Cozi Blog

Solutions to Three Clutter Problems

Magazine Clutter

Toss magazines older than 3 months. A new one will always come next month. If you never get a chance to read them, consider not renewing them. Instead of keeping the entire magazine, tear out articles you want to read, decorating ideas, items you wish to purchase, etc., and place them in reading, or “idea” folders that you can access later. If you must keep the magazines, such as cooking magazines for the recipes, put them in a magazine holder in a location that is easily accessible in the kitchen. 

Clothing Clutter

Can’t remember the last time you wore an article of clothing? Turn all of your hangers in the opposite direction of the way you normally hang up your clothes. After you wear the item, hang it back up the normal direction. After 3-6 months you will have a good idea of what you are not wearing. It may be time to eliminate a few of those pieces and let someone else get some use from them.

Empty Boxes Clutter

One of the biggest space wasters in the garage are empty boxes – that are being kept, because you might need them “someday.” After a while the boxes will become dusty and could start to smell and then you will not want to use it anyway. You can always get another box and free up that space for something you really need to keep! If you are keeping the boxes purely for the information on the side, such as computer information, you may want to cut that section off and file it with your warranties, unless you think you may need to return the computer in the original box.

Get your family organized and on the same page with Cozi, the free online family organizer.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Organize for Disaster Preparation

September is “Disaster Preparedness Month.” Make disaster preparation a priority this month. Work on this project with the entire family. Be sure that your important papers are organized and that you know where they are and how you can access them quickly, such as insurance documents, important phone numbers, copies of credit cards, driver’s licenses, medical records, etc.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

(c) Eliminate Chaos, reprinted with permission

5 Ways to Keep Cool During school

The new school year is here. Are you beginning to feel the stress of morning madness and the craziness of the after-school juggling act? Make this school year different. Implementing simple systems that family members make part of their daily routine can bring relief. Children of all ages may benefit from a few organization systems in their life, and the home is a great place to start. Children as well as parents have a need for order and consistency in their daily routine.

Here are five ideas or strategies to help you and your children have a successful school year.

1. Plan your days and months with a calendar that is suited for your family's busy schedule and all activities.
   Whether you prefer a paper calendar, a dry-erase calendar or a computer calendar, there are many options to fit your style. Be sure that it's easy to get access to and that you look at it daily, so you can plan in advance. Involve your child with helping to keep his or her calendar up to date.
2. Establish a place for your child to unload his or her backpack.
   For papers that need to be signed and returned to school, teach children to place them in a designated area, where they will be easily spotted. Children also need a place to put completed schoolwork and artwork, once removed from the backpack. This place may be temporary until a decision has been made as to what will be kept. Provide your child with an oversize, acid-free photo album that can be used to store the most treasured pieces from each school year.
3. Establish a place to keep backpacks for the evening after they are emptied.
   A hook in an easily accessible location will help keep clutter off the floor.
4. Make sure your child knows where to find supplies for doing homework.
   I have heard stories from adults who were challenged as a child trying to do homework because they could never find the scissors, tape, glue, pencils, crayons, etc., that were needed to get assignments done.
5. When it comes to making a quick lunch, prepare what you can the evening before.
   Keep lunch-making items such as sacks, baggies, change, containers and grab-and-go foods in a place that allows you to quickly toss lunch together.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Organizing School Papers and Artwork

Summer vacation is the perfect opportunity to help your child organize his or her school papers and artwork. Twelve years of school can bring quite an accumulation, so it’s important to set limits on the amount of papers and artwork that you can realistically store. Spend some time with your child and let them participate in the decision-making process. It’s important for them to help decide what they treasure. Find an appropriate container to store the cherished items and be sure to label the year of school along with the child’s name.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

(c) Eliminate Chaos, reprinted with permission

Is Your Kitchen Efficient?

