Last time, l spoke about tips to get organized for Daylight Savings Time.  Now that today is the first day of Spring, I thought it would be a good time to provide you with some tips for getting organized for the Spring season.  After all, Spring is the time when we look forward to a fresh clean slate - in our homes and in our ourselves.  Here are some ways to  start off the season with some fresh ideas:    

1. Clear the Cobwebs: We all have mental cobwebs after a long winter. The first thing to do is to clear them out. You can do this by taking a personal day for re-creation. This can be as simple as sitting outside and reading a special book or as elaborate as a day at the spa. The choice is up to you. There are many at-home' spa kits available to give yourself a day of pampering. Arrange with a friend to spend a spa day together. We all lead such busy lives that a day with a friend is a rare treat. Whatever  you choose to do, take the time to clear out the mental cobwebs and get a fresh outlook for Spring.

2. Switch Out: Do you still have winter accessories out and about? Do you have winter accessories that you didn't put out? Before you trade and bring out the warm weather accessories, take time to pack up the items you didn't use for winter and set them aside for donation. You have a good idea of what you actually use, so donating the excess is the perfect thing to do. As you put your spring/summer accessories out, be aware of what you don't put out as it may be something you are ready to donate right away.  

3. Lighten Up: Clutter can't be organized, so declutter, declutter, declutter. When your spaces are filled with things, your perception is that rooms are closing in on you. When we lighten up our spaces, they definitely feel brighter. So, pick a room to work on and lighten it up.  The items that you choose to declutter can be donated to a charity or sold at a yard sale!

4. Spring Forward: With the daylight lasting later into the evening, now is a good time to re-organize your work-out routines. It's likely that through the winter you had your workouts restricted to indoors. With the arrival of longer days, it's possible also to shift the time of day you exercise. If mornings are hard for you to fit in a workout, an after-work or after-dinner walk is now a real possibility. Now is the time to change things up a bit and change your schedule with some new scenery and introduce a fresh state of mind for your workouts.

5. Cooking Confusion: Are your recipes and cookbooks in a state of disarray? Now is a good time to breathe new life into your cooking. The first thing to do is to go through your cookbooks and loose recipes and eliminate those you haven't used and don't plan on using. Be realistic about what you will actually try to make. Once you have eliminated those you don't want, make a plan to try a new recipe each week! Also, if you try a recipe and no one likes it--toss it! Look through your cookbooks with a critical eye to which ones you actually use. There are so many recipes available on the Internet now, that it almost makes it unnecessary to own cookbooks at all!

6. Trash Tattered Towels: Have your bath towels seen better days? Take time now to do a bit of Spring organizing and sorting of your towels. Those that are showing their age but are still serviceable can be donated to a local animal shelter like the SPCA. They will appreciate your donation. Take inventory what remains. Replace worn ones with fluffy white towels. These will give your bathroom a fresh spa-like look and feel.

7. Outdoor Organizing:  With warmer weather, many of us are turning our thoughts to the outside of our homes. Spring is a perfect time to plan your garden and yard care tasks. It's also a great time to take a look at the curb appeal of your home. Did the cement or driveway crack over the winter?  Does your house need a new coat of paint?  Organize your gardening tasks and cleanup tasks. Add at least one item to your calendar every weekend.  Now is also a great time to order your seeds and plants for the garden you have planned. That should give you plenty of time to get your seeds started and ready to plant since all danger of frost is now past.

8. Organize Your Refrigerator: I always advise to do this before Thanksgiving but this is also a good time of year to organize the fridge.  Organize your refrigerator for more room and greater efficiency. You can use small baskets or bins to group like items together. [CLEVER CONTAINER has a great line of bin organizers for your fridge and pantry.  Check them out right on this website!  Just look for the CLEVER CONTAINER tab on the home page.  They are on Page 6 of the catalog.]  Use them to put salad dressings in one basket, condiments in another, jams and jellies in another and so on. You can also put in a basket for fruit and another for vegetables. Not only does this free up space in your fridge, but you will also have things organized in such a way that makes it easier to find everything. Being able to find what we need in the refrigerator can be a welcome change!

