Organizing and Planning Ahead For A Trip

Be Sure To Organize Ahead Of Time For Your Travel

Organizing prior to a trip isn’t hard, it just takes time management.

Planning for a trip, of course depends on what kind of trip you are going on.  Is it a family vacation, are you flying or driving? How many people are going?  Is it a business trip and you’re leaving the family at home?

For this post, I’m going to plan for a business trip with one adult going from the family.  For our family, this has been me doing all the traveling. Dave doesn’t travel for work, but for the last several years, I have been traveling multiple times throughout the year.

I’m planning this week for my trip next week to Bentonville, Arkansas for our first Collective Bias conference, SoFabCon. I’ll be gone for a week from home.

Plan at least two – three weeks prior to your trip

Plan what you are going to wear. Go through your wardrobe to make sure you have the clothing, shoes and accessories you’ll need for the trip. More than likely, you’ll have all you need, but there might be occasions that you do need to shop for something new prior to the event.

If you have to order sometime online, you should probably plan out further than 3 weeks to be sure you receive it on time, and it fits.
You want to give yourself enough time to return or have something altered if needed.

Be sure to check your accessories to be sure you have any jewelry, cosmetics, crazy socks etc that you might need.

Plan Week Ahead

1) Plan out meals for your family, or at least make sure needed grocery items are stocked in the house.
2) Get all the family laundry completed before you go.
Personally, I do this because if my hubby needs to do laundry, I come home to baskets full of clothes that I can’t tell if they are dirty or clean (nothing folded when it comes out of the dryer). He will use my sorting bins to put clean clothes in, I find my sorting bins upstairs in bedrooms.. oh my – an organizers laundry nightmare!
3) Prepare a packing list.
It is so easy to forget things when you are packing.  Make sure you add things on there like business cards, extension cord (if you take your laptop etc with you), phone chargers, camera download cords etc. In this day and age of electronics, there are a lot of accessories needed to use them.
4) Prepare a Family “To Do” List
Especially if you are going to have teens at home without you. When do they have to be at practices, events? Does anyone take daily medicine that needs to be remembered? Will they remember to feed, water and walk the dog or clean out a litter box. What day is trash day?
5) Make a copy of your itinerary.
Make sure your spouse knows how to get hold of you, what flights you’re on and where you’re staying.
6) Be sure to print out any tickets or passes you might need. It’s great to have everything on your phone, but if you can’t get service, you could be in a bind if you count on having important documents stored electronically.

Couple Days Prior To Your Trip

1) Start packing for your trip. You won’t want to pack any clothes that will wrinkle until the last minute, but have them ready to go. You can pack underclothes, jewelry and other items that you don’t have to worry about the “wrinkle factor”.
2) Prepare any food items you’re family might need while you’re gone

Planning ahead will make you’re preparation go much smoother, and generally you have what you need while you’re gone. It also will help to decrease stress for you and the family while you’re gone.

 

 

Organize your Office Desk Drawer

Start Simple! Organize A Drawer

Organizing can become so over whelming to many of us, that it’s easier to look at an entire room and all of the mess, and say – “it’s too much, I can’t do it.”  But if you focus your efforts on something small to organize, like your desk drawer, it’s a start… it will motivate you to keep going.  The feeling of accomplishment you get from having an organized and cleaned out area is awesome!

Office desk drawers can very quickly become a “catch all” for all kinds of things.  This is my desk drawer as I opened it to do this post.

There is some organization there, but I want to to show that organizing your drawer doesn’t have to be scary or “too big” to do.

I used baskets and also just the plastic trays that the sharpies came in.  But it needs some freshening up.  You don’t have to go out and buy expensive supplies. The boxes your checks come in work great. These baskets are from the dollar store.

LOL.. look at all the mini hand sanitizers!

Then in this front built in tray…. there is a whole bunch of little “stuff”

So this is what you need to do

Take everything out of the drawer

Then clean the drawer.

And this is a long narrow drawer, so I had to get it all the way out.

All the little crud and bits and pieces that get back in the corners.

Grab what ever products you use to clean with and a clean rag and clean well.

I’m use OdoBan for a lot of different cleaning projects. It is the smell of clean to me. I also just realized it was green. I had no idea, I’ve been using it for years.

Once you have cleaned…. then you sort the items.

Sorting

1) Keep – You use it, love it and Need it
2) Donate – You don’t use it or need it and it is in good shape then donate it to others who can use it.
3) Move it – It doesn’t belong in the office. (for instance a child’s wallet – or that little hand held fan in my desk drawer)
4) Trash/Recycle – If you don’t use it, and it isn’t in good enough shape to donate – then trash or recycle it.

This is all the little stuff that came out of the front little tray

I mean really…. do I need all these hand sanitizer?  And what good are they doing in my desk drawer?  They are all half full.
Then of course you always end up finding loose change anytime you clean don’t you?

Picture hanging supplies

Tacks and paper clips

And doesn’t everyone have a couple of stray keys?

Lots of pens and markers

For the pens, pencils and markers go through the exercise that I described in this post I just posted yesterday on pens and pencils organizing.

