organizing strategy Archives

Nov 26

Repurposing Your Things Is Good For The Environment

By Diane Quintana How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

Do you repurpose your things? I love to repurpose furniture. One of the chest of drawers in my house is no longer used for clothes but has been repurposed as my wrapping station. The drawers along the top hold tissue paper, tape, scissors, and small gift bags. The three large drawers are dedicated to ribbon, birthday wrapping paper, and holiday wrapping paper. These drawers are so long and deep that I can also stash small gifts inside them. Repurposing things which we own is one of my primary missions as a professional organizer. Titles of businesses Do you ever think…

May 21

Decluttering Your Child’s Schoolwork: What to Keep and Why

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

As a parent, you may be all too familiar with the endless piles of school paperwork that accumulate over the course of a school year. From graded assignments to artwork and school messages, it can be overwhelming to sort through it all. However, decluttering your child's schoolwork at the end of the school year is essential so that you don’t end up with stacks of schoolwork when your child heads off to college and beyond. Let’s look at how you will decide what to keep and what to toss. What to keep at the end of the school year As…

Apr 15

Discard and Recycle Responsibly

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

Do you think about how you will discard and recycle something before you bring it into your home? A while back I read that everything we buy eventually will end up in the dump. This was an eye opener to me. I thought that if I was responsibly discarding or recycling items it didn’t matter what I bought. We buy things on a whim, and we think that if we don’t want it later, we can donate it or recycle it. And, yes, we can. But eventually it will end up in the dump. My takeaway from this is to…

Jan 22

Setting Realistic Benchmarks For Change

By Jonda Beattie How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

We’re about a month into the new year and most of us set the intention to make some changes. We set some lofty goals for ourselves. Maybe we see ourselves as 20 pounds lighter or our home cleared of all the holiday clutter and finally the place that we can return to and relax. These are not realistic benchmarks for change. Instead of setting lofty goals that are overwhelming, start with small, modest, and realistic benchmarks for change that you can accomplish and build upon in years to come. Mark Twain stated, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.…

Oct 23

Organizing Your Refrigerator and Freezer in 10 Minute Blocks

By Jonda Beattie How Long Will it Take to Organize X

The holidays are rapidly approaching. Soon you are likely to be up to your elbows in preparing special meals and treats. It’s time to make room in your refrigerator and freezer to store these goodies. That means that right now you will want to clean out and reorganize your refrigerator and freezer. This is a task that we often put off as long as possible because it is so overwhelming. We are pretty sure that there are containers in the back that would qualify for science fair exhibits on mold and mildew growth. How long is that pickle relish that…

Sep 11

The Best Motivator for Getting Organized

By Diane Quintana What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

Everyone knows that it’s a good idea to get organized. Logically, we know that it’s easier to find what we’re looking for when we are organized. We also know that everything runs more smoothly when the systems are organized and when there are good strategies in place. If we know all these things (and we do) why is it so hard to get motivated to organize? I’m going to tell you how to figure out the very best motivator for getting organized. One of the first things to do is to define the purpose of each space in your home…

Mar 06

Organizing the Entertainment Center in 10 Minute Blocks

By Jonda Beattie How Long Will it Take to Organize X, Uncategorized

Each March I deep clean and reorganize my living room. Spring will soon be here and I want my living room completely decluttered, fresh, and accessorized for the season. Many of the projects in the living room can easily be done in 10-minute blocks of time. The Entertainment Center is a good example of that. I chunk my center into three different categories. One category is the section that holds our DVDs and CDs. Another category is the section that holds items used for entertaining guests. And the last category is all the items that sit on top of the…

Jan 28

Project Bins Promote Productivity

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize, Blog

When I am working on a project, I like to have my desk clear of everything but the current project. However, I am always working on multiple projects. I would go crazy if I didn’t have each of my projects filed away in project bins. These project bins promote productivity for me and help me maintain my sanity. Imagine that you’re working on a project. You are on a deadline and people are waiting for you to finish. There are stacks of papers scattered across your desk and on surfaces around you. Some of these papers belong to the current…

Jan 16

3 Reasons to Organize Your Digital Files

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize, Uncategorized

My friend, colleague, and business partner, Jonda Beattie, just wrote an article about organizing paper files. I am following up with an article on organizing your digital files. Are you wondering why? Even though we can’t see them, digital files need to be organized, too. I am going to share with you 3 reasons to organize your digital files plus I will tell you how to go about this. Very often people think that they can just save digital files in their computer and the computer’s search engine will find the file for them – no matter what. This is…

Dec 05

Organizing Gift Wrap Supplies in 10 Minutes Blocks of Time

By Jonda Beattie How Long Will it Take to Organize X

I love prettily wrapped packages, but I so often find myself without as much time as I want to make that happen. So, when it is time to wrap gifts the last thing I want to pull out is messy gift wrap supplies consisting of wrapping paper, tissue, gift bags, boxes, and ribbons. It is almost time to wrap gifts that must be mailed. It seems like the deadline to mail gets earlier and earlier. If you are like me, you want to allow some extra time because that time is not guaranteed. Before starting my wrapping process, I took…

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