The Organized Life

08/19/2017

Holding onto things because you think your children or grandchildren will want them? Have honest conversations with your loved ones now about what they'd truly like to inherit; you may be surprised by what's really meaningful for them to keep. Then challenge yourself to find new homes for the rest.

One couple profiled in this story opted to donate many of their possessions when they downsized and realized their adult children wanted only a small handful of the items the parents had kept.

“'By donating [the rest of the items] to charity, I knew they weren’t going to go into a Dumpster and that someone who really wanted them would purchase them,' [Mrs. Bluhm] said. Though the items are no longer hers, she said, many of her familiar household objects are not altogether gone.

'What I had left were the memories attached to them, in my heart and in my head,' Mrs. Bluhm said."

How to dispose of a lifetime of memories and keepsakes? These days, it pays to ask a professional, not your heirs.

06/26/2016

Sometimes small organizing projects can have a big impact. De-junking your junk drawer is one such project: it's a targeted, relatively small-scale undertaking, and it gives you the chance to address what's often a headache-inducing area.

This article from Apartment Therapy brings together several creative and low-cost (or free!) ways of corralling the stuff that needs to live in your junk drawer, but often winds up in a jumble.

The perfect junk drawer system needs to be, above all else, fluid. The whole reason junk drawers exist is to catch the things that don't really have a home. It's not like your other drawers, where you always tuck away the same 8 forks, 8 knives and 8 spoons. The junk drawer needs to be flexible enou...

05/12/2016

Context switching—shifting your focus from one task to another—can be a productivity killer. This article is an interesting look at the most destructive type of context switching, how to avoid it whenever possible, and how to stay on top of what needs to get done when context switching is inevitable.

Have a helpful tip for getting back on track when distractions happen? Share it below!

What's holding us back? The secret to being more productive is a matter of reining in one pesky habit we are all guilty of doing time and again.

04/17/2016

So often, family items—things we've inherited or been gifted from others in our families, or things we're holding onto because we believe our kids, grandkids, or others might want them someday—become the most challenging kind of clutter, because they're laden with a sense of obligation and guilt.

Yes, sometimes there's beautiful value in keeping things connected with those we're connected to—for example, even though it's not necessarily my style, I cherish the lilac-patterned teacup and saucer my grandmother gave me from her collection. But often we keep things because we feel we *should* not because they're truly valuable or meaningful to us.

I loved the tough love approach the author of this article takes about why it generally doesn't make sense to hold onto things to give to your kids.

What do you think? Have you kept things intending to pass them along to others? Been the recipient of stuff you didn't necessarily want from family and felt the obligation to keep it? Have you found a way of honoring your family's connections without keeping the stuff? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Times have changed. Many millennials eschew fussy formal furnishings, and prefer to live smaller and lighter.

03/27/2016

Warm spring wishes to all of you! The arrival of this season is a great opportunity to take control of your space, stuff, and time by clearing out what you no longer use, need, love, or find beautiful.

Give yourself the gift of a commitment to tackle one of the spots in your home or office that tends to be a clutter-catcher and a headache-causer. Clearing from this spot the stuff that's not important and doesn't support your life as you're living it now makes it far easier to focus on what really matters.

I'm committing to tackle the shirts-and-sweaters drawers in my dresser, as they're currently at their max, and it's hard to know what's in them.

Where are YOU going to take control? Post below and let me know.

Here's to a season of renewal!

03/10/2016

http://organizedlife.org/blog/2016/3/10/sentimental-stuff

A classic Tip of the Week from July 18, 2004 I tend to be a sucker for things that bring back fond memories of family, friends, and events: sports trophies from my school days, knicknacks picked up from places I've traveled to, items given to me by the people I love.  Keeping meaningful things aroun…

02/18/2016

Looking to eat healthier? The environment you're in can help (or hurt!) your efforts. A recent study suggests that those who snacked in a messy, cluttered kitchen ate 40% more than those who nibbled in an organized one, and researchers think the same holds for whether you're eating at a cluttered or neat desk at work, too.

Spaces that feel organized to you can also help you feel more in control, which has benefits for establishing or maintaining healthy habits, from being more mindful of what you eat to getting better sleep.

What space are you ready to organize to help support your overall well-being?

Earlier research found that people in a messy work area were less likely to choose healthy snacks. Now a study hints that a cluttered kitchen might make those who feel out of control eat more sweets.

02/07/2016

I recently gave The Organized Life's website an early spring cleaning and gave it a whole new look. It's now simpler, better organized (imagine that!), and more up-to-date.

One of the biggest benefits of the revised site is that it now integrates my blog, which used to be hosted elsewhere. To celebrate, and as a walk down memory lane, I've been transferring past Tips of the Week from the old blog to the new, starting in reverse order (from June 2004). I'll be putting up roughly one classic Tip a week, with newer posts peppered throughout.

Come take a look! http://organizedlife.org/blog/

Organizing tips, ideas, projects, and recommendations from The Organized Life, a San Francisco Bay Area organizing and productivity company.

01/24/2016

Tax time is slowly creeping up on us, which can mean a flood of paperwork: W-2s, 1098s, 1099s, and other forms related to income and expenses, along with receipts, statements, and other papers that collected over the course of last year.

Make the lead-up to April 18 (or 19, for folks in MA and NH) less painful by taking the time now to start a box or folder for collecting all these bits and pieces of info you'll need when it comes time to file.

Inspired to go a step further and w**d out unneeded papers? Here's a good high-level overview of what you need to keep and for how long. (As always, I encourage you to check with your financial and legal advisors to be sure these guidelines make sense for you.)

Here's a list of financial records and an explanation of how long to keep them on file.

11/27/2015

Step away from the stuff! The "deals" marketers try to sell us on Black Friday can mean we wind up with things we don't really want or need, which will very likely wind up as clutter.

Feel like you MUST hit the stores today (or the online stores over the weekend and on Monday)? Go with a clear and strict list of what you need, and cast a critical eye on those "amazing deals," which are often anything but.

SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/ITTCPW Black Friday: The day invented by people who sell things to lure the people who buy things away from their families on o...

11/22/2015

The holidays can all too easily get not just over-stuffed, but also incredibly expensive. As someone who's always looking for ways of celebrating the season without emptying my wallet or winding up with clutter (messages I share with my clients again and again), I appreciated this list of free--and mostly stuff-less--things to do over the holidays.

My favorite no-cost, no-clutter thing to do around the holidays? Watch "It's a Wonderful Life," which I love the 20-something-th time around as much as I did the first.

What's yours?

$0 festivities, right this way

09/10/2015

Artist Stephanie Calvert spent part of her childhood in an unconventional location: an abandoned schoolhouse on the Colorado prairie that her parents slowly filled with hoarded objects.

After her mother was in a bike accident that left her with brain damage, Calvert returned to the schoolhouse to face the shame she'd experienced as a kid, and to turn the contents of the schoolhouse (and the building itself) into art.

I love not just the beautiful, sometimes haunting pieces she's created, but also her story of turning her childhood shame into something greater.

"Our house was always a little messy and chaotic," artist Stephanie Calvert explained. "Both my parents worked full time, and it was common to see scattered toys and art projects. It wasn't until we moved