Tuesday

Organize Now: Organize Your Kitchen In 24 Hours


The kitchen is often a gathering place for friends and family to not only eat, but talk about current events and life in general. It’s a place to post notices on the refrigerator about chores and things to do during a busy day. It’s sometimes a place to feed pets and keep a collection of kid art, bills, assorted papers and magazines.

In fact, the kitchen can become a gathering place for lots of – junk.

Have you forgotten what your kitchen looks like?

Well, if you have, it’s time to dig through the clutter and get things organized so that you and your family can enjoy your kitchen again like it was meant to be enjoyed.

Before you can get organized, you need to decide what kinds of activities you want to use the kitchen for besides cooking and eating.

Do you pay bills sitting at the kitchen table?

Do you or any family members do craft projects in the kitchen?

Are the kids doing their homework in the kitchen?

Is it used for casual reading?

When you host parties, are guests allowed to roam freely in the kitchen?

These are all things to consider when deciding how your kitchen space will be used. Actually, your kitchen can accommodate all of the above activities, but you must organize things so that each activity doesn’t conflict with anything else you’re trying to do in there.

Grab some boxes or plastic bags and begin removing each item, section by section. You can label the boxes or bags i.e. appliances, bills, books, crafts, knick knacks, etc.

Now take a good look at the space and figure out how you want to arrange your kitchen into stations that can keep things neat and efficient. The first station, should be the cooking station. Appliances that you use frequently should be put within easy reach. Stuff you don’t use too much should be stored.

Utilize all of your storage space. Maybe you can purchase some dividers and racks to add to the space you already have in your cabinets. Figure out as many ways as possible to increase your storage space.

Next, if you pay bills in the kitchen, get a letter/bill organizer and place all of your current bills in there for safe keeping. This will help you keep track of what bill you owe and when you need to pay it. All older bill related paperwork should be filed away in a filing cabinet or thrown out if no longer relevant.

Likewise for crafts and things. Any loose craft items should be stored inside of a container or box. Pull items out and work at the kitchen table, then store them when you’re done.

If the kids normally do their homework at the kitchen table, keep supplies like pens, pencils, and paper handy in a separate container or box. Label it clearly so that the kids know where to find it. They should also put their supplies back when finished.

If you have a small place, the kitchen is often a gathering place for friends and party guests. You may want to invest in a rolling cart where you can easily store party beverages and utensils – that way you won’t have to clutter up your nice kitchen in order to entertain guests.

With the right organization, your kitchen can be a place to cook good meals, and also a multipurpose room that is warm and practical.

Monday

Hiring a Professional Closet Organizer


It may sound crazy, but some people actually make a living out of organizing other people’s closets! In fact, they are well trained in the art of closet organization and often have a certificate to verify their training. They can come to your home and assess your storage needs. They will come up with various layouts for you to choose from.

If you want to get your closet organized but you are overwhelmed by the task, hiring a professional closet organizer may be exactly what you need to get nightmare of a closet that is in utter disarray resolved. How much does a professional closet organizer cost? The answer to that question depends on many factors. The type of closet organization system you choose, the type of materials you want it done with, the level of difficulty, and the amount of time needed to complete your project will all play a role in the cost.

Many professional closet organizers use various types of software to come up with different layouts for organizing your closet. They can show you pictures of how your closet space will look with various layouts. This is an excellent way to ensure you are going to like the end result of the project.

Finding a professional closet organizer should be simple with the internet. Make sure you check out the reputation of such an individual or business. You will want to ask for references and pictures of other projects that they have completed. To prevent any issues, make sure everything regarding the project is in writing including the layout, the materials to be used, the time frame for completing the project, and the total cost.

There are even online professional closet organizers that will assist you with your project. They will chat with you over the computer or the will talk with you buy phone. You will have to send them digital pictures of your closet and the dimensions. They will come up with some layout options for you and email them to you. This type of professional closet organization is less expensive because you will be paying for their ideas. You will still have to complete the installation of the organizer materials your self. It is very likely these online professional closet organizers use the types of software mentioned earlier.

Professional closet organizers are an excellent choice for anyone who wants to organize their closet but isn’t comfortable about doing it themselves. You can use a professional closet organizer to help you come up with only ideas or to complete the entire project for you. Keep in mind you will have to be there to help them sort through the items in your closet, but they can help you devise a system for storing everything once you decide what you are keeping.

Remember that you get what you pay for so hiring the lowest professional closet organizer might not get you the results you are looking for. That doesn’t mean that you have to use the most expensive person out there though to get a great closet that is exactly what you are looking for.

To make the experience a good one, always ask for references and compare costs. You want to work with a professional closet organizer that listens to what you are looking for and can give you information on what will work and what won’t. They should also be able to visually show you several possible layouts either on the computer or with drawings.

To get a feel for a professional closet organizer, take advantage of free initial consultations. If you don’t feel like the individual has your best interests in mind then keep looking for someone else. Finding a professional closet organizer who is willing to work with your ideas, has great references, and is affordable is the key to getting the closet organization system that is going to work for you.

Tuesday

How to Organize, Display & Treasure Your Kid's Art Work

Every mom shares the same dilemma. What to do with all the wonderful art your child creates! Without strategies for display, organizing and editing, these delightful treasures will just pile up and become a burden of clutter. Here's my top 10 neat ideas on how to keep their art from becoming clutter.

