This is a continuation of Top Tips to Start Getting Organized Week! More of my favorite tips and tricks are still to come.
Tip Number Three:
Leave Things Where You Used Them
Your space should be working for you; you should not be a slave to it. My room works for me. Everything I need is in a useful spot, and I only have what I actually use. Also, when things are in logical places, it is much easier to maintain. My favorite, tried-and-true method is to keep my items where I use them. If you do this, you will avoid being tempted to leave something in the wrong place after you use it when you are too busy or feeling lazy.
For example, my hair care products (my gels and sprays, blow dryer and straightener, brushes and combs) are all right in front of my mirror in a small narrow bookcase where I do my hair. Even when I am in a hurry, everything ends up where it should be because I automatically leave it there. Some days I might toss the items there instead of neatly placing them in a line with all of the labels facing forward (yes, I usually do this), however, since they all end up in the right designated space, they are very easy to tidy up at a later, less busy time.
Stay tuned for more of this week's tips and tricks!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
How to Deal With Too Much Stuff
This is another trick in the spirit of my Top Tips to Start Getting Organized week! I will continue to share my favorite tips and tricks in the next few posts.
Tip Number Two:
Reduce Your Belongings by Using Designated Spaces
You cannot get organized if there is too much stuff for your space. If you are a pack-rat, or live with one, no matter how organized you try to be, the stuff will just fight back. One trick I like to use is designating specific places in your house or apartment for specific kinds of things. Limit yourself (and others that live with you) to only having what can fit in the spot you designate.
For instance, you decide that a particular bookcase will be the designated place for books. Over time (maybe not that long), the bookcase will be filled. Now someone in your house or apartment wants to add something to the collection. Something else from the bookshelf will have to go first. If you stick to that system, you will avoid letting anyone fall back into having more than you have space for. This trick works for closets, bookshelves, drawers, coffee/end tables, and any other place you would be able to leave your belongings. This does not include the floor because you should be moving away from storing anything there that is not furniture or a very large item that needs to stand alone (i.e. and exercise bike, decorative plant, etc).
This trick also helps save you money. You might want something when you are in a store, but then you will have to ask yourself "Do I need this? Do I want to give up something I already own just to have it?" You might decide that the new thing in just not worth parting with your existing belongings. And remember, your possessions may bring back memories, but they do not define you. Sometimes you may need that new thing, and you will have to let go of whatever item it is that you conviced yourself you cannot do without. Let go. Set your belongings free. Let them make some new owner just as happy as they made you.
Stay tuned for the rest of this week's Top Tips!
Tip Number Two:
Reduce Your Belongings by Using Designated Spaces
You cannot get organized if there is too much stuff for your space. If you are a pack-rat, or live with one, no matter how organized you try to be, the stuff will just fight back. One trick I like to use is designating specific places in your house or apartment for specific kinds of things. Limit yourself (and others that live with you) to only having what can fit in the spot you designate.
For instance, you decide that a particular bookcase will be the designated place for books. Over time (maybe not that long), the bookcase will be filled. Now someone in your house or apartment wants to add something to the collection. Something else from the bookshelf will have to go first. If you stick to that system, you will avoid letting anyone fall back into having more than you have space for. This trick works for closets, bookshelves, drawers, coffee/end tables, and any other place you would be able to leave your belongings. This does not include the floor because you should be moving away from storing anything there that is not furniture or a very large item that needs to stand alone (i.e. and exercise bike, decorative plant, etc).
This trick also helps save you money. You might want something when you are in a store, but then you will have to ask yourself "Do I need this? Do I want to give up something I already own just to have it?" You might decide that the new thing in just not worth parting with your existing belongings. And remember, your possessions may bring back memories, but they do not define you. Sometimes you may need that new thing, and you will have to let go of whatever item it is that you conviced yourself you cannot do without. Let go. Set your belongings free. Let them make some new owner just as happy as they made you.
Stay tuned for the rest of this week's Top Tips!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Fastest Way to Make Your Room Look Cleaner
This week I have some Top Tips to Start Getting Organized! I will share a few of my favorite tips and tricks in my next few posts.
