Starting 2020 Organized and Clutter Free

          January – New Habits & Things to Do

 

#   # 1 ·         Make 4 Goals that are Measurable & Achievable. 

·                            Add them to your January calendar. 

·                            Each week give yourself an estimated percentage to 

                 complete for each goal. 

·        Seeing concrete results often helps you achieve goals sooner.

# 2 ·        Transfer all appointments and ongoing tasks to your
            2020 calendar or planner. 

       Don’t forget Birthday reminders, bill payments and anniversaries.

# 3 ·         Schedule ‘Me time’ for yourself at least once every week.
             Stick to it


# 4 ·         Make a repair and cleaning walk through list, from floor
             to ceiling.
 

·         Are you making the best use of space? 

·         Do the carpets need deep cleaning or the chandeliers dusting?

# 5 ·         Do an End-of-Year accounting to see how much you spent 
             on the holidays. 
 

·         Use it to save and prepare for next year's holiday season.

# 6 ·         It’s time to pack away the last remnants of the holidays. 
 

·         Store your platters and other serving dishes that you only 

       use for special occasions. 

       Be sure they are in good condition.

# 7  ·        Get in the habit of having a notebook or grocery list near
             your fridge or pantry to list items as you run out of them.

·         This will make grocery shopping a lot asier.

# 8 ·         Take some time to consider that your value does not 
             come from stuff.
 

·         Once we let go we can stop hoarding and start de-cluttering.

# 9 ·        Take a look at your home management / bill paying station.

·         Is it functional for what you need to do to make your life

       run smoother?

·         Do you have enough stamps, envelopes and other office

       supplies? 

·         If not, add these to the shopping list so that you can stock

      up and be prepared.

# 10 ·     Set a declutter appointment on your calendar – to declutter
             one room or a closet.
 

·         Do you have the right containers & needed supplies?  

      If not, add it to your list.

# 11 ·     Disinfect your cleaning utensils. When was the last time 
            you replaced your toilet brushes, sponges and cleaning
            cloths that you use?

·         If it’s been a while, add them to your shopping list.

# 12 ·    Clean out and organize your purse. Containerize.
 

·         Keep a coupon bag in your purse – with coupons that are not expired.


Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Set Aside Dedicated Areas for Various Aspects of Your Time

One way to help yourself manage your time better is to keep things separate. If you have a specific area to accomplish a goal, you’ll be able to get your mind dedicated faster to that one task. It might seem like a pipe dream, but if you really want to be creative, find a space that makes you feel creative and go to it each time you need that extra creative spark. In that way, you become more in charge of how your time is spent.

* A Reading Cubby – You may have had one in elementary school, a little place that you could go for quiet reading time. You can do this at home easily by just setting up a chair in the corner of a living room, bedroom or office that is set up with good light for reading and if necessary the proper electronic components if you want to read by laptop or Kindle.

* A Mail Checking Station – This works especially for snail mail and is best if it’s close to the trashcan. Get the mail in, and immediately go through it, tossing the trash, and then taking the mail to the computer in order to schedule, process and pay bills.

* Games Only – Some people cannot afford this but it is something that will truly help you manage your time better. Separate your work computer from your fun computer. At the very least create different sign-ons to your computer: one for work, one for games. This way you won’t be tempted to check work when you’re having fun, or play games when you’re supposed to be working.

* TV Time – It’s very difficuylt to get work done, or even read a book with the TV blaring. Having technology in the bedroom is also not conducive to a good night’s sleep. Consider having the TV in only one room in the house and only using the TV during limited hours.

* Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner – Eating is a very important part of your day and should be treated as such. If you eat all over your home and office there is no true break or time to digest your food. Take the time to set the table, and eat at the table or breakfast bar in order to differentiate the time spent on eating, versus working, versus play.

* Resting and Sleeping – There is nothing wrong with taking a nap on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but you want to be very careful about sleeping and resting during the work day. Plus, you want to avoid working when you’re supposed to be resting and sleeping. Make your bedroom a peaceful oasis away from the rest and go there when you need a break.

* Being Social – So often, the internet becomes a substitute for true social gatherings and due to this easy access to a social life, it can be all too simple to flow from work to being social accidentally. Like with gaming, set up specific times to be social - whether it’s out of the house, outside of business hours, or on the computer.

* Exercise – If you don’t have time and space set aside for exercise, it’s unlikely you will ever do it. Set aside the time, and the space, even if you have to go to a new space. If you get to the new space, you’ll automatically reach your exercise goals because your surroundings will inspire you.