1. Set policies on how much you are going to keep. For example, you might decide you want to keep only the top 10 – 20 pieces per year.
2. Edit regularly. Keep only the very best or most meaningful. Each day or week, pick your favorite. At the end of the month, pick the best of the month. That's the one that gets put in a scrapbook or in a special memorabilia box. Involve your child in selecting his or her favorite. This helps your child learn that not everything is worth keeping, which is a very valuable organizing skill to learn early on.
3. Go digital! Take digital photos of art you really love and recycle the rest! This preserves the art much longer. Paper eventually fades and tatters.
Create an album or scrapbook for each school year and include photos of the best art along with other projects.
4. Label the work. Mark the back of artwork you decide to save with the child name, date and the reason you kept it.
5. Create a revolving gallery. Create a space on a wall or other area that becomes a revolving art gallery. Use magnetic boards, cork boards etc. Provide one spot for each child and hang their photo or a name marker above their spot. Each time to you change the art decide if the old piece is worth saving.
6. Repurpose and recycle. Find creative uses for art work you don’t want to keep.
7. Use it as:
Gift wrap
Inserts for greeting cards
Drawer/shelf liners
Decorate containers to use as organizers for arts & crafts supplies
Creative disposal placements for a meal. Or, if it’s really good, mount it to construction paper, laminate it, and use the art as place mats for a longer time.
8. Get funky with clipboards. As an inexpensive and fun alternative to frames, use colorful clipboards mounted on the wall to create an art gallery for your child’s room. Let them decide what they want to hang and when they want to change it. Clipboards allow them to easily change out art frequently.
9. Draw the line. Hang a clothesline across a wall in an area where you want to display art and hang it with clothespins. This makes it easy to change the art whenever you or your child wants to!
10. Make gifts. Create unique gifts for relatives with good pieces. You can make little books, puzzles, calendars, and more. Encourage your child to help think of ways to transform art into fun gifts.

© 2006 Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed., Organizing Coach, Personal Organizing Solutions All rights reserved.

How to Motivate Yourself to Organize

Organizing is probably not at the top of your list of fun things to do, is it? If your clutter is overwhelming, it's especially difficult to get started. Here are some easy tips to motivate yourself to organize.

1. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just just take the first step." You don't have to organize your whole house today. Just work on one small area-- a drawer or a cabinet.

2. Buy a good organizing book. Once you begin reading it, you'll feel compelled to start organizing.

3. Forget embarrassment. Invite an organized friend to help you. Hire a professional. It's easier to organize when you can talk through the clutter.

4. Set the mood. Put on some fun music. Open the windows. Choose a starting point and just do it.

5. "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence," said Calvin Coolidge.

Keep trying. Do a little bit daily or weekly and you'll soon find that you are more organized than you ever thought possible! About the author: Free time management tips booklet, meal planner, and daily organizing checklist at http://www.ineedmoretime.com.

Monday

How To Organize Your Inbox

As we all know our inboxes have turned into modern day filing systems – and just like in the ‘old’ days they can get chaotic and out of hand in no time. Attempts are made to control the unruly inboxes, but for the most part messages are swept into folders that act as catch alls for everything (unorganized amalgamations of incoherent mess – thank goodness for advanced find!).

Think of the benefits an organized, logical filing system would mean for you: referencing to emails that you’ve received, find and view attachments again, decrease your scrolling time, and if you ever need someone to go in and look for something, you will be able to point them in the right folder, rather than having them rummage through all your emails.

Now that you’re eager to change your unorganized inboxes, here are some tips to help you on your way.

Inbox: Your Inbox should be just that – an inbox, not a permanent storage folder by any means. Even if you have a ‘misc’ file off of your inbox, keep your inbox clean and tidy. If you receive emails on a subject that you’re in process of dealing with and you’re not ready to move them into a more permanent folder, create a ‘2do’ folder off of your inbox, from there group messages into subfolders.

This is a great way to keep organized and an easy reference to see what you have to do.

How to use it: When you receive an email for an ongoing or upcoming task, create a folder in your ‘2do’ folder with a name related to that task or client. Move the email into that folder, create a reminder or appointment if necessary, and —voilà!— you now have an organized inbox. When you receive more emails related to this task they can now go straight into the subfolder that you created. Once you have completed this task you can easily move all the contents to a permanent folder of your designation. The key is to keep on top of it and once you’re done with a subfolder in your ‘2do’ folder list, delete or move it. Keeping the folders after a task is over will hinder your organization and add to your electronic clutter.

This method will allow you to have an easy visual reference for work that has to be done, and even if some tasks are ‘back-shelved’ for the moment, you can still see them and keep them fresh in your mind. Once you are able to concentrate on the emails that are just coming in, you will be able to focus more on your business and less on your clutter.

Subfolders: Don’t be afraid to use subfolders, even subfolders in subfolders. Putting items into logical groups is a key to keeping your files organized.

How to use: For example – You may have a number of clients and a couple of different companies that you do work for, and each client/company will have multiple tasks, projects, instructions, etc. Under your Inbox, create a file for each company, under the company create a folder for each client, and under each client create folders for the number of different tasks that you perform.

Having a place to put messages as they come in is a key to staying on top of your tasks and messages. Inboxes have a way of getting large and overwhelming very quickly, putting these steps in place will help to control the unsightly messes and as a bonus keep you organized in the process.

To view a diagram of this method visit www.officeassit.ca/articles_OfficeAssistants_inbox.htm. Christina, owner of Online Office Assistants, offers professional administrative solutions to businesses and individuals. You can visit her website at http://www.officeassist.ca for more info.

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