Now go through and take the items and distribute them where they belong. Do you have a bank somewhere on the main floor of your home for loose change?  I have one on top of my refridg and another one in my laundry room.  Any change that goes in here goes towards the family vacation fund.

If you have things like hand sanitizers or hand lotions in your drawer. You don’t need as many as I have here.

Consolidate them into 1 or 2 containers.

I had 2 containers that had the rubber holders on them, so I poured the others into those and got it down to two containers.

Then I put them where they would do some good. One went on my purse and the other went on my bookbag.

If there is a key that belongs in the office (for a safe, desk drawer or locked cabinet) make sure you label it.

Separate your pens from your pencils, from your sharpie markers, from your highlighters. Just be sure they all work properly.

After you have gone through and sorted out what doesn’t belong in your desk drawer you can put your drawer back together.

I did not go out and buy anything for the drawer. I just used what I had in the drawer… I want you to realize that you don’t have to go out and buy a lot of things to organize.   We always find excuses not to do things, I want you to know that you can go in and clean out…. sort….clean…..put back  ANYTIME!  You don’t have to wait to go buy things!

Now… put things back in.

I did something a little interesting here.  This drawer goes back really far and I have problems with the baskets sliding back into the drawer.  I could go and buy a really cool fitted desk drawer organizer, and I could have ravaged around my house for more organizers… but I also want to show you… your organizing can take place in about 30 minutes.

So…..I used a ream of paper that I had stored underneath the desk to put in the very back of this drawer to help keep things from sliding around so much.

** Great tip from a reader Daren. Daren said to use pieces of velcro underneath the baskets or trays to hold them in place from sliding! I love that! Never even though of that. I’ll be trying that one for sure!

I had extra room in the drawer after I cleaned it out, so I moved a couple things over from another drawer that had too much in it. The tapes from a labeler, some extra staples and thumb tacks. I also put my nursing hemostats and tweezers in here. I do use the hemostats for things like taking out knots in cords etc…so I actually do use them in my office.

Here is the final product.30 minutes…. and a reorganized and clean desk drawer.

Now it is your turn!  Go take just a little bit of time and organize that drawer!

 

This post was revamped from it’s original post date of January 27, 2011.

 

Pin It

How to Organize Your Coupons

Organizing Coupons Continued…

by Amy Trautvein

Today we are going to talk about clipping coupons, when to pull out expired, and how to organize a shopping trip with your coupon binder.  Are you as excited as I am?  Good!

I only get one Sunday paper, believe it or not.  I don’t want to spend hours cutting coupons and I can get some great coupons on the internet anyway to help bulk up my binder a bit and get some coupons that you won’t see in the Sunday ads.  Every Sunday night, or Monday morning I pull out the coupon inserts, have a seat on my couch, turn on the TV and cut away.  As I’m cutting, I stack the coupons into my categories so it saves much time putting them into my binder.  A must do! Here are my coupons after they ‘ve all been cut and are ready to be filed.  Classy, huh!?
REALITY CHECK:  Do NOT clip every coupon that is printed. Only clip coupons for products you regulary use, would like to buy if it was on sale, and/or are willing to try.  If you’re not sure, say to yourself, “Would I buy this if it was a steal?”  If your answer is yes, then clip it.  I don’t have babies in the house anymore, so why clip coupons for baby products?  I don’t drink coffee, so I obviously pass by the coffee coupons, there are certain products (that I won’t name) that I’ve tried and not enjoyed, and even if it were a steal I wouldn’t waste my time so those get trashed too.  I know it’s just common sense, but I’ve talked to a lot of people to clip every coupon that is in the insert.  Don’t, just don’t.

Internet coupons are great, but it can be overwhelming.  There are SO many places you can go.  My suggestion is to pick your 2 favorite coupon sites and just stick with those.  My top favorite is coupon.com. They have a wide range of coupons from grocery to nonfoods and you don’t have to give your name, address, phone number, first born to print them, and it’s free.  You are also allowed to print up to 2 of each one you want.  I’m not a huge fan of clipping services because you are having to PAY for coupons to then save you money?  Plus like I said, I’m not a shelf clearer and don’t recommend it either. Why would somone need 50 coupons of ketchup?  Here are my internet coupons from this week.  They reset and add new coupons at the beginning of the month so that’s why I have such a stack for this week.  They had some good ones this time.  :)Now back to filing your coupons into your binder…  Just start at the front of your binder and go to your first category, mine is the breakfast asile.  Before  you add any new coupons, go through that section and pull any expired ones.  Then add your new coupons into any empty slots. Do this every week!  It saves time in the long run and saves you from trying to use a coupon that expired a week ago at the reigister.  No need to organize by expiration date.  That adds TONS of time shuffling all your coupons up to the front and adding new ones to the back and doing it all over again week after week.  Remember, you only have 2-4 pages in each section to go through.  Why create more work for yourself?  See how nice and pretty? 
*One other thing I do that is a good idea:  As I’m putting coupons in my binder I keep a sitcky note list of high value coupons that I want to use, but the product may not be in any of your sale ads.  That way, while you’re at the store, it’s easy to take a look at those products, see what the price is and decide, at the store, if they are worth using that day.  My rule: it needs to be more than half off for me to consider, OR just a really great coupon that I don’t want to forget about.  I then put the sticky note on my list for easy reference.

