Here’s a comment from one of our happy subscribers:
“I wanted to share that I used your video tips on organizing Chloe’s room. She got a vanity yesterday, so it’s a full room now, and we redid her closet where all of her shirts hang now, even t-shirts, as she has no dresser. I enjoyed purging, and can’t wait to start the bathroom undersinks! Thanks for all you do!” -Maggie S.
Ok, I’m the first person that would say that it’s not a good idea to multitask. I know the stats, I know it takes longer for your brain to process what you are doing when you multitask. But sometimes I think there’s an exception to the rule and where I draw the line on the rule is when it comes to cleaning the house. In my opinion, if I am having a casual conversation, not a business call or a call with a client, then I think I can do a little dusting and still carry on a conversation. I love to talk and I’m good at it, a little bit of chit chat won’t hold me back or keep me from sweeping. Here is a list of quiet activities you can do while chatting up your BFF:
Dust table tops
Clean mirrors
Clean fingerprints from doors
Fold laundry
Clean light switches
Clean the front of kitchen appliances
Carpet spot removal
Dust the tops of pictures
Dust the TV screen
Clean your computer screen
Stay away from the noisy stuff like cleaning out the dishwasher or you’ll give yourself away. Catch up on all the latest while you make your home shine!
Raise your hand if, in your quest for home organization, you have ever created a “To Do” list. I have, I have! It may be possible that I have a little bit of a type A personality (ok, yes I’m totally type A) and I find that lists are my friends. Ok, I have real friends too, but I do find lists to be very centering. I can feel overwhelmed, have my head spinning and feel like I’m going in too many directions until I pull out that magical piece of paper. I prefer to write my lists by hand and have them right in front of me vs. on the computer screen, but that’s just me. And oh how my heart sings as I start crossing off tasks that I’ve gotten done from my list. That’s when Type A steps in and creates a new, shorter list-ok, it’s a sickness.
I’m a busy mom running two organizing businesses and my home and one day I realized just how much I actually do every day. How much we all do every day. And we are all so used to cramming so much into a day that I don’t think we have a full appreciation for just how much we really do accomplish each and every day. From the small tasks like making a bed or breakfast, to running a meeting, organizing a PTA function or staying on top of a home remodeling project. Can you even imagine if we wrote a “Did It” list every day? On thing for sure, it would be really, really long. Maybe there is something to reflecting on just how much you did get done in a day vs. feeling bad about the things you didn’t get crossed off the “To Do” list. Picture everything you’ve gotten done that never even made it to the “To Do” list: the chores, phone calls and clean ups. We really do need to give ourselves credit and feel good about what we can pull off in a day.
As you organize yourself with your “To Do” list each morning, at least be kind to yourself at the end of each day and reflect on your “Did It” list. Then eat a piece of chocolate.
Give me a J Trap and I’m a dangerous woman! I’ve learned how to tackle my plumbing and for some reason I have a bit of a sick fascination with the satisfaction that comes from solving a plumbing problem. One minute we’ve got a red alert on our hands-there’s a slow drain on the homefront. No fear, the organized mom plumber is here! I quickly pull my neatly organized supplies from under the sink, grab an organizing bin (of course) to place under the pipes and get to work. I will spare you the rest of the details. Needless to say, at the end the day I am the proud owner of smoothly draining pipes without the use of chemicals-it’s all in a day’s work!
To prevent pipes from having problems in the first place, try this environmentally friendly way to maintain your pipes. Place baking soda and vinegar down your drain. Let it sit for a few minutes and then flush it down with boiling water. If preventative maintainence doesn’t do the trick: I charge double for plumbing!
When I come onto the scene to work with a client, they’re usually at a point where they are frustrated, overwhelmed and not sure where to start on their decluttering and organizing project. The project might be to clear a table, to reorganize an office or to tackle many rooms of their home. What I like to share with people off the bat is: “This isn’t TV, we need to take this an area at a time and we need to take into account energy levels.” It usually takes quite a while for a home to get to a point of disorder and it takes a while to get it back in order. Athough it is amazing how much can be done in just a few hours, which is always very exciting! The decluttering process can use up our energy in several ways:
Decluttering may be an emotional process for some people. Everyone is different, but letting go of belongings can be harder for some people than for others.
Decluttering takes physical energy as we may be moving & opening boxes, rearranging furniture and hefting heavy bins & bags. I’ve even been known to move a piano when I’m really determined (don’t worry-I work out!).
Decluttering also takes mental energy as clients have to think about, process and make decisions on each item we come across.
It’s important not to get burned out, stressed out or overwhelmed throughout the process. Here are a few decluttering break tips:
Stop to have a snack & a drink as you need it. Don’t skip a meal if you are working through the day-you need your energy!
