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!

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.

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.

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.

Join me at Kingwood Public Library for Organizing Your Garage on April 19 at 3:30 pm.  Starting with your organizing team, learn ways to declutter and organizing your car, gardening, athletic and more stuff in your garage. You will also learn what NOT to keep in there!

Practical Estate Planning: Organize Your Documents on April 4th at The Veranda, Kingwood. 

 Help your family — and make your executor’s job easier — by getting your paperwork in order.  Estate planning isn’t just about legal issues — there are practical ones as well. Join Tamara Paul and myself to learn more about this at  Lunch and Learn at The Veranda, Kingwood.  Fee of $20 includes materials, lunch, tax and tip.   
 
To register, call 281-358-2820 or email info@verandakingwood.com

In our busy lives, information and paper come at us from all directions all the time! Where does all this come from? It comes in with the mail, from school or work, or in your purse! These items might require immediate action, might be dates and times to enter on our calendar, bills to pay, or addresses or service providers we may need later. The family command center is a space for information and paper that needs easy access and quick retrieval.

Our first decision is where best to create the space for this work zone. Where do you see these papers? In most homes, it is the kitchen since it is the hub of your home. However, if your home office is on the first floor and in a central part of your home, this is a great space to establish this area. You decide what works best for you.
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For papers begin by reviewing the current clutter. Start by deciding what to keep and what to toss. Be decisive! This ensures keeping only what you need. Continue by sorting your papers into the categories that work for you. Most people need these categories: to do, to pay, pending, and to file. Other categories include the names of each of your children and partner, weekly activities, other school and organizations’ papers.

Now that you have categories, decide what organizing product might assist you best in keeping these papers in order. Look around the space, measure the area for size, and think about your personal organizing style. Look for a desktop file suited to the décor of the space with hanging files to label with each category. You can also use wall pockets, one for each category, if you have h ave vertical space.  Be sure to choose a product you love and this will help you stay organized.
 

A family calendar is a vital tool in this area too!  Add a month at a glance calendar where everyone can record their activities.  Placing it where all the family can see it helps everyone stay on top of weekly plans. 

Establish family and personal routines for your family command center. Hold a family meeting once a week to update your calendar. Family members take turns as scribe to add information.  Designate an administrative time for you to work  on the command center. This routine usually takes just one hour a week, especially if you choose a time you are high energy to get the job done. Write your administrative time in your personal calendar to commit to the time and make yourself accountable to get the job done.

Creating a family command center makes the difference in keeping information accessible and easy to locate. Find the right space, the right categories, the right products and the right time to make this work for you. You benefit by having balance and peace of mind! Your family learns organizing systems and routines that will last a lifetime!