I hope you have a lovely day with your family!
The Urge to Purge Your Stuff
This is Spring Clean up week in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It happens once a year. The city will remove clutter you put on your curb for no additional fees. I get a kick out of Spring Clean Up Week because there are some very enterprising individuals collecting useful items from the things others are tossing. I enjoy watching the process. And after a long North Dakota winter, May fills me with the urge to purge some stuff.
Purging things we don’t need is freeing. Seeing someone else claim a useful item that we no longer need feels even better. We took down a wooden clubhouse this week, and two different people came by to claim some of the wood. We had a section chain link that didn’t last on the curb for more than 2 hours.
Getting rid of things that no longer work gives us more space. We had a 10 year old elliptical machine that squealed when used and it wasn’t in good enough shape to sell or donate. We put it on the curb. The next day, a trio of people stripped all the metal parts off of the machine. Two days later, a man came by and took the generator and control panel. All that was left were a few plastic pieces that we were able to toss into the recycling bin.
Having more space makes rooms seem bigger. Letting go of the things we no longer need opens up our rooms and closets and can change our perceptions of our rooms. Piles and boxes and papers can close up a room and make it feel cramped, and stuffy. Removing items that you no longer need can open up floors and hallways, making spaces appear larger and more comfortable.
What do you have in your home that you no longer need? Is it time for a Spring Clean Up? Leave a comment to keep the discussion going.
Posted in General, How to Organize, Routines
Tagged home, organizing, reducing clutter, sorting
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Living in Harmony with Your Stuff
We all have stuff we need, stuff we like, and stuff we’d rather get rid of. We have stuff from family, stuff from friends, and stuff we’ve purchased ourselves. How do you make a plan to live in harmony with your stuff? It starts with a question…
How much space do you want to dedicate to stuff?
Your stuff needs a home, so that you can easily put things away. Whether you’re talking about dresses, or shoes, books, or toys, you need to decide how much space you’re willing to use to keep the stuff stored.
Do you have the tools you need to store your stuff?
You’ll have to take stock of what is actually available in your home. How many closets exists? Do you plan to use what is available or are you planning on buying an armoire or other furniture for additional storage?
It’s easy to put things away when you have a place where the stuff belongs. Do you need another bookcase? Do you need a new set of hangers? Decide what you need to acquire to give your stuff a place to belong.
What’s your plan to keep from buying more stuff than you can put away?
One way to do this is to take advantage of the one in one out rule. Buy a new pair of jeans? Let a pair go. You won’t ever overfill your jeans drawer if you use this rule. You will maintain the same number of jeans, you’ll know exactly where to put them and you’ll know that the jeans will fit in the drawer every time.
How do you decide what to put together?
It’s a personal choice, and there is no wrong answer here. You have to decide what works best for you. Are you keeping all your CDs in one place, or do you have them in different rooms? Do you keep DVDs and Blu-Ray discs together or separate? What do you do with XBox Games?
Evaluate your plan.
Is it easy to put this stuff away? Once you’ve given a home to your books, music, movies, is it easy to maintain?
If you answer yes it’s easy, great! You can take 10 to 15 minutes each day and put stuff away. It will stay neat.
If your answer is no, then you need to come up with a new plan. Perhaps the first place you tried to store music didn’t work, it’s fine to try another location. Your goals is to find a place where you can store the stuff and it is easy to find. Keep trying different locations until you find the spot that works for you.
This is how the journey begins to live in harmony with your stuff. What area in your home causes you the most difficulty? Post a description below and I may have a few ideas to help.
Posted in Bedrooms, Books, Closets & Clothing, General, How to Organize, Routines
Tagged home, maintenance, organizing, reducing clutter, sorting
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How Do You Start Organizing a Messy Office?
Have you ever been really busy working on a project, get it completed and then notice how messy your workspace became?
Sometimes creativity is like a thunderstorm. You have things all over the place and you’re flowing from one thing to another without really seeing that you’re the eye of the storm and leaving a mess in your wake. But once the project is done, and you pat yourself on the back for a job well done, there’s a mess to deal with. How do you start?
It seems to be easiest to focus on the things that no longer matter.
Work around the room gathering up everything that can go. If you live in a town that has a recycling system in place and you have a shredder, it’s simple to sort the stuff that can go into three piles.
Shred anything personal or private. If you have papers you don’t want anyone else to ever read, the shredder is a great tool. You never have to think about it again. Put to those things in the shredder and they are gone forever.
Recycle reference materials that you no longer need. This can be anything from magazine articles, newspapers, reports that do not needed to be shredded. You can put any paper that you no longer need into recycling.
