Home Office Organizing Tips - Set Up Your Workspace and Keep it Uncluttered

By Sally Allen

Hectic schedules, family meals, carpools and business deadlines all run smoother when there's a dedicated area for managing the business of running a household or home-based office. The area - let's call it a command center - should be thoughtfully situated and organized so tasks are handled efficiently, leaving more time to do the things you want.

The command center, whether it's a home office or a desk tucked into a kitchen niche, should consolidate information and activity flow. Without a central place, "home executives" often find themselves operating out of every room in the house or even using the dining room table.

Be careful about where you choose to work. It's more than throwing a card table in a corner with a phone and a laptop. Just because the basement has an open corner doesn't mean you should work there. Most basements have limited lighting and the amount of natural light can have a big impact on how you feel while working at your desk. Create a workspace in a spot that makes you happy or you'll find the office creeping out into other parts of the home.

While a spare room makes an ideal office, most of us are faced with working in a corner of the guest room or at the kitchen desk. It seems that kitchen designers feel obligated to build a desk into the most used room in the house. With today's busy schedules the desk is likely to become the family's convenient dumping ground. Piles grow higher every time your back is turned. But if the kitchen is the only place for your command center, then diligence is called for since it's likely to take some time to train the family to respect this area.

No matter where your workspace is situated, here are some tips to keep it clutter free:

If possible, put in and out baskets away from the desk, maybe at the garage entry door - one basket for each family member to "dump" their things, such as school work, jackets and iPods. Remember, the desk is off limits for this kind of stuff; it's up to you to keep it functional.

Place a corkboard on the wall near your desk. Then create defined areas on the corkboard for schedules, reminders, chores, messages, etc. where the family can read, and attach or detach information.

Because the desk's file drawer is one of the biggest "containers" in the room, there's a tendency to use it as a storage bin for athletic equipment, camera equipment, and the like. Instead, use the drawer to hold paperwork in hanging files - one for each family member, with subfolders inside to record their medical history, school schedules, important papers, and other items. Put "Action" files in the front of the file drawer so they're easy to access.

Atop the desk, a red folder labeled "Bills to Pay" might find a home in a vertical file. And a basket for sorted mail and/or current projects will help keep your desk clear at the end of the day. (Be sure to sort your mail over the wastebasket.)

One good rule of thumb: Keep only the things you work on daily on the top of your desk, the things you work on weekly in your desk, and the things you work on monthly around your desk. Toss or archive the rest.

A pencil drawer should hold pencils and pens, paper, paper clips and highlighters so they're at the ready when the phone rings or you need to start a grocery list. Relegate the catchall drawer to another spot such as the laundry room or garage. Drawer dividers are a must - they prevent items from sliding to the back of the drawer or getting hidden under papers.

You love your bean babies, the bobblehead from your trip to Hawaii, the plaque with a cute saying, "My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance." Find a home for them elsewhere - not on top or near your desk. Nearby cabinets can conceal phone books, reading material and baskets to hold supplies.

If you share the home office with family, communicate with them to develop the best solutions for time and space in the office. Get the family involved to make them feel more committed to the systems they help develop.

When all is said and done, whether the command center is strictly for home use or also for a home business, organization is the key to success.

Visit http://APlaceForEverythingLLC.com for more organizing tips and information.

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My Favorite Organizing Tips

By Bailey R Gaddis

Mail: Have a basket, bin, or other decorative object to catch mail as it comes into the house. Locate this by the door where the mail comes in. If there's room, have a separate mail bin or baskets for each member of your household. It makes distributing information easier. Plan to review mail at a predetermined time in your weekly schedule.

Closets: Whenever you remove an item from a hanger, put the hanger in a basket. When you get ready to do laundry, bring the basket for easy "out-of-dryer-onto-hanger" action!

Time: Learn how long it really takes you to do your routine tasks and chores, like getting ready in the morning, driving to work, emptying the dishwasher, getting the kids up and dressed for school, laundry, grocery shopping, and so on. This will help in organizing your daily and weekly schedule. If you assume it takes you ten minutes to get ready and leave the house, but in reality it takes thirty, you'll be twenty minutes late for whatever is next on your schedule, and so on for the remainder of the day.

