Do you ever wonder what to do with that map to the event you’re attending on the 31st?  Or where to put that piece of paper that has the instructions on how to log into next week’s teleconference?  I used to let all of those types of papers pile up on my desk because I “didn’t want to lose them.”  But, inevitably, I’d end up “losing” them in the pile along with all those paper “reminders” for things I didn’t want to forget or needed to do.  Instead of becoming a reminder, the pile became something I learned to ignore and never looked at.  But there is a better way – it’s a daily tickler file to “tickle” your memory every day.

One of my favorite exercises I do with my clients is what I call the “Perfect Day” exercise.  Before we start any organizing or planning, I ask them to sit down and imagine what their perfect day looks like in great detail and write it down, no matter how unreasonable it seems.  This lets me get to know them a little more but also gives us some goals for our organizing time together, and it’s something that you can use on your own to set your own goals.

It’s been said that you can tell a lot about a woman by the contents of her purse.  ABC News even did a story on the content of Diane Sawyer’s purse and what it says about her.  So, what does your purse say about you?  Is it a chaotic mess of papers, gum, lipstick, and credit cards?  But you can’t ever find a pen when you need one?  If so, here is a way to make sense of the mess and lighten the amount you are carrying every day.

Do you have more things to fit onto your bathroom counter than space in which to fit them?  Try a tiered spice/can rack.  This one comes from HUGTHECOOK.COM and was actually designed for stacking canned goods.  I tried to use a similar rack for my spice jars so that I could see what was in the back and reach it easily.  I quickly learned that every time I reached for something off the back shelf, no matter how carefully, I would knock over at least one jar in the front that would then careen into another causing a domino effect that soon left me with a pile of spice jars rather than three rows of them.  So, I gave this product two thumbs down when it came to organizing my spices.  Yet, I wasn’t ready to give up on it altogether.

I walked into the bathroom and saw all of the products we use daily strewn across the cabinet.  Normally, if we were trying to clean, we’d just push them all into the back corner and on a daily basis, they’d land where they’d land.  I decided to try my tiered spice rack and it works wonderfully.  We now have 3 very lovely, very organized rows of toiletries and cosmetics in the bathroom all within easy reach and nothing is hiding.  The rack works better for cosmetics than it does for spices because the bottles in the bathroom are so much larger, it’s much easier to grab them off the back shelf and gently set them back in their place.  We also have the rack around waist level on the bathroom counter so we can see things both horizontally looking from the front, and vertically, looking down on the rack.  In the kitchen, the rack was at eye level with no way to reach down to it, but only over and across.

The moral of the story is, don’t give up on that specific organizing tool you bought expecting it to change your life only to find it just took up more space.  Look around your house and see if there is another place where it would transform and fit perfectly.  Don’t be afraid to use organizing tools originally designed for use in one area in another.  You never know where you’re going to find the perfect tool for organizing all of your DVD’s, it might be in the bathroom organizing section.

As the weather the begins to warm, it always seems a good idea to clean out any clutter that may have built up over the holidays and through all of our winter hibernating.  It’s best to tackle Spring-cleaning one room at a time.  For some people, starting with the easiest or smallest room first helps build motivation and momentum for the remainder of their home.  For others, tackling the largest and most daunting task first makes finishing the rest a piece of cake.  Either way, most of us don’t have several days in a row that we can devote to cleaning out and organizing our homes.  So, break it down into do-able tasks and plan to spend a few hours, or even just a few minutes, at a time on it. Here is an easy four-step plan that you can apply to every room in your apartment to make Spring-cleaning quick and easy using bathroom organizing as an example.

Getting your finances in order can be a major step in any organizing journey. And while I don’t claim to be any sort of financial planner, I have had my share of debt and bad experiences trying to get out of it. Setting goals and being organized is essential if you want to make any progress in improving your credit or paying down debt. Here are some steps you can take to start your own journey to financial independence.

Recently, as I went to the store to buy groceries, I was reminded of how important it is to eat before you go to the grocery store.  When you’re hungry, everything in the store looks tasty and you’ll most likely end up buying much more than you need, and some of that will probably be junk food.  Buying more food than you need can clutter up your pantry and refrigerator, making it less efficient and user-friendly.  And, if you’re anything like me, it is much harder to get motivated to make healthy dishes when I know I’ll have to dig out everything I need and I can more quickly grab that bag of chips that’s at the front of the cabinet.  So, next time you’re planning to get groceries, at least have a snack before you go.  It will help you maintain an organized kitchen later!

Having an organized and clean car can help make your daily commute and time running errands much more pleasant for you. Some things that should stay in your car are: an emergency kit, a container for trash, insurance and other important papers, some snacks, and something to entertain the kids.

An easy way to protect your counter tops from scratches left by your counter top appliances is to buy a package of Velcro circles and apply the soft side to the bottoms of each appliance.  It will cost around $3.00 but will save you loads more when you don’t have to replace or repair your counter tops.

Once you have a method for successful grocery shopping and meal preparations, now it’s time to speed it up.  Hopefully, with these tips, your time in the kitchen won’t be all the time you have.