Over the last month, our boot camp has been focused on organizing kitchens, tax records, handbags, and kids’ activity or play spaces.  You had the opportunity to devote serious time to these areas.  This week, I am encouraging you to catch up on the projects you have not yet tackled or finished and/or those requiring a tune-up or regular maintenance.

Some maintenance ideas to consider:

• Peek into your pantry and tidy things up.
• Identify ingredients for at least 2 meals this week using items only from your pantry and/or fridge/freezer. The goal is to use what you already have at your disposal.
• Do you have paper clutter building up on a kitchen counter?  Deal with it this week or it will only get worse!

• How do you store handbags you do not currently use?  I clean mine, stuff them with tissue paper to retain a nice shape, and line them up on the top shelf in my closet so that I can see them clearly.
• This week, switch out your purses just for fun.  Transfer the contents to a different purse just to force yourself to keep things simple and organized.

• Have you made an appointment with your accountant?  Bought software to do your own tax return?  Schedule yourself to take care of these items.
• Are there end-of-year tax forms you have not yet received?  Think of investments, child care receipts, charitable donations, free lancing income, etc.
• What is going on with your prior years’ tax return records?  Are you saving more than 7 years worth of returns?  Either scan them and save as electronic files or shred tax file documents which are more than 7 years old.

• Everything related to what and where kids do things requires consistent maintenance.
• Practice tidy routines daily with the kids BEFORE dinner rather than after.  It is a simple MUST do that I learned from Leslie of Organizing McKee Organizing Services.
• Take a pic of the organized space in its ideal condition and show the kids what you expect it to look like at the end of each day.
• Make sure there is a trash can and/or a paper recycling unit in the kids’ activity space to make clean up even faster.

Maintenance is key to any program.  Make the time and identify reasons to keep up the organization you create.

What daily/weekly organizing maintenance routines do you practice?

images: kitchen/tax records/kids’ spaces

Previously on Order Matters’ Organizing Boot Camp:

Kitchen Organizing

Fridges & Pantries

Tax Records

Handbags

Kids’ Clutter & Activity Spaces

This week’s project is a sore topic for me.  So, I am in need of this boot camp session for sure!  There is nothing like a good challenge, right?

Most of the toys and art supplies in my house are kept in what we call the “sun room.”  It is the room that is least utilized in our home mostly because it is not ideally constructed to serve our family’s needs.  It is not insulated and, thus, when the sun shines through the completely sky-lighted ceiling (hence, the name “sun room”), it gets really hot in the summer and super cold in the winter.  So, it is easy to close the door and forget about the space, toys and art supplies that are often not as organized as we like.  Out of sight, out of mind, some say.  However, our ability to keep the toys and many art supplies in order at all times has been very much on my mind.

Once you get the organization of a kid space down, I believe that the organizing project will not be too complex.  The key ingredients to your (well, and my) success will be:

Resist abundance.  If you think about it, our kids tend to play with only a small portion of their toy collection.  Weed out the items that are underutilized or unloved.  Make a point of involving your children in the process of sorting through their toys and books to identify items they can live without or want to pass on to younger relatives, donate, etc.

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Display some, save some, throw out most.  Stop saving all of your kids’ art work and school work.  They create clutter and will be the cause of greater agony later on.  Establish a system.  Display the loveliest creations for a while, save the best in a memory file, throw out the rest.  More on that here.

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Get zoned. Start thinking and organizing in zones.  Just like preschool classrooms are set up in zones, your kids’ spaces should be too.  The dress-up zone should not be with the art supplies.  Books should live the reading zone.  You get the idea.

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KISS – keep it simple stupid. Clear and defined homes for the items in the space and labeling are key. Co-mingling of an assortment of things will be the death of you – just remember that I said so !  If your kids are not yet of reading age, use pictures to identify homes for their belongings.  When labeling is NOT an option, consider open storage or see through containers, which will simplify the headache of determining what lives where.

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Do not put down, put back.  Practicing daily maintenance is a must.  Putting things back into their clearly defined homes will keep your zones in order.

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So, the fuzzy picture above is one of the play space in my house.  Just like the blurry photo effect, the organization system there is a bit fuzzy too.  This week, I will work on changing things around for the better so that I can think a little bit less about that space.   Can’t wait to show you the after.

What’s cooking in your kids’ play space?  What are your trouble areas?

If you do not have kids’ spaces to worry about, then you have time to catch up on the precious four previous boot camp assignments!