Get Spring off to a good start but using the tips above and enjoy the season of new beginnings!

If you have any additional tips, we would love to hear from you.  

In the meantime, have a great week!  

In the early morning hours of this coming Sunday, most of us in the US will "Spring Forward" an hour to begin Daylight Savings Time. 

We do lose an hour of sleep and tend to feel it's affects for several days thereafter, but it's also a great time to take on a few quick Spring chores. 

• Check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.  In addidtion to replacing the batteries and testing your alarms, be sure to also check the units' expiration dates.  For your family's safety, you want to be sure all of these devices are functioning at their best.  If you can't find expiration dates on your alarms and detectors, replace the units every 10 years. 
• Recycle batteries.  Since you will be removing the old batteries from all of your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and replacing them with new ones, now is a great time to recycle all of the old batteries you've collected over the past six months as well.  Every Best Buy in the United States does.  They also accept all kinds of old electronics and some appliances, so check out what services your local store offers and recycle some other clutter while you are at it!  (Another option for old electronics and appliances is to list them on Freecycle.  Someone will come to you and take them away.)
• Turn on the water.  If you shut off the water to all of your exterior water faucets in the Fall, now is the time to turn those faucets back on for Spring.   If you might run the risk of another hard freeze this year (doubtful where I live), you might want to wait a little bit longer.  If you need to bring out water hoses, now is the time to pull them out of storage.

Although we lose an hour of sleep on Sunday, I love that we get an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day! 

What other chores do you like to do when the clocks spring forward?  I would love to hear your suggestions.

In the meantime, Happy Daylight Savings Time! 

Clutter is one thing but when it's not yours, it's something else.

Here's the scenario:

You were always relatively organized.  However, you had kids.  Everyday you struggled to keep pace with their toys, electronics, paperwork, clothing and the like.  Their stuff invaded your home from the moment they were born until the time they grew up and moved out.

And, finally, after all those years, they grew up and moved out.  Okay we had to deal with "Empty Nest Syndrome" but, admittedly, a piece of us was thrilled!  Yahoo!  We finally had our space back and we could again control the environment in which we lived.  Right?  Wrong.

It is said that when they move out, they never really leave.  Is that true in your household?  

Two things could have happened.  One, they moved back home again.  "There's no place like home; there's no place like home", or, two, their stuff moved back home again.  How did this happen?  You were just getting used to having your own space and the calm that comes with it.

In the first scenario, your kids were so anxious to get out in the world and be in charge of their own destiny.  (The grass is always greener on the other side, right?)  Instead what happens is they find out they can't afford to make it on their own.  This is more common than not these days due to our economy.  So they move back home and bring all their stuff with them.  (Probably more than what they left with!) 

The second scenario is that your kids do move out but cannot afford a large enough space to hold all their stuff.  So they turn to you and say,  "Mom, can you hold onto a few things for me because I have no place to put them?"  How many of us have heard that question? 

Now what do we do?  We want to help out our kids but still want to maintain the balance in our lives that we were finally able to obtain.

I have one word of advice - "BOUNDARIES".  You need to set limits on the space that your returning kids can occupy and the stuff that comes with them.  They cannot bring it all back and then some.  Just like before, it is a shared space, but this time, they are adults and need to respect your boundaries.

You need to set boundaries on the amount of stuff you are holding onto for your kids who now reside in their own home.  They need to learn to live within the space that they have and make choices.  You have to and so do they.  Remember, your home is not a storage unit! 

Whether your kids are returning home to live or using your home to store their items, you need to sit down and talk with them about those boundaries and have them understand that they must be respected.  

Spring is a great time of year to evaluate your current living situation.  To me, it represents growth and change.  It's time to make a change and claim your boundaries. 

Until next time...