When everything has a place, it's easier to put everything in its place

The kitchen is a room that all family members use every day. Yet so often it is one of the most inefficient rooms in the house. Life in the kitchen is much easier when you can find what you're looking for and you know what food is in the cupboard or pantry.

Here are a few tips to encourage and help you to create an enjoyable kitchen:

• Neatly stored items take up less space. Organize your kitchen so that the everyday dishes, silverware and glasses are close to the sink and/or dishwasher.
• Coffee mugs ... how many do you really need? Think about those you use most often and how much space the rest consume.
• Square and rectangular containers take up less space than round ones.
• Go through cupboards and pantries once a year and toss what has not been used in a year.
• Don't buy products in bulk unless you have a place to store them.
• Small appliances that you use often should be accessible. If you need to make room for them, it might help to relocate appliances that you don't use often to hard-to-reach places.
• Put canned goods with canned goods and boxes with boxes, etc. Break each down by category, such as fruits, vegetables, soups, beans, pasta, snack foods, etc. Install slide-out drawers in cupboards for easily access to pots, pans, plastic containers, etc.
• Can't install slide-out drawers? Use clear plastic boxes that can hold similar items, such as pasta, rice, snacks, baking goods. That way you can pull them all off the shelf at one time to find what you need.

With just a few hours of time and some products to help you organize, you'll be well on your way to a kitchen in which you can enjoy spending time.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Are you a closet slob? Here's how to clean up your act

Summer schedules offer the perfect opportunity to assess your closet situation, as I did recently with a client. I'll call her "Nancy" and walk you through the closet makeover and organization process to give you some quick and simple ideas on how to eliminate the chaos in your closet.

Before we could decide how the closet would be designed and organized, it was important to discuss Nancy's closet needs. She told me there were many things in the closet that did not need to have a "home" there, such as the kitty litter, gifts and fancy hats that were memorabilia and not worn regularly. She also indicated there were a lot of clothes spread throughout the house that she'd like to have in this closet.

Nancy had completed one of the most difficult and time-consuming steps of the organization process before I arrived. She had sorted her clothes and eliminated many that she no longer wore, were out-of-style, were not her color, or no longer made her feel good when she wore them.

At this point we needed to group "like" items together so we could begin to see the quantities of clothing for which we needed to design a space. We looked at the following:

• The number of "long-hanging" items, such as skirts, dresses and pants.
• The number of "short-hanging" items, such as shirts and blouses.
• The number of shoes and boots.

We also looked at the amount of summer clothes as well as the purses and hats that needed to be stored. By knowing the number of inches needed for each of the different types of hanging items, as well as the number of shoes and the amount of clothing that needed to be in drawers, we had a good basis for starting the initial closet redesign.

Nancy had four shelves for her shoes. We knew this would be enough because we counted the number of pairs she usually wears. We also gave Nancy two shelves to hold her purses and hats as well as a shelf for her summer shorts and tank tops. Nancy placed her purses in baskets, which helped to contain them and gave the closet a cleaner look.

It's amazing how redesigning the space created additional space to bring more clothes into the closet. Although we eliminated a few things, we added more than we removed. And in the end, we even had an empty shelf on the top!

Tips for closet organization

• About 80 percent of the clutter in your home is a result of disorganization, not lack of space.
• If it doesn't make you look good or feel good -- let it go, because it's just taking up space. You will always find something else.
• Unsure of the last time you wore that blouse or those pants? Place all clothing on hangers in the opposite direction of how you normally hang items. After you wear the item, put it back on the hanger in your "normal" direction. After six months, you'll be able to assess what you have not worn.
• If you don't have drawers in your closet, use baskets or plastic bins to help contain items such as hats, T-shirts, scarves, purses, etc. -- anything you would rather not see just lying on an open shelf.
• If you are going to install a new closet system, first decide whether you want pants to be hung at full-length, folded at half-length or folded and placed on a shelf. This can make a big difference in how you design the space.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Summer Travel Tips

