Organizing Made Fun

More green living: composting

2013-05-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to think we're trying to be the greenest family on the block! We've taken some steps to reuse and re-energize this home! We have solar panels, we have been using terry towels to cut down on paper towels, and now composting! Well, I wouldn't say we're the "greenest" but I like to try and re-use stuff cause I'm cheap and also cause it's senseless to always throw stuff out!

Take for instance throwing out all those fruit pieces and ends of stuff that you don't ever use - yard clippings, leaves, and more -- well, I feel like we are so much less wasteful now. Let me show you what we've done.

We bought a dual compost tumbler, just like {some affiliate links in this post} THIS ONE - we bought it at Costco, but I'm not sure if they still have them. My hubby is so good about putting things together, as you can see above. He lays out every piece first and looks over everything to make sure nothing is missing - smart man! How many times have you put something together and you're in the middle of it and it's missing a piece? That's why he does this!

Anyway, he put the whole thing together and we put it behind our shed area where we now keep all our trash cans - way in the back of the house. I KNOW that it's ideal to put it in a really warm/hot spot. But, honestly this is the best place for us and it gets pretty hot here in the summer so we're going to try and do this. There isn't another good spot in the sun - unless we want to look at it all the time - so we'll see how it goes! We're still newbies!

I also printed up this free printable I got HERE to keep the whole family "in the know" about what IS and what is NOT supposed to be composted. I made three printables and laminated them - one to keep on the back of the kitchen cupboard one to put out near the compost tumblers, and one to put in the shed.

We just began our composting process last month, so I'm hoping we'll start seeing some real stuff come this summer. It's working, though. I can see things changing and breaking down.

The compost pail I got on Zulilly a few weeks ago - it's so much cuter than using a plastic bag! I think I'm going to have to work on re-arranging and re-organizing under my kitchen sink to fit it under there, though instead of on the counter. But, for now I lined the bucket that fits inside of it with a plastic bag. Have you ever done composting? If you have, please leave any great tips you have! I'd love to know...I'll keep you posted as to how it's doing!

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How To Organize Your Move

2013-05-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

My assistant, Shannon, is sharing all about her move! She is a fabulously organized girl - which I LOVE and why she is my super-fantastic assistant! Anyway, I asked her to share all about her organizing with her move - well, at least half her move. They sold their house! Very exciting, but are still trying to find another house! The market is crazy - so she's being patient while they've moved out of one house and look to move into another. So, here she is sharing about how to organize your move:

It is about that time of year when people begin to think about moving. I wanted to share with you several tips that helped me in my recent move to stay organized and stress-free!

The first thing I did when we accepted the offer on our house was put out an email request to all of our friends asking for boxes. Some people would suggest going somewhere and buying all new boxes so they are the same size and that is fine. However, if you are like me, I wanted to have my move be as cheap as possible. I priced everything out and we saved $150 or so by using recycled boxes from friends instead of buying new and I felt just as organized with different size boxes than having them all the same.

Next I gathered all of my supplies and got a little storage bin to keep them in so I always knew where everything was. Besides the basics of tape and sharpies, I had these two items that were crucial in keeping organized. The first was a little notebook. This is where I wrote everything down in regards to the move. We had to store our stuff until we find a new house, so I wrote down all of my price quotes on storage facilities in this notebook. This is also where I wrote down utility shut off info and any info regarding forwarding mail and who I had contacted with address updates.

I came up with a color coded cataloging system that will help if we need to get into any of the boxes at any time. I went to OnlineLabels.com and got about 10 sheets each of their OL150 labels in several different colors. I picked one color for each room in the house. As I packed a box I put one label on it with a number starting with one. Then I would write down the basic contents of box in my handy notebook. This system was a life saver. Not only did it save me a ton of time but I know exactly where everything is. Make sure when you are done packing to save one label from each color so you can stick it on the doors in your new place. This will help those moving know which room each box goes in.

