That brought me up short. I didn’t know what she meant until I stopped to think what she was saying. When we get an idea that we are going to organize and everything will be perfect right now, remember the saying: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”we don’t need to get everything de-cluttered and organized in one day.

It is an important step in organizing anything, a room, a closet, a desk, an office, shelves, attic, or garage, or other places we realize it is important that first comes chaos during the organizing process. When looking at the project it may feel overwhelming but realizing physically things will purposefully be undone and many times emotionally we will be undone and there will be chaos, but when focusing on the goal we can be sure it will all be organized and something better will have been accomplished. It shows something new is being created in your life. Remember the Phoenix was burnt to ashes? Out of the ashes it was reborn.

To organize your Home, Office, or Garage, Click here

When doing many ordinary tasks first comes chaos. For Example: Take clothes shopping for instance. By searching through racks and stacks of clothes, discarding many and trying on others; we eventually find what we want and then purchase them. Once home it is necessary to sort through the bags and separate the clothes in piles according to the person they were intended for. These will then be taken to their rooms to be put away. The shopping experience went from chaos to organization.

For people who sew or quilt first comes organized chaos. There is the process of selecting the fabric among a plethora of bolts of fabric, finding the right pattern, gathering the necessary supplies, cutting the fabric into pieces, then sewing it all back together to make a beautiful quilt. This beautiful work of art started in creative chaos.

When students are studying for a test it first starts with chaos. There are books to read, notes to refer back to, study groups to attend and organizing of thoughts. Then comes the test and it all comes together.

By taking things one step at a time we will accomplish what we want to accomplished and be organized with the least amount of stress. Remembering that first comes chaos both physically and emotionally but out of this will rise calm, peace and a sense of accomplishment.

To organize your Home, Office, or Garage, Click here

When tackling a room, a box, the kitchen cupboards, or the closet that will hardly close just remember there IS a Tuesday and by starting with one thing at a time, realizing out of chaos comes beauty organizing will be a rewarding and less stressful.

Organize Your Garage – In Four Simple Steps

Learn how to organize your garage with these simple organization techniques that will walk you through how to organize your garage and rid yourself of clutter forever.

I’m an Organizing Junkie

This year is my year to organize my house and my life!

Organize Your Life -by The Organized Mom

Software to Organize Your Family · Teaching Healthy Habits for Life.

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Does your teenager need help on organizing her room? His is a comprehensive article on how to get and keep her room organized.

Teenagers are busy, busy people. Often they get a bad rap from adults calling them lazy. But in my experience, which includes rearing five daughters and professionally working with troubled teens they are ambitious, fun and interesting. Teenagers are my favorite age.

However, a lot of fights happen between parents and teens because they don’t keep their rooms straight and clean. Out of five girls I had one who was habitually disorganized. We finally came to the agreement that she would keep the door to her room closed and would clean and organize it once a week. That worked for both of us. Now that she is an adult and has her own place she is organized. Teach correct principals and eventually they will govern themselves.

I had a teenager ask me to help her organize her bedroom so let’s get to it:

She told me that her room is so full of clutter she avoids it. With a few tips and systems in place this can become her refuge from the world and a place to bring her friends to chat and have a good time.

You have recognized there is a problem so now what you need to do is start working from the inside out in your room. Turn on your favorite music, get a treat and dig in. Start in your closet by taking everything out. I know this is a lot of work, but I suspect half of it is already on the floor. You need to assess what space you have and get rid of all those clothes you never wear because you don’t like them; they need mending, don’t fit or are out of date. If you have seasonal clothes:

Place the items that hang, in the back of your closet on the rod or move to a different closet in your home if there is space.

Fold the clothes and put them in a clear plastic container with a lid and put it on the top of your closet shelf. Label the container (seasonal clothes or you can put winter, summer, skiing etc).

Or use the under the bed roll out containers to store seasonal clothes. If your bed isn’t tall enough to do this, buy the bed risers and that will give you an additional six to eight inches of space under your bed.

Whatever you do, don’t keep the clothes you wear now with clothes you wear at a different time of year. Rotate your clothes in and out.

You have premium spaces in your room and you want these areas available for the things you use most often.

Click here for a great Organizational Tool!

Now that you have taken everything out and looked at each piece of clothing, hang them back up in the closet, putting like things togethershirts, skirts, pants, dresses and so on. Have a place for your shoes, either a shoe rack on the floor or a hanging one on the closet rod or over your door.