Now you can go through your store adds for the week and compare with the coupons you’ve got.  As you find coupons to use on sale items, pull them out and paper clip them together.  I only do 2 grocery stores and one drug store.  That’s as much as I can handle without having to run around alot.  Also, some weeks are way better than others.  If I find that I’ve only found 2 or 3 good deals for a store, I scratch it and don’t even go.  It’s not worth my time and gas to only save on a couple items.

First, I list how many items I want to get, then I list the product, next the sale price, then my coupon amount (double it if your store doubles coupons, which mine do) and then the final price.  Once you’ve gone through all your ads, put your list into the front of your binder for east reference and marking off as you put it in your cart.  Here’s what it all should look like.  My list of “on sale” products with coupons and final prices, my sticky note of high value coupons, and my paper clipped piles of coupons I know I will be using this week.  Just keep those in the front pocket of your binder.
**Don’t forget about digital coupons either.  Most stores let you add electronic coupons from their website to your store card AND they let you also use a paper coupon fro the same item!  Double the savings!  The only store I know of that does NOT do this is Kroger, but check your stores coupon policy just to be sure.  Also, some stores let you combine a store coupon and a manufacture coupon together for ONE item (CVS, Target to name a couple), also double the savings!  So yes, please check their coupon policy, you may be missing out on saving even more than you thought!

Now you are ready to shop and save!  And be organized so you can save time AND money!  Just remember, this is what works for me.  You may need to do some tweaking for what works for you.  There’s no one right way to do it, just do it!  Let me know how you coupon, I’d love to hear from you!

Love to all!  ~Amy

 

 

 

 

 

I have been married for 22 years to my awesome hubby, Todd and we have 4 equally awesome kids who keep my young! Our favorite thing to do together is travel. I enjoy gardening and puttering around my yard. I am very active in my church and am currently serving the children, and I love volunteering at my kids’ schools doing whatever I can to help the teachers and staff.

Pin It

Get Organized

Are You Organized?

You might say, “I’m not organized, but everyone keeps saying I need to be”.

This can be tough. What if your husband or wife, friends and family are telling you that YOU NEED help? You may not think you are ready for that step.

Think those these questions. How would you answer them?

1) Are you happy with how your house looks?
2) Are you proud of your house?
3) Are you embarrassed to have people in your house?
4) Can you find what you need when you need it?
5) Are you ready for a change?
6) Are you ready to stay in the situation you are in?

These are several things that you can ask yourself….and be honest with yourself. You don’t have to tell anyone your answers.

If other people are telling you have a problem…and you don’t feel you are ready…you need to ask yourself…why?
Why do you want to keep your home the way it is? If you aren’t proud of it…if you can’t have company over because you are embarrassed…..then why aren’t you ready to make a change?
Change can be scary. It can be hard…and that is usually the reason that we are resistant to it. We are scared of things that can be hard. We are scared of things that make us face reality. No one likes to do that. Plus it just seems too overwhelming to us to handle.
When you do realize you need help…then to reach out and get that help is the hard thing….once you get going…it will feel wonderful. It will feel like a weight has been lifted and you can breath.
Imagine if your mother in law or friend decides to drop in at on you at the last minute and you have no problem saying ….”Come on in and sit down!!”….without embarrassment! That would be great wouldn’t it?
Think about it!

Time Management

Clutter Messes with Your Time Management

Does Clutter Make me Late? You would be surprised at home you manage your time can be influenced by clutter around your house.

 

Clutter can make you late!

“What, do you mean by that?” you may say. But clutter and time management can go hand in hand as a problem.
“Where are my keys? I know I just laid them here, maybe they are under this stack of mail.” “I just need to grab that report for the meeting, but where is it?” “Mom, where did my red jacket go? I’m going to be late for school!”
Do any of these sound like your house?
When you have extra clutter sitting around choking up the “clean, clear, calm” space, then you also have clutter sitting in your head…choking up the “clean, clear and calm” space in your brain. When you do not have a clear brain to think with, you are going to have too many thoughts…too many things jumbled in your head and lose track not only of what needs to be done, but in what time frame it needs to be done in. Simply put, Too much stuff in your house + Too much stuff in your head = Being Late.
Being late out the door, being late to pick up the kids, being late with reports due, being late paying bills, being late to the meeting – sound familiar?

So what do you do? Clearing out the clutter from your home will result in clearing out the clutter from your head which will in turn help you to focus and plan your day more productively which will then lead to being on time.
Sounds simple doesn’t it….NOT!

How Do I Clear out the Clutter?

Use your 5 signs to designate your piles to sort.