Photos: One way to sort backlogs of photos is to collect shoe boxes or plastic containers and write a year on each one, if the photos are on the computer sort the photos into digital folders labeled by year. This can be done in brief sessions- even fifteen minutes a night will make a difference by the end of the week. Along the way you can eliminate any duplicates, ugly photos, blurry images, and so forth. Once the pictures are sorted by year, decide how you want to sort them further. Chronologically? By event? Then you choose how you want to store and/or display them. You will have a better idea of what size album, box, or frames you'll need.

Family Meetings: Designate an hour a week to synchronize your family. Everyone brings their calendars, to-do lists, and schedules to the table. Spend the time reviewing the events for the upcoming week, expectations for dinners, chores, et cetera. The week will move much smoother!

Store it where you use it: The closer you store items to where you use them, the quicker and easier it is to clean up. For instance, if you knit at night while watching TV, create storage right near where you sit. It can be a decorative basket that slides under a coffee or end table. Whenever you put away your knitting, it goes into its basket and is stored immediately-instead of sitting on the coffee table waiting to be returned to its home.

"Lid-off" policy: When and wherever possible, remove lids and doors. It means one less step to putting things back where they belong.

Bailey is a Professional Organizer in Ojai, and Ventura and Los Angeles counties. She owns Serene Living Spaces http://www.serenelivingspaces.com

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Simple Home Organizing Tips

By Bailey R Gaddis

Organize one small area at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to do everything at once. Progress comes with small steps.

Take some time every day to organize and put items back where they belong. Even if you just spend 10 minutes doing this you will start to see progress.

Purge your unnecessary belongings. The less stuff you have to deal with the easier it will be to organize.

Throw out a few unneeded items every day or have a donation box in an out of the way area that you can throw donation items in. When the box is full have your organizer set up a donation pick up for you or drop it at your local donation center.

Resist the temptation to buy new unnecessary items.

Keep your organizing system simple.

Try to limit distractions when you're organizing. Turn off the T.V., set your phone on silent if possible, and organize when no one else is home.

Make a To-Do list every evening for the next day. Only write down tasks that absolutely need to get done the next day. Don't forget to add your 10 minutes of organizing a certain space!

Store items where they are usually used.

Set up daily routines and make placing items back in their home after use part of the routine.

Create a family calendar. Have a large calendar in the kitchen, or wherever your family usually congregates, and put everyone's appointments on the calendar. Assign a different color to every family member and write their events in their color.

Have a family meeting every Sunday where you fill out the calendar and discuss what everyone has going on the next week to make sure you're all on the same page and no over booking occurs.

Be kind to yourself! No one is ever perfectly organized. Take organizing one day at a time and enjoy life!

Organizing Mail

Take yourself off of mailing lists to lessen the amount of unnecessary mail you receive. When dealing with emails, immediately unsubscribe from newsletters etc. that you don't need and don't read.

Have bins right next to your mail collection area to immediately sort your mail. Have a Throw Away, Do/ Pay, File, and Delegate.

Set aside 10 to 15 minutes every day to handle your mail.

Organizing for Children

Declutter your child's room. Remove everything from their room that they don't use anymore; old books, toys, etc. that just sit there. You can donate items, throw them away, or store items that are treasured keepsakes.

Remove all the clothes your children don't wear or need. Donate them if they're in good condition. The fewer clothes they have to deal with the quicker they can get ready and the neater their room will be.

Put objects into clear labeled bins. This will give every object a logical home that is easy to locate. Keep the lids removed from the bins so it's easier to retrieve and return items to their designated bin.

Give children a planner so they can write down their school work, chores, and other tasks and events they need to keep track of. This planner can come to the family meetings to help plan the upcoming week.

Store items near the area where they are usually used.

Have a bin near the door that your child uses every day to leave for school with their needed items for the next day. Backpack, water bottle, lunch money, sports equipment, etc.

