Sept. 20, 2010,  is Organizing for Academic Success, for middle and high school parents, taught by Ellen DeLap, Certified Professional Organizer ® and Family Manager Coach.
This class will  cover organization and time management so students can be more successful in the classroom.
More details - Click Here

Sept. 28, 2010, we have a class just for teachers!!
Helene Segura, Certified Professional Organizer® and Clutter Diet Expert teaches:
How Teachers Can Conquer Chaos: 5 Strategies for Bringing Order to Your School Day
Get Details and register - CLICK HERE

More Classes in the series (Details Coming Soon)

• Back to School / Back to work - Paper Management
• Meal Planning for busy moms
• Organizing for Families

He wrote about it recently in this post at Lifehacker.

He has custom categories based on the types of actions he does at work.

I had a request from my last post to make a design that was less girly - so I’ll be working on that!!

– Allison

But like many visual people, if I put the documents into a file marked “to do” I am totally not going to look in there and do it. And it doesn’t help to write it on a list. The thing that gets me to do stuff is to see it sitting on my desktop. That probably sounds weird coming from a professional organizer, but it works for me because I take action often and hate to have a lot on my desk at any time.

So I decided to come up with a desktop wallpaper that would allow me to sort out my to-dos on my computer screen just like I sort them out into file trays. I made quadrants for:

• to do
• in progress
• to file
• reminders/notes (could also be for ideas)

View the screen wallpaper here and download if you like.

You can set it as a desktop background by right clicking and saving as background.

I manually move the items to the quadrant where they belong.

I found most of my items are actually in progress or to be filed and I just need to finish ‘em and file ‘em.

Tell me what you think of this and if you would use something like this on your screen?
What changes would you make?

Top 20 things to avoid when getting rid of clutter.

1. End of season sales
2. Dollar stores
3. Craig’s List
4. Freecycle
5. Ebay
6. Souvenir shops
7. Craft fairs
8. Garage sales
9. Estate Sales
10. Flea markets
11. Window shopping
12. Letting other people store their stuff at your house
13. Home parties where you feel obligated to buy something
14. Picking up free samples
15. Warehouse stores / buying in bulk because it’s a good deal
16. Subscribing to magazines you don’t read every month
17. Buying makeup  just to get the bonus gift
18. Shopping to make you feel better
19. Sale racks / clearance aisles
20. Catalogs

The Purse Perfector

In my ongoing quest to have a more organized purse, I tried out a new product (at least it is new to me) called the Purse Perfector. It qualifies as an Organizing STAR product!
The company was kind enough to send me a cute pink one to test drive.

You see, I have a favorite bag that was hand-made by an artist I adore the bag, but  have never successfully found a way to deal with the big black hole of space in the center. It’s my awesome messenger style bag.

When I received the Purse Perfector^TM I put it right into the bag and started organizing.

After putting it in, I thought it could definitely work, if I can keep my things upright.
But therein lies the problem. My purse doesn’t have a flat bottom so every time I set it down, my stuff kicks around inside. And the cute pink Purse Perfector^TM was pushed all around too. My wallet (orange off to the side) moved around all over the purse too and that didn’t really work for me.

Here is what I do like about the product:

• It is cute - which matters to me.
• It has properly sized compartments for the things most women carry.
• It zips apart so you can use just ½ of it in a smaller bag or the whole thing in a medium size bag.
• The material is sturdy and would hold up to hard use. (It looks washable too.)
• It is easy to get items in and out of the compartments. They’re big enough and they don’t have any weird elastic that requires two hands to get something in and out. (But because my bag was too big, I had to hold the organizer steady to put things in it.)

What I don’t like:

• If it is in an unstructured bag, like a beach bag or big tote, it can tip over. But it wasn’t designed for those so it’s not really the product’s fault.
• If you have a lot of stuff, and a big bag,  you might need two of them.
• The price is quite a bit higher than other similar products on the market and may miss getting new users because of the price point ($60).

Who I would recommend this for:

• People who want their purses or bags to be more organized and find things easily
• People who like to switch purses often and can use this to take everything out fast and put them into another purse.
• People with a minimum amount of stuff to carry
• People who use small and medium size bags, not large and extra large like me.

What I would like to see in the future:
A jumbo size version to go inside big tote bags and messenger bags!!

TheOrganizingScream by Allison Carter

How do I get rid of things when I have a hard time letting go? This is a very common problem for people who want to get organized. You feel conflicted - torn between being organized and simplifying your life, but you’re afraid you might need it someday. Sound familiar? If this describes you, then there are a few tricks you can use to work your way through the piles and over-stock.