 

Supplies

Get white trash bags for your donate and black for trash (so you don’t mix them out when you take them out of your house.
I prefer clear plastic storage bins for long term storage.
Make sure you have some form of labels to label your bins.
Give yourself 2 hours of time if you are able. Do not think you will get an entire room done, just start out with a smaller goal.

Pick up each item, look at it fast and think:
1) Do I use this?
2) Do I need this?
3) Do I like this?
4) What is the worse thing that can happen if I don’t have this?
Don’t spend more than about 5-10 sec. on each item, otherwise memories start popping in and you “personalize” that item. You want to keep it “depersonalized”, otherwise it can be too hard to get rid of.

Time Management

Break down your day into 15 minute increments.
For instance: If you have to be at the school by 3:00 to pick up the kids, but you need to go to the bank and grocery store first then plan it this way:
3:00 – Be at School
2:45 – Leave for school. (It takes 10 min. to get there from school – but use 15)
1:45 – Be at grocery to do the shopping.
1:30 – Leave from bank to go to grocery. (It only takes 8 min. to get there, use 15)
1:15 – Leave for bank. (It only takes 10 min. but use 15)
So to get to the school by 3:00, you need to leave the house by 1:15. You will have an extra 17 minutes to play with if there is traffic, or if the grocery store is crowded. If you end up being early, just keep a book you are reading or a steno pad in your car to make a “to do” list.
Now make sure that 15 minutes before you get ready to leave the house you get your keys, grocery list, banking items ready and have stopped by the bathroom.
So if you need to, set your timer on your stove for 1:00. Once you get in the habit of using 15 minute increments to plan things out, it will become easy and natural and you won’t have to worry about being late.
Because your clutter is now cleaned up off that kitchen counter, you can find those keys and bank book and grocery list and you can get out the door on time!
Time management is much easily accomplished when you do not have clutter blocking your path!

Pin It

Organizing and DIY Monday Link Party – Week 18

Springtime Can be Busy Time! Organizing and DIY will help

 

How is the spring finding you? Busy? Anyone graduating soon? Weddings to plan? Vacations to go on? It seems like so much starts happening this time of year. If things are organized, it certainly helps. DIY projects can help save you money!

We have one graduating this year and have vacation coming up in just a few weeks. It is amazing how time is flying by!

Thanks for linking up to my blog last week! I have three bloggers that I am featuring because I loved what they linked up.

Julie from Redhead Can Decorate did an entire kitchen make over. It looks awesome. I’m going to go back and look around her blog some more, her premis is that she can decorate for affordably.

I like some of the ideas that Dagmar from Dagmar’s Momsense found for organizing. She found pictures from around the web of things she would like in her perfect house.  This shelf has magazine holders as the base for storage. Cool idea!

Closets! Who doesn’t like organized closets? Margo from Joyful Homemaking redid her closet for $150.

Link up to my Linky Party! I’d love to see the ideas you create yourself or find from other inspiration online!

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (url code under button tab )
3) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or crafts or decorating are WONDERFUL!
4) No sales pitches or web sites.
5) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.
6) By linking up to my post, I might use your pic (with link and credit to you) next week in my post!

 

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click here 
This party will be open until May 13, 2012 at 11:59pm est.

Home Organization

Home Organization – Where and How do I start?

Often organization of your home is too overwhelming for many people and they tend to not do anything.  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Start Small

You have to take a tiny piece and just start there.

You can’t think..”I have to clear this whole room”, you can start by saying, “I want to clear off this chair so I can sit down.” Then you need to start the sorting process.

Make Fast Decisions For Each Items

You have to make a lot of decisions, and you need to make them fast. If you spend 10 minutes trying to decide if you want to keep the smelly old backpack that your daughter used in kindergarten (she is now in college)..because you remember buying that backpack and you remember her first day of school and how she was scared, and you remember walking her there and how nice her teacher was and…..and….and….. You get the point. You need to pick it up and try not to apply the memories to that piece. You STILL have the memories, no one is going to take them from you. But keeping a backpack that is falling apart and smells because at one point in its long life it was left out in the rain and then got thrown in the garage…isn’t going to help you remember that day any better. You can take a picture of the backpack if that would help you to let it go. But you need to take seconds to decide. That helps you to take the memories out of the picture(at least a little bit).

Target Zone

But you just take one thing at a time and make a decision. Does this belong in another room? (If it does, put it in a box or bin that goes elsewhere. Don’t physically walk it to another room because you will get distracted. STAY IN YOUR TARGET ZONE!!! (That is the chair you are working to clear)
Do I need to keep this? – Do I love it? I can’t live without it.
Can someone else use this more than I can? Will it enrich someone else’s life?
Is it something that should be stored? (Christmas, Halloween decorations)
Is it something that can be thrown away? Broken items, missing pieces, worn out.

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Start small. Clear just that chair. Then if you have the time and energy (many times seeing some improvement can help to “jump start” your organizing engine.)
Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew….remember what your mom told you, “Take small bites so you don’t choke.”

