"Picture Yourself Organized!"

April 2012

Hello

Had a great organizing class last weekend at the Placer School for Adults.  Everyone left motivated and ready to tackle their projects.  If you would like to see some of my organizing tips, go to:  www.detailsbyshelly.com/LGOclass.html 

April - The Black Holes where STUFF Collects

1. Create a family communication center for your home

• Choose an area in your home where the family will place all phone messages, notes, and action items. Usually this is near the telephone, in the kitchen, entry hall or family room.
• Get a container where you will keep pencils, pens, tape, paper clips, scissors, and note paper. A two or three drawer desktop unit works well for this.
• Designate where all phone messages and important communications will be placed. You might use a magnetic board, basket, or countertop sorter for this. Getting input from everyone in the family will help make this system work.

2. Evaluate where things pile up and collect

• Look at places in your home or office where things tend to pile up. Evaluate what items collect in this spot (mail, books, clothes, homework?) Think about why this happens. Is there something you can change in your routine that will minimize the pile up?
• Many times things pile up because they do not have a designated home. Find a home for these items. If necessary, contain the piles where they tend to land until you find time to put the items away (use baskets, bowls, drawers). Just remember to put them away!

3. Look in the back of your pantry or refrigerator

• A rainy day is a good time clean out the back of your pantry or refrigerator. Try to do this on the day before garbage pick up!
• Remove all outdated, spoiled or half-used food.
• If you have many duplicates of stable shelf items, consider donating some to food banks.
• Organized your pantry shelves by food type (like the grocery store does). Label the shelves to make restocking and finding items easier. It is amazing how well this helps others in the family to find and put away food items.
• Use small plastic baskets to contain similar food packages like spices, pastas, fruits, or soups. Small baskets with side holes work well in refrigerators and freezers. Be sure to label the baskets.

If you need help getting starting with any of these tasks, contact me.