I started packing the bedrooms first only packing a few boxes a night. I had each kid pick out about two weeks worth of clothing and gave them each a bin for the few toys they wanted to keep out. Then everything else got packed up. Make sure you take this time while packing to go through all of your stuff and get rid of things you no longer need. You don't want to take junk to your new house and if you don't do it now chances are you won't do it while you are unpacking. I stored the packed boxes in closets or in a corner of the room so that it would not get cluttered since we still had to live in the house for the next thirty days.

Next, I packed up the bathrooms, leaving out only what we would need to use or take with us. Last, I finished with the kitchen. I packed up almost everything leaving out a few things to cook with. I also made sure to try and use up as much stuff as I could out of the pantry so I wouldn't have to pack it. It was amazing how creative meal times became. The night before the big move I packed up all the remaining kitchen items and last little straggler items.

Oh, thank you, Shannon! Keep in mind that Shannon is about 8 1/2 months pregnant now, too, and did a great job keeping organized for their move! I moved about seven years ago and I labeled EVERYTHING! It was a lot of work moving everything - and we only moved 12 miles away - but boy, it was so worth organizing it all and not rushing. Are you planning a move soon? Have you moved recently and want to share some of your tips that helped you keep organized?

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Interview with a Profesional Organizer: Aby Garvey of Simplify 101

2013-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Starting this month, I will be interviewing a professional organizer each month. I think this is really valuable that we talk with a professional and get their opinions and ideas on how they help others to organize. So, today I'm going to start with Aby Garvey, who also happens to run a blog and business that I've shared before, Simplify 101.

Please tell me a little about you, your family, your career/job, and what you enjoy doing when you’re not organizing.

My name is Aby Garvey. I am the mom to two kids, a 14 year old boy and a 12 year old girl. I’m married to Jay who also happens to be my business partner. (Crazy, right? It’s definitely an adventure!) Together we run www.simplify101.com, a professional organizing company that specializes in online organizing classes. I started simplify 101 in 2004. At that time I focused solely on in-home organizing services, but soon added virtual organizing (a.k.a. organizing coaching) so I could work with clients outside of my local area. Later, when Jay joined simplify 101, we started offering online classes which make it possible for people around the world get organized with the support of a professional organizer for a fraction of the cost of working with an organizer one-on-one.

When I’m not organizing, you’ll usually find me hanging out with my family, attending one of my kid’s sporting events, or making progress on my goal to run 500 miles in 2013.

When did you start blogging and your website?

I started my website in late 2004 and began blogging in February 2006.

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of my job is that I get to help people make important changes in their life. When I help someone have a breakthrough moment that allows them to move past a challenging obstacle—that’s the really good stuff. That’s what this is truly all about for me—helping people live their best lives.

What is the first thing you do with your clients when you go to help them organize?

When working with in-home organizing clients I start in one of two ways. One approach is to meet with the client in their home and put together an organizing plan. This is a terrific starting point for someone who is feeling overwhelmed and really doesn’t know where or how to get started on their organizing projects. The goal of this initial meeting is to figure out where to begin, remove the barriers for getting started, and map out an organizing plan. For clients who want to do the hands-on organizing on their own, this session gives them the tools they need to move past their roadblocks and get started.

For other clients it makes more sense to just get started organizing together. For someone who wants to work with me to organize several rooms in their home, or their entire home, we can start organizing right away and plan as we go. For these clients, instead of spending our first session planning, we start organizing in a space where the purpose is already pretty well defined such as the kitchen, laundry room or a closet.

Are they embarrassed or just generally happy to see you?

Before arriving at a client’s home, we’ve spent time on the phone getting to know each other. One of my primary goals during this initial call is to put my client at ease. I remind her that every single person who has picked up the phone to inquire about my services was in some way unhappy with her home. My goal is to help her get where she wants to be—into what I call her personal organizing comfort zone.