Organize with your child. This will teach them valuable organizational skills and will allow them to have input on what items they want to keep and where they would logically store those items. If the system makes sense to them it's more likely they will use it and maintain the organization.

Bailey Gaddis owns the home and office organizing business Serene Living Spaces. For more information visit http://www.serenelivingspaces.com

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Professional Organizer's Tips on How to Organize Your Bathroom

By Bailey R Gaddis

The peace of mind that comes with living and working in a serene organized space is priceless. Having your mind free to focus on work, family, new ideas, and the beauty of life will bring much more peace and happiness to you. Becoming organized sounds simple but can be daunting for many people. The key is to break your organizing down into steps and focus on one step at a time.

Sort, Purge, Containerize, Maintain

How Do I Organize My Bathroom?

The bathroom is a room in the house that everyone uses at least once a day. We want this room to be efficient and pleasant to be in. Are you usually rushing in the morning to get ready for work? Do you spend a significant amount of precious time looking for a razor or a particular tube of lipstick? Having an organized bathroom can provide you with time to focus on the more important parts of life.

Sort

The first step you want to take when organizing a bathroom is sorting the contents of the bathroom. Here's an example of some possible groups you could use when sorting your bathroom items: cleaning supplies, beauty supplies, first aid, reading materials, and a group for common toiletries like toothpaste and soap. You should sort your belongings into groups that make sense to you. But, try to avoid creating too many highly specific categories. Having too many groups can make it difficult for you to clearly organize your belongings later.

Purge

Once you have sorted your belongings into logical groups you then want to go group by group and purge. Throwaway bottles that barely have anything left in them and are just taking up precious space. Have a box for recycling all the reading materials you have already read or do not plan on reading. You should also have a box for items you would like to donate like old hairdryers you no longer use or unopened bottles of lotion or perfume. If you have duplicates of items set them in a labeled separate storage box that you can store in a close by but out of the way location, like a linen closet, so you can have it handy when you need to replenish your bathroom supplies. Storing these extra items in a separate box and location will free up space in your bathroom allowing you to be able to clean it easier and find needed supplies quickly. It's incredible how liberating it is to throw away unneeded supplies that are just weighing you down!

Containerize

Once you have sorted your bathroom supplies and purged the items you don't need it is time for the satisfying task of finding a home for your items. It's good to keep your grouped items together so you can quickly find anything you're looking for. Try to avoid just sticking bathroom items back into drawers and cabinets after you group them. Plastic bins are great for storing your first aid supplies, medications, and cleaning supplies. If you needed a certain type of medication all you would need to do is pull your medication bin out of the cabinet and all your medications are right in front of you. If you had your medications mixed with all your other bathroom supplies you could spend large amounts of time sifting through the various contents of your bathroom. Small plastic drawers that you can buy at establishments like the Container Store are great for storing small items like hair ties, nail polish, makeup, and other beauty supplies. Stacked storage containers help utilize the space in your bathroom and make it easy to quickly retrieve needed items. A good rule of thumb is to sort and purge your belongings before you purchase new storage containers. You want to be clear about what you actually need before you spend money. You might even already own the appropriate storage containers but are not currently utilizing them. If you want affordable but less sterile looking containers for your bathroom items you will store on your counter tops discount stores like Ross have attractive storage units like wicker baskets, mirrored trays, and stacked wire storage shelves. You want storage items that fit your personal style but are functional as well.

Maintain

After you sort, purge, and containerize, the next, and ongoing step is to maintain this newfound organized bathroom. The main way to hold onto this organization is to place an item back in its set place immediately after use. Even if you are in a rush you should put your items back in their place. This may require a few extra seconds of your time but will save you a good amount of time and frustration in the future. You should also schedule a monthly date with your bathroom to examine its current organization and make sure it's working for you. Are there certain items that need a new home? Would this item be easier to find if it was placed in a different group? What items can you throw away? This may take 15 to 30 minutes of your time but will raise your chances of maintaining your beautifully organized bathroom!

Using these tips will hopefully help you change your bathroom into a more peaceful 'rest'room!

