Here’s a link to a video of an interview that I did with Leigh Mills on NBC15 last week:
Check out the video of the interview I did on NBC15 last week. Carleen Wild and I discussed several inexpensive organizing tools that can help to create order in your home:
Home office, before:
By utilizing storage boxes, vertical sorters and binders, we were able to create order out of the piles. Everything has been assigned a place to make it easy to quickly find things and to maintain the order. Organizational products can be found pretty much anywhere these days, but some of my favorites include Ikea, The Container Store, Target, Menards and Office Depot.
Check out my most recent conversation with Carleen Wild on NBC15!
http://www.youtube.com/user/nbc15video#p/u/140/05s0dZh1EDs
Check out our most recent segment on NBC15!
“Organizing your Budget”
http://www.youtube.com/user/nbc15video#p/search/1/AqVZAskLlNw
Filed under: Organizing Tips
Erica Ecker, “The Spacialist,” is a professional organizer in NYC. She always has such wonderful things to say, but here’s a little something from her that I especially liked:
Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Your life. Let me in!
Lamenting how you’d like to have more room for your life? Perhaps you’d like to entertain spontaneously or actually enjoy a weekend without thinking about how much you need to get organized or even put your hands on your Fall jackets without frustration. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Magazine by magazine, iPod by iPhone and shoe by shoe, your clutter is stealing your space from you. Want to let your life back in? Then lighten your load!
When you’re trying to trim your stuff, instead of thinking of it as “letting your things go”, think of it as “letting your life in”.
With every square foot of stuff you move out, there is the possibility for more breathing room. (Take a deep breath now.) You’ll have easier access to the things you really love and efficient use of the things you need. Go ahead now, let your life back in.
| Until next time, may your life be organized and hassle-free, Erica TheSpacialist.com |
Check out Organizing Madison, LLC, on NBC15:
“Getting Organized for Back-to-School”
http://www.youtube.com/user/nbc15video#p/search/0/T8kEnja85jA
Filed under: Organizing Tips
Having a personal code can really help you to live your life to its fullest. Don Aslett has written a number of great books on de-cluttering and organizing your life. The following is his personal code from his book Lose 200 Lbs. This Weekend: It’s Time to Declutter Your Life!
A personal code that works for me
Here is a personal code that has really worked for me, to help prevent all those pounds from creeping back on. I call it “Living Providently” –the big 10.
1. Keep yourself, and your place, space, and possessions clean and orderly–uncluttered–no excess.
2. Keep yourself in top physical and emotional condition.
3. Spend less–in accord with your financial capacity and need, not the neighbors or what the networks have to offer.
4. Think of your vehicle as safe, economical transportation–not a matter of ego or status.
5. Work hard–be eagerly engaged in a good cause.
6. Stay home more. Don’t waste your real estate. Make home your life center, not the malls, shops, cafes and stadiums.
7. Take real advantage of what you have, before expanding or getting more.
8. Know the difference between a standard of living and a standard of luxury.
9. Create minimum waste–to help save your personal and our public environment.
10. Take care of those in need, ease others’ burdens when you can (save souls instead of stuff, you might say.)
Aslett has a great outlook on things and gives us all something to strive for. What is your personal code?
Home Office Organization
Home offices can be a challenge to keep neat and organized. Whether or not you actually work from home, we all are inundated by paperwork: bills, statements, kids’ stuff, ads, etc.
The following tips will help you to manage the piles that build up in your home office:
- Think before you file. Do you really need it? According to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), 80% of papers that are filed are never referenced again.
- Clear the Junk Mail Clutter
Go through your mail immediately and shred or discard all junk mail before it becomes a pile on the desktop. - Control Magazine Build-up
If you subscribe to magazines for information, rather than keep the entire magazine, tear out the articles that you will use. Place them in page protectors and then into a binder labeled with that magazine’s name or file them according to topic so you can reference them when you need them - Stop the Subscriptions!
Be realistic. If you find that you have no time to read, don’t torture yourself by continuing to subscribe. Only subscribe to the magazines that you enjoy and really add value to your life. - Stop printing! Print only what you absolutely need.
- “More than 40% of printouts are discarded within 24 hours.” (Daniel Lyons, “The Paper Chasers,” Newsweek 12/01/09, Statistics, Xerox Research)
- Keep kids’ stuff under control No need to keep every spelling test or art project.
- Have your kids help you decide what to keep and what can go
- Frame your favorite pieces of artwork
- Take pictures to keep the memory of their work before you toss it.
Food for thought: Getting rid of excess clutter would eliminate 40 percent of the housework in the average home. (National Soap and Detergent Association)
Filed under: Organizing Tips
- Keep only one calendar and keep all appointments/activities on that calendar.
- you can opt for a paper calendar or an electronic version…though an electronic calendar allows you to sync the calendar for multiple users.
- Look at your calendar often, especially at the beginning of the day and the end of the day.
- viewing the night before helps you to prep for the next day.
- Get the kids involved in preparation.
- depending on their age, kids can make sure that their uniforms/equipment/etc are ready for the next day’s activities.
- Designate a place for everything when you come into the house.
- this will help parents to track down items that need to be washed before the next game.
- it will also help avoid the “I can’t find my jersey/soccer cleats” cry of despair 10 minutes before game time.
- Plan your meals accordingly.
- if the upcoming week is jam-packed, prep for easy meals (i.e. made ahead & frozen) to help avoid the last minute fast food run.
- have healthy, quick snacks available for kids as they go from activity to activity.
- Schedule time for the family (or even alone time).
- often if it’s not on the calendar, it just doesn’t happen.
Breathe deep & relax…it’s summer!
