Organizing 3 Items At a Time

Look around your desk, how does it look?
Perhaps a better question: How does it feel?

You know, calm and ready for action today or ugh, overwelmed, why bother, I need a coffee.

Getting you on the organized path starts with your first step.

Ready?
(this is not going to hurt at all)

Look at your desk.
Choose 3 items and make a decision, Keep or Trash.
If your keeping, put it away.
Trash ... well, you know. Bah-bye!
Feel better?

Repeat as frequently as needed for happy feelings.

What did you put away today?

Harness Your Beast!

We all have a scary room in our home.
Your house looks great, though lurking there is ... That room.

Your scary room is the place that stuff ends up that you just can't be bothered putting away. Maybe it is a drawer, cabinet, closet, spare bedroom, basement or garage.

"Jody's" house is fantastic.
Everything is neat, tidy and organized, except for two rooms in her basement. These two rooms are her Scary rooms. Bit overrun with seasonal decorations, home improvement supplies, kids toys and costumes. Like the old saying, "You are only as strong as your weakest link," your home is only as comfortable as your worst room.

Because of these two rooms Jody felt awful, wanted to do something about it. She called me to help her purge. And WOW, she was fantastic!! I expected about 4 hours to complete this project.

Jody and I began in the basement storage room. This is where Jody's seasonal decorations, home improvement and sports equipment is stored. The room has great shelves, though many of her items were on the floor.

We quickly sorted through the items, tossing all that was trash out of the room. Then placed all the home improvement paints, tools and such in one area. All the seasonal decorations together on the shelves and finally the sports equipment. Jody was left with plenty of space to store all her Christmas decorations.

Onto Jody's husband's desk, which we were "not allowed to touch anything." We didn't do much except clean up around the desk and get the Lego sculptures stored in a small cabinet. Though now her husband has much more room to sort out his stuff. Even with the little bit we could do, Jody felt so much better about the area.

Finally, the other storage room in Jody's basement. This is an area where many of the kids old toys and Halloween costumes are kept. Again, we began by pulling items out. Jody sorted through them, keeping and trashing. I cleaned up the area and put everything back that was staying.

All the trash was taken to garage, and now Jody is extremely pleased with her house now. No more unorganized, scary rooms.

It only took 2.5 hours!!
Time flies when you are having fun.

What beast in your home needs to be tackled?

Stuff

You gotta love this classic clip about stuff.

"Your house is a pile of stuff with a cover on it."
George CarlinEnjoy the day!

What's your favorite stuff in your home?

But Angie Told Me to Say "NO"

Summer is whizzing past us here, you're out have a great time hanging with your friends, road trippin' with family, or just chilling by the pool or beach.

What?!
No time.
Too busy.
Other stuff to do.
... Are you crazy?!

Yeah, we all gotta work to pay the bills, though you should take care of yourself first. Take a moment and evaluate your commitments. Look where your time is being spent vs. what benefit are you getting from it. It's OK, be a bit selfish. This moment is all about you baby!

Let's look at a week: (warning math lesson ahead)
24 hours/day = 168 hours/week
168 hours/week - 56 hours sleeping/week = 112 hours/week (8 hours/night sleeping)
112 hours/week - 40 hours working/week = 72 hours/week
72 hours/week for everything else that is life.
WOW! I hope you are making the most of your time.

You can't do everything. You can try, though you will certainly burn out at some point likely resulting at screaming at your kids for having grass/mud covered feet while running through the house like monkeys (not like that really happens).

It is OK to say 'No.'
Here are a few tips on saying 'No:'

1. You deserve to take priority. Take time for yourself. Make sure you give yourself some free time to pamper yourself, just relax, or work on a hobby. Perhaps it is only 10-15 minutes, better than zero. In our home, my boys know that "if mommy is not happy, no one is happy."

2. Do not make excuses for 'no.' People respect honesty and hate hearing excuses. Treat yourself right and you can't help but treat others right too. If you need to use humor to lighten the 'no', do it!

3. Do not make commitments you're not prepared to keep. Saying 'no' is only a refusal of that particular request. Taking on a task that may overwhelm you will only result in added stress in your life and resentment toward the commitment. Much better for you to say 'no.'

4. Remember you don't have to give a reason. We don't give reasons when we say 'yes' so why should we have to give a reason for saying 'no.' A simple 'I appreciate you asking, but no thanks' will often do the trick. Kick your guilt to the curb!

5. Set limits. If you are only available to help for 4 hours on Saturday, tell them that and stick to your limits. Keep in mind to be firm but polite. You need to recognize how much you can reasonably do.

6. Delegate. If nothing else works or you begin to feel a bit a stress building, remember to ask for help. Perhaps delegate some of your commitments to others. Delegation is the key to being a good leader. Break up things among family members, friends, organizations, or co-workers. Allow others to help you.

I guess if all else fails next time someone asks you to do something you really don't want to do, and feel like you can't come up with something quickly, just tell them "Oh, I'd love to, but Angie said No." I'll take the heat for you.

What did you say 'No' to?

Organizing Product Not So Smart With Me

If you are someone who LOVES stacks of paper all over your desk or countertop, perhaps the PileSmart products from Pendaflex are for you.