Bailey Gaddis is a Professional Organizer in Ojai, Ventura County, and Los Angeles county. For more information visit http://www.serenelivingspaces.com

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Decluttering Tips - How to Get Rid of Sentimental Items You Don't Need

By Cindy Gunderson

Understanding why you struggle with letting go of sentimental items is the first step in being able to manage them. So why have you accumulated the memorabilia?

· Memorabilia evokes personal experiences, feelings, a connection to the past

· You are responsible for dealing with a deceased loved one's possessions

· You feel obligated to hold on to the items for legal reasons (old legal documents, business manuals, training, information, etc)

· You feel obligated to hold on to the items because of potential value

Learning to understand and let go of quantities of things from the past, tends to alleviate some of the emotional buildup of the past and allows for more space in your present life. There are ways of sifting through quantities of mementos to unearth the ones you truly want to keep.

When you are ready to start sorting your mementos, try to prepare yourself for the feelings that might come up as you go through the items you've accumulated. Take it slow and don't try to go through all of your memorabilia at once. Short sorting sessions in manageable intervals give you time to recover from any unpleasant feelings as needed between sessions.

Now you are ready for the process steps to make decisions and begin sorting. Remember that you are searching for the treasures, and eliminating the unwanted or trash. This process involves three phases of sorting- don't get overwhelmed by that thought! The idea is to work through emotional justification, value justification, and finally space justification.

First, all of your memorabilia will be sorted into three categories: Keep, Get Rid Of, and Undecided. The Keep and Undecided categories are what you are going to put your emphasis and time into. Now, as phase one of your sorting beings, clarify and separate what to keep by deciding what emotions the objects evoke. Items that bring up negative or angry feelings should be eliminated. In keeping and storing those items you will be cementing those old feelings in place and have a constant negative reminder. Only keep the items that make you happy or may make you sad, but are important remembrances. Also, give yourself permission to let go of things that bring about feelings of guilt (such as a gift given to you for your wedding, or inherited but unwanted items) should be included in the Get Rid of category.

Phase two, brings you to working on the two largest clutter contributors, those mementos remaining from phase one's Keep and Undecided categories. Now as you sort ask yourself:

"Why should I keep this?"

"What is the value of this?"

"What purpose does this serve my life?"

"When have I used this last?"

The key to success in making the phase two decisions is to define some limits on how much you keep.

Consider it a quality versus quantity proposition.

If you are struggling with the thought that the possessions may have financial value but are of no purpose to you, consider the options. Selling, donating to a museum or charity, or passing along to a family member are all great ways to release things and unburden you. Just don't put them aside to disperse at a later date, be sure to be proactive on letting them go.

By phase three you should have made significant progress and eliminating the quantity of sentimental items. Now the amount the space you have will dictate how much room you have for your treasures.

Consider how the memorabilia will fit into your home and if it can be easily displayed or properly stored.

If you are still stuck on items that you are undecided about,put those items to the side and set a deadline for when you will revisit them. You may find that when you revisit the items you no longer are as compelled to keep them as you had once thought.

Now that you've done a great job of reducing the quantity of sentimental items to the important quality, be sure that you maintain the same process to new mementos that come into your life.

Cindy Gunderson is the Chief Organizing Guru at TheChaosPlan.com the most comprehensive, creative and cutting-edge personal organization service on the web, we help men and women cut the clutter from their lives. Our members receive individualized attention, direct support, and access to dozens of resources. Find us @ http://www.thechaosplan.com

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What to Expect When Hiring a Professional Organizer

By Cindy Gunderson

What does a Professional Organizer do?

Understanding what Professional Organizers do is integral in achieving your organizing outcomes. A Professional Organizer uses principles and techniques to teach clients organizational skills and design customized systems. The organizer helps the client gain control over their time and space by creating organizing systems that an appropriate and customized for the client and helps the client develops skills to maintain organization.

Organizers come from a variety of backgrounds and professions and as such offer a wide array of organizing services. While most Professional Organizers specialize in either residential or business organization, there are niche services as well such as moving, estate organization, special population organizing (Attention Deficit Disorder, the chronically disorganized, children, seniors or students), event planning, and public speaking.

