Are you a 95%er?
Are you a 95 %er? What’s a 95 %er? You ask!
Are you someone who seems to always leave a trail of stuff following behind you? You have no problem starting and even finishing a project, but you always have clutter from the “leftovers” in your project area. I call this a 95 %er. You finish almost the whole thing, but never quite ALL of it. That last 5% is putting things away, getting things ready for the next use.
Full disclosure, I live with a 95%er. My husband is fairly organized. He’s a handy guy and does a lot of projects around the house. YAY! But when he finishes a project he doesn’t put things away. What that looks like in our house is that there are tools in the garage and shed and basement (and even a couple in the kitchen). So when he needs a certain tool for the next project he can’t easily find it. Maybe you do this in your kitchen or bathroom. Take the next few days to notice if you are a 95%er.
Following through, cleaning up, and putting things away is a critical final step to a smooth running schedule, a clutter-free space, and a less frazzled life. Try it! Consider a project incomplete until you have cleaned it up. When you finish eating dinner, put all the dishes in the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. When you work at your desk, take 2 minutes to tidy up before walking away. Challenge yourself to put away items so that they are ready for the next use. You can ask yourself, “Where will I look for this the next time I need it?” Then place it there.
This will take some practice, but you will find that your life will run much smoother if you can complete that last 5% of anything you do.
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Great advice, Janet!
I completely agree a project, household chore, tasks, or whatever you are working on is not finished until things are put away.
I call it: closing the loop.
There is a beginning, middle, and end to everything.
Putting things away completes the loop.
I like that, closing the loop. It gives a great visual to a completed project.
Great post! When I work with clients, I talk with them about the rhythm of organizing. I use the examples from Marilyn Paul’s book “It’s Hard to Make a Difference when You Can’t Find Your Keys”. She uses a loop just like Diane does but labels the four steps as:
Getting Ready for action
Taking action
Natural disorder
Restore order by engaging habits or systems
The idea is that you will not be able to easily get ready for action again if you have not restored order from your last project.
The rhythm is a great way of putting it. And you are so right that if you don’t restore order, you’re setting yourself up for a much harder time accomplishing the next task that you want to do involving that space.
I can relate. My husband is also the same, a 95 %er. He calls me The Closer. Lol Since I finished the tasks, he didn’t. While it is funny, I do find it annoying. We have had many discussions about it. Simple systems helped him put things away after he was finished with them.
The Closer, that’s great. It shouldn’t be all your responsibility to always clean up, though so I can see how it could become a bit much. Simple systems really do work if we let them.
This makes me think of one specific client. She considers herself a 90%er or, rather, will say, “I can’t seem to get that last 10% done.” And done could be cleaning up the loose ends of a project (the physical leftovers) or having difficulty completing the final parts of a project. Often I’ve helped her with that last 10%, and she’s always happy when we get there.
I most frequently am a completer and a ‘full circle thinker.’ For myself, I’m not too fond of loose ends.
I think that’s why a lot of people succeed with Professional Organizers helping them. We are there to close up those loose ends and make sure that 10% doesn’t linger.
Wow, this is terrific. I so completely agree. It is those “remnants” that many people never seem to get put away. And then they are hanging around, looking messy, and you can’t find them the next time you need them. I know this part doesn’t seem fun, but in a way it is. It is the “frosting” because it resets your space, making it available for the next project.
Imagine if chefs did all the cooking but never reset the kitchen. Cooking in there the next day would be very unappealing.
I like calling it the frosting because it makes it seem much more appealing than it is. And you’re right, it is what it is and it has to be done.
Excellent advice. I’m often teaching clients that a project isn’t completed when they think it is. Dinner isn’t over when you’ve finished cooking, but when you’ve finished eating, washed all the dishes, and put them away. You haven’t “done” the laundry until everything is washed, dried, folded or hung, and put away. The thing is, people who don’t do the last 5% are missing out on the reward, that feeling of successful completion, like after finishing a big presentation or job, filing away all of the research and sending the invoice to the client.
I understand having trouble starting. I understand getting bored in the middle. But it’s hard to fathom — once someone has done the difficult stuff — not wanting to take the victory lap!
The victory lap, yes. I think sometimes people spend all their energy before they get there and just can’t will themselves to put in more energy. Then it creates a harder loop to get out of because it’s harder to get started next time you need the space.
This is my husband to a tee – well maybe he’s more of a 90%er lol. He is so handy and great at projects but the last 5-10% doesn’t get done or is a mess that’s left behind. I appreciate his efforts though so I try to just be the one to close it out (and hope that he reciprocates for me when needed!) Finishing something 100% is a great feeling!
I agree Laura. I’m in the same boat. We are both playing to our strengths, him by fixing something and me by putting things away.