I am not a paper piling kinda a person. Yeah, I will admit to papers on my desk, but no piles.

When working with clients I encourage them to remember:

Horizontal = Hidden
Vertical = Visable

The PileSmart Organizer Tray system will work great for you if you are a paper stacker. Nice clear, angled acrylic tray to keep your pile neat. Six colorful, thick plastic dividers with label areas on 2 sides which are erasable. If you are going to stack papers, this system will help keep your pile neat and tidy. The plastic dividers will help in keeping sorted piles separated, but I'm just not getting a warm fuzzy by stacking stuff. Hey, if you are a passionate paper pile person, then for about $20 give the PileSmart Organizer Tray system a shot.

Now, the Pendaflex PileSmart View Folders are getting closer to my organizing performance and love. These clear poly folders include write-on labeling tabs. The claim that the textured surface will prevent piles from slipping is a bit weak. The folders do holds up to 75 sheets of letter size paper and fit into hanging folders (YEAH!! For vertical filing). For about $10, these folders will do the trick in keeping your papers in order and protect them from any liquid spillage that is bound to occur at some point.

Finally, we come to the PileSmart Binder Clips. These babies are brightly colored and designed to clip up to 100 sheets of paper together. The built-in write and erase labels are visible even when documents are stacked in piles, which will save you time when you're trying to figure out what is in the stacks. Too bad Pendaflex put their brand name on one side of the writing tab, it would be nice to have the option to label either side of the tab. Since you could then hang (yeah, vertically) the clipped stacks of papers on a hook to display for easy use. Bottomline, I do like the PileSmart Binder Clips and for about $4 for a pack of 6, they are an inexpensive tool in helping organize your papers.

It needs to be noted that being a professional organizer, Pendaflex sent me these new products to review in exchange for a $20 gift card. My thoughts are completely my own. I'd like to say I love this new product, but overall it misses my style of organizing.

What organizing product do you find misses the mark?

Recycling Your Old Electronics ... Safely

Best Buy will take just about anything electronic, including TVs, DVD players, computer monitors, audio and video cables, cell phones, and more.

Most things are recycled absolutely free, with a few restrictions. Regardless of where you bought it, what brand it is, or how old it is: bring it to them. They will make sure it's properly and safely recycled.

"This is awesome! No reason to keep piles of old technology in the corner of your office or basement. They even have in-store kiosks for disposing inkjet cartridges, rechargeable batteries, and CDs/DVDs," Melanie Dennis, Neat Streak Professional Organizing. She's the fabulous organizer who brought this program to my attention to share with you.

Since I straddle the Michigan and Ohio borders, here's some of those program details. Go to the Best Buy Recycling website for your state's program.

Program details for Ohio:
- Three items per household per day.
- Nearly everything electronic, including tube TVs and monitors up to 32", flat-panel TVs and monitors up to 60", peripherals, DVD players, home and car audio, cell phones, MP3 players, and cables.
- Desktop or laptop computers with the hard drive removed. See this Geek Squad video for Do-it-Yourself instructions, or we will remove it for $9.99.
- Small electrics, fans and vacuums.
- We charge $10 for televisions and monitors, but you immediately receive a $10 Best Buy gift card good toward future purchase. (SWEET!)

Program details for Michigan:
- Seven items per household per day.
- Nearly everything electronic, including tube TVs and monitors up to 32", flat-panel TVs and monitors up to 60", peripherals, DVD players, home and car audio, cell phones, MP3 players, and cables.
- Desktop or laptop computers with the hard drive removed. See this Geek Squad video for Do-it-Yourself instructions, or we will remove it for $9.99.
- Small electrics, fans and vacuums.
- No cost to the consumer.

If Best Buy doesn't accept your item, visit these websites to find alternate locations to recycle products:

1-800-RECYCLING
My Green Electronics
ECycling Central

Outstanding job Best Buy for giving us an easy way to recycle our items safely. Mother Nature thanks you, too!


What electronics are you taking to Best Buy for recycling?

stiL esreveR ... Reverse Lists

We have all made lists at some point in our life. You may be someone who loves to make them. I know I am. There is a great satisfaction in making a list and making a big, heavy, think black line as you cross items off. It creates a sense of accomplishment.

When looking to get organized, one suggestion is to create a list of tasks you wish to complete. Though sometimes you get a little too crazy with the number of items, then you've got this monster of stuff to do. UGH!

You just can't win ...
or can you?

Set out the day to accomplish a few tasks.
Then write them down as you complete them.
Continue about your day, when you complete a task, big or small, put it on your list.

You will end up with a list of things you finished all day, rather than making a list then crossing off items (hey, there's a fraction of your energy savings there). It may not be a big change, but it might be enough to encourage you to get a bit more done throughout your day.

You don't have to walk around with a paper and pen all day long. Work at your goals and perhaps prior to having a meal, jot down the things you have accomplished. You will be surprised at all you DO throughout the day. Toss a couple 10 or 15 minute organizing projects to stay ahead of the curve, and you'll be rockin' and rollin' to organizing happiness.

What did you accomplish today?