-: If you spend more time looking for
what you need than you actually do in getting things
accomplished, organizing your space with a system
that works well for you can be a huge help.
In this episode, Hadley's Tiffany Mpofu
and Lisa Salinger.
Join us to share tips for organization with vision loss.
I'm Ricky Enger and this is Hadley Presents.
Welcome to the show, Tiffany and Lisa.
-: Thanks Ricky. Thanks for having me.
-: Yes, thank you so much.
These are always great times to be able to share and learn.
-: I am delighted to have you both back.
And it is that time where people start to think about
New Year's resolutions
and what kind of thing can I do more of this year
or what can I do better with this year?
And believe it
or not, organization is actually on my
resolutions list.
I'm just one of these people that I know
how much it's gonna help me
and I know all of the reasons to do it,
but somehow I still keep finding ways
to be inefficient about things.
So for me, it's going to be about figuring out
where things should be
so I can just put my hand on something
and keep moving on with my day instead of looking
and like, where did I put it?
Okay, I've just gone through five different places
and I still didn't find it.
So that's me.
Would you say Tiffany, are you a pretty organized person
or are you a little chaotic or maybe a little of both?
-: I would say a little of both.
I try to be organized,
but you know, it's like when you have one of those days
where you've just made it in
and so instead of putting the the keys on the key hook,
it kind of just goes someplace else.
So now when you're ready to go, now you're searching
around looking for keys and that.
That's very relatable.
-: Lisa, -: What about you?
-: I would say I'm, I'm pretty organized.
I like knowing where things are
and I feel better in myself when I can just
put my hand on a thing.
Now that's not to say that I'm perfect.
This weekend I lost something for almost a day
and I'm finding that the things that get me, like
with the holidays coming, I have things moved
to accommodate some decorations
and I have a one bedroom apartment
so there's only so much room.
So gifts are starting to encroach on living spaces
and things are in different spots.
And so that's when I really kind of need to
up my organization game.
Not so much when you know in the day to day,
but when things change as they inevitably will.
-: So maybe you are a person who has
always been organized,
but if things are changing for you in terms of your vision,
that organization may look a little different.
Or maybe you have always been disorganized
and you've kind of relied on, I don't know, the kindness
of strangers or just kind of flying by the seat
of your pants or whatever,
or glancing around the room to see where something is.
And now you can't do that.
So I guess, what are some reasons that
things might be a little more difficult if your vision
has changed?
I know again, for me, the one thing I think
of is you can't really glance
around the room anymore in the same way that you used to.
So that might be a reason that you struggle.
What are some other reasons?
-: You can have things that
look very different from each other,
but if you're not relying on your site anymore
or you never have, the problem comes when they feel alike.
I have heard of numerous people who have brushed their teeth
with both Ben Gay and preparation H.
Not something necessarily I would recommend,
but you know, that can happen.
So it's also about identifying
and marking what you have.
It kind of stinks, but it's just the way it is.
Organization takes longer.
If I buy canned goods
and spices from the store,
I can't just chuck 'em at a shelf.
They've gotta be labeled first
and it does take a little more time.
And then I think, you know, I gripe, I think, oh, I hate
that it takes that much time.
And then I think to myself, okay,
would you rather take a little time labeling
or would you rather take a little time rummaging
around and fussing?
And I'm like, no, I think labeling is actually better.
-: And also too, I, I want to add to
that like when you have control over your environment,
it makes you feel that much more confident.
For instance, my husband, you know, instead
of asking him all the time, where's this, where's that?
You know, it, it feels great when I can just put my hand on
something and it's right there.
And then also too, being organized, it a
to being safe in your environment, right?
So like using sharp knives instead
of putting them in the dish water
that can cause like injury, put them on the back
of the faucet until it's time for them, you know,
to clean them and then put them away.
Or even like items being in in the walkway
or like a chair is pulled out or misplaced.
So just being organized helps also to stay safe.
-: That's a really good point
and I wanna go back to something you said Tiffany,
and when things are going really well, it's amazing.
But you know, if you live with someone it can be difficult.
You can be making your system of organization
and then you have to have the talk with your family members
or whatever to say, Hey, if you move something from
where I've put it, I'm not able to look over
and see where you put it.
It's essentially gone for me now.
