Clutter Hacks
Quote for the Week: On Success
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Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time.
~Josh Billings
Space Treat: Manila Magic
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Have you ever tried to jam an inch or two of paper into a manila folder, only to find that the papers peak up so high they block the title that you just wrote on the tab? If so, this Space Treat is for you!
Maybe you've noticed, or maybe you haven't, but the manila folder has ridged horizontal lines (usually about 2-5 of them) across the bottom inch of the folder.
Fold at these nifty ridged lines and create a "box bottom" which better accommodates these wider chunks of paper without blocking the view of the tab.
Space-taculary, Erica
www.TheSpacialist.com
National Magazine Seeks Organizing Tips from Real Women
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Do you have a special organizing tip that helps you get organized and stay organized?
If you have something - a routine, a hint, a method for keeping your home neat and tidy - a national women's magazine wants to know! They are looking for fresh ideas from real women around the country.
Send your submissions to Leslie Pepper at LeslieLido@gmail.com by Friday, July 3rd. (BTW, pro organizers can submit as well, but keep in mind that only your name, city, and state will be included in the article, not your business name or website.)
Once your organizing tip is approved, you'll find out what magazine it is! And it's big…
Don't forget to share your ideas here! We'd love to know the scoop.
Quote for the Week: Habits
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"First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you."
~Rob Gilbert
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) at Work
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Life at work can be difficult for many people with adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). You may find yourself feeling chronically disorganized and stressed out at the office. Here are 5 quick tips for managing your ADD challenges at work:
1. Manage your stress both in and out of work. Many of you know what I always say about stress: Stress Management = ADD Management! The more stressed out you are, the harder it is to be on time, stay organized, focus, and get along well with others.
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Wanna Get Organized? 3 Must-Do Steps!
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When it comes to organizing, it's best to set guidelines for a project - guidelines that will not only help define what you want but also help determine a project's time line and framework.
Don't say: I'll organize my house completely over the next
month.
Do say: I want to organize my entire house by Halloween, and I'm starting with the garage. I'll give myself 3 weeks to finish it, and then I will move to the bathroom, kitchen, etc.
Why is the 2nd option the best? Because…
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Space Treat: How to Stay on Course
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So, you've finally carved out a few hours to start organizing. During the process it's very common to find items that need to be relocated.
For example, say you're beginning with the kitchen cabinets and in order to pull everything out and sort it you need to clear off the counters. While doing that, you find a new tube of toothpaste and a new box of band-aids lurking on the counter. They never made it to your medicine cabinet when you unpacked your grocery bags 7 days ago.
Instead of walking them to their rightful home at the moment of discovery, start a "redistribution" pile so that you can stay focused on the task at hand
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Quote for the Week: On Success
ByI cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–which is:
Try to please everybody.
~Herbert Bayard Swope
4 Keys to Reducing Stress in Your Life
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True, there are some types of stress in our lives that we can't avoid and some days seem to be worse than others, but there are ways that we can see to it that stress doesn't control our lives.
Our physical and mental health and well-being are important reasons for us to take a good look at ways to help us to cope with stress.
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Space Treat: Go on Vacation.
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Around this time of year I start to hear the same comment from almost everyone I talk with… that they are thinking of using their vacation time this summer to get all their piles of paper and bulging closets organized once and for all. Sound familiar?
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to waste a week of your precious vacation organizing your stuff.
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Space Efficient Patio Furniture
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Summer is here, which means lots of evenings outdoors: barbecuing, entertaining and relaxing. A nice chair to sit in and a place to rest your drink are key to enjoying this warm, treasured season!
However, for many of us, a new, full size patio furniture set may be out of the question. Maybe for financial reasons, or maybe for lack of space, but whatever the reason, be hopeful that you can find patio furniture that fits both your patio and your budget.
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Quote for the Week: More on Goals…
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In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.
~Author Unknown
Space Treat: That Never-ending List…
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Ever feel that no matter how much you've done that you always have so much more to do?
Yes, then try this: Make your goal to do the things on your list for a very specific amount of time, instead of making it your goal to just try to finish everything on your list. (Be sure to prioritize your list before getting started, so that you're spending your time focusing on the items with the biggest urgency first.)
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5 Strategies for ADD Effectiveness on the Job
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For many people with ADD, life at work can be difficult. If your working environment is not ADD-friendly, then you may find yourself feeling chronically disorganized and stressed out at work! Whether or not you choose to share your diagnosis with your employer, the following strategies can help you become more effective at work:
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Quote for the Week: A Few Words On Goals…
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Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.
Goals in writting are dreams with deadlines.
~Brian Tracy
I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacation with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.
~Jim Rohn
WOW! 
Have a great weekend!
Work With Your ADD
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One of the core principles of managing your ADD is learning how to work WITH your ADD, instead of against it. And nowhere is this more important than at work, where the quality of your work often affects your time, your self-esteem, and your finances.(By the way, "work" isn't limited to your job. Housework, yard work, studying, etc. all count as work!)