Gather all the trash from the room. Maybe you’ve been tossing trash at your trashcan and missing. Maybe you’ve been leaving things where they landed. It doesn’t matter how it got there, but it’s a good idea to take some time and remove all the trash from the room.
Take a look at your project itself. Do you have previous drafts of the documents on your desk, or floor? File what you need to keep and determine whether you need to shred or recycle the papers printed while in the creation process. Remember, you don’t need to keep everything. Put away what matters in a place where you can find it again, and toss out what you no longer needed.
Check your bookcase. Put away any books you’ve left out. Take a look and see if any of the books on your bookcase were simply tools you needed for the project, or books you want to keep long term. If you find any books you no longer need, consider donating them to your local library.
Take an inventory of your workspace. Do you need to replace any supplies? Did you figure out that you need to change the place you keep the tools you needed for this project? Once you’ve set up your office in a way that works you’ll be ready to go with the next project.
Keep what works. Change one thing that didn’t work well and see if your new choice is an improvement. Don’t worry about having the perfect desk. Focus instead on creating systems that meet your needs and enable you to make your deadlines.
Springtime Tasks: Sorting Seasonal Clothing
When Springtime finally rolls around, it can be a fun task to sort through winter clothing. It’s great to celebrate the ending of another winter by putting away clothing that won’t be needed for many months. Here are a few tips to give your closets a spring cleaning.
Check the pockets of all your winter coats.
While assisting clients, we’ve found missing gloves, lost keys, cash, checks, and a variety of electronic gadgets left behind in winter parka pockets.
Pull all torn or damaged coats and jackets from your closet.
You need to decide whether or not you have time or the inclination (or skill level) to repair damaged items. If you won’t repair them, toss them in the garbage. You only want to donate gently used clothing in good condition.
Clean all your coats.
Whether you toss the coats in the washer and dryer or send them out to be dry cleaned, putting away clean winter coats just feels better than leaving the task undone. Plus it makes life easier in the fall when the temperatures suddenly drop and you need a warmer coat. The coat is clean and ready for you to use it.
Decide what you want to keep.
Check your selection of clean coats and decide which ones you want to keep.You might not want to keep all of them. You may have a coat in a color you no longer want to wear, or a style that no longer suits who you are today. You might also want to check the size of the closet and decide how much room you want to dedicate to coats.
Keep a donate box or bag on hand.
If you develop the habit of keeping a donate box on hand, it is easy to move clothing you no longer like or need out of your closet and into the donate box. You don’t have to search for a box if you always have one ready in a designated spot.
Evaluate the items you stored last year for Spring/Summer.
Sometimes, we change our minds about what we like to wear. A favorite shirt put away last Spring might be something you no longer like for Spring 2012. Don’t feel bad about changing your mind. We’re always changing and growing. If you’re checking clothing you put away last year and find things you no longer like, add them to the donate box.
Add all your favorite spring choices to your closet and check it out. Do you like the way it looks? Do you see anything that needs to go? Did you find anything you forgot you had?
Remember to take some time and check your shoes as well. Sorting your clothing with seasonal changes will give you a greater sense of what you own, and what you need to replace. It will help you remove the unknown stuff from your closet, and give you more space for the clothing you actually enjoy wearing.
Springtime Tasks: Sorting Toys
As winter comes to an end, mid-March is a good time to sort through toys. Children play with some toys more than others. Some toys are well-loved. Some toys are momentary distractions. Sorting through toys as winter ends could become an early Spring habit.
Decide how much space you’ll use to store toys.
Once you’ve decided how much space you need, it is easier to begin the sorting process. Your goal will be to reduce the number and variety of toys until they fit in the space you’ve chosen.
Toss all broken toys.
Have a trash bag ready and remove all the broken toys. Empty one container or box at a time and sort through what had been stored there. Throw out all broken toys. The children have plenty of other items to play with, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that their toys are safe. You don’t want to do this step while the children are around. They will have a role to play once the sorting is complete.
Decide how you will sort the toys.
Choose whether you will have a box for each child or you separate toys by categories such as dolls, trucks, building toys, and board games. You want to create a system that allows your children to easily and quickly put toys away at the end of playtime.
Teach your children to let things go.
Once you’ve completed the sorting process, it’s a good time to have the children look through the toys and pare down. It’s easier to do this step once the space is calm and neat. Make a game of it, encouraging them to find three toys that they no longer play with. Keep the number small so that it isn’t stressful. Let them know that these toys will be passed on to someone else who will enjoy playing with them.
Consider using the one in one out rule.