No one pops out of the womb knowing how to organize, just as no one pops out the womb knowing how to do anything else. We learn how to organize by having a healthy organizing role model, someone who taught us to organize in a way that supports our needs, or by organizing skills through some other means. If you haven’t yet had the chance to learn organizing skills…it simply means you’ve been busy doing other things. It’s not something to feel embarrassed about. While clients may feel a little nervous when I arrive at their doorstep, they quickly remember that I’m there for one reason and one reason only: to help.

Do you have any great before and afters of any jobs you have done?

Since starting my career as a professional organizer, I have intentionally shied away from taking before and after photos of my client’s homes. I have a few photos from when I have organized for family or friends, but with paying clients I’m there to help my client, not the other way around. It takes tremendous courage for a client to pick up the phone and call to ask for help, so my focus is on helping the client and making her feel more comfortable.

My readers have many questions for you, so I will ask you a few:

How can you stop from procrastinating?

I read once (I believe it was in the book “Only Nuns Change Their Habits Overnight”) that we procrastinate to avoid a feeling. I have found this to be incredibly helpful because if you can pinpoint the feeling you are trying to avoid by procrastinating, then you can begin creating solutions. For example, many people avoid decluttering because they’re overwhelmed by the enormity of the task at hand. They may be avoiding feelings such as guilt, or embarrassment that they don’t know how to dig out, or frustration that things have gotten so far out of control.

Once you know what feeling you’re trying to avoid, then you can step back and figure out what to do. For example, if you’re embarrassed because you really don’t know where to start on your clutter, you can reach out for help, or you can find ideas on the web about how to get started. If you’re feeling guilty about your clutter, you can ask yourself if you’ll feel more or less guilty if you start taking action. If you give yourself the space to acknowledge what you’re feeling or what you want to avoid feeling, it becomes much easier to take the first step.

Another terrific secret for overcoming procrastination is to identify one tiny step you can take to move your project forward. You don’t have to identify the best step to take. Just figure out any small step you can take. Then, give yourself permission to start on that step. The key word here is start. Don’t expect yourself to finish. Instead, be okay with starting and see what happens. You might be surprised.

When your home clutter has gotten way out of hand, where do you begin?

The answer to this question isn’t a trip to The Container Store. More stuff – containers or otherwise – isn’t the answer to our clutter problems. My answer for where to begin is to start by decluttering, letting go of things you no longer use, need or love. Start with your easy clutter, things you know in an instant you’re done with.

Keep in mind that simply getting started is far more important than finding the best place to start. It really doesn’t matter where your easy clutter is or what it is. The key is to start with something that’s simple for you to let go of, something you can get out of your home quickly and with little contemplation and second-guessing.

I also recommend setting a timer and decluttering for fifteen minutes at a time. Most people wait to declutter until they can finish. In other words, they wait to get started until they have a completely free Saturday or weekend. (And we all know how rare that is to find!) It’s much easier to find fifteen minutes, and it’s much easier to talk yourself into fifteen minutes of action than it is to find a full day and the stamina to use it for decluttering.

The real beauty with this approach is that once you start chances are pretty good you’ll want to keep going. So just start. Grab a timer and a trash bag, and send some easy clutter walking out the front door. By the way, I have a mini guide that details this process for getting started. It’s called “Help! I Don’t Know Where to Begin” http://www.simplify101.com/courses/where-to-begin-getting-organized/ and it outlines my grab-and-dash decluttering process. The guide also includes a list of easy clutter that many of us have in our homes. It’s a simple way to get started and create some momentum.

Thank you to Aby for giving her professional advice! If you are looking at finding a professional organizer, I have a HUGE directory of them HERE and you will probably find one in your area that you can help you! Please feel free to leave a question here if you'd like a future interview of a P.O. to help answer your question or if you've ever used a P.O. before would love to hear your experience!

P.S. Did you register for the Positive Parenting webinar coming on Thursday? Go HERE to sign up -- it's FREE!

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