Before stocking the pantry with items for your Thanksgiving feast, organize it. Clear off one shelf at a time. Check expiration dates. Remove all expired items. Donate anything you won’t use before the expiration date to the local food bank. Group like items together and put back in the pantry with the closest expiration dates in front.
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Putting things away is a very important part of organizing. It needs to be simple and easy. If it isn’t easy, we don’t do it. Therefore, a simple storage solution is the best solution.
For example a client of mine mentioned that she was frustrated with her children for leaving their dirty clothes on the floor where they took them off. I asked her where she wanted the dirty clothes. She walked into the bathroom, opened a linen closet, slid out the hamper, took off the lid, and pointed inside. I then asked her where her children changed into their pjs at night. She said right inside her bedroom door. So, she was confronted with a pile of dirty clothes each time she entered her bedroom. I’m sure we can all understand why she was frustrated. Laundry is a never ending chore that is only simplified with help from all family members. Can you guess at the solution we found? We found one that was simple and easy for her children to adopt. We moved the hamper to a spot by her bedroom door and took off the lid, and let all the children know that they were expected to put their dirty clothes in the hamper.
Another example is a client of mine explained how frustrated she was when her children left their bicycles all over the place. They were in jeopardy of getting run over when they were left in the driveway. They were always getting wet when they were left out in the rain. They were tripped over when they were left by the back door. I asked her where she wanted the bicycles to be when not in use. She answered honestly, that there was no specific spot for the bicycles to be put away, but in the winter they were up on hooks in the garage. This is understandable. Often, seasonal items are either in use or packed away. So, after some discussion we came up with a simple solutions. We used tape to mark off parking spots for the bicycles in the garage. We also labeled each parking spot and let all the children know that they were expected to park their bicycles in their spots at night.
In both of these examples we were able to find a simple storage solution with some discussion and planning. I encourage you to do the same. Keeping things organized will be much easier if you do.
© October 2016 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer® All Rights Reserved
Schedule yearly bathroom purges to help keep your space organized. Items to purge include outdated lotions, makeup, and topical skin products, broken bath toys, soiled bath linens, and expired medications and prescriptions. The Drug Enforcement Administration website has information on safe drug disposal and the national drug take-back initiative in October.
In June 2016 my husband and I played the 30-Day Minimalism Game. We each got rid of 930 things. (See how we did it.) For me, one of the most challenging things was to get rid of paper. We agreed that it wouldn’t be fair to count one sheet of paper as one item. So, we counted 25 sheets of paper as one item. Guess how many sheets of paper I got rid of?
I got rid of 1300 sheets of paper! (In addition to other things!) Shocking. Right? Where did it all come from? I’m an Organizer. I shouldn’t have this much paper. This was important paper that held important knowledge. Wasn’t it?
No, not most of it. Are you wondering how I got rid of all that paper? I did it with a 4 step plan.
Step one of my plan was to carve out some time to get rid of paper. I know from working with my clients that paper always takes the most time to organize. That’s why I dedicated 10 hours to get rid of paper. I gave myself at least one hour a night to work. I picked my starting point, my business files, all my business building suggestions, conference notes, marketing tips, networking strategies, business cards, and organizing statistics. Then got to work.
Step two was to get rid of all my easy-to-toss papers. Papers in this category were the duplicate business cards, the outdated business cards, the multiple copies of business cards, the outdated information, and the information in which I was no longer interested. These papers were easy-to-toss, because letting them go didn’t require a lot of thought or effort. Once all the easy-to-toss papers were out of the way, I could look at the rest.
Step three was to decide what to keep from the papers that remained. This paper held information that was, at one time, important to me. But was it still important? How could I decide? What questions would help me? How could I make myself answer honestly. Would guidelines help? This is what I came up with:
These questions were very helpful. I was able to let go of a lot of paper that I had previously kept. However, there was still more to do. I wanted to get rid of more paper. It was necessary to carve out more time. Another deadline was in order.
Step four is reading through the remaining papers. It’s still happening. I’m taking two hours each week to read and decide. Some I have kept. Others I have tossed. The questions and guidelines in step three help me. It’s an ongoing process, but organizing always is.
©July 2016 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer® All rights reserved
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