Next go to your dresser and take everything out of your drawers. If you want, you can do one drawer at a time. Use containers in your drawers to keep everything together and organized. Neatnix has great containers for organizing drawers, I use them and it even amazed me what a time saver they have been to me.

Your desk is next. Go to your desk drawers and do the same thing, but if you really want to start on the clutter on your floor, well okay. Pick up only the clothes at this time. Either hang or fold the clothes as you pick them up or put them in the hamper if they are dirty. Assign a different drawer for different things, one for sport clothes, one for underwear, tee shirts, shorts, pants, and night clothes. Of course you can double up in the drawers; again containers will make your life easier as things will stay neatly in their intended place.

Keep a hamper in your closet, one that hangs or one on the floor. You can keep it in the corner of your room, get one that is cute and looks good. Wicker baskets are nice, they can also be spray painted any color you like.

I know this is time consuming, clutter didn’t happen overnight. Give yourself the time needed to do a complete job and then you won’t be wasting time every day or avoiding your room because of all the clutter.

Click here for a great Organizational Tool!

If you have sport equipment that has to be kept in your room, get a basket to contain the rackets, balls, whatever it is. If you don’t use them very often see if they can fit on a closet shelf or in a pull out under the bed. You can store your sheets for your bed under your bed in a pull out container if you need to. Fold the top and bottom sheet and put them in the matching pillow case to keep them nicely folded together. This works well for the linen closet also.

Take everything out of your cubby holes and drawers in your desk area. How many pens and pencils do you have? Get rid of all but five. Only keep the ones you really like. It doesn’t matter that it is a good pen if you don’t use it. It is a waste of time to pick up a pen and put it back because you don’t like it so you don’t use it. Put containers in your drawers to hold everything you put in them, pens, paper, glue, note pads, tape, computer disks, pushpins for a cork board, notes from friends, whatever it is you keep in your drawers.

Then when you have used something it is easy to put it away because you can just toss it in to the container where it lives. If you don’t have drawers in your desk organize the top of your desk the same way, using containers for everything. Buy cute containers, again Neatnix has great organizers you can use. Have a container for your school papers on the top of your desk where it is handy, or in one of the drawers. Do not keep all of your school papers. Keep a sampling of your work. Put these in a large manila envelope and put it on your closet shelf. Only save one envelope per year.

Click here for a great Organizational Tool!

Make your bed every morning and I mean every morning. If you do school work on your bed it will be ready for you when you come home from school, your friends and you can sit on your bed to talk, and at night it will be ready to turn down the sheet to sleep. If you do your homework on your bed be sure to put it in your back pack for the next day (hang your back pack from your desk chair) or if it is ongoing it can be on your desk, in the designated basket.

Make up, manicure supplies, perfumes and other personal things put together. Always put likes togetherGet cute containers and put your make up all in one place. You can even have separate containers within a larger container. Do the same with the other things. The things you don’t use very often either put on a shelf in your closet, if it is convenient, or in the bottom drawer of your dresser or in a space that is not premium space but readily accessible. Another good organizing container that has more than one use is a shoe rack over your door. It can hold scarves; baskets of things like make up, hair brushes, blow dryer, curling iron, and other girl things.

Now it is time to pick up anything that is left on the floor. Put these things either in the desk drawers, recycle container, garbage or the basket of ‘take things to other rooms that shouldn’t be living in your bedroom’.

If you eat in your room put the dirty dishes by the door when you are done and as you leave the room they can go back to the kitchen. As you clean out your room get some kind of containera basket, box, sack to put things in that need to go to a different room. After you have finished with your room then they go back, don’t waste your time doing it one at a time.

Click here for a great Organizational Tool!

You now have a system in placeeverything has a place and you put everything in its place. I know that doesn’t always happen, but by everything having a home they will have a better chance of living there. When you try on clothes and are in a mad dash and leave them on your floor, make a pact with yourself you will hang them up before going to bed, no matter what. If you threw them down because you really don’t like them and will never wear them, recycle them, and don’t clutter up your space with them.

By assigning a place for everything and having containers to hold them you will be able to get in the habit of putting things away so clutter doesn’t accumulate. You will like your bedroom again and won’t avoid it. Your mom will be saying, “why do you spend so much time in your room, I never see you”.

Marilyn’s bio

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.

Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find solutions to your organizing needs. She offers free tips in her blogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizing solutions.