Stop, take a break and rest for a while.
C hange your scenery-step outside and sit on th porch to get some fresh air.
Use music to either sooth yourself or pump yourself up while you work.
Work during the time of day that you have the most energy. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Change activities for a little while: read a book, take a walk, take a nap.
Remember that decluttering and organizing is a process not an event. Make the process as painless as possible so you can avoid feeling burned out and so you can reach those important goals that you have!
Here in the west coast, we are behind some other areas of the country for our grand return back to school. We still have a little bit of shopping time left to go, but even the west coast clock is ticking as the first day of school draws near. In our house, it’s important that we are making the most of our time, energy and money as we prepare for that sweet first day back to school (happy dance). As I would imagine is the case for many homes in the back to school boat. I thought this would be a good time to share some organizing tips for back to school shopping as well as share the teen twist we had in our house this year.
Organizing tip # 1: Depending on the age of your kids, either you or your kids need to go through their clothes and decides what still fits, what’s still “in,” what items are too worn out and what your kids still like. Make a list of all the items you know you need to shop for and don’t forget about coats & shoes.
Organizing tip #2: Remove clothes that won’t be able to be worn, and depending on their condition, either pass them down to a sibling or someone else you know, donate them or throw them away if they are really bad. This is a time that many churches or charities are doing clothing drives for kids who really need clothes and their families just don’t have the money. This is a great time to help someone else out!
Organizing tip #3: Set a budget for your shopping trip that is fair and you know you can stick to. Don’t overlook the amazing deals that can be found at consignment shops. There are some shops out there geared for teens with all name brand clothing and amazing price tags to boot. Go shopping and have fun!
This year I did something a little bit different for my teen and it has worked out great! Sometimes she likes to shop online and I decided I didn’t want her asking for my credit card all the time. So I bought a Visa gift card with a set amount of money on it that she has been able to do all her shopping with, both online and in the stores. She has a budget to work with and she is maximizing her dollars with really good deals, consignment shopping and hemming her own jeans (I don’t even know how to do that!). I don’t have to say yes or no as the shopping power is in her court, she is learning a super lesson on how much things cost and how to stretch her dollar so she has more in her closet. And even better, she has no one to fight since she’s the one doing it all!
Follow these organizing tips for your shopping all year around to keep closets filled with clothing that fits and keep your kids happy!
It’s school supply time again! Maybe it’s just not right that school supplies make me so excited; it may be a little twisted on a few different levels:
There is a secret happy dance knowing that after three months at home, the kids are heading back to school and we are getting a routine back. Now, having them home is fun and all, but…
I’m a professional organizer-have you seen all the neat little packages, bins of fresh supplies and the list from the teacher? Say no more.
School supplies are always so inexpensive. Glue sticks for .20 cents-it’s all just so much fun to buy!
You can approach school supply shopping in an organized manner and make your shopping even easier this year! Follow these tips:
Get your list and check it twice. Find the supply list on the school website, from your child’s teacher or possibly even handy in the school supply section at your local retailer.
Compare the list against what you already have at home. Be sure to check the supplies you already have on hand at home. Maybe what you have in an art drawer. Or what your child brought home as left-overs at the end of the school year. This year my youngest daughter got some of her supplies from her older sister’s supply stash that she wasn’t using.
Look for sales. Map out where you are going to do your shopping after checking out your local ads. Be sure to check off supplies as y0u buy so you don’t purchase duplicates.
Create a stash. If you know there are certain supplies your kids always need about half way through the year, like pencils, then stock up on some extras. Make sure you place them where you can find them again.
Buy for your own office. This is a time that I often purchase some extra supplies for my own office at a good price.
After school sales. Once school starts, the supplies that are still left on the shelves (usually lots of paper) will be steeply discounted. If you have the storage space, this is a good time to buy supplies to donate to a back-to-school supply drive next year.
Approach school supply shopping in an organized manner and then do your own happy dance that it was so easy this year!
Even professional organizers have to declutter and reorganize our own homes from time-to-time. And, yes, I do admit it-I LOVE it!! Recently I’ve been working away at my own home organization project out in the garage. My garage already has shelving and overhead storage units and hooks on the walls, so it wasn’t like I was in bad shape or anything. But some items have been leaving the garage, giving me a good opportunity to move things around and do some fine tuning.
I store a lot of my organzing supplies and products out in the garage but I also had some of these types of items in my home office as well. Since I have some extra room in the garage now, I decided this was a good time to look at what I have been storing in my office that might be better suited for the garage so I can grab and go as I leave the house. I want to make packing up to leave the house for clients and classes as efficient as possible.