There are so many options available to us these days to help us get and stay organized.  I love options because everyone does not function the same way.  Some people are auditory, some are visual and some are experiential learners (hands on). 

There are several ways to organize your paperwork if you like clear your surfaces (who doesn't) but still be able to see what you have. (Visual).  One way is to make use of binder clips!

Here are some examples of how you can use Binder Clips to get and stay organized:

Use them on the back of a door, a cabinet, a bulletin board or a wall.  Adding a magnetic hook or push pins to the mix are a good complement.

I like to take a label maker and put labels on the actual clips themselves to give them a specific purpose.  You can even color code the binder clips as they come in so many different colors these days.  You don't need to stick with black.  

A use for color-coded Binder Clips is to use them for various tasks or for each family member.  Assign a specific color to each.

You can clip recipes together for the week and hang them on the inside of a cabinet door.

Use a magnetic hook on the side of your fridge to hang the Binder Clip on for a shopping list with coupons.  

Use push pins on the front of a shelf to hand the clips.

Hang a Binder Clip inside the door, under the sink in your kitchen or bathroom, to hold your rubber gloves.

Hang magnetic hooks on the side of a filing cabinet near your desk and create binder clips for "hot" action items. 

You can also use a bulletin board with a labeled binder clip called "HOT".

If you can't locate your label maker, you can use a binder clip to clip a labeled index card onto the front of a small bin on a shelf.  

If letter trays do not work for you to sort your mail, use a Binder Clips that are labeled "Pay", "Action" and "File". 

For paper management purposes, Binder Clips create a boundary.  They limit the amount of paper work that builds up.  It forces you to create a limit as to how long you put off the inevitable.  You will need to keep it under control! 

As you can see, there are multiple uses for just a simple Binder Clip.  Use your imagination!  I would love to hear your ideas and we can share them with everyone!

So, get out those binder clips and put them to good use in organizing your home and your life.

In the meantime, have a great week!

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the winter has been somewhat mild this year and we might not have had the opportunity to wear those very heavy wool sweaters, our fur lined boots and heavy winter coats.  

If you are anything like me, that's quite all right.  However, it does not mean that it's not time for that mid-winter check to see what we have used or what we wanted to use but because of the warm temps this year did not get to use.  

This is a good time for you to go through those winter-related items and donate the excess to charity.  You will free up space in your home and provide others in need with items they can use to make it through the rest of the winter comfortably, by donating them to a local charity.  

Take some time to check out the following: 

Blankets - Are there blankets in closets or in a cedar chest that you have not used in the past several years?  

Sweaters - If you haven't worn certain sweaters by now, will you wear them by the end of the season?  

Hats, gloves and scarves - If you have children, do their hats and gloves still fit them?  Do you just have too many that have accumulated?

Coats - Just like your sweaters, if you haven't worn that coat this year, are you going to wear them by the end of the season?

Boots -  If they are still in good condition, someone in need could use the ones you no longer wear.  Are they not comfortable, out of style, not your favorites?

Outdoor recreation items:  Have you checked your collection of snow shovels lately? Did you purchase a new one and not get rid of the older one?  How about your sleds, toboggans or ski equipment?  Don't have them take up additional space in your garage or attic if you are not using them anymore. 

Decorations:  Is there any holiday or winter decoration you didn't put out this year?  You can sell them on Ebay, Craigs List or give them away thru Freecycle.  See if any local day care centers can use some of them.  

Eliminate the excess by either selling the items, donating them to a charity or giving them away thru Freecycle or to a local entity.  Someone else will be glad to have them.

Let's make space for Spring!  It will be here before we know it.  

I am always talking about getting organized in your home but have never talked about how to be organized as a pet owner.  I think now is a good time.

Ninety-nine percent of my clients own pets - dogs, cats, birds, fish and once, a pot belly pig! 

The items in your home relating to your pet need to be organized.  You can use baskets, hooks, drawers or any other centralized location to hold the items that need easy accessibility.  

