Join me at the Houston Galleria Microsoft Store for Get Organized with Microsoft Outlook!

Overwhelmed by email? Can’t find a contact when you need it? Not sure of meeting dates for work or family activities? We will be sharing tips and tricks to get all of this together in one place, easy to access and making communication easy!

Some tips, tricks and techniques we will be sharing:

• Setting up your view in Outlook
• Using Quicksteps to file easily
• Using categorizing and color coding to prioritize
• How to make the most of the Task Bar
• Setting up your calendar to be your most productive
• System  integration with your slate, phone, and laptop

Microsoft Galleria Store

May 19 at 2pm

Bring your laptop, slate or windows phone and play along with us.  Happy organizing!

Decluttering is all about making decisions.  These decisions can be hard! Here are a few ideas to help you make decisions that make sense, make letting go easier, and make a difference for you. 

• Donate it if it is “good”.  It is considered “good” if it can be used and still in working condition. 
• Freecyle if it is broken.  List it on freecycle.org and it will be picked up from your doorstep.
• Give it a moment, then give it away.  Look at it, touch it, and then put it to the side. In a moment you will be ready to give it away.
• Set a number.   How many do you think you need of any one object? Think of your own number as a guide.
• Compare two.   Establish a “tournament”, do you prefer this or that?
• Set a boundary.  Where does a specific item belong?  That is the boundary, the space where the item will be confined.  Let that guide you for how many and where to keep items.
• Gather items all together, see how many you have and need. Once you see items together, it is easier to decide what to keep. 

What is holding you back from making a decision?

It’s that time of year when the weather turns our thoughts to summer. Our last day of cooler weather is officially over, so let’s bring on the fun and sun!

1. Time to move out the winter wardrobe. Review what you have worn or not worn this year and decide to donate.  Pack away the winter sweaters in a tote, ready to store in the back of your closet or under your bed. Review your coats in the coat closet, and decide if any of them are ready to donate. Then move them to the back of a less accessible closet. Shine up your winter boots and store these away too.

2. Check out the expiration dates of medicines, sunscreen and bug spray. Be prepared with medicines for allergies and bug bites, as well as sunscreen for your lips too.

3. Get your swim bags together for you and your kids. Pack the essentials, like sunscreen, but also some change, tissues, sun hat, and fun fan to keep cool.  Load up your kindle, nook or tablet with a great book you have wanted to read. 

4. Go through all the precious artwork and papers from your kids this school year. Keep only the most special, like the first 100 on a spelling test or a hand print turkey, to save in a box marked with that grade.  Place the boxes in the top of your children’s closets.

5. Rinse out your coolers. Handprints and other dirt come off with a Clorox wipe or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Dry completely before storing in an easy to access spot in the garage.

6. Evenings are great time for outdoor fun, even in the heat. Pick up inexpensive outdoor fun, like bubbles, kick balls, sidewalk chalk, croquet or horseshoes for family fun.

7. Its enticing to drop all routines during the summer.  Being well rested is important all year long!  Be sure to set a bedtime for you and your kids this summer, turning off all electronics 30 minutes before slumber to ensure a great night’s rest. 

8. Schedule some pampering with a cool summer haircut and pedicure for you and your kids. 

9. Air up your bike tires and plan for summer picnics in the shade. Pick up some fresh new BPA-free waters bottles in different fun colors for everyone in the family and donate your used water bottles.

10. Host a family meeting and ask your kids and spouse about their summer wish list. What is the one most important thing for each person this summer? Be sure to mark your calendar to include everyone’s special activity during summer vacation, as well as block out your vacation, dates for summer camps, and July 4th holiday plans.  Gather up ideas for summer fun from local papers, online or other moms. A little extra planning makes all the difference.

Your mind is swirling with ideas. There are so many projects you would like to do, but they are all running together.  There are also lots of small but very important unrelated tasks, which never seem to be at the top of your list.

According to ADDitude Magazine, “personal productivity is not a matter of coming up with ideas for what to do. The problem lies with poor sense of time and inability to gauge how long it will take to complete a given task. Then there’s trouble with setting priorities, and tendency to get distracted and forget what we were trying to do.”

Here is a list of some ideas that can help you get more done in your week.