While I was out there, I decided that part of fine tuning would be to capture some items that were sitting on the shelf and give them suitable homes. As you see in the photo above, my ziplock bags were sitting on a shelf next to some file boxes. Now, this really didn’t look that bad, but they did seem a little bit random just sitting there. I decided to use a shoebox size bin to round them up and of course afix a handy dandy label to the outside! I couldn’t get all three boxes in the bin, so I just placed the actual bags from one half-used box next to the other two boxes.
When you give belongings a home:
You place a cap on how much you can keep
You make it clear to others where things go
You have a clear home to return items to when you are done with them
Whether you are working on a project at work or whether you are working on a personal goal at home, you can reach your final destination by organizing your projects.
Step 1: Know what you want your final outcome to be.
Step 2: Set a deadline of completion for yourself and add it to your calendar.
Step 3: Decide how much you have to do each day or each week to reach your deadline. Give yourself a little wiggle room to expect the unexpected.
Step 4: Mark off time in your day planner to work on your project; make this a critical task in your day, don’t leave getting it done up to chance.
Step 5: Give yourself a pat on the back as you accomplish your small goals along the way.
Step 6: Get help if you are struggling or find yourself falling behind.
Step 7: Celebrate your success when you complete your project or reach your goal-way to go, you did it!
So, here’s an example of what I did for my own tasks on DIY Organization tonight. I am able to schedule blog posts and I wanted to make sure I have new posts coming out every few days. So, this is what I did:
I decided I want a new post to go out every 3 days.
I looked at the remaining dates left in the month of August and made a list of each day I want a new post to go out: 6th, 9th, 12th, etc.
I then looked at my schedule and penciled in writing 2 blog posts on specific days on my calendar. It doesn’t seem like so much to do when I look at it as 2 posts.
If all goes well and as planned, I will have posts scheduled through August 30th by August 12th. If something unexpected happens I still have plenty of wiggle room to make it up. If I’m on a writing roll and get done early-bonus!
You can reach your goals by organizing your projects and breaking them down into manageable pieces. Let me know how it goes!
When it comes to home organization and the decluttering process, you have to ask yourself, “How much is enough?” It’s easy for things to keep coming into our homes and for us to continueadding to the current inventory without really thinking about whether or not we already have enough. For example, I was making space by decluttering in my office recently and I realized that the top shelf in my storage closet was loaded with boxes. Every time a new box came along, I just added it to the collection since it was maybe a little different size from the other boxes. Then we started doing some early school clothing shopping which had me adding even more boxes to the collection from shoe shopping.
So, I got all the boxes down and started making decisions. How many boxes did I really need? I really don’t even do that much shipping to need very many boxes. I made sure to consolidate by placing packing material inside of boxes as well as placing small boxes inside of bigger boxes. I feel like I have enough on hand to handle small to medium shipping needs now. And, what’s the worst thing that could happen? If I need a size other than what I already have, I can always go get another box. It’s great to be prepared, but we can’t be prepared at all times for all situations or our houses will become over run for “just in case” items.
Ask any professional organizer, home organization and storage bins or “homes” go hand in hand.We declutter and then we store the remaining items in some type of organizing basket, bin, holder, box, whatever we can make a container out of.Having a ‘home’ with a label for our stuff helps us by:
·Keeping a cap on how much we can store
·Allowing us to find what we need when we need it
·Reminding us where to put belongings back after using them
But sometimes people are afraid they won’t remember what they have if they can’t see their stuff.Now I do believe we really can’t see our stuff when it is out in the open but in big piles either.The idea is to go through your belongings, decide what you do and don’t need and then store the remaining items in a way that works for you.If you feel you need to see your belongings:
ØUse clearcontainers so you can see inside to the contents from the outside
ØUse labels on the outside of storage bins
ØRemove cupboard doors
ØUse baggies for storing small items
ØUse pictures on the outside of bins
ØUse color coding that you identify with
ØStore belongings on hooks
ØStore belongings on open shelves
When it comes to home organization, you need to use the products and tools that work for you and for the way your mind works.The only “right” way is the way that works for you!
Raise your hand if, in your quest for home organization, you have ever created a “To Do” list. I have, I have! It may be possible that I have a little bit of a type A personality (ok, yes I’m totally type A) and I find that lists are my friends. Ok, I have real friends too, but I do find lists to be very centering. I can feel overwhelmed, have my head spinning and feel like I’m going in too many directions until I pull out that magical piece of paper. I prefer to write my lists by hand and have them right in front of me vs. on the computer screen, but that’s just me. And oh how my heart sings as I start crossing off tasks that I’ve gotten done from my list. That’s when Type A steps in and creates a new, shorter list-ok, it’s a sickness.
