Tip of the Week: Holiday Shopping List
November 17, 2008 at 10:43 am | In Uncategorized | No CommentsGet 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.
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!
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.
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)
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.