Develop the habit of having your child choose a toy to leave the home in anticipation of a new toy arriving. The number of toys won’t ever increase if you use this system. This prevents the number of toys to exceed the space allocated for toys them.
Keep a donate box on hand.
Having a donate box encourages all family members to add items to the box that no longer fit their life today. When your children bring you toys (in good shape) that they no play with these toys can be donated to a local charity, daycare center or church.
Label toy boxes and bins for easy storage.
Once the toys have been sorted and reduced it’s time to get creative. Label boxes, containers and bins so that your children can return items to their new homes. You can use stamps, stickers and photos to describe what is kept in each container. Get the children involved in the design process. Print digital pictures on sticker paper to create custom signs. Use a combination of words and pictures for younger children.
Taking the time to sort through toys will give you valuable information. You will know what’s in the toy bins. You’ll see which toys are played with the most. You’ll discover the toys that your children no longer play with. But most importantly, you’ll have a place for toys that is easy to maintain and a calm peaceful room.
Posted in Bedrooms, Children, General, How to Organize
Tagged children, reducing clutter, sorting
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Happy Leap Day!
According to TimeandDate.com: “Leap Day is February 29, which is an extra (intercalary) day added during a Leap Year, making the year 366 days long – and not 365 days, like a common (normal) year. Nearly every 4 years is a Leap Year in our modern Gregorian calendar.”
February 29, 2012 finds me suffering from a bit of information overload. Over the last 4 years, I’ve opted in to received emails from more places than I can count. At the time I signed up, I found the information helpful. But in that four year period, life has become busy, and I have limited time for emails. I’m getting overloaded.
Some of the email subscriptions have risen to the top, they’ve become the cream of the crop. They remain as keepers. I look forward to receiving these messages. I can act upon them and move on. But then, there are the others. These email messages end up taking up time I don’t have. They are frustrating to deal with. Some of them I’ve simply outgrown. Others are annoying buzzing noises distracting me from my work.
Today, I’m going through my email and finding the subscriptions that are no longer relevant to my life today. In fact, I’ m going to make this a Leap Day Event. Every 4 years I will take this day I unsubscribe to the messages that are no longer improving my day. I’m cutting the email clutter.
Virtual clutter is harder for me to sort than physical objects and papers. I can fly through a pile of things I can touch, sorting as I go, tossing 65 to 70% of the papers and moving on. But virtual clutter doesn’t operate the same way. It doesn’t take up space the same way. It is frustrating though, and I’ve been working hard to remove the frustrating objects and tasks that don’t help me accomplish anything. You know what I’m talking about, it’s called busy-work.
I was thinking about it for a while and decided that I had to treat email subscriptions the same way I treat magazine subscriptions. I’ll keep what is useful, and unsubscribe from the others. The top of my list are online stores. I’m unsubscribing to email from several catalogs because I only make one purchase from them a year. I’m probably getting 500 to 1000 emails from websites I only need to check out in November.
I’m unsubscribing to 3 department stores that send me more than 3 emails in a week. I simply don’t do that much clothing shopping. I’m spending too much time deleting sales flyers from stores I haven’t walked into in a year. I know where to find them if I need them. More than 3 email messages a week from a store just feels pushy to me. I don’t want to be pushed around. I want to be invited.
What about you? What new routine will you begin this Leap Day? What can you commit to do every 4 years to improve your life?
Posted in General, How to Organize, Mail, Office, Routines
Tagged email, organizing, planning, reducing clutter, sorting
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Reducing Monday Morning Chaos
Have you ever had one of those mornings where nothing seems to go the way you expected? Everyone is rushing around the house. Someone can’t find a shoe. Someone else is looking for a misplaced homework assignment. You’re wondering if there’s enough gas in the car to drop the kids off at school and get to work without stopping at the gas station…
What if you could reduce most of the morning chaos by changing your evening routine the night before?
Dr. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People teaches us in Habit #1 Be Proactive that thinking about what isn’t working, and creating a way to solve the problem is the beginning of changing our lives for the better.
Only one of our three sons is a morning person and he is the youngest. We wanted to create a routine to encourage our sons to get ready for school that was simple and easy to follow. We had them prepare the night before because they were alert and full of energy. They were semi-sleeping zombies in the mornings. They moved at half-speed until they had breakfast. They needed a system that complimented their strengths.
We had our sons put their backpacks together Sunday evenings after dinner. They usually did it within a couple of minutes. Loading up the backpack at night is less stressful, because there isn’t as much of a time constraint. They made a game out of it and often raced each other to see who could finish first.
