Turning Point: Of Ondoy and Organizing

Where were you when Ondoy hit Luzon?

September 26, 2009. The place was Filipinas Heritage Library.

From the glass window of former airport tower, one would really hold to dear life and won’t dare stare at the angry raindrops. The chill inside the art deco-inspired architecture walls tots up to the goose bumps factor of the torrent’s torture.

Despite the downpour, we had with us a “mess warrior”, rousing in us the
"It’s time to take charge of the paper clutter! Mantra.
Her name is Kat Ong, a professional organizer.
It was an organizing workshop aptly called Space That Works!

Yes we did a lot of work. Thanks to the F.A.T. System. (File Act Toss)

                    CLUTTER IS a physical manifestation of indecision.
               It’s there because you haven’t decided what to do with it
                                                                                      -         Kat Ong

When you are confronted with piles and piles, get three boxes and sort
according to FAT.

File important documents. The ones you can do without. (Not necessarily old love letters, we’ll talk about this later). The ones you’ll need for future use. You get the idea.
Act. Paper that need immediate action. Bills! Reimbursable receipts. Lists. Memo. Requests for signature here and there…
Toss. Papers you won’t need anymore. The measuring stick here is, as long as you won’t get sued when you toss that paper, toss it. The challenge here is when nostalgia takes over (read: old love letters). That’s why clutter keeps piling up by the way, you know, Filipino way of “sentimental value”. First nail clippings, first haircut, kindergarten report card, Westlife ticket concert… You get the picture. They are lovely but one should be decisive and extra ruthless when dealing with clutters.

It’s not a “sit back relax and listen” seminar. Participants had to bring bunch of papers to the venue and do the FAT. Paper clips, hanging folders, labels and tote bags were introduced too. Thanks. Some of us almost forgot they do exist! We learned tips from categorizing documents and stuff to buying the right paraphernalia.

Actually, there were organizing tool freebies. Had we took it, it got soaked in the underpass of Ayala.

Space That Works! Website

Comments from Entrepreneurs, Designers, Moms etc. on the workshop:

“Workshop is practical and it makes something so complicated easy and systematic.”

"Kat is concise and straight to the point..."

"I like that the class is a small group and intimate."

"Made organizing papers simple and fun!"

"Results oriented - action oriented."

"I like that we did the actual work."

"I'm not as overwhelmed anymore..."

"It can be done!"

A Clutter Warrior's blog