Browse Organizing and Learning How to Organize

There is an old proverb called “For Want of a Nail” that goes like this: For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a nail.

If any of you have ever watched an organizing show or read a book on organization, the purge is one of the most heart wrenching things to do. Why is this? Why is a broken old vacuum cleaner so impossible to part with? Well, here is the main reason: We are emotionally attached to our things. How ...

Time management is a major issue for many people. And it's not getting any better. Experts estimate that during the last 25 years, our leisure time has declined by 37% while our workweek has increased by a full day. The American's Use of Time Project at the University of Maryland revealed that the average American spends more than 20 hours per week on housework. Even if you are an otherwise excellent time manager, a disorganized physical environment will steal a large amount of time and energy from your day.

Do you feel like you never get to the end of your to-do list? Are there some to-do items that seem to move from list to list? Do you track things to be done on one list, multiple pieces of paper, an electronic device, or in your head? One crucial factor in getting organizing is using time wisely. While there are a myriad of ways to approach the 24 hours you are allotted each day, this month we will concentrate on developing a new habit. And the new habit is: learn to differentiate between tasks and projects.

Whew! The tax deadline is behind us! Now, it's time to figure out what to do with that pile of papers covering the desk or dining room table. Not sure where to start? There is an easy way to archive taxes to ensure that you are withi IRS rules. Plus, you don't really have to think about it much each year. First, purchase a box of two-inch box-bottom hanging folders at your local office supply store. Whether they are colored or not is up to you.

We all have goals -- or in New Year's parlance, resolutions. We all have visions of what we'd like our lives, careers, and business to be. For many people, thinking about what you would like to change and transform is the easy part. The tough part is actually turning those goals and visions into reality.

These days, people often wear their “ability” to multitask as a badge of honor. We’ve all been there: sitting at our desk, computer humming, files open, checking e-mails, talking on the phone, and listening to a colleague all at the same time. Impressive, yes? No. It’s neither impressive nor effective. This is the myth of multitasking. When we multitask, our brains shift back and forth rapidly between two or more tasks, but, because our brains cannot process two diffe

Getting organized can be one of the most profitable and simplest things you can do in your business ... IF YOU KNOW HOW My articles tackle real problems and real questions from my clients and newsletter subscribers. In this article, I'll address Dan's question on how to begin to organize his ...

Life can be complicated — it always seems like there is a trade-off. If you’re keeping up with work, then your home’s a mess. If you’re socializing with friends, you have no time for yourself. Where do you start when you want to simplify your life? SIMPLIFY YOUR RELATIONSHIPS Strained relationships increase the risk of internal inflammation, which can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and arthritis. How to simplify: 1. Write a list of pros and cons of

I do not believe it is possible to be perfectly organized. Our lives are in constant modes of change. Some changes come fast. Some changes creep in slowly over time. What works today may not work tomorrow. What works for one person, may not work for another.nnBirth is the beginning. Death is the inevitable outcome. Everything in the middle is a series of changes. We change by aging. We change by growing. We change through the people and environments around us. We change throu

As parents, the tendancy is to want to give our children the world, but what many may not realize is that by not instilling boundaries, children are set up to be spoiled and never satisfied. If you currently feel out of control and in a power struggle with your children, don't worry, with clear boundaries and consistent behavior, you can turn this dynamic around.

The term 'career' is most often thought of in the context of a profession or occupation, but dictionaries also apply the term to a chosen pursuit - a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life. If we use the latter part of the definition, then things like education, home-making, marriage, family relationships, many leisure pursuits like sailing or gardening can also be considered as careers in their own right along with work and profession.

All of you have had your children say this to you at one time or another, no matter what type of schooling they have had. What is the child REALLY trying to tell you? Do they hate school? Do they hate learning? Is it too hard for them? Is it boring? Watching your child as they learn or as they are doing their homework should give you clues to the answers to this problem. Most children will only give an adult 'hints' about what they really mean, they sure aren't going to come right out and tell you.

When you are busy getting tasks done but you don’t get it all done are you hard on yourself, thinking you are a failure? Stop being so hard on yourself and start using a planner to help you accomplish more that you want to do guilt free.

