We are into our fourth day of our Holiday marathon on how to make the holidays less stressful with organizing tips and organizing ideas to use now and all year long. The reason I called this a marathon is because it is several weeks to the holiday and to participate in a marathon (the running kind) the runners pace themselves. To stay away from the stress zone during the holidays we to must pace ourselves and do a little at a time.

You know how Santa makes a list and checks it twice? That is exactly what we need to do. Make a master list of what you want and need to do before and during the holidays. Here are some organizing tips to get you started making out your list:

1. Decide on a budget and stick to it. I know that is easier said than done, but come as close as you can.

2. Write down your gift list. Do this on the computer and you will have a template for the next year. Make different categories; one for family, one for friends, neighbors, and for others at work or clubs where you exchange gifts.

3. If you mail gifts you know how expensive it has become. But did you know you can mail in a priority mail flat rate box for $9.80? The beauty of this is it doesn’t matter how much it weighs. (This is in the U.S.)

4. Designate an envelope for all receipts and put them in it before you leave the counter when you purchase an item. Even if you just know it won’t be returned—do this. It will make your life easier if you or the recipient has a return to make. One of the best organizing tips I can give you is: set up a filing system (I love Freedom Filers system) and in the system label a hanging folder for receipts. When you get home, put the receipts in this folder and return the envelope to your purse.

What organizing ideas are you using to reduce stress?

Sunday morning before reading the comics I thought “I am going to look for organizing tips that I can pass on to my friends”. And guess what?…I found organizing tips! I must say I was rather pleased.

The comic Rose is Rose (no credit as to who draws it) was my inspiration for my organizing tips. There was a drawing of cute Mimi picking up leaves running here and there with an armful of leaves in each frame. In the last frame her dad said to her mom, “The raking would go a lot faster if Mimi wasn’t color-coordinating the leaf piles”! I will admit even as a professional organizer that was over the top for me. But….

Color coordinating can make organizing clutter in our homes easier and faster and help to keep them organized. This is especially helpful for people with ADD.

•Use colored file folders. They are easier to distinguish in a file cabinet, or when they are left out. They key our minds as to what are in them. Freedom Filer filing system is the color coded system I use. My mind immediately keys in to what is in the files by color. (Resource, permanent, active, taxes, remove/replace). This has saved me a ton of time. And it is a no brainer when it comes to filing.
•Color coding towels for different bathrooms helps immediately to know what room they go to by color.
•Sheets color coded by size immediately identifies what bed they go to.

Look around your home and see how many things you color code and please share with us your organizing tips on how this helps you with organizing clutter and how to be more efficient and organized.

I love organizing tips. Even before I became a professional organizer I was always reading organizing tips to see how I could do something faster, and more efficient. Here are three favorite organizing tips from my friends that can also help you to be organized.

Edna does three things on Friday, no matter what else she does that day she changes the bed sheets, does the laundry and goes grocery shopping. What a good organizing tip to have a routine and a goal. She has done this for several years.

Cindy only keeps things that light her up. If it makes her happy or brings her joy she keeps it. A wretched person had given her a curling iron in a gift exchange. Every time she used the curling iron she thought of that person and the old negative feeling came back to her. She donated the curling iron and bought one she liked. Now she only surrounds herself with things she likes and things that bring her good memories.

My organizing tip is I always put things back where they belong after I use them. I try to only touch things once. For instance; instead of putting a dish in the sink after using it I put it in the dishwasher. This saves a step and also saves time, helping me to stay organized.

Do you have a favorite organizing tip you will share with us? We would love to hear from you.

The “secret” to being organized is to stay organized. Today as I was preparing breakfast I reached for the measuring cups and I noticed the basket they were in didn’t fit in the cupboard as well as it did.

I looked behind the container and the salt container had been scooted behind it. I took 5 seconds, moved the salt back to where it belonged and moved the baking powder to its spot so everything fit back in the cupboard like it should. This is a time management trick; to take seconds instead of spending hours to keep things organized.

As a professional organizer I teach women how to organize and it is the little things that add up to big things. It is like the adage “a stitch in time saves nine”.

What little tricks do you use to save yourself time and that helps you to stay organized?

Finished Mug Cake

Cake ingredients inside mug

Cake cooked inside mug

I just finished making this cake. YUM! I didn’t have any chocolate chips but I did add walnuts. It did rise over the top which made me excited, but then it fell. I think it may have been because my mug is larger than regular mugs. But it didn’t matter; it’s all good—and delicious. If you want to feel slightly more virtuous it can serve two. I wasn’t so virtuous; I ate most of it myself. I guess if someone else wants cake they can just whip them up a mug of cake. I’ve got organizing to do.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 dash salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk, vanilla and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips and nuts (if using) and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed.
Allow to cool a little, (I cooled mine for 1 minute and 20 seconds)
Tip out onto a plate if desired. I did and then I sliced it.
EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly
more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous
cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from
chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

So get ready to organize with a cup of chocolate cake only five minutes away.

