How I do it! 10 Organizing Tips by Janice Simon, MA, CPO

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 I love the concept of sharing our inside secrets as organizers. Throughout the month of May I have asked my colleagues to share what works for them.  I know you will enjoy this post from Janice Simon, in house organizer at M.D.Anderson.

 

Janice Marie Simon

I work as an in-house organizer at a Houston area hospital, and I also have a home I’m trying to renovate. Here are a few of the ways I organize myself.

  • Go digital whenever possible. I use Dropbox to house my documents and photos, Evernote to capture my ideas and things that catch my eye, Wunderlist keeps my action list handy, and the calendar with my email lets me know where I’m supposed to be. At work, I use a scanner to create PDF’s of anything that didn’t come to me electronically, and I’m starting the same process at home.
  • Write Stuff Down (WSD). I stumbled across this concept from a couple of bloggers, and it’s brilliant. I don’t keep things in my head, and I will readily admit that my head is not the best organizing tool. I write down everything I need to do or to buy on my calendar or action list. It doesn’t stay in my head, swirling around to wake me up at 3 a.m.
  • I have to be in love. If I don’t love something any longer or don’t use it, I donate it or give it to a friend who admired it. If something brings up bad feelings and bad mojo, it goes away.
  • Establish boundaries. I’ve learned to say no over the years, and I’ve set strong boundaries. When I go on vacation, I don’t look at work email. It can wait.
  • Take time off. And speaking of vacations, I take them. Since I work for a company, I practice what I preach to my colleagues. I don’t lose vacation time at the end of the fiscal year because I didn’t take enough time off.
  • Remember birthdays. Because I have 14 nieces, nephews, godchildren and other small fries who call me Auntie Janice, I keep all of their birthdays on my digital calendar. Since all but two live outside of Houston, I set the reminder to remind me a week ahead.
  • Everything in the closet must fit. If clothing doesn’t fit or I don’t like it or wear it, it goes. I only keep the items that I actually wear. I have a box in my closet where donated items go. Anything that is stained, torn, faded or otherwise unwearable goes in the trash. Charities spend millions of dollars sorting out trashed items in their donations, and I don’t want to be part of the problem.
  • Repurpose, reuse or recycle. I recycle all that I can recycle. If something can repurposed or reused in another manner, I’ll do that. It may take a little imagination, spray paint and creativity, but it’s nice to save money when you can reuse something.
  • The New Year Purge. The end of December is a great time to go through things at home to clear out anything I no longer love. I also go through digital and paper documents as well. At work, I clean out things at the end of the fiscal year and again at the end of the calendar year.
  • Pay bills online or automatically. All of my bills are either automatically withdrawn or paid online by going to their individual websites. I don’t go through my bank itself to do their bill pay, and this is because I don’t want to do it through them. Not that I’m bitter after the way they treated most of us during the recession. At least not much.
  • (BONUS TIP!) Reward yourself! When I make progress on a project, I reward myself with little things, such as dark chocolate or a pedicure. It’s important to remind yourself to take care of yourself and get plenty of rest.

  Janice Marie Simon, MA, CPO, is an in-house professional organizer at a Houston hospital and is  The Clutter Princess at www.theclutterprincess.com.

 

How I do it! 10 Organizing Tips from Certified Professional Organizer Ellen Delap

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09filessittingforinternet

I love to keep things simple.  I am a born organized person who wants to help others simplify, create order and help people live the life they imagined.  So I wanted to share some tips that I use to make each day a little more organized.

  • I love my planner! It helps me keep the big picture of my activities in a place where I can see them.  I am always going to be a paper type planner person, but I do back up recurring events on a technology calendar.  As soon as I commit to a date, I add it immediately to my planner.  I break tasks into small, baby steps to make sure I can accomplish them and add this to my planner too.
  • I seldom print out anything. If I have a paper, I only handle it once.  I know that I can find anything I need on the internet when I need it especially when I am looking for new information, a recipe, or even financial data.  I find what I need, when I need it.  (I recently made vegan cupcakes!)
  • I add partners or delegate when I need help on a task.  I work best on a team and my team members usually possess strengths I don’t have.
  • I keep my perfectionism under control.  I weigh the “Return On Investment” on whether to keep plugging at a task or know when it is done.
  • My closet is organized by color and I keep a bag to drop donations in regularly. Some people find it more useful to organize by type of clothing, such as work, play,  or party.
  • Lists rock! I use them for every day tasks, shopping, and reminders.
  • I sync my iphone and outlook to keep both my personal and business contacts together.  Having all my connections together and easily accessible makes it easy to stay connected.  Its easy to do this with any email program.
  • My favorite apps are Reminders and Notes.  I set alarms in Reminders and keep lists in Notes.  These apps are free on any smartphone.
  • I am a woman of great consistency. I love having the same bedtime, adhering to my weekly planning and admin time, and knowing that these routines serve me well.
  • I keep in touch with my priorities.  We can have it all, but not all at the same time.  We have seasons in our life and I am enjoying my current season of working as a professional organizer and productivity consultant.

