Organization to the Rescue--Literally!

You never know where you'll find extraordinary examples of organization...

Yesterday, my family and I attended an event sponsored by the Junior League of Bergen County, NJ called Touch-a-Truck. It's a little kids' paradise--a parking lot filled with a variety of vehicles. There are garbage trucks, ambulances, dump trucks, diggers--you get the idea. Kids are allowed to sit in the vehicles, honk the horns, ask questions and Mom and Dad get a few photo opps, too. It's always a fun time--even in yesterday's rain.

My three year old loves garbage trucks--he was in awe of their size up close. What was I in awe of? A vehicle that had what looked like 'pull-out' drawers!

Mystified, I walked over to the truck and struck up a conversation with one of their Riding Members. The vehicle was from Rescue Squad 23 of Ramsey, NJ. I learned that the truck and the people who work on it help to rescue people trapped in accidents and structural collapses as well as in confined spaces, water and ice rescues.

Fascinating!

But what I found to be most fascinating was the truck's organization. This truck has PULL-OUT DRAWERS!

These rescue trucks carry equipment to assist with dangerous scenarios. Not only do the trucks have to be loaded with the correct gear, the rescue squad must be able to find the tools they need within seconds. I was told that these pull-out drawers utilize up the extra space the truck has in the center. Brilliant! Squad members ride in the front cab and all of their supplies are in the back.

It just goes to show--you never know where you'll find organizing inspiration!

My Favorite Organizing Pins on Pinterest

If you spend a good amount of your time surfing the web, I'm sure you've heard of Pinterest. If not, run--don't walk to the site that is taking social media by storm.

According to their website, "Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing the things you love."

As a user, I would say that, "Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing images of inspiration."

A little over a year ago, I joined Pinterest--read all about it here: Organized Artistry is on Pinterest!. I've been having a great time with it.

On Pinterest, you create and categorize 'pin boards' according to your interests. After you create your themed-boards, you load your own visuals or 're-pin' visuals posted by others to your boards. I created boards for my organizing business and some that have to do with the book I'm writing for brides.  I thought that would be my only use for Pinterest, but it has much more to offer...

- When the time comes to make some major changes in my home, I'll not only be flipping through decorating magazines, I'll also be looking for decorating inspiration on Pinterest.

- I have found recipes to cook for my son who has multiple food allergies.

- There are tons of posts on clothing, makeup and health that I have learned from.

It is very easy to get sucked into the visual wonderland of Pinterest for HOURS at a time. There's so much to see and learn!

Besides other categories, there must be thousands of 'Organizing' pins on Pinterest. So many great ideas to learn from and implement in your life!

Since time is precious, I would like to offer you some of my favorite organizing pins on Pinterest. Some I created myself and some I re-pinned from other boards.

Disclaimer: Although I love Pinterest, I think that there are many visuals on the site (especially the 'Organizing' visuals) that promote 'perfection.' Items in the photos are neatly lined up, labeled and look as if they are untouched by humans. Being organized is not about being perfect. It's about being able to find what you need when you need it--plain and simple. I try to not promote or perpetuate the idea of perfection in my boards/pins, with my clients and in my own home.

I've seen some creative and mega-cool organizing ideas on Pinterest. Here are a few I think you will enjoy, appreciate and find inspiring...

From my 'Kitchen Organizing' Board

This pin is from my blog post, Top Ten Helper Shelf 'Hot-Spots' for Your Home. At last count, I have approximately 15 helper shelves in my home with most of them being in the kitchen.

Thought this was a creative idea. Hang cork board squares on the inside of a cabinet to manage and also hide papers such as invitations, receipts and shopping lists.

I dream of this in my kitchen. PULL OUT DRAWERS! LOTS of them! Never lose food in the back of your cabinet again. 

Thought this was a very organized way to grate and store cheese. Also perfect for grating cheese in advance. Store bagged cheese in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

From my 'Get Ready for Spring Cleaning' Board

Spring Cleaning or all-year-round cleaning--this is my favorite cleaning product. With two little boys in the house, I use the Magic Eraser A LOT! Most of its use is in my kitchen with white appliances. It 'erases' dirt--yes, magically and is the only thing I have found that can cut through the greasy, sticky spots on my stove top.

