Archive for Spring Cleaning

Tips to help you let go of the things you don’t really need

July 20, 2010 at 7:26 pm · Filed under Spring Cleaning, decluttering

So you are ready to clear out a room, clean up and get it organized.  You go into that room to get started and then the energy drops.  What is going on?  In many cases the thought of making decisions on what to keep and what to let go of is just daunting.  Emotions, memories, remorse about a purchase, the “I might need it later” excuse all come up….I am sure all these feelings sound familiar.

Here is a great tip to work through some of the tough decisions.
  • Have a box or bag specifically for the undecided items.  These are the ones where you think you might want to get rid of it, but just can’t make the firm commitment.
  • At the end of your organizing session close the box or bag, label it “possible donate” and put it aside for a month.
  • If you don’t know what is in the container or do know but don’t miss it your decision is made.  Donate or toss the contents and you are on your way to a simpler space.
By the way, this works great with kids toys too.  If the kids don’t miss it or even notice it is gone you can give it away (or throw it out).



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Take a Fresh Look

June 12, 2010 at 5:01 pm · Filed under Garages, Mail, Spring Cleaning, closet, decluttering, kids and toys


Life is moving fast and throwing lots of stuff at us everyday.  We can be neat, orderly and even organized, but the stuff keeps coming at us and often will get ahead of us.  Emails, mail, phone calls, shopping, permission slips, registration forms, seminar and meeting notes…the list goes on.  The point is no one is expected to be perfect all the time.
We are working so hard and fast to keep up that we lose track of what is happening.  Here is an idea that might help you step back and take a small moment to see what is going on.
The idea of “take a Fresh Look” is based on re-looking at your space, home or office, as others see it.  In-other-words, you are blowing right by things and not looking at all.
Go out your front door (or office door) and come back in with a renewed focus.

LOOK, I mean really LOOK at what is there…
what do you see?

  • Post-it’s littered all over.
  • Toys strewn all around.
  • Coffee mugs and glasses all over the counter.
  • Piles of mail, magazines and catalogs that have been sitting for week’s.
Now you get a clear picture of what is really going on.  You see your space as a guest, colleague or client sees it.

To address the issues use the “Power De-Cluttering” that I mentioned a few weeks ago.  5 quick minutes might be all you need to sort through one pile of mail on the coffee table.   5 minutes will let you consolidate all those loose Post-its to one list.  I bet a bunch will get tossed out too.  Clear off the mugs and glasses and the counter looks neat.

Give it a try.

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Use it or Lose it.

May 25, 2010 at 3:25 am · Filed under Spring Cleaning, closet, decluttering

Something I see allot of as I work with people is the “save it for a special occasion”  thing. Someone gives you a lovely gift and you think it is so precious you will save it for a special occasion.

Bah Humbug! What are you waiting for? Holding it for “someday” means the item is just clutter.

Get out that great smelling soap, wear that silk scarf, and treat your feet to those special extra fuzzy slippers. The gift was meant to indulge you, not your guests and relatives. Seriously, a closet full of “for someday” is just not useful. Reward yourself for all your efforts and enjoy those gifts of indulgence for yourself.


Here’s to looking, feeling, and smelling great this week.

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The Master Bedroom Retreat

May 25, 2010 at 3:24 am · Filed under Spring Cleaning, decluttering

The Master bedroom should be a place of rest, a sanctuary, maybe some loving going on. It is not the family central. Here are a few tips (OK, RULES) to make this a restful place in your life.

Nightstand: ONE Book…not all the books you want to read. That just stresses you out. Instead keep only the book you are reading there. Store the other books you hope to get to in another room. The same holds true for magazines and newspaper. Isn’t that better already?

Dresser top: a coin or jewelry tray, a photo, some fragrance…that’s about it. Not piles of stuff (especially if it relates to kids). Calming….

Laundry piles, clean or dirty: NO. Not an option. Seriously, I fold my clean laundry on the bed. After all it is a good open flat surface. BUT, the piles get stacked into baskets and shipped off to their destination rooms. If there is not enough time to fold the clean laundry then it stays in the laundry room or a basket OUTSIDE of my master bedroom.

Treat your Bedroom like a sanctuary and that is what it will be. Don’t allow the piles and other stuff to come into that room. Designate spaces for the other things.

Peace.

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My Favorite Tools for Organizing

April 30, 2010 at 5:36 pm · Filed under Mail, Saving Money, Spring Cleaning, decluttering, paper management

For the fun of it…here are my favorite organizing tools.

My 4 favorite tools for organizing.

Letter Opener: Opening mail happens every day and is not the height of excitement.  Why not make the job easier?  I have a letter opener from Target which cost less than $3.00.  Who says you have to spend allot?
Label Maker:  I am an organizer…need I say more.  No seriously, these are easy to use and super fun.  My handwriting is inconsistent, so why not make long term labels that are easily readable.
Super Sticky Post-it notes: Have you found these yet?  You can stick and re-stick these.  It makes decisions last, but movable and I like that.  They are available at all the office supply stores.
Removable Labels: I discovered these from a client (thank you).  These are great when you are setting up a new system and need a short term label.  Once you have learned which drawers have the undies (all puns intended) you can remove the label and there is no residue on your furniture.   I use them in all rooms of the house.  These are also available at office supply stores.

