Starting to get organized is sometimes the biggest challenge of any organizing project. Where to start? Which pile of clutter will be demolished first?
There are two places in any home that typically have a big impact on one’s outlook on life – picking up one’s spirits and positive outlook. They are the front entrance home and the bedroom.
The front entrance is a place one’s immediately upon entering or exiting the home – no matter how big or small. Since most of us do this at least twice a day, and many of us several times more often, each re-encounter with the freshly organized space will reinforce your ability to take back control of the level of organization in your home.
Your bedroom ought to be a sanctuary for you; a place where you go for respite, to refresh and relax. When you get a grip on your bedroom organization, you will go to sleep feeling more in control of your life and wake up feeling more organized. What a great way to start the day!
If possible, pick something in these two areas of your home with which to start your Spring into Action organizing project. The temperatures are rising. As you shed those heavy winter coats and feel lighter in the sunshine, so too will you feel lighter and more positive with an organized space.
Author Archive for Carolyn – Page 18
You have no problem handling file names with dates attached but now you are wondering “How do I label files so that my most frequently used items come to the top of my list when my computer only files by number or alphabet?”
Use letters like numbers to help your computer file by frequency of use. If you use a file often, start the file name label with an A (or AA, AAA depending on the number of files you are labelling). Start the file name of those files used least often with a Z (ZZ or ZZZ etc.)
Your computer will obligingly file alphabetically reading those letter first and your files will be listed according to frequency of use.
With spring just around the corner, I felt compelled to use the old cliche “springing into action”. Hopefully the weather is at least sunny where you are reading this – as it is while I write, although still very cold – in order to set you in a spring organizing mindset.
One of the most important elements of organizing is to be confident about your ability to make a change in your life and/or space. To do that, it helps to visualize the space that you have chosen to organize and have a clear idea in your mind of what it will look like in its newly organized state.
Pick the space that you would like to organize. Start small. Look over the space very carefully and take in all the detail you can. Now close your eyes. Imagine each part of the space in its newly organized state. What does it look like, feel like, sound like? How will it work for you? How will your life be different when that space is organized? How will you feel when it is organized? Hang on to those thoughts, the picture and the feeling.
Now go for it. If you become frustrated or discouraged, close your eyes again and return to your vision. Revisit all the detail that your created in your vision of look, feel, sound and function. Then return to your task.
Your space will help you attain the organized life that you desire for yourself and your family.
In visiting other exhibitors at the National Home Show, I have been very impressed with the quality of storage solutions available to home owners. In my mind I have chosen new clothes storage several times over in each of the styles available from each of the closet manufacturers.
It brings to mind, however, the difference in organizing styles the all of us have. Some of us are folders; others are tossers and droppers. Some of us like things quiet and all the same in storage styles which others, less visual by nature, don’t even notice if one container is a different colour to the next.
If you are looking at storage systems for your clothes, try and figure out what your style is. Match up your new system to that style. There are no rules that say clothes have to be folder when put away. With my own two children, I’m happy if the clothes just end up in the drawers at all. Sliding baskets are great for the tosser and droppers so that they can toss and drop into the basket to their hearts content. Open storage is great for those of us who don’t like to have to hunt for the right drawer for each object.
So make your life a little easier and match up your storage with your organizing style.
I’m staying on the limited real estate theme today. With a small desk/work space, it is more important than ever to ensure all your work tools – pens, rulers, paper, drafting tools, memory keys – are as contained as possible. When small items have a home to be returned to, they are less likely to wander around your work space.
The containers for these items could be anything at all that works for you. If you are using vertical storage space, you will want something the fits on the space and is easy to get to. If the work space is in the open and subject to the public eye, you may choose decorative containers. If you have only yourself working in the space, why not use a clear container to help you locate what is inside.
If you are a tosser and dropper, and not likely to open a lid to put something away, then use open storage like bins, open boxes, baskets or a similar item. Once again, make sure the items you use on a regular basis are at your finger tips and the items you use occasionally are not sitting in prime real estate!
Is your desk too small for the stuff that sits on top of it? Are you feeling cramped and penned in by hot files, current files, your computer and just the mere presence of your coffee cup?
Whenever possible, move to vertical storage and even a vertical desk. what? Put my desk on the wall?
Pretty much, that’s it. consider placing shelving units above your desk or, if space does not permit, even to one side of your desk. Then set up the items off your desk onto the shelves. Those things you use daily will be closest to you while the occasional items can sit on the shelves farther away.
Do you find that clothes end up on the floor regardless of how hard you try to keep them contained in their proper homes?
Take a close look at your dressing area, no matter how small or how big. Are your clothes all contained within the one area? Do you have to go from one side of the room to the other just to find all the pieces of clothing you need for the day?
The farther apart your clothing pieces are stored, the more likely they are to end up on a horizontal surface (bed, floor etc) while you are either dressing or undressing.
Try and get all your clothing storage in one area together, from now on referred to as your dressing area. It can be anything from 9 square feet (3 metres squared) to a room unto itself. It may be just a designated side of your bedroom – probably the side with the clothes closet. Get all your clothes in there and they are less likely to end up on the floor.
Organizing photos on your computer can be a challenge. Many people handle the challenge by using photo management software. If you use such software, here is a tip for labelling your photos.
Computers don’t read or count. They recognized yes or no. When labeling your files, the computer will automatically try and sort either alphabetically or numerically depending on the symbols you have chosen (letters or numbers). If you want a file sorted by it’s name in a date order use a number to represent the date. Use “0” placeholder for single digit months i.e. Jan to Sept otherwise your computer will put October first in the list.
Date sorting is often the easiest and most intuitive sorting method for photos. Depending on your volume of photos, set up a file for each year and then for each month within the year. Use the above number method to label the months. Now you can sort your photos by whichever label you choose within the months.
Enough about organizing paper, I can hear you shouting.
OK, let’s get a grip on all those files on your desktop.
Computers don’t read or count. They recognized yes or no. When labeling your files, the computer will automatically try and sort either alphabetically or numerically depending on the symbols you have chosen (letters or numbers). If you want a file sorted by it’s name in a date order use a number to represent the date. Use “0” placeholder for single digit months i.e. Jan to Sept otherwise your computer will put October first in the list.
While there is no doubt, many of us print as little as possible, sort only what we can’t avoid and file what is left over, paper seems determined to be here for a long time. As a result, paper files are still an organizational structure that must be managed.
Here is a tip to limit the number of file folders that end up in the recycling. When labelling the folders, use a file label to write on. They are readily available from most stationary or business supply stores like Grand and Toy or Staples. If you put the file name right on the label, when that file is finished, the file folder can easily be reused by simply putting a new file label over the old one.
Banish those procrastination gremlins!
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