind my shoulders.

    My young client came in, and blurted out in typical millennial style :

    “OMG my room looks so much better!”.

    “Really?” – I asked. “You mean that?”

    I was blatantly seeking validation to quell my doubts. What I had wanted to see was Pinterest. What she was seeing was a new lease on using her bedroom.

    I wanted the amazing before and after. She was appreciating the newly found floor space and the layout. She thanked me numerous times and gushed over how big and pretty her room seemed.

    “Well, – I told myself. She might not know any better”.

    It wasn’t until later that night, as I was reviewing the before and after pictures of our session that it hit me. She was right.

    SHE KNEW BETTER

    My client had just given me a refresher course on the power of progress versus perfection.

    Good enough is the new perfect.

    The room was so much calmer than before. I had left her world a much better place. There really should be no room for disappointment. Side by side those before and after photos were not Pinterest worthy but it was real life for this young lady.

    When you find yourself  chasing perfection again here are 5 thoughts to help overcome it:

    “Meet yourself to where you are emotionally able to go”

    (not necessarily just where you are). Explore and stretch your comfort zone to new heights but never push beyond what you are able to enjoy.

     “Organization is in the eye of the beholder”

    There is no formula. You have nothing to prove to anyone. It only has to work for the person living in the space. Stop trying to match what you saw in that magazine or that beloved store display.

    “Victory begets victory”

    This never fails me. Once you get a taste of what you can do, you are much more motivated to keep going and pursue a better version of you or your house. Start small and savor your victory. Do not beat yourself up because you only were able to declutter two drawers in your kitchen versus the whole thing. Pat yourself in the back on this small victory and remember that good feeling for next time. You will score another victory that way.

    “Perfection is overrated”

    Chasing it is quite useless. It often stands in the way of you making a difference in your current situation. Good enough really is the new perfect. We must realize that unless we appreciate progress, we will likely NEVER get to perfect.

    “Before and afters really do help”

    I know you’re smiling. We are but flawed human beings, my friends. Even the organizers with their magical powers to transform spaces and lives. Inside all of us lives a little girl or boy who wants to yell “look ma, look what I did”. So go ahead and give yourself that satisfaction. No, do NOT call your ma each time you clean out under your sink. But it is ok to take those before and afters. Look at the difference and feel good about your achievement. It sure helps me every single time.

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