 

This post has been republished from my original posting date of Oct 7, 2008

Organizing and DIY Link Party – Week 15

Organizing and DIY Ideas

Life always holds unexpected issues, problems and surprises for us, doesn’t it?  Organizing and DIY isn’t always on our brains. The plans that we make don’t always happen. I had planned to finish painting my bedroom this weekend.  I’ve done the white headboard and one wall, but I still have to do the brown walls.  I’ll still need to refinish the chest at the end of our bed (white) and find a quilt and decorative pillows for our bed – but I was going to be that much closer to having the project finished this weekend.

I’m frustrated that I wasn’t able to get it completed, but things come up or happen.

So how do you handle it?  Yes, I was frustrated, but also realized the painting wasn’t going to happen. I’ll just have to re-plan, what else is there to do, right?

So often things like that are such a small piece of life. They seem huge at the time, but in reality, when you stack them up to everything happening, you wonder why we get upset at all when things don’t go as we would like them too.

• I’ll get the bedroom finished before long, it’s all good.

I wanted to share with your some cool links of people who linked up last week.

 

Sarah from Alderberry Hill shares her front entryway makeover.  I love how she has that space and used it in such an awesome way for the shelf with baskets. I think often if people put anything there it might be a small table with a vase or something like that, which would serve no useful purpose. This utilizes the space in a great way for hats and gloves and looks awesome.

 

Margo has some great, simple ideas on how to organize your silverware, TV remotes (isn’t it crazy how many we have?) and pens & pencils. You can see them on her blog Joyful Homemaking

 

I love good tutorials. Emily shares one on her blog Naptime Creations to show us, step by step how to make a cool menu of your blog posts. She uses her for her recipes. I think it looks really cool.

 

Link up to my Linky Party! I’d love to see your Easter, organizing or DIY projects!

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (url code under button tab )
3) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or crafts or decorating are WONDERFUL!
4) No sales pitches or web sites.
5) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.
6) By linking up to my post, I might use your pic (with link and credit to you) next week in my post!

 

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View
This party will be open until April 22, 2012 at 11:59pm

 

Organizing and DIY Link Party – Week 14

Thank You For Linking Up to my Organizing and DIY party

It has been awhile since I shared posts from those of you who have posted on my linky. I’m going to start doing that again.  I haven’t been commenting on your posts like I used to. I can make excuses about gmail and having to sign out of one account to get into another account to post…. which is a pain in the arse… but that doesn’t happen when I try to comment on all the post.  It has just been a matter of time, and how little of it I have. But I need to make it a priority.

You guys take the time to come here and post… I need to get myself to your posts and check them out! Thanks .. all of you who do come and link up.

Check out these posts!

Stephanie posted last week on her spring cleaning of her pantry. It looks great. You can find her entire post here: How Sweet It Is

 

I love that Carrie has been working on a 12 week challenge in her house.  She already has a really organized space, but has revamped things and completed some new projects. It’s really inspiring. Check out the rest of her post My 12 Week Organizing Challenge Recap 

Link up to my Linky Party! I’d love to see your Easter, organizing or DIY projects!

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (url code under button tab )
3) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or crafts or decorating are WONDERFUL!
4) No sales pitches or web sites.
5) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.
6) By linking up to my post, I might use your pic (with link and credit to you) next week in my post!

 

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click here 
This party will be open until April 15, 2012 at 11:59pm

Sort

Sort The Clutter

When you sort through all your things how do you know what to keep and what to get rid of?

What is your goal?  What would you like to end up with? A room you can see the floor in? A closet you can fit your clothes in?  You need to visualize the space you want to unclutter and sort.

With your vision in mind – you have to decide what is important enough to keep in your new space.  If everything holds the same importance to you and you can’t let go of everything, you will not accomplish your goal and you will not have cleared the space.

Take each item and make a fast decision.  Decided which category it belongs in below.  I suggest either getting boxes and labeling them, or make signs to use for your piles.

The key is to remember that if you keep everything, you won’t be any closer to your goal.

Don’t worry if Aunt Susie gave it to you and you don’t want to hurt her feelings. Do YOU like it and does it add value to the space? If not, then it is alright to donate it, or give it to another family member who might really like it. Take that item and in 5 fast seconds say to yourself, “Do I love this, use it and want it?” Simple as that. (I know it isn’t really that easy…but the more you do, the easier it gets.) I know there are the complicated items, I know there are the sentimental items.  But you have to make a first run through.  Then you can deal with the more difficult items like a pipe your grandfather smoked or a Precious Moments Collections of your mothers.

Sorting Categories

Love It: (Keep)

1) Love It
2) Use It
3) Want it or Can’t live without it

Tip: Remember, you can’t LOVE everything or else you will not make any progress

 

Donate:

1) Won’t Use
2) Don’t Like
3) Doesn’t Fit

Tip: Think of other people who could benefit from the items you are donating. Why let them sit there, when others need them so badly? 

Move It: (Keep)

1) Wrong Room

Tip: Only Move the things that you LOVE or items that you have to Store. Don’t just shift the mass to another room. 

