Organizing Lessons From a Tile Puzzle
One of the things I always tell clients about the process of getting organized, is that it can be like doing a tile puzzle. You know the ones I mean. They are those simple, but not so simple, child’s toys. You try to shift tiles to create a picture with only one square open at a time. Well, it has been close to half a century since I actually tried one of these puzzles. So I thought I would try one and see how valid my comparison is. Here are the organizing lessons I have learned from doing this Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer tile puzzle.
1. Things will look worse before they look better
To start shifting tiles in the right direction, Rudolph’s face may start looking worse than what you started with. You’ve only got one open square. So you will have to mess things up to create a path to the right picture. When getting organized, especially in a crowded space, it’s the same. You may have to temporarily place things in areas that don’t make sense. Then you can focus on one goal at a time.
2. Understand you goal
Another organizing lesson, look for the outside edges of the puzzle. This helps you understand what order the confines of the puzzle needs to be. Then you can figure out what part of the finished puzzle will have the open square. Park one of the eventual adjacent squares there and that’s one square that you can forget about for the rest of the puzzle. When getting organized, it’s helpful to know the dimensions of the room you are working in, so that you can know your limitations. If you work WITH them rather than curse them, they can actually be an asset.
3. Look for groupings
Your outside edges will have to move around through out the puzzle, but at least you can start keeping them in their general areas. Similarly, you can start grouping parts of the interior image that belong together. Those can’t stay locked in position, but they can stay in their general areas. When getting organized it always makes sense to start by sorting like things together. This makes it easier to rethink the items in this grouping. As with the tile puzzle, groupings make it easier to prioritize your next steps.
4. Stay flexible
You may start to see your image emerge, but if you still have one or tiles on the opposite side of the puzzle from where they need to be, you must be prepared to break up the working image to get those wayward tiles heading in the right direction. Another organizing lesson. You may have one system that seems to be working well, but if you haven’t worked out space for the other systems AND you haven’t figured out how they all work together, then you haven’t solved your organizing puzzle.
5. Sometimes the shortest distance isn’t
You may see that a tile belongs in a corner and there is only one tile between it and the corner. However, that “blocking tile” can’t move unless it is next to the open space. So you will need to make several moves to get that corner tile to it’s home, even though it is only one tile away. Sometimes when organizing, you have to move items you are sorting to areas that are unrelated to their final destination, to make space for the other items in the equation.
6. The order matters
For all the pieces to fit into place, it’s not only important to have the groupings in the right place, but in the right order. That’s an important organizing less. As you shift the tiles around into their final positions, the red nose has to land above the mouth. So be sure you have the right one leading the way. In getting organized, order matters too. I actually believe it makes more sense to start with low priority items. This helps you recognize solutions for your higher priority items more clearly.
In conclusion, now that I have revisited and field tested the tile puzzle, I think my analogy and organizing lessons are more valid than ever. However, there is one key difference. The tile puzzle challenge requires that you have only open space to move. Life doesn’t. So improve your organizing odds. Shed some tiles!
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In the past several years, I had emptied 4 separate dwellings, my grandmother’s apartment, my mother's house, my mother-in-law’s house, and my mother’s next apartment.
Intrigued by the notion of death cleaning and the painful memory of the cleanouts, I too began to consider what I might choose to leave behind.
So, what began with a trial run, (a thorough clean out of my eldest son’s childhood bedroom) I was ready to accomplish something far greater.
When my kids learned of my intention to launch an attack on the mother of all clean-outs (the basement), they worried what this might entail both physically and emotionally, So, to my surprise, a plan was hatched for a consultation with organizer, Matt Baier!
Meeting with Matt, with the support of my husband, and in the presence of the madness (furniture from various owners, cardboard in every size and shape, school supplies from a lifetime of working in classrooms, and twenty-three plastic bins containing the details of my children’s lives)... felt like the perfect storm.