By Marilyn Bohn Published: 8/4/2008

Technorati Tags: bedroom, children's, cleaning your house, clutter control, declutter, home, household, Household Organizing, organization, organize, teenager's

Do you have too much paper in your home and are suffocating from it? Here are eight timely tips to help you breathe again.

As a kid did you love to play a game where you would all pile on top of each other and the bottom person would be yelling, “Get off, I can’t breathe”? Do you ever feel like the paper in your home is making it so you can’t breathe? Paper piles in homes and offices can become a heavy weight if not contained. Rules to breathe by:

- Do not let junk mail live in your home. Open mail over a trash (recycle) can. Do not entertain it.

- Set up a filing system with tabs on the hanging files for every kind of paper you have to keep. IE: To Read, Bills To Pay, Coupons, Receipts, Auto information, Household tips. I could go on and on but you get the idea, have a place for every piece of paper. You don’t have to file every time you touch a piece of paper. Place it in a basket and once a week file. Yes, it does take some self control but the benefits are marvelous on you and your home.

To organize your Home, Office, or Garage, Click here

- Do you like to say, “I am a piler,”? As long as that works for you it is okay. 1) Try a vertical file rather than laying the paper down. You can label the side of the file and it is easier to see and you can organize and separate by topics or need. 2) If you want to have horizontal files place a manila folder on top of a pile (you could cut it and have two from one). Write on the top of the folder saying what the pile is. Or you can buy folders that have tabs so you can slip several piles into one folder. This keeps your desk neat and tidy and you can find what is in your pile when you need it.

- One filing system that saves tons of time and is easier than pie is Freedomfilers. It is a system that uses color and is broken down into subjects. There is no need to file and re-file and purge papers using this system.

We all have bills to pay but that doesn’t mean we have to keep the paper around cluttering up our space. I recommend paying as many bills on line as possible. Banks and Credit Unions can electronically pay most bills, you just have to set up the information for them to be able to do the transfer. I had a client tell me her accountant said not to set them up automatically because if you ever close out an account it is hard to get it removed from the list. I have not had any personal experience with this. Notify the companies you get bills from that you want electronic bills, to discontinue sending paper bills.

Let’s say you still pay bills with a check; then as far as keeping the paper work for that bill that has been paid, like credit cards, utilities, mortgage and so forth I recommend after paying the bill only keep one month in your file after it has been paid. The following month toss that one you paid last month and file the current one. It is only filed until the next month. I think the best place to keep bills to be paid is in a hanging file in the filing cabinet labeled ‘Bills To Pay’. Decide on one or two days a month to pay the bills and pull out the file then and pay them, tossing the previous month’s bill.

To organize your Home, Office, or Garage, Click here

I recommend this as a way to keep a home office organized as it does away with tons of paper. If you can verify two different ways that you paid the bill there is no reason for you to keep the paper.

- One way to verify is with the new monthly bill; it will show you have paid it.

- You will have record of how you paid itcredit card, debit card, check, or electronically.

- Your financial institution sends verification that they transferred the money.

By getting rid of piles of junk mail and unnecessary paper in our homes it creates space and harmony within us and within our homes.

Marilyn’s bio

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems. Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find solutions to your organizing needs. She offers free tips in her blogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizing solutions.

By
Marilyn Bohn
Published: 7/7/2008

Organizing Paperwork: Say Goodbye to the Clutter!!

Turning piles of paperwork into an organized system

Any tips or suggestions? How long is a reasonable amount of time to save, say, phone bills?

How To Organize Household Paperwork

Household paperwork should be organized by following a systematic plan.

Organizing Paperwork: From home to office to home to office …

Posted in Clutter, Organizing, Time Management, office

Technorati Tags: cleaning your house, clutter free, declutter, home, Household Organizing, life, office, organization, organizer, paperwork

If you don’t keep your home office organized, the clutter will drain your energy, productivity, as well as your focus. Home office organization is vital, so here are some top home organization tips to help you make your home office an excellent place to work.

Eliminate Piles
Toss / File / or Act on Those Papers
Keep Items You Use Frequently Organized and Within Close Reach
Avoid Keeping Extra Supplies in the Desk
Keep Your Business Separate from Your Home
Maintain Office Organization

Eliminate Piles

First, to organize home office space, you need to start by eliminating all those piles of papers. It’s really easy to let things just pile up over time, I know, I’m guilty of it too, and before you know it you barely have room to work.

