Product Review: Rubbermaid All Access Organizers
This storage container has it all. It’s sturdy, stackable, visible, and accessible. I was an instant fan!
Book Review: A Mom’s Guide to Home Organization
If you find that your biggest organizing challenges come from the trials of being a mother, A Mom’s Guide to Home Organization is a great resource. It’s written by Debbie Lillard, a mother of three children and a professional organizer since 2003.
Quantity Dictates Systems
One of the questions I get asked most frequently, before starting an organizing project is “What should I buy?” I have a very simple answer: nothing. This is especially true for the big projects we tend to get this time of year, like garages, basements, attics. The reason comes down to this very simple organizing rule: "quantity dictates systems."
Do You Have “Dishes in the Sink”?
As I’ve so often stated, my central organizing philosophy is circulation prevents accumulation, but what exactly do I mean by this? Effective organizing solutions must be built on movement. There must be a reliable advancement from one manageable stage to the next. If this circulation is blocked by an unmanageable stage, the whole process starts to fall apart and an accumulation of clutter is inevitable.
Organizing Your Home for the Market
The real estate market seems to be picking up again and it is keeping us busy with organizing homes for the market. If you are ready to sell, it pays to be organized. Here are some examples.
When is it OK NOT to be Organized?
The other day a friend asked, when is it OK NOT to be organized. I was stumped by the question, but I've been giving the matter a lot of thought, ever since.
My Email Confession
I have a confession to make. I had let my email inbox accumulate to over 5,000 emails. That can be really bad news for one's computer’s performance. What's my excuse for all this digital clutter? Digital clutter is simply less compelling to me because it does not crowd my physical space. I don't see it. Not much of an excuse, but I know I'm not alone.
When Spring Cleaning is Spring CLEARING
Let’s face it, spring cleaning usually has a lot to do with spring cleaRing. Some annual rituals are obvious-- store the boots and bring out the sandals, bring the lawn furniture out of storage, put the holiday decorations away-- but there are some additional practices that will make it easier to stay organized, year-round.
It’s OK Not to Throw Away
What!? In case you’re wondering if I have changed my ways on how to deal with clutter, I have not. My company’s approach to getting organized has never been to focus on tossing, but rather to focus on keeping. Really! We focus on how much you are keeping, where you are keeping, and, most importantly, why you are keeping.
Are You Allowing Your Clutter to Take Up Residence?
You may hate the way the clutter accumulates in your home or office, but it’s possible you may be making some simple structural choices that cause it. A truly effective organizing system is built on movement. Some choices prevent movement and allow clutter to take up residence.
Inbox or Invitation to Disaster?
Beware the inbox. On the face of it, an inbox makes sense. It provides a single collection place for your unsorted items. The problem is that you gain a false sense of organization, because while there is an easy plan for entrance, there is no easy plan for exit. The best solution may be no inbox at all.
Gray Away
So what does hair coloring and organizing have to do with each other? Organizing is never as simple as black or white, keep or toss. There is a lot of gray that must stay, but must be stored away. We’ve all been there. We can’t take that cluttered room anymore, so we go in with a trash bag and start tossing the old periodicals, the empty component boxes, but then we get stuck on a half finished craft project, the old documents, the expensive gift we never liked,
