Works for Me Wednesday: Zip Ties

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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Organize All Your Savings Cards!

Is your wallet overflowing with club cards, savings cards and discount cards? Mine is!

Seems everyone has a card for their business and I find myself digging for the right one at the checkout counter with irritated folks behind me. Or just skipping the discount because I don't want to bother. (Why don't they just lower their prices?)

You can punch a hole in each of them and string them all on a key chain, but if you have more than a few, this really isn't the answer. I came across this site this morning: Keyringthing.com
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 4

(4) D is for Desk Dots by Dynomighty Designs. (Dare you to say that 3 times, fast!)

Ever want an organizer with super powers?

Desk Dots are very strong ceramic magnets that hold together, even with lots of stuff between them.

And the Dots can withstand multiple configurations as well. You can lay 'em in a row…pile 'em on top of each other…stick 'em on your fridge or file cabinet. (Just don't let your boss catch you playing around!)
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 3

(3) C is for the Calendar Tin.

Calendars normally contain your reminders, appointments, and important dates. But this calendar doesn't hold words - it holds office supplies!

The Calendar Tin stands 3 "stories" high. (Not literally, silly! That would be pretty big.)

Each story is a compartment…one for tacks, one for paper clips, and one for rubber bands. And all of these supplies are included with the tin, which makes it even a better bargain.
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 2

(2) B is for Bento Boxes by Plastica.

In Japan, bento boxes have long been used as lunch boxes. The structure of each bento helps to pack a meal based upon the Japanese food pyramid, which includes grains, meats, and veggies. (What?! No junk food?)

But bentos don't just emphasize a balanced diet and portion control, they also keep lunches mighty organized! And so, it's lucky for us that the bento custom has gone international.
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 1

(1) A is for Anya Hindmarch To Do Totes.

They haven't even hit the stores yet, and the word is already on the street.

Anya Hindmarch, who started last year's I'm Not A Plastic Bag tote fad, has now moved on to bigger and better things — to do list totes!
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I need more time! Help for the overwhelmed

• Do your to-do lists feel like they're smothering you?

• Do you feel like your head is full of noise and it's so distracting?
• Do you have bright ideas on your computer, on bits of paper, Post-It notes and in your Outlook tasks?
• Are you spending too much time looking for things and not enough time actually doing them?
• Is your disorganisation is holding you back and preventing you from doing your best work?
• Do you regularly have to take a day (or half-day) just to get things back in control?

You'll learn how to:
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7 Holiday Anti-Stress Tips

Here are 7 Tips to help you ease your stress and get ready for the holidays without having a major anxiety attack:

1. Write a list of everything you need to do for the holidays. Make it a general list. For example: Don't list what you'll get for each person, just write "buy gifts".

2. Next - go through your list, eliminate anything you don't HAVE to do, & rearrange it in order of what needs to be done first. Then hang up your list where you'll see it.
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Lists Are Your Friends

"I can't remember anything any more," said one of my clients. "None of us can," I told her. And it's true. And that's why lists are so helpful.

Here are some of lists I personally find useful; I'm sure you'll have others of your own.

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Paper, Paper and Still More Paper

If you're ever going to keep up with all the paper in your life, you have to decide on a system and keep tweaking it.

Read more about how to deal with mail clutter and decide if my system will work for you as is, or if you need to make slight adjustments. I'm cool with that!

One of the biggest mistakes people make with organising paper is jumping to the filing instead of eliminating the source.
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The Big O: Under 60 with Monica Ricci

Monica Ricci, Organizing Expert, Motivational Speaker, Author and Founder of Catalyst Organizing Solutions, LLC. is the special guest on the latest episode of The Big O on VickyandJen.com.

"Your time is short and your to-do list is long, so give us an hour and we’ll give you an organized life!" Not really, but use our Under 60 ideas and you will be much closer. Join us for this episode of The Big O: Under 60 where we share lots of projects that can be done in 1, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes.

Some examples:
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Can't Let Go of Old Baby Clothese? Here's the Solution!

A lot of us have old baby clothes that we just can't bear to part with - a little pink Easter dress or something Grandma gave us when Junior was born…

Fortunately, I was able to narrow it all down to just my favorite few from each of my three kids, which I keep in a zippered bag in a trunk in my living room. But I know several people who just can't seem to do that.

Here are a couple of great ideas for keeping those same memories, in slightly different form:
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The Idea of Having

J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly posted a great article called The Idea of Having. It gives some great insight on some of the reasons we have "stuff". Why so many of us can come to grips with controlling the present and future clutter in our lives, while still struggling with past clutter.

Thanks, J.D.

Simple Ways to Improve the Resale Value of Your Home

With all of the homes on the market it is more important than ever to make sure that your home stands out to potential buyers. Before placing your home on the market consider doing some simple and inexpensive work on your home to really make your home stand out.

Remember that first impressions count!

The exterior of your home is the first thing a potential buyer will see. Make it inviting and it will set a good first impression. Make sure that there is no trash or debris in the yard and that the lawn is mowed and edged and looks well kept.

Make the foliage inviting: trim the hedges and weed and mulch the flower garden. If you do not have a flower bed consider investing in one– an inviting yard makes a great first impression.
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Maintaining Your Decluttered Space

We had a ball over on my other blog with the August Declutter Challenge last month.

Everyone was so motivated and I just knew that if we didn't do something, ANYTHING, to maintain those beautiful decluttered spaces, 80% of participants would fall back to the old ways.
It's nothing against them, or you; it's just a fact of life.
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Ellen’s Penicillin Method of De-Cluttering

This post came from Declutter 101: Strategies To Cut Clutter | Organized Home. This was such a great analogy, I just had to share…

Often, decluttering efforts chase their tails in an endless loop. The home manager declutters the small table in the hallway and moves on. By the following week, a whole new species of clutter has returned to the cleared area.
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Mind Mapping for Organizing

I found the coolest download today - FreeMind!