1. Not sure you can live without it?
Create a holding pattern.  Designate a “holding” bin for things you think you might need again, but can’t really think of an exact time you will use them. Close the bin and mark it with a date 1 month, 6 months or 1 year in the future. Every time you NEED something from the bin, go ahead and take it out and use it.  If you haven’t used an item after your designated time stamp, then you are most likely not going to NEED it. It may be nice to have, but in truth, we don’t need nearly as much as we think we do. It is merely a want. And knowing the difference between NEED and WANT is incredibly important when organizing.

2. I can’t get rid of it because someone gave it to me.
If this sounds like a common problem for you, fess up to the fact that you’re only keeping some things because you would feel too guilty to get rid of them. Take out a box, a big one, and write on the sides “GUILT” and put everything in it that you don’t really need, use or love but you feel you have to keep because of an obligation.
If it’s furniture you have an even bigger problem (literally.) With this box, you can visually see all the mental clutter you’re carrying around in the form of objects.  If you have room, feel free to keep this box of guilt. But do realize that is what it is.
To me, a gift is something that doesn’t come with strings attached. And if keeping an item is a burden to you, it is not a gift at all.

3. Give to those in need, and do it often.
Find a charitable organization that you have a strong feeling for. It doesn’t matter whether  it is a battered women’s shelter, a family down the street, or the Kidney Foundation. Just find one that will make you feel good about giving to. Keep a “donation” box open and fill it with something every chance you get. Make a date to have it picked up or take it to the recipient regularly.

4. Sentimental stuff is hard to let go of.
If you’re particularly sentimental it can be hard to get rid of objects because it feels as if you’re throwing away memories.  But the memories really live in your head and the object is only a trigger for the memory. If you don’t have room for all of the keepsakes, try turning some of them into digital/virtual objects. Take photos of t-shirts, stuffed animals, trophies, and art projects.  Scan schoolwork, report cards, certificates and anything flat. Save your keepsakes on discs and in a virtual vault online such as Picasa, a free photo site with Google.  You can even print a digital scrapbook of your collections of t-shirts, ticket stubs, and kids art if you want something tangible to browse through.

Want more ideas?
In our next post, I’ll give you a list of questions you can use to help you decide whether you can donate or toss your clutter.

– Allison

There are 2 theories about where to begin:

1. Start with something small and easy.

A small and easy project is one that can be done in an hour or so. By doing a short and sweet little project, you can quickly feel a sense of accomplishment. It also gets your brain into gear. You see, starting is often the hardest part of organizing, and if you don’t dread the project, starting is easier. So pick something you would really enjoy using - maybe your spices if you’re a cook or your golf bag if you play golf.

2. Start with the thing that bothers you the most.

When you begin you with the worst first you get the monkey off your back.  Often times this is a room or area with no quick fix such as a garage, basement, or attic and it can be discouraging when it takes many hours to complete (or even to make a dent.)

There is no right answer. But I recommend starting with something small if the most bothersome thing isn’t an emergency.

How do you start getting rid of things when you have a hard time letting go?
Look for that answer in our next post.

– Allison

Before you dig in, weed out, and plant your seeds for success… stop and think about what you want your life to look like, feel like, BE like.
Do you want simplicity? Do you want to just be able to find things?
Do you want everything to be perfectly neat and tidy? Or it’s good enough to have things all in one place?
When you know where you’re going, it’s easier to find the right roads.

Ok, now time to dig in? Not quite yet.
Gather some tools to help you along.
Some favorite tools for organizing:

• Stack of post it notes
• Garbage bags
• Boxes (the more stuff you have the more you’ll need)
• Markers
• Measuring tape

OK, now you can be an organizing STAR^©. This method works for any space.

S = Sort - Sort your stuff based on what they are (like with like) or how you use them (things used together get grouped together).  After you sort, you can finally see if you have too many of any kind of item

T = Toss - You can toss no-brainers as you sort (broken, stained, worn out items).  Sometimes you have to see the whole shebang before you can toss some out. Pick your favorites to save, and only as many fit in the space you have. Donate anything that can be re-used by someone else.

A = Arrange - Assign where things will go and arrange them in containers that work. Sometimes you have to pick the container based on the size of your space. Sometimes you have to choose where things go based on the container and size of the object.

R = Revisit - Organizing is never  really done unless you live in a museum where nothing ever gets moved. It is the nature of life that chaos happens. Not only that, the first system you set up may not be working so well and you can tweak it up to make it work better for you.

Now, where to begin?
See our next post!