Get Organized for Thanksgivukkah!

Courtesy of PJlibrary.org

If you haven't been on Facebook lately or you're not into pop-culture, you may not have heard the news. This year, for the first time since 1861 and the last time until the year 79,811, the holidays of Thanksgiving and Hannukah land on the same day. To commemorate this special day, the phrase, 'Thanksgivukkah,' was coined (and trademarked) by two women in Boston. A Facebook and Twitter account devoted to the day was created and the idea spread like wildfire across the United States.

For many of you, this day is business as usual. Turkey, cranberry sauce, football, and family traditions will be the norm. But for those who celebrate Hannukah as well, this day just became a little more challenging.

One holiday is religious. One is secular. The foods are different. Maybe you celebrate Turkey-day and Latke-day with different people. Celebrating two holidays at once? OY!

If you haven't already started to plan, here are a few tips for getting organized for the won't-see-this-again-in-our-lifetime holiday of Thanksgivukkah:

De-clutter Your Brain
You're probably thinking, "Two holidays? What am I going to do? Where do I start?"
Start by dumping your brain onto a piece of paper or into a productivity app. Write down all the shopping, cooking, gift-giving, prepping and schlepping you'll need to do for both holidays. Prioritize and then...

Delegate
It's tough enough preparing for one holiday, but two? You're going to need to delegate tasks in order to cover the important rituals and traditions of both holidays. If you're a self-declared perfectionist, this is the time to lose the title. Control freak? LET IT GO. Some tasks to delegate:
• preparation of a Thanksgivukkah side dish
• creating and facilitating games to keep the kiddies occupied
• shopping for gifts
• cleaning up the kitchen
• playing 'bartender' for the day
• supplying candles and matches for the menorah/menurkey

A Menurkey--created by a ten year old boy with a Thanksgivukkah dream...

Prepare in Advance
Mise en Place is a French phrase meaning, 'to have all of your cooking tools and ingredients prepared before you start cooking.' The key to not stressing out while cooking for two different holidays at once is organization. Review every recipe and take note of what ingredients you'll need. Also take note of what size measuring cups and spoons you'll be working with. Do you have enough platters? What dishes need to cook in the oven and which on the stove top? Preparing in advance will prevent kitchen chaos and 'Harried Hostess-itis.'

Keep it Simple
Two major holidays. One day. 'Nuff said.

Ways to Keep it Simple:
• Usually, I advise people to make lists and store them in a file or electronically for the next year. You're celebrating these two holidays together for the first and last time next week. Feel free to jot down notes but I don't recommend creating a permanent file labeled 'Thanksgivukkah' unless you want to look back at it for some reason. I leave that up to you.
• Buy some pre-made food. My husband and I used to make potato latkes from scratch. Then we had two kids. No more latkes from scratch. My savior--Trader Joe's Potato Pancakes. They are delicious and I don't stay up half a night cleaning my kitchen.
• Eliminate a ton of side dishes by melding the two holidays in your recipes. Ideas: Sweet potato latkes, challah-chestnut stuffing, pumpkin pie a la mode with Manischewitz ice cream! (delegate the last item to someone with an ice cream maker and time on their hands...)

Latkes? Stuffing? Or both!

It's been a real hoot reading articles about this once-in-a-lifetime holiday. Here are some interesting and informative ideas about Thanksgivukkah that were cool to read and helped me write this post:

Much of the historical information for this post has been gleaned from articles on the web and this one from Wikipedia.

How to Celebrate Thanksgivukkah, The Best Holiday of All Time
Recipes, decorations and funny stuff

Pinterest does Thanksgivukkah
Food, gifts, decorating and great ideas

Ingeniuous 10-Year Old Creates 'Menurkey' for Thanksgivukkah
Never underestimate a child again...

Happy Organized Thanksgivukkah!

My Top Ten Organizing Posts

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It's hard to believe but Organized Artistry is heading into it's 11th year in business. The time has certainly flown! In that time, I've written organizing tip articles for my website and almost four years ago, I started this blog.

In honor of 11 years of organizing, I share with you the top ten most popular posts of this blog--plus one bonus post to make it 11. I hope at least one of them will offer you an idea or a resource for creating and maintaining an organized life.

Curious as to what readers liked most?

Top 3 blog posts:

Best Products for Organizing Your Car
This post was the most popular by a landslide! Maybe I need to add 'car organizing' to my list of services...

Organizing Inspiration from Curious George
Who would think that a mischievous monkey could teach us a lesson on organization?

Peter Walsh Organizes Rachael Ray's Kitchen
She's got a smaller kitchen than one would assume. Peter Walsh makes cooking at home a more stress-free activity for the famous cook.


Cool Product blog posts:

Cool Product - Jewelry Organizer
Not your usual jewelry holder...

Cool Product - Cable Turtle
Wires! Wires! Wires! No more unsightly wire messes thanks to cable turtles.

Cool Product - Fridge Binz
If your fridge need organizing, check these out...