You can either devote a major block of time to eliminate the paper piles, or break it down into manageable chunks of time. If you decide to break it down, take just a few minutes everyday and those piles will be gone in no time. Fifteen minutes a day to work on those piles is all you need, and before you know it, they’ll be gone.

Toss / File / or Act on Those Papers

Home office organization will be a breeze if you toss, file, or act on those papers immediately.

Use this strategy to tackle the paper piles and then any paper that enters your office after you get it organized. So, when you start to organize your home office and you’re working through the mounds of paperwork, look at each one and decide… toss, file, or act on it then and there.

Once you get the piles of papers under control, keep them under control!

As the mail comes in ask yourself if it’s something you really need. If not, throw it away. But, if you need to keep papers, then start a good filing system for home office organization to keep everything organized and easily accessible. If the piece of paper requires action like a phone call before filing or tossing, then act on it right away and don’t let it sit.

Keep Items You Use Frequently Organized and Within Close Reach

To organize the desk in your home office, you will want to think about what you use on a daily basis and keep it within close reach. Items like pens, pencils, the phone, computer, note pads, etc. usually get used constantly. So, organize whatever you need to grab often and keep this stuff on your desk.

Warning, don’t keep too much stuff on your desk, or you won’t have room to move and work.

For other items you don’t use as frequently like paper clips, markers, extra pens, etc., keep categorized and organized in your desk drawers. Just make sure you keep these things where you can reach them quickly so you don’t have to dig around messing everything up to find them.

Avoid Keeping Extra Supplies in the Desk

Do not store extra supplies in your desk. Organize extra supplies on shelving mounted to the wall or book cases. Better yet, hide those supplies in a cabinet so you can close the doors.

I use a really neat Asian style television cabinet that I installed shelves in to store all my extra home office supplies.

Keep Your Business Separate from Your Home

When you work at home, it’s really easy to let other things creep into the office… your kid’s schoolwork, personal bills, personal mail, etc. Just remember the purpose of your home office and organize it accordingly. Your office is for work stuff and your home is for living, so keep them separate and you won’t risk getting distracted.

Maintain Office Organization

If you want to keep your office well organized, then one important home office organization tip is to maintain it. You can’t expect to organize it once and then have it stay looking great. You’ll have to work organizing into your daily routine.

Keep it simple. Each day you should spend about 10 minutes keeping the office space well organized. Go through the mail and toss, file, or act on it. Throw away things you don’t need at the end of the day and reorganize your desk before you quit working.

Write out a “To Do list” at the end of each day. When you walk into your office the next morning, you’ll have a handy reminder list of things to work on.

Organizing your home office will help you be at your best. So, to increase productivity and keep you on top of your game, use these simple tips to keep your home office in great shape.

By: Samantha Buck

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

About the Author

Samantha Buck is a professional organizer and super organized mom of four. For more great tips and tricks to get organized and create an orderly life for yourself, visit www.lifeorganizeit.com

Technorati Tags: clean, clutter, declutter, home, household, office, organize, organizing

First, here’s a brief overview of how organization works. Everything in your home or office, even your car, should have a home. A place where any particular item can be kept. Now it makes sense that something you use each day and possibly several times a day should be easily accessible. For example, whether you have a home office or an office out of the home, or both, perhaps you might use paper clips every day. These should be right on your desk, within easy reach. Maybe you only use the stapler once or twice a week. This doesn’t have to be front and center, You don’t mind reaching into a drawer or a cabinet to get the stapler once or twice a week, do you? Now, here’s the beauty of being organized. You get to choose. Do you mind reaching into the drawer for the stapler. Then let’s put it right out there within your reach. Suppose it’s kept on the right hand side of your desk. That’s the place you have designated for your stapler. But, you pick it up, use it, and put it down absentmindedly on the left side of your desk.

Now multiply this behavior by 20 or 30 times a day. You pick something up from where it is always kept, and set it down somewhere else. If you do this with 20 or 30 items every day in your office, what do you have when it’s quitting time? That’s right. A disorganized mess on your desk, However, don’t despair, there’s just one rule you have to follow. All you have to do is make an effort to put things back where they belong. Put that stapler back on the right side of your desk! This rule applies to just about everything, whether you are at home, in your office or in your car. As we said before, it sounds easy, and it is; once you get used to doing it. Go ahead, try it and watch what happens. The 7 tips below will get you started.