Store It: (Keep)

1) Seasonal
2) Can’t give it up
3) Can’t Use Now

Tip: Be selective in what you store. You don’t HAVE to save every Christmas decoration etc. Use the same sorting process for holiday decorations.  For items you “Can’t Give Up” allow yourself one plastic bin or box for your “cherished” items. Call it your special box. If that box gets full, then decide which items need to come out to make room for others. Give yourself limits and stay within them. 

Trash/ Recycle:

1) Broken
2) Torn
3) Can’t Donate

Tip: Please do not donate items that aren’t in good enough shape to use. That just means someone else has to get rid of your trash. Recycle as much as possible, but move it out of your home. Don’t plan a zillion projects to recycle old items into new, otherwise you will not be able to move out from beneath your clutter. 

Organizing DIY projects

Organizing, DIY & Craft Projects

I’ve done a couple DIY projects that people have seemed to have really liked.  One of my more popular DIY projects has been my chalkboard labels. I used chalkboard contact paper  and chalkboard markers to create them.

You can use these labels for most anything.

I had so much fun with this project and still love them on my counter.

I loved my easy and cheap cord organizing solution, using toilet paper rolls and duct tape.

And also the organizer I made out of the toilet paper rolls & duct tape to keep all those link cords & connector cords organized.

Organizing Mission Monday Link Party – Week 48

Thanksgiving – What are You Thankful For?

I think so often we don’t really know how thankful we are for some things, until they are gone.  Loved ones in our lives, the health of our families and ourselves etc. Don’t you think?

I don’t know that it is because we are selfish, I think it is because we don’t really know what life will be without those things, people or health.

But those people who have gone through loss, serious loss of family, health, job or more have a better idea. They have lived it.   Have I? To an extent I have, but not like some.  I had the loss of my first marriage.  I didn’t want anything to do with a divorce and I was a mess for several years.  I can look back on it now and be thankful it happened. I have found a man that I have a better relationship with than I ever did my first husband.

I have lost my mother after an almost seven year battle with cancer.  But it was gradual and I had time to grieve along the way, time to prepare for what was to happen.  But I have my father, and today is actually his 81st birthday. He told me he doesn’t want to celebrate being 81.  I said, “But Dad, you should then celebrate that you are still alive to have another birthday! lol” He laughed so hard at that one.

Thank goodness I’ve not had to go through a sudden death or tragedy with my family. My family is healthy and happy.  We don’t have oodles of money, but we blessed to have what we have.

I know that I take things for granite, and I try to appreciate what I have and how wonderful it is.

Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on those things, be thankful for them and know how truly blessed we are.

 

Link up to My Linky Party

What are you thankful for? You can link up a Thanksgiving post or something you are thankful for,  but as always you can link up any organizing or cleaning or DIY post to my link party.

You can find the link for my button and also my “Proud to Be Featured Button” on my top “Buttons” Tab.

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (link just above underneath my button)
3) I’d love if you’d follow me on google and/or FB. The google is new and I’m trying to build it
4) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or decorating
5) No sales pitches or web sites.
6) If I feature you I will use one or more of your pictures with a link back to your blog.
7) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click Here.
This party will be open until November 27, 2011

Organizing: How to Get Started

Getting Started can be the Hard part of Organizing!

But this is actually the 3rd step in my process to Organize a space. The first step is to Visualize and Plan out your space. Then your next step is to know how to sort and make your sorting cards.
Now you are ready to actually walk into that room and tackle the clutter. This is the scary step. I know… you look at that pile of stuff and think…”There is No Way!!”. But guess what? “Way!”. You can do it!
Just little by little. If you try to jump in and don’t have a plan or know what you are going to do with things… .then you might have more of a problem.  Don’t forget that when you start working on one room… you can cause a bit of a “domino effect” and have some mess build up in another room that you are moving things too.  Don’t let that stop you. It is just a part of the process and once you have one room under way or finished… you will get inspired to keep going. It will just feel so good to have your space back again.
Hopefully my video will give you a little guideline to go on too. But if you have the Sorting process down, then the rest of it is just going through each item. Just pick up that first item…and start.

Here is another post I did awhile ago on Getting Started to Organize . You might see some things there that I didn’t mention in the video that might help you.

Please let me know if you have questions.  I will do my best to help you answer them… just leave them in the comments, or you can contact me via contact form to ask me.

Prioritizing and Organizing Your Schedule

I have to heed my own advice here. I am needing to do some prioritizing and organizing in my own schedule!

I have to admit that I am feeling overwhelmed this morning.  I just got back from Type A Mom Conference yesterday evening, and looking at all I need to do this week and realizing I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all of it.

