Organizing

Books like many items, simply rot away on our shelves and become clutter if we don’t use them. Left unused for long periods of time, well, you know what happens to many of them. They collect a ridiculous amount of dust, turn yellow, and start to fall apart! Unused books create stagnant or stuck energy in your home. And they start to smell bad, too!

Is this the life you intended for the book when you bought it? Wouldn’t it be great to share what you got out of the book with others? Why are you hanging on to them when they could be having a useful life and continue to be of value to people?

The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines clutter as “a crowded and untidy collection of things” or “an untidy state.” When we don’t have designated places for all our belongings, clutter is often the result. Even if you have established organizational systems, you will face problems with clutter unless you have a plan to find homes for every single article you bring into your office. Otherwise, it’s too easy to set things on top of your desk, filing cabinet, or another surface “for now.” All too often, “for now” ends up becoming “forever” or at least until things reach the point that you can no longer tolerate the clutter. If you’re already at this point, the following tips may help you get back on track.

A New York Magazine article I once read referred to “being organized” as the second greatest pleasure in life. I suppose that places it just after either sex or eating - whichever is your number one choice. I agree that “being organized” is extremely satisfying. However, most people look at “getting organized” as an extreme nightmare. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The process of organization is the same whether you’re clearing off a messy counter, thinning out an overstuffed closet or overhauling an entire house. Put everything (and I mean everything) into one of three A, B or C categories - piles if they are small things.

Is there anything worse that having a guest come into your home and instantly say "Oh, you have a cat?" And the cat is nowhere to be seen? Oops. That’s a good sign you may not be keeping the litter box as clean as possible.

In my work as a professional organizer, organizing the cat’s litter box is often the first thing to be done for my dear cat loving clients. In my 25 years of owning cats, I’ve tried everything to make the job of keeping the litter box clean smelling easier. I’m proud to say that today I have 3 gorgeous Maine Coone cats (you can see pictures on my blog) and guests in my home are always SURPRISED when they see the cats. That’s because they can’t smell them!

Most people want to start a home-based business to make more money to supplement their income. The issue though, is finding the time to make this happen.

Most people are busy, with family, an existing job, and the general feeling that there are not enough hours in a day.

However, extra time to start a home-based business project can almost always be found. It may mean giving up or changing a few of your favorite pastimes, like watching TV but if you become successful with your home-based business project, you will have all the time you want for doing whatever you want to do.

You can use the Power of 90 Seconds to transform your life. This power will allow you to:

Few people truly understand the power of 90 seconds and use it properly. The results are staggering: unnecessary stress, problems, hours of lost time, etc.

In a way, baskets are a magical home organization tool. Why? Baskets are decorative items that hide mess right before your eyes (and those of your visitors). They’re your home organization magic wand–the one that makes disarray disappear in seconds.

Baskets are a perfect tool to use in organizing your home because they are often inexpensive, beautiful and functional items. And baskets are usually made of quite durable materials for the typical person’s usage. You can use them in every room of your home. Use them to organize and store everything from your kitchen utensils to your bathroom towels to your child’s toys.

Most of us don’t want our homes to be a cluttered mess. We don’t consciously say ‘I like living in the midst of clutter, and it makes me happy’. And we certainly don’t enjoy spending an extra 15 minutes searching for our sunglasses and keys, that matching sock or the misplaced pile of bills that’s going to be late if we don’t pay them today. Where is the fun in any of that?

But while you may not plan to be disorganized or plan to have a home full of clutter, you certainly need a plan to organize your home and banish clutter from it. Here’s that plan…

If you are a serious sweepstakes a-holic, then you must devise a way to keep track of all the entries you are sending out. There are as many ways to organize your sweepstakes entries are there are to organize your monthly bills. The key is to find a system that works for you and stick with it.

If you are not a “computer person,” don’t worry. You can organize the “old fashioned way.” Even choosing to keep a hard copy filing system, you will have options to choose from.

Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?).

Paperwork lands on your desk and somehow finds its way into your in-tray. Eventually the in-tray becomes so high it explodes and ends up all over your desktop. That’s because you avoided taking action on those messy pieces of paper the moment they arrived. Now you have no option but to sort through the explosion and tidy up the pile or actually do something with the paperwork.