Taking Care of Little Things

Even after we organize our desk, our sewing box, our craft area, our toolbox, it is the little things that cause problems with maintaining our neat space. Paper clips, straight pins, little beads and tiny nails find their way to the bottom of our stuff.

Here are a few low-cost suggestions for corralling those pesky items and keeping things in order.

Ÿ Items with blunt edges do well in small zip-lock plastic bags. Beads can be separated by colors and then placed together in a larger container.

Ÿ Egg cartons provide a handy way to sort items like nuts and bolts. Glue a small magnet in each section to keep them in place. Be sure to store on top of heavy tools or the container will get crushed.

Ÿ Slip a plastic ice cube tray in your desk drawer to hold various size paper clips, staples and other small items.

Ÿ Baby food jars and spice jars can be re-purposed to hold small items. Spice jars in a discarded spice rack can keep sewing items like snaps and pins handy for the seamstress.

Organizing doesn’t have to be fancy; it just has to work.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

You Don’t Have to Be a Natural Born Organizer to Get Organized

Are you a natural born organizer? I am not one of those. I could always manage my time, plan strategically and organize events and projects. But when it came to organizing things and space it was another story.

I was the kid whose mother was always telling her to pick up her toys. I was the teenager who was grounded until her room was straight. I was the employee who was asked to clean up her desk when the big shots were taking a tour. I was the mother who frantically tried to get my home ready for company.

Then one day it hit me. I had learned how to organize my time and put together projects and events from my mother. She was really good at that. She was not so good at organizing spaces, so it is not a skill I absorbed through exposure. Maybe, I thought, it was not too late to gain that skill set.

I was lucky that I married a man who was awful at managing his time but very good at organizing his things. He taught me a lot. My daughter, who inherited her father’s propensity for order, taught me even more. Then I actually took classes and read some books. Amazing! I tried my hand at applying what I learned- and it worked!

It is comforting to know that organization is a thing that can be learned-that we can all attain order in our life if we are willing to adhere to a few easy rules:

• Identify a place to store things near where they are used and put them back after you use them
• Be creative in using space. Utilize wall space and space under furniture.
• Break every project down into manageable steps that lead to your goal.
• If you cannot cram everything into the space available, it is time to get rid of some stuff.
• If you cannot keep it looking tidy, hide in a drawer or behind doors. You will at least create the illusion of order.
• Organization means to arrange to suit one’s self. Adapt your system to who you are. If it works for you, that is all that matters.

If you need a little boost to get started, consider hiring a professional organizer. One of the most important things that a good professional organizer does is transfer knowledge about how to organize. We teach through instruction and example and gentle coaching. Many folks have not had the opportunity to gain the skills to organize various aspects of their lives and the opportunity to work with and observe someone who has the knowledge is all that is needed to get going and get organized for good.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

AVOID HOME OFFICE CLUTTER

A home office has become standard for most residences. In addition to the usual bookkeeping and filing tasks that come with running a home, many workers now do almost as many work related tasks at home as they do during their regular work day. The latest statistics available from the Bureau of Labor indicated that 20.7 million workers bring work home on a regular basis. With home and work related projects crowding the limited space, it is no wonder we sometimes end up with a less than orderly office.

Here are a few tips for avoiding clutter and making it easier to get the work done.

Create separate filing systems and storage areas for home and work files. If you do not have two filing drawers available use a portable box or rolling file that can be kept in a space way from children and pets.

Place only frequently used items on the desk. Store everything else on shelves, in drawers or in stackable filing bins.

Place the things you use most often on your “handed” side of the desk. If you are right handed they go on the right side. For left handed folks they go on the left.

Put the most urgent projects where you cannot forget them. Desk trays and desktop filing systems are some tools that can neatly keep these items in sight.

File frequently used resources on nearby shelves in coordinated binders to create a neat appearance

Use magazine folders to corral professional journals and resource articles

Hang a bulletin board or magnetic board within easy reach for posting notes and reminders

You can find inspiration for organizing your home office at the following web sites:
www.officemax.com
www.target.com
www.potterybarn.com
www.getorganized.com
www.levemgers.com

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net