So any tips for having that conversation
or is it really just about doing that,
explaining why it's a big deal if people move stuff?
-: Yeah, I think it's really about just having
that conversation, you know,
and even going through your method
or system of how you've organized.
Like say for instance like certain things go in certain
places, like maybe there are certain spices
that are on the spice rack near the stove
or maybe there's a cupboard that is only for baking.
Just having that conversation
and saying it's really helpful.
You know, like, like the saying, what's the that saying,
-: Oh yeah, a place for everything.
-: Yes, thank you. So yeah, it makes it easy to find.
And also when you're cooking
or doing things in the kitchen,
you're not searching all over
'cause now you're spending two hours to find something
where it could have been you know,
just two seconds or two minutes.
So yeah, I'll say just having that conversation.
-: The other thing I think is that if you're not organized,
it's gonna take a lot of time
and I think it's easy to beat yourself up
for the organization you lack.
And I would say celebrate where you are.
For example, my medicine cabinet is organized, I know
what all my medicines are
and if you're looking for organization priorities,
like Tiffany basically was talking about the importance of
organizing things so you can be safe.
So if you're looking for a starting place, starting
with safety, you are not gonna go wrong with that.
-: I'll also add too, like start small,
give yourself 15 minutes rather in the morning
or sometime throughout the day
and just start with organizing like a drawer or a shelf
and like Lisa said, reward yourself after that.
And then use lists or planners
or apps when it comes to documentation to organize.
And most importantly, be kind to yourself.
It's easy to get overwhelmed.
So if you're just starting out, start small
or even if you're wanting to get back in the groove
of things, still start small and have fun with it.
-: And it could be that you might need a helper
to get organized.
So you may need pay a reader or someone to help you.
Maybe you have a family member who can come, you know,
or work with you twice a week for 15 minutes for example.
I know myself and I am pretty organized,
but when I come in the door
and my hands are full, the idea
of a key hook is almost amusing to me.
'cause things are gonna fly, they're just gonna,
I'm gonna drop 'em, I'm gonna go do what I need to do.
And so having a designated kind of drop spot
and you're like okay, I dropped it here
so now I'm gonna come back.
And those things I dropped
'cause I just had them, I know what they are,
I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna organize them.
So it doesn't always have to be instantaneous.
Maybe you come in
and you don't have time to put anything away
because the dog's gotta go out.
And the other thing is if you think you're gonna forget
where something is, you can say it out loud.
For example, I put the the box
of arborio rice I need for Christmas dinner
on the the small cupboard, something like that.
But saying it out loud, it sounds strange
but it helps cement in your mind where it is.
It's like you almost hear it,
you're hearing it and you're placing it.
So you're kind of getting that input from two senses,
-: Like Lisa was saying too, like understanding your style.
So even if that means like coming in
and dropping things down
and then making that mental note to okay, now I'm gonna go
and put the keys where they belong
or I'm going to put my wallet where it goes,
just making mental notes of things and be consistent.
And when you have a routine it it becomes like
second nature.
So making those mental notes and setting a a routine
and being consistent,
that can help in keeping things in place.
-: And it's very easy to depend on your memory to think,
okay, I just got this new crock bot
and I'll remember how the buttons are laid out.
Chances are pretty good.
Unless you're using that thing every day,
you are not gonna remember.
I think we have so much to remember.
I mean all the appliances are smart now
and they have multiple things and do things in multiple ways
and there's just a lot more to remember And I, I think it's
not necessarily a good thing
when we pressure ourselves to remember it.
So I have a, a file called layouts
and it's the layout of my TV remote
and the remote for this, that and the other thing
and how my instant pod is laid out, you know, all of that.
So I would say use those things
and don't just rely on your memory
because unfortunately it's kind of the law
that at the time when you need it most it's,
it might fail you.
-: Right, exactly.
Like even too using tactile markers
or stickers like on the stove, like on some
of those appliances as well can really be helpful.
Especially if you're cooking big meals
and maybe you're rushing around
and it's like, okay, what button do I press now
for this to make it work?
So yeah, so having those markers on there could,
could be helpful.
-: Yeah, I'm glad you bring that up
because I do think
that's one thing people may get caught up in
is, okay, I know I need to organize
and this is going to be something
that will really help me,
but I don't even know how, you know,
when I think about organization it feels complex,
it feels overwhelming
and I think there are a lot of ways,
we've already named a couple of them.