Though this idea was so smart. At the end of the winter, store your boots with cut up pool noodles inside of them. I bought pool noodles at the end of the season last year in Target for less than a dollar. That's a very inexpensive way to retain the shape of your boots until next winter. 

As soon as I saw this 'pin' I knew I had to add it to my Get Ready for Spring Cleaning board. I work with a lot of clients in their closets and have seen many of these commandments broken. My personal favorites are #2 and #3.

From my 'My Favorite Organizing Products' Board

You won't find this organizing product at The Container Store. It's a productivity app called Evernote.  From their website: "Evernote helps you remember, act upon (and share) ideas, projects and experiences across all the computers, phones and tablets you use." Every time I get an idea or wish to record information about some aspect of my business or personal life, I store it in Evernote for future reference. My desk would have a zillion post-its strewn across it without Evernote.

I know that many people love and swear by 'huggable hangers.' I'll be honest with you--they are not my favorite hanger. I use and recommend crystal hangers. Although they take up more space in a closet, they work well to prevent those 'shoulder bumpies' that can ruin a top very easily.

This is my Brother P-Touch label maker. I'll admit--I love it...maybe even more than the Magic Eraser. It has been quite a workhorse--creating labels for clients and my personal usage for the past ten years. Labels just make things look more organized--don't you think?

This is only a partial list of my Pinterest boards and pins. To see all of my boards and everything I've 'pinned', head on over to Organized Artistry on Pinterest.

Did any 'pin' gave you organzing inspiration?

NAPO Conference 2013 - Cool Organizing Products

I'm back from the NAPO Conference!

Look how the 600+ of us were welcomed when we landed in New Orleans. I thought that was pretty cool--it was right next to the Arrivals and Departures sign.

Landed around 6pm and by the time I got to the Sheraton New Orleans, I was hungry. Hubby and I are members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program so I was able to use points to cover the cost of my room and upgrade me to the Club Floor. On the Club Floor is the Club Lounge. In the Club Lounge there is food--breakfast in the morning and hors d'oeuvres in the evening. The night I landed, alligator meatballs and frog legs were on the menu. I had my doubts but ate them anyway. YUM!

Now I can say I've eaten alligator--can you?

Three days of workshops, panels and lunches kept me very busy. But, year after year one of the most exciting parts of the NAPO Conference is the EXPO. The EXPO is a place for companies that specialize in organizing products and services to 'share their wares' with the Professional Organizer community. 

Since I traveled with one carry-on bag and a purse, I tried my best to not grab every product sample and brochure available to me. Instead, I took pictures of some of the 'cool products' to remind me to look for them in stores and so I could share them with you.

Up first, some cool containers from Rubbermaid...

Dishwasher safe, BPA free, stackable, see-throught lids--perfect for pantries.

Premium Modular Canisters by Rubbermaid

ClosetMaid had a great booth at the EXPO. I learned a lot about their product and shot a quick tip video for them about hangers. Thought this floor organizer was an interesting option for getting shoes and the like off of closet floors...

Floor Organizer by ClosetMaid

SMEAD had a few 'cool' products this year. First, these file folders have tabs that are erasable! Use a Sharpie to write on the extra large tab. Made a mistake? Want to change the name of the file? No problem and no need for a new manila folder!

SMEAD Erasable SuperTab File Folders

Next is the ColorVue Expanding File with SuperTabs--colorful and easy to use! Perfect for color coding. I put my hand in the middle of the 'V' shape and it was very easy to retrieve papers from the pockets.

ColorVue Expanding File with SuperTab by SMEAD

'Tree Free'--I love that name. Whoever thought of it should get a raise, in my opinion. They are made from sugar cane waste fiber. I have no idea what that is but it saves trees so it's OK by me. Super Tabs--another great idea especially for those who have 'large' handwriting or a lot to say on the tab of a folder. 