1. Paper Clutter – This might be the number one organizational problem people complain about, so if it’s yours, you are definitely not alone. As you probably know, the mail can pile up very fast. Sort your mail as soon as you get it. Send the junk mail to a shredder, recycling or the trash basket, unopened, right away. Separate your bills and personal mail. If don’t you have a place for these categories, get two baskets, two folders or two of any type of storage container. Put bills in one and personal mail in the other, But you knew that already, didn’t you?

2. Plan Ahead – It’s very easy to feel disorganized when you are rushed. If you have a lot to do in the morning, try to get a jump on things the night before, even if it just making a list of what you have to do, in the order they need to get done. Decide what you are going to wear the next day and set it out, so there’s one less thing to think about the next morning. If you drink coffee, get that ready the night before. Don’t worry if you don’t have a coffee pot with a timer. Just measure the coffee into the filter, fill the reservoir with water and you’ll be all set. Coffee doesn’t take that long to brew. When you get up the next day, pop into the kitchen and push the brew button on the coffee maker. It will be done before you know it.

3. Keep All The Same Things Together – How many times have you gone through the house looking for stamps, an envelope and a pen, just to send something off in the mail? When we say keep all the same things together, this is a good example. You know you will need at least these three items if you want to mail something. So why not keep them all together? Get a nice basket or any other container you like and store anything that has to do with sending mail in it. This could include different size envelopes, paper, note cards or whatever. Do you print out emails, then lose them? Make a folder for all emails you have printed. In your kitchen, keep all your measuring supplies together in a drawer or a cabinet. Measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, large spoons and your mixer. Paying bills? You already know where your stamps, pen and envelopes are. Make a bill-paying folder just for bills to pay. You will be surprised how many things you can group together once you start thinking about it.

4. Save Time By Multi-tasking – Do you have to go to the Dentist’s office? Take a book you’ve been wanting to read and haven’t had time to do. Walking your dog? Make an effort to take him or her out more often and go for a brisk walk each time. Jog or run if you can. You will be getting some exercise and so will your dog. What’s more fun, walking or running with your dog or mindlessly pacing on a treadmill? Paying bills but want to watch your favorite TV show? Gather up all your bill paying needs and settle down in your living room; watch TV and pay your bills at the same time. Trying to learn a new language? Get the lessons on CD and play them when you are driving.

5. Plan Your Meals For the Week – You can’t imagine how beneficial this is. Knowing exactly what you are going to make for dinner each night will definitely ease stress. Make a list of each meal and post it on your fridge. It will also save you money when you go to the market. With your list of meals in front of you, it is a lot easier to only buy what you need.

6. Put Things Away – It only takes a minute or two to put things away. But how many of us come in the house and toss our jackets on the back of a chair, rather than hanging it up in the closet or even on a coat hook? Enlist the other members of your family to put their things away when they are finished using them. If all else fails, make a set time for everyone to go through the house once a day, pick up their things and put them away. Allot 10 or 15 minutes for this activity. Once this activity interrupts other things your family would rather be doing, you may find they are a lot better at putting things where they belong right away.

7. Add Space To Your Home – Add some shelves to a closet that is a catch-all. You will be able to store a lot more in there with shelves and everything will be easier to find. Buy modular cubes that can be stacked on top of, and next to each other. Many of these can be purchased with storage baskets that fit right into the openings, giving even more versatility. Do you have an half-empty bureau or chest of drawers? Store little used items in those drawers.

By: Elle Dixey

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Now that you know how easy it really is to get yourself organized, come on over to our site www.thebeautifulhome.net to get our Free Report – 50 Ways To Get Organized and more organizational and time-saving tips and also decorating ideas. When you get there click on “Organization” See You There!

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The Simplified Home: Organizational Tools for New Parents
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Home Simple Home
This week my goal is to find my Valentine goodies and start decorating the house a wee bit.

Organize: You might find hidden treasures!
Since being on my huge resolution kick of organizing.

Technorati Tags: clutter free, declutter, home, Household Organizing, organization, organize

Declutterhouse.net is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of decluttering your house and garage.

Here you will find helpful reviews, informative information and tips and much more. This site is in the format of a ‘weblog’ so that each time I post new information, it will come to the top of the front page. This means that you can check back here frequently to see new updates to the information found here.

You can navigate through the site by using the menus on the sides of the page. Also don’t hesitate to follow the links you see in bold throughout each post to learn more about the product being spoken about.

I hope you find the information I provide valuable and helpful.

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