Tag Archive for: organizing tips

Repurpose & Organize

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re-purpose mugsI’m often asked by a potential clients if they can purchase any organizing products in preparation of our work appointment. My answer is usually no. (The exception is when we’re working in a brand new space.) The reason for my “no” answer, is that in the process of organizing we uncover, discover, locate, unearth, and find plenty of items that can be re-purposed as suitable organizing products. Re-purposing items in our spaces allows us to be more economical and environmentally conscious.

Here are a few examples of how I re-purposed products in my home:

1. Re-purposed coffee mugs holding
brushes, razors, and pens
re-purpose mugs 2. Re-purposed notepaper boxes
holding ziplock bags and garbage bags
re-purpose stationery boxes3. Re-purposed bread container holding
measuring cups and small baking tools

 

© May 2014 Janine Cavanaugh, CPO® All rights reserved

NAPO

Proud member of NAPO

Organizing Mail

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mail boxDo you ignore the the daily acts of collecting, sorting, and processing the mail?  Dose it go away?  No!  It just keeps piling up.  I find that a routine helps me keep the mail organized and prevents piles from forming.

My mail routine:

  1.  Sort into my mail vs. my husband’s mail (he gets to open and process is own mail)
  2.  Open it as soon as I bring it in the house, if not then, by the end of the day
  3.  Put open pieces in their predetermined homes
  •  Bills go in bill pay box by computer
  •  Coupons go in box on top of fridge
  •  Flyers, advertisements, and solicitations get briefly viewed then recycled
  •  Junk mail gets immediately recycled
  •  Statements or the like, get filed right away
  •  Mail to read gets put in my “to read” location
  •  Mail that requires action goes into my action folder

Organizing guidelines help me stay on top of the mounting mail, as well.

Here are my guidelines:

  1.  My timeframe to open the mail is right away or by the end of the day
  2.  I have predetermined homes for pieces of mail to land
  3.  I immediately recycle as much as I can
  4.  I’m not the mail opener for the whole household
  5.  I consciously make an effort to reduce the amount of mail I receive

Mail is delivered 6 days a week, whether we view it or not.  So, stop ignoring it, and establish organizing routines and guidelines in order to stay on top of it.

© March 2014  Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®  All rights reserved

NAPO

Proud member of NAPO

tiny house key

Daily Organizing

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DoorUpon returning home from getting my hair cut, I realized how many little things I organized.  I can name 10 steps I took:

  1.   Hung up my keys
  2.   Hung up my coat
  3.   Put my gloves and hat away
  4.   Took of my boots and put them on the mat
  5.   Put my pocketbook away
  6.   Took my check book out of my pocketbook and put it back where it belongs
  7.   Put my book away (I brought a book to read at the hairdressers.)
  8.   Wrote my next hair appointment in my datebook
  9.   Tossed the hair appointment notice
  10.   Collected the mail and put it in it’s “to sort” location (I won’t go into the steps I took to process the mail.  That’s a whole other blog entry.)

So, are you asking why I’m discussing the details of my return-home-routine?  The small habits and routines we do on a daily basis help us keep our belongings, information, and environment organized.  Without my routines, there is a greater chance of misplacing things, of appointments getting missed, and of items getting lost.  Having a home for my keys, pocketbook, checkbook, etc. is the first step to creating order, but unless I take the time, each time I return home, to actually put them there, the order doesn’t last.  It works the same for my next hair appointment.  Having a datebook for me to write in my next appointment is the first step to creating order.  The follow up steps are to write my appointments in the datebook, and to reference it daily, so I won’t miss appointments.  Therefore, I’d like to wager that if you’re willing to preform daily organizing habits and routines upon returning home, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an organizing success.

 

© February 2014, Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®  All Rights Reserved

NAPO

Proud member of NAPO

Ketchup & White Out

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ketchup_bottle_2white-out-bottleIt’s February and 2014 is in full swing.  Is it getting a bit busy with commitments, activities, projects, obligations and responsibilities?  Is your calendar overstuffed?  Do you have too many obligations and not enough time to get it all done?  I have a suggestion, leave space for ketchup and white out on your calendar.

Ketchup = time on your calendar to catch up
White out = time on your calendar that is intentionally whited out with no appointments or obligations

This is a helpful tool that reminds us that it’s important to purposefully  leave open pockets of time on our calendar, because this provides us with time to catch up to the fast pace of life.  By leaving blank time on our calendar, we give ourselves time to pause, breath, reflect, and organize.  Who doesn’t need that?

 

© February 2014  Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®  All rights reserved

NAPO

Proud member of NAPO

file

Simple Organizing Solutions

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fileReceiving a thank you note in the mail is pleasant.  It’s even more pleasant when you’re being thanked for something you didn’t realize would make an impact on the other person.  This happened to me when I offered a simple organizing solution to a Realtor I had met at a networking event.  She asked me if I had any ideas how she could keep all her real estate forms portable and organized.  I suggested a portable accordion file.    The next thing I know, I’m reading a very sincere thank you note that makes me smile.   It just goes to show you, sometimes the simplest organizing solutions are the best solutions.  In this case, find a good home for paper and things.
Here are a few more simple organizing solutions that I’ve offered to my clients:

  1.  Standing a baby bath tub on end, so it took up less room in the closet where it was stored.  Be creative and unconventional with your personal organizing solutions.
  2.  Moving a daily used utensil drawer up to the second spot instead of the third drawer down.  Make it easy on yourself to do daily tasks.
  3.  Asking a spouse to pay some of the monthly bills in order to spend less time on the task.  Delegate and ask for help when you can.
  4.  Tossing the brown, brittle, dead flowers in the vase on the dresser even if they were your wedding bouquet.  Evoke cherished memories with happy thoughts, not objects.
  5.  When you’ve finished knitting, put your knitting project back in the bag.  Getting in the habit of putting things back in the places we’ve assigned them to go fosters organization.

© September 2013 Janine Cavanaugh, CPO® All Rights Reserved

NAPO

Proud member of NAPO