Other popular blog posts:

De-Cluttering Tips
Simple, basic steps to follow for de-cluttering...

Top Ten Helper Shelf 'Hot Spots' for Your Home
This was a popular post, too. I love helper shelves! See how they can transform your closets and cabinets.

Organizing Up and Down--a Vertical Makeover
My motto: "If you can't go outward, go UPWARD!"

Organizing on the Cheap: Target Dollar Spot
Love the Target Dollar Spot. You never know what organizing products (or other goodies) you'll find there.

New Baby? Time to Get Organized
These little people have a lot of stuff and require a ton of organization!

Bonus post: Some organizing humor...

Professional Organizer Humor
Yes, there's a bumper sticker for our profession, too!

My blog posts are written with the intention of providing information, tips, resources and sometimes a good laugh. I hope they have provided you with all that and more. Thanks so much for supporting Organized Artistry!

Organizing Encouragement - Baby Steps

It's the end of January. Many of you have made New Year's resolutions or have set goals for yourself in 2013. You shouted from the rooftop, "This is the year I'm going to get organized!'

Have you started yet? Made a plan? Mapped out some mini-goals for yourself? If yes, then great!

If not, that's OK. No beating yourself up about it. It's been cold. Maybe you or a family member has been under the weather. Maybe 'life' has gotten in the way. Or perhaps, you just don't know where to begin.

No worries--take 'baby steps.'

No one expects a baby to stand up one day and walk across the room. There's a lot that goes on before a child meets that developmental milestone. They sit up, they crawl, they practice standing up in their crib. They take 'baby steps' towards mastering their actual baby steps.

You can take baby steps to reach your organizing goals, too. Here are a few examples:

- Toss expired medicine. Next chance you get, do the same with health products.
- Sort and purge your piles of coupons while waiting for pasta water to boil.
- Schedule 15 minutes on your calendar to organize your sock drawer.
- Read a few posts on organizing blogs that pertain to your organizing challenge(s).
- Look at organizing ideas/products on Pinterest (don't get sucked in, though!).

All of these teeny-tiny organizing projects/tasks are baby steps that will eventually get you where you want to be.

I often tell my clients to visualize their organizing goal as an iceberg. Baby steps are equal to the act of chipping away at that iceberg. Some days you may feel like you're chipping away with a hammer, other days, with a toothpick. Regardless of your tool, if you keep working at it, you will reach your goal, however challenging it may be.

You can get organized in 2013. I know you can. Just take a baby step--one little step in the direction of the organizing goals you have set for yourself. In the beginning, it may feel as if you're not making much progress but let me assure you--every 'baby step' you take towards reaching your goal will get you one step closer to the day when you can proudly shout from the rooftop, "I did it!

Planning + Mini-Goals = New Year's Resolution Success

In my last post, guest blogger Audrey Cupo of a A Better Space encouraged you to evaluate the past and plan for the future.

Well, the future is here. Did you make any resolutions for the next twelve months?

According to the people at StatisticBrain.com, the top ten New Year's resolutions for 2013 are:

1. Lose Weight
2. Getting Organized
3. Spend Less, Save More
4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5. Staying Fit and Healthy
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Quit Smoking
8. Help Others in Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family

Did you see that? 'Getting Organized' is one of the top two resolutions people made in the new year. Looks like my colleagues and I are going to be very busy this year!

All kidding aside, many people say they want to get organized but are not successful at achieving their goal. Unfortunately, only a small percentage are. But why?

A few reasons:
- The goals they set for themselves are too vague.
- People get easily discouraged and give up too soon.
- They don't have a way of measuring their successes however small.

They don't have a PLAN.

That's why I would advise anyone who has made a resolution for themselves this year to do two things first:
- Create a plan for reaching your New Year's goal
- Set mini-goals within that plan

Planning out the path for reaching a goal can be as easy as doing a 'brain dump' on a piece of paper or on your computer. Create a list of all the steps you need to take to reach your goal. They don't need to be in any order--you can fix that later.

If you're a visual person like me, you might want to use a graphic organizer to help you with your plan. This is a great way to organize your thoughts. An example of one:

Courtesy of The Writing Bug

If 'Getting Organized' is one of your New Year's resolutions, write 'Get Organized' in the big circle. In the next smaller circles write the room/area of your home or life you'd like to get organized. In the smallest circles (attached to the medium sized circles) list the tasks that need to be done to achieve your resolution to get organized. Create as many spokes and circles as needed. These are your mini-goals.

A mini-goal is a tiny step to complete on your way to reaching your ultimate goal. It helps you to break down the process into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Examples of mini-goals for getting your home/life organized:

-Every Tuesday, I will sort/purge/organize one drawer in my dresser until all drawers have been gone through.

-I will label an envelope 'Receipts' and once a week, I will empty my wallet of all receipts into that envelope. At the end of the month I will review all receipts.

-At the end of the day, I will spend 15 minutes making sure all items are in the home they belong in.

