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!

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?

Is it really this simple?  Thanks to the Wall Street Journal!

More from this article! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204296804577124742529431640.html

I am honored to be a part of an amazing group of presenters, sharing information and more.  Get ready to stop constantly riding the brake on your business and shift into OVERDRIVE!  Listen in for free from your computer, phone or skype!

• Fire up your personal performance.
• Unleash your profit potential™.
• Discover new strategies to manage the demands of running your own business.
• Get a handle on the minutia and details that prevent you from doing the ‘heavy lifting’ to move your business to the next level.
• Quiet the ‘fear voices’ and manifest a larger vision for your company.
• Have a profitable business and time for what’s important to you!
• Live a richer, more fulfilling life
• Have powerful support systems that allow you to free up time and grow your business at the same time.
• And lots more!!  Check out the session descriptions below.

Fire Up Your Biz – Enrich Your Life was born from the 1000s of conversations that we have had with business owners just like you about what holds them back from really going where they want to go with their business.

Join us for the fun and learning!  https://war91778.infusionsoft.com/go/FireUp/EDelap

So many people want to get organized for the New Year, but if you are on a budget or don’t otherwise have access to hire a professional organizer, I wanted to share with you a resource to help and let you know about a special deal.  In 2006 organizing expert Lorie Marrero created The Clutter Diet®, an innovative online program that helps you “get your house in shape.” Her program has helped thousands of members in eighteen countries around the world, making organizing expertise affordable and accessible to anyone, anywhere.  As  you know, I am on of the five online Experts too!

When you use the coupon code “2012win”, you will receive 25% off an Annual membership! This discount is the lowest possible price Lorie offers.

Annual memberships are usually $143.40, but with this coupon code your price is 25% off, just $107, good through Monday, January 16 at midnight CDT. In other words, it costs you only $8.92/month to have unlimited access to organizing experts for personal consultations online!

The best part of all– If you are concerned whether this program is right for you, no worries, because your first two weeks are free!  You can sign up for the Annual membership with this coupon code and your card will not be charged until 2 weeks later, and you can cancel at any time. We feel great about recommending Lorie and her team, because there is no risk involved.

 For comparison:
Month-to-month Clutter Diet membership: $17.95/month ($215.40/yr)
Normal price for annual membership: $11.95/month ($143.40/yr prepaid)
Usual price PER HOUR with a professional organizer in person: $75.00+ per HOUR
YOUR PRICE: $8.92/month ($107/yr prepaid)

Get organized with these member resources:

• unlimited access, 7 days a week, to a team of Certified Professional Organizers® for personal consulting in the member area, including photo consultations,  

• easy multimedia tutorials,  
• searchable reference articles, 
• your own customized reminder system, 
• and their exclusive weekly project plans…  

…all for about the price of a box of trash bags or a package of coffee.

Click here 

http://www.clutterdiet.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=1403

Choose “ANNUAL” option, and enter the coupon code 2012win to get started with your free two weeks and lock in this very special discount price. After January 16 at midnight, annual memberships will cost $143.40.

Your first week takes you through Lorie’s 7-Day Quickstart [use your affiliate link here] program, a week of focused guidance to help you choose a project, plan it out, and get it DONE! Then you get an additional 7 days of full access and support at no charge before your special discount price is applied.

FTC Disclosure: Occasionally in this newsletter we may have links to other companies’ products which provide us with a commission if you purchase from our link. We want you to know that we feature only products here that we absolutely believe in and getting a commission on them is just a smart bonus if we happen to have a link available to us… We are at all times looking out for what is best for our readers and our reputation. Thank you!

Organizing your time takes many different steps to get the job done.  Having one great calendar and an effective way to manage your tasks and lists are the first step.  Carving out a weekly  planning time pulls together these great tools.  Stephen Covey and David Allen both incorporate this routine into their strategies.  This time helps you create a proactive plan!

