Having worked as a professional organizer, I can say with some certainty that everyone has a place in their lives that needs a little organizational tweaking. From closets to checkbooks, kitchens to cars, all of us have something (or maybe a few things) that are disorganized enough that we have written them off for good, or ignore them consistently.
The following 12 items are the things I most often worked on with clients.
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This could mean anything from sorting mail to throwing out mystery foods in the refrigerator. Just 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference over time.
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Quicken will make your financial life a million times easier to manage. It costs around $50, but its well worth the investment. From Quicken you can pay bills, download transactions from banks and credit cards, plan, budget, see what you are spending and what your overall financial picture looks like.
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It’s as easy as this: to do, to read, to file. That’s all you need to keep everything in order. Think about it — what else is there? Now use the 15 minutes as mentioned above once or twice a week to sort your papers. Some find stackable filing shelves work, others like to have upright files they can thumb through. The Container Store is a great resource for all kinds of organizational tools. If you want to fancy it up a bit, check out See Jane Work.
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Remembering passwords can be a real pain, and a time waster also. There are many ways to keep your passwords in a safe and secure place — besides that list on the post-it near your computer — including Last Pass. Find what works for you and spend a few hours recording all of your vital information in an online location that you can access from anyplace.
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Whether it’s a bulletin board in your kitchen or a google calendar that you all sync to and add to individually, it’s important that a family shares plans and information, such as times, dates, phone numbers and so on. Color-coding can take things even further, if you’re so inclined — each family member can have their own color, which is extremely helpful for at-a-glance info.
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Carbonite, or SOS are a couple of good options, or a back up drive connected to your computer is an alternative choice. This is essential to your peace of mind regarding anything that you store on your computer — from legal documents to photos. With online backup, you can retrieve your files anyplace, anytime.
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Some quiet afternoon, maybe if it’s raining and no one else is at home, spend a few hours going through your clothes closet. Be honest with yourself about whether things fit, or you like them, or you’ll ever wear them again. If you have a friend you trust, try things on and get an honest opinion. Get those big green garbage bags (the best things for purging) and fill them up with your gently used clothing and shoes, handbags and accessories, ties, suits, whatever you’ve got, and take them to your local charity. Toss out torn, stained or ripped items. Now you will have a much more manageable closet, and people in need will have clothes to wear. Do yourself a favor and buy some Huggable Hangers — you’ll be amazed at the additional room you have. Doesn’t that feel great?
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toys
The same principle applies as above. However, much of it will likely be ready for the trash. Do it when your kids aren’t home if they’re small, or set up a reward system with the older ones — say, a new toy for every 10 they are willing to give up. Have them go with you when you take the toys they are donating to the charity of your choice — they will be proud to have shared their stuff!
You’ll be surprised how many things are not only out of date, but basically useless, too. Spices lose their flavors, pain relievers lose their efficacy. Get rid of any prescription drugs that you no longer need by taking them to a local pharmacy for disposal. Even canned goods have an expiration date. Unlike out of style clothing, do not donate out of date food!
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There are so many pillowcases in search of a pillow, hand towels with no mate, blankets that are moth eaten and ready for retirement. Keep sheet sets together, towels by color then size. Treat yourself to new bed linens if you are able — you’ll thoroughly enjoy them! Same with towels. Discount stores have huge savings on home items. I am a big fan of Home Goods and other off-price stores.
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This is a long-term project and should be approached much like organizing itself — 15 minutes a day, max. Don’t set a deadline or pressure yourself to get it done quickly — just do a bit at a time.
If this all seems like too much to do on your own, hire a pro to help you. It’s much easier to get organized with someone cheering you on and helping you out. Go to www.napo.net (National Association of Professional Organizers) to find a person in your area. There are specialists in every field, from garages to computers.
Getting organized takes patience, time, and the ability to throw things away. Once you get started, you’ll feel so much better!
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Sharon Greenthal is a former stay-at-home mom, now empty-nester. She lives in Orange County, CA with her husband Peter and their perfect dog, Lambeau. Her two children are away at college. Sharon blogs about her observations the world around her, from the important to the inconsequential.