So having little bins or baskets to separate things in
and knowing which things are yours or whatever.
Even putting rubber bands on things.
One has one rubber band, one has two, one has three.
And you just happen to know what that system means to you.
Tactile markings, that can be a good way to figure out
what things are.
You can do large print,
you could do color coding if you have some color vision.
So I think
don't get caught up in having a
system that is Martha Stewart worthy or whatever.
It just needs to be a system that you understand.
So now that we've talked a little bit about
what is possible, why you want to organize,
what it's really gonna help with, maybe it would help to
just go through a couple of rooms in the house
and give some practical tips for things
that you might do for that particular room
to make things a little better.
So we've talked about the kitchen a little bit,
but maybe share a tip
or two for getting things organized in the kitchen.
-: So I have a lot of kitchen gadgets, large
and small, everything from electric to small things like
you know, spatulas and wooden spoons and potato mashers.
And so I have two containers.
One is kind of a big metal bucket
and all my taller kind of utensils go in there.
And then I have a smaller little caddy kind of thing
that holds littler utensils
and things of that nature.
And it just helps because you still have to kind
of sort through them.
But if you can group them kind of
by size eventually you remember.
Alright the pizza cutter is in with the littler things
and the bottle brush is in with the larger things.
-: My setup is similar to Lisa's when it comes to u utensils,
but when it comes to like mixing bowls
and things like that, I have a specific cabinet for that.
And then cookware, I have a cabinet for that.
And then my smaller appliances, like my food processor
and cheese shredder, I have a separate cabinet
for those things as well as for glass baking dishes.
So, and then also too, I use a lot of different seasonings
and I have a spice rack with the more common ones
that I use like daily.
And then also too in the cabinet above my spice rack,
I do have ones that have salt.
So all of my spices that have salt are on one shelf
and then my husband has his special seasonings
that he likes to use.
So those are way at the top.
So, and that works out
because everything how I organize is according
to to my height.
'cause I, I'm vertically challenged, I'm a little shorty so
it is just easier to get to those things.
But everything that I use is mostly on the,
the lower shelves.
-: And then do you do like a baking cabinet
and a spices cabinet?
I do that. I like to bake bread and other things.
So I might have pastry flour, bread flour, wheat flour
and all purpose
and all the bags feel the same
so I end up putting them in just differently sized
or shaped canisters.
So that works. And then when it comes to the freezer,
I have veggies on one side and meat on the other.
And then down below I'll have things divided too.
But even then it's a little chaotic.
So I like to have things somewhat organized.
And then because my style is to use technology,
I'll pull out a tech tool if I'm not sure the corn
and the peas may feel similar if I'm in a hurry.
So let's just pull out that tech tool
and figure out the difference
between those two frozen items.
And I think you do that as well probably Tiffany,
you get your magnifier out.
-: I do, yep. My, my phone is almost like tied to my hip,
so like especially when reading those labels
for the spices.
But also too, I'll use the scene AI app
to read some of those as well.
So yeah, but mostly I am using my magnifier.
-: Makes sense. Okay, so next up is the closet.
And some people will organize this
by getting things that go with everything else
and that is certainly a system that works.
If you want to get neutrals that pair with other neutrals
and just not have to think about it,
that's one way you can do it.
One thing I do is I'll divide,
you know, shirts and pants and skirts and blazers.
They all have a separate section of the closet,
but I use a color identifier,
unfortunately I can't find one for the phone
that works well.
But there is one called the color star.
So that helps me
and I'll organize from lightest to darkest,
but even then that's not enough.
'cause sometimes you've got things that are patterned
and so you wanna know, I don't wanna wear
stripes with polka dots or whatever it is.
And so I use a tag system
with my phone to do this so I'm able
to describe the garment, then use the app
to tap it against this little tag that you can attach
to the hanger or you can sew inside the clothing
and it will speak that description.
So that's kind of my techie way to do it.
Another thing I've done is I use my meta glasses sometimes
and just hold up a shirt or a blazer or whatever
and say describe this and it does a a pretty nice job.
Are there some lower tech ways to do this?
-: I don't know. I do kind of high tech too.
