Comments on: Five classic clutter-busting strategies

By: 5 Dicas de Oganização. E Passe bem! Seja Feliz! « Bicha Fêmea

5 Dicas de Oganização. E Passe bem! Seja Feliz! « Bicha Fêmea — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:17:39 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:51:08 +0000

Great tips! Everyone can use a reminder now and then to stay motivated!

By: Linda

Linda — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:27:44 +0000

Make an Excel file for:
an address book
Christmas card list
birthday&other important dates list.
Having information like this on your computer makes it so easy to update and to print out a new list. Be sure to back it up. Also, do a list for your cell phone numbers, just in case. Sometimes you have numbers in there that aren’t anywhere else.

By: Totally Unrelated Links « Musings of a Random Nature

Totally Unrelated Links « Musings of a Random Nature — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:47:33 +0000

[...] site is surprisingly calming to someone like me; this post was a good reminder – especially [...]

By: Natalie Bock

Natalie Bock — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:57:09 +0000

Hi there. In response to Sky about the photos, I have two answers. 1) Scan them to a disk and only display the ones that are very special. 2) If you scrapbook, I have a Coluzzle jigsaw template and you can put together the main part of pics and discard the non-essential bits of the photos (background, extra ppl etc)and have about 12 photos all on the one page, making one large jigsaw. It looks great.

I was given some great advice with childrens art. Its too hard to keep it all, so take a photo and keep that in a special ‘art’ album for later reference.

By: gypsypacker

gypsypacker — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:23:22 +0000

Re sunglasses, etc: I just found a wood-frame plus canvas-drawer unit which has three different sizes of drawer/bag. Fits on a closet shelf. Digital camera goodies fit just fine in one, or if you have an abundance, they can be sorted. I’ve mentioned Harbor Freight’s wall-unit battery organizer before. They’re cheap enough that anyone can afford one.
I’d suggest putting those family pictures on DVD’s rather than CD’s. That way you can load them to a portable DVD player or TV, in addition to the computer.

I’m awaiting the blessed day when I can put all my music on SD cards and dispense with anything larger, if SD’s last long enough to be useful as archival media.

By: FrugalNYC

FrugalNYC — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:52:58 +0000

Great List! The inventory part is probably hardest for most people, since there is so much “stuff” around.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:12:16 +0000

Loved this post! Very limited and to the point, but every single one gave me pause.

By: Athena

Athena — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:10:31 +0000

I really enjoyed this article. I might need to print it out at work and tape it next to me as I clean my apartment this weekend.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:45:11 +0000

These are great tips. What I’m having trouble with specifically is finding a home for certain items. Examples:

- extra batteries (I’ve thrown a bunch out but do want to have a few AA and AAA types handy)
- digital camera accessories (wire to connect to the TV, extra batteries, extra memory cards, etc.)
- sunglasses

Mainly they are things that take very little space on their own, and aren’t really associated with anything else so there is no logical place to put them.

Any suggestion for stuff like this? Thanks in advance

By: supersocco

supersocco — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:17:27 +0000

Thanks for these.

By: Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com

Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:55:56 +0000

Great list. I think putting things away when you are done is huge, especially for those who are disorganized. I am always surprised that once organized, the biggest challenge is often helping people make a habit of putting things away when they are done. If you fail to do that, you will always be wasting time, spinning your wheels to clean up those hot spots.

One other thing that I didn’t see on the list,is a list. For example, I have certain things that I need to send to school each day (my son is disabled)so I created the following: feeding list (everything they need to feed my son), changing (things to change a diaper-diapers/wipes/pads/plastic gloves/plastic bag for dirty diaper, etc.). You get the idea. You can create lists for virtually anything you need to do every day, to get you out of the door faster, whether it’s a gym bag or a diaper bag. I put the list in a plastic page protector and keep it handy.

Also, on the routines, I think it’s important to write them out. For example, I have a weekly list of things I do on Saturday morning and when Saturday comes, I just go right down the list knowing everything is in it’s proper order and that it’s the fastest way to get the job done.

Nice job.

By: Spiritowls

Spiritowls — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:44:50 +0000

Sky. As a family genealogist I too recommend that you keep your most treasured photos in a good quality album. In an acid-free environment photographs will last over 100 years. Scanning, while space saving, does require more time now and every few years as you have to re-save to newer storage mediums (lest you end up the “8-track” version of storage medium 30 years from now). May I suggest something my mother did for a Christmas present years ago for me and my siblings. She presented each of us with a family photo album, which is now treasured. Another advantage of sorting and selecting your most treasured photos now is that you can weed out all those unflattering photos that you don’t want 50 years from now to become the only saved photo of grandma and grandpa. Your decendants will thank you.

By: Ann at One Bag Nation

Ann at One Bag Nation — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:56:56 +0000

I’ve finally realized that #1 is essential for helping my daughter keep her room tidy. She can’t put stuff away that doesn’t have a home. I’ve been weeding through her things for the past few weeks and it’s looking a lot less cluttered in there, but now we need to create storage for the stuff that remains.

I learned in Laura Leist’s book that the place to start is with sorting: find out what you actually have to store and then go shopping – not the other way around!

By: Another Deb

Another Deb — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:24:12 +0000

Sky, I had a lot of pictures with a few people and a lot of furniture, ceiling, yard, etc. I made collages of the faces, cut the pics apart and glued the best together. I also scrapbooked a couple of the favorite pics using small uniform square face cutouts as borders.

In 20-30 years these pictures will be all faded out so you might want to consider how many photos you would be willing to scan, or pay to have scanned. That could help you cull the masses.

By: Sky

Sky — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:12:33 +0000

purpledot33 & CoffeeKim, Thanks for the ideas! I will get a couple of albums and pick my favorites and put all of them on CD’s.
Thanks!

By: CoffeeKim

CoffeeKim — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:47:51 +0000

Sky- I had the same problem, and my children enjoy looking through the many albums, so here is how I did it:

I went through all of the pictures in an afternoon (or several) and pulled out the MOST cherished ones TO ME. I pulled only the ones I loved myself, from babyhood on up, and along with my childhood family favorites and pre-children years, I put them all chronologically in two of those albums that hold several hundred in columns of three slip in pockets per page. They reside in my dresser in a cabinet section behind a closed door alongside a decorative box of treasured keepsakes from my whole life as well as my children’s baby shoes and a handful of my deceased father’s tools and my wedding album and video. Now the children can have ALL the rest; I don’t mind a bit!

I have, needless to say, instructed everyone in the house that if we are forced to evacuate suddenly and we are all safely able to leave, please grab or toss all contents of said cabinet out the window if possible on their way outside!

(Lest you think I’m crazy, I know it has been said that the test of a keepsake is the old “would you run through flames to save it?” routine, so there you have it!)

By: CoffeeKim

CoffeeKim — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:47:51 +0000

Sky- I had the same problem, and my children enjoy looking through the many albums, so here is how I did it:

(Lest you think I’m crazy, I know it has been said that the test of a keepsake is the old “would you run through flames to save it?” routine, so there you have it!)

By: Chris 2

Chris 2 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:22:19 +0000

In defense of the junk drawer; I use mine for the odd items that don’t have a place. If I find a screw on the counter I toss it in the junk drawer. If I find out that I need the screw I fish it out, when the drawer fills up I can throw the screw out if I never used it.

By: Tabitha (From Single to Married)

Tabitha (From Single to Married) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:31:19 +0000

these are great tips. I found myself thinking of my “junk drawer” at home (thankfully I only have one) and trying to remember the last time I even opened it. Maybe I should use your tips and just clean it out!