As we continued to mine through vessels of pottery, glass, random art supplies, remnants of carpeting, wood, and fabric, costumes, tubs, screens, windows, and a life-size stuffed man we called Ned, Matt was busy outlining a tactical plan of action. Meanwhile, as we stepped amid multiples of objects including, but not limited to, kitchen appliance, toys, exercise equipment, electronics, glassware, three TV’s, VHS tapes, cartons of emergency meals packed since 2001, and mountain of debris that hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Matt’s resolve only grew stronger.
Unequivocally, meeting Matt was the lifeline we needed to pull us up from the weight of what we no longer needed in order to pass it all on to those who could benefit from donations.
So with a plan in place, come that Wednesday, a team of three remarkable women arrived at 9:30 a.m. to bring order from the chaos, in two short days.
The process from day one would have been impossible to imagine. But these three incredible workers managed to remove everything from the basement in systematic stages, but not before passing each and every object, large and small, through my hands for my simple proclamation: keep, donate, trash or sell. Although daunting in scope, with each passing minute, the sorting really was simple, fast and surprisingly painless! Granted, I was a motivated purger, so nothing gave me more happiness than shouting: donate with as much gusto as I could muster!
These women were absolute angels. They were physically and mentally strong, determined to complete the work on time, and committed to organizing and reorganizing with thoughtful intention and microscopic precision to the work of sorting and discarding. In no time, as the basement grew unbelievably spacious, these three, then assembled new industrial shelving to accommodate clear, labeled bins (all provided by Matt) to create a visually consistent and clean appearance to this new system of organization
Through it all, Matt and his crew demonstrated common sense, sensitivity, practicality, wisdom, efficiency, an uncanny ability to problem solve and think on their feet, professionalism, most of all, kindness.
Included in the package was the capable Junkluggers crew. They arrived to haul it all away from my backyard: first to their charity center, then, to a consignment shop and finally to the dump to deposit my trash.
What a relief to watch them pull away with most of my basement firmly ensconced in the bed of their truck.
One week post clean out, I process the experience a little more each day. The sense of well being and gratitude I feel is immeasurable.
Thank you Matt!
We decided to use Matt Bowers organizers based on recommendations and meeting with Matt Bowers himself.
All of our expectations were met and more. His team of experts were great. They were true professionals in every aspect of the word. Always on time, very knowledgeable and experienced and very accommodating. All through the project they were very attentive to our needs and opinions. And not less important were always punctual and industrious.
Our house is so much more functional now and better organized while we managed to get rid and donate a huge amount of stuff that was just occupying space.
We highly recommend Matt Bowers Organization
Noni and Giora Davidai, New canaan CT
Matt and his team were very professional, responsive to my needs and were able to accommodate my aesthetic into their work. But most importantly they were fun to work with and I felt completely at ease discussing my challenges with them. They truly listened. I would recommend them for any project without reservation.
After several other moves, one of which we were only given a 24-hour notice to move all household items into storage, items were just boxed without labels. Since we had no idea where certain items were, duplicate items bought and used. Along came another move, and we continued to box and move those items again. Finally, we needed to combine similar items to reduce the clutter! The team worked so well, always exceeding my expectations by getting this massive project done! It is wonderful to be organized again and able to find items with ease.
The process with the Team is simple, and you work at your own pace. No one will pressure you to get rid of items. Also, there is a great option to donate items. We were fortunate to have boxes and boxes of kitchen items, household, and bathroom items neatly organized or donated to a charity. We can not thank the team members enough for all the work that they did.
We find so much more clarity with an organized home. The flow of our home is peaceful, and we no longer staring at clutter or rearranging boxes to get them out of view!
Matt's company came highly recommended by several local Realtors. At first, I was a bit concerned about the pricing seeming very expensive; I quickly realized that it was worth every penny and soon became a seasonal client.
The team arrives so prepared and professional; they know just what to do and I can be as involved as much as I choose; or not all. They just get the job done.
Just as an example, I had over 15 file boxes of papers and Matt's team organized and reduced it down to only 4 well organized drawers.
Our personal items were sorted, organized, donated or stored neatly throughout the house.
Matt's team was a life saver for my family. I would highly recommend their service; The results are well worth the investment.
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