Setting up different areas to get various activities done will help you differentiate your time better, be more organized, and get more done than you thought possible. Creating dedicated areas for specific activities is an excellent time management tip that will work for most people.

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Five Things You Can Do Today to Achieve Your Goals

Being Organized starts with having Goals. But how can we achieve the goals we set?

There is a lot more to achieving any goal than just having the goal. But it is a first step. You may wonder how some people seem so great at achieving their goals while other people aren’t so good at it. Part of the reason why some people fail is that they do not have a specific goal, one that is clear and focused. In addition, they do not have a schedule of action to actually work toward achieving the goal. In order to meet any goal, start doing these five things today.

1. Craft Clear, Specific and Doable Goals

For any goal to be achievable it must first be clear and very specific. But, it also must be possible. You do want to challenge yourself a bit, and set the goal high, but you want to ensure that any goal you set is possible. Therefore, you will need to do a little research in order to set a goal. For instance, let’s say your ultimate goal is to lose 50 pounds.

Obviously, anyone who needs to lose 50 pounds and sets their mind to it can do so, but they can’t and shouldn’t do it in one month. So an unreasonable goal is “I want to lose 50 pounds in a month.” Instead, a more reasonable and doable goal is to state “I want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks.” This is in line with health recommendations not to lose more than 2 pounds per week, and gives you a little cushion for plateaus and other issues.

2. Each Goal Needs Set Actionable Tasks

Additionally, any goal that you really want to meet needs to have the “why” and the “how” included with the “what” of the goal. In the example above you want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks, which will be a little less than 2 pounds per week. You’ll need to look at your diet, compute the number of calories you should consume and the amount of exercise you need to see those results.

Thankfully, today there are online calculators to help you determine this easily, but let’s say that you determine that if you consumed 1800 calories a day, and walked for 20 minutes each day, you would achieve your goal that you set within the time limit. So, now you need to include planning your meals and fitting in the exercise necessary to reach your goal. But because of the research you did, you know exactly what is needed to be successful with the goal you set. You can see a clear path to success just by going further and adding these actionable tasks:

* Eat 1800 calories a day
* Walk fast for 20 Minutes per day

Seeing that in black and white you can see that it’s very doable and achievable. But, there are a few more steps necessary to achieve your goals.

3. Schedule Everything

Do not leave anything to chance. Instead, schedule in the work necessary to reach your goals into a real calendar. Writing a list isn’t good enough - you need to schedule in everything so that you don’t miss a single day due to losing track of your schedule. You’ll need time to eat healthier, which requires more chopping and cooking, and you’ll need time to fit in the exercise, which is going to really take more than 20 minutes due to prep time and recovery time. You need to be realistic about how long each thing will take and schedule them into your day properly.

4. Take Action

No goal will ever be achieved if regular action isn’t taken each day. Each morning, look at your calendar and follow through on the plans that you’ve made and the criteria you’ve set for yourself to get things done. All you have to do is the minimum necessary each day to reach your goal. When you get through each day having done the minimum, you’re a success - each and every single day. There is nothing else that can be the result of daily action other than success when you think of it this way.

5. Repeat

Finally, you’ll need to repeat these steps every single day. When you make very specific and clear goals with very specific steps to achieving the goal, based on reality, you will soon discover the secret to success that seems to escape so many people. The real secret is in the doing. It's like going on a long hike - if you take one step at a time, moving in the direction of the map that you’ve planned out for yourself, you will get to the end and you will be a success.

Reaching your goals is just a matter of setting reasonable and realistic goals, and then setting up a schedule of actionable tasks and steps that bring about the end result you want. You can start today to achieve your goals.


****  check out our Life & Business Coaching website for how a Coach can help you achieve your goals.

              North By Northwest -  "Pointing You in the Right Direction for Your Life"

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Room by Room - Getting Your Home Organized

One of the best ways to get started organizing your home is to begin with each room.

Each room has specific organizational needs. That's why it helps to break things down. Here are some room-by-room tips to help you get your home organized.

Bathroom(s)

One of the keys to successful bathroom sharing is organizing the space so that everyone's stuff is protected and itemized. Here are some ideas.

For family members sharing a bathroom, assign a clear bin for everyone's basic toiletries, such as make-up, hair brushes, razors, and hair clips. (Some family members might need two bins.) These bins can be stored under the sink or stacked neatly on shelves near the vanity. Family member's names should be on each bin.

