Planning Ahead

Sometimes I feel like I have my hand in so many different things that surely I will miss something. If you are involved in a lot then you may feel the same way. One way that I manage to keep it all together is by planning out my week.

Each Sunday night I sit down with my calendar for the week and look at what everyone has going on. The first thing I plug in to open spots is "me" time. Things like going to a spinning or yoga class, having coffee with a friend or reading. Yes, I schedule time to read!

After that, I coordinate carpools, errands and night time activities with my husband. If he is going to be traveling then I make sure that I get help from friends for anything that I can't manage.

Meal planning is a big part of my weekly schedule. First I look for evenings when everyone will be home together and I plan a sit down meal for those nights. If everyone will be coming and going then I will plan a crock pot meal that each person can dip in to when they have time. This part of the process is very easy since I use my "What's for Dinner" binder to help out. In it I have a revolving list of meals that my family enjoys along with recipes and ideas for side items. I also have a pre-printed shopping list for each week that makes shopping quick and easy.

If you would like to put together a binder for yourself then come to my "What's for Dinner" workshop on Thursday, March 5th. Details are listed to the right. You will find planning for your week runs much more smoothly when you have this wonderful resource!

Another area that is a constant struggle for me is juggling my family responsibilities with my work. Because I work at home it is sometimes difficult to work when I know there is a load of laundry that needs to be done or a bathroom that needs to be cleaned. Planning ahead helps me here as well. Using my calendar I designate times of the day to work on certain projects. For example first thing in the morning before anyone is up is my best time to write without interruption. Then while the kids are getting ready for school I will make my bed, and start a load of laundry. I schedule the rest of my day by alternating between work and household responsibilities. Often I find it easier to get some writing or research done if I know I have a set time. So I will set my phone alarm for two hours and then I'll get up and spend an hour running an errand or working on something around the house. After that hour I will head back to the office and so on.

If you are looking for more ideas about how to manage your day then please join me on Tuesday night March 3rd for my "Simply Organized" workshop. I will share with you many tips on how to manage all that life throws your way and show you some of my favorite organizing products. Details for this workshop are also listed to the right.

After I have plugged in all the information I need to get me through the week then I refer back to my calendar each morning. If I forget to look at it one day I may miss something important. It's happened before! Even when I think I'll never forget, if I am very busy things can slip my mind. Take my advice and don't trust your memory. Write it down and then the only thing you have to remember is to look at your calendar!

Planning ahead for the week to come will certainly make your life much more "Simply Organized"!

Happy Organizing!
Valerie

Music can evoke many emotions. There are songs that can make us feel happy, motivated, nostalgic or sad. Studies have shown that listening to up beat music can raise the heart rate and make subjects walk faster and that slower music can lower the heart rate and induce a state of relaxation.

I love all kinds of music and I enjoy listening to music to help motivate, or calm me. I would like to share a playlist with you that I really enjoy. This is an easy listening playlist that helps me remember how I want to live and love everyday. It includes some of my all time favorite songs. This is the playlist I might listen to in the morning with my coffee or at night to relax me before bed.

I hope you enjoy this playlist and I also hope that you will share with me your favorite playlist. I am always looking for more motivating and inspirational music as well as music that’s just fun to listen to. Just send me the title and artist of each song and I will publish them here to share with my readers. Let me know what you think of this list!

To listen to these songs click on the word "playlist" below.

Enjoy!
Valerie
Playlist



Secret O' Life - James Taylor
Better Together - Jack Johnson
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Now and Then - Kenny Loggins
Inaudible Melodies - Jack Johnson
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
What You Thought You Need - Jack Johnson
You Were Meant for Me - Sting
Losing Keys - Jack Johnson
A Love That Will Never Grow - Old Emmylou Harris
Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson

ORGANIZING PHOTOGRAPHS

So often I am asked how to organize photos. Many of my clients have boxes and boxes filled with old photos. Often they are not just awaiting organization but also scrapbooking. I am not a scrap booker but I admire those who do. The albums are always so much fun to look through. Whether you are a scrapper or not, if you have lots of photos that need organizing here are few things to keep in mind.

1. Don’t develop or print off any new photos until you have your old ones organized. You certainly don’t need any more pictures to add to the chaos. Keep them on your memory card or computer until you are ready to work with them.

