Tackle A Tiny Area: Laundry Room

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Small steps lead to big accomplishments! Tackling a tiny area can make a difference in your home or office. This summer we are taking a tour of these projects and creating a plan for you. This project is the laundry room.

Laundry is an important process in our homes and for ourselves and our family. Having a well stocked, efficient space makes it easy to get this job done. 

Set your timer for one hour.  Eliminate trash first, then recycle plastic containers.  Pull out the items that are unused and donate these.  With the items that remain, group these together by categories, such as lightbulbs, cleaning, glue and tape,  pets, and laundry.  Decide if items truly belong in the garage and distribute these at the end of your hour.

Even a laundry room can be a place of beauty! Uniform, attractive containers make the difference.  Label the containers to help you and your family maintain order. Think about painting the walls a color you love too!

Laundry stuck in this room forever? Invite your family to the “laundry party” and purchase one laundry basket per person.  This way you can distribute laundry to each person’s room effortlessly, with each person putting away their own laundry.  If laundry is leaving and not getting put away in  your kid’s room, have them watch a movie, fold and put on hangers, and then set a timer for 5 minutes to put it away.  Give your family a deadline and a date to get this done every week. 

What ways are you tackling your laundry area?

Summer Routines start NOW!

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summer routines

 

 

 

Here is it, the first week of summer vacation.  Its time to start a new routine for you and your family, transitioning to ways your family can make the most of summer.  Summer routines start now!

  • Have a family meeting where you talk about what summer means to each family member.  Talk about how you can be a team this summer and about each person’s growth.  It can be working together on a family project or fun activities. For individuals, it can be becoming a better reader, building more confidence with math (for parents this is balancing your checkbook), taking on a new challenging sport (I see moms who are becoming triathaletes), or just deciding you are going to have more family time together.
  • Write up a checklist for your kids to accomplish each day, including chores and their chosen challenge.  Decide on a completion time for the checklist, so without controversy and conversation it is done.
  • Establish a bedtime for parents and kids this summer, including curfews for older kids.

Starting your summer routine also requires commitment. If these routines do not go as planned, press the “reset button” and start again the next day.

What routines are you starting this summer?

Join me for summer fun!

Tackle a Tiny Area: Linen Closet

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Small steps lead to big accomplishments!  Tackling a tiny area can make a difference in your home or office.  This summer we are taking a tour of these projects and creating a plan for you.  This project is the linen closet. 

It starts out as just a small mistep.  You are in a hurry and drop your towel on the floor. Then company is coming and you swoosh it into the linen closet.  Then you don’t know what to do with something in your room, so you open the linen closet and drop in something totally random.  And then you are so overwhelmed each time you open the door, how you could ever get organized?

How do you tackle this tiny area? Set your timer for one hour! Have 2 garbage bags ready, one to drop in what is to be donated and one that is for trash.  Start at the top shelf, taking each item out and deciding what to do with it. If you are keeping it, establish categories like first aid, medications, body wash, make up, travel, and any others. Any items that need to be distributed to the rest of your home, start a group by the door just for distribution.

Once you have decided what to keep, decide what will keep these categories together.  Is it a functional clear plastic shoe box or a pretty wicker tote? Now you know how many to buy, so measure your space.  You can order online at Amazon or make a quick trip to a local store to purchase these items.  Remember you will be labeling this container to maintain order too. 

Tackling this tiny area has big rewards! Now you now what you have, you can easily find it rather than purchase duplicates, and your success will push you forward in the next area you tackle!

Let me know how your baby steps in organizing is coming along!

Get organized for your vacation

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get organized for your vacation

 

Summer’s here! And we are ready to get on the road or to the airport.  Getting out of town and getting ready to travel can be very overwhelming.  Here are a few tips to get started, get going and get organized.

  • Start early. Flights are cheaper 21 days in advance.  Hotel availability is better with advance notice.  Pull out your calendars and make a plan to know what dates will work best for your family to go on vacation.  Be sure to steer clear of beginnings and endings of big projects, as well as clear your calendar for a day after you return too.  Your transition back to reality will be much happier.
  • Get packing in this sequence: complete laundry, make list of attire, lay out clothes to view, then pack in suitcase.  In order to be ready, complete laundry well in advance so you can pack well in advance.
  • Create checklists.  A packing list ensures nothing is left behind.  A vacation checklist ensures that your mail will be picked up, your pets cared for, and all the other details of home management while away. This is a substancial checklist provided by TravelSmith.  http://www.travelsmith.com/TravelSmith/US/TravelCenter/guide-packing-checklist/landing-path?SourceCode=GCRSS003&cm_mmc=SEM%20NonBrand-_-Packing%20List-_-Google-_-keyword=travel+packing+checklist
  • Pre-load your digital fun.  Upload to your kindle, itouch, and other digital devices a week in advance.
  •  Think about using the app TripIt on your smartphone. You can consolidate information in a paperless way. You can store your paper documents in a special travel binder, adding items as you make reservations and plans.
  • Get ready with coupons online from fun venues at your destination.  Print or add to your smartphone to access these.
  • Smartphone apps can help too.  Gowalla gives you ideas at your destination.  GasBuddy gives you locations for cheaper gas on your trip. Weatherbug gives you up to date weather forecasts.
  • Pack the essentials in your carry on. Snacks, kid friendly fun, hand sanitizer, and your digital chargers are a must for getting there.

What are your ways to get organized for a vacation?

Get Organized with Microsoft Outlook

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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!

Decisions and decluttering

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decisions and decluttering

 

 

Decluttering is all about making decisions.  What to keep or release? What category is this item in?  Where do I store it to know I have it?  How many should I keep? These decisions can be hard!

 

Why is decision making so difficult? Maybe you need the affirmation that you are making the “right” decision.  Maybe you need ideas and could choose one to be the final decision. Maybe you need the energy and focus to think clearly about a decision? Maybe you have never had practice making decisions.  Maybe you are too overwhelmed to know what decisions need to be made.  Research shows that not only cognitive ability plays into decision making, but also emotions.  All of these aspects come into play when decisions and decluttering are linked.

 

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?

 

 

More ideas on decluttering in my monthly newsletter! Join here!

Earth Day: Easy, Convenient Recycling in Kingwood and Houston

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

 

Kingwood TX recycling

 

 

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.
  • 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, 281-560-6200281-560-6200 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(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.

 

5 Small Starts to Organizing

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getting started organizing with 5 small spots

 

 

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?

Need an organizing boost? Get my newsletter monthly!

 

Kingwood Library Presentation: Organizing Your Garage

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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!

Eliminate paper now!

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paper management

 

The first step in less filing is getting less paper! Here are some ways to make it happen.

1.  Eliminate catalogs with www.catalogchoice.org.

2. Get your Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) online through your medical insurance company.  Create a log in and password, then set up the email account to notify you.

3. Use E-vites instead of invites. View paperlesspost.com for lovely invitations by email.

4. If you find articles to clip from the newspaper, find the article online instead. You can find it by the name of the author and the date of printing.  Save these with a bookmark in your computer.

5. Stop clipping recipes and use allrecipes.com to find the ingredients and more.

6. Need a map? Use your GPS, google maps, or your smart phone navigation.

7. Add coupons to your email and smart phone through online sites.  See how on http://shortcuts.com/.

8.  Want to scan in your papers?  Try using the Fujitsu ScanSnap!

What ways have you eliminated paper at your home or office?