Nice organizational tips, Sharon. I know I detest going through mail, so it ends up stacking all over the office (argh). I definitely agree with Quicken for personal finance. And we've all probably been burned by not having a backup device or cloud solution -> or was that just me ;)? I now have two USB drives with alternating backup schedules for the same computer.
Tip #6 is essential. I coach my clients to back up in three places: computer hard drive, external drive and to an online backup solution (like Carbonite or SOS). Just imagine if your computer crashed or your external hard drive got corrupted, or if both were stolen. At least you have the peace of mind that your information is backed up offsite.
Its the weekend and this is the post I chose to read. I love de cluttering but some of your points made me feel shamed into doing something which is always a good thing. I would add odd socks which are the bane of my life. Even when I have moved house and thought an up side would be to find the missing partners of all my kids socks it hasnt happened so I am being ruthless and throwing them out instead of collecting them in a bag and sorting them all the time. :)
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Good tips. Thanks. I'm usually too busy figuring out how to get organized, to well, be organized but I'm working on it.
Sharon, this is a great list! If we incorporate one piece of advice each month,we'll be so organized by the end of the year!! Think of all the time we'll have on our hands~no more fussing with our 'stuff'. One tip I have for linen closet, is I keep sheets in the room they go to & keep guest towels in the guest rooms. No more figuring out which bed for which sheets and the guest rooms are ready at a moments notice!
Cheers!
Ohhh makes me want to go organize something! In a good way!
I love being organized and it is a HUGE time saver just knowing where everything is. Amazing how much you can get done in fifteen minutes. I am going to go through the cupboards and get rid all the expired canned goods this weekend in your honor.
Great tips and ideas Sharon!
Lots of practical advice here, thanks Sharon. The 15 minutes that permeates a few of your points is particularly salient. So many tasks, especially the mundane ones, seem enormous on first look. Chipping away at them accomplishes two things: 1) Getting started, which is often the hardest part, and 2) feeling accomplished several times over, with the biggest win at the end.
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Love these suggestions. Some questions and comments:
5. Family Information Center - the image is great. Can you give more information about where it is available or about how to make one like that.
8. I may be able to be ruthless with my child's toys - but what about with my toys - I don't want to give up my original Star Wars toys (from 1980) or my new MTG cards. And what about the thousands of articles I print out an then lose because they're not filed - they're my toys too :-)
3. Actual research has been conducted on the best method to file things and generally using only left tab files are significantly quicker to scan through.
7. How can you be ruthless with your closet when you are on medications for certain health conditions that can cause your weight to change so you can be either a size 2, 4, 6 or 8 and this occurs regularly. What do you do when you have to maintain wardrobes in 4 different sizes because you can't afford to buy a new-sized wardrobe every few months and don't even know when or if the change will occur?
6. Backup, backup, backup - unfortunately, I did not practice what I preach and my laptop was stolen when I left it in a cab and I had not backed it up - loss of a lot of extremely valuable information forever, not to mention a great computer. Loss of some pictures close to my heart as well. :-( Good advice - always backup.
@nilminiklur I would like to suggest that you contact NAPO as mentioned in #12. You can find someone who can help you to sort out your toys and your multi-size wardrobe. If you want to contact me privately, email me at sharongreenthal@gmail.com
Sharon...you don't know how timely this is! Thanks for the great suggestions. I'm definitely going to take a look at Last Pass! I mention timeliness because I've been looking for someone to help my elderly parents get organized. They could do an episode of Hoarders!. Great piece! Thanks.
@Martin D Redmond helping the elderly is one of the toughest organizing jobs there is. Hang in there!
I'd say inventory of your attic and/or basement fits in somewhere as well. And don't dwell on it. It's either keep or toss.
@JBTWEETNOTHINGS good point- since I live in Southern California, where there are very few attics or basements, this hasn't been an issue for me - but it's a great idea.
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@sharongreenthal@JBTWEETNOTHINGS I always say "Think like a Manhattonite" People live in VERY small spaces in New York and make it work. Less stuff = less to worry about.
I have become the Purging Queen...:) the only thing I haven't defeated yet is my inbox.
LOVE Carbonite too. Great, great list.
