Archive for the ‘Monday's Focus’ Category

4 Nifty Ideas To Get Rid Of Paper Clutter

Monday, April 30th, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Paper Clutter Focus:

Thank you cards

When you read this what did you think? Do you still receive them? Do you need to keep all the ones you have? Are you selective in the ones you keep? Do you have a pile of them and have they become clutter? Are they taking up too much space in your drawers, cupboards or where ever?

It can be so hard to get rid of the clutter of thank you notes we receive. I recommend:

  • Keep a select and special few
  • Designate a home for them
  • Keep the note, not the envelope
  • Transfer the address from the envelope into your address book

What do you do with thank you notes? I LOVE to get them but I realize I don’t have to keep them all, I will do something nice for someone again and if I am lucky I will get a new note.

Posted in Get Rid Of Clutter, Monday's Focus, Office/Paper Work | 5 Comments »

Just For Kicks Let’s Do Clutter Clearing

Monday, April 23rd, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Clutter Clearing Focus:

Costco has this delicious trail mix that has nuts, yogurt buds (I am not sure what they really are it is just delicious), raisins and chocolate chips. Our local store was out of it so as I was leaving for work I left the phone number of another store for my daughter to call to see if they have it.

The number didn’t work and it is the one I had in my planner. I checked on line and called the number listed there and sure enough I had the wrong number written down.

How are the phone numbers you have? Are they all up to date or do you have so many cross outs it is hard to see which one is the right number to call? I am sure guilty of this one. Right now I just updated my address book and my goal is to keep it clean and readable! (I hope it lasts forever—I am such a dreamer).

The older my book gets I need help clearing clutter in my address book—how about you? Do any of you use electronic address books? If so do you have to do clutter clearing on them or do they stay clutter free?

Posted in Clearing Clutter, Clutter Clearing, Monday's Focus, Paper Clutter | 3 Comments »

Spring Cleaning Brings Me To Organizing On TV

Monday, April 16th, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Spring Clutter Clearing Focus:

For you early birds and those in other countries my blog will be posted in detail later this week because I will be on KUTV, a local T.V. station on a show called Fresh Living. We tape at 10:00 and it airs at 1:00 MST. Then the segment will also be posted here on Thursday.

The subject they asked me to talk about is spring cleaning. Cleaning does go hand in hand with organizing. So come back for some clutter clearing tips as seen on T.V.

Posted in Monday's Focus, Organizing Clutter, Paper Clutter | 1 Comment »

4 Rock Solid Tips To Clear Clutter

Monday, April 9th, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Clear Clutter Focus:

My calendar tells me yesterday was Easter Monday in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia and NZ. I hope if you celebrated Easter that it was a beautiful and glorious day. Mine was as I spent the day with a daughter that I only see about once a year as we live on opposite sides of the country.

Now Easter is over it is time to put away the decorations. A simple way to clear clutter is to put away holiday decorations after the holiday is over. Or at least have a plan to put them away within a couple of weeks of the holiday being over. (That’s my plan because Easter was early and I enjoy my bunnies being out of their boxes a bit longer).

  • Keep only the decorations you enjoyed having out, donate the rest.
  • Repair any that are broken or have paint chipping etc.
  • Wrap fragile pieces in bubble wrap or tissue rather than just placing in a bin.
  • Clearly label the bin so you don’t have a mystery bins taking over.

How long do you wait to take down decorations after a holiday is over?

Posted in Clear Clutter, Holidays, Monday's Focus | 2 Comments »

3 Easy To Follow Tips For Getting Rid Of Clutter

Monday, April 2nd, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Getting Rid Of Clutter Focus:

You are going to love today’s focus. (maybe) You already know having an organized home reduces stress and gives you more time to do the things you really want to be doing. Sooooo——

As you are trying to decide what to keep and what to let go as you are getting rid of clutter ask yourself these questions:

  • When was the last time I used it? If you haven’t used it in a long time chances are you aren’t going to be using it. If it is something that needs to go to storage then move it to storage.
  • Will I ever need it? NOT, do I think I will need it sometime in the future.
  • Why will I need it? If there is a purpose for keeping it then find a home for it.

Wow! Who said getting rid of clutter was hard?  I know, I know, it sounds easier than it is.  Sometimes it is just plain hard answering those tough questions. Do this when your energy level is high, it makes it a lot easier to part with things or find homes for them.

Posted in Getting Rid of Clutter, Monday's Focus | 2 Comments »

Clutter Clearing At A Glance

Monday, March 12th, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Clutter Clearing focus:

Things are not always as they seem. Do you think you have too much clutter when in reality things just need to be arranged differently?