SuperTab Oversized Tab File Folders by SMEAD

Jill Yesko, of Discover Organizing Inc. had a great idea. Besides being a Professional Organizer, she is the owner of Clearly Noted, a company that offers greeting cards to Professional Organizers and their clients. These cards, 'encourage, motivate, and congratulate your organizing client.'

Her cards are brightly colored, whimsical and offer a bit of bling, too. The part I liked best was that a Professional Organizer has the option of placing a sentence on the inside of the card giving permission to the client to recycle the lovely card at the end of the week. We don't want to make more clutter for our clients!

Kudos to Jill for creating a product that Professional Organizers can use to express their gratitude!

Greeting cards by Clearly Noted

You paint a room in your home. You either label your paint can with a Sharpie, or your label maker. OK--maybe you don't label your paint cans in the hopes you'll remember where you used that color and the year you used it. The people at What's That Paint have made the labeling process a snap with their fill-in-the-blank paint can labels. Despite their simplicity, everyone was ooohing and aaahhhing over them. They also used a paint tray instead of a box to collect business cards for a raffle--loved that creativity! 

What's That Paint fill-in-the-blank paint can labels

This is just a smattering of the products I saw at this year's NAPO Conference EXPO. Absent this year was 3M/Post-it. Good thing I hadn't used up my samples from last year. The people from Brother were also missing--they make amazing label maker products. Maybe they'll be back for next year's conference in Phoenix. The bigger question is--will I be there? If so, I promise to report back on some new and exciting products.

Which of these products would help you get more organized?

I'm Attending the NAPO Conference 2013 in New Orleans!

In a few days, I'll be attending the National Association of Professional Organizers 25th Annual Conference. This year it's in New Orleans. I've never been to 'NOLA'--I'm very excited to go! This will be my fifth NAPO conference since I started my business back in 2002.

Last year's conference in Baltimore was a blast. It was jam-packed with meeting new people, learning new ways to grow and enhance my business, and it started off and ended with my first lengthy solo drive (for 3.5 hrs each way from NJ).

This year, since the solo drive would be MUCH too long, I'll be flying. I'll be packing everything I need in a carry-on bag--this is where my skills as a Professional Organizer will prove very useful. I've decided that despite the warm weather report, I'll base all my outfits around the colors black, red/purple/pink. I'm trying to limit the shoes I bring to three pair. The true challenge will be paring down my bag of medical/health/makeup products!

Last year, I took some 'techie' workshops--this year I'm focusing on some areas I have little or no knowledge of. The workshops I'm signed up for are:

Self-Confidence: The Secret Success Mindset (taught by NAPO-NNJ's Chapter President, Cena Block)
Organizing: Eyes Toward Re-Design
Packages, Programs and Value-Based Pricing
Pinterest for Business
Becoming a Kindle Book Author
Turning 'Likes' into Paying Clients

There will be two 'Ask the Organizer' Panels - one of which will feature Golden Circle Members on the panel (those who have been in business over 5 years). I always learn something new from my colleagues at these panels.

In addition there will be three Keynote speakers, a NAPO Business Meeting and Luncheon, and a NAPO Awards Luncheon. If it's anything like last year's Awards Luncheon, it's sure to be a three hanky affair...

And let's not forget the place to learn about new and exciting organizing products--THE EXPO! Big names like Rubbermaid, Ziploc and 3M are there as well as small business that provide Professional Organizers with products to revolutionize our client's lives (and ours, too!), If the Command Hook people are there, I'm going to have to stop by for a demonstration. I always forget how to use those hooks properly...

Stay tuned for my post-conference blog post!

Cool Product: Pocket (formerly Read It Later)

I should have titled this post,

'Confessions of a Professional Organizer and Former Hoarder'

Whoa! A Professional Organizer who is also a hoarder? Whaaaaat?

OK--I wasn't really a true hoarder in the physical sense--but it makes for a great title, doesn't it?

I didn't hoard animals or newspapers or magazines.

I hoarded tabs.

