Clutter Conversions

Want to get organized but short on time?

     As a professional organizer I often hear people say, “I sure would like to get more organized but I just do not have the time.”  Contrary to what most people believe, getting organized does not have to take up a lot of your time!  There are many things that you can do when you only have a couple of minutes.

     Here are three things you can do that only takes five minutes and makes a huge difference in the appearance of your home, making it look organized and uncluttered.

1)      Make the Bed!  It is usually the largest item in the bedroom and if it is made, the room looks 75% organized and uncluttered.  You do not have to make sure the bed is perfect just pull the comforter back over the bed and put the pillows at the head of the bed.

2)      Clear off the Bathroom Countertops!  Put the toothbrushes in their holders and toothpaste away in the cabinet or drawer.  Slide make-up into the drawer, put combs and hair brushes in a drawer and pick up towels.

3)      Pick up Laundry!  Hang up clothes; put clothes in a hamper or drawer.  Do not leave them hanging on a chair, bedpost or thrown on the floor.  Place shoes inside the closet or under the bed.

 

These three things take less than five minutes to do daily and will make your house look more organized and uncluttered.  Just remember that anytime you have unexpected guests, they will most likely want to use your bathroom.  Now you will not have to worry what it looks like!

School is back in Session and I am Stressed!

It is really important to start a scheduling system at the very beginning of the school year so that everyone has a plan, knows what each other is doing and to avoid chaos and stress!  The key to starting the school day off without total chaos and stress is to be prepared, plan ahead and create routines.  There are various morning routine charts available online at www.parentingresources.suite101.com.

The night before you should prepare the lunches, put everything in the backpack that needs to be returned to school and sit it beside the door you exit.  Put signed papers in the backpack.  Make a prioritized, written schedule for the next day of everyone's activities.  Take advantage of the timer on the coffee pot so the coffee is ready in the morning when you are.  Have the kids do a nightly fifteen minute pick-up so there is no clutter to work around in the morning.

I recommend you start the morning routine two weeks before school starts so that it is not a shock to everyone the first day of school and you have time to make any necessary adjustments to each persons routine.  Preschoolers can really benefit from a morning routine.  They are at the age where you can teach them about making decisions and they want to help with just about everything.  Leave enough time in the mornings to allow them to do as much as possible on their own as appropriate.  Kids learn by example and by making choices.  Do not rush them.  Minimize distractions for them.  Keep the items that distract them put away.  They are easily distracted by their toys and books and do not have any understanding of time.

Do Not Over Schedule!  It is really easy to do as the kids get older and become involved in after school activities.  Having a centralized calendar with everyone's activities on it will make it much easier to see if activities are overlapping and to gauge the amount of activities being done.  It is recommended that kids should not be involved in more than three after school activities.  You need to leave time in their schedule for friends, family, studying and rest.

Back to School Organizing Tips for College Bound Students

*Space- Remember that they most likely will not have the amount of space in the dorm room that they had at home. Think compact.  Use multi-purpose containers and furniture.  Some colleges and Universities will not allow you to put holes in the wall or paint so check with them before you begin packing.   Also, if you are able, visit the college and measure the dorm room to see how much space you will actually have before packing things that will not fit.  Use a small cleaning caddy to carry personal items back and forth from the bathroom. *Packing - use collapsible storage containers to put items into while moving and then they can either be used for storage in the dorm or folded down and stored away. *Time management is key to success!  Use a calendar/planner to map out a routine.  College is supposed to be fun but it does need some structure to it if you are going to succeed without having a major melt-down at some point.  College can be stressful enough without adding the pressure of being late for class or not allowing enough time to write a term paper. *Color code your things, label them, bring some pictures and a few loved items from home to make the room more comfortable and relaxing. *The Container store has a couple of great articles to help you get through the college transfer.

School is back in Session and I am Stressed!

