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 …
Do You Get Enough Sleep?
May 21, 2012With 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 …
Please and Thank You
May 16, 2012In 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 …
Organizing your Canine Friends for a Road Trip
May 6, 2012Dogs 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”
Make a Difference Around the House
April 25, 2012Spring 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 …
Family Schedules
April 23, 2012As 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 …
Garden Preparation
April 16, 2012After spending the winter cooped up inside, it can be exciting when the weather warms up. For many people, spring is the time you get to plan your garden. For the best results you’ll want to start early in the season – if you find seeds you want in a seed catalog, you’ll need to …
Storing Cosmetics
April 12, 2012There are many classic solutions to storing cosmetics – the small stuffed bag, the line of toppled tubes falling out of the medicine cabinet, the jumbled drawer. When it comes to organizing makeup, though, the first step is to divide and conquer. Set out all your cosmetics on the counter, and the sort them by type. Put …
Board Game Management
April 9, 2012Over time, the boxes for board games get stepped on, shoved together, and compressed on the shelf. That’s if the game has a box to begin with – all too often checkers, dominos or poker chips end up sitting out on the shelf in ugly plastic bags. If your game boxes are disintegrating, try getting …
This Spring, Get Fit!
March 31, 2012Springtime is here, and with it comes a renewed focus on personal fitness. As the coats come off, our choices during the candy holidays from Halloween through Valentine’s Day become apparent. If you’re looking to improve your fitness, renew your resolve to exercise and stick to it. Whether it’s getting out the door early and …
Being Your Own Accountant
March 23, 2012With the recent changes to the world economy, more and more professionals are earning their money through contract work rather than full-time employment. Unfortunately, with self-employment, you have to do your own accounting. Whether your home-based business is your main source of income or just for a little extra on the side, keeping track of …
Organizing Tax Documents
March 23, 2012During tax season most of us will spend some time digging through our filing cabinets. Most likely, there will be all sorts of documents from past tax years – medical bills, W2s, interest statements, and, frankly, some things that we’re not sure why we’re keeping. This tax season, go through your old documents and throw …
Tax Time Preparation
March 5, 2012Tax season is upon us – do you know where your documents are? Tax documents from your employers start arriving in January (by law, employers must send W2 forms before Jan. 31). If you want to get ahead of the game, or if you misplaced a document, check to see if your employer provides online …
Keeping Canned Goods
February 27, 2012Organize your canned goods by type. Keep a space for fruit, a space for vegetables, a space for soups and so on. The trick is keeping your cans visible. Store your cans in rows so you always know that what’s in the can in front is the same thing that’s in the can behind. Another …
Controlling Your Keys
February 20, 2012Keys have a way of wandering off and getting themselves lost in a hurry. Luckily, there are several great solutions. Key hangers and hooks are available in a variety of styles. A decorative bowl or small basket is a great place to keep keys. If you have several sets of keys, such as backup sets …
Listen Well
February 10, 2012How often do you find yourself pseudo-listening, pretending you’re all ears while someone’s talking? That’ll get you in trouble. Developing your listening skills is very important. You gain a lot of insights through listening, especially if you pay attention to nonverbal cues. When you’re zoning out it’s easy to brush these cues off and you …
Entryway Shoe Storage
February 8, 2012Keep shoes on a mat or on a movable supporting rack so that the floor underneath can be cleaned regularly. Place mats inside the entry closet under the coats. If you have no closet, use attractive wooden or metal shoe racks or a decorative wicker basket to hold shoes and boots. Make sure your shoe …
GO Tip: Organize Your Touchscreen
January 8, 2012In our new world of touchscreen mobile devices there are all sorts of challenges to overcome. Not only do you have to keep your screen intact, but you have to keep it clean enough to actually see what’s on your smartphone or tablet. Two simple ideas: first, keep your phone and your keys in separate …
Organize Your Family Schedule
January 7, 2012If you’ve ever seen a busy railway yard, you have some idea of what family scheduling is like. There’s activity everywhere, and everyone’s competing to get where they need to go. If you find yourself double-booking activities or stretched thin as the family chauffeur, try laying out the schedules side-by-side in a central location, where …
GO Tip: Organize Your Outing Essentials
January 6, 2012If you’ve ever had your keys bounce in your pocket as you’re jogging, you understand how irritating it can be to cart your belongings around as you exercise. As you plan your forays into the outdoors, whether hiking, biking, or taking a nature walk, plan on places for your essentials. You can leave the bulky …
