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Newsletter Archives
June 2010
Expert Organizing Tips
May 2010
Tips from my Clients
April 2010
Tips for Setting Up a Garage Sale
March 2010
Unusual Ways to Organize
February 2010
Staging your Home for Sale
January 2010
Favorite Places to Buy Organizing Products
December 2009
Wrapping It Up
November 2009
Prepare the Pantry
October 2009
Costumes & Decorations
September 2009
Enough
August 2009
Help for the Home Office
July 2009
Getting Crafty
June 2009
A Better Bedroom
May 2009
Eco Organizing
April 2009
Getting Ready to Garden
March 2009
The Path To Clutter
February 2009
Easing Into Downsizing
January 2009
Organizing For Renovation
December 2008
Organizing For Next Year
November 2008
More Of My Favorite Organizing Tools
October 2008
Making Life Easier
September 2008
Clearing The Closet
August 2008
How To Let Go Of Stuff
July 2008
Managing Medical Records
June 2008
Road Trip Organizing
May 2008
Collections Instead of Clutter
April 2008
Getting Ready for Tax Time
March 2008
Where to Begin
February 2008
When You Want to Help
January 2008
Top Ten Causes of Disorganization
December 2007
Organize for Air Travel
November 2007
Organize for Small Spaces
October 2007
When Life Happens, Reorganize
September 2007
Bathroom Organizing
August 2007
Paper Organizing
July 2007
Uncluttered Kids' Rooms
June 2007
Top Ten Organizing Tools
May 2007
Grapple The Garage
April 2007
Managing Your Time
March 2007
Spring Organizing
February 2007
Help for Caregivers of Aging Parents
January 2007
National Get Organized Month
December 2006
Year End Organizing
November 2006
Give Thanks for Being Organized
October 2006
Holiday Kitchen Organization
September 2006
In Case of a Weather Emergency - Organize!
August 2006
Back to School Organizing
July 2006
Declare your Independence from Summer Clutter
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ORGANIZING TIPS OF THE MONTH: MARCH 2010
Wrapping It Up
Organizing is a very personal process. It is not a one size fits all endeavor. Sometimes accepted organizing techniques need a little twist to work for you.
If you get stuck, give me a call or email. I am happy to help you think outside the box.
- Pile instead of file: Papers are a constant source of angst.
If files in file drawers are not for you, try doing piles of files.
Pendaflex even has a product just for you—PileSmart.
- Stash instead of file: Maybe you like to have files in
drawers, but cannot bring yourself to file every day. Paper piles scream at you. Do a mini sort of daily mail.
Put time critical papers in your bill paying area. Recycle junk. Put magazines in a rack. The rest?
Place it in a drawer you have emptied to hold papers waiting to be read or filed. When the drawer
gets full, empty it , and deal with the papers all at once. Planned and contained procrastination may be your answer.
- Leave the laundry: If your older children resist putting their
laundry away and leave their dirty clothes all over the floor, let it go. When they run out of clothes,
they will change their ways. Better yet, conduct a family laundry class, post instructions above the washer,
and free yourself while empowering your children with a life skill.
- Hook instead of hang: Coats, hats, and scarves may lie in
piles on chairs or on the floor instead of hung up and put away in a closet.
Try installing a series of hooks on a wall, perhaps in two or more rows, near the entry.
People are more likely to hang things on hooks…works at school and the office.
- His and hers: Let’s say your husband leaves things lying all
over the house, then always asks you where his stuff is.
Make life easy on yourself. Have a large lidded basket where you stash the errant stuff.
You will save time and steps by saying, “Look in your basket.”
Caution: this only works for husbands who are good sports.
- Trash instead of recycle: Yes, I encourage people to recycle
whenever possible, however, there is one circumstance when the trash can is the greater good.
When you are doing a mammoth organizing project and need to make progress quickly, give yourself
permission to use the trash can. Organizing can be very emotional, physical, and time consuming.
In such a situation, taking the time to separate recyclables bogs down a project so much that it is overwhelming.
- Donate instead of sell: It is a huge sticking point in
organizing when you are faced with an expensive item you do not want or use. Your first
inclination is to sell, but selling can be a hassle and time consuming. Find a mantra to
get past your resistance to give away. For me it is, “We have spent more on dinner than this item.”
Dinner is a fleeting pleasure; donating has lasting benefits for the recipient and is a tax deduction.
Come up with your own phrase—it certainly speeds the organizing process.
- Box it up without sorting: Sometimes the visual clutter is so
much, you don’t know where to start and your organizing hits a road block.
In such cases, box everything up and stack the boxes neatly against a wall.
Then take one box at a time and purge, sort, and put away.
- Hire a wife: If staying organized is a constant source of
stress for you, hire someone to do the tasks you hate. Whether it is paperwork or laundry, there is someone out there to do the job.
- Procrastinate: Don’t organize because someone tells you that
you should. Organize because, by golly, you are ready to organize.
©Cheryl Harrell, 2010 All Rights Reserved
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