I do find that sometimes the AI does a better job
of describing colors
and patterns than a color identifier on a phone.
Basically I just put things by what the garment type is.
So shirts go in one place,
pants in another dresses, et cetera.
Some people like to fold their clothes.
I fold almost nothing like even nightgowns and stuff.
I hang all of that
because it's easier for me to get an idea of what it is
and to access the tags
which have the information I need.
If you're looking for tags, you almost have
to unfold everything.
And I use those same tags that you do Ricky,
but I also have some braille color tags
that I pin into my clothes and I use those as well.
-: Cool. And for me, I'm a grouper, I group everything.
I hang all my dresses and then my shirts
and our grouped together sweaters,
not necessarily colors, just mostly you know
what the material is.
But when it comes to folding, like I'll fold PJs
and t-shirts, things like that.
Maybe like my everyday type of wear, I'll fold those.
But one thing, and this was a lesson
that I learned some time ago.
So I was off to an event rushing out
and I have the same shoe but two different colors, one black
and the other one is navy blue.
So I'm rushing around, I'm getting dressed,
I just put my shoes on and I'm waiting on pair of transit
and the, the driver knocks on the door
and so I'm, I'm ready to go
and my husband's like, ah, you might wanna check your shoes.
Like one is blue and the other one is black.
So I told the driver,
hold on a minute, let me switch my shoes.
So from that point
what I I've done is I've put like a Velcro sticker on the
inside of my shoe for my blue ones
and then my black ones don't have anything.
So that is one of those things where it's hard for me to see
between a navy, blue, black and brown.
-: Just a couple more quick things that people do.
You might have a different textured hanger
for certain things or a different type of hanger.
Maybe you've got wire hangers for some things
and plastic hangers for another.
And again, it's just what makes sense to you.
So next up we have the bathroom
and there are a couple of things that we can do here.
There is the self-care kind of stuff with ointments
or neosporin
and lotions, shampoos, conditioners, things like that.
And then a lot of people have their meds in the medicine
cabinet in the bathroom as well.
So maybe just a couple of quick tips from each of you
for keeping that stuff organized.
-: Yeah, I'll say like for the shampoo
and conditioner, for me I,
I cut a notch in my shampoo like on the lid
so I know the difference between the two.
And then I do have a linen closet that I keep organized
with like over the counter type of medications
and other products I organize the shelves depending on
what the products are.
-: I was so surprised the other day
because I bought a new shampoo and conditioner
and it had braille right on the bottle.
So if you happen to know braille,
redkin is a good thing to check out.
Before that I would use the rubber band technique
or the rough up one of the lids technique where you can kind
of feel, okay, the top of that feels rough,
that's the shampoo or one rubber band for shampoo
and two for conditioners.
So that's a way that I approach that When it comes
to medications, you would be surprised at just
how much, I know a lot
of people are feeling like I don't wanna learn braille,
that feels like a lot.
But if you know just enough to read one
or two letters, that can really help, especially
with those over the counter meds
and you've got just a letter
or two to distinguish between these bottles.
Now when it comes to prescription stuff,
there are talking prescription labels.
A lot of places do this so if,
if you're wondering if your pharmacy
does this, give us a call.
But CVS certainly does.
And then for smaller pharmacies
that might not already do this, there is a service
that will work with your pharmacy
to get those talking labels that you can either use
with a standalone reader that's really easy to use
or you can use it with an app.
So that might be helpful too.
-: Bathrooms I think are actually easy-ish to organize
because generally it's a small space with a lot
of built in storage.
-: If you're lucky you have a cupboard under your sink
and I use that to store extras as well
as bathroom cleaning supplies.
And so I have all my prescription meds in a basically a
basket looks like a little milk crate on a shelf.
But then in the closet where the sheets
and towels are, I have a little room on the shelves.
So on one shelf I have things like ointments
and burn cream
and things like that bandaids on another shelf.
I have things like lotion and powder
and then the over the counter medicines I put
in a drawer of my nightstand in the bedroom.
And these are kind of the not the things you might need once
in a while, like cold medicine, these are things like,
I don't know, Tylenol, Benadryl, anything like
that that I might need.
I don't know, more than once a month they go in there.
And so even if you're organizing things kind of by type,
I mentioned that just kind of to say
that they don't always all have to go in the same place.