Previously on Order Matters’ Organizing Boot Camp:

Kitchen Organizing

Fridges & Pantries

Tax Records

Handbags

Have you unpacked your handbag lately?  It is time to dig in, sort through it piece-by-piece, and to simplify what you carry around.

I often feel like Mary Poppins when unpacking my bag.  It never ceases to amaze me how much we ladies schlep around.  There are the usuals, of course, such as a wallet and sunglasses, but then there are so many other things we think we need to have at our disposal at all times.   The bottom line is…we carry too much, and finding ways to reduce the weight of what we carry is important not only for our ability to stay organized and be efficient, but also for our health (see what the American Chiropractic Association says here about the damage that the size, type, and weight of our handbags have on us).

So, how do you do it?  First, empty everything out.  Throw out garbage, expired coupons, old make-up products…etc.  Sort through the contents and ask yourself:

1.  Have I used this item in the last month?

2. Do I REALLY need it in my purse?

3.  Can I leave this item in my office or in my car?

4.  Are there items I tend to lose or cannot find easily on a regular basis?

5.  What needs to change?

Here is one of my favorite purses.

It is not very large.

I forced myself to fit the contents into a small tray.

The small black case in the top left corner contains a bunch of small miscellaneous items that I tend to use regularly.

1.  Trish McEvoy #9 parfum/2. Pen/3. Small sewing kit/4. Small measuring tape (mine is actually a paper one from IKEA, rolled up)/5.  Tylenol for the occasional headache/6. My favorite Clinique lip gloss (Clearly Pink)/6.  Mini L’Occitane hand cream (Shea Butter)

What do you have inside your purse?  Do you use a purse organizer?  What are your purse trouble spots?

Previously on Order Matters’ Organizing Boot Camp:

Kitchen Organizing

Fridges & Pantries

Tax Records

I cannot say it better than the way Lemon describes itself: “Lemon collects all of your receipts, paper and digital, into one simple and secure place, so you can be organized and know exactly where you’re spending your money. Lemon works by connecting all the computers, phones and tablets that you use daily, allowing you to send all of your receipts to one place and then access them from any other.”

There are two ways in which you can save your receipts to Lemon:

- email a receipt from an online purchase to your account@lemon.com

- snap a pic of your paper receipt (even if is quite long) with your smartphone or your iPhone and the free app will do the rest of the work for you.

Once your receipts are saved to Lemon, you can tag expenses by categories.  So, if you wanted to know how much you spend on groceries per month or the amount of your monthly budget going towards expensive lattes, Lemon will have the answer.  While the most important features are totally free, if you want to be able to generate reports, export data, or upload unlimited receipts, you will need to upgrade to a $9 per month or $50 per year option.  However, most of us will benefit greatly from the basic free version.

Try it out!  You might be able to shed receipt clutter, get better organized, and feel more in control of your spending.  Who knows, you might find it “refreshing!”

Have you discovered an app or a program that is helping you get more organized?  Tell me!

Do you get a headache just thinking about tax season?  Even though it is only mid-January, tax season will soon be upon us.  Many people scramble at the last minute to pull together their paperwork and often file their tax return late.  So, this week’s boot camp organizing project is dedicated to minimizing that headache by preparing your tax records in advance.  Imagine having it all ready and in place for on-time and hassle-free tax filing and, hopefully, a refund too!

Dig up all of the receipts you might require for your various tax deductions.

Make a list of items you might be missing or have not yet received in the mail.  Perhaps, you have made charitable contributions that have not yet been acknowledged…etc.  Think back to last year’s filing and what you were required to submit to your accountant or what you needed for your own tax return preparation.

Categorize the records.  Income with income, expenses by deduction, etc.  If you file more than one return, take that into account and divide the paperwork accordingly.

Create an organized file for the records.  If you have a lot of documents and a complex tax return, you should consider designating an expanding file, which is easy to divide into categories.

Make an appointment with your accountant or purchase tax filing software now. While you might not be able to complete the tax filing process right away, as some tax forms will arrive later on, it will feel good to be prepared.

Create a 2012 tax file now.  That is what I do.  It is never too early for advance planning.  I label a folder with the tax year and begin to deposit the applicable paperwork there as soon it is received.

OK, this project is not nearly as involved as kitchen organizing, but the benefits of getting your tax filing stuff in order are huge.  Get it done now!

Previously on Order Matters’