-I will create a 'Donations' bag in my garage and pledge to put all items to be donated in it. When I know I will pass the local thrift shop, I will put the bag in my car, drop off the donations and place the donations bin back in its 'home.'

-I will inventory my pantry before heading to the supermarket.

Successfully setting mini-goals and reaching them are cause for celebration--don't over look that. Every mini-goal milestone brings you a step closer to your goal and should be honored and celebrated!

"Vision without action is daydream. 

Action without vision is nightmare" 

- Japanese proverb

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? What's your plan?

Peter Walsh Organizes Rachael Ray's Kitchen

If you watch television and you have even the teeniest tiniest interest in organizing then you know who Peter Walsh is. If not, here's the short version: Peter Walsh is an Organizing Expert from Australia who has a 'tell it like it is' attitude but also uses compassion and empathy while organizing with his clients. He has worked miracles in tiny spaces, as well as in the homes of hoarders. I first saw him on an organizing show called 'Clean Sweep' and from there, he occasionally appeared on The Oprah Show as well as other daytime shows.

I 'Like' Peter Walsh on Facebook. He's always posting about projects he's working on, easy organizing tips, and when he'll be on TV next. So, a short while ago, he posted that he was going to be de-cluttering Rachael Ray's home kitchen on The Rachael Ray Show. Sweet! My DVR was set. If you didn't get to catch it last week, here's what happened...

Rachael Ray, America's sweetheart of the kitchen had a secret...

She told her audience that she has a tiny NYC apartment kitchen and that she's just as guilty as other homeowners when it comes to de-cluttering her kitchen--it never happens. Cluttered cupboards, out-of-date food in the pantry and cabinets overflowing with pots and pans were just some of her organizing issues.

If I had her hectic schedule, I might not have time to de-clutter my kitchen either...

She decided to bring Peter Walsh to her home to see if he could get her kitchen organized again. Rachael gave him a quick tour of the room and then he kicked her out and started organizing. Peter started with the pantry--he emptied it, sorted the items and tossed all expired food in the trash.

Some of Peter's pantry tips:

-Store platters upright for easier access. Use an organizing product that stores baking trays to do the same thing for platters.

-Keep flat surfaces clear. They are for food prep--not for storage.

Peter then headed to a spot most people wrestle with in their kitchen--the junk drawer. Like the panty, Peter emptied the drawer and sorted out the trash. He then grouped 'Like with Like' and used containers to keep 'like' items together.

Peter used drawer dividers like these to organize Rachael's junk drawer

What junk drawer items did he hold up for all the world to see? Four pair of gardening shears! Since Rachael didn't use them very often, he promptly moved them to a different area of the kitchen.

He then removed all magnets from her refrigerator. I have a ton of magnets and children's artwork on my fridge--Peter Walsh would have a field day with my fridge!

He and his crew worked to de-clutter the rest of Rachael's kitchen and then brought her back in to see.

The first spot he showed her was the pantry--she loved how de-cluttered it was and how Peter had grouped 'like' items with like items on clear trays from The Container Store. They then moved on to the junk drawer--Rachael was so thrilled with the way it looked, she gave Peter a high-five! He had removed many of her household tools and placed them in labeled bins in a cabinet over the refrigerator to get them out of the way.

Rachael then walked over to the fridge and saw that most of her magnets were gone! She almost had a heart attack because a magnet with her deceased dog's picture on it was no where to be found. It was quickly placed back on the fridge--organizing crisis averted!

As I often do with my clients, Peter gave 'Organizing Homework' to Rachael...
-go through all cooking utensils
-separate out the ones she uses often from the ones she barely uses
-keep drawers neat and tidy

Peter offered up two tips and advice for the viewing audience:
1. Stop using the word LATER as in, "I'll put that away later." Do things as you go and he promises it will make a huge difference.
2. Flat surfaces are for PREPARATION not STORAGE.

Peter also gave the viewing audience five 'Double Duty' organizing products to use in the home:
1. Use an empty tissue box to store plastic bags (I do this in my own home.)
2. Use a tension rod to create hanging space under a sink
3. Thread a tab from a soda can over a hanger and hang another garment from it to double your closet's hanging space. (I LOVED this tip!)
4. A tag from a loaf of bread can be used to wrap around and label electrical cords.
5. Use extra glass vases to corral multiples of items.

I thought this was a great segment. Kudos to Rachael Ray for being brave enough to have Peter Walsh organize her kitchen for all the world to see!

*Author's Note: I love watching de-cluttering segments on daytime television--I pick up great organizing and product ideas all the time. But, what I'd like you to know is that de-cluttering a room takes hours--sometimes days and sometimes weeks. It looks quick on TV but what you don't see is a multi-person crew working arduously to get the job done in a certain amount of time. When it's just you, or you and a friend, or even you and a Professional Organizer the process takes a LONG time.

 If you are de-cluttering an area of your home, don't despair that it's taking a while to emerge as a clutter-free space. Make good decisions, have trash bags at the ready and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are a few tips to make sure your organizing efforts are taking you in the right direction.

