One of my favorite resources when it comes to articles about organizing is the Real Simple online magazine. Here are a few tips to get you started in decluttering and streamlining your kitchen. Read more here.

• Stick a magnetic organizer on the refrigerator door to hold pens and food labels so they’re easy to find when you’re marking and dating leftovers.
• Organize your pantry shelves as you would a library, with food items grouped by category.
• Stash pantry items in the see-through pockets of an over-the-door organizer to virtually eliminate search time.
• Keep plastic bags and wrapping together in a drawer near the refrigerator to make quick work of storing away leftovers.
• Group cookware or tools by purpose and assign them to specific cabinets, as with the bakeware shown in the picture.

The displays got interactive at the Innovatively Organized booth at the Seattle Chamber tradeshow last month with our sample bulletin board.

The “before” bulletin board (top) is cluttered with random notes strewn about in a way that poses confusion about what needs to get done and when. The “after” board (bottom) shows a solution that incorporates many of the recommendations we make to clients on a daily basis, such as using a time map to schedule an ideal day, and dividing the board into specific sections to differentiate information like special dates and phone numbers and a weekly to do list.

Google clearly leads the pack when it comes to search engines, but did you know about some of its less obvious functions?

• Most users know that if you type a word incorrectly into the search box that Google will suggest the correct spelling; but you can also quickly pull up definitions of a word by typing, “define:” in front of the word. (Example: define: organize)
• Google also has a built-in calculator. Your computer may have a pop-up calculator application, but it can be small and cumbersome. With Google, just type in a calculation like “20+80=” for a speedy answer.
• Find out what time it is anywhere in the country or the world.  Just search on “time” and then the name of the city. To know the time in New York, use “time New York”.
• Search for specific document types on the web by typing “filetype:” before your search term. For example, if you’re looking for PowerPoint files about organizing, enter “organizing filetype:ppt”.

Studies show that lack of sleep affects learning as well as your cognitive skills, and this affects your daily activities, whether it’s at school, home or work. While you’re sleeping, new things you’ve learned are being processed and memories are being organized and stored.

Sacrificing sleep to get more done isn’t a good way to manage your time. In fact, the quality and performance level of your work will most likely suffer. However, getting adequate sleep will help maintain and may even increase your personal productivity.

On a side note, if you have the advantage of working from home, a thirty-minute nap in the afternoon is proven to help reduce mental fatigue and digital fog.

Checking your cell phone and reading emails in bed are activities that have become synonymous with our society’s online obsession. However, although many of my favorite organizing tools come in the form of electronic devices or web-based applications, it may be a good idea to put away the computer or iPhone before you get into bed. According to a recent article, people who are looking at a monitor to type, read or watch content get less restful sleep than those who may read an actual paperback book or ban electronics altogether before getting ready to go to sleep.

Here are more tips for Evernote - my favorite online system for filing and sharing!

• Take photos of the wiring setup for your computer and television/dvd/stereo center so that if you move anything, you can put things back where they go.
• Scan and save warranty information for major appliances and electronics.
• Scan and save documents as PDFs and shred the un-needed paper version.
• Take photos of priceless items such as jewelry or family heirlooms with notes about their appraisal value.
• Make a PDF version of your business license - this comes in handy when you fill out business paperwork.
• Take pictures and make a list of important serial numbers on big purchases in case they are stolen; use the information to file a police report.
• Take pictures of the contents of your wallet in case of theft, especially the fronts and backs of cards for the phone numbers to call and cancel cards.

• Store recipes and pictures of dishes – use the transparent sleeves to keep it clean from spills in the kitchen
• Re-label the alphabetical tabs with months of the year and store birthday and anniversary dates
• Use it to organize small stickers or embellishments for your scrapbooking project
• Sports collectors can organize their baseball cards
• If you recently painted walls or furniture, store the paint chip for future reference.

It seems like we’re busy all the time, even just as we’re getting out of bed! Here are a few quick tips to streamline your morning to add in a bit of breathing room before jump-starting the day.

• The automatic coffee maker – This is something I’ve talked about before. It saves you time and waking to the smell of coffee is a wonderful stimulant to get your body moving. Studies have shown that caffeine improves clear-headedness, and we all need that in the morning.
• An emergency outfit - If you didn’t have time to set aside an outfit for the day, no worries. Have a back-up outfit that can be  your “go-to” when you’re in a hurry or you spill some of that coffee on your shirt. Include any accessories like a scarf or belt on the hanger so you can grab it and get dressed quickly.
• Review the calendar – Do this as you’re sipping your coffee. I recommend that you keep one central calendar where you write all the day’s activities like school activities, concerts or party times, repair appointments, or a reminder to pay a bill. Check the day’s items carefully, it will help you plan your day in your mind and help you potentially avoid forgetting something.

• Lighter reading – Whenever you get a magazine in the mail, take a couple minutes to skim through the issue, tear out the articles that you want to read, and toss the rest of it in the recycling bin. When you’re stuck in line at the store or on the bus, pull out the article from your purse or totebag and catch up on your reading. Don’t let those magazines pile up!
• Bag it – Have you noticed bags in your pantry with half-eaten or forgotten snacks? When you get home from the grocery store, portion snacks into ziptop bags and keep them in a basket on the counter or cupboard. It makes packing lunches easier and gives you neat portion control.
• Packaged sheets – When putting away your linens, instead of putting pillow cases and sheets in different stacks and searching for matches later, place all the coordinating pieces into one pillow case so you have one package to grab from the linen closet instead of looking on separate shelves or bins.
• Faster returns – As soon as you realize that your purchase was the wrong size, wrong fit or just wrong in general, place the item and its receipt immediately by the front door or mudroom, or put it in your car. The longer it sits in your closet or in your house, the quicker you’ll forget and the sooner it turns into pricey clutter.
• Don’t take the giveaway – There are lots of promotions and freebies out there from companies wanting your business. It feels nice to receive, but in these cases, it only takes a few seconds to say “no thank you” to avoid clutter from things you probably won’t use and don’t need.  If you do accept something like a t-shirt or hat, add them to your donation bin where it will be most effectively put to use.

When I saw this tip, I knew I had to share it right away. Sometimes the smallest object can make a huge organizing difference. And talk about innovative!