by The Organizer Lady dot com on December 12, 2009
Let’s face it; holidays can be a pain in the neck. I know there are those out there who love everything about the holidays, the hustle and bustle, the frantic preparations, sleepless nights, meal preparation, shopping and tucking gifts away only to forget where they are hidden. But some of us enjoy the hustle and bustle on our own terms. As a profession organizer I have 8 tips on how to declutter during the holidays to make them happier and less stressful.
Essential tips to a sizzling holiday meal:
1. Get yourself a holiday journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Start writing in it what you are going to have at your holiday meal. Keep this book as a template for future years. We are creatures of habit and what we do once we will probably do again. The next time we do it will be easier as we will have our notes saying what worked and what didn’t work. Be sure after the day is over and before you forget write what you liked and what was a flop. (If cousin Louie’s rolls are rock hard next year ask someone else to bring them). We think we’ll remember but often we don’t.
2. If you are assigning others to bring dishes for the meal write their name down by their assignment in pencil and notify them of what you want them to bring. If it is in pencil it is easy to make changes. Also tell them how many to prepare for. Tell them what you are going to furnish and give them choices of what they can bring.
3. Based on your menu write down your shopping list and then check to see if you have the ingredients. The things you don’t have write on a separate list to take to the store. Buy as many things as you can ahead of time. By doing this before the last minute you may be able to find sales on items you need. And remember the paper products.
4.Take a page out of a calendar you aren’t using or print one from the internet and paste this in your holiday journal. Since you will want to have your home looking its best write down things you want to see done each day before the holiday. Delegate to family members chores that they can succeed in doing. For instance young children can fold napkins; a teenager could arrange flowers, plan games, dust the folding chairs and get them out of storage etc. Make up a chart in your journal listing who is to do what chore and have them mark it off when it is done.
5. Plan plenty of time to clean the silver, get the bugs out of the light fixtures, dust the rungs on the chairs, check to see the linens are clean and pressed and any other things you want done.
6. Write down who is coming to dinner and arrange for table and chair space. You may need to borrow chairs so planning ahead will prevent headaches later. Make place cards for the table settings. All of these things can be done well in advance.
7. Schedule your hair appointment or manicure appointment. This will be a time for you to relax and regroup.
8. On the calendar if you don’t get something done on one day move it to the next day or the next. This will help you not to procrastinate.
9. Remember to include things on your list to do like clean out the refrigerator so you’ll have room for holiday leftovers.
These hot tips on how to declutter for the holidays can make your holiday go a whole lot easier and almost carefree.
About the author:
Marilyn, a professional organizer and author is passionate about organizing for women and seniors in clearing clutter from their lives. Her new book “Go Organize!” will be in bookstores Dec 2009. Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com. Marilyn is a published author and professional organizer. She invites you to visit her awesome website http://www.marilynbohn.com. for easy organizing. She is a sought after public speaker who is passionate about teaching women and seniors how to organize their life and reduce clutter in their homes and office. You can buy her new book ‘Go Organize! Conquer clutter in three simple steps’ in major bookstores, Amazon and her website December 2009.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_Bohn
|
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Organize Lady Recommends:
Ultimate Ornament Box - 44 Compartments
by The Organizer Lady dot com on December 12, 2009
Decluttering your mind is like decluttering your home. You throw out what you don’t want and keep what you need. By taking control of your life you can make better decisions and focus on the things that matter the most. Here are 7 tips to declutter your mind and to help improve your quality of life.
1. Many people are list makers because it helps them not only remember what to do, but it helps them to prioritize. A brain dump of what’s stored in your head onto a notebook will help to declutter your mind and you will have a lot less thought juggling. Write down your thoughts and feelings as it can be therapeutic.
2. Deal with problems as they arise. If there are problems with people, take a few days to gather your thoughts. You don’t want to act in haste. Don’t put it off with excuses. The longer you leave the problem, the more stressed you feel as it will be a constant reminder and if it’s a recurring problem with a person, it can escalate and become worse.
Holding grudges takes a lot of energy. Instead forgive and give yourself peace of mind.
3. Surround yourself with positive people as they have a lot of positive energy.
4. Organize your life by adding and omitting items on your list, delegating home responsibilities and planning ahead. Set a schedule for yourself. Unexpected situations will happen, but at least you can look at your list and decide what to do next.
Your home should be clutter free too. A cluttered home depletes your energy and clogs your mind. The more you look at the mess, the more stressed you become and the idea of cleaning the clutter is overwhelming, but once you start organizing and eliminating you’ll feel better even when you’ve tackled a small area.
5. Learning to say no is important. Don’t take on more than you can handle or clutter your mind with unnecessary thoughts.