You might already know that I am an independent consultant for Clever Container and they have three solutions designed to help organize you and your pup.  You can check them out on Page 23 of their 2012 catalog at www.clevercontainer.com. 

Another area of organization you should consider is pet information in case of emergency.  Have you ever lost your cat or dog?  It can be heart wrenching but if you are organized, it can make it a lot easier.  Here are some tips:

• Have your pet microchipped and have on file the name of the company, the microchip number and contact information for the company involved.  It's like GPS for your pet. 
• Know the number of your pet's rabies tag.
• Have updated documentation of your pet's vaccinations and surgeries.  (I always incorporate a folder in the filing systems I create for my clients for the pets.)  Shelters and vets that take in lost pets will a conduct blood test to identify strays from non-strays.  Knowing which vaccines are in your pet's blood and locations of scars can help in identifying your pet.  
• Take pictures of your pet at many different angles and of all unique pattern markings.  Have these images in digital format.  Many states and shelters will post pictures of lost pets online and you will want the pictures to print out fliers.
• Most agencies will only allow you to report a lost pet that has been missing for more than 24 hours.  Find out which agencies will take these notices (usually shelters and animal control centers) and have their contact information available.
• You still need to have a collar on your pet with identification, even if your pet lives primarily indoors.  Break away collars are best so that your pet doesn't accidentially choke himself/herself.

I hope you never lose one of your pets, but if you do, you will be prepared by having the above information at your finger tips. 

Give your pets a big hug (except if they are a fish, I guess) and have a great week!

There seems to be a phenomenon that is growing by the day. 

It's common for our socks to have lost their mates after we have done the laundry.  They have been known to hide inside a fitted sheet, stuck inside a shirt sleeve or attached to the inside of a pants leg.

The common solution for this phenomenon is to have a laundry basket filled with odd socks.  I have worked with so many people who have this laundry basket in their laundry room, bedroom or elsewhere in the house where the odd socks live.  

Sometimes we never find that odd sock.  I have a theory that there is a large hole in the earth somewhere where all of the odd socks get sucked out of our washing machine in the spin cycle and end up.  This leaves the other sock without its mate forever more.  How sad. 

However, don't be distraught.  I have begun a support group for all of the odd socks that get left behind to survive on their own.  I have called it "Socks Without Partners". 

The support group is not intended for long term, however.  It's is intended for a 30 day period of time.  The group meets after every laundry day in a laundry basket and they remain there for only 30 days.  After that, they move on to become dust rags. 

The by-laws of this support group state that after 30 days, the chances of finding their mates has become so minimal, it is not worth staying on.  They have already hung out with other single socks and are now ready to take on the world of dust.  I am thinking that a Veteran's hospital might be a choice as well since they care for some amputees who need socks.  Whatever you choose, do not get caught up in the "What If" syndrome that plagues so many of us.  "What if I find that other sock 3 months from now?"  It's not a great loss; it's okay.  Move on. 

Bottom line, you can create your own support group in your laundry basket called "Socks Without Partners" but remember, after 30 days, they are to move on. There will be more single socks in your future, I promise.

I would love to hear if you have started your own support group for your single socks and how many members you have! 

In the meantime, have a great day!

I don't know about you but I spend a lot of time in my car.  I am traveling to and from client consultations, client sessions, networking events, shopping trips for organizing product for my clients, donation drop offs and Clever Container parties for my hostesses.  That's just the time I spend in the car for business.  I also run errands, attend social events, visit with friends, etc.  

I know how important it is to manage your time when you are planning trips and one tip I quickly learned was how to plan out the amount of time I need to get to a new location for the first time.  If we have never been there before, how do we know how long it is going to take?  I have the solution!

My key to success to insure that I will be on time is to go onto Map Quest.  (You can also use Google Maps.) Get directions from your home (or wherever your starting point is) to the location you need to be and determine how many miles the trip is in length.  THEN, double that number and it will give you a good idea as to how long it will take you.