A Professional Organizer Makes an Appointment With Herself to Get Organized

In March of 2010, I wrote a blog post called, "Ready for Spring Cleaning?" In that post, I talked about a basic organizing principle: Make an Appointment With Yourself to Get Organized.

The process of getting organized can be overwhelming. Most people are unsure as to where or how to begin. Making an appointment with yourself to get organized is a starting point. Carving out that time to chip away at a pile of papers or sort through your sock drawer is a necessary step towards de-cluttering your home and reaching your organizing goals.

A few weeks ago,  I got an email from my friend, Deb--the subject line said 'Photo Albums.' The email stated that she was blocking out some time one night to work on her photo albums--did anyone want to bring theirs and join her at her dining room table?

I read that email and later responded, "I'll be there..."

You know the phrase, 'The shoemaker's son has no shoes?' Well, sometimes Professional Organizers spend so much time organizing others, that projects of their own fall by the wayside. In my case, it would be photos and photo albums.

I have two small children and I take a ton of pictures and videos of them on my camera and iPhone. I download them but haven't always kept up with the ordering of pictures and placing them in albums. My relatives are constantly asking me for pictures of my kids. I've bought picture frames but don't have the pictures to put in them. The signs were there--it was time to make an appointment with myself to organize my photos and albums.

A few days before the photo album gathering I took inventory of what I had:

• one broken photo album (wear and tear from 2 kids flipping pages)
• two new photo albums (ordered months ago and still in the box they shipped in)
• pictures I had printed but not put in albums yet (already separated by child)

To prepare for 'Photo Night', I removed all the pictures from the broken album and sorted through and purged a few out. I removed all pictures from my first child's second album, too. I loaded all my photo albums and pictures into a large shopping bag and was ready to go.

I only worked on my albums for an hour and a half but got a lot accomplished. I managed to put all pictures from birth to two years old in the albums designated for my eldest child. Making this appointment with myself motivated me to keep working on this important project. The next night at my own dining room table, I finished putting the pictures of my oldest child in his albums.

My next steps are to:

• Sort and purge through pictures of my youngest child.
• Put them in chronological order
• Place them in the designated album
• Check the end of each album to see the last pictures I ordered. Go on iPhoto and order copies for relatives and the albums
• Give out pictures and place the rest in albums

My goal is to finish this project by the end of May. I will be making an appointment with myself each week to make that happen and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Thanks, Deb for giving me the jumpstart I needed to organize my photos!

Mise en Place - Cooking the Organized Way

Every year, my cousins host a Valentine's Day pizza party. They order in pizzas, set up a huge salad bar on their counter, and people bring wine and desserts to round out the celebration. Last year, I made heart shaped brownies and although they were good, I wanted to get a bit more creative.

For inspiration, I walked into a store near me called Sugar and Plumm--Purveyors of Yumm and found all types of cool looking confections including pretzel rods decorated with yummy-looking sugary stuff. I thought to myself, "I could make those!" I even had a feeling I owned a recipe for it and lo and behold, I did.

I had a ton of tasks to get done the morning I was making them so I turned to a basic organizing principle to help me accomplish my goal: to create chocolate-dipped and decorated pretzel rods in a short amount of time with a minimal mess in the kitchen. This basic organizing principle I utilized, well known to those in the world of cooking is:


Mise en Place

You may be asking, 'What does the phrase Mise en Place mean?" According to TheReluctantGourmet.com, the phrase is pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs and means 'to have all of your ingredients and cooking tools prepared before you start cooking'. Literally translated, it means,'to put in place.' I think it's French for 'Get your stuff organized before you cook!'

Mise en place takes the stress out of cooking and makes it a more pleasurable task. There's no searching for the garlic press when your oil is hot. There's no such thing as , "Uh, oh--I'm missing an ingredient." Mise en place (or 'meez' as the professionals say) allows you to be focused and prepared for cooking.

Here are the steps I took to Mise en Place--create an organized environment for my pretzel rod project:

1. I read the recipe and made notes as to what ingredients I needed. I added them to my shopping list, purchased them and kept them together in one bag so I they would be in one place when I was ready to make the recipe.

2. I cleared my small counter space and unpacked the pretzel rods, chocolate chips and sprinkles. I set up two bowls for melting the two flavors of chocolate chips, two spatulas (for stirring the chocolate chips and spreading them on the pretzels) and three paper plates for the three pretzel toppings.

3. Next to my counter space, I set up a baking tray covered in wax paper and placed a wire rack on top of it. This is where the pretzel rods would relax while the chocolate was setting.

4. I placed half a bag of each type of chocolate chip into a bowl and put a spatula in each bowl. I placed a half cup of sprinkles and mini chocolate chips into each paper plate.

Now, I was ready to begin! And here is the finished product...

