paper clutter

5 Minute Organizing Tips You Can Do Anytime

March 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

5 minute organizing jobs to get you from clutter to clean! #tips

How many times have your efforts to get organized been delayed for lack of time? More times than you can count, right? Just as you think you have found a day that you can really get things done, something comes up! Your child gets sick. An unexpected visitor drops by. An offer you cannot refuse comes your way. Delay delay delay.

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Conquering the clutter is not done in one long campaign. Let’s face it, you may never find time enough to do it all at once. No, winning over “stuff” comes with a steady method of “little by little.” Here are some 5-minute projects you can do to get one step closer to achieving a beautifully organized home!

Organize your spices. This organizing task may not be possible in one 5 minute attempt but 5 minutes here and 5 there can add up to a totally organized spice collection. And the place to start is: EXPIRATION DATES! As you look at the group of bottles, first read the labels of the jars that are seldom used. These jars may be dusty – dead giveaway that they are OLD – but many may still look somewhat new. Just know that expired spices must go. If you do use a spice but the bottle has expired then toss this one and replace it. Put it on your grocery list.

Clean out the silverware drawer. Oh how liberating a neat silverware drawer can be. Go ahead. Move fast. Love it!

Clip coupons. Clip the coupons that you will use. Throw all the rest away or save them for a friend. Do not leave the flyers lying around. The goal is to move toward neatness so the flyers have to go!

Fold some clean clothes. Folded clothes will stay nice while waiting to be put in drawers or on hangers. You’ll be one step closer to getting the whole job done by taking five minutes to fold them.

Get rid of make-up clutter. It is time to say “goodbye” to those old lipsticks and ancient eye shadows. Throw away the stuff you haven’t used in 6 months or more. Clean and rearrange the ones you will be keeping. Put them in a makeup organizer.

Reduce a pile of paper. Move a pile of old magazines to the recycling box or sort the junk flyers from your unopened mail and throw them away. Make a quick job of it. Don’t get stuck there. Stay in the 5 minute time frame by setting a timer to remind you when to stop.

Write a menu. Effective grocery lists are built on weekly menu plans. Check the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards for supplies and plan your menu. Consider the nights you will have time to cook and those where the schedule will not allow. Busy days can be slow-cooker nights, leftovers or take out!

Make a List. It only takes 5 minutes to write a to-do list or a grocery list. Quick reminders written on paper can save you lots of time in the long run.

5 minute organizing tips you can do anytime! #tips #momlife #organizing Click To Tweet

Enjoy!

Get Your Paper Under Control

March 8, 2018 Leave a Comment

Paper, paper, what to do with all that PAPER! Though many of us are going as paperless as possible, it is almost inescapable that some paper will need to be kept, somewhere, somehow! But how do we get our papers under control?

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Three-ring binders could be a good choice for you. Just clear some bookshelf space, or even a shelf inside a cupboard, that’s where you’ll keep them. Buy binders, dividers with tabs and clear plastic sleeve protectors. Keep a three hole punch at your side!

Colors are important. The neater the overall look, the better. Group the same colors together. It may be tempting to mix it all up but the color jumble can be visually exhausting.

Select colors that compliment the rest of your décor. Even if the binders are hidden in a cupboard, your genius will show when an unsuspecting guest gets a surprise glimpse of the color coordinated INTERIOR. Wow!

Use Colors as an Organizing Code:

WHITE or BLACK binders would be for more sensitive matters such as your annual tax returns, legal papers, insurance records, medical records, immunizations and physicals for your kids and vet records for your pets. Keep them all in one place on the shelf for a neat, continuous look.

BLUE (or whatever color you like) can represent the adults in the family. Recipes, business related information, appliance manuals, warranties & product related information, sports card collections, coin or stamps collections, would go in the binders with that same color.

Use MULTI COLORS for the kids and pets. Select colors to compliment with your room decor but let each child pick his/her own color. Neon colors are very popular. Three kids? Lime green, bright pink, bright orange. Keep their art work, writing samples, report cards, awards certificates safe in a binder.

How to get your paper clutter under control! #tips #organizing #storage Click To Tweet

Binders can also be used for crafts, photo albums, or birthdays!

MAKE A BIRTHDAY BINDER! If you have a large family or lots of close friends, keeping a birthday binder is a great way to record their birthdays and other important events. Place a master calendar inside with everyone’s birthdates, including the year, listed. Make notes as a reminder of gifts you gave them in previous years for birthdays, weddings, graduations etc. That way you will prevent repetition. You may even want to record some of their special likes such as what kind of foods and desserts they are especially fond of. Use your scrap booking talents and have fun. That’s what birthday celebrations are all about!

Where to buy: there are many places where you can purchase binders at a good price, especially during the back-to-school sale season. If you’re in a hurry and one-click shopping is all you can do, just shop with Amazon!

Enjoy!

Be a CLUTTER BUSTER! Get Organized In An Instant!