October is a very busy traveling month for me. I actually have an event each week and I’m planning on going to Indiana, Las Vegas, Detroit and then finishing by taking my Dad to see my Sister in Virginia at the end of the month.   Oh…and I have my  huband’s 50th birthday this month! I took on a photoshop class this quarter too.  My first project is due on Sunday and because I was sent the wrong software, I didn’t get the correct one until last night. So…I’m already behind in that class on week 2! lol

Why am I telling you this?  Because I want you to know that I struggle with organizing my own schedule at times. I have a lot on my plate right now and I need to do some prioritizing.  I am working on my schedule this morning and trying to decide if I need to give up one of the trips, or give up cleaning my house and taking care of my family or give up writing as many posts on my 3 blogs!!  (kidding on the family part, although by looking at my house this morning you might think I was serious)

I have been thinking of making a series of video tapes for this blog on some of the basics…. If I don’t edit and make them the way I like to make videos now, then I will have no problems and I think that would be helpful…. but I dont’ think I can do that.

SO….what I think I might be doing is to be running some of my old blog posts.  But I will make note if I am rerunning something. Thanks for understanding.

Organizing One Step at a Time

It doesn’t have to be hard to Organize, just break down the steps

You have now blocked out that time on your calendar to Get the Job Done.

What is the next step?  Get Prepared for that day.  How?

Try and decrease distractions.
I suggest black and white trash bags.  Black for trash, White for donate.

Change the mind set.

Stop thinking about it as drudgery, but think of it as organized space coming!

So crank up the music and get in the mood to have an uncluttered area….use positive thinking here.  Visualize what you would like the space to look like.  Think how good it is going to feel when you have accomplished the task.

Start with sorting.

Each item has to be looked at and a quick decision has to be made.

Keep – Do you USE it, do you LOVE it, does it FIT?
Donate – Don’t like it, Doesn’t fit, Don’t use it, Still in good shape
Move – It doesn’t belong in this room. Move out of this space.
Store - Use it but only once or twice a year. Holidays, camping etc.
Pitch – Broken, in no shape to donate (recycle if possible)

Clean

You should have less to put back in your space now.  This is the time to clean out those cupboards or the space good. It isn’t very often that it is probably empty.

You can measure the space to see what kind of organizers you may need (if any). It isn’t a good idea to go out and buy a bunch of organizers unless you have already measured the space and have an idea of what you need.  If you do not want to waste the time here and have an idea of what you think will work, please make measurements before you buy anything.  Then keep your receipts so that you can take the item back if it doesn’t fit or work like you thought it would.

Organize – A few tips

Now put the items that you are going to keep back.

Remember:  Like with Like!
Keep the cans together in your kitchen. Keep the extra office supplies together in your office. Don’t have some of this and some of that in the space.

Zones
Think in zones for your space.  What do you do?  For instances…in an office.  Your Zone A or zone 1 would be the space around your desk chair and desk that you can reach. Things you use daily and often, such as your phone, your pens, your stapler and letter opener.

In your kitchen you can do the same. For instance for your stove area, you should have your pot holders within reach of your stove. Your pots and pans should be near your stove.  For your dishwasher, your plates and glasses should be near it if possible.  Decrease steps when making the space functional.

Have fun organizing and let me know how you feel after a space is done.  It is like a “feel good” moment for me!

Clutter

Does it drive you Crazy?

Does this look familiar to you?  Piles of things all over. The floor littered with things because you don’t know where they should go?  Your life is so busy it is easier to just “throw and go”?

I understand.  Life can get crazy.  But if your home constantly looks this way…it has to be causing you more stress…on top of the stress you already have.

It if is to a point that you can’t walk into rooms, or you have no where to sit down…and you can’t throw things away – then you might have more than just a clutter problem. You might have a hoarding problem.

For clutter you have to make THAT DECISION to correct the problem.  It is just like losing weight or stopping any bad habit….it isn’t fun. But the results of clearing out the “stuff” is live changing. It will free up your space, free up your home and free up your mind.

Here are a few other related posts that I have written:

Clutter in your Home = Clutter in your Head

The 12 Step Program for Surface Abusers

Playroom Organizing – part 2

Do the Kids Help or Not?

When it comes to sorting and organizing – Getting through the toys and being able to discard them (donate or trash) are your kids going to be a help or a hinder?

You need to decide if you want your children to help sort and organize or not. There are pros and cons to both methods. You know your children best and know what will work for them.

Pros

*Teaches them the importance of organizing at an early age

*Teaches them others are not as fortunate.

*Teaches them that cleaning up and clearing out can feel good

Cons

*Tantrums over giving things up

*Not as productive – it will take longer to have the kids help you. So if on a limited time frame it could be a problem

*Giving in and keeping more than you should because your child decides they want to keep everything

My Thoughts on the Subject

Some children will not handle giving up their toys easily. They can sway you to keeping everything and accomplishing nothing. But….they also need to LEARN that they do have to give up things and it will help them later in life. So it is a balance. My suggestion for these kids is for you to do the bulk of the sorting before they get home. They do not necessarily need to see what you are donating or getting rid of. But I would leave several things that are broken or they have out grown and then sit down with them when they get home and have them help you sort those things. Teach them that they need to share with other children who have less. Teach them they

What worked for me

For my 4 older boys (now ages 17-26) I did all the toy sorting myself (without their help).  I get a bit driven when I am in my “organizing mode” and personally I just like to go go go…so I prefer to organize by myself at home. I can honest say that there was never a time that my boys missed something or were upset when they got home.  They were always happy to see things neat and in order. I think it was that same “relief” feeling we get when we walk into a space that has once been too cluttered and now is neat and organized.  They didn’t have problems with giving up their toys and liked that most of the things were donated to other kids.