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Making Donation Decisions

April 30, 2010 at 5:34 pm · Filed under Spring Cleaning, closet, decluttering

Are your closets stuffed full?  You want to de-clutter but are having a tough time making decisions?  Consider this idea.

Set up a “Ready to Let Go” Lay-A-Way.

The idea is to use time to help you make decisions.

Take those items that have you waffling and put the in a box. At the end of your time de-clutering close up the box, label with with today’s date and put it out of the way (like the garage). If in a month you can’t remember what is in the box, you know these items are ready to go. You might cheat a little and have a look inside, but be super critical and make sure that you remind yourself that you already forgot about these things…it is time for them to go.

Having trouble making these decisions yourself?

Get an organizing buddy.  This could be a friend or relative,  but be sure it is someone who will be kind and objective.
This is what I do as a Professional Organizer.  Give me a call if you are stuck.  I will help you make your decisions in a gentle and kind manner.
510-482-1619

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Managing Closet Donations

April 30, 2010 at 5:33 pm · Filed under Spring Cleaning, closet, decluttering

It is the beginning of a new season and time to re-organize the closet.  It feels great to move the heavy sweaters out of the way and bring out the tank tops and sundresses.   It is not fun to do this if your closet is stuffed full.  Here’s a simple tip for everyone to help you de-clutter your over-flowing closet.

Keep a bag, box, bin or hamper in your closet and drop in clothes you no longer want.  This is your donation bin.

This is a really great idea because it asks you to continue to process of editing all year.


The change of season is the perfect time to review your wardrobe and make some edits.  You can do it all at once, or better yet, a little everyday.

No room in your closet?  Put your container in the laundry room.

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“A place for everything…”

April 30, 2010 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Mail, Spring Cleaning, Time Management, decluttering, paper management

Are you having trouble finding basic things in your home or office? Are you wasting countless minutes looking, looking, looking?

There are a few things that come up over and over with my new clients. One of those basic things is that there is no “home” for things.

“A place for everything and everything in its place”

We have all heard this quote before, but do you practice it in your life?

Here’s an example. I was recently in a house where basic things did not have a home. Supplies for hobbies were in multiple rooms. Sports equipment was in the car, hall closet, and several places in the garage. Mail piles were all over the house.

The first thing this family had to do was to collect things together: all the scrapbooking supplies, sports equipment, mail, photos, etc. The technical term for this is Sort. (OK, you can chuckle at the phrase “technical term”).

The second key was to cull down the amount of stuff in each category.

Third, and very important, is to Assign a Home to each category of things. So the Scrapbooking supplies all went into the home office, the sports equipment in the garage and the mail has a station at the kitchen desk.

Have you assigned a home to things in your house? Take time this week to start working on this. Choose something that you are constantly searching for and losing time.   Start by pulling everything together and assigning a specific home to it. If you are constantly losing the keys, have one specific place where you drop the keys. Always leave them there, and always find them there.

What’s the thing that you need to assign to a home?

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Inventory Your Wallet

April 30, 2010 at 5:29 pm · Filed under Emergency Preperation, Spring Cleaning

Be Prepared to close down and replace your lost cards and personal information in case your wallet ever gets lost or stolen. Think of it this way, if you wanted to call Visa and let them know your card is lost, where’s the phone number? It’s on the back of your card and that won’t do you any good once it is missing.

DO

  • Empty your wallet (clean it out while you are at it).

  • Make a list of all the contents and the contact telephone numbers.

  • Store this list in a secure place.

  • If you put this on a spreadsheet in your computer, be sure it is password protected and have a hard copy in a safe place.

  • Consider making photocopies of both sides of all your wallet contents.

DON’T

  • Never carry super personal information like your SS# in your wallet.

  • Don’t list credit card numbers on your inventory list. You might have the last 4 digits, but the CC companies can look up your account with a few verifying questions.

  • Don’t carry any passwords in your wallet.

I did this last week and it took only 15 minutes….you can do it too.

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Keeping those Resolutions Achievable.

February 3, 2010 at 10:57 pm · Filed under Spring Cleaning, decluttering

We are into the second month of the year…Are you still working on that resolution to get organized?
*Keep it small.
*Keep it achievable.
*Keep plugging away at one thing at a time.

Even if you didn’t finish all the things you wanted to get done by now, keep going. Just like a diet, one day of falling off the wagon doesn’t mean you should give up.

I have another kitchen organizing example that you could accomplish in less than the time it takes to cook those chicken parts.

This week how about Organizing Your Plasticware.

You know what I am talking about. All those plastic containers with lids that are in many cabinets of your kitchen. You can’t find the lids that match, some are cracked and some are just plain OLD.

Collect all the containers and all the lids to the kitchen counter or table…spread them out so you can see them…yes, all of them.
Sort similar bottoms together and begin to match up the tops.
Toss the bottoms that should have, but you can’t locate, tops. (If there is no recycling arrow on the bottom, they go into the trash.
Stack and nest as many bottoms as you can. Keep the corresponding lids nearby
Chose ONE cabinet or drawer to house the keepers.
If you still have too many containers, donate or toss them.
Put away an organized, neat grouping of containers.

If you have kids and they have outgrown some of the plastic items like sippy cups, items with Disney characters, etc., now is the time to get rid of these too.

Ahhh…another bit of clutter under control.

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