Being a Certified Professional Organizer, I actually enjoy working with paper – I know, I’m strange! Even so, I don’t want to spend too much time on it; like you, I have many other tasks on my to-do list. One of my big goals for 2012 is to reduce the amount of paper that I have …
Continue reading “4 Ways to Spend Less Time Processing Paper”
Do you find yourself running back and forth across your kitchen? If you cluster basic tools and ingredients you normally use for cooking, you can make meal preparation faster. If you keep wooden spoons, salt, pepper, and oil within arms length of your stove, you won’t find yourself running around while the milk burns to …
We live in a comfortable age – much of our lives are electronic, automated, and wireless, from our office work to our communications with friends and family. But even though our well-insulated air-conditioned buildings keep out most of nature’s inconveniences, sometimes nature still gets the better of us. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes can all …
With all the focus on physical fitness this summer, don’t overlook the other aspects of your health. For instance, getting an adequate amount of sleep each night can help your body regulate itself better and make your day more pleasant. Also, appetite increases the later you stay awake, making it more tempting to erase the …
“Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible.” – Cherie Carter-Scott
By Carmen Coker The weather is great, you’re feeling energized from all that extra solar energy you’ve been absorbing and you’ve got some extra time off. Now is the perfect time to tackle one of those big organizing projects you’ve been wishfully thinking of. First, let’s review a few tips that will help you to get …
Continue reading “Check Off Those Summer Organizing To-Do’s – Here’s How”
In our on-demand world, it seems that saying please and thank you is becoming a dying art, something we only hear as part of a standard sales script (thank you, please come again). When you stop to think about it, saying please and thank you helps imbue your personal and professional relationships with an added …
Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. -Spanish Proverb
Summer is around the corner and the warm weather is beckoning us outdoors for barbeques, parties, family and neighborhood gatherings. But these fun outdoor escapes can quickly become stressful if you aren’t adequately prepared. How often have you found yourself dashing into the house to grab something while the food was cooking on the grill? …
“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.” – Louisa May Alcott
As parents, we love to see our children grow. At first, we smile at their independence, and rush to the phone to report each new accomplishment—the first time they roll over, their first step, their first word. But before long we find our excitement tinged with a touch of trepidation—their first day of school, their …
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” – Marian Wright Edelman
Dogs and children are very much alike – they both can get bored with long car trips. If you find that your canine friends start getting antsy in the car, mix it up with a few fun toys, like pull ropes or dog bones. You can even store them in the car, so that they …
Continue reading “Organizing your Canine Friends for a Road Trip”
By Joshua Zerkel Are you feeling overwhelmed by your email inbox? You are not alone. Email is complicated because it is an interruptive medium. If you leave the door open for email all day long—i.e., if you have email programs open in front of you, or your phone alerts you every time a new message comes …
By Sarah DeVoll What comes to mind when you think of past Mother’s Day presents? For me, it’s purple thread and caramels. As a little girl, I used to wander through the local Ben Franklin store, looking for the perfect gift. Spools of thread were a favorite. All those gorgeous colors in the tiered thread display promised …
Throughout the history of computers, accessories have played a huge role. Some have been fads that have come and gone, and some have become essential to modern life. I can remember playing text-based games on a computer that didn’t even have a mouse, only to discover the amazing ease of point and click. In today’s …
“When you’re in your nineties and looking back, it’s not going to be how many awards you’ve won. It’s really what did you stand for. Did you make a positive difference for people?” –Elizabeth Dole
By Carmen Coker When tackling a cluttered lifestyle, sometimes it’s not what you need to “get” that will help, it’s what you need to “get rid of.” Here are three common time-wasters – and actions steps that will help you to get them out of your daily routine so that you can enjoy a clutter-free, stress-free …
Continue reading “Time-Wasting Habits – and How to Break Them”
Spring is a great time to do the small seasonal things that make a measurable difference around the house. In the bedroom, you can rotate your mattress and wash your pillows for a fresh, comfortable night’s sleep. Go through the house and wipe off any screens to get rid of little fingerprints or airborne cooking …
As spring gets going, family schedules start getting busier. There are suddenly sporting events, school concerts, and other reasons to drive all over town. Before these events get to be too much, and before your kids blame you for not foreseeing any scheduling conflicts, set up a planning board in a common area of your …
