Tackling Paper Clutter

This morning I am catching up on some of my own paper clutter using these techniques, originally posted in September 2012. 

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 "Spring Clean Your Clutter" at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. on May 10, 2013. Register now with Ann Arbor Rec & Ed. Please note that Carolyn was not compensated by any vendors for this blog post. 

Establishing Positive Routines

Carolyn presenting her popular seminar "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life" One of my "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life" (sign up here for a free copy) is having positive routines. Establishing and keeping positive routines is not always easy, but the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences.  Great routines can help you be more rested, get where you need to be on-time, keep up on household duties and achieve your personal and professional goals. I hope you will find these tips useful in evaluating your own daily routines.

Take a good hard look at your current routines:  note what is working and what is not working. Are you rushing around every morning, creating a stressful environment for everyone in your wake? Or is sleep deprivation making you a bit, shall we say it? Crabby?  Many families struggle with the morning routine, which really starts with a good evening routine and getting enough sleep. Here are some tips for establishing a stress free evening routine: Have a set bedtime on most evenings for both yourself and your children. Plan for any evening activities to finish a least an hour before your bedtime.  At that time, start winding down by planning for the next day, taking care of loose ends and getting ready for bed.  Lay out your clothing for the next day, so that it is quick and easy to get ready. Some may even want to prepare breakfast for the next morning.  We all have more to do than we can accomplish most days. Jot down those unfinished tasks on a notepad or in your calendar for another day.  ​Before evaluating your morning routine, make sure you are planning for the day ahead the night before. Then look at exactly where the morning routine could be improved up for a smoother start to your day. If you need help establishing your routines, contact Carolyn for a complementary consultation and consider purchasing the Simply Organized Life routine worksheet.  Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life"and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here.

Planning and Organizing Vacation Time

Photo Credit: Carolyn Anderson-Fermann

Most of us look forward to vacation time as a special time to explore new things and be with family. If we are not careful, planning and organizing a vacation can take on a life of its own. 

Here are some quick tips to help you plan and organize your limited vacation time:

1) Pull Out the Calendar

Take out your calendar (be it paper or electronic) and map out your vacation time, taking note of major holidays like Memorial Day and the 4th of July. If you have school age children, now is the time to figure out if your kids will attend some sort of summer camp. Many summer camps have already opened enrollment. 

2) Gather Information in One Place

Before you end up with one more paper pile, now is the time to set up a system for vacation related documents and articles. If you prefer paper, this can be a simple folder, hanging file or a three ring binder.

If you are trying to limit the paper in your life, an electronic application such as Evernote is a great repository for information. I started using Evernote over a year ago and find it really useful to scan in articles on places of interest. In planning our trip to Florida last year, I set up several notes in Evernote; including a packing list, theme park tips and links to recommended restaurants. This was much easier than lugging around a guidebook. 

3) Set a Budget and Start Booking

It is a fact of life that our vacation plans are limited by time and by money. Now is the time to set a vacation budget, start saving and start booking for the best rates. 

If you need a little extra help planning your time, please contact Carolyn to schedule a complementary telephone consultation and be your best in 2013. 

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. Do you need to conquer the clutter in your closet? Carolyn will be presenting "Conquer Your Closet" through Ann Arbor Rec and Ed on Friday, March 15, 2013. Register with Ann Arbor Rec and Ed. 

Guest Post: Prioritizing You! (Part 2 of 2)

Last week, guest blogger, Anna Mae Trievel from Ann Arbor with Kids and Fun with Your Kid, shared her tips to make sure moms remember to make themselves a priority. Here is part 2 of 2. 

Based on the success of the coffee group mentioned in last week's post, I want to setup a regular event with another group of friends from my daughter’s school. 

I have talked with another mom about twice a month meetings: one week doing coffee and one week doing lunch. So far, we have not organized anything official, but have done coffee a few times, lunch once and a movie once. We also had an after-school outing with the kids.