In the shower, everyone can have his or her own hanging basket to store special soaps and personal shampoos. Wash cloths and towels can be color-coordinated per family member, or each family member can have his or her own special hook/rack to hang wash cloths and towels.

Bath toys for the kids can be stored in a plastic bin - just make sure it's uncovered so the toys can dry. A plastic dish pan works well.

Kitchen

The kitchen can be one of the more daunting of the rooms to organize, but it's one of the most essential rooms to get organized. It really can save time if your kitchen is laid out in a way that makes sense, and if you know what you have on hand.

If you're not using an appliance more than once a year, give it away or recycle it. Consider the usefulness of various kitchen appliances before you take up precious space storing them - do you really need a citrus juicer, meat grinder, or iced tea maker? If you do, by all means keep them (more on organizing appliances in a moment). But if you don't, get rid of them.

Appliances can be placed in cabinets or on countertops; some homeowners like appliance "garages." These are basically sections of countertop with sliding/closing doors behind which the appliances sit, hidden, when not in use. It's a variation on the old television cabinet.

Things you use often like salt and pepper should be nearby and have their own spaces. Few things are more frustrating than trying to cook, wanting to find the salt, and not being able to!

Bedroom(s)

For kids, getting stuff up off the floor can be challenging - especially since you want to make sure small people can reach these items to get them down again.

Over-the-door hangers are great for all kinds of items; they don't have to be for shoes. Fill them with your child's favorite small toys.

Stack clear plastic bins on shelves and organize them according to the type of toys in them.

A large, flat, plastic bin can hold all kinds of toys and be slipped under the bed for storage.

Adults' bedrooms can also benefit from organization. For under-bed storage, use the same method as for your kids; just make sure you don't have a pile of clutter under there.

Dresser tops can be organized with baskets, trays, and decorative boxes.

Living Room / Family Room

Get DVDs, videos, and books organized in labeled boxes or on shelves (organized by type).

Magazines and catalogues can go into magazine racks; clean these out weekly or monthly so they don't accumulate. Check with local businesses such as doctor's offices to see if they are interested in taking your back issues for their waiting rooms.

Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com

Simple Habits to Keeping Your Life Clutter Free

Looking on the internet, you will see many blogs and businesses that offer help to those struggling with clutter. If this describes you, there is help available. And if you follow these simple habits to keeping your life clutter free, you may find you also let go of the clutter in your home.

How many times have you lost your keys, shoes or important papers because there is too much clutter in your home? Families around the country are drowning in clutter that can cost time and money as well as cause frustration. Clearing the clutter from your home, and your life, will take some time and effort but the results will be well worth it.

* Go through your home and make note of anything in your home that is out of place, items that are piling up or things that bother you. Start with what bothers you most and begin going through the items, getting rid of things you no longer need or want. The goal is to clear small areas, one at a time, until you have cleaned the entire room. Go through each room until you have gotten rid of as much clutter as possible.

* Create a cleaning and decluttering schedule. Include chores for each member of the family so one person does not have to do everything. If you work on cleaning a little bit each day, it will make keeping your home clean much easier.

* Rather than stacking mail and other papers all over the room, create a specific area to handle mail and pay bills. This could be a desk or a shelf with an inbox. Be sure to place a garbage can near your mail area so you can throw junk mail out as you go through the mail. Along with the inbox and garbage can, it would also be helpful to keep a family calendar in the area. When you see paperwork that has an appointment or important date, you can write the information directly into the calendar and toss the paper unless you need to return it.

* Place a coat rack or shelf with hooks near the door you use most often. It is important to have everyone hang jackets and book bags here when they come into the home each day. By placing these items in the same place each day, your family will be less likely to lose things.

* You can use similar tactics to declutter your office or workspace. A clean work area can make your day more productive, which your boss will most likely appreciate. Develop a filing system so you can find important papers when you need them.

* Cut back on commitments. Part of having a cluttered life is having too many obligations each week. Families these days are busy – everyone is going in different directions with meetings, sports, band, volunteering or religious activities. Declutter your schedule by asking each person to give up all but one activity. This will reduce the amount of running and allow the family to eat together regularly.

Finally, if you are too overwhelmed with the amount of clutter in your life, give yourself permission to seek outside help. A professional organizer can recommend simple habits to keeping your life clutter free and will help you develop a routine that will work for your family.

 Less Clutter = Less Stress ^SM     in your home, your business and your life

Organizational Consulting Services

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com