Pesky Paper Clutter

Speaking at Multiple Births Canada National Conference, Oct. 2011

Since founding Simply Organized Life in 2005, the question I am most asked is "What to do with all those pesky paper piles?"

After a busy summer filled with lots of activities outside the home, I found myself with some sizable paper piles in my office. I made the piles go away and am only left with my current project folders on my desk. Here's what I did: 

1) Set Aside the Time

Being a professional organizer, I know how to handle paperwork and (gasp) actually enjoy it. However, several rounds of house guests and our busy summer schedule kept me away from my home office where the paper piled up. At the first opportunity, I scheduled time in my calendar to deal with the paper on my desk. 

2) Just Do It

Paper piles can be pretty intimidating. It is much easier (and more fun) to check your e-mail, surf Facebook or do just about anything other than sorting through the papers. What I find works for me is to set a timer for a short amount of time (say 15 minutes) and just starting dealing with the paper pile top down. If a bill appears, I pay it. If project papers appear, I schedule time in my calendar or create a project file. Most people can handle those types of action papers, but what about those pesky papers that you *might* need to refer to in the future? 

3) Put it Away 

Everyone needs a system for those little bits of paper that we want to refer to in the future. The thing is that if we cannot retrieve those papers when we need them, what is the point of keeping them? 

I utilize a combination of paper files, like the family binder I referred to in my "Get Organized for Back to School" post, and am slowly shifting to a paperless system for other things. For my children's artwork I either take a photograph or scan the items. These things are stored by month and year with our digital photos. For other things, like interesting magazine articles or websites, I scan and save to Evernote, which I can then search at a later date.  

Source:  www.evernote.com

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "5 Habits for an Organized Office" at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. on October 12, 2012. Register now with Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. Please note that Carolyn was not compensated by any vendors for this blog post. 

Zero Waste Lunch

My child's zero waste lunchbox. 

When you are organized you can do so many things that you might not be able to do otherwise. One of the things that being organized allows me to do is pack zero waste lunches for my kids. It is a small thing that makes me happy. 

My main goal for my children's lunches is to have everything together in one package, so that they can focus on eating the (mostly) healthy food that I pack. 

The photo above shows the insulated lunchbox loaded up. The ice pack (on the left) is tucked in the pouch so it can stay put at lunch and not get lost. On the other side my child has a cloth napkin, a Nalgene bottle (BPA free and made in the USA), utensils and a two tiered bento box I found on sale at Old Navy last September (also BPA free).  

Of course, an organizer's kid has to have everything labeled. This is a great example of good, better, best labeling. I used a combination of Sharpie pen, Brother P-touch and Name Bubbles labels. Except for the napkin, everything has a label, even each individual utensil. 

Bento box using silicon cups to separate food.

The second photo is an example of a lunch I packed for my kids this summer. I use silicon cupcake cups to separate the food in the bottom tier of the bento box. The top tier is just thick enough for a sandwich. This lunch contained cucumbers, tomatoes and basil from our vegetable patch. The fresh mozzarella ball is store bought. 

Last week I volunteered at the school during one lunch hour. The parent volunteer's role is to help the young kids open containers, clean up trash, keep things together and on the particular day I volunteered, it seemed that half the class had to use the bathroom during lunch. 

Even if your goal is not a zero waste lunch, make sure your kids can easily open the containers or packages in their lunchboxes. While it may seem easy for us, I opened a lot of cheese stick packages last week. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Easy Organizing for Busy Families" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on September 26, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details). Register with My Urban Toddler by Wednesday, September 19, 2012. 

Get the Garage in Order

Source:  http://magazine.ucla.edu/features/the-clutter-culture/index1.html   

If you cannot fit your car in your garage, you are not alone. A full 75% of families in an anthropological study at UCLA could not park a car in their garages. If a similar study were conducted in the Midwest, the numbers might be slightly lower due to our cold winters and the fact that most Midwestern homes have basements.  At any rate, I am sure we can all find unwanted clutter in our garages after a busy summer. Here are a few quick tips to get your garage in order before the weather turns cold: 1) Start with the Big Stuff Take a look around your garage and see what are the largest items taking up space. Determine if these items deserve their own zone (see below) or if the items need to move on. Unwanted items can be sold, donated, recycled or trashed as a last resort.     2) Create Zones Creating zones in your garage--or any area of the home--is a great way to reserve space for big items (like your car) and to be able to find those small items when you need them.   Some common zones found in garages include a place to park cars, a gardening bench, tool storage, bicycles and kid stuff. The key to keeping any of these zones tidy is to only allow related items in each zone.  3) Utilize Wall Space One of the best ways to keep an organized garage is to utilize the wall space. This gets things off the floor and out of the way. While expensive garage systems with slat walls and cabinets are nice, there are a lot of cheaper options that will not cost you a bundle.  One of the cheapest and easiest ways to utilize the wall space in your garage is to hang items by two long nails. I learned this trick from my Grandfather and Father, who were quite organized in their day. Another "old timer" favorite is the peg board utilizing hooks and other accessories. Just remember to thoroughly sort and purge your items before buying any organizing tools.  Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Carolyn will be presenting "Easy Organizing for Busy Families" at My Urban Toddler in Saline, Michigan on September 26, 2012 (childcare is available, check with My Urban Toddler for details). Register with My Urban Toddler by Wednesday, September 19, 2012.