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I was at Target the other day and parked right next to the area where you put your shopping cart after you load your car with your purchases.  There was a woman parked right next to me, so she was 1 parking space away from the cart area. She loaded the back of her car with her purchases and then proceeded to push her cart between her car, my car, and the 2 cars in front of ours.  It would have taken her the same amount of time to walk her cart to the area where the carts are stored as it did for her to walk her cart to the area in front of all 4 cars.

I did nothing, which didn’t feel right.  When I asked friends what they would have done, I got a myriad of answers, such as take the high road and move the cart, she wasn’t thinking, would have done what you did, should have said something to her. But, it did get me thinking why shopping carts have homes in parking lots and how that relates to organizing.

We all know the obvious answers – they are preventing other cars from getting dinged and making it easier for the employees to bring all the carts back into the store.  From a Professional Organizer’s point of view, I like to keep everything that is the same in one or two areas, whether it is in my home, my office, or my car.  I only have to remember one or two places to look for what I need.  When I don’t “assign a home” to an item, it gets lost, and I end up buying the same item over and over again.  Besides wasting time looking for something and not being able to find it, I’ve now spent more money on something I already have.

It is the same for the shopping carts.  It is more efficient for the employees to get the carts from their designated areas (think time management and productivity) and bring them back to the stores for others to use.  It is also a money-saver for the store, since they won’t have to replace lost or missing carts.

This story illustrates why “assigning a home” is so important.  Keeping like with like makes it easier to find things, makes you more productive, saves you money, and gives you the freedom to do those activities you enjoy doing vs. having to go out and waste time purchasing the same item again.

For most of us, tax season is over, and we can now breathe a sigh of relief for another year. If you plan to shred or recycle large quantities of paper, now is the perfect time to do so.

With a little bit of planning, you can get your paperwork in order without too much angst.

Here are 4 tips to help you:

1.  Make room for new materials by going through your filing cabinets (or wherever you keep your files).  Shred taxes and the back-up documentation older than 7 years, old bills, old insurance policies, old bank statements, or anything old that has personal identifiable information on it.  Recycle old newspaper and magazine articles, defunct travel brochures, etc.

2.  Review your filing system to determine if the way you have your files set up works well for you.  If not, for example, change the names of the files, or change the placement of the files.

3.  Set up new files for the New Year if you have not done so yet, labeling them with meaningful names, so they are easily retrievable.

4.  Check to see if your township is holding a free shred event.  Many towns do so right after tax season to help their residents dispose of their paperwork that has personal identifiable information on it.

Since organizing is an ongoing process, files will have to be tweaked and paperwork will have to be shredded or recycled periodically.  Remember, you can also get a lot of information on-line.  However, if you follow these few steps, your system will be in order for the rest of 2013, and paperwork that has to be filed will have a home.

 Now is the time to Go from Bedlam to Brilliance!

Is it possible to live in a small area?  You bet it is!

Most of us know people living in small houses or apartments, going to college and living in a dorm for the first time, or moving from a big home to a smaller one.  Even if you don’t, you may have experienced one of these situations yourself at some point. Down-size, right-size or re-size – there are plenty of options for small spaces.  No challenge is too small or too big.  Here are 5 tips to make your space shine.

1.  Divide and conquer.  Small spaces must service many needs.  Decide what you need and where to locate it and then use furniture, rugs, and other creative items to divide the space.

2.  Create storage solutions.  Shelves, milk crates, or foldable colored bins are a great way to store and add color to any room.

3.  Identify other areas that may have possibilities.  Hang items over doors, on the back of doors, in closets, or even on the wall by using Command Strips.  Command strips make for quick and easy solutions, and they don’t damage the wall space.

4.  Design your own shelf appeal.  Think vertical space.  Add wall shelves like you would a wall paper boarder – store books, pictures, trinkets, and even baskets high.

5.  Use hide-away options.  Raise your bed (http://www.bedrizer.com/) and store underneath.  Smart options include bins or old drawers from old dressers – add four canister wheels for ease of sliding.  Store clothes in bins or plastic bags for seasonal solutions.  Add a dryer sheet for freshness.

Just think, when living in a smaller area, you will have less to take care of and more time to do what you want to do!

HELP!!  I just returned from my national organization’s annual conference in Baltimore. There’s no food in the house, the laundry is piled high, and I can’t see my office floor, let alone walk in it.  Doesn’t that sound funny coming from a Professional Organizer?  I’d like to hire one of me to organize the post-conference clutter.

To prevent any trip and fall injuries, I’ve decided to follow my own five basic steps to get things under control.

1. Sort everything.  Gather all the materials that are strewn on my desk and floor and put like with like.  For those of you who have been to conferences, you know how many goodies you bring home with you
2. Purge what I know I don’t need or won’t ever use.  Okay, things are looking a little better.  The pile is dwindling.
3. Containerize the new workshop materials and products.  After sorting and purging, I know what I needed to house everything.  Alas, I already have containers from one of my other de-cluttering and organizing projects.
4. Find a home for my new items.  I am even ready to start using some of them immediately.
5. Maintain my original system.  Put items away in places that are already designated to hold them.

I scheduled the time to organize and followed my own advice of setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely).  I didn’t get distracted by cleaning out a file drawer that had nothing to do with organizing my conference materials.  And, guess what?  I also had fun.  I can now begin my week organized and ready to go.

I won my clutter battle, and so can you!  As you can see, even Professional Organizers are challenged to stay organized.  How do you feel every time you walk into your office and see files all over the floor, books around the bookshelf not on it, and the top of your desk buried with papers or even those goodies you brought back from a conference?  Professional Organizers are Accountability Partners who will keep you motivated and on track, help you decide what to keep and not to keep, and develop systems and strategies for you that are easy to maintain.