Create a travel file for your upcoming summer vacation. Things to include in the file might be:

1. Your itinerary
2. Plane tickets, e-tickets and board passes
3. Directions
4. Important phone numbers and addresses
5. Hotel, Cruise, Car Rental or Camping Information
6. Activity and sightseeing information
7. Copies of passports driver’s licenses or other identification
8. Check lists of what to bring and what to do before leaving

If you’re not used to traveling by air, one of the best things you can to do make your trip start and end smoothly is to be organized and prepared. Even the TSA recommends it on their posted signs. Stash some extra quart size Ziploc bags with your carry-on luggage – just in case you forget to pack your liquids in them before you leave; otherwise you could be sorry when you get to the security check and have to toss it in the garbage.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

 

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Eliminate the Clutter in Your Home Office

Making your home office a priority and dedicating time to get it organized is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. Everyone is busy; you need to "make" the time to do this for you.

Here are some starting points:

• Decide what purpose your home office will serve. The clearer you are on the purpose, the easier it will be to reach your desired outcome.
  
  
• Remove anything from the office that no longer serves a purpose.
  
  
• Determine if your office is configured so you can perform the actions you've intended. If the answer is no, look at reconfiguring the space.
  
  
• A coat of paint in a color you love is an inexpensive way to make a fresh new change. It can even inspire you to want to be in your office more.
  
  
• Clear off your work surface or desk, putting back only those things you use regularly or projects you're working on. The rest needs to be relocated. A desk does not need to be free of paperwork, but the more that is on your work area, the more distracting it will be.

It's practically impossible to organize an office without the purchase of at least a few organizing products to help control the clutter. Here are some of my favorite products ideas that you can use in your office.

Filing box - Create a Daily Action Center with the help of a stylish filing box or portable tote with hanging files and tabs. The action center is the place to keep papers and information you need access to on a daily basis, but don't want to leave piled on your desk or the kitchen counter. Some categories of information you may want to store here: to do or needs action, pending or follow-up, coupons, menus, events (directions, invitations, tickets), bills to pay, directories, children's schedules, current projects.

Magazine files - These can be used for much more than storing magazines. Use them in your kitchen to store small phone directories, say from church or your child's school. Use them in your office to store extra supplies, such as file folders, computer labels, computer photo paper packages, large envelopes, sheet protectors, etc. Storing these items vertically instead of horizontally allows quicker, easier access.

Wall sorter - A great tool for getting the piles off your desk, but still having your projects visible.

Storage for instruction manuals and warranties - If you suddenly needed the instruction manual to your dryer that is not drying your clothes, would you know where to find it? Store all of these documents in one location, such as in a filing cabinet, portable filing tote box, three-ring binder with sheet protectors or even a box.

Just one notebook - Try using one notepad or journal book instead of multiple books for the notes you must always have close at hand. It can be helpful to break your notepad or journal book into sections -- calls to make, things to do, kid stuff, projects, shopping lists, etc.

Cord control - Are the cords in your office out of control? Take control with cord clips or cord storage devices that affix to the top, side or back of your desk to keep the cords in place.

© Eliminate Chaos 2007

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Organize Your Photos

The easiest and quickest way to organize your photos as you develop them is to write the date and subject on the envelope and place the envelope in an acid-free photo storage box in date order. If you prefer, you could purchase photo boxes for each family member or create a box for your vacations. Then if you decide someday to put the pictures into photo albums or use the pictures for your scrap books, they will be easy to locate and will not be damaged.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Organize Your Junk Drawer

A junk drawer can be organized.  If your drawers need to be de-junked – start by dumping the contents out so you can see everything. Toss what you do not use – you’d be amazed at what you’ll find. Put stuff away in it’s proper location and then you can organize what is left. Before putting stuff back into the drawer, clean it out and if you don’t already have a drawer organizer – measure the drawer and invest in one – so that in the future you can find what you need – when you need it!

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with Permission.