Mise en Place - Cooking the Organized Way:
Chocolate dipped and decorated pretzel rods for Valentine's Day

Here's the recipe I used. Try it--and don't forget the mise en place. It will make creating these decorated pretzel rods so easy, you'll want to make them for every occasion. Green sprinkles for St. Patrick's Day? Pastel sprinkles for Easter? My cousin also hosts Mother's Day. If you have any sprinkle color ideas for that day, I'd love to hear them!

Recipe: Decorated Pretzel Rods

One bag of Rold Gold Pretzel Rods
Half a bag of Nestle Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Morsels
Half a bag of Nestle White Chocolate Chip Morsels
Multi-colored sprinkles
Pink and white sprinkles (Tip: sprinkles purchased less expensively in the ice cream aisle rather than the baking aisle...)

Follow mise en place steps 2-4 from above.

1. Melt mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips in separate microwave safe bowls. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Microwave another 30 seconds if necessary and stir until smooth.
2. Start with one flavor of chocolate. Dip pretzel rod in chocolate and spread with spatula. Let any excess chocolate drip off and hold pretzel over plate of sprinkles.
3. Using a spoon or your hands, drop sprinkles onto chocolate part of pretzel rod while turning the pretzel so all chocolate is covered.
4. Place on wire rack to cool and set.
5. Repeat with all toppings until chocolate is finished.
6. Repeat all steps with white chocolate.
7. Taste one to make sure they're OK...
8. Pack carefully to take to someone's home. Yum!

Uncle Sam Wants YOU--To Be Organized for Tax Season

It's the beginning of the new year--a time when people make resolutions to lose weight, spend more time with family and make other such improvements to their life. Many set goals to get organized in the New Year.

If that is one of your goals, that's wonderful! I commend you for setting a goal to improve the quality of your life. I have the perfect organizing project for you. When you've finished it, you'll be less stressed and have more time to enjoy the beginning of Spring.

I don't want you to sort your sock drawer. No, I'm not sending you to organize your garage in the middle of winter.

Your first organizing project of the new year is to: Get Organized for Tax Season.

We've all heard about the person who walks into an accountant's office with a shoebox full of receipts. It's a stereotype, but if I polled a bunch of accountants, they'd probably tell me that the stereotype is more of a truth than an exaggeration.

If the thought of getting organized for tax season makes you start to twitch, not to worry. I'm going to use a few basic organizing principles to guide you through the process and put a smile on your face and your accountant's.

Break a Large Task into Smaller Tasks
Prepping for your tax appointment can seem overwhelming. I'll tell you that a task becomes less overwhelming once it is broken down into many smaller tasks. Do a brain dump of all the things you need to do to prepare for a tax appointment. Then put those tasks into priority order and create a check-off list for you to follow until the last step has been completed.

Create a Home
In the next few weeks, your mailbox will be stuffed with W-2's, 1099's, statements from financial institutions and other papers necessary for filing your taxes. In order to keep track of them, you'll need to create a place for all of these papers to 'live' before they visit the accountant. Normally, I advise people to use shoeboxes an an inexpensive organizing tool but in this case, I'd prefer not to feed the shoebox stereotype. Take a large poly envelope, preferably see through, and place all tax-related documents in there. Have a file drawer or cabinet? Create a hanging file with a tab that says 'TAXES.' As they come in the mail, place the tax papers in the file.

Make an Appointment with Yourself or Delegate

If you're doing your own taxes, make an appointment with yourself to get them done. Pick a day and time when there are few distractions and when you are most coherent. Write that date on your calendar and stick to it. Are you having an accountant file your taxes? Great--you're delegating! Call their office in late January or early February to make an appointment. Put it on your calendar.

Sort it Out/Group 'Like with 'Like'
It's a week before your appointment. Take out that poly envelope or tax file and look at all your papers. If you have a stack of them you'll need to sort them by grouping 'like with like'--all interest statements from banks go together, all receipts for gas and tolls should be clipped together, etc. This will enable you and your accountant to process your tax return quickly and with less stress (and coffee).

A few tax season Do's and Don'ts:

Don't: procrastinate. This is one of the worst things you can do at tax time except for showing up with that shoebox (see above).  If you're doing your own taxes, it won't be much fun if your version of Turbo Tax unexpectedly quits at 10:30pm on April 15th. You'll never get your accountant's full attention if you procrastinate--in fact you might be put on extension. And by then, you'll be talking to the secretary if she hasn't fallen over from working overtime for the past three months.

Don't: arrive at your accountant's office with your statements in their sealed envelopes unless you want to see his/her head pop off. If your accountant's head does not pop off, it's because they have already decided that they will charge you for having to open all of your envelopes.

Do: take the Social Security numbers of all family members you are filing taxes for. If you or a member of your family owns a business, bring the tax ID number with you as well. Your accountant will thank you a hundred times for being prepared with that vital information.

Do: collect all proof of donation papers (thrift stores, schools, great causes, etc.) throughout the year and keep them in the poly envelope or tax file discussed above. You'll need them to get that tax deduction!

Tax season does not have to be a painful time of year. With some preparation and organization, you'll be on your way to a less stressful and more relaxed way to pay Uncle Sam.