• A body double helps you get started and make decisions.   Ths is a person who is with you, virtually or in person, to just be in the moment with you.  The person is just there, not giving you advice or being an expert, just in the space with you.
• Be sure to list all your tasks in one place. This can be on paper or in technology.  The list starts with just a brain dump, getting everything out of your head.  This step makes the biggest difference in clarity! Then choose just 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) for you complete.  Prioritizing these 3 MITs can be difficult. However, any 3 completed are 3 less tasks to do.
• Set a timer to help you get started on your tasks.  Initiation can be a challenge, so just getting started may be the key to getting tasks done. 
• Give yourself ample time to complete a task. If you think it will take 10 minutes, give yourself 30 minutes. It may take up to 3 times longer for completion.  Give yourself some “warm up” time too.  This is about 10 minutes to get oriented, prioritize and get into the mindset of the work at hand.  
• Find someone to assist  you with verbal processing.  Verbal processing is talking the ideas that are swirling in your head.  By talking through the work, you become aware of what is most important and cull out the first action step.
• Know how important self care is and practice it. We all work much better with a good night’s sleep and good lean protein in our diet.  Be sure you are at your best to get your best work done.

What ways do you get started or get finished with your tasks?

It is easy to get stuck in an organizing paralysis with recycling.  Getting behind with recycling can lead to lots of organizing challenges.  For Kingwood and Houston residents, there are easy and convenient ways to recycle e-waste and BOPA materials!

• Goodwill http://www.goodwillhouston.org/ has a special program with Dell called Reconnect http://reconnectpartnership.com/ . Goodwill accepts any brand of used computer equipment in any condition and anything that can be connected to a computer; monitors, printers, scanners, hard drives, keyboards, mice, speakers, cords & cables, software, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Zune, Microsoft-branded Webcams, etc. They will pick these items up from your house along with any other household donations or you can drop them at one of their convenient locations.

• Best Buy will accept ALL electronic waste (no more than three per visit) including monitors and TVs up to 32″ (they charge $10 for a TV but give you a $10 gift certificate in exchange).

• Styrofoam chips and even blocks can be brought to most UPS, FedEx or Mailbox stores. They reuse them for their packaging.

• Leftover useable paints can be given away on Freecycle http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humble-KingwoodTXFreecycle/ Small amounts of paint can be dried out and then put in your trash.

• Appliances and scrap metal will be picked up for free at your house by Junky Business http://www.junkybusiness.com/

• CFL Bulbs and regular fluorescent bulbs are recycled at Home Depot or Lowes.

• Rechargeable batteries can be recycled at many hardware, electronic, and department stores (Alspaughs, Sears Hardware, Best Buy, and Radio Shack). You can also recycle your old cell phones at Alspaugh’s Ace Hardware for the benefit of Keep Kingwood Green.

• Used Motor Oil can be recycled at O’Reilly Auto Parts, 3219 W Lake Houston Pkwy in Kingwood (next to Walgreens).

All items above can also be dropped at the Westpark Consumer Recycling Center (for City residents only) at 5900 Westpark located at Hwy. 59S between Chimney Rock & Fountain View (Galleria Area) : www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/westpark.html or the Harris County facility if you live in Harris County but not in the City of Houston at 6900 Hahl Rd @ 290 & N. Gessner, 281-560-6200 Check for operating times. http://www.eng.hctx.net/watershed/hhw_facility.html

All other Hazardous Waste (fuel, pesticides, chemicals, etc.) can be brought to the North Environmental Service Center (713)837-9137, located at 5614 Neches, Building C. It is open to Houston residents only, every 2nd Thursday of the month from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Harris County residents can take them to the Harris County site listed above.

Want more ideas? Visit earth911.com. 

Originally written for  www.keepkingwoodgreen.org  by Jan Zaremba-Smith (April 2011)

Time to change your clutter into cash!  Lots of families are making some extra change with decluttering and selling their items.

• Post your item on an online garage sale, like KingwoodYardSales.com or TheWoodlandsonline.com.
• Be part of your community garage sale that occurs annually.
• Find an association for the items you are selling and find a buyer.  Our family sold a paperweight collection with the assistance of the Texas Paperweight Association.
• Local consignment shops for all sorts of items are in our communities,  including shops for clothes, toys, and home decor.
• Use Gazelle.com, a trade-in and recycling firm, that helps sell all sorts of items, from cell phones, laptops and tablet computers to digital cameras and video gaming consoles.
• Sell your used cell phones to www.cellforcash.com to get top dollar for your used phone. 
• Half Price Books will purchase your used DVDs, CDs, and books. 
• Find a local estate sale company to sell big items, or even a whole house of clutter. 

What other ways have you turned your clutter into cash?

