Organizing habits Archives • Page 11 of 14 • Helpful Organizer

Exit Strategy

March 15, 2017/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Do you have a plan for getting rid of stuff? If you did, would you get rid of more stuff? I have found that having a plan for getting rid of stuff helps me keep control of all the things I bring into my space. I call this plan an exit strategy, and it helps me stay organized. It can help you too. An exit strategy is the steps taken to remove material possessions from our spaces that are no longer needed, used, appreciated, or cherished. The end result of an exit strategy is that a particular item is gone from our space, and we no longer need to do something with it or think about it.

Example #1 – exit strategy for any type of invitation

Receive invitation. RSVP to invitation. Put details of invitation on calendar. Recycle paper invitation or delete email invitation.

Example #2 – exit strategy for any type of toy

Acquire toy. Play with toy. If toy breaks or pieces go missing, fix or replace pieces within 3 months or get rid of it. Donate or sell toy within 1-3 years if it’s no longer being used. A wonderful place to donate small toys is Cradles to Crayons in Brighton, MA.

Example #3 – exit strategy for any type of coupon

Receive coupons. Immediately recycle any coupons you know you won’t use. Store the rest of the coupons in a specific location until they can be used. Two storage options for coupons are in a basket on the refrigerator, or in a zip lock bag in your purse. Sort through coupons on the first of every month and recycle all the outdated ones.

Example #4 – exit strategy for any type of electronic device

Acquire electronic device. Use electronic device. If electronic device breaks or pieces go missing, fix or replace pieces within 3 months or get rid of it. Donate, sell, or recycle electronic device within 1-3 years if it’s no longer being used. (Want ideas on what to do with the box that the electronic device came in?) A great place to recycle electronics is Indie Cycle, and a place to sell electronics is Decluttr.

Example #5 – exit strategy for any type of kitchen gadget

Acquire kitchen gadget. Use kitchen gadget. If kitchen gadget breaks or pieces go missing, fix or replace pieces within 3 months or get rid of it. Donate, sell, or recycle kitchen gadget within 1-3 years if it’s no longer being used. (Want ideas on how to organize a kitchen junk drawer?)

An exit strategy helps us stay organized and in control of what comes into our space. Planning ahead is key to being successful. One way to plan ahead is to establish your exit strategies with a list of donation options attached.

Useful Things

March 1, 2017/0 Comments/in Tip of the Month/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

The world is full of useful things, but if you’re not using them, they are not useful to you. So, remove all those things that are not useful to you, by giving, donating, recycling, or removing them every week. This helps prevent clutter from happening and piles from building.

Prevent Clutter

January 1, 2017/0 Comments/in Tip of the Month/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

A great way to prevent clutter is to stop it from coming in the door in the first place. Put a trash can, recycle bin, and shred container in the garage, and use them to clean out the clutter from the car, your purse, your work bag, and school backpacks. Also use them to toss or shred as much mail as possible before bringing it into the house.

Get Rid of Stuff

November 15, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

It’s hard to get rid of stuff. I know. Holding onto stuff is much easier. I know. Gift bags and tissue paper that I’ve received, I’m holding onto because I intend to reuse them. The same applies to the vases from flowers I’ve received. Shopping bags and take out containers have multiplied in my cupboard. Boxes from recent purchases take up valuable space in my closet. Coupons and receipts fill a pocket in my purse. Face creams, lotions, and scrubs that have been rejected, sit in my bathroom cabinet. I’m not even going to mention greeting cards, instruction manuals, catalogues, adapters, or outdated phones and other devices.

Can you relate? Do you have similar items or even bigger items? Unfortunately, stuff accumulates unless we get rid of it. We have to make a conscious effort to remove stuff from our homes, otherwise piles grow and clutter happens. One successful way I’ve found to combat the piles and clutter is to remove more than you bring in, at least one day a week. If you can do two days a week, that’s even better.

You may be asking yourself, what does that look like? Let me share with you how I removed more than I brought in for a day. Here is a list of items that I brought into my house one day last week:

prescription with receipt and coupons printed on the receipt
5 pieces of mail
one purchase with credit card slip
donation receipt

Here is a list of stuff I got rid of that same day:

everyday trash
everyday recycling
returned book to library
gave 3 lists of resources to a friend
took old TV to dump
dropped off 4 pairs of shoes for donation
dropped off 5 items of electronic recycling

I brought in a total of 11 items and got rid of a total of 16 items. I must admit, I had the urge to clean out the donations and recycling that had been collecting in my garage, and that’s what made this a successful “get rid of stuff” day. The key is to have at least one “get rid of stuff” day a week. Be consistent. That is what will help combat the piles and clutter.

Another successful way to prevent accumulation is to not bring anything in. Have at least one day a week where nothing comes in. I’m not saying leave things in the garage for a day or hid them for a day. I’m saying make a conscious effort to make no purchases and allow nothing new to enter your home for a day. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?

Do you Reduce?

October 28, 2016/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Content

Do you reduce?

Recycle Resource

Shoe Drive

Side Notes:

*** I have one more classe in my fall line up. You can obtain more details about this Clearing the Clutter Class on my website. I’ll be offering more classes in the spring. Hope to see you in class.

*** I’m happy to share that I’m the NAPO-New England Volunteer of the Month for my contributions as a Success Group leader, as a BCPO liaison, and for recommending SOWMA as the non-profit organization we helped through our LET’S GO campaign. logosqr.

*** Question: Do you pay for off site storage? Please share your answer.

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Hi Janine,

The splendor of autumn is upon us, and I’m enjoying nature’s colorful display, but we all know what comes next… gift-giving-season. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the holidays, and take great pleasure in giving, but I’m not enthusiastic about being pressured to buy more, and more, and more. Therefore, I give intangible gifts. I give experience, and I give consumable items. Here is a list of Organizer friendly gift ideas that I’d like to share. I hope you find it helpful.

Do you reduce?

Let’s face it. We live in a consumer based society. It’s fun to shop. It’s fun to give gifts. It’s fun to hunt and track down the best bargains. It is so easy to bring stuff into our homes, but it is much more difficult to get it out. So, what do you do with it all?A large part of organizing is getting rid of stuff we no longer need, want, or use. I call it reducing. When we reduce, we minimize what has to be organized, and we eliminate clutter. Therefore, getting rid of stuff (reducing) needs to happen often.

When I say often, I mean weekly. We take out the trash weekly. So, reduce at the same time. Set up a donation bin by the trash, and add to it weekly. Then once a month, or when the donation bin is full, donate the items. For a few suggestions on where to donate read the blog articles listed below and click here.

Tag Archive for: Organizing habits