Eva Abreutailored for me. I tweaked it to adjust and adapt to fit in with my own
lif estyle and with the flow of my day.
This is how I developed my own proprietary system. I created my
company, Sort Things Out, then named the system STO to reflect the
name of the company and to describe the actual process of sorting
things out, one step at a time.
WRIGHT
What are some of the tips you teach to others to help them g et
started?
ABREU
As part of the STO Method, I created a series of task assignments
which I call “Eva’s Edict Five Minutes.” Each Eva’s Edict ta sk fo cuses
on one area to organize for five minutes at a time. The amount of time
can be adjusted depending on how our day is going or how much time
we have available that day to devote to a task. It ’s completely flexible
but the main o bjective is to get started and focus on one area at a time,
so th at we are making progress, taking action, and going forward on
our organizing journey.
I also teach the Three P method of getting organized or P-P-P as I
like to call it.
The first P is Plan. This is where we sit down, focus, and think
through what areas we need help in getting organized. I teach my
cl ients to look at their homes as zones and to look at each space as
objectively as possible, as if they were an outsider. We take a few
minutes to plan which area or zone we will focus on and break it down
ev en further to sub-zones, if needed. An important part of the planning
process is to take a moment to close our eyes and visualize what we
want the space to look like once we are done clearing it out.
The next P is Purge. This step is where we begin to take action.
When I say pu rge, I explain that i t means to releas e, r elea se, release. We
tend to have a grip on our “stuff,” and our stuff seems to have a grip on
us, too. We can’t bring ourselves to take action. We become
immobilized and can’t seem to make any decisions about what to do
with our stuff. I work with my clients to show them how to start the
process of slowly releasing that grip while reassuring them that they