I am often asked where to start organizing in a home or office. It just takes starting in a small spot. Here are 5 you can start in to feel successful and motivated.

• Car glove box! You can easily clean out receipts, old insurance papers and other odds and ends.
• Silverware drawer! It gets a little crazy sometimes getting utensils back in the right slot. Take a few minutes to sort and clean out.
• Sock drawer! There are just too many socks sometimes. Match up the socks, and toss the rest. Be brutal!
• Top drawer of your desk! We just slip papers in there, just too easily.  Spend a few minutes tossing what is old, unused or broken in there, decide what really belongs in this space, distribute the rest, and then you are more productive than ever.
• Email inbox and processed folder. You don’t have to keep all the emails in your inbox.  Add a subfolder called “processed,” “read,” or whatever you what to name it, for the emails you have read and want to keep.  Keeping your inbox just for incoming mail will be more effective and efficient.

What small stuff do you do to get organized?

It’s time to get moving on decluttering our homes and offices.  It’s been a busy winter and now it’s time to focus on spring renewal.   Doing the Spring Fling helps us by eliminating the unnecessary, deciding on what is most important and keeping only the best. 

Get motivated and focused first by having the end in sight.  Find ideas on www.houzz.com.  Tap into your inner organizer by defining 3 key words that will describe your newly organized spot, such as nurturing, simplified, inviting, or friendly.  Know what you want your organized space to be and to feel like. 

Gather your team to get going. At home your team can be a supportive friend, your children or your spouse.  At the office it can be your colleagues, assistant or boss.  It is more fun and energizing to work with partners.  Set specific dates and deadlines for your organizing.  Break the work into smaller units to work effectively and get this job done.

Find a cause that you are passionate about to donate your items. Make donating simple and get your donations out the door the same day you decided to part with them.

Not sure what to “fling?”

• Would you wear it today if it fit?
• You purchased a new one and it’s time to “fling” the old one.
• Your kids have outgrown it or don’t play with it.
• Extra home decor, linens, or framed prints
• It’s still good and it’s time to let others use it. 

Create functional, accessible and beautiful space using bins or boxes in colors you love, adding uniform shelving, and embracing simplicity.  My new favorite closet items are slimline hangers. Choose one color for your closet and donate your used hangers or return wire hangers to your dry cleaner.  This simple addition makes for a beautiful closet. 

 Add in great routines to keep your space maintained. Have a nightly family pick up or take just 5 minutes each evening to get items back to where they are stored.  Plan a general reorganization each spring and fall, just to keep your home and office efficient, orderly and attractive.

Email overload is taking over where paper overload was! The email tsunami and electronic technology overwhelm can paralyze you. 

• Synchronize all your technology using IMAP. With this system, you can add and delete information on one machine and all machines will be updated.  Not sure what to do, get a great technology person to assist.
• Be sure all your spam filters are up to date. Nothing is worse than having to delete, delete, delete.
• Be sure  you are backing up with Carbonite. It is not if but when your computer will crash.
• Be deliberate about your email, reading and list servs.  Process your email 3 times a day.  Have your reading come to a separate area with an RSS feed.  Stay on only the list servs that make a difference in your work.
• Have a file folder for processed email. It can be just one folder, just so you can slide completed email in there and out of your inbox.
• Color code your really important email.  Email from a boss, your most important client, or your family should stand out so that you can find it easily.
• Remember, the more email you send the more you receive. Pick up the phone when you are ready to finalize a date, a contract, or a meeting. It will save you time and energy.

What are your email and technology organizing tips?

There are certain times each year when our best organizing efforts get out of control. It is when there are just too many things to do at the same time.  It is when we are about to host a party, but there is clutter on the counter.  It is holiday time and instead of time to get your house in order, you need to purchase holiday gifts.  It is when we need to drive someone in our car, but the paper is everywhere in there and we need to stash it.  Is this preventable?  Maybe…..

Keeping your home, car or office in order and preventing the wheels coming off the wagon can happen!

• Spend 15 minutes every day getting things back to where they belong in  your home or office.
• Take 5 minutes every day to go through the mail. 
• Write preparation time in your calendar. Plan 2 weeks out from a party, with one week just to prepare your home and one week to prepare for the party.
• Start decluttering months before a move. 
• Just do it! If it takes under 3 minutes to get any job done, any stuff put away, or any note to write, just do it.
• Get help and delegate. If you can’t do it all, get a great helper to do what they can. 

Next time the wheels come off the wagon for you, look back and learn where it all started.