In order to organize your life in the hectic internet environment you'll want something lightweight, effective and convenient! Now if you're an online affiliate trying to earn a buck this need becomes even a bigger concern due to the frequency of change affiliates must contend with to be successful! Well here is probably the best note taking software you'll find available anywhere online, at least for now, and it's called Evernote! Why use Evernote and I'll respond with 7 rea

You put in the time and gotten started on a home filing system. But you still don’t feel like you can relax. You don’t think you’re any more organized then you were before you had a system. You may have fallen into some common home filing system pitfalls. Making these mistakes can make getting organized an exhausting uphill battle. If you know what these mistakes you can fix them or avoid them altogether. 1. Your files include too much or are too general. Your file system sh

An aunt visited us a few years ago just after we had our living room carpet replaced with blue carpeting. As we visited she said she didn’t like the color blue. I was amazed that anyone could not like the color blue. After all the sky is blue and the ocean is blue. Now I have no room to talk as I don’t’ like the color brown—in textiles anyway. I like beautiful wood. I think I have finally figured out why I don’t like this color.

7 time-proven organizing tips for your garage. Do you want your garage to be user friendly? Then you’re in luck with these 7 tested tips that help you in getting rid of clutter in a snap. The curtain is yellow on the door window that goes out to our garage. It is the color of the outside today. The sun has taken over the sky and after months of cold weather it sure does feel good. A week ago they were predicting today would be the warmest day since November 2010. I am glad they were right this time.

Recently, I was preparing the garbage and recycling to bring to the curb for pick up, and my husband was watching me and chuckled "It's so funny. You really like doing the recycling, don't you?" I stopped and thought about it, and then replied, "I don't necessarily like the activity, but I love the results." And then it hit me like a ton of bricks! This simple statement can be applied to so many things! Whether it is getting organized, doing chores around the house, working on a big business or work project… you name it!

There is no doubt I am a Country Music Fanatic. I love the concept of a country life, plain and simple. Now, in saying My Life is Like a Country Song (to give credit where credit is due, this is a play on Chris Cagel's My Life's Been a Country Song), I don't mean the country song about how the wife has left him, the dog dies, and he has been drinking to no end. I mean the concept of family, good values and simplicity! The front porch swinging, slow paced living kind of song.

Now that you have curtailed new clutter from entering your home as outlined in the "Decluttering Blueprint: Step 1", you need to tackle what you already own. To begin, make an assessment of your current situation and then create a decluttering plan using the steps below. 1. Take an inventory ...

If your bathroom is cluttered with several family members cosmetics, half filled bottles, and grooming tools—it’s time to clear it out, clean it up and convert it to a space that is fresh, green and rejuvenating! First, empty the room and edit all of your belongings. That means you’ll need to ...

1. You don’t have duplicates of the same item. Do you have more than 2 or 3 pairs of scissors in your home or office? How many pairs of black pants do you own? Do you really need that many? Whether its clothes, coats, books, crafts, or sports equipment, evaluate what you need versus what ...

To-do lists. Just the name of them sounds exhausting. They have become the thorn in many of my client's side. Whether they are written in long form on paper, or maintained electronically on a computer or handheld device, they cause much stress. And here's one reason why. Most people unknowingly combine their master to-do list and daily to-do list together. This one act causes the list to become lengthy and overwhelming, which in turn almost guarantees failure.

What is a GUI application? A GUI (Graphic User Interface) application helps users in interacting with different electronic devices through graphical and visual icons. GUI applications can also be used in handheld mobile devices like MP3 players, gaming devices, smartphones portable media players. They are also used in devices for household, office and industrial controls. In this article, we will provide our readers withdifferent ways through standalone GUI applications can b

We all have a lot of paper coming into our homes constantly; either from the mail, work paper, children’s paper and other sources. In order to conquer the paper problem that many of us experience in our homes and to reduce clutter we need to have a working filing system where we can find ...

You have heard the saying, "Two things in life are certain: paying taxes and dying". Neither is pleasant to think about but if we don't want to leave our heirs with a lot of paper clutter and extra expense and headaches there are certain things we need to get in order.

