Photograph by George Sakkestad
Fremont High School alumnus Lynn Gross-Cerf began organizing others when she was in seventh grade.
By MIKE DE GIVE
Most people have a pretty good idea about what they're doing tomorrow. Ask them about next week, though, and their schedule becomes a bit more sketchy. And two months from now? Forget it. For many, it's a complete mystery.
Lynn Gross-Cerf, on the other hand, has appointments planned through the year 2007. Really--it's all written down in her organizer, along with month-to-month and daily calendars, a roster of networking groups and a shopping list (three-hole punched and categorized by product).
Gross-Cerf, a Fremont High School alumnus and a member of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, makes her living by helping other people organize themselves. She's encountered challenges from the daunting to the miniscule.
"I've been in people's offices where they think it's an absolute disaster, and there's a pile this thick," she says, holding her manicured fingernails an inch apart. "Then another person will tell me they need a little organizing, and there will be stuff all over the floor."
No matter, she says. Some people like the structure of tickler files, color-coded folders and a Rolodex. For others, loosely piled paperwork does the job just fine.
Whatever the system, the trick to keeping mountains of paper under control is to place things where you will look for them--not where you think they should be filed, she says.
"It really isn't a filing system. It's a retrieval system," she says.
So, should a picture of a pippin apple be filed under "A" or "P"? Or perhaps under "G" for green or "F'" for fruit?
Her answer: Whatever works for you. Think about where you'll look for it, and then you'll know where it goes, she says.
"Things need a place to go--not only a place to go, but a place that makes sense," she says.
Cerf-Gross is also a huge advocate of "file-13"--the trash can.
"Think about all the stuff that comes at us these days--junk mail, catalogs, faxes, phone messages. Just because someone decides you have to have something doesn't mean you have to have it," she says.
One thing she doesn't do is come into an office and organize a client on her own. Since different people work best under different systems, Gross-Cerf sees one of her top jobs as asking lots of questions--wouldn't this file cabinet work better over here? Why are all those sticky notes glued to your computer screen? Is there something that would do the job more efficiently?--and letting the client's answers suggest solutions.
She started her quest for organization in the seventh grade, when she began to neaten up her teachers' desks and drawers.
"Back then it was to make a good grade. Today it's my job," she says.
She'll often conclude her first visit with a client by assigning "homework," such as cleaning out a certain desk drawer or finding a new place for files you haven't touched in months. During the following visit, she'll discuss what new systems have worked, which haven't and what still needs to be done to make the client's life a little easier.
Her business, Organization and More, caters to clients in Sunnyvale and all over Santa Clara County. She's not tied down to a particular industry--anyone who's had trouble putting their hands on a report, a file or phone message can use a professional organizer, she says. Her phone number is 266-3339. But if you lose it, call information--she's listed.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.