Tabs?

If you own a Mac and use Safari to browse the web, you're familiar with 'Tabs.' They enable you to open several web pages at once and you can easily switch back and forth between them.

The arrow is pointing to the 'Tabs' in Safari.

I am an information hound. As a small business owner and mom, I am always interested in reading articles that could help my business grow and my family flourish. The only thing I was missing was: TIME.

I had a five year old and a one year old and very little time to read, let alone process the information I was reading. So, if I didn't have time to read a long article, or I was thinking of ordering a product from a web page, or thought I might need certain information someday, I would leave the tab open in Safari. At times, I had 7-10 windows open with 8-10 tabs open in each. Turns out, my tab hoarding was not a very good system. Oh, and I never shut down my computer because that would mean I'd lose all my tabs. Can you tell where this story is heading?

I started getting unusual error messages on my computer. Then one day about a month before my Apple Care Protection Plan expired for my Mac, my computer said, "I've had it with all your open tabs!" and crashed.

I made an appointment at the Apple Store and when my Genius Dude heard my story, he told me that in all his years working at the Genius Bar, he had never heard of anyone keeping so many tabs open at once. I was overworking my computer and my tab hoarding tendencies had to change.

Adrian, my Genius Dude, brought my computer back from the dead. I was so grateful for his patience and expertise that I vowed to not return to my tab hoarding ways. I started bookmarking websites I wanted to refer to again. A few weeks later, the App Gods looked down upon me--sleep-deprived, time-starved, information overloaded me and arranged for a productivity app by the name of Pocket (formerly Read It Later) to be placed in an article I was moments away from reading.

I read the article. I checked out Pocket. I couldn't believe that an app could be such a perfect match for my needs.

What is Pocket and how could it be so life-changing?

According to its website, "Pocket (formerly Read It Later) was founded in 2007 by Nate Weiner to help people who discover an interesting article, video or web page, but don’t have time to view it. Once saved to Pocket, the list of content is visible on any device -- phone, tablet or computer. It can be viewed while waiting in line, on the couch or during commutes or travel -- even offline."

When I first read about Pocket, I thought, "Holy moly--this app was MADE for ME! I'm always discovering interesting items on the web but I rarely have time to view them."

I went to the Pocket website, installed the Pocket bookmarklet into my 'Bookmarks Bar' and immediately began putting articles in my 'pocket.' Now, when I come across an article I want to save and read at a later time, all I do is click on the bookmarklet.  A sign then appears at the top of the web page that says 'Pocket - Page Saved!.' I can read my saved articles on my iPhone as well as on my laptop. Happiness abounds.

 Some facts about Pocket:
- The list of articles you accumulate is called a 'queue.'
- You can view your queue in list form or as a grid with large visuals.
- When you select the article you want to read from your queue, it offers you a stripped-down version of it without ads/visuals as well as a link to the original web page.
- You can type a word in the 'Search' box to look for articles you've saved on a specific topic
- You can assign Pocket your email address and email a link to Pocket, too!

Best of all--it doesn't cost a dime!

How has Pocket changed my life?
- My computer has had no problems since it's major crash in April of 2012.
- I know that if I don't have time to read an article, it will be 'in my pocket' for future retrieval.
- I can retrieve that article/recipe/video over and over again.
- I store often-used recipes in Pocket. When cooking, I bring them up on my laptop which lives on my kitchen counter.
- Pocket is a repository for all the articles I may need in the future on how to grow my business. I know they will be there when I am ready for them.
-Pocket allows me to read, learn and grow on my own time.

Pocket currently has over 4.5 million registered users and is available for major devices and platforms including iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire and Android.

Want to be the 4.6 millionth user? How would Pocket make your life easier?

Organizing Tip: 5 Things You Must Do After a Successful Organizing Project

When I complete an organizing project with my clients, I remind them to give themselves a pat on the back for crossing the 'finish line.' My guest blogger, Rashelle Isip of the The Order Expert, believes in celebrating the completion of a successful organizing project. Read below to find out the five things she wants you to do after reaching your organizing goal.

