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Organizing Made Easy

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

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.

An Organized Bathroom

October 1, 2016/0 Comments/in Tip of the Month/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

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.

Worthwhile Giving

September 1, 2016/0 Comments/in Tip of the Month/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

My clients tell me all the time that it is easier to get rid of stuff when they know it is going to a worthwhile cause or someone truly in need. Therefore, as an incentive to reduce and de-clutter pick a worthwhile local charity and give.

Some of my most frequented drop sites are:
Savers
Bay State Textiles
New Hope
North Attleboro Animal Shelter

What To Do With Children’s Art Work

September 1, 2016/0 Comments/in Blog Posts/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

One thing many parents have a difficult time getting rid of is the things their children have made. Some items are cherished treasures, like a drawing that showcases their personality, their first hand-made Mother’s Day card, or a precious clay bowl. Other items are less meaningful, but are equally important to the giver. That causes problems, right? These things have a high sentimental value. I understand that, but we can’t keep everything. You know we can’t. So, what goes and what gets kept?

Setting limits is a great way to minimize what is kept. A good limit is to have one ‘keep bin’ per child. This one bin will hold all the art treasures that are being kept from that one child. Label this bin and use it to store the creations each child makes. Set some guidelines on what is kept. For example keep only those items that significantly highlight your child’s personality and talents. Go through the bin yearly to reevaluate and weed out items.

Another way to minimize what is kept is to re-purpose and reuse. Below are some creative ways to do this.

Scan or photograph art work and use several images to create family calendars. Let the originals go after the calendar is created.
Have a gallery wall were you display art work for one month then let it go.
Use scanned images of the art work as a screen saver on your desktop computer. Share who made the piece, when they made it, and what they have to say about their creation.
Separate art work by season and save a few special pieces to put up with other seasonal decorations.
Take photos of the art work with the artist and scrapbook the images with details.
Add the art work to a digital frame or tablet and showcase at their birthday parties and holiday gatherings.
Frame a few of the artist’s favorite pieces in a shadow box for one year. Then add another piece right over the previous year until the shadow box is full. Then store in a keep bin (listed above) or let it go.

It may be difficult to make decisions on what creations to keep, but your child will thank you for only holding onto one ‘keep bin’.

Minimalism

August 11, 2016/0 Comments/in Newsletter/by Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®

Content

What Does Minimalism Mean?

Recycle Resource

Side Notes:

*** Organizing class are starting in September. You can obtain more details on my website. If you’d like to attend a class please contact the class location directly. Hope to see you in class.

*** Want to know more about Minimalism? Learn from two experts, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus.

*** I’m looking forward to bringing the New England chapter of the National
Association of Professional Organizers to School on Wheels in August to volunteer.

*** Question: What does minimalism mean to you? Please share your answer.

Quick Links

Website
Email
NAPO-NE

Hi ,

The heat of summer is here. Guess who else is heating up? My inner minimalist is on fire. During the month of June I played the 30-Day Minimalist Game with my husband, and we were both winners.

What Does Minimalism Mean?

To me minimalism is the act of buying less, having less stuff, and getting rid of excess. After bringing the Minimalist Documentary to North Attleboro in May, my husband and I decided to see what it would be like to embrace minimalism. We decided to play the 30-Day Minimalism Game to see if we could get rid of as many things as the game encouraged us to. We also wanted to see how little we could spend in those same 30 days. We learned several things while we embraced minimalism.

First of all, we learned to look closely at all of the things in our space. Knowing that we were going to be getting rid of a lot of stuff, we looked at everything. We made decisions on things we hadn’t touched or used in years. There were several things we would not have thought about getting rid of if it wasn’t for the game. It’s so easy to get comfortable in our surroundings that we don’t realize how much we don’t use. Getting rid of this excess stuff made me happy.

Secondly, the game created some urgency to take action. We needed to fix things or get rid of them. So, things that had been waiting to be fixed for a while were fixed or gotten rid of. We needed to read or recycle. Papers that were waiting to be read needed to be read or recycled. Books that were piling up needed to be read or donated. We needed to mend or donate. Clothing that required some mending, needed to be fixed or donated. Getting rid of this stagnate stuff made me happy.

Finally, not making purchases for a month helped us realize we are lazy cooks. We would succumb to the temptation to eat out or get take out way too much. We’re too tired and there is nothing good in the house were common excuses. We decided to change this. We looked through our recipes and picked a bunch to try. We bought new food and ingredients in the grocery store. We’re still working on this, but I’m happy with our progress so far.

The 30 Day Minimalism Game was very interesting. I’d recommend that everyone give it a try. I’d be happy to talk with you more about our experiences. Here are a few more blog articles I’ve written on the topic.

A Paper Minimalist – Not
Stuff Be Gone

Share your thoughts on minimalism with me.

Recycle Resource

Finding new ways to recycle, for myself and my clients, makes me happy. Everyone is more motivated to get rid of something when they know it is going to someone who will really use it.

This is why I was especially happy to find a place to donate my unwanted craft items. The Craft Room recycles craft items. They use them in their classroom, sell them in their thrift store, and offer them for use in their workshop space. They accept paper, fabric, yarn, floral supplies, needlework, artist’s medium, and more. What an ingenious idea. Check out their website.

From,

Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®
(508)-699-6652
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If you’ve worked with me in any capacity, I’d be grateful for a review. Simply click on this link and answer 3 questions. Thank you and happy organizing!

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