Tip Number One:
Clear off the Floor
You may have one of those rooms that is simply too cluttered to walk across. The solution to this issue? Get things off the floor and onto shelves, tables, or other surfaces. Do not just grab armfuls of things and shove them in your closet. Instead, pick up each item individually. You are giving yourself the chance to see each one instead of seeing one collective mess. I realize your shelves, tables, and other surfaces might already be on item overload. In this case, if you truly do not have space to squeeze your items in, do the next few steps:
Tip Number One:
Clear off the Floor
You may have one of those rooms that is simply too cluttered to walk across. The solution to this issue? Get things off the floor and onto shelves, tables, or other surfaces. Do not just grab armfuls of things and shove them in your closet. Instead, pick up each item individually. You are giving yourself the chance to see each one instead of seeing one collective mess. I realize your shelves, tables, and other surfaces might already be on item overload. In this case, if you truly do not have space to squeeze your items in, do the next few steps:
- Pick a starting point in the room. Grab a bag/box/bin for items that belong in the room, another for trash, and another for items that belong in other rooms. I actually like to have a fourth bag/box/bin of items I want to donate. If you do not have enough containers, push things over to create floor space on which to organize.
- Make your way across the room by picking up each item and filing it in one of these three (or four) boxes. You might find that a lot of the stuff on your floor is just trash, old mail, obsolete items, and otherwise unnecessary stuff. Separating out the items that belong either in the trash, in another room, or at your nearest donation center should help in clearing space for the items that do belong in that room.
- Do not stop at just your floor. Do Step 2 for all of your shelfs, tables, and other surfaces. Now you will have space for the items that belong in the room to rest on someplace other than the floor.
- Throw out the trash bag(s) and leave the donation bag next to your front door or even on the front passenger seat of your car.
- Grab the bag/box/bin of items that belong in other rooms. Make a trip around your place and leave these items right at the entrance to each room. Each time you walk into that room, grab another item and place it in an appropriate spot in that room.
Hopefully you will be able to pair down the clutter using the bag/box/bin method. It is the quickest efficient way to deal with a large mess. Do not let the sheer volume of stuff stop you from trying this technique. Do parts of a very busy room at a time. And remember that you will be rewarded at the end with peace of mind and a clean space.
Don't forget to stay tuned for more tips and tricks!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Zen Palate
If you happen to live in NYC, or plan to travel through there, make it a point to visit Zen Palate, on 46th and 9th in the theater district. This vegetarian, and mostly vegan, restaurant will fill your stomach with the most delicious vegetarian food I have ever eaten. Even my boyfriend, the biggest meat-eater I know, loved the food. I suggest trying the Hong Kong-Style Stir-Fried Rice Fettuccini. That one is my favorite. I dream about this dish. It taunts me in my sleep with its soft wide noodles, delicious sauce, scrumptious vegetables, and vegan ham. Trust me. It will convert you. My family has been there a few times now and we have always loved the dishes. The only thing I would avoid ordering is the tofu cheesecake. Aside from that, all of the dishes, such as the Stir-Fried Wheat Noodles and the Steamed Brown/Red Rice, are delectable. If I had an unlimited appetite, I would order one of each.
Just a quick note: To eat at the restaurant make sure to walk all the way back to the dining room. The front of the restaurant is a separate space.
Hope you enjoy this place as much as we have!
Friday, September 3, 2010
SnagIt!
I just recently discovered a marvelous piece of software called SnagIt. It is a tool to record images and video of your computer screen. SnagIt is extremely useful for all things you would use Print Screen for, as well as making video tutorials of anything you do on your computer.
For example:
My department at work was having trouble with having too many copies of the same files in our shared network drive from people sending files as attachments. My solution? Send the location of the file as a link. The issue? Most of my department did not know how to create a link from a folder address.
Instead of walking around to everyone's desk and showing them, only to have them forget how the next day, I created a video tutorial. And how did I shared it with the group? As a link in an email.
This is a tutorial I created with SnagIt (Note: this is not the exact tutorial I gave my coworkers because I had specified real files from a real shared drive. This shows a file from my hard drive. If you try to use links to send files from drives that are not shared, like I have done here linking to my hard drive, the recipient will not be able to open it. I will show how linking to your hard drive files can be very useful in a later post.)
For example:
My department at work was having trouble with having too many copies of the same files in our shared network drive from people sending files as attachments. My solution? Send the location of the file as a link. The issue? Most of my department did not know how to create a link from a folder address.
Instead of walking around to everyone's desk and showing them, only to have them forget how the next day, I created a video tutorial. And how did I shared it with the group? As a link in an email.
This is a tutorial I created with SnagIt (Note: this is not the exact tutorial I gave my coworkers because I had specified real files from a real shared drive. This shows a file from my hard drive. If you try to use links to send files from drives that are not shared, like I have done here linking to my hard drive, the recipient will not be able to open it. I will show how linking to your hard drive files can be very useful in a later post.)
I hope you enjoyed this demonstration, and I hope you are now just as excited as I am about this amazing, useful product. Stay tuned for more posts, and feel free to post questions about SnagIt or any other organization/productivity topic. Thanks for watching.
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