 Learn more on my pinterest board! http://pinterest.com/EllenDelap/how-i-do-it-organizing-tips-and-more/

 

Service to NAPO Award 2013

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napo 2013 award with president croped

 

This year I was honored at the National Conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers with the Service to NAPO Award.  This special award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to NAPO or the organizing industry not described under other award categories.

My service to NAPO began as soon as I joined our organization. I have been privileged to serve on the Education, Leadership Task Force, Social Media, Marketing and Conference Committees, in addition to being the Conference Committee Chair in 2008.  Locally, I have been the Vice President and President of NAPO Houston.  Being on these committees has given me the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and promote our industry.  I always choose to serve in a way that uses my strengths and in a way that builds a team.  After 12 years of service, I have more to give too!

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with my colleagues and make a difference in our industry.   It is an honor to be recognized with this award.

Spring Organizing: Its the Little Things ~ Crafts

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organize your crafts

Getting your crafts back into order in the spring makes crafting more fun! We are busy with our kids and jobs, and then our crafts get all wonky! Having a great station for crafts is the first step, but re-organizing them each spring to be sure they are easy to access and categorized by how we use them makes this hobby so much more fun.

The craft station is located in the kitchen, where mess is not a problem. It is set up in a large open cabinet that is an open without shelves. My client and I used the Container Store Busy Boxes(C) for grouping crafts. The Busy Boxes have wheels and becomes carts, which makes them easy to move next to the table. Each section of the Busy Box is different heights so we can take advantage of the vertical space. They are easily attached or separated from each other to be a tray for the craft too.

Within about 30 minutes, we were able to transform the space back to its original organized look and function.

What about the crafts in your home? How are you getting back your organization in your hobby space?

Images courtesy of The Container Store, www.containerstore.com.

Spring Organizing: Its the Little Things: Your Purse

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Spring organizing is all about the little things. Organizing your purse can be the biggest little organizing you can do.  Click on this video to see how I organize my purse.

Click and Ellen shares how she organized her purse.

Ready to start your spring organizing?

Spring Cleaning and Organizing: Guest Post by Katie McCall

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 I love learning other’s perspectives on organizing. Enjoy this guest post by ABC13 Weekend Anchor Katie McCall and her “take” on organizing. 

I came up with this blog while jogging at Memorial Park.  I love the fact that the park belongs to everyone.  You don’t need a membership.  Organizing is the same in that regard.  It is also a great “equalizer.”  Anyone can organize.  It doesn’t matter if you have 2 pairs of shoes or 20.  You can organize anything you have.  It costs you nothing, and, if you do purchase organizing items, there are very affordable ones, at places like Target, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls Home Goods.  Organizing is universal.     

At the start of each season, I like to shift my clothing and shoes around, placing my most-worn items in one closet, and organizing the winter items for storage in a less-accessible place.   I ask myself helpful questions that Ellen Delap has taught to so many people:  Do I have a place for this?  How is that space working for these items?  If you can give everything a place, you are giving yourself a wonderful gift.  You won’t have to worry about “where to stick” your sweaters, for example, because you’ve identified a place where they will live, so you can always find them there.  I also love Ellen’s concept of honoring your things by giving them a place.  When you complete your organizing, you receive a no-cost gift to you, from you: the serenity of having a place for everything, and everything in its place.     

Tools that I enjoy are cheap, for the most part.  I like to use clear shoe boxes, or the box in which my shoes came, to get the most use of my vertical space.  I recommend stacking your shoes along one wall, or placing shelves from the floor to the ceiling in any area that works for you, and making that your shoes’ home.

Sweaters are a challenge, so I keep all of them, regardless of the season, in one chest of drawers.  All of my blazers go together, they are neighbors with my skirts.  I put pants and dresses together, one on either side of a closet.  You can improvise with portable racks, if your closets are small.   The Container Store and Target sell accessories that can give you more space, but are attractive. 