It is really important to start a scheduling system at the very beginning of the school year so that everyone has a plan, knows what each other is doing and to avoid chaos and stress!  The key to starting the school day off without total chaos and stress is to be prepared, plan ahead and create routines.  There are various morning routine charts available online at www.parentingresources.suite101.com. The night before you should prepare the lunches, put everything in the backpack that needs to be returned to school and sit it beside the door you exit.  Put signed papers in the backpack.  Make a prioritized, written schedule for the next day of everyone's activities.  Take advantage of the timer on the coffee pot so the coffee is ready in the morning when you are.  Have the kids do a nightly fifteen minute pick-up so there is no clutter to work around in the morning. I recommend you start the morning routine two weeks before school starts so that it is not a shock to everyone the first day of school and you have time to make any necessary adjustments to each persons routine.  Preschoolers can really benefit from a morning routine.  They are at the age where you can teach them about making decisions and they want to help with just about everything.  Leave enough time in the mornings to allow them to do as much as possible on their own as appropriate.  Kids learn by example and by making choices.  Do not rush them.  Minimize distractions for them.  Keep the items that distract them put away.  They are easily distracted by their toys and books and do not have any understanding of time. Do Not Over Schedule!  It is really easy to do as the kids get older and become involved in after school activities.  Having a centralized calendar with everyone's activities on it will make it much easier to see if activities are overlapping and to gauge the amount of activities being done.  It is recommended that kids should not be involved in more than three after school activities.  You need to leave time in their schedule for friends, family, studying and rest.

Back to School Organizing Tips for Middle School through High School Students

*Keep a schedule! They should keep a schedule of the classes and activities on the inside of their locker door with a magnetic calendar/planner.  Remind them to keep it up-to-date. *Smart Locker Storage is needed to keep the stuff the kids needs at school easily accessible and neat throughout the year.  It is basically a home away from home.  They store books, papers, pens and pencils, food, clothes and who knows what else!  It needs to be cleaned out and organized weekly.  Take advantage of magnetic hooks to hang clothes, magnetic mirrors, magnetic clips to hold papers and magnetic holders for pens and pencils.  Adjustable shelving systems available at the Container Store can be used to divide the locker into sections for backpack, books, papers and other items they may need to store.

*School backpacks are supposed to be a device used to help "transport" their stuff back and forth to school not a "catch-all" for everything.  You should remind them of this every week and the backpacks should be cleaned out weekly to discard the junk and piles of papers that accumulates in it.  Help them create a list of what they need to transport back forth every day so they have a guideline to go by.  Use heavy duty, colorful pocket folders to store papers in while in the back pack.  Designate one side for homework and the other side for work that is to be handed in.

A Filing System begins now.  They need a filing system for their locker, backpack and at home.  The system should be categorized according  subject but do not limit them to that and color coded.  If they want to be creative in their thinking, they can name each category differently.  For example: if they have an art class, they can call their file "art" or "drawing.  If they have a history class in the sixth period of the day, they can call the file "history" or "sixth".  Let them name their files but if they name the file at home "drawing" then they need to call their file in their backpack and in their locker "drawing".   If they want "drawing" to be the color red, then their files pertaining to the subject should be red and so should their notebook for that subject.  You use a different color for each subject.

Preschoolers and Toddlers - Preparing for the day

The two key components in getting the day started off well when dealing with preschoolers and toddlers is to establish morning routines and minimize distractions. Preschoolers really benefit from a morning routine!  They are at the age where you can begin to mold them to be an organized individual and you can teach them about making decisions because they want to help with just about everything. Various morning routine charts can be found at www.suite101.com. Kids learn by example and by making choices so leave enough time in the morning schedule for them to do as much as possible on their own.  Do not rush them.  Let them help pick out their clothes for the next day and sit them out so they can put them on themselves in the morning Keep the items that distract your child out of sight.  They are easily distracted at this age by their toys and books and they do not have any understanding of time or schedules.

Modular Mates

Modular Mates by Tupperware® are wonderful food storage containers for the kitchen.  They can free up 1/3 of the space in your cabinets or pantry.  They are very durable and come with multiple colors for lids to choose from so that you could color code your items.  For example: pasta may be stored in containers using red lids, while cereals have blue lids.   They stack well and come in many different sizes.  Modular Mates® are also excellent at keeping bugs and rodents out of your food while being stored in your pantry or cabinet.  To see these or order them contact tupperwaregal@verizon.net or log onto www.my2.tupperware.com.

Box-4-Blox

This is an awesome organizing tool that even your children will love!

They can pick up as many Legos that will fit into their tiny little hands, drop them in the top and watch them fall through the holes as they get to shake the box!!!  It will save you time hunting for pieces lying around.  When your child wants to play with the Legos again, all they have to do is separate the boxes.  Legos will already be sorted by size for them. 

You may find other organizing uses for this product as well, such as the "Micro-Minis", marbles, and more.

Think outside the Box! 

To place your order click on the link below:

http://www.box4blox.com/cmd.php?af=755130