My husband and I are fortunate to have family in the area who like to watch our daughter (and where she asks to sleep-over) so we are able to have date nights without arranging a babysitter. 

Date nights are also something that can be scheduled to make sure you have your own time. If finances are tight, you can arrange a routine trade-off with a friend so that you each get a date night once a month and once a month you watch the friend’s child(ren). 

Another option is to look for places that have a regular kids' night out event. Plan to take advantage of those when they are offered to have your regular date night. I have seen them offered at gymnastics centers, inflatable bounce places and my daughter’s school.

So when organizing your schedule, don’t forget the importance of scheduling your “me time”, “date night”, or even family game night.

Anna Mae Trievel writes the blog Ann Arbor with Kids about family events and activities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She recently launched Fun with Your Kid to provide information about events happening across the country or region, product reviews, travel experiences and more.

Guest Post: Prioritizing You! (Part 1 of 2)

Guest blogger, Anna Mae Trievel from Ann Arbor with Kids and Fun with Your Kid, shares her tips to make sure moms remember to make themselves a priority. 

Our back to school schedule is finally set. The teacher has the classroom volunteer schedule completed and I have helped a few times. Soccer is nearly over, Girl Scouts has started and other after school activities have begun. Even if your child is not yet in school, back to school heralds a shift of weekday activities to focus on toddlers and preschoolers instead of kids home from school for the summer.

When setting your schedule, the required items always seem to make it on the calendar: school, sports, work and other commitments. But how often do “me time” events make it on the list? This is even more important when your me time activities include others or require child care, such as date night, mom’s (or dad’s) night out or lunch group.

  

Before my daughter was in kindergarten, we belonged to a twice a month playgroup for many years. Since she attended afternoon preschool, we were able to continue with the group until last fall. Last year, many of us had children headed off to school and were leaving the playgroup. We switched to a twice a month coffee group on the alternate weeks of the playgroup so that those who still had younger children could attend both coffee (with the younger kids) and playgroup. 

After taking a summer hiatus, we started back up in September. Our group is very casual in that you make it when you can. People drift in over the course of an hour and come on the weeks that they can. I love having this time on my calendar and knowing that we will get together regularly....unlike the hypothetical Mom’s Night Out that we have been discussing since our last one 15 months ago.

Anna Mae Trievel writes the blog Ann Arbor with Kids about family events and activities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She recently launched Fun with Your Kid to provide information about events happening across the country or region, product reviews, travel experiences and more.

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. 

Guest Post: Moving with Kids (Part 2 of 2)

Mommy blogger, Allison Stanton, of Ally's Helpful Hints for Mommies, recently moved with her two preschool aged children in tow. Ally shares her moving experience and organizational tips to make moving with kids easier. 

Thanks to Carolyn for letting me guest post!  She asked me to share some tips with you on moving with small kids. Check out last week's post for tips on preparing for moving day. 

The last couple of days before moving I packed up everything except what we would need for a couple of days. It was like staying in a hotel. I had as much as I could in our dining room after moving our table out of the way and stacked it all up in one spot so it was easy to get at.

This made room in the bedrooms to take apart the beds as much as we could before our help showed up to load it all up. We allowed several hours to disassemble beds, to pack up bedding and to pack last minute items before our help came.  

We also sent the kids to the grandparents house the morning we moved and the first night in the new house so we could get everything set up. If Grandma and Grandpa can take the kids longer than that I would recommend it!

To save the cost of a moving company, we got help from our church. The volunteers did a good job with minimal damage on the big items.  Make sure to have a small treat and drinks for your helpers. :)

One tip I have for unloading is to have one person telling everyone where to put the boxes.  It can be overwhelming with them coming in two doors or a bunch at once, but this way 80% of your items will be in the right room. I stood and told everyone where I wanted items and the boxes that were not labeled well I made a pile in our living room and went through it right away and put things where they needed to go.  