6. Some people don’t like to ask for help because they think it’s a sign of weakness, but it’s not true. Talking it out and sharing your thoughts with a friend about a situation can help you look at things in a different perspective instead of rehashing your own thoughts in your head.
7. Taking a break is another important task to do and many people don’t take advantage of it because they feel like it’s a time waster. Take frequent breaks of 15 - 20 minutes between your work schedule to refresh and re-energize your mind. A longer break like going on holidays is a great way to rejuvenate, re-evaluate and declutter your mind to focus on other things that are also important in life.
About the author:
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Organize Lady Recommends:
Ultimate Ornament Box - 44 Compartments
by The Organizer Lady dot com on October 6, 2009
Let’s face it, there are some things that we don’t like to do either because we think they are hard or we don’t know where to begin or how to do them. A few years ago I was making one of my daughters her freedom quilt (this is a red, white and blue quilt I give them on their 21st birthday). I was appliquéing blue snowflakes onto a white background. I hit a wall and I couldn’t continue making the quilt. Just the thought of sewing on it almost made me ill. Another daughter suggested I make only 21 blocks instead of the number I was aiming for. That one small suggestion is all it took; I changed the pattern and was able to finish creating this beautiful quilt.
If you are stuck with clutter and you want to change but don’t know where to start I have several tips on how to get rid of clutter in four rooms in your home.
1. Office: When you think of the paper in your home do you cringe from the sheer volume that you have to deal with every day? How long has it been since you saw the top of your desk? Are papers scattered all over your house? Do you blame yourself for the paper clutter in your home? You are not alone if you feel this way!
To get rid of clutter designate a place for everything and after using it put it back in its place. Keep the things you use most often within arm’s reach. Things you don’t use as often keep in a drawer. Extra supplies can be stored where you can get to it readily but not so close that it creates clutter in your work area. Store supplies in a closet, on a shelf or in drawers.
2. Children’s Bedrooms:
Do you ever blame your kids or “get after them” for having a messy room? Maybe they aren’t at fault. Do they have places to put their toys, books and craft items? Create places for these things by using containers to hold their toys and other items. These can be kept in the closet, under the bed or in attractive containers in their room.
Sort through their toys every 4 to 6 months and donate those that they don’t play with. You will be making someone else happy and will get rid of clutter at the same time. Things can also be given away by listing them on a website such as Freecycle or Craigslist. As crayons get broken and paint dries up or note pads are all used immediately throw them away. This is a simple way to get rid of clutter rather than waiting for things to pile up.
3. Bathroom:
Get rid of clutter on the counter by having containers for the things you use most often. Cosmetics can be kept in containers and either kept on the counter or placed in drawers. If you have products you don’t use, get rid of them. There is no need to hold on to them just because you bought it, clutter does not bring back the money you spent. Let it go or return it for cash or credit.
Do you keep medicine in your bathroom? This is not the best place because of the humidity in the room. Declutter your medicines by going through all the boxes and bottles and checking the expiration dates.
4. Garage:
I don’t know about you but this is a place where I only think about when I drive my car in or out or I need to find a tool or something else that is stored there. It is so easy to clutter this space because it is “there” but not an area we are in all the time like other rooms in our homes.
To get rid of clutter in the garage set up activity zones. Group like things together such as placing all of the sporting gear in one place, gardening tools in another and other tools together in their space.
Using the walls and the ceiling for storage helps you make better use of the space and it increases the useable space you have. Several storage solutions are available such as plastic bins (label what is in them by using a 3 X 5 card and tape it securely to the end). Peg boards are great to hang up a variety of tools. Cabinets can be used to store paint, tools or other items. The items are out of site yet are convenient to use.
Get rid of clutter by streamlining what you have and say goodbye to old stuff you never use or things you don’t like.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Marilyn is a professional organizer who works with women and seniors in clearing clutter and providing organizing tips. Visit her website www.marilynbohn.com for free organizing tips on her blogs, articles and videos.
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Organize Lady Recommends:
Ultimate Ornament Box - 44 Compartments
by The Organizer Lady dot com on August 14, 2009
(ARA) - With more people than ever before flocking to social networks and loading their computers with digital media, many are recognizing the need to get their digital clutter under control. This year, the trend is to organize your digital world, which as most of us know, can be a huge mess.
According to a recent survey conducted by Microsoft, 60 percent of those polled say their online lives sometimes feel more disorganized than their physical lives.
Crystal Hornsby, a construction project engineer from Vancouver, Wash., is feeling the need to get digitally organized this year. “I have two mobile phones, two e-mail accounts, hundreds of digital pictures, separate online calendars for work and home, and I’m an active Twitter, MySpace and Facebook user,” she says.
Hornsby’s experience is far from unique. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study from Dec. 2008, the share of adult Internet users who have a profile on at least one social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years from 8 percent to 35 percent.