We’d continue with our evening routines, reading stories, bath time, etc. We’d talk about the next day of school with each child and have them double check their backpacks to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. They each put their backpack in the living room.
Once they were in school bands, they’d place their instruments next to their backpacks. Before going to bed, they’d choose their clothing for school the next day (including shoes) and have them easily accessible in their bedrooms.
Their morning routines were pretty easy. They’d get up, take care of hygiene, get dressed fully, and have breakfast. They’d put their own dishes in the dishwasher, make their own beds, then grab their backpacks and coats and head out the door at the appointed time. Because all of the major decisions had been made the night before, they didn’t have to jump out of the car to grab something forgotten. They didn’t feel rushed. Most mornings went smoothly.
We were getting to the places we needed to go, and having the stuff with us we needed to bring. We started looking at other things we could do to keep that comfortable morning routine. We decided to fill up the gas tank by Sunday evening. It meant we didn’t even have to think about how much gas was in the car on Monday mornings.
Unexpected things will still happen. But taking a few moments the night before to prepare will save you time, and reduce the stress of rushing around. How can you tweak your routine to ensure that you have a better Monday Morning?
Posted in Children, General, How to Organize, Routines
Tagged children, planning, time management
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Streamline a Task and Save Time
Doesn’t it seem as if time is passing by faster than ever before? We lead busy lives. We have a variety of commitments. More than ever time is at a premium. What can we remove from our lives to give us more time? How about changing the way we think about what we store as extras in our homes. Take a look at what you keep. Do you use it? Do you like it? Do you have duplicates getting dusty in the basement?
Simplifying a task saves time. What can be changed to make a task easier to complete? These days, I don’t store any spare bathroom rugs in my home. I have rugs in each bathroom. They are two different colors. The rugs are either clean and on the bathroom floors, or dirty and in the washer. They are never in the hamper. The rugs serve a specific purpose. They protect our feet from the icy cold bathroom floors. We live in North Dakota and winter weather lasts a long time.
Taking the guess work out of a task makes it easier. Anyone in my family can return the rugs to correct bathroom after removing them from the dryer. There isn’t any confusion about where they belong. There aren’t any extra rugs taking up space in the linen closet. The rugs are easily returned to the place they belong.
What changes have you made in your home to streamline your housekeeping tasks? How have you eliminated confusion? Leave a comment below to let us know. We’d love to hear from you!
Posted in Bathrooms, General, How to Organize
Tagged bathroom, laundry, organizing, time management
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What can hotel practices teach us about Being Organized?
When traveling, a neat clean hotel room can feel like an oasis of peace. Isn’t it wonderful, walking into a room that is clutter free, tastefully put together, without being sterile or overly busy? At the end of a long day, that peaceful room feels so welcoming.
How can we mimic this same comfortable peaceful feeling in our homes? What’s one thing about hotels rooms that really stands out? For me it was the bath linens.
Once upon a time, my 3 sons had color coordinated bath linens. It was an idea I saw in a magazine, that seemed like fun. We had a variety of colors in the linen closet, and the boys changed their minds week to week about which color was “theirs”. But sometimes, someone would forget what color he had chosen and someone else would be annoyed to find his towel damp. Plus, sometimes the colors faded unevenly or colors transferred and the towels didn’t look “neat” for very long.
We live a thousand miles from family. So we’ve been able to stay at a variety of hotels across the country as we’ve traveled to visit parents and grandparents. I was surprised to discover that all the hotels we stayed in used white bathroom linen. I thought that they probably did it to streamline the laundry process.
I started to wonder if such a small change could make a difference…
Boy did it ever!! Switching to white bathroom linens saved time. There was no longer a need to separate dark and light colors of towels into different laundry loads. There were no questions about which towels belonged in which bathroom. Now, linens are either clean or dirty.
Clean linens are in the linen closets. There is a towel hamper in the laundry room. Everyone takes their used bathroom linens to the towel hamper after showering. I run a load of towels through the laundry twice a week. We never run out of clean linen. There’s no confusion about where the linens belong. They are equally divided between the two bathrooms. And since all of the bathroom linens are white, they can all be washed together.
It worked so well for us in the bathrooms that I purchased all white kitchen towels too. I completely skip the step of sorting towels. All towels land in the towel hamper. I just put half the load in the wash twice a week.
I wondered if using white linens would make our bathrooms appear sterile. Guess what? It didn’t. We’ve used rich colors on the walls, floors, shower curtains and rugs. The white linens just look… neat and clean.
What influenced you to change something in your home? How did it help you save time? Leave a comment below to share your story!
Posted in Bathrooms, General, How to Organize
Tagged bathroom, home, laundry, linen closet
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