“I finally organized my bedroom closet!”

“I filed away that giant stack of papers on my desk!“

“The cabinet under the kitchen sink is finally tidied up!”

Congratulations! You’ve finally completed an organizing project. You’re a bona fide success!

Before you happily rest on your laurels, consider these five pointers to help keep your project a success and let you bask in the glow of a job well done for many months to come.

Plan daily maintenance.

Now that you’ve finally gotten things in order, don’t be lazy and let all your hard work go down the drain! Figure out specific steps to take on a daily basis to help keep your organizing project in order. For example, let’s say you finally organized your bedroom closet. You might decide to place shoes and belts back on their shelves/racks at the end of the day, place dirty clothes immediately in the hamper and fold and store/hang clothes right after the laundry is done to keep things in order.

Take a photo.

You’ve worked hard to achieve your goal. Why not make a record of your achievement? Snap a photo on your cell phone or digital camera for posterity and save the image in an easy to access place. Refer to your photo on any organizing “rainy day,” that is, whenever you feel you’re sliding back into your old habits or are undoing your hard work for a bit of positive reinforcement and motivation to keep things organized.

Plan a smaller organizing project.

You’ll probably be feeling very good after completing your project so consider using this feeling of accomplishment into another organizing project. Keep in mind that your next project doesn’t have to be the same size as the one you just completed and certainly doesn’t have to be completed that same day or week. If you’ve just finished organizing the garage, planning to organize the basement right away probably isn’t such a wise choice. Instead of going whole hog, keep your plans to a smaller project such as cleaning out your wallet.

Share your story with others.

One of the best things in achieving a goal is sharing your accomplishment with others. Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever share information and stories. Share your success with friends and family via your favorite social media network or tool with photos and a short story. Who knows, you might just inspire someone else to get started on or complete their very own organizing goal!

Celebrate!

Lastly, we can’t forget the importance of celebrating your achievements. Go out for a nice dinner, listen to your favorite music, buy yourself a small gift, relax with loved ones, smile, and of course, enjoy your newly organized space or materials!

Now to you…what do you think of the above? Have you ever given yourself a reward for an organizing job well done? Perhaps you have a reward in mind for the near future for an almost completed project?

Copyright © Rashelle Isip and The Order Expert, 2011-2013. 

Rashelle Isip is a blogger, time management, and productivity consultant and professional organizer. She is founder of The Order Expert, a site featuring practical and creative organizing, time management, productivity tips, inspiration and much more. For more information, visit http://www.TheOrderExpert.com. You can follow her on Twitter @theorderexpert, on Facebook at facebook.com/theorderexpert, and on Pinterest at pinterest.com/theorderexpert.

Cool Product - 3.5" Hanging File Folder Tabs

You've decided to organize your files--that's great! I'm so proud of you.

You purchased hanging folders for this project, right? Good. You're on your way!

Open the box of hanging folders. Somewhere in the box is a plastic baggie filled with plastic tabs and paper inserts.

Take a close look at the tabs. They're small--only 2" across. You can't write much on them. I'm going to tell you right now--they're going to frustrate you to no end as you attempt to use them for your filing project.

I'd like you to consider NOT using them.

I know you paid for them. But, I'm going to ask you to spend a little more money on your files.

The 'Cool Product' that will make it easier for you to locate, retrieve and store your papers is...

The 3.5" Hanging File Poly Tab

Photo: SMEAD

What are the benefits to using 3.5" tabs?

- they have more room to write on
- larger tabs means you can write larger on them or create labels with large letters for easy readbility
- find files more quickly with a larger tab

Whenever I work with a client on getting their papers organized/setting up a file system, I always recommend they use 3.5" tabs. I pull a pack of these out of my 'magic' bag of organizing supplies, and people are amazed--most have never seen the 3.5" tabs. They only know about the 2" tabs that come in the box of file folders. Happiness abounds. Joyful categorizing and labeling begins. Another client's life made easier with a Cool Product...

Thinking of switching to 3.5" tabs?