Take this shelf for instance. It is above my couch in the family room. I like the little things I have here and I enjoy changing them around from time to time. I was having rug hooking at my home Tuesday night and I saw the shelf was awful dusty (I love having people come over—I work much faster at clearing clutter and cleaning when someone is coming). Is it the same for you?

Last week as I was dusting I added these old spools that hold candles to my arrangement of houses. (I love houses—could it be because I am a professional organizer and I love clearing clutter in homes? HUM, I haven’t figured that one out for sure yet).

Anyway, back to the point (do you think I am one of those women who beat around the bush)? Anyway again—I like everything on this shelf but it looked crowded and quite frankly looked like I needed to clear clutter (I want to say it looked clutterly but I don’t think that is a word). I just want my “treasures” to look nice.

Now look at the after photo. Just by rearranging these things it no longer looks cluttered. By the way, the bird is a little thing I picked up in Brazil and I like to move him from place to place now and then so this is where he is living this week.

Which do you think looks best—the before or after photo? Can you find something to move to make your home look less cluttered? (Not that it is cluttered or anything. I don’t mean to suggest that it is.

To my UK readers—Happy Commonwealth Day and to my Australia readers happy Carberra Day.

Posted in Clutter Clearing, Monday's Focus | 2 Comments »

Getting Rid Of Clutter The Easy And Simple Way

Monday, February 20th, 2012 by admin

Monday’s Getting Rid Of Clutter Focus:
My daughter who works for the CDC (Center for Disease Control) travels to Africa for work about ever two months. She has brought me back some beautiful custom made dresses from different countries there.

The ‘sad’ thing is I have never been able to wear them because they have been too small. But I have kept them because maybe someday I can wear them, she brought them all the way back from Africa, they were custom made and ya-de-da-de-da—you know what I am talking about.

Anyway yesterday I tried one on that has been hanging in my closet. It is beautiful. It is now too big but I wore it all day as I was lounging around the house. I am going to shorten it and continue to wear it in the house.

I was thinking this would be a good focus—look in your closet or drawer and select one (only one) article of clothing that has just been taking up space but is never worn and either decide to wear it or donate it. It could even be something as small as a pair of socks. (or mis-matched socks you’ve been hanging on to).

Doing this is one tiny step in getting rid of clutter the easy and simple way.

Posted in Getting Rid of Clutter, Monday's Focus | 4 Comments »

Monday’s Focus On Tuesday

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 by admin

Do you ever feel like you are a day late and a dollar short? I have been excited about Monday’s how to get rid of clutter focus and then time got away from me and here it is Tuesday already. But I am going to share Monday’s focus anyway.

I love Christmas music and I usually wait until after Christmas to turn it on but this year I started early. I have a CD case full of Christmas CD’s. I am listening to each one and am tossing those I don’t like and never listen to.

It is a great way to get rid of clutter. On this CD you see in the photo I didn’t like at all because it is Country/twang/Western music which I CAN”T STAND. Instead of tossing it I went and got a pen and took the time to write GAG on it.

My daughter saw it and said, “Really, you are going to keep clutter around?” I explained someone else might like it—silly moi. If I didn’t want to hear it it would never be played anyway.

So out it has gone into the recycle bin. Get rid of clutter this week by tossing CD’s or DVD’s you NEVER listen to, never watch and never will.

Posted in Get Rid Of Clutter, Holidays, Monday's Focus | 4 Comments »

Wise Clutter Control = Monday Foucs

Monday, November 7th, 2011 by admin

Monday Clutter Control Focus:

We had a bit of a plumbing problem last week. The bathtub in one of the bathrooms was leaking like a sieve. My husband went to work on it and he had to take a back panel off in the closet to get to the pipes. I know that is odd but that is the way it is.

When it came time to put the panel back on he needed the duck tape. By the way I have been told about another tape called gorilla tape which is even stronger—have you seen it or used it? I am going to look for it.

Anyway, I went to get the duck tape and it wasn’t in the drawer where it belonged—(It wasn’t me who put it away). After he was finished using it I put it back in its assigned home with the rest of the tape.

I thought what a good focus to suggest on clutter control. This week find one thing, or more, that has been put in the wrong place and put it where it belongs. This is a great way to keep organized.

Clutter control is easy when it is done a little at a time. When you see something out of place put it in its place right then.

Posted in Challenge, Clutter Control, Monday Focus, Monday's Focus | 4 Comments »