Friday, October 28, 2011

Is Your Linen Closet Throwing Up on You?

As you open up your linen closet to grab a fresh towel for your luxurious, relaxing batch, items just begin to tumble out onto you.

 UGH!

... So much for relaxation and calm.


No need for this to happen any longer to you. Here's a great clip from Your Rocket Organizer on how you can get your linens under control and organized:



Take a hard look at the items in your linen closet:
Do you really need 15 washcloths for 4 people?
You no longer have a double bed, so why do you have the sheets?
Ah, you found a long lost shirt jammed in the towel.

Bag, bundle, box up all your linens that have lost their fluffiness or happy purpose in your life and take them to your favorite animal shelter for donation.

A puppy or kitten would love to cuddle up in a those items.

OK ... how many bath towels do you have?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Organizing Your Scary Halloween Decorations

Is your home all ready and organized for all those creepy, scary little monsters to ascend upon your home requesting tasty treats?

If your spookiest decorations do not make it out of the storage bins this year,
they will likely not make it out next year.  You may even have a few items rolling around in there that are a few years old.

Let them go.

Here's a quick 40 second video clip to help encourage you to release your unused decorations
 ... so they don't "haunt" you next year:




Remember: less stuff = more space

What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Friday, October 14, 2011

Gorgeous Disorder

Today's post comes from Debbie Stanley owner of Thoughts In Order Counseling and Consulting. She has worked with chronically disorganized and hoarding clients since 1997, originally as an industrial psychologist and professional organizer and now as a licensed counselor. Debbie practice includes in-office, in-home, telephone, and Skype counseling, coaching, and corporate consultation.

Here in Day Two of the deluge of tributes to Steve Jobs, I’ve found a photo that makes my heart sing:
Steve Jobs in home office Dec 2004 - photo by Diana Walker

If you didn’t know before his death, you’ve had ample opportunity now to learn that Steve Jobs was brilliant–so much so that to call him brilliant is becoming an awkward understatement.

Now, look at his home office. Notice the rafters and the brick walls … looks like it’s in the basement. Notice the furnishings… as basic as it gets. And the books, in their gorgeous disorder. And the piles of stuff on the desk, under the desk, on the floor…. Beauty.

I’m in the business of helping people to find clarity through organization. Why does this photo please me? Because it proves that genius can thrive in an imperfect environment. Some people already have clarity without spatial organization. To tidy up would not help (at best) and might interfere (at worst). For them, it is a truly fine mess.

Thanks to photographer Diana Walker and her willing subject, this is no longer just my opinion. If you are excellent at what you do, and you do it at a messy desk in a messy office (with which you’d be perfectly content, if not for the nagging), your boss and your family don’t have to take my word for it that you’re fine as you are. They can look at this photo and recalibrate their opinions.

That’s Steve Jobs in the picture. If it were a regular Joe, or even a regular genius, many (maybe most) people would see it as just another messy-office guy struggling to keep up. Maybe they would see a self-employed contractor or architect or web designer who has to work in his unfinished basement to save money, and whose work is inferior because he’s disorganized and stressed. They probably wouldn’t imagine that the guy is a billionaire whose work changed the world and the house above his head is a mansion. But they are.

Thanks, Steve Jobs, for putting a ding in this stereotype.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Debbie for sharing your blog post.
You ROCK!!

Messy desk or clean desk ... It all depends on what works for YOU.

Me?
 I will admit, I'm pretty much in the middle on desk organization.
... and I'm cool with it.

How do you feel about your desk?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Organizing Your Jewelry with Ice Cubes

Here is an amazing little organizing trick using an ice cube tray to keep your earrings, small necklaces, pendants and rings organized. The great thing is you can store the tray in most drawers, rather than having 3-4 bowls filled with a tangled mess of jewelry:





If you want your "jewelry tray" to look less like an ice cube tray, grab a can of your favorite spray paint and jazz it up a bit.

What is your favorite fun jewelry item?

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Say Good-Bye to your Beloved Cassette Tape Collection

If you own any cassette tapes,

you likely do not have a device to play these little music gems

... it's time to let them go.

Seriously ... It is 2011.

Yes, this includes your collection of Whitesnake, Depeche Mode, Wham!, Culture Club, Dokken and Men At Work

... especially your collection of "mix songs" made by your high school sweetheart

What was your first cassette tape purchase?
(mine: Michael Jackson, "Thriller")

Monday, October 03, 2011

One ... Two ... SCREAM!!!

When was the last time you screamed?

I'm talking:
-eyes closed
-fists clenched
-teeth exposed
-neck strained


Screaming is a great way to release a TON of energy from your mind and body.

You might think this is crazy, but I'm telling you it is awesome!

Close the windows, crank up the radio in your car and belt out the loudest noise you can conjure from your inner soul until your throat hurts.

... yeah baby!

How great do you feel now?