• Weekly planning time is when you pull together your lists, assess upcoming events and add a plan to your calendar.
• Start by setting an undistracted time for you to “meet” with your planner.  This should be added to your calendar as an appointment!  A good time may be Friday before the end of work, Sunday afternoon as you are getting ready for the week, or any time that really works for you.
•  Gather together your tools of your planner, your lists, any emails or papers with upcoming events, projects you are leading or collaborating, and any other date driven activities. 
• Add all new dates and update any existing dates, then add small reminders, consolidate errands, project out baby steps for a big project, and generally scan for bumps in the road coming up.
• If you use a technology planner, no problem! Same strategy with this tool! 

Take this routine to the next level with a Family Meeting too.  Gather your family on Sunday evening, with all their calendars and your family calendar (paper, Cozi, or google calendar) and set this time for planning purposes.  Not only will you have family communication, collaboration and cohesiveness will be a big bonus.

Let me know how you are doing with your weekly planning time!

24th Annual Conference

Attention Deficit Disorders Association – Southern Region

Friday and Saturday – February 17 & 18, 2012

Sheraton North Houston Hotel – Houston, TX

This event is designed for parents, educators, adults with ADD and healthcare professionals. The general session speaker will be Thomas Matthews, M.D., with UT San Antonio covering updated trends in ADHD. Author Chris Dendy will present several sessions addressing teen issues. Thirty breakout sessions address wide variety of topics including behavior management, life skills, medication, educational law, related conditions and classroom strategies. Join me at the session Organizing Your ADD Family on Friday.  For further information call 281-897-0982, or visit www.adda-sr.org

Ready to make a big break in decluttering?  Not sure where to start?  Sometimes it is best to start with the easy eliminations to make a quick visual and emotional difference.  Choose a few that are really easy for you!

1. Boxes

I find that families keep toy boxes, shirt boxes, shoe boxes and boxes galore!  Now that boxes are free at the post office for shipping, keep only a small number of different size boxes for mailing.  If you think you may return a product, keep the box only until you have confirmed your decision.  Only keep 2 of those shoes boxes for upcoming school projects please!

2. Tee shirts

Each race we run, vacation bible school we attend, and school alumni celebration adds to our tee shirt collection.  It is time to pare down to a number that can fit in a drawer or hang in a section of your closet.  What number depends on you.   A memory quilt is a good next step if you are not ready to part with these.

3. Ball caps

We all have our favorite!  Pull a few together, hang them in an easy access space, and part with the remainder.

4.  Single use kitchen items

Some of the least useful are often the most space hogging items!  If you have more than one miscellaneous kitchen drawer, go through and pare down to one drawer.  In the newly empty drawer you can fit hand towels or pot holders.   When was the last time you used that breadmaker, fondue pot, or air popcorn popper?

5. Toys that your kids have outgrown.

Our kids are blessed with an abundance of toys.  Keep a few that you consider to be keepsakes.  Ask you kids to be a part of the decision making process. Donate to local philanthropies to make a difference. 

6. Cookbooks

Who doesn’t want to have a wonderful home cooked dinner on the table? But having more cookbooks than needed does not make you a better mom or an Iron Chef.  Pare down to what you really love and use.  Think about using allrecipes.com or the internet to find recipes too.

7. Extra towels

You get new towels, but the old ones are put in the back of the closet or in the garage.  Keep a few for those big spills, a few for padding, and move the rest on!

8. Cell phones

Cellphones for Soldiers takes your old cell phone and turns it into a phone card for our service people.  It is free to send it off too!  As soon as you get your new phone, send the old one packing. 

9.  Junk mail

Stand over the recycle bin, just inside the garage before you enter the house, and drop in the junk mail.  Right away you feel better!  We are overwhelmed when the mail comes, so just have this baby step as the first step to getting in gear with paper.

10.  Receipts

More than ever, the clerk asks if you want your receipt.  Answer no if it is at Starbucks, at the gas station if you don’t keep a mileage record, at locations with small purchases, and where you think a return is not necessary.  Having fewer receipts keeps them from piling up!

What are the easiest eliminations for you?