Residential Organizing specialists generally offer services such as decluttering of spaces, storage design, living space flow, personal coaching, time management, filing and home office organization, and planning, packing and unpacking for relocation.

Business Organizing specialists work with clients to improve and increase productivity, develop work flow systems, space design, paper filing and storage, electronic organizing, time management, create streamline inventory systems, space design, and much more.

While many Professional Organizers specialize in one or more areas, there are some services which most do not offer. Organizers typically don't offer cleaning or secretarial services, but often times can provide you with referrals to other businesses that do offer those services.

Now that you understand more about Professional Organizers, how do you find and hire them?

Finding a Professional Organizer is fairly simple, first, look online at the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) website www.napo.net for free referrals. The alternative is searching local phone books or search engines for ads. Most organizers are listed as "Organizing Services: Household and Business" and will specify what type of organizing services they provide.

Once you contact a Organizer, he or she will do an initial consultation in person or over the phone to assess your needs, surroundings and ask questions about daily activities and long term goals. The assessment consultation may be provided for a fee or free of charge, it varies with each organizer, but they will make you aware of their policy. Based on the assessment the organizer may provide you with a verbal or written plan for the project, the cost, and develop a schedule for project completion.

If you hire a Professional Organizer who is a member of NAPO they must commit to the NAPO Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics is a set of guidelines for professional conduct with clients, colleagues, and community. As a member of NAPO adhering to the Code of Conduct a member is committed to serving clients with confidentially, objectivity, integrity, competence, and with respect.

So what happens next?

After the assessment and all the terms have been agreed upon the Professional Organizer will schedule an appointment with you to begin the work. Your organizing project will require participation from both you and the Professional Organizer. The Professional Organizer will:

· Work hands-on physically

· Assess your personality type, work styles, and environmental influences to create the systems that work

best for your organizational needs.

· Give you workable suggestions, practical solutions, and methods of organization.

· Act in a respectful, nonjudgmental capacity

· Support and encouraging you to achieve your organizational goals

· Provide resources and tools that will save you time and money

As the client you will need to:

· Partner with your Organizer to work on all steps of the project

· Make decisions and be willing to let some things go

· Communicate what you are feeling to your Professional Organizer

· Be patient with your progress, but proud of your achievements

· Do your homework

· Maintain the work you've accomplished

Now that you have a better understanding of what services are provided, how the work is accomplished, and what is expected of the client, you can successfully initiate your organizational project.

Cindy Gunderson is the Chief Organizing Guru at TheChaosPlan.com the most comprehensive, creative and cutting-edge personal organization service on the web, we help men and women cut the clutter from their lives. Our members receive individualized attention, direct support, and access to dozens of resources. Sign up for a membership today @ http://www.thechaosplan.com

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Continue Staying Organized

By Julie Riber

Once you have organized your space whether it is a drawer or an entire room, the real challenge is keeping it that way. Many clients get their area or areas organized, but fail to realize that it requires monitoring and purging. It will take some additional work to maintain the organized space.

Once you have found a system that works for you, you must continue to monitor that system because updating is often needed. At least once per month you should look at the space and decide if there is a piece of the puzzle not working for you and readjust. Maybe you need to just take a few items out, or label some pieces you forget about because they are out of sight. After you have organized the space, make sure you come back in 6 months and look at all the pieces to see if some you have not used since the organization, and purge those. Eliminate items you are not using so those you are using are easily accessible. Making decisions about items coming into the space immediately will eliminate clutter because clutter is delayed decisions.

Review your processes for system often to make adjustments to reflect your current life. If you started the organizing when your child was 2 and they are now 13, the system should look and be different. If you change occupations or your family status changes, make adjustments to accommodate your changes. To stay on top of your spaces review them often.

Julie Riber has been a Professional Organizer since 2004. She helps organize her clients home and businesses. She is a Golden Circle member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and a board member of the Ohio Chapter of NAPO. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter with organizing tips. http://www.transformare.net

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