Lorie Marrero, certified professional organizer, author and founder of ClutterDiet.com, thinks there’s still hope for people like Crystal who feel overwhelmed by their online lives and the idea of organizing it all.
“Our kids, jobs and shrinking budgets give us plenty to juggle in our offline lives. Now, with so many people using various online services, it’s no wonder that many are overwhelmed at the prospect of getting digitally organized too,” she says. “Although it can be daunting, it’s a necessary step toward gaining the extra free time we crave, and finally feeling in control of our lives — both on and offline.”
To get even the most scattered computer user started on the road to freedom from digital clutter, Marrero recommends five easy tips that can help make your digital life seem more manageable:
1. Organize Your Online Activities
Have too many social networking and online accounts to keep track of? Consolidate online activities in one place with Windows Live. Partnerships with popular sites — including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr — allow you to aggregate activities from these third-party sites — such as digital photos, tweets and status updates — into your Windows Live ‘What’s New’ feed, so you can easily share content with the people in your network from one site.
2. Unclutter Your Desktop
Treat your desktop as you would the top of your actual desk and keep only active files and shortcuts there for convenience. Use your My Documents folders for more lasting storage. Clean off unnecessary shortcuts that clutter the screen.
3. Get Your Files in Order
After you get your desktop sparkling clean, take a look through your folders. Can you consolidate? Are there old files you can remove, or drafts that are no longer relevant? Remember, your time is valuable and storage space is plentiful, so archiving to a folder or external storage space is usually a better use of time than wading through lots of old documents.
4. Time for Your Inbox to Drop a Few Pounds
Do you really need those attachments in an e-mail? Save your large files to an online storage drive like Windows Live SkyDrive, which offers 25 GB of free storage. Easily upload videos, photos and files, and share them with whomever you’d like — without overloading their inboxes.
5. Optimize Your Computer’s Performance
For greater efficiency and to avoid the heartache of technical problems, remember to update and run important utilities like spyware and virus scans and defragment your hard drive periodically.
“After a week or two of following these five simple tips, you may find that you have a bit more time to finally go for that run, or play outside with the kids,” says Marrero. “I tell my clients that the key is to ensure that your computer and online services work for you as productivity tools, instead of creating more clutter and hassle in your life.”
Courtesy of ARAcontent
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Organize Lady Recommends:
Ultimate Ornament Box - 44 Compartments
by The Organizer Lady dot com on January 2, 2009
If you work at home, you may find that your desk is a catch-all for everything. You may work outside of the home and still have problems keeping your desk clean. How do you go from cluttered desk to organized files and keep your sanity at the same time? These ideas may be what you need to get your desktop cleaned off once and for all.
Start de-cluttering your desk by getting a box and putting everything from the top of it into the box. Go through each and every item in the box and decide what to do with it. Do you need to file it, throw it away, transfer information to a calendar, move it to another room, or does it requires immediate action? Your goal is to initially put things in one of those categories.
For non-paper items, you want to decide if the items are important to keep on your desk or if they should be stored elsewhere. Remember, keep only those things on your desktop that are necessary.
Get file folders and labels, and set aside some time. Setting up an organized filing system isn’t as hard as it may seem. Simple words you’ll remember are better than words you don’t use when trying to remember where you’ve put things. The goal is to file things as they arrive in a manner that will make them easy to access when you need them next.
Here are a few things to consider when setting up a filing system:
* Are you losing monthly bills and having to pay late fees?
* Do you have all of your receipts ready for tax time?
* What medical information do you need in case of an emergency?
* Do we have a home inventory of our assets?
* Can you locate warranty information when needed?
If at all possible, reduce the amount of paper you have to file before you start organizing it into files. Get rid of as much as you can into the shredder or garbage can. If you can’t toss it, try giving it to someone else to handle if it pertains to them. The idea is to get it off your desk so it won’t clutter it up. Then file what’s left.
Sort your papers into broad categories to begin with - for instance, auto, finances, health, house, insurance, money, and personal. Next break the broad categories into more precise categories: Finances could break down into banking, investments, and retirement; auto could include repairs and warranties; insurance could be broken down into car, health, homeowner’s, and life. You get the idea, but you may have to subdivide each smaller category even further. Banking could include checking and savings; investments would include 401K and stocks. Follow this line of thought until everything is filed.
Remember to use words that you would actually say. Ask yourself where you would look for something if you needed it six months down the road and use those terms for your categories.
Once you have your filing system in place you want to use it - every day. Don’t let papers start piling up on your desk again. If you get something in the mail that lists an important date, add it to your calendar and toss the paper. If the information needs to be kept, file it right away. Finally your cluttered desk will be replaced by organized files and you’ll be able to find what you need when you need it.
Popularity: 38% [?]
The Organize Lady Recommends:
Ultimate Ornament Box - 44 Compartments