This week Fall softly came to our city with the sound of rain drops on my window. I was happy with the thought that cooler weather was here with the hope it was here to stay. Then I watched the weather forecast and she said we would be back to summer temperatures by the end of the week. Softly summer is creeping back to keep us hot for awhile longer.

Isn’t this just how it is with clutter in our homes? It softly creeps up on us until one day we say “Where on earth did all of this clutter come from”? Here are some tips on how to avoid the clutter creep:

In the kitchen:
•Keep the dishwasher unloaded. This way when something needs to be loaded it can be.
•After using a utensil, bowl, or pan load it in the dishwasher right then. This saves you time later on having to come back and loading. It also keeps the kitchen cleaner looking as dishes don’t pile up in the sink.

In the bedroom:
•Hang up clothes as soon as you take them off, or put them in the laundry.
•Make your bed every morning.

In the bathroom:
•Toss (recycle) bottles when they are empty, don’t hold on to them to clutter your space.
•Get rid of soap slivers. Decorative soaps can also be clutter if they are never used and just take up space and become dusty.

In the office:
•Get rid of pens you don’t like or don’t use. You do not have to keep every pen that comes into your life. Keep all pencils sharp so when you need them you can use them.
•Create a working filing system so paper doesn’t scatter all over your desk.

It is the little things that add up to big things to make our homes unorganized. Doing the little things in every room every day will help us be organized and stay organized.

What tricks do you use to stay organized?

You may know my daughter and her husband just moved to a different state. One of the things they had to do when they got to their new place was to get new phone numbers. This meant I had to program their new numbers in all my phones.

As I was programming their numbers I noticed there were several people I don’t call much anymore so I removed them from speed dial and added others who I call more frequently.

Because I am a home organizer my mind thought of my clients and you all who read my blog and I want to pass on this tip to you. Take the time this week to look at your programmed numbers and see if you too need to ‘clean up’ your phone numbers. And are you using all the numbers allotted to you? We had 20 numbers we could use that I had forgotten all about.

I called the phone company and found out how to program numbers (the last time I had done it was over two years ago) and then I typed up a list of speed dial numbers and made copies for every phone plus I will keep one in my planner. Speed dialing saves time, I love that feature.

Do you have a time saving tip you will share with us? We would love to know it.

After my walk this morning I came home and popped in a tape and started to do some aerobics. As I was watching the three instructors who take turns doing a different routine for three minutes each I thought, “I just can’t do this”, I wanted to stop. I looked at the clock and I knew it would only be eight more minutes to the end of this routine. I knew I could keep going that much longer because I knew exactly when the end was in site.

As a professional organizer I know some days it is hard to get in the mood to organize even when it needs to be done. One tip that has helped me is to set my timer for a certain length of time and organize until it dings. When I organize for women I tell them when the timer rings to stop right then. Take a five minute break and come back to it. That way they won’t get burnt out and will be happy to come back and work some more.

Another reward of setting a timer is we can work to ‘beat the clock’ and in that fifteen minutes we can accomplish more.

How have you used a timer to inspire you?

Did you know September is National Preparedness Month? It is a good time for us to look at how prepared we are in our own homes to protect ourselves and our families in case of an emergency. By taking action before an emergency arises we can minimize the impact they will have on our lives.

For preparedness resources go to: ready.gov There is great information for children, older Americans, pet owners, and everyone else.

You know how much I love the Porta Vault and how much peace of mind it has given me by having all my important papers in one place. Time management is key to me in my life and this has saved me a lot of time and frustration in having to look for important documents.

Organizing for women and seniors is my passion and this is one great resource I like to share with everyone. Using the Porta Vault is one of my big tips for National Prepardness month.

In honor of the Red Cross and to encourage you to focus on your preparations for National preparedness month Securita is offering a 5% discount on the Porta Vault and will also contribute 5% of each sale to the Red Cross during the month of September. Please use coupon code “PREPARE” at checkout.

What are you doing to prepare this month for an emergency?

Today is garbage day in our city. As I was tying the top of the plastic sack together to take to the garbage can I was wishing I didn’t have to go down the hall to get another liner. As I pulled it out of the can I was happy to find several liners in the bottom for my use. I thought what a good time management tip:

•Keep plastic liners in the bottom of the wastepaper baskets to save time of having to run and get them every time you take out the trash. When I use the last one I will at that time replace more in the container.

When our city went to garbage cans that are at least four feet high I started to refer to it as ‘the beast’. They are big and black and that is what they remind me of. We had young children at home and from that time on they didn’t complain about taking out the trash as I would say, “Please take this to the beast” and there was no grumbling.

When I organize for women doing home organization projects sometimes we figure out that we just need to change our perspective about certain tasks. By just changing the word from ‘garbage can’ to ‘the beast’ a whole different attitude was born.

What tricks have you used that have worked to save you time or has gotten your children to do things willingly?