For example,  if I am visiting a client for the first time and I know that her home is 14 miles away from mine, I double that number and I know it will take approximately 28 minutes (give or take a few minutes) to get there. 

Trust me, this works.  I have been using this method for more than seven years; from the time I first started my professional organizing business in 2004 to figure out how much time I should allow to get to my appointments.  Now I use this method for all trips to places I have not been to before.  Keep in mind you might get there just a few minutes early some times depending on traffic but you will not have to worry about being late.  You can always cushion it with an extra five minutes if you will be involved in rush hour traffic, but again, this system works well for me.  I love it because I have found that my GPS is very inaccurate with judging arrival times because it does not take into account traffic delays.  My system does!

We can all use tips to help us with time management and I particularly love this one.  Give it a try and let me know how you make out.

In the meantime, have a great week!  

I am posting this blog one week after my official launch of my Clever Container business.  I am an independent consultant for the only company in the United States that provides organizing products and education right in your own home when you host a party.  As a consultant, I come to your home (in Bucks or Montgomery County, PA) and bring organizing products right to your home and educate your guests about how to get organized and the products they can use to do so.  It is a great way to have some fun and get some great products at the same time.  Anyone can order product from their catalog by using my Consultant ID#373 at www.clevercontainer.com.

I mention this because now I am technically running two businesses, A Better Space and my Clever Container organizing product business.  Lately, I have felt that time is not on my side.  Learning a new business is a challenge and I am determined to learn all that I can to provide the best service and products to my clients and customers.  ln doing so, I have had to commit a lot of time and energy to spend the time necessary to do it right.  That is my nature. It doesn't have to be perfect, mind you, but it needs to be the best it can be.

What that means, however, is that I have been getting up early and going to bed very late at night in order to stay on top of all that is necessary to keep it all running smoothly.

Very quickly, I learned, after seven and a half years of being in business as a professional organizer and now as a product consultant, that time is no longer on my side and I need some help.

I am taking the next step and will be looking for someone who can help me by doing some of the administrative work in my office either virtually or in person. 

The reason I am telling you this is to show you that sometimes, we need to re-evaluate our situations and make the changes necessary in order to grow or improve because we sometimes need more time on our side and we can always find ways to do just that. 

Do you need to find more time in your day?  What can you do get more?  Delegation is the key to success.  I would love to hear from you what you have learned to delegate. 

If you are struggling to figure it out and need some assistance, contact me.  I would love to help you find more time in your day. 

In the meantime, have a great week!

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a great holiday season, but now it's time to get down to business.

As a women entrepreneur who began my Professional Organizing business over 7 years ago, I work with many other women entrepreneurs who struggle with time management and paper management in their home offices.  As a result, I pay lots of attention to the struggles with growth and prosperity that entrepreneurs alike contend with. 

There are many habits that can hold us back so I thought I would list some: 

• Not returning phone calls.
• Being late for appointments.
• Not returning emails.
• Not having a schedule.
• Not filing important documents.
• Not saving money or paying yourself first.
• Failure to understand the law of reciprocity.
• Handling mail or email more than once.
• Forwarding nonsense emails.
• Not scheduling events.
• Not exercising.
• Procrastinating.
• Lack of systems.
• Not choosing healthy foods.
• Not drinking enough water.
• Not taking time to rejuvenate.
• Watching meaningless television.
• Failure to invest in personal development.
• Failure to listen.
• Trying to be perfect.
• Waiting for the right moment.
• Failure to budget.
• Lacking or not providing sufficient or efficient communication.
• Having a messy or disorganized workspace or home.
• Unprofessional voice mail.
• Not having a dedicated workspace.
• Not having a business card.

Which of these apply to you?  Choose two or three habits at a time and replace them with good ones. 

If you need help with time management, paper management, or organizing your messy and disorganized workspace or home, contact me.  I can help.

In the meantime, have a wonderful week!