As adults with ADD, our working styles often differ from those of our peers and colleagues. Our energy levels fluctuate pretty drastically. We get bored easily. We can be a bit less organized. We can get easily overwhelmed, and we can procrastinate like champs.
These, and other personal traits, have to be taken into account when you're working. Otherwise, you end up spinning your wheels and working against your ADD.
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Space Treat: Your Self-Editing Summer Wardrobe
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Summer seemed to really sneak up on me this year. How about you? I just managed to squeeze out a few hours to edit and organize my Summer wardrobe but if you didn't have time this year, just follow the two tips below.
#1 - Place all your hangers backwards on the rod, so that the hanger is hooked from the back to the front, open side facing out. As for your drawers and shelving, traditionally when you fold your shirts, you keep the "belly" part of the fold facing towards you, when you put your Summer shirts in now, arrange them so that the "neck" is facing out. When Summer is over, any clothing that you haven't worn will still be hanging in the backwards direction or arranged "neck" forward in the drawer. When Fall rolls around, you'll know exactly what you don't need to keep for next Summer. Let it go and donate it.
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Doing Projects the Hard Way
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You want to get your (actual) butt in shape? Try loading a wheelbarrow with 100 lbs and then pushing it up a steep hill. Then do it a few more times, and repeat the following day. This is what I did over the weekend, as I tried to create a planting bed around my house. It turns out that I am an absolute expert when it comes to gardening the hard way. The last time I worked on the landscape, I planted a few shrubs and thought that I could easily dig up the ground. WRONG.
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Quote for the Week: Rise Up and Conquer
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He who conquers himself has won a greater victory than he who conquers a city.
~ Proverbs
3 Easy Steps for Time Management through Daily Planning
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How many times have you started your day with thoughts of the many things you want to get accomplished, but feeling unsure of where to begin or how to prioritize it all? On days like this, you can find yourself succumbing to overwhelm before you ever leave the house. There is so much to do, and so little time and energy!
For adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), time management is one of the hardest skills to master.
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Space Treat: Cheer Up Your Closet
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Already organized your clothing but still feel like the closet is missing something? All your shirts are on hangers… pants are accessible…dresses are on display… socks are stashed away… work-out clothes and PJs are separated into their own drawers. Everything has a home and everything else has been donated, but the closet still doesn't feel as glamorous as you'd like? Throw up some wallpaper inside the closet or paint it a complimentary color to the room it's in. Use a row of decorative drawer pulls for hanging necklaces and decorative coat-hooks for chunky necklaces, handbags or scarves. Now your closet is not only organized but also looks as fabulous as you do!
Quote for the Week: Cool Video
ByI found some really great quotes in video form this week - take a look!
Have a fantastic weekend!
The Ultimate Time Management Tool for Adults with ADD
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If you're finding yourself procrastinating today, then I've got a great tip that can help you ease into your tasks and manage your time more efficiently. Time management is one of the biggest challenges that adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) face. A lack of time management skills causes significant stress, frustration, and overwhelm.
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Works for Me Wednesday: Zip Ties
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Zip ties are amazing! I use them for cord control, and a multitude of other little fixes all over my house.
I thought I was particularly clever last weekend when I fixed a broken toilet chain with my own little chain of zip ties and a binder clip to connect it to the rubber stopper in the bottom of the toilet tank. But I guess Elizabeth over at apartmenttherapy.com and I think a lot alike. Check out her tiolet handle fix. We should team up, Elizabeth!
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Space Treat: Prune Away Your Clutter
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What do pruning a tree and clearing out your clutter have in common?
Pruning is one of the healthiest things you can do for a tree:
· It prevents diseased branches from further destruction.
· It supports healing when you remove a damaged limb.
· It encourages a tree to develop a strong structure and restores it's vitality.
This is exactly what happens during the "pruning" phase of organizing.
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Getting Kids Organized IS Possible!
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Kids will be kids, as the saying goes. Which means it may seem like organizing kids - whether tyke or teen - requires a super-sized miracle!
Here are 3 major factors for parents to consider when trying to help kids get organized:
(1) Set the example.
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Product of the Week: Baby Memories Box
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This may sound familiar to some of you moms and dads: it took my sister almost 3 years to pull together a baby book of her daughter’s first year.
Today’s busy parents have a hard enough time keeping up with the daily routine, so it’s no wonder that the keepsakes album gets put off until well into the toddler years, if it happens at all!
The problem with the traditional baby book, my sister found, is that it only holds 2 dimensional items.
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Quote of the Week: Gotta Have a Goal
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Even if I don't reach all my goals, I've gone higher than I would have if I hadn't set any.
~ Danielle Fotopoulis
How to Organize Your Laundry Room
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Why is it that this room always seems to have laundry soap in the wrong places, nothing is within reach and we never have enough room?
Probably because no one has ever really taken the time to decide what needs to be in this space and where it should be.
Should we have shelves, bins or storage containers?
Should we have good lighting?
Should there be a small clothes pole?
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