Organizing Inspiration from Curious George

A few months ago, I was watching an episode of Curious George with my five year old. The episode was called 'Trader George' which made me laugh for a moment because it sounded so much like 'Trader Joe's' which is a food store I love to shop in and eat from.

Hey, it was really early in the morning and I was hungry. OK--back to how this connects with organizing...

So, in the episode George does some trading of items with people in order to get what he thinks he wants. The back story involves The Man With the Yellow Hat. While George is out trading his stuff to get other stuff, The Man With the Yellow Hat is at his county house going through the closet looking for items to put out at a local swap meet (where George is doing all this trading).

I'm getting to the organizing part...

Mr. Yellow, as I'll call him for brevity sake, ends up spending much of the episode sitting in front of his closet pulling stuff out and reminiscing about it. My son is enjoying the show while I'm yelling at the TV in my head, "Don't do that!'

You see, Mr. Yellow was breaking one of the cardinal rules of organizing.

Do not reminisce while organizing.

Why is this a bad idea?

It's distracting. You're supposed to be sorting and purging and getting rid of the old to make for the new and instead you're looking at pictures or dreaming about the last time you fit into that cocktail dress and now you've stopped organizing to look for the matching shoes and handbag you wore with it ten years ago.

It's a time waster. Not many people have all day to organize. Time is precious and it's important to focus on organizing during the time you've alloted for it before you get tired or have to move on to the next activity of the day.

There's nothing wrong with taking a few moments to think about the past. But those moments should not take you away from the task at hand. Pick a time later in the day or week to go through all the bridesmaids dresses you uncovered or all the never-before-seen pictures you found from your parent's first Thanksgiving together.

Next time you're organizing a spot in your home and you come across some cool stuff you want to dwell upon for more than thirty seconds, think about The Man With the Yellow Hat. Make time later to reminisce--or you may miss out on a lot more than just a swap meet...

Organizing Up and Down - a Vertical Makeover

If you've read the 'About Me' section on the right hand side of my blog, you know I grew up in a tight space. My bedroom was 5'x12' and I had to keep most of what I owned in that room. Because of space constraints I could not spread out much. But I quickly learned that horizontal space was not the only space I had in my room--I also had VERTICAL space.

I have worked with clients in spaces as small as a studio apartment and as large as a mini-mansion. Regardless of the size of the home, I have found that people use horizontal space more often than their vertical space. It is at that point that I remind them of a very basic organizing principle:

If You Can't Go Outward, Go Upward!

Translation: If you've run out of room in your room, buy some products to help you utilize the wall space you didn't know you had.

Here are a few products that will help you to use your vertical space efficiently:

Bookcases
They're not just for books--bookcases are perfect for anything you want to store or display. Measure your space from floor to ceiling. Then buy the tallest bookcase you can afford. For ideas, Google, "how to use a bookshelf for storage." You won't believe what people are getting off the floor and tabletops and putting on to bookcases... Try IKEA for inexpensive options.


Shelves
These shelves are ones you mount to the wall. Great for displaying collections, photos, and knick-knacks.


Freestanding Closets
Need extra closet space? Purchase a freestanding closet. Again, buy the tallest one you can fit in your home and make sure it has at least one shelf at the top for extra storage.


Cabinets
If you have low cabinets or don't have enough, consider cabinets that go to the ceiling. Take advantage of high-up space for things used only once in a while like holiday dinnerware or guest towels.


File Cabinets
Need lots of paper storage? You can buy a file cabinet that is five drawers high instead of two or more that are two drawers high to save on your horizontal space.


Step stool/Stepladder
Unless you're 7' tall, you're going to need a step stool or stepladder to reach your vertical storage places. I recommend having at least one of each depending upon your needs. To reach my high up storage spots, I use a Rubbermaid step stool and a 3-step ladder I got at The Container Store.

When you've finished reading this post, take a look through the rooms in you home. Could you use a vertical makeover?

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Today, I’m pleased to welcome guest blogger Cena Block of Sane Spaces. Besides being a Professional Organizer and Mom-Preneur Clarity Catalyst, she is also the President of the Northern New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Cena’s talking about a key organizing philosophy—grouping ‘like’ with ‘like.’ Read on to learn more about what she calls, ‘one of the oldest organizing tricks in the book…’

Pattern Recognition is the one differentiating skill set that organized people have - we see and recognize patterns where there aren't any!  It's why an organizer can walk into a chaotic situation and be successful - we immediately see "like with like" and patterns that work!

What I've found with clients in their homes and offices is that for you to be successful, you need to begin to recognize how you create patterns in your environment naturally, in order to create organizing solutions that stick.

One of the oldest organizing tricks in the book is to group ‘like’ things together. Organizers call this: putting "like with like" - or grouping all items that seem to go together, together. The interesting thing about this process is that each of us does this step a little differently.