So just because you have medicines, depending,
you know you could have prescription medicines here,
you could have over the counters
that you use all the time here
and you could have things
that you only need occasionally in another place if you have
medicines for a pet or a spouse or a child.
They also can go in a different place
and sometimes location can be a really good way
of organizing.
So you might say okay I have three bottles
that look like this but only one
of them is a medicine I take every day.
So when I find that bottle in my milk crate, I know, okay
that's my medicine that I take every
-: I think you really hit on something.
It's about putting it somewhere
that is actually intuitive to you
because if you're relying on your memory
or if you've made the system that sort
of makes sense on paper
but doesn't, when you're just going
through your daily life, then
it's not going to work so well.
But if it makes sense
and you would expect to find it in a particular place,
then maybe that can kind of help
to determine maybe you're looking for a place
for something in particular and you're not sure,
but if you think about where am I going to use it,
that might actually help you find it, it's home so to speak.
So one last thing I wanna chat about is
the important papers and documents and such.
And this, this is no fun for anyone
and it's way less fun if suddenly glancing down
at it and figuring out the print on it is nowhere
near as easy as it used to be.
And so are there ways that both of you kind
of keep these things organized?
For me it's about having different feeling folders
as well as a location for specific things.
So I know that all my warranties manuals,
what have you go in this folder
and I don't need it often.
So it's kind of in and out of the way place.
Whereas things like birth certificates
and that kind of thing, that's somewhere
where I immediately know where to go to get it
and I know what it feels like
and I can get to it quickly. What about all of you?
-: Yeah, it's good to like have a filing system.
For myself, I use a color coding system,
so using different color folders
and also to creating large print labels.
So sometimes I'll use sticky notes
and put them on the the flap of it
and then of course write on it what it is
and then stick it on there.
Or sometimes too those little things can,
can fall off easily.
So I'll also use like index cards, write in large print
and tape it on the face of the folder.
So that's one way that I organize.
And another way is using like a digital system as well,
creating different folders and naming those folders
and just keeping that all organized on the computer.
Or even using like the note taking app as well.
-: Yeah, I do that with documents Whenever I can receipts
or anything like that, if I can get them in my email
or on the computer, even if
the document is in an inaccessible PDF,
I can still rename it 2024 tax
documents or whatever.
I have a file cabinet with folders
with braille labels on them
and it's not as neat as I would like.
For example, I have a manuals folder
and I have a bunch of manuals in there
and so if there's a problem with a particular item,
I could at least get out my manuals folder
and look through it either with an app on my phone
or with Ira or with a sighted reader and find what I needed.
But even then, so often now manuals are online,
I do keep some manuals in Ziploc bags
and I label those Ziploc bags like I don't know,
exercise machine manual
because if that exercise machine came with tools
and so they go in the bag with the manual.
So that is a case where I label manuals separately.
-: Yeah, so I think all of this goes to show
that there really is no right way to do it
and there are things
that you may be incredibly organized about
and then things that you are organized enough
to then, as Lisa was mentioning,
once you get to that folder of manuals
or whatever it is, then you can find the thing that you need
as long as you're kind of generally in the right place.
I hope that as you're all listening to this,
you feel a little more encouraged to say,
I can do this in a way that makes sense for me.
It is going to be a work in progress.
That's what I would say.
But it's well worth doing it
and I think you'll learn as you go along
what things are going to work well for you
and what things you try
and say, Nope, this organization system was a bust.
It did not work. Back to the drawing board.
Anything from either of you that you wanna say to people
as we kind of wrap up?
Just anything encouraging, taking that step
to getting organized.
-: You know, if you're looking for ideas, maybe you're stuck,
you know, no worries.
Call us, call Hadley
and we, we could brainstorm with you,
we can talk through it together
-: And you know, it kind of dovetails with organization.
Hadley's labeling workshops would also probably be very
helpful in this venture.
We have ones on labels you touch and audio labels
and large print labels.
So there is indeed something for everyone.
-: Absolutely. Yes.
Well thank you both so much for dropping
by sharing your organization tips
and we'll have links to those workshops
and tips in the show notes.
And as Tiffany said, give us a call
and talk things
through when you're struggling to figure it out.
We're so happy to help.
Thanks so much for joining us
and I hope your new year is off to an excellent start.
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