IMPORTANT: Ord Mnr Blog to Merge with eNewsletter

For those of you reading this blog but not receiving my monthly eNewsletter, pay attention. My blog will be ending Sept. 14th, with all information to be included in the publication of the eNewsletter beginning Sept. 15th. My Orderly Manor eNewsletter comes out the 15th of each month, and is sent via email with link. This will allow me to make more efficient use of my busy time outside of the work I do with clients.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for this newsletter, please add your name/email by filling out the form button to the left (below my pic & bio).

While any of the past posts will be lost, you do have access to past eNewsletters on my website as well as a downloadable eBook through Lulu for organizing content.

I hope you look forward to receiving news from me each month, and for those of you already on the mailing list, happy reading!

Tiny Tips for Saving $$

I've culled out some money-saving ideas published in the Sept. '09 Redbook.

Dump spare change into a collection spot. When it's full, bring it to the bank or coin machine and use the amount towards a splurge or deposit it into your savings.

Plan out meals and grocery shop by that plan. Put a star next to the items on the list that you have a coupon for.

Choose a credit card that gives you points or rewards for using it.

Keep coupons organized and accessible. Share unused coupons with friends or family members that you know use coupons. Sources for coupons:

• newspaper


• online sites


• manufacturer's websites

Set a goal. every time you're considering a purchase, ask yourself "would I rather put more money toward (your goal) or purchase this item?"

Check out eBay, Craigslist and Freecycle before you buy something.

Reconnecting Takes a Lot of Time!

I apologize for my lack of recent posting but I have an excuse. And for any of you on Facebook, you'll sympathize. I recently joined FB and have found it interesting, time-consuming, and somewhat addictive. Perhaps you can relate.

In any event, I have found myself typing away for that purpose as opposed to writing anywhere else! Not that I don't have plenty more to say about organizing, redesign and staging, mind you. So bear with me...as soon as my FB honeymoon is over, I'll be back with a vengeance!

An Alternative to Shredding

The majority of my clients who have shredders either 1) don't use them, 2) hate them, 3) have jammed shredders needing repair, or 4) all of the above. Which explains why I am not a big fan of shredders. They end up causing more clutter and headaches than helping.

I saw an item in http://www.solutions.com/ that I thought was an interesting alternative, besides, say, just ripping up sensitive material yourself.

Here’s a quick, easy way to protect your address, account numbers and other information before you recycle. Cover it up with a push of this stamp—the unique proprietary ink leaves behind a jumbled pattern of characters that make things unreadable. Use on credit card offers, bank statements, personal letters and more.

Is Your Cell Phone Plan Under Control?

Found this tidbit in Real Simple -- these websites allow you to check your cell phone plan to see if it is the most sensible for you:

• billshrink.com


• fixmycellbill.com

Sharing $avings - Organize-It

Save 15% on everything at Organizeit.com from now through August 31, 2009. To take advantage of this great deal, simply use the code EM97LD at checkout.

Fun Office Supplies to Share

Real Simple showed these 2 problem-solving office products that I thought were unique and inexpensive:

• bamboo dry-erase board: buy at threebythree.com
  


• cable clips: buy at bluelounge.com

"Most stress is caused by people who overestimate the importance of their problems."
Michael Le Boeuf

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.”

Bertrand Russell

Coupons in Cyberspace

Not getting a Sunday newspaper with all the circulars is no longer a valid reason for not having coupons. You can be a thrifty shopper by going online and printing out your own coupons. There are many websites out there that offer you printable savings -- you just need to print out the coupon and you can use it at the grocery store, just like any other coupon.

Try Coupons.com and Cool Savings to get started, and then do a search for "free printable coupons" for more sites. Most allow you to look at specific categories or flag ones you want as you scroll through the pages. Good luck!

Garage Advice from Rubbermaid

While I don't represent or particularly endorse any organizing products, I do like Rubbermaid because I've found their products to be sturdy and easy to use. Here is some advice from them about garages:

Although it’s meant to hold a car (or two), the typical garage is often so cluttered with garden supplies, sporting equipment, deck gear and…well, junk, that there’s barely any place left to park. Free up room for the car and much more by tapping some unused space—the garage walls—and getting everything off the floor.

1. CLEAR IT OUT: Set aside a weekend to sort through all of the items in your garage—if you can, get the whole family to pitch in. Have large garbage cans on hand to toss anything you really don’t use (be honest) as well as boxes for items you will want to give away or have repaired.