December 10, 2013 Leave a Comment

Be a Clutter Buster! Don’t you just love how that sounds? It is so empowering.

Ever feel threatened by the walls of clutter around you?

It is so menacing.

So daunting.

You just FEEL the need to BUST through.

I have to admit, this title is not all so original. I saw it in a Family Circle magazine. The cover said something like “Instant Organizing.” Wow. I was hooked. Then I opened it up and it said “Clutter Busting Tips”–I had to read on.

The tips were good. Very good. But, not necessarily “instantaneous.” I was inspired to burst ahead with a new commitment in my own home but thought I could come up with a more “results in a moment” approach. After all, with determination some kinds of clutter can be whittled away until it is really gone. Other types take constant tending. They seem to re-grow overnight. Then, there are special tactics for situations that are an emergency in nature.

So, here are my clutter busting tips (and a link to a popular book called Clutter’s Last Stand.)

Tip Number ONE: Keep counter tops clean. Put away anything that doesn’t belong there before it decides it’s found a home!

Tip Number TWO: Invest 15 minutes a day decluttering.

Tip Number THREE: Toss it! Don’t let mail, receipts, empty grocery bags or any other kind of trash build up. Get it out of there. Throw it out or file it.

Tip Number FOUR: Categorize your cleaning. Separate out what stays, leaves the house (donate? re-gift?) or is thrown away. Some people like using baskets or boxes to do it. If you use trash bags, do not accidentally throw away something that is to be saved.

Tip Number FIVE: Emergencies? Speed clean!

Share the LOVE– Click to TWEET!

“Did you know that I’m a CLUTTER BUSTER?”

Cluttter’s Last Stand-It’s Time to DeJunk Your Life

Enjoy!

Note: this author is an Amazon Affiliate. What that means is that if you purchase items from Amazon after first clicking on an Amazon ad, link or using the Amazon search window on Ducks ‘n a Row then, at NO extra expense to you, I will earn a small commission. In advance, “thank you for shopping Amazon through me!” …Sinea

Photo Credit:

Cluttered Kitchen by eschipul on Flickr Creative Commons

Clean Kitchen by Anne Gordon on Flickr Creative Commons

Ridding Your Home of PAPER CLUTTER!

November 11, 2013 Leave a Comment

Paper, paper PAPER!!!! Overrun by paper? Yikes! It’s everywhere.

What is the greatest pile of paper that you struggle with?

Coupons ?

Greeting Cards ?

Important Mail ?

Junk Mail ?

Legal Documents ?

Magazines ?

Newspapers ?

Office “paper stuff” ?

Photos ?

Receipts ?

We all will have different cures for the same problem. What do you do with all that unwanted paper? I have come up with some solutions of my own that kind of do the job for me. As they say, “it’s a work in progress.”

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Coupons–I’ve given up on them. I only cut the ones I absolutely know I will use. Nothing on speculation. Speculation leads to piles of expired coupons that never get used. The few that I do use are kept in my wallet and “spent” as soon as possible.

Greeting Cards— again, I’m not a saver of cards. I am, however, big on my grandkids’ artwork. Their masterpieces are hung on my office wall. ♥

Important Mail–for me, this would be “bills.” (I now do Publisher’s Clearinghouse paper-free, online.) I have an expanding file to stash my current bills. On “bill paying day” I pull it out along with my checkbook and calculator and get to work!

Junk Mail–the name tells the story. “JUNK” goes in the garbage can before it can land on the counter or table! Do not let it stay! There are services where you can opt out of unwanted catalogs and other junk mail. Catalog Choice is a good place to start.

Legal Documents: this would include copies of your annual tax returns, wills, title to your car, birth certificates. You might use a safe, filing cabinet or flat file. I love file boxes but, for ultra important paperwork, label it well so that no one mindlessly disposes of it!

Isn’t this pretty? Black and White Scroll Pattern File Box

Magazines: magazine clutter has been a serious problem in my home. I love magazines and have several subscriptions. Since I don’t have time to “read” them (browse?) soon as they arrive, they pile up.

I have used them for decorating purposes on coffee tables, but then they all have to be moved when I clean the table. So, trays became a solution. They move easily for dusting but trays need to be cleaned, too.

That’s when I made an amazing discovery. I could donate them! My local public library has a “magazine room.” People bring their lightly used magazines in as a donation. Others read them there or buy them for 5 cents each. Guilt is gone! I can keep my magazines long as I want, then drop them at the library and let THEM deal with the clutter! What a perfect solution.

Family Photos: putting them in albums is great but what if you have too many pictures and not enough time? Have a photo party! Invite family or friends to join you for some tasty snacks and everyone start sorting. You can set up albums by years, eras, special events (like graduations, weddings, vacations, babies, etc) or subjects. It make take more than one party but I have found some of the best conversation takes place when you are doing something together. It’s fun!

So, how do you manage YOUR paper clutter?

Enjoy!