I am still going through things and giving items away to downsize pots, extra bowls, decorations and the like. It really helps to keep things simple. I still have a room that has some boxes in it but we are slowly organizing and putting things in place.  

The biggest thing that has helped me is to not hold on to items thinking "I may use this one day". If you haven't used it in awhile and do not think you will use it again soon, get rid of it! You can find yard sale groups on Facebook and Craigslist in your town. 

Happy moving!  What is your biggest tip when it comes to moving?

Who is Ally? My name is Allison Stanton and I am a stay at home mom of two boys: 5 and 2 years old. We live in Ormond Beach, Florida. I love connecting with other mommies and helping each other out. I pass along hints for mommies and I receive help at the same time.  You can find me at my website at http://www.allyshints.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/allyshelpfulhintsformommies.  

Simplified Gift Giving

Over the last few years spring and summer have brought birthday parties, bridal showers and weddings to my family. This year seems to be the same, which gets me thinking about simplified gift giving. 


Some folks love the whole process of shopping, buying, wrapping and giving gifts so much that they have whole rooms devoted to the process. For me, and I assume many readers, it is more like a corner of a closet. 


I recommend shopping for gifts as you need them to avoid wasting money on a stockpile with no recipients. Remember, that "on sale" item won't be a bargain if it sits in a closet unused. 


Keeping a running list of gift ideas in the notes feature on my iPhone and in Outlook on my PC helps when it is gift giving time. The cloud application Evernote could also be used for this. 


To save time shopping, I have standard clutter free gifts (usually something consumable like nice chocolates) that I like to give. For bridal showers and weddings, I typically check the registry on-line as soon as possible and then go into the store to purchase both the shower and wedding gift while there is a good selection in my price range. 


To save time gift wrapping, I always ask if the store has free gift wrap and take advantage of that service. This is a perk that you will find at many locally owned specialty stores and gift registries. 


For those gifts that I need to wrap myself, I keep one roll of gender neutral, all occasion gift wrap on hand. This avoids the need to store multiple rolls of gift wrap. In addition, I have a ribbon bin (which always entertains my kids while I am wrapping gifts) and a collection of gift bags. Most of the ribbons and gift bags are the best ones salvaged from previous gifts. 


These gift giving tips help keep my life simple and save money for my family. 


Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. To receive a free copy of Carolyn's "Secrets of a Simply Organized Life" and a monthly subscription to the e-newsletter "Your Simply Organized Life" sign up here. 

Organizing Cosmetics

The Clinique counter at Macy's in Ann Arbor

It is Clinique bonus time at Macy's (until April 15, 2012 or until supplies last). I do not wear much make-up, so I can pretty much get by on purchasing my favorite powder and the samples from the bonus bag. 

Most of us are pretty good at stocking up on our favorite cosmetic bonuses, but not so good at letting go and organizing our make-up. Cosmetics do have a shelf life and it is important to throw out old or expired items. 

The same day I made my bonus purchase, I took everything out and wrote the purchase date on the individual items in permanent marker. This gives me a good indication of when I need to throw out old items and how long cosmetics last so I do not overbuy. After dating the new purchases, I throw away the old duplicates. This is also known as the "one in, one out rule" in maintaining organization. 

I keep my cosmetics laid out in a bathroom drawer in the order that I apply each item. This saves precious morning time. I also keep a makeup bag (a "free" bonus of course!) in the drawer, so that when I travel everything is easily placed in the bag. In addition to the cosmetics' bag, I have a couple of cups holding brushes, a nail file, nail polish; as well as a small organizer for lip stick, mascara and small brushes. 

This is a really easy way to organize cosmetics, which saves time and money!

Carolyn Anderson-Fermann is a public speaker, organizing expert and founder of Simply Organized Life. For more spring cleaning and organizing tips sign up for "Spring Clean Your Clutter" to be held at Ann Arbor Rec & Ed on Friday, April 27, 2012.