Clearing out the "mental cobwebs"

After IM'ing a friend today on Facebook, I had one of Oprah's "Ah Ha Moments". Sometimes our biggest stumbling block to getting organized is our thoughts. Can I get organized? Will I stick to it? I'll never get this task done! And so on & so forth. What I am proposing today is to take time for yourself to clear out those "mental cobwebs" that prevent you from tackling projects, etc. Some suggestions include taking a walk on a sunny day, spending time with friends, journaling, getting a manicure, listening to some good music, exploring a new restaurant. We must first take care of ourselves on an emotional level & then be kind & gentle to ourselves as we make progress. The first step is to set a goal. The second is to develop smaller steps to keep on track & keep motivated. Third, begin the first task and reward yourself after you complete it. And fourth, set a plan to start the next task. With anything in life, it is important to stay motivated, encouraged and heading in the direction of your (organizational) dreams. Remember, YOU can DO it!

Declutter your wallet

I recently got pulled over for making an illegal U-turn (whoops!) and discovered that my insurance card was out-of-date. Thankfully, the police officer was very nice and only gave me a warning. Since this happened, I decided that it was high-time to declutter my wallet. This is the perfect 10-15 minute goal to tackle and here's what I recommend.

(1) Take out all your receipts, lose coupons, etc and put them in 1-3 piles

(2) Go thru the coupon pile and weed out any coupons that are no longer valid

(3) Go thru the receipt pile and attach them to your bank statement for future reconciliation purposes

(4) Take out any unused store/credit cards to free up space & lighten your load

(5) Take out money and sort from largest to smallest bills

(6) Take out loose change and put in a piggy bank or put in jar to take to the bank or CoinStar machine

Doing this simple task will cut down on unnecessary clutter and help you to retain only current information. While you're at it, check your driver's license to see when it needs to be renewed. That reminds me, I have to put that on my To Do list too!

After you complete this task, reward yourself!

Happy Decluttering!

Spring has sprung!

Greetings fellow organizers. Now that Spring has sprung, it's time to start those spring cleaning projects. One project that I'm getting ready to tackle is laundering my curtains. To help me stay on track, I break the project down into three parts:

(1) Take down curtains throughout apartment & separate them into 2-3 loads(per room)

(2) Wash with mild soap, in cold water, on the gentle cycle

(3) Hang to dry

This whole process takes about 3 hrs, but when I'm all done, I have clean curtains and a renewed sense of fulfillment.

Spring into action & reap the rewards!

A Place for Everything...

Hey there clutter-busters!

I was inspired over the weekend to start blogging again. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to work with a family of 6! Our goal was to tackle organizing the kitchen cabinets. It's important when starting a project to look at the "big picture", meaning, what do I hope to accomplish by completing this project?
Here's what we did to assess the situation:
Step #1: Open all the cabinets and look inside
Step #2: Begin identifying what is non-essential (e.g. if you only use a cooler in the summertime, you don't need to take up valuable "real estate" in your cabinet to store it in the fall/winter months).
Step #3: Weed out non-essential items and find a "new home" for them
Step #4: Begin organizing cabinets by purpose (e.g. plates/cups or baking items)
Step #5: Clean up space and organize the items
Step #6: Make a goal to tackle 1-2 cabinets in a 2 hr period. You can re-evaluate the project after the 2 hrs to set aside another day to accomplish more. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and help you to stay motivated.

So, as I tell my clients, there truly is "a place for everything" we want to keep, it just means finding an appropriate "home" for it.

Happy Spring! Happy De-cluttering!

Jen

Cabin Fever...

If you're like me, Cabin Fever can set in during the winter months. It's either too cold to go out and/or you don't feel like piling on all the layers of clothing. Well, do I have the solution for you! This is the time of year that you can stay in & tackle that project that you've been delaying/putting off. For instance, you have a stack of paper hanging out that you need to go through. Set the timer for 30 minutes and go through the stack. Make 3 piles: (1)Action (2) Recycle and/or Shred (3) File. Do yourself a favor and take another 30 minutes to tackle 1 of the 3 piles you just made. Let's say you choose #2. Bring the shredder into a comfortable area and shred to your hearts content. You will be able to see immediate results in an hours time. I also recommend that you take a photo of your "project" before you begin. For us "visual" people, actually seeing the stack removed from it's starting place spells SUCCESS! I will be rooting right along with you as you tackle these winter projects. You CAN do it!

That's a wrap!

Ok, it's 4 days until Christmas, so maybe you're like some lucky souls that already have all the gifts wrapped and under the tree. Or, perhaps you're a bit like me, you still have gifts to wrap and may even be a bit overwhelmed by all the various "to do"s to cross off your holiday checklist.

To help ease some of that anxiety, I would like to recommend that you create a "wrapping station". My "WS" is my ironing board (for height) with my gift wrap, tissue paper, boxes, tape, gift tags, a pen and some ribbons & bows.

In addition, I suggest that you place an envelope in your "WS" so that you can put all of your holiday receipts into it as you begin your wrapping marathon. That way, everything will be in 1 place and it will cut down the stress later on.

Here's wishing you a happy and stress-free holiday!

It's that's time of the year...

...to hang up your stockings, trim the tree & wrap the gifts! In the hussle & bussle of the holiday season, it's important to be as organized as possible. Gather up all your coupons and put them in 1 place, preferably a clear zip-lock bag. Remember that many online vendors are now accepting "promo codes" for holiday purchases, so go to Coupon Cabin or Coupon Sally (there are literally tons more to find!) for the best discounts! A friend just downloaded a $20 off coupon to Burlington Coat Factory...now we're talkin! As Santa would say, make a list (and check it twice) of the people you need to buy gifts for. You may even want to assign a monetary value to each to help keep your costs within budget. Afterall, it's not fun to go broke over the holidays, so plan, prepare & have fun while you're at it! Happy Holidays!