Now with my  4 step kids (ages 9 – triplets and a 16 year old) I have had them help me.  I don’t know why the difference.  But they are very good at helping and do not have problems with giving things away.  They crack me up because they tell me their mom doesn’t want to get rid of any of their things at her house and they are the ones that want to get rid of some of the clutter over there. (they are learning!)

Which way works best for you and your children?

The 12 Step Program for the Surface Abuser

The 12 Step Program for the Surface Abuser.

1) Admit that you have a problem.

2) Ask for help with your Surface Abuse problem. (Professional organizers are everywhere!)

3) Remove ALL surfaces in your home.  (Only kidding!)

4) Realize that this will take on going maintenance to maintain.

5) Visualize what you would LIKE this space to look like.

6) Start the process with one surface.

7) Get a black trash bag for trash and a White trash bag for donate.

8) Begin the Sorting process. Clear everything off your counter and clean it first.

9) Realize that clearing your counter will lead to some organizing in other areas of your house. (this is a Good thing)

10) Decide what to do with all the papers and clutter.

11) Plan daily to clear  off anything that might have accumulated in this “hot spot” zone and place it in the folders or cubbies you created.

12) Be sure to take before and after pictures so help remind yourself how you want to keep your new clear counter.

Disclosure: The above picture is not from my home (I WISH!) It was from a Parade of Homes model that boasted like the best family organizing center ever!!  But you can find these products at The Pottery Barn.

Organizing – How To Start

Organizing a New You….So what does that mean?   Organize your home, organize your schedule, your kids, your life? Does it seem like the impossible?  It can be done! But be careful not to bite off more than you can chew and end up in “it is too overwhelming and I don’t think I can do it” land.

Here is how to start.

Planning

1) Sit down with a pad of paper, pen, calendar and cup of coffee in a relaxed atmosphere.

2) Make a list of all the things you would like to organize.

3) Now number them in order of importance. (at least the top three areas that drive you the most CRAZY)

4) Put a date beside those top 3 of when you would like to have them completed by.

5) Block out at time on your calendar to start #1 on the list.

Supplies

Do not go out and buy a bunch of things to organize with. Until you know what you are going to end up with after your “sort” you don’t know what you will need. (unless you want to purchase some clear storage bins..but if you do be sure you have shelves to store them on and measure to be sure they will fit.

1) Black trash bags – trash

2) White trash bags – Donate  (separate colors so you don’t throw out your donate items in the trash)

3) Labels for boxes or bins (masking tape & sharpie marker will be fine)

4) Boxes for storage (my favorite are clear bins)

Sort

Make 5 signs for each of the piles you are going to make while sorting. Then for each item only give yourself 5-10 seconds to make your decision (no time to wander down memory lane). Be tough if you want to reclaim your space.

1) Keep – Love it, Use it, Can’t live without it.

2) Donate – Others would put to better use, doesn’t fit, don’t like it, don’t use it (use the white trash bags)

3) Storage – Holiday decorations, speciality items you use (camping, skiing)

4) Move – Items that need to be kept but don’t belong in this space.

5) Trash – Broken, un-donatable. Try to recycle if possible. Use the Black trash bag.

Tips

*It will seem messier before it gets better. Don’t get discouraged and keep going.

*This takes time, don’t think you will get an entire room done in 2 hours. Start with a small area.

* Once you have sorted your items you are ready to reorganize them in an orderly way.

Organizing to Traveling

I have started my traveling this year….in a big way.  So I really have been organizing to travel!  I just went to Austin, TX to be a judge for the Genesis Today Bloggers Immersion. I got to help pick one of the 5 finalist for the Genesis of a Great Idea Contest.  Debba Haupert won by the way from Girlfriendology.com

I leave on Wednesday to go to Nashville for the BlissDom conference. I am going to see my boys who live there on Wednesday and go to the conference the next day. I will be driving there. I flew to TX.

I come back from there on a Sunday and leave again on Wednesday for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference. I will be flying there also.

Here are a few tips that I have used to make getting ready to go easier.

1) Make a packing list.  Ok..I always do this. But I took it a step further and have it on my computer now. So I just have to print it out and tweek it for each trip.  It has all the items that I am always worried I will forget…like the phone, computer, camera chargers and sync cables, business cards.  I have a section on it for things to take on board the plane.

2) You can also make another list like the above for things to do before you leave.  Cooking meals for the family, make a copy of your itinerary for your husband or wife, leave insurance card and schedule for kids activities.

3) If possible use a little larger suitcase to go with, so you will have room if you get things on your trip to bring home.

4) Pack a base color of clothes and use accessories to change your look to reduce clothing. Scarves are great accessories (I am just learning how to use them myself)

5) Be sure all your electronic items are charged before you leave.

Next Page »