2. If you have a lot of old photos you may feel overwhelmed by the task. Take baby steps. Get the kids or a friend to help. Start by sorting the photos by year. Keep lots of shoe boxes or small tubs close by and label them with the year. I have found clear plastic shoe boxes to be just the right size for sorting photos or you can buy boxes that are specially designed for Photo storage.

3. Then once they are sorted by year you can sort them by month or event. Depending on how many pictures you have this may take a while. Break it up in to small segments of time. Maybe you can plan to work on them for one hour each evening.

4. After the photos are sorted then you need to decide how you are going to store them. If your hope is to put them all in photo albums then you need to purchase those. I suggest you get all the same albums to keep your collection looking neat and esthetically pleasing on your book shelves. You may just be planning to keep your photos in boxes and if so you are almost done. Others may plan to scrapbook the photos. In that case you must gather your supplies and set up a place to work where you can leave your supplies out.

5. Regardless of how you are planning to store your photos the next step is start with the most recent photos you have printed. It will be easier to recall what took place and when. As the photos get older you may need help from another family member to recall the dates, events and people in the photos.

6. As you go through each month or event in each box take out any pictures that are blurry or dark or duplicates. Only keep the best of the best! Put the pictures from each event or month in a separate photo safe envelope and label the envelope with the date and event. If you plan to scrapbook include an envelope with journal entries and mementos from the event.

7. Continue on with this process until you have sorted through all of your photos. Depending on how many you have you may decide to keep most of them in the boxes and just album or scrap book the highlights from each year.
8. Most importantly, keep these processes going with any new photos that you develop or print. Organizing one month’s worth of photos will seem like a breeze!

9. With all the new photos websites you may decide to organize your new photos on line and then order photo books from each event. My favorite site for this isPicaboo This site has an endless supply of backgrounds and they even have scrapbooking pages divided into themes. Making the photo books is a breeze and then you can choose to share with others on line or post them to your website. If you decide to order the Photo Album that’s simple as well and they start as low as $9.99. When you factor in the price of photo albums and printing
your pictures, and the time it takes you to put them in albums the prices are very reasonable. Especially if you are planning to scrapbook given the price of supplies. Check out an album that I put together for you using a variety of backgrounds to give you an idea of what the site has to offer. Click on this link to see my album. http://preview.picaboo.com/Webview/CoverPage.aspx?user=000000000002E4AE2F&album=000000000002E9D34A

10. If you have just too many pictures and you can’t bring yourself to get started then check out this website and give their product a try.
Organize your photos!

Good luck and Happy Organizing!
Valerie

They really are the best!

I ran into a friend and client today at Walmart. She was in the storage container isle. My FAV of course! She said she was buying storage drawers like I had suggested in my blog. I said that they don't usually carry the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet in the store. She said "well what about these" pointing to another set of drawers. I showed her the reasons I didn't like that unit and looked around to see if by chance they had a Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet in stock. Well they didn't have the four drawer unit but they did have 1 two drawer unit. I took it off the shelf and showed her how easily the drawers slide out, how the handles make it easy to carry and how the deep drawers would hold so much more. She was convinced and bought the only one they had!

Often we make the mistake of buying tubs, bins, drawers and other organizing gadgets with hopes that they will help eliminate clutter. So many of my clients end up with various sizes and shapes of bins and gadgets that just don't quite fit the bill. Always "Assess the Mess" first and see how much and what size and shape your things are. This way when buying organizers you can be sure you are getting the right product. And always try and buy a product that others have told you works for them like the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet.

Happy Organizing!

Cluttered Home = Cluttered Mind Part 2

Now that you have decided that your clutter is not that bad and that you can handle it, let's get started! First thing to do is what I call "Assess the Mess" or take a look around your home or office and make a list of the areas that are giving you trouble. Now put these areas in order with one being the area that is most bothersome to you or that has the most negative effect on your life. For example if your bills and paper work are piled up that would be of greater concern than say organizing the kids play room. Or perhaps it takes you way too much time to get dressed in the morning for work because your closet it a mess. That would take priority over the storage area.

Now that you know which area to start on you can continue to "Assess the mess" by making a list of the goals you have for this area. Perhaps in your home office you would like to have your bills organized as well as papers that the kids bring home. While taking note of the different activities that take place begin to think about dividing the area up into segments that will house these activities. You don't want the kids school work getting mixed up with the bills.

