Thought it might be fun to share tips on getting organized for the New
Year! I've been reading a lot of stuff on this lately (it's that time of year
for everyone to be thinking of that I guess). So, share your best tips
that have worked for you and maybe we can get our s*it together for
2008!
One really simple one is to deal with each piece of mail each day.
Don't let it pile up. Toss the junk mail, pay the bills if you can, call
or respond to the personal letters (does anyone get them anymore?)
and file what you've paid.
I love the book Simple Abundance. She has great ways to helping you
to let go of stuff. Excellent reading for pack rats! (I'm 4th generation
pack rat
sometimes it comes in handy, lately, notsomuch
)
I love being organized and neat but our house is usually in disarray with three little ones creating new messes all over. I HATE the clutter on the kitchen counter....it piles up like you said....mail, school papers, store flyers, shopping lists, vitamin bottles...you name it!
I like to tackle drawers and closets and other small areas and re-organize them when I have time. We just have too much stuff! No house could ever have too much closet space in my opinion....I see some luxury home tours on TV and drool over the massive walk in closets.....some as big as my bedroom!
Seger....I'm in the same boat. I look at my quaint SMALL house and wish I had just one more closet....my husband had to build one into our bedroom when we moved in as we didn't have one!!
If anyone has tips to share, please do as I could really use the help. Especially since I have the business out of my home as well. Any storage ideas??????
I used to be so neat and organized before I had kids!
Plus, we've lived in the same house for over 20 years and have aquired lots of stuff-too much stuff!
I love the show Clean Sweep. I'm sure some of you have seen it.
It's such a liberating feeling to de-clutter your environment.
I need to de-clutter and condense and then organize what I decide to keep.
Interesting, I've been organizing all day!
I'm in an odd position: I was out on my own for 2 years, acquired enough stuff to fill an apartment, then moved back home and now have one tiny room (9x12) to fit all of that into! A lot is in storage, like kitchen stuff, but my books, tv, computers, etc.... One thing I managed to get done today is I got my cookbooks and loose recipes organized. Everything went into magazine holders that I got at IKEA. I also cleaned four grocery bags of clothes out of my closet -- everything that's too big now!
I still don't have enough bookshelves for all of my books, but I plan on moving again in June so I'm not sure how much I want to bother building.
I found in giving away clothes it helps to say "if I find I can't live without
it once I give it away can I find it (or something really close) again?" The answer is almost always "yes" so it makes it easier to part with stuff (and I rarely have ever had to replace anything). It also helps to
think of someone who may really need it (in giving away perfectly good
clothes that were worn once or twice and never fit right,etc.)
Zip lock bags in all sizes have been helping me storage wise. You can
see what's in them and they make it easy to sort stuff.
You guys are so right-closets are never big enough and there are never enough of them! Is is because most builders are men?
Clean Sweep is a cool show!
According to Feng Shui you're supposed to move 27 items in your
environment to clear energy and bring about positive change-I've
moved so many in the last weeks I should be in for some luck
Do you think if we move 27 Taylor items it will bring on a show?
My firm belief is (for clothing specifically) if YOU HAVENT WORN IT FOR A YEAR, GET RID OF IT! Donate to Good Will, or to an online recycling group...and, heres my shameless plug--I am a moderator for a group that a bunch of recyclers and I created, ReUseIt...reduce, recycle, reuse. We all used to be in a bigger free recycling network (I will not name them), but for reasons that I will not get into, we all left and started our own global free recyling network. If you have something hidden in your closets, garage, basement, attic, etc., chances are youve either forgotten its there or youre "waiting for the right time to use it"...and youre still waiting 5 yrs later for that right time! Just ReUseIt--someone can probably use it and guess what, not only are you helping someone else BUT you can get some cool free stuff too.
Its a great way to get rid of those things that you dont want to throw away.
I was asked at my office evaluation on Friday to organize my desk. I need to weed out, decide what I need to throw into the shred box and what I should just scan onto the computer system. We've had a quiet couple of days so I suppose instead of checking in here days, I could take a few minutes to just organize.
But I don't wanna!!!
I know where my stuff is...so what if no one else can find anything.
I know where my stuff is...so what if no one else can find anything.
That can be a GOOD thing... I can't see why you would want THEM to find your stuff..
I guess I tend to be over-organized. That doesn't mean I keep things...I go though just about everything at least once a year and weed out the stuff I don't use or need anymore. But both at work and home, when someone needs something, I can usually put my hands on it in moments. Don't know why I am this way...but once in one of those personality assessment sessions, it did say it was a trait of my personality. I think I got it from my mother...