Computer Network helps users to share data resources so it is becoming more and more important to secure your data in every aspect of online data and information. In this case, we use network security to protect our data from misuse or being hacked. We can use multiple layers of the network to secure our data and information. Most common security threats include viruses, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service attacks and identity theft. With the help of network security, you

Finally at the end of the year, the wait for Magento 2.3 ends too. Yes Magento lovers! We are talking about the brand new version of Magento- Magento 2.3 being made public recently and with that come a whole new bucket-load of new features and lot of promise.rn The latest addition in the Magento line-up shows a lot of promise, especially with respect to a whole new lot of performance abilities and filler of the gaps that previous versions failed at. So to answer all your quer

Brenden McDaniel's Holiday Organizing Tips: Keep Things Simple. This may be hard for some but the simpler the display tasks are the simpler they are to set up, display, take down, and put away. When unpacking display items, clothing, linins, ornaments, and any other items have a bag or box ready to have for donations. After being on display for a period time some items may be worn out, faded or not the desired look any more. By donating these items before the holidays there i

Microsoft Outlook can be a tremendously helpful productivity tool when you are prioritizing your time spent on email. But if you don’t know about Outlook’s many functions you may not be using it to its greatest potential. This article is part of a series of articles that will guide you as begin organizing your Microsoft Outlook.

In the late 1890's the American economy had been hit hard which caused widespread unemployment. This financial crises motivated men to try their luck in the gold fields. Men from all walks of life headed to the Yukon in Alaska. Many were professionals such as teachers and doctors who gave up careers to make the journey. William Howard Taft who because a U.S. President, Jack London the writer and Robert W. Service a folk-lyricist were just a few of them. They probably went for the adventure because their chance of finding significant amounts of gold was slim to none.

Cleaning a garage is one of the more arduous tasks that home owners need to tackle. Therefore, it should be treated with the proper level of preparation. Most likely, this task will take an entire day, if not a weekend at least. Unfortunately, garages have a tendency to become the messiest parts of our homes due to the amount of “stuff” that gets attracted to it, and the lack of people that see it. However, it is still a bother to have an entire room in shambles, and it becomes especially troublesome when we actually have to use something that is stored in the depths of our garage.

Check Email Only When You Can Process Email. We all love to ‘check’ our email to see what has arrived since we last viewed our inbox. But this means we continually add to our to-do list (and our anxiety) without giving ourselves the time to actually deal with the email (i.e. respond, delete, file, etc.). When you really think about it, constant email checking is like running down your driveway to the mailbox every few minutes to see what’s inside and then closing it back up with everything still in there. Talk about exhausting.

Learning to let go of things is not an easy task for most people. It does, however, get easier with practice. Here are the most common reasons our clients give for not wanting to part with an item and some strategies to overcome these obstacles: - I might need it later -- A major obstacle for letting go is the thought that you might need it later. You must learn to trust your own judgment. Yes, sometimes a mistake is made, but honestly, things are replaceable!

I have worked with a number of people over the years who have called saying they feel overwhelmed when they walk into their kitchens and are inundated by counter clutter, cupboard chaos, and fridge fright. Ever feel like your home life is out of control and you are overwhelmed by the state of your kitchen? It’s not surprising as the kitchen is the heart center of the house. For most, it’s a multi purpose room - food prep & storage, school study, home office, eating, crafting and visiting area.

One of the most important tips and strategies for maintaining organization involves setting up a system that is user-friendly. It needs to be convenient. If it is too difficult to do or if it demands too many steps, you will not do it. 3 Barriers Keeping You from Being Organized 1) Inconvenience of locating files. I would venture to guess that within the multitude of papers on your kitchen counter, a chunk of them just needs to be filed. You probably looked at each piece of paper and did the ‘put it in a pile to file later’ move. Does this scenario sound familiar?

If you have a budding Albert Einstein or Madame Currie living under your roof, providing him or her with adequate study space is an absolute necessity. Even if your home is a bit short on space, a personalized study area is very important for a child. Whether you set aside a corner of your child's bedroom or designate a special study area in the home office or dining room, having a dedicated study area can be extremely conducive to the learning process.