It's a mind mapping application for your computer that lets you create mind maps and print them out. I'm sure it does a lot of other cool stuff, I just haven't thoroughly explored it yet.

My mind is spinning with all the possible ways to use this!

You CAN Get Your Office Organized

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by a marketing specialist in Canada.

While we were chatting on the phone, she volunteered to be a guinea pig as I taught her some office organising principles. It worked really well because she and I were both at our desks while we talked on the phone.

We identified her clutter personality
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Organizing Paper Files with P.E.A.C.E.

Paper is one of the biggest issues for most people. We all have far too much of it and it is easy to get yourself buried in it, often causing you to feel like you are literally drowning.
Marlo Nikkila has posted a great piece on her blog, DotComPreneuer, which addresses exactly this. She has spelled out her P.E.A.C.E. plan to cope with the overwhelming paper clutter once and for all:

P = Permission to let go.
E = Evaluate the papers you have.
A = Act on it.
C = Contain & Categorize your papers.
E = Electronic solutions.

If you want all the details, you'll have to check it out – she has some great advice!

Great Tips for Getting Debt Under Control

Tax refunds will be arriving in your mailbox or directly deposited in your bank account before you know it.

An added bonus this year is the government’s economic stimulus disbursement, which can range anywhere from $300 for a single person to $1800 for a family of four (even more for families with additional children, $300 per child). Families across the nation will experience a significant bonus due to their tax refund and stimulus payments this spring.
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10-Minute Clutter Hacks - KITCHEN

Here are some more quick and easy tasks that we can do when we have a spare 10-15 minutes. Or even just during the commercial breaks while watching TV.

Remember you're not going to find big blocks of time to organise a room.

Start using the little bits of time that you DO have.

These are some tasks you can do in the kitchen:
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12 Tips for an Organized Desk

Are you the disorganized type with piles of paper on your desk? Or are you the type who goes for fashion over function?

Well, Smart Computer Softwares Blog has a great post called 12 Tips for an Organized Desk to help you get a handle on your office space.

I especially like this point:
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Reader Hack - Junk mail

Reduce the amount of mail that comes into your home.

You can opt out of catalogs at this site:
Catalogchoice

You can opt out of credit card offers at this site:
Optoutprescreen

To read more visit: Minimalist Finances

Submitted by: The Minimalist

Do My Stuff

Outsourcing your work isn't just for busy professionals anymore! Websites like DoMyStuff.com allow 1000s of people to have somebody else do their errands, chores, projects, and other tasks that sometimes clutter up life. Doesn't that sound nice?! Think of the time and energy you could save…

A quick check of DoMyStuff.com shows that there are many different types of requests - anything from building a website to moving a couch to gardening. So if you find that you are too busy to enjoy life, it may be worth hiring some much-needed relief.
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Download Clutter Control Freak Blog's Clutter Hack Widget or Our Custom Toolbar So You Never Miss a Clutter Hack

Now there are three great ways to be sure you never miss a clutter hack from Clutter Control Freak Blog:
   • The Clutter Hack of the Day Widget for your Google Desktop. (Download Google Desktop here first. Then, download the widget here.)

   • The Clutter Hack of the Day Widget for your blog. (Download it here.)

   • The new Clutter Control Freak Toolbar that lets you access our latest posts and all our features, instantly, from your browser. It's easily customizable, has Google-powered search, and is compatible with Internet Explorer and/or Firefox on Mac and PC. (Download it here.)
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Favourite Organising Tools #2 - Plastic Display Folders

Or as we call them here in South Africa - FLIPFILES

So what are flipfiles?

Handy clear plastic files, neatly bound in book format. Slim and light for easy handling, storage and carrying. Anti-static-allows quick insertion and withdrawal of documents. Will not lift ink from photocopies.
Outer-cover insert replaceable with users own title page.
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Posted March 11 2008, filed under Clutter Hack Links, Clutter Control Products, Organizeit Projects | 5 Comments | Permalink

The Story of Stuff

A friend emailed me a link to the wonderful site
The story of stuff. Annie Leonard did a great job of describing the story of our stuff; from extraction to disposal. I’m an environmentalist and encourage my clients to recycle and make other “green” choices. Her twenty minute movie has raised the bar. Now I want to do even more. Go see it now!

Do You Know How to Reach Your Organising Goals?

I'm hosting a free Skypecast on goal-setting next week. Want to join me?
Topic: 7 things you MUST do to reach your goals

When: Thursday 13 March

Time: 8PM Jhb time/ 1PM EST (New York time)

Duration: 45 mins plus 15 mins Q&A

How: via Skypecast
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What Do You Take In An Emergency?

What is the first thing you will grab from your home if your house floods, catches on fire or comes tumbling down in an earthquake?

Whether your answer is the family photo album or your grandmother’s quilt, most of us wouldn’t even think of our medical and financial records, the very things we would need to rebuild our lives. And yet, who keeps their files in something so compact and portable it can be grabbed in a moment’s notice?

There are also a number of technology solutions for backing up all of your data on flash drives (can’t get more portable than that!) that are quick and practical and can be completed over a weekend. A regularly updated flash drive can be kept with your emergency supplies for a quick departure.
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Organized Medication Disposal

Where or how do you dispose of expired or unneeded OTC (over-the-counter) or prescription drugs?

For awhile we were hearing to flush them or put them down the drain, and while this prevents any mis-use of the drugs, it also has adverse effects on water and the wildlife in it. Sometimes it can even cause unintentional ingestion if the water is re-used. (Check the drug information sheet that came with the prescription to see if it is safe to put down the drain.)
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