A place for everything

Woman helps people conquer fears, say goodbye to their stuff

By RANDALL BARTON

The Portland Tribune, Mar 19, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

L.E. BASKOW / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Ellen Damaschino (right), a certified professional organizer, works with client Francine Staczek to reorganize and eliminate the clutter in her daughter’s room as videographer Judd Girard films for Damaschino’s segment on “Better,” a nationally syndicated television program.

One thing’s for sure — people fear getting rid of paper. “They’re scared of it,” Ellen Damaschino says. “‘The IRS may come after me,’ they say. Like they’re making the IRS into the Grim Reaper. ‘I don’t know if I’m going to need this. I’ll just stick it over here.’”

A certified professional organizer like Damaschino can diagnose such behavior as “deferred decision making.”

Information junkies, on the other hand, fear that getting rid of the paper is letting go of the information, which is really still in their heads. Ask yourself: Am I the keeper of this information? Can I find it somewhere else?

Damaschino’s business is Neat, which provides order and organization to small and home businesses as well as residential clients, primarily in the management of time and paper.

“I find that most organization problems stem from time management issues,” she says.

Born with a logical mind, Damaschino’s passion for problem solving largely went untapped in the years she toiled as a pastry chef and restaurant server. When a friend asked for help organizing a home office, she discovered she had a talent for this kind thing.

Six years ago she started her business, joined the National Association of Professional Organizers, took courses and became accredited.

“We’re trying to make it a legitimate profession, so you just can’t go on Craigslist and call yourself a professional organizer,” she says. “Our profession is to help people focus on the possessions that have meaning. That’s what people ultimately hire me to do — get through the crud in their house to what’s meaningful to them. ”

The process begins with clients articulating their hopes and dreams for their spaces. Then, Damaschino — a third eye with no emotional attachment to the stuff — offers organizing ideas and gives permission to get rid of things.

“Remember you said you wanted this space for your craft room?” she says to a client. “Until we get rid of the 20 years of Gourmet magazine that you’ve been collecting, it cannot be a craft room.”

Being organized isn’t about having a perfect space, she says. “It’s about finding what you need in five minutes or less. It’s being able to live the life that you want, not being stressed by the things that you have.”

Initially, most people think stuff has meaning, and by the time they realize it doesn’t, they’re overwhelmed by it. “They don’t want to deal with it because it reminds them of all the bad decisions they made,” Damaschino says, “the failures of their lives.”

Throw away the pizza coupon

The organizing profession has grown rapidly in the last few years, but still hasn’t kept pace with the accumulation in people’s attics, closets, garages and basements. We buy too much, consume too much, keep too much.

The answer, Damaschino says, is to deal with less stuff. Have a place for everything and consciously consider what you’re bringing into your home and work environment.

Do you hesitate to throw away the pizza coupon you just got in the mail? If you’re not planning to order in a pizza this week, throw it away.

“I cannot tell you how many Bed Bath & Beyond coupons I find in people’s houses,” Damaschino says. “Have a system for dealing with the mail. Bring it in and sort it immediately. Some people can’t, they don’t like to process it. Fine. Put it in a basket, and once a week you go through it. But you either recycle it, shred it or keep it because you’re going to do something with it.”

Bills, correspondence you plan to answer and reminders to make dental appointments will account for about a quarter of your mail, she says. The rest can be thrown away.

Many people are awash in clutter, either because the thing they cannot get rid of has memory attached to it or because “I might need it someday.”

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