Organizing Tips from Tracy Colleran
“Straighten Up” Organizing Tips-Pak
Here are just a few, simple tips to help you get better organized in your home and office, which will allow you to feel more at ease in both your personal life and your professional life…I promise!
Home
1. Keep a weekly list shopping/grocery list going of items that you run out of. As you use the last of any item, write it on a designated list along with the name of the store where you would purchase the item.
2. Keep healthy snacks for small children in a separate container where they can reach them. Give them their own section of a shelf in the refrigerator. Allow them to help themselves to a specified amount per day. That way, they are not bugging you 50 times a day for something to eat, and you know exactly how much they are consuming, and when the snacks need to be replenished.
3. When you are out doing your weekly grocery shopping or errands, take a few extra minutes to go by the greeting card aisle. You can pick up any special occasion cards that catch your eye and save them for when you need them. That way, you don’t have to make a special trip just to pick up a belated graduation card- you already have one on hand. Keep the amount saved to less than 15 at a time, and keep them in a labeled, clean location such as in a small shoebox or accordion file.
4. Keep a loose change container at the location where you get undressed and empty your pockets each night. A good place is on your dresser or on an easily accessible shelf in the closet. Only keep one container going at once, and keep it where you can see it and will train yourself to deposit your change at the same time each night. (This one works particularly well for men!)
5. Keep an empty container in your car for items that find their way into your vehicle that don’t belong there long-term, such as food, plastic grocery bags, sporting goods, empty water bottles, or a large quantity of pens. When it gets full, carry the bin inside to put the items back where they belong, and then put the empty bin back in the car for the next cycle.
6. Hang clothes in your closet facing the same direction. Use uniform plastic hangers to conserve space.
7. Save time in the morning, especially if you have children, by picking out outfits the night before.
8. Create a folder or large envelope to keep in your vehicle’s glove compartment for saved directions to places you go to infrequently. That way, you won’t have to keep asking how to get places, and you won’t get lost as much!
9. Spend 10 minutes during some free time addressing enough envelopes to your landlord for the lease term (or close to it). That way, you won’t have to hunt for the landlord’s address each month. (For those that rent, of course!)
10. Keep a folder in the kitchen with takeout menus for your favorite delivery places and restaurants.
11. Keep a magazine rack or basket in a location where you most like to read, such as next to a recliner in the living room. Toss any magazines, catalogs, or newspapers that you do not read, truly enjoy, or that are outdated.
12. Stock up on things you use regularly, such as shampoo, toothpaste, and soap. It is okay to take advantage of a good sale on these items, as long as you store them in an area where you are able to take a mental inventory of them (such as in a linen or hall closet that you go into frequently, instead of out-of-reach underneath a sink), so you don’t go overboard buying bulk quantities.
13. Use an over-the-door shoe rack to organize small food products inside a pantry, in an office for office supplies, or inside a bathroom closet for medicine and first aid supplies. Choose one with canvas pockets, or clear, vinyl pockets.
14. Use a clear, zippered plastic or vinyl pouch for toiletry items when you travel. These are great for seeing contents easily, and they wipe off well in case of accidental spills.
15. Before going on a long trip or vacation, particularly out of the country, make a photo copy of all the important contents of your wallet or purse (i.e. driver’s license, credit cards, social security card, passport). Leave one copy at home with a friend or family member, and pack the other copy safely with you, NOT in your wallet or purse. In case of an emergency, or if your wallet or purse gets stolen, you will have all documentation, account numbers, and phone numbers still with you. Be sure to alert your credit card company of international travel prior to your leaving so they don’t suspect fraud.
16. Place photos in an album in sequential order whenever possible. This helps your brain recall events in the order that they happened, and makes for fun storytelling whenever you are sharing the album with friends and family.
17. Have a “one piece of artwork per kid per week” policy for your refrigerator. Encourage your children to create something new or bring home schoolwork each week for you to display, but make them aware that after the week is over, their work will be taken down and replaced with a new piece. This allows for their creativity but puts a limit on how much clutter gets on the refrigerator.
18. When taking phone messages or jotting down notes, always include the full date. This will help you make necessary associations in your mind or jog your memory at a later time.
19. Each time you add a new contact name to your cell phone or computer address book, add it to your physical address book as well. Even though it may be a pain now (after all, who uses hand-written address books anymore, right?!), you’ll appreciate it later if your cell phone ever gets lost or stolen or your computer crashes.
20. Every fifth time you come home with a bag or two of new clothes, go through your closet and weed out those that you haven’t worn in awhile. Don’t allow yourself to hang new items up in your closet without exchanging them for old items you could donate to charity (The expression is “out with the old, in with the new!” not just “in with the new!”)
21. Go through your makeup collection and discard any old lipstick or mascara tubes, and anything that is in a shade you don’t wear often. Styles change and your taste changes, so don’t keep makeup that you aren’t using lying around; not only does it create more clutter, it’s also unhealthy.
22. Keep pet food and human food in separate areas. Create a “pet center” in a corner of your kitchen pantry or on a bottom shelf of a cabinet.