2. GET IN THE ZONE: Once you’ve winnowed down the clutter, think about where stuff will go. Divide the walls of the garage into zones, so you’ll know immediately where to find what you need. For example, designate one area for tools, another for bikes, skis and other recreational equipment, and a third for gardening and lawn supplies. Locate these zones where they’re most convenient; in other words, keep rakes and trimmers by the door leading to the yard.

3. AIM HIGH—AND LOW: A modular hook-and-rail system, like Rubbermaid’s FastTrack, is easy to install and makes the most of vertical space. Add shelves and baskets for smaller items. Hang the things you use most often low or at arm’s reach, and less-frequently used items high and out of the way (just be careful not to hang heavy things so high that taking them down will be dangerous). It’s also a good idea to store hazardous items—cleaning supplies, paint thinner, motor oil—on a high shelf or in a basket out of kids’ reach.

4. FIND A HOOK: Take time to choose the right hooks for the job, and be sure to check the hook’s capacity against the weight of the item you’re hanging. A plastic coating will protect the finish on bikes and such.

5. THINK SEASONALLY: A modular system lets you rearrange stuff easily. So in summer, you can keep hoses, beach chairs and bikes front and center; then when the weather changes, swap for shovels and ski equipment.

Do You Have A Minute? (or 15?)

According to OnlineOrganizing.com, here are a few quick things you can do to organize your home when you only have 15 minutes:

• empty your dishwasher
• put in a load of laundry
• start a load of clothes drying
• make your bed
• fold some clean clothes
• put away your clean laundry
• clean the toilet
• clear the extra empty hangers out of your closet
• empty your trashcans
• clean the bathroom mirrors clean out a drawer
• clean out your purse
• clean out your wallet
• dust one room
• sweep the kitchen
• balance your checkbook
• pay a couple of bills
• straighten up one room
• file a stack of papers
• reconcile your credit card statement
• sew a missing button
• repair a ripped hem
• clip coupons from the newspaper
• make a grocery or shopping list
• make a to-do list
• plan your meals for the week
• gather up chore items to return (library books, videos, etc.)
• clean expired items out of your medicine cabinet
• clean out the fridge
• check your desk for dead pens and markers
• enter a few addresses in your book or electronic organizer
• respond to a couple of emails
• write a letter
• do the dishes
• clean out your makeup drawer
• read and sort the mail
• set out your clothes for the next day
• make lunches for the next day
• make a phone call

Cans for Clutter

I'm sharing this unique take on using cans to help with clutter. Check out the pics where cans are instrumental on getting organized here. Hmm, interesting...

Quickie Tip

Instead of crossing out items on a to-do list, use a highlighter. Highlighting the tasks you've done will make the accomplishment seem more significant and curiously make the items you haven't done seem more obvious.

School Supplies? Halloween Stuff? It's 1st Wk of August!!!

Yesterday we were in Michaels, and saw multiple displays of Halloween decor, crafts and orange/black scary stuff. Mind you, it was August 2nd. Am I the only one bothered by this? It seems like this early onset of the holiday surprises me each year, or maybe Corporate American is pushing the stuff earlier and earlier.

The other thing I have noticed a lot of (starting in mid-July) is ads for school supplies and back-to-school sales. Now the college stuff I can understand, although I never started back to campus until at least the end of August when I was in college. But stores are also advertising the K-12 gear already, which seems bizarre to me since it feels like my kids just got out of school (they did, at the end of June). Yet one month later, I saw backpacks and fall clothes aimed at the school-age set on sale. I know I don't want to see any of that stuff anytime before it's necessary -- that would signal the end of summer!

The only thing I can see that's a benefit to all this way-too-early selling is that if you do get it now, stores won't be out of what you want the first week of school. For ex., my kids already chose and we purchased their new backpacks a couple of weeks ago. 1) they were on sale, and 2) securing that fave Hello Kitty and Transformers means no endless searching closer to the 1st day of school.

Otherwise, let me enjoy the summer, World of Retail!

Ah, The Simple Life

FYI, the first week in August is Simplify Your Life Week. You can do some weeding out of files, paperwork, clothes, and toys to lighten the load. Simplifying can also be applied to routines, systems, and work you do on a daily basis at home and at work.

Complexity creates a maze between you and success.
Simplicity ensures a clear line of sight.
-- Lee J. Colan, Power Exchange

Purse Organizer Review

I recently was given a purse organizer, and have been trying it out. It is called the "ultimate purse organizer" by Joey Junior, and it is like a long rectangle of fabric (5" x 26") with pockets, key clip, and velcro fasteners [see photo]. The ends velcro together to make a loop which can stand upright, which helps keep soft-sided bags (like my roomy one) stable.