Now it's time to start clearing out the area so you can make a fresh start. This part of the process is referred to as the "Purge". You will need to have some containers, boxes, bags or tubs in the room before you begin this process. Generally you will need 3 of these. One for trash, one for donations or yard sale/consign and one for items to be relocated to other areas of the home or office. Begin the purge in one area and work your way around the room. Depending on how cluttered the area is you may want to set a timer for around 20 minutes to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed. You can then take a break and come back again later for another 20 minutes. Breaking it down into short increments makes it easier to stay focused.

Ask yourself these questions when purging. Do I need it? Do I love it? Does it reflect who I am today? Does it enhance my life? If the answer is no to any of these questions then get rid of it! Once you start letting go of stuff you will see how freeing it feels and you will want to do it all the time! So, go ahead and "Assess your Mess" and then determine the purpose for the area and start your purge. Check back in a few days and we will talk about what to do next.

Don't forget to check out my web page at www.simplyorganizedval.com. Also, there is still time to register for my up coming workshops!

Happy Organizing!
Valerie

Here's some really cute and fun labels that I love! These labels make it easy to keep track of all your kids "stuff"! They will have a great time sticking these labels on all there favorite things!
Kids Diecut Labels

You asked for it and here it is!

This is my all time favorite organizing product! The Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet is great for closets, storage areas and garages. I have 11 of these of in my home! Here's why I like the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet. The drawers are deep and so they can hold a lot and they have handles on the sides to make them easy to carry. They slide easily in and out of the tower and can be brought to wherever you need them. The towers are durable and they are movable. So, instead of building permanent shelving you can put the unit wherever you need it and take it with you if you move. I have one of the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet in my son's closet. He keeps his socks, t-shirts, and pants in the drawers and still has room in the bottom drawer for his entire Lego collection. I have one in the coat closet to hold lunch boxes, water bottles, bike helmets and ball gloves. I also use the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet system in my storage area. One tower is devoted to Halloween decorations. When I want to put the decorations up I just bring one of the drawers upstairs, unload and then put the drawer away. After Halloween it's easy to bring the empty drawer up, fill it up and put back in the tower. My Christmas decorations are also stored this way. In another tower we have toys, Barbie's, linkin logs, polly pockets etc. When the kids want to play they can slide the drawer out and take it wherever they want and then just toss the toys back in and replace the drawer when done. In one tower I have a drawer designated to each family member. We use the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet to store keepsakes and memorabilia. I can't say enough about these cabinets and I have recommended them to many of my clients with great success.

The only place I have found that carries these cabinets is Walmart. They are usually not available in the stores and so you must order them on line. When you choose the "site to store" option there is no shipping charge. You will receive an email when they are available to pick up at the Walmart nearest you. Go to the service desk in the back of the store and show your ID and you are given your items. This way you avoid the sometimes long check out lines. It's a very easy and quick process that I have used over and over again. I hope you find the Sterilite 4-Drawer Storage Cabinet to be as useful as I have! If you like them send me an email and I will post your comment here at my site.

Happy Organizing!

Cluttered Home = Cluttered Mind

Clutter in around your home or office can have a negative psychological impact. Having piles of paper and clothes lying around can be stressful. Each time you pass a pile that you need to get to it may stir up negative emotional feelings. You may feel bad about yourself because you are not attending to the matter. You may realize that there is something buried in that pile that is going to be an issue when it’s uncovered. For example an unpaid bill or unfiled tax forms. You may feel overwhelmed by the clutter and unable to make the first move toward organization.

Maybe your clutter is not that drastic. Maybe you just have a messy garage or a storage area that needs organizing. These may also cause negative emotions. Each time you begin a project and have to waste time looking for the necessary tools this causes stressful feelings. It may also cause arguments with your loved ones. If your storage area is out of control you may be using up some of your living space for storage. It could be that your unorganized storage area is a potential fire hazard or that if your basement floods your things could be damaged.

Thinking about all of this weighs us down and inhibits us from being productive. You may not constantly be thinking about it but the underlying stress is there. Taking that first step may just be too overwhelming.

Here are some things to consider if you have clutter that needs your attention.

1. It’s probably not as bad as you think.
2. It probably won’t take as much time as you think.
3. The first step is the hardest.
4. The relief you will feel afterwards will be worth the effort.
5. It’s ok to ask for help.

If you are avoiding some clutter in your home or office then take the next couple of days to repeat the 5 statements above as often as possible. Write them down in your own handwriting and post them somewhere you will be constantly reminded. Then, check back with me here in 4 or 5 days and find the next steps to conquering your clutter. Together we can get your clutter under control and free up your mind for more important matters.