23. Make sure you have all the necessary ingredients to make that famous chocolate cake with chocolate chips and butter cream frosting topped with raspberries BEFORE you actually begin making it. This means pull out the recipe ahead of time and check off each of the items as you put them on the counter…trust me.
24. Save time by consolidating similar activities (take care of all your errands at once, return any phone calls within the same time period, pay bills together, etc.)
25. Go through your canned goods twice a year. Do you have any way back in the pantry or cabinet that you’ve forgotten about and will probably never use in a meal? Throw away any that are expired or old-looking, and donate the rest to a soup kitchen. Use a tiered stacker to sit the canned goods so you can evenly read all labels and none get shoved out of sight in the back.
Office
26. Open your mail next to the nearest trash can as soon as you walk in the house. Immediately shred or cut up any junk mail and throw away. Open up all bills and/or letters and discard outer envelopes. Keep necessary return envelopes together with their bills and keep in a designated area where you will remember to pay and file. This cuts down on paper waste and allows your brain to process what you need to look at and what you don’t.
27. Use a filing cabinet that has built-in indents for the hanging file folders. This prevents you from having to buy a separate wire hanging file folder kit that must be cut and formed specifically for your drawers. It also reduces the likelihood of the hanging file folders falling down.
28. Avoid overstuffing your filing cabinets so you don’t have to struggle each time you need to get a piece of paper in or out.
29. Keep a half bulletin board/half dry erase board. That way, important dates or events, memos, business cards, contact information, coupons, or articles can either be tacked up there or written in, depending on the form in which you receive the information. Keep this board current at the end of each month- erase or throw anyway anything expired, passed, or no longer pertinent to you.
30. Use a desktop file sorter that is vertical, not horizontal. These usually allow for thicker files and are easier to access.
31. Keep 6-10 pens and pencils in a small cup holder, jar, or mug on top of your desk, not scattered in a drawer. The small quantity allows for less clutter, and not being in a drawer allows ease of visibility and increases the likelihood of their being returned to their proper home.
32. Situate your desk in an area that is comfortable for you and has minimal distractions. The best place is close to a window to allow natural lighting, and away from the television.
33. Always file with the most current papers at the front/top of the folder or binder.
34. Keep software and equipment manuals together in wide mesh magazine file (mesh is much more durable than plastic). Anticipate room to add more to it. Sort through it periodically to toss outdated manuals to programs you no longer use or equipment you no longer have.
35. Better organize your email inbox by creating sub-folders for items such as Jokes, E-Bills, Shopping, Insurance, Kids, etc.
36. Put a picture of something that makes you smile, such as your baby, your spouse, a new car, or a beautiful garden, in your work area. Each time you are doing something unpleasant, such as paying bills or balancing your checkbook, you have something pleasant nearby to balance it out.
37. Save important work-related documents to your computer using a file name that is descriptive, easy for you to locate, and includes the date. These things cut down on the amount of time it will take you to access and open the files you need at any given point.
38. Staple deposit slips to your bank statement each month. Mark each as either business or personal, and keep your statements filed separately.
39. When filing, use staples, not paper clips to keep papers together. Paper clips have a tendency to come loose, or other papers will get stuck underneath where they don’t belong.
40. Enter deadlines and notes directly into your PDA device or calendar. This will prevent little scraps of paper from piling up on your desk and minimize the chance of you forgetting or losing something important.
41. Before buying more office supplies such as file folders, consider purging what you already have. You probably have more space and supplies than you realize, once you do some rearranging and tossing out.
42. Don’t leave anything on top of your desk that doesn’t pertain to a current project. The less clutter you have in front of you, the less distracted you will be.
43. Get comfortable with Tickler Files- create folders to hold action items such as To Do, To File, To Pay, To Enter, etc. Keep these arranged in a vertical tiered/step file sorter on top of your desk.
44. Keep frequently used items such as stamps, scissors, paper clips, stapler, staple remover, and address labels on a shelf or hutch above your desk, not in a drawer.
45. Only allow yourself five open browsers (or ahem, “tabs” for those of you with an updated version of Internet Explorer) at a time when working online. Don’t detour and “surf the web” when you’re working or doing research online.
46. Make checklists for yourself and write them on your dry erase board or tack them to your bulletin board. Check tasks off as you complete them. Throw completed lists away.
47. Save time by making a “To Be Filed” folder instead of filing papers individually as you get them. When the folder is about 20 papers thick, spend a few extra minutes sorting and putting like papers together (for example, put insurance documents on top of one another, and utility bills together on top of that). That way, you can file one drawer at a time, without having to open each drawer numerous times.
48. Make friends with your business card notebook or invest in a good business card scanner. Whatever cards don’t make it into the book or scanner, get thrown away. Weed this out often.
49. If you burn or save something to a CD-ROM, label it immediately with a Sharpie marker.
50. Use a garbage can that is big enough for your needs, so you can minimize the number of times the bag must be changed. Designate a can for your office area as “paper only.”
Thanks to Organized A to Z.com partner Tracy Colleran for contributing these tips. Tracy is owner of Straighten Up, Inc. You can visit her Web site at www.straightenupinc.com.
1 Comment August 30, 2010