The bathroom closet and the cabinets under the sink can be a challenge.  So is the linen closet.  Here’s my simple solution for both areas.  Group things by category.  Grab some plastic bins or baskets that fit in that space (it helps to measure before you shop), and put everything that “goes together,” in a bin.  Example: pillow cases are in one bin, sheets are in another.  Sunscreen is in one bin, soaps and scrubs are in another.  Razors, replacement blades, pedicure and manicure tools all “live” together.  This can be done in 20 minutes per area.  You’ll never dig around in the darkness.  You just pull out a bin. 

Finally, a word about “white space.”  Ellen uses this word, and I love it.  By organizing your papers, filing them in filing cabinets by category, and by giving things like magazines an attractive basket or bin that you can also display on your shelves, you can significantly increase your “white space.”  It’s the space where there is nothing.  I find that it brings serenity and order to any area.  What a great gift! You might be surprised to see how organizing, which many people think of as “work,” can actually be fun, if you think of it as a time when you’re creating a space that you will enjoy for years to come.

Spring Organizing: Garage Sale Savvy!

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Thinking of a garage sale this month? Check out my blog post on Organize to Revitalize!

http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2013/04/01/5-steps-to-organize-a-family-garage-sale/

Spring Organizing: Its the Little Things: Junk Drawer

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Get started on your spring organizing with the little things! Your junk drawer may be out of control! Spend just 5 minutes getting it back to organized!

Click and see this junk drawer!

How’s your junk drawer? 

Start Your Spring Organizing with Dollar Store Organizing Products

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Organizing products can be durable, effective and inexpensive. 

At a recent trip to several dollar stores in our area, here is what I found.  Some of these same items are available at Target, WalMart and the Container Store, but cost only a $1 here!

  • Set of 3 small white cubes. Use these in your vanity for makeup or hair products or in your desk for clips and post-it notes.
  • Sterilite DVD or CD holder. Use these for media containment, one for each type of media.
  • CD notebook for your car.  Or at home and eliminate case chaos.
  • Set of 3 toiletry bottles for travel.  Get your travel bag together and keep it organized with these bottles.
  • Cord or holiday light holder to wind your cords around.  Nothing worse what cords tangled and in a knot.
  • Plate holder for your dishes. Double stack and add extra storage in your kitchen.
  • Ice cube trays for jewelry or office supplies.  Easy way to get access to accessories.
  • Cupcake carrier.  And you know, I am bonkers for cupcakes!

Visit your local dollar store and share what did you find!

Reflections of a Chief Junker

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I am thrilled to have my friend Tiffany Eckhardt share some reflections as owner of Flown the Coop.  What you think of her perspective on her stuff?

Everything in my home has a price tag.  Seriously, there is a tag on just about everything.  

 I once asked my Flown The Coop Facebook friends if keeping inventory tags on treasures at home was normal.  I was feeling a bit awkward when visitors came to my home until friends in the industry confirmed that I was not alone.

 As chief junker at Flown The Coop, I have the privilege of buying and selling unique pieces of furniture, reclaimed industrial pieces for home use and kitschy vintage items.   

I love acquiring and enjoying my treasures for a time, then setting them free to be enjoyed by another family.  For example, I recently decided to let go of a huge letter E that served as a unique focal point in our living room.  The letter came from a discarded Office Depot sign and sat behind our couch on a table as a conversation piece.  Honestly, as much as I loved it, I took just as much pleasure in knowing the gentleman who bought the E was thrilled with his new treasure.  

I try not to get attached to my treasures, except priceless family heirlooms or treasures that I bought traveling with my husband.  I’ve learned that I can eventually find replacements for pieces that I let go.  For that reason, I rarely take my Flown The Coop inventory tags off pieces I use in my home.  Eventually the piece will return to inventory and be replaced by another equally unique treasure.  

 I imagine keeping the tags on furniture or pieces of art would be embarrassing for most people.  I don’t encourage it.  What I am proposing is to keep an open mind about items that create clutter.  Letting go of items in your home that no longer serve a purpose can be freeing and can make room for a new decor.  I guarantee someone will consider your junk as treasure.  

 Enjoy your treasures, but when it’s time feel free to let them go!  

Tiffany Eckhardt and her family recently moved from Ohio to their new home in the Houston Heights.  She is chief junker at Flown The Coop, a business that reclaims and repurpose furniture, industrial pieces and kitschy vintage items.  You can find Flown The Coop at Chippendale Eastlake Antiques and at Urban Market Houston, Warrenton Antique Week and the Dallas Market.  Follow her flight pattern on her Facebook page.  Learn more about Tiffany at http://www.chippendaleon19th.com/  and http://2flownthecoop.com/