You might be wondering, does it work? Well, so far, so good, although perhaps the purse of a Professional Organizer who only uses the one purse (no changing bag according to my outfit) isn't the best test subject. But I love organizing products, and I like having direct, personal experience that I can share with clients.

To get more info., see all of the purse accessories at Joey Junior, including the foldable purse hanger, which I keep forgetting to get from my uber-organized purse and use!

Sharing $avings - See Jane Work

Get 15% Off All See Jane Work Storage Thru Friday, July 31st! Enter code '15offstorage' at checkout to receive discount.

A Week of Organizing Personalities

It's been several days since I posted, namely because I've had a really busy week working with clients. It's a busy summer for organizing!

My clients are all so different in style, personality, family/home life, work, etc. that it makes it interesting (and at times, challenging!). I have found, however, that there are commonalities amongst clients; certainly the reason they hired me is sometimes the same, but also how they're disorganized, cluttered, or needing assistance is similar.

I notice these things again when I work with many different clients in a close span of time. Here are some of the common obstacles to staying organized:

• Most of us wait for the problem to disappear on its own. No one really likes to perform routine tasks. But when we postpone today’s work until tomorrow, it creates double work for us. Most of us wait until the work piles up. So very often, disorganization is a result of procrastinating -- putting things off until a later date. Procrastination is really just postponed decisions.
• We all have priorities that should be set up in the order of importance. When people indulge in the activity that is interesting but not really important for a long time it obviously leaves no time for the essential tasks. When the work piles up it makes it worse. Is the priority having a clean, organized home or having a lot of stuff? If your family acts according to “work before play”, members know there is positive reinforcement for work done.
• Interruptions and distractions reduce motivation to continue to work. Some interruptions are inevitable and can be accommodated without disturbing out schedule while others can be ignored. If we lose our focus and try to do too many things, nothing gets done completely. Have you ever gone from one room to another, only doing a little bit of a lot of rooms instead of a lot in one room? Having a Professional Organizer there, at your home, keeps you on task.
• Being in a household with different personality types (neat freak, slob, etc.) makes it harder, but not impossible, to maintain order. Everyone’s got something they like to be organized, so it is a matter of capitalizing on individuals’ strengths. Either you are organized or you’re not, and if you say you were organized before the kids but aren’t now, you never were. To be organized means being that way no matter what, no matter who lives in your house.
• Habits are hard to break. Some say it takes 21 times doing something for it to become a habit. If you are used to clutter, then it is harder for you not to have clutter. Therefore start with baby steps to re-train yourself and others to make organization a habit, not an idea to strive for someday. If it is really important to you, I tell clients, then you have to make it a habit.

Tempted by Catalogs Because They Keep Coming??

I get a lot of catalogs mailed to me each week, especially around holidays. The thing is, I do order from catalogs and online so that's the reason they keep coming. For some, just having a catalog in their home tempts them to buy something, not to mention the number of catalogs adding to clutter in the house.

If you want to reduce the amount of temptation, there are a couple things you can do proactively other than throw out any catalog you get in the mail.

According to ecocycle.org, "contacting the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and registering with their Mail Preference Service provides an effective way for you to fight the junk mail glut. The DMA does not provide marketers with consumer mailing lists or do consumer mailings. They provide their Mail Preference Service to marketers for the sole purpose of removing consumer’s names and addresses from their prospect mailing lists. To add your name to the do-not-mail list, register online at https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action or download a mail-in form."

You can also check out Catalog Choice. Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources.

Laundry Shortcut Worth a Try

The topic of this post relates to organizing vis-a-vis time management and efficiency. While at the grocery store, I noticed the woman behind me in line at the checkout had a new product I've been wanting to try. It was the all-in-one Purex detergent/softener/dryer sheet. She had been told it worked well, and so she was purchasing it (something I'm planning on doing as well).

Here is the product description according to its website:

Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets are a load’s worth of detergent, softener and anti-static all in one powerful sheet. Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets come in three scents and are available in two package types – a Starter Kit (1 Dispenser + 20 Laundry Sheets) and a value Refill Pouch (24 Laundry Sheets). The Starter Kit includes a refillable Dispenser that makes it simple to protect and access Purex Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets. Once you have the Dispenser, simply purchase the money-saving Refill Pouch to fill the convenient Dispenser.

There's even a link to get a $1 off coupon on the website. I printed the coupon out myself and am looking forward to trying the product out! Anything to save time....