1. “In 2005, a psychiatrist at King’s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of 10 points. The e-mailers, on the other hands, did worse than the stoners by an average of 6 points.” (Tim Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week http://nymag.com/news/features/24757/)

In the amazing book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, she discusses the concept that all of us have an "art" that runs deep within us yearning to break out. This art can literally be an artistic talent like painting, writing, or performing, but it could also be something else entirely. It can be connecting, teaching, being funny, etc. For some people, they find this art at a very young age, and they build a career and a life around it. For others, they may find this art, but decide not to do anything with it, or fight it tooth and nail.

Are you discouraged by magazine articles that set the expectation for organizing too high? Here are 5 proven and powerful tips for getting rid of clutter in just a few minutes.

Seasons are changing and it is time to think about putting away your summer or winter clothing—depending on where you live---and getting out the clothes that have been stored away. This is a good time to look at every article of clothing you have in your closet. Take out each one and check it for rips and stains. Analyze if you still like it, if you even wore it this year and if you want to keep it. The statistic is that 80% of the time we wear 20% of what we have hanging in our closets.

It is common for closets to be one of the most cluttered locations in any household. This happens, very simply, because of the function of these spaces in a house. After all, closets are simply a glorified storage space. They are small attics or basements that are used for things that often ...

From health updates to decorating ideas to news items, magazines and newspapers can contain a wealth of information. However, that information is meaningless if you don't take the time to read it. I have a hard time making time for reading because I always feel there's something "more important" that I should be doing. So I use car trips (when my husband is driving) to do most of my reading. How well are you doing keeping up with your reading pile? These tips offer ideas to keep that reading pile under control.

It's time to declutter and organise your home!rn rnAre you: Consumed with clutter? Despaired by disorganisation? Embarrassed by the enormity of it all? Don’t feel overwhelmed any longer. It's time to get clutter-free and organised! The biggest projects start with one small step and Domestic Downsizing professional organisers are here to help. The decluttering process starts with three simple questions: Do you love it? Do you need it? Is it useful? If you can’t answer yes

I keep thinking that one day there will be more time in the day to get things done. My daughter started first grade this fall. For years I heard about all the time I would have once she was in school for a full day. Some suggested that I might even get bored. Yeah…hasn’t happened. Sure, I do have more time to work, a good thing, but a child in school requires more time in other ways. And I definitely have not been bored.

Besides the yearly housecleaning, we have a thing called yearly home maintenance and cleaning that seems to be overlooked or at least, put-on-hold and then it is overlooked! We have many goals to reach in life and one of them is keeping our home in the best shape possible. We don't realize how much money is wasted by having repairs done every year on things that break or malfunction because of neglect. By not taking care of things and keeping them clean, it can ruin appliances, cause rot, mildew, and much more.

Everyone wants an organized home office and home filing systems. But lots of us don’t know how to get them! Is this you? Here are a couple good tips on using recycled items to get organization in your space. Your Small Stuff: Don’t sweat the small stuff works, unless the small stuff are office supplies and they are taking over your space! If your desk is overrun with paperclips, post-its, pins, pens, highlighters, stickers, and other small essentials you need to get a syste

If you are moving, you already stressed. The last thing you want is to find your favorite wall art or family heirlooms broken or damaged when you unpack them at your new home. Here’s how to avoide that unwelcome scenario. Start Early Pack early so you have plenty of time to pack carefully. If you are rushing, you may skip steps which can result in broken glassware or a hole in your favorite painting. So start gathering your supplies early and start packing as much as you can ahead of time. Provide Cushioning

I love my Mom’s stuffing! I can’t wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas so I can eat some. But there is one kind of stuffing I don’t like around the holidays: an overstuffed calendar. Stuffing (or dressing) is one thing, stuffed animals are great, but a stuffed calendar just leads to overwhelm. How can you feel the joy of the holidays if you’re experiencing calendar overwhelm? I’m going to give you the bottom-line first. Are you ready?