As part of my community service, I offer a class to area elementary schools called NAPO In The Schools. This class is designed to teach 2nd - 5th graders basic organizing principles. There is an informational segment where the kids are introduced to "Disorganized Drake" who can't seem to get it together. He frequently loses homework, can't find supplies, and generally has a really rough time as a typical 4th grader!  I ask the students to help Drake by applying simple organizing strategies to his books, his room, his desk and his backpack.

The class ends with an exercise where students are given a bag of school supplies and asked to group them "like with like".  It always fascinates me that some will group them by function (all things you can write with together), by color (all blues go together), by category (all pens, all crayons, all toys), or by some other construct that makes sense to them alone.

What patterns do you recognize? What makes you comfortable? Do you prefer to sort by color, by use, by function, by location? Whatever works for you, is the right answer.  Determining which "one of these things is not like the other" is really up to you and the better you get at recognizing your own abilities for pattern recognition - and accept them as so, the quicker you'll be able to move forward with organizing your items!

Copyright 2011: Cena Block

Need help at home? Download my Products:

Time To Toss It E-Book -  http://sanespaces.com/products/organizing/
This is a full color guide that gives guidelines on how long to keep items and when to get rid of them. (There is a whole entire section on how long to keep paper and files.)
Dimensions Workbook - http://sanespaces.com/products/organizing/
This is a self-driven workbook that offers you the support of working with your very own Professional Organizer without the hourly fees.
Get Organized To Keep Your Family Sane Ebook/Audio Tips - http://sanespaces.com/products/organizing/
This e-book and the accompanying weekly audio tips provide nearly 6 months of weekly organizing ideas to implement for your home and family. Whether you have a slew of children, or are kid-free, these tips are modeled after “best practices” that work with real families.

Cena Block is the Owner of Sane Spaces and a Mom-Preneur Clarity Catalyst. She helps people find sanity through clearing their spaces, creating systems, understanding themselves, and getting the support they need for success. Her Slice of Sanity eZine gives subscribers ideas and inspiration to get clear and out from under whatever is stopping them. If you are ready to get sane, you can click here to sign up for a F.R.E.E. e-zine subscription to Slice of Sanity. Learn more from Cena at her Facebook page, on her blog, and on Twitter.

Related post: Group It! April 25, 2010

Be an Organized Blogger

I started this blog a year and a half ago when my son began preschool. Since then, I've had another child and my busy days and exhausted evenings have left me little time for blogging. If a Professional Organizer doesn't have a lot of time for blogging but she really wants to blog--what should she do?

Get organized!

I knew that if I wasn't organized, weeks or months would go by without a posting. Why have a blog if you're not going to post to it?

I reviewed some basic organizing principles and applied them to blogging. Now I'm blogging at least once a week and I always know what I'm going to talk about when I sit in front of my computer.

Here's one of the many ways I stay organized while blogging:

Get rid of the clutter
Too many pictures, videos, or advertisements detract from what you’ve written. Keep the look of your blog simple and streamlined. You have to grab the reader’s attention within the first three seconds of their arrival at your blog. If they have to spend those three seconds looking for your latest blog post, they may not return out of frustration.

Find this tip  and other helpful advice in my article: Be a Better Blogger: Organizing Tips for Beginner Bloggers

Whether you already have a blog or you're thinking of starting one, being organized will help you achieve your blogging goals with less stress and more time for posting.

#2 Organizing Principle for Brides:Break it Down!

When was the last time you planned a party for tens or hundreds of people? Never? We'll--you're not alone. In fact, you're one of thousands of brides and grooms who are putting together their dream day without any past experience.

If you're overwhelmed with the thought of being in charge of all the planning for your wedding, then you need to utilize an important organizing principle: BREAK IT DOWN

What do I mean by BREAK IT DOWN? Any large task, such as planning a wedding has many components to it and many players--vendors, family, friends, retail stores, etc. Juggling all of the people and tasks associated with a wedding can be mind-blowing and send the most organized bride into fetal position. 'Breaking down' an overwhelming task enables the brain to 'chunk' information in small, easier to manage bits.

Don't have a breakdown! Follow these steps for 'breaking it down:'

List your tasks
Either on paper or on your computer, list all of your vendors and the tasks associated with them (phone calls, emails, face-to-face meetings, fittings, etc.)

Create a timeline/schedule
There are many bridal websites and magazines that offer wedding planning timelines. Compare them and apply the information to your own wedding needs.

Prioritize
Take your task list and your timeline and determine what tasks need to be done first and what can wait a month or two or until a few weeks before your wedding day.

Delegate (1st organizing principle)
Look at your task list. Determine which tasks you must be in charge of and which others can help you accomplish.

Cross it off
When the task is completed, cross it off your list. It's a great way to show you're one step closer to your goal and your big day.

#1 Organizing Principle for Brides: Delegate!

Brides and grooms--planning and executing a wedding of any size is a challenge. Doing it by yourself--is close to impossible. Please--don't even try it.

In order to avoid the multiple stresses of wedding planning, consider utilizing the #1 organizing principle for those heading down the aisle--DELEGATE.

Delegating tasks helps you to focus on what's most important to you. Having people assist you with tasks you don't wish to do or don't do very well frees up time for you to concentrate on the big/important components of your special day.

A few examples:

What to delegate:

Trips to the post office

Addressing invitations

Creation of welcome bags for out-of-towners

What to do yourself:

Try on and purchase gown

All contact with wedding vendors

Honeymoon planning

Family and friends are oftentimes more than happy to help with your wedding planning. Asking them to pick up stamps or put ribbons on wedding favors enables them to feel included in 'the big day' while you cross small yet time-consuming tasks off your to-do list and focus on what's most important to you. It's a win-win situation. 

What wedding-related task will YOU delegate?

Group It!

It's almost the end of April--I hope you've started your Spring Cleaning for 2010. Although the weather has turned cool today, you're going to want those sandals, sports equipment and other 'summer fun' items at arm's reach very soon.

So far, I've given you four basic organizing principles--here's number five--the last one you'll need for Spring Cleaning and Anytime of the Year Cleaning.

Basic Organizing Principle #5:

Group 'Like with Like.'

Grouping 'like with like' helps you to find what you need when you need it. For instance, if all of your daughter's hair clips were to be grouped together all in one place it would be easier to find the pink Hello Kitty barrette that matches her pink Hello Kitty T-shirt. If her hair clips were dumped in a drawer with a bunch of crayons and a few beanie babies, they would be much harder to locate quickly.

Another example: All that 'tupperware' we talked about in Basic Organizing Principle #4--how many times have you cursed under your breath because you couldn't find a square-shaped lid to match it's bottom part? Grouping 'like with like' is the key to finding that bottom part in a matter of seconds.

To achieve optimal container storage, take all of your storage containers out of your cabinet and place them on the dining room table. Sort them by category--group all circle and oval shaped containers and then the squares and rectangles. Do the same with the lids. Then match up lids with bottoms. If you have any missing bottoms or lids, consider recycling or repurposing the other mate-less piece.

Grouping 'like with like' will save you:

Time - no long and tiresome searches for what you need

Money - no more spending $$$ on items you already have but just can't find

Stress--self explanatory...

Even if you haven't started your Spring Cleaning yet, start grouping 'like with like.' It will make you feel like you've taken a huge step towards organizing your home.

Take a Moment

Remember the last organizing principle we discussed?

This one piggy-backs on the last one...

Basic Organizing Principle #4:

Take the Time to Put Things Away Properly

You've created a home for your stuff. You've used it and now it's time to put it back in it's home.

If you take a few seconds or minutes to put something away properly (as opposed to haphazardly or next to/on top of where it should be), you'll be able to find it next time you need it. And, the next time you need it, it will be easier to retrieve.

For example, if you usually take your tupperware out of the dishwasher and jut toss it into your cabinet, you'll have difficulty retrieving a matching top and bottom the next time you need it.

I often advise people that spending a few minutes putting items 'back in their home' will save them time when they need to revisit that area in the future.

Spending time NOW will save you time LATER.

Keep on doing that Spring cleaning!

Break it Down!

March 20th was the first day of Spring. Started Spring Cleaning yet?

Whether you have already started or you haven't made that appointment with yourself yet (Basic Organizing Principle #1), here's another way to make Spring Cleaning a less overwhelming task:

Basic Organizing Principle #2:

Break Large Tasks into Smaller Tasks

Let’s say you need to go through your chest of drawers and let’s say you have four drawers—one with underwear, one with socks, one with T-shirts and one with pajamas. Instead of taking a few hours to go through the chest of drawers, try going through one drawer at a time on different days of the week. You’ll be less tired from the task and the job will still get done.

Remember:

Any organizing task is doable if it is broken down into smaller and less time-consuming tasks.

Ready for Spring Cleaning?

Last Sunday I did a presentation for a lovely group of women who were very interested in getting organized. The title of the presentation was, "Organize Your Space...Organize Your Life." Sounds like a lot of information to cover in an hour but I talked about the basics--what one needs to know to get started.

During the months of March and April, I'll be sharing some of those basic organizing principles with you. Spring is just around the corner, which means Spring Cleaning is on the minds of many. Whether you have a studio apartment or a six-bedroom house, it's important to have a plan for your Spring Cleaning.

Here's the first of those basic organizing principles--they're easy to follow and will help you to reach your Spring Cleaning and organizing goals.

Basic Organizing Principle #1:

Make an Appointment with Yourself to Get Organized

Why should you make an appointment with yourself to get organized?

It’s very important to set aside time for organizing--just like you’d make time for the doctor or an oil change. What happens if you don’t keep the doctor’s appointment? You may get billed and be in poor health for a long time. What happens if you don’t keep the appointment for the oil change? Your car might stop working. What if you don’t keep your organizing appointment? Your home will not function efficiently much like the car without the oil change or your body without seeing the doctor…

Carve out a time when you’re most energetic and likely to have a minimum of interruptions. Mark it on your calendar and keep that appointment!