Tip of the Week: Holiday Shopping List
November 17, 2008 at 10:43 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments
Get ahead of the crowds! Create a holiday shopping list early this year. Start purchasing items now for each person on your list as you are out and about during the last few weeks in November. Then you should be able to easily avoid the crowds at the stores in December when the lines begin to get longer.
You may just be able to relax this holiday season after all. Won’t your friends be envious?!
Make An Appointment To Relax
October 31, 2008 at 12:17 pm | In Quick Tips, Time Management | 1 CommentTags: "relaxation time", appointment with yourself, calendar, scheduling downtime, Time Management
One of my favorite time management tips (yes, I have alot of favorites) is to schedule time with yourself for something fun and relaxing. I truly believe that unless you make an appointment with yourself on your calendar for “relaxation time” that you will continue to run, run, run from event to event making time for everyone else but yourself. Make an appointment with yourself just as you would if you had a hair cut appointment at the salon or a cleaning at the dentist.
Whether you need to schedule just one hour a week, one whole hour a day, or even an entire weekend to relax and decompress make sure you put it on your calendar and stick to it! Whatever it is that you need in order to relax honor it just as if it was an appointment with someone else. You deserve to relax and take care of yourself too! Once you start scheduling your “relaxation time” you’ll come to crave it and the rest of your day or week won’t seem quite so overwhelming.
Organize your Inbox with Xobni
October 28, 2008 at 10:36 pm | In Electronic Information Management, Favorite Products | No CommentsTags: attachments, contacts, conversations, email, Outlook, Outlook plug-in, Xobni
Is your email program overloaded? Is your inbox full? Do you currently use Outlook as your email program of choice? If so, I want to tell you about a great new product I’ve been testing over the past few months to streamline my email process. It is called “Xobni” (or ‘Inbox’ spelled backwards) and is a free downloadable program online that installs directly into Outlook to help you manage your email. Xobni adds another window area to your existing Outlook email view (see the image above) and enables you to view your email as on-going conversations (just as you would if you used Google’s online email system, Gmail, to read your messages).
According to the Xobni website, “Xobni is the Outlook plug-in that saves you time finding email conversations, contacts and attachments.” After using Xobni myself for the past few months, I can agree. It makes finding past emails with particular contacts a breeze. I have been able to save a few steps each time I want to respond to an email while also knowing what was previously discussed with the same person. I especially have enjoyed the attachment feature. Since I send out alot of attachments in my emails, Xobni helps keep track of all these files in just one area. Now I don’t have to go back through my older messages searching for a specific attachment that was either sent or received.
The only down-side (and my biggest complaint) about using Xobni is the color of the interface. Currently the Xobni interface is bright orange and purple. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Xobni creators will soon adjust the interface to a more pleasing (and subtle) color palette.
But don’t take it from me, if you want to test Xobni for yourself, click here.
First step in organizing any space
October 23, 2008 at 11:45 am | In Organizing Process | No CommentsTags: Organizing Process, getting started with organizing, first step in organizing, sorting, donating
One of the most common questions I get from my clients when it comes to organizing their space is… “Where do I start?”
Here is my favorite tip to answer that question:
Jump start your organizing efforts by SORTING your items into categories of like items. Don’t worry about purging right from the start, just begin by sorting and that’s all. As you sort your items, whether it is clothing, paper, or kitchen accessories, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I love this item?
- Do I need this item?
- Do I use this item?
If you answer NO to any of these questions, then get rid of the item by sorting into categories of “trash”, “to be donated”, or “to be moved to another room” or area of the home or office.
Starting any organizing project with sorting will ensure you are on the right track. Don’t worry if you have trouble making decisions with the sorting process the first time through. You can always sort multiple times before moving on to step 2 in the organizing process.
Tip of the Week: Relocation Announcements
October 14, 2008 at 9:52 pm | In Quick Tips | No CommentsTags: moving, new address, relocation, relocation announcement
Create relocation announcements before you move so that once you get to the new address you can put them right into the mail to let everyone know of your new location. This will ensure that friends, family, or clients can find you easily at your new address. You will also have one less thing to do while unpacking!
Why exactly did I buy that?
October 9, 2008 at 9:20 am | In Fun Stories | No CommentsTags: buy, purchases, returns, shopping, shopping bags
Last weekend I decided to take a few hours for myself and hit the shopping mall for a few items. While I went to the store with a specific list of just two things that I needed to purchase, I came home with five items in my bag. Do you ever find that you start to wander around the store when you’re out shopping? Well, I did. I ended up getting distracted by all the other things that were displayed and looked so appealing.
Before I knew it I was buying items that looked “neat” or “fashionable” but that I really didn’t need. This didn’t truly occur to me, however, until I returned home and looked into my shopping bag and thought to myself, “Why exactly did I buy that?” and “Do I really need this?”
After taking a step back to reflect on my shopping decisions, I realized I had become a victim of the sales people and the product placement displays. I immediately pulled out the items that I really needed and left the others in the bag so they can be returned to the store.
What is the lesson of this story, you ask? I can relate to all of you who find yourselves with more “things” in your homes, closets, kitchens, garages, and offices than you intended.
The next time you hit the shopping mall, ask yourself this question before you pay, “Do I really need this?” and hopefully you won’t have to make an extra trip to the store to return things like I did. After all, gas is expensive these days!
Paper… What to keep? What to toss?
October 4, 2008 at 5:32 pm | In Home Office Organizing, Paper Management, Paper Retention List | No CommentsTags: desktop, filing categories, filing tips, filing zones, information management, Master Filing List, Paper Management, paper piles, paper retention, Paper Retention List
Do you often get stuck when deciding what to do with this paper or that paper? Are you tired of just tossing the paper to the side onto the top of that ever-growing pile? Are you baffled with where to put each piece of paper when you’re done with it? Should you keep it or toss it?
These are some of the most frequent questions I get as a professional organizer. It seems like at least once a week someone says, ”How do I know which papers to keep and which to toss?” Well, hopefully I can provide you with some easy tips to help you battle your paper piles…
Paper Tip #1: Make an immediate decision with any paper you come across and place it into one of these filing zones:
1) Active: Files you use often (daily, weekly). This should be paper that represents an “action” that you need to take.
2) Reference: Files you access regularly but do not require an immediate action. These files should be sorted into categories for easy, quick retrieval.
3) Archive: Files you need to keep for historical purposes but you don’t need to access more than once a year. These files are prime candidates for off-site storage if you have a small space. Consider scanning these records too!
Paper Tip #2: Keep a master list of all your files and carry it with you. This list will come in handy the next time you are trying to remember what filing categories are in your drawers. You will save yourself the time of search through your filing cabinets by using your quick reference or “filing cheat sheet”.
Paper Tip #3: Delegate your filing to someone else. Time is money, right? Once you have your initial filing system in place, it will be easy to delegate the tedious task of filing to someone else. Maybe you need to hire a temp or an assistant to help with this task. Paying their lower rate to file papers away into their proper locations will ensure you are still productive and billing clients at your higher rate at the same time. It could be a beautiful thing!
Paper Tip #4: Review a list of Paper Retention Guidelines. This will help to refresh your memory on which papers you should keep and which you should toss. Here are a few of the most common:
1) Personal Tax Returns: Keep for 6 to 7 years
2) Medical Records: Keep forever
3) Credit Card Statements: Keep for 2 to 3 years
Click here to view the full version of the Paper Retention List on my website.
The next time you find yourself stuck at a cross-roads with the decision of “what do I do with this paper?” just remember these tips and hopefully the choice will be easy! If you need help creating your initial filing system we’re always happy to help… just contact us with your questions or to set up an appointment.
(Be sure to double check with your personal accountant or tax advisor for paper retention guidelines that are specific to your situation as well. For businesses, double check with your auditor and/or information management specialist too.)
Tip of the Week: Clutter Collectors
September 30, 2008 at 10:44 pm | In Quick Tips | No CommentsTags: hooks, charging station, clutter collector, drop, lay down, toss, baskets, hampers
If you are prone to drop, lay down, or toss items into the same location day in and day out, then you should probably just set up a system to work within your own tendencies by placing a “clutter collector” in this location.
Clutter collectors can be things such as: bowls for key or coins, hooks for purses or jackets, a charging station for your electronic devices, baskets to collect your incoming mail or magazines, or hampers for your dirty clothing.
The next time you find yourself just setting something down or tossing it across the room, stop and ask yourself if you should instead be placing a “clutter collector” in or near this area.
The Over-The-Door Hook That Saved My Sanity
September 25, 2008 at 12:55 am | In Favorite Products, Fun Stories, Quick Tips | No CommentsTags: Overdoor hook, Over-the-door hook, simple solution
We’ve all heard the expression that opposites attract. This statement is the overarching theme of my marriage to my great, but completely opposite husband. I grew up as a “Crest kid”, my husband is a loyal Colgate user; I grew up drinking Pepsi, my husband, Coke; I grew up in a house full of girls (except for my dad), my husband grew up in a house full of guys (except for his mom); I’m a planner and my husband flies by the seat of his pants. I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you the details. I’ll just say that one of our most notable differences is the fact that I’m very organized by nature (surprise!) and my husband definitely isn’t. I do have to give him enormous credit because he’s taken on some of my organized ways to make me happy and help me keep my sanity.
Every now and then my over-organization and my husband’s lack of organization becomes a point of contention. My husband’s tendency to lay his clothes on anything and everything sticks out in my mind the most. It was a normal occurrence to find the outfit he had worn to work that day draped over the back of a chair, a bench, and even our bedroom lamp! For a while, my nightly ritual consisted of collecting the scattered clothing and hanging it in his closet. After all, I was the only one bothered by the mess, so why should I expect my husband to hang up his clothes at the end of each day if he was okay with them strewn about. The ritual of hanging his clothes lasted quite a while, but I began to feel myself losing it. Just the thought of picking up after someone day in and day out began to drive me crazy, and somewhat resentful.
I had a few options I could pursue. I could continue hanging his clothes each day, start the stereo-typical nagging technique…or buy an over-the-door hook! Yes, a simple solution, but a definite “aha” moment for me. Problem solved - my husband now just uses the over-the-door hooks to hang anything he doesn’t feel like hanging in his closet. The hooks are on the back of his closet door, so everything is out of sight.
Sometimes a simple solution can go a long way in saving your sanity!
(by Lisa Hartig)
Green Organizing Tips
September 23, 2008 at 8:44 pm | In Green Organizing | No CommentsTags: environmentally-friendly organizing products, Freecycle, Green Organizing, junk mail, Recycle, recycling, Reduce, Reuse
“Getting organized is more than just purchasing great containers to hold all your stuff.It’s about using what you have, donating what you don’t need, and recycling whenever you can.” - Southern Home Organizers
Here are some useful green organizing tips you can start implementing today:
- Utilize recycled products when available
- Reuse items around the house rather than buying new products
- Limit what you send to the landfill by donating, gifting, and recycling what you can
- Purchase organizing products from companies that adhere to environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices
- Use a small white board instead of multiple paper notepads to jott quick notes
- SIgn up to reduce your junk mail (check out www.reduce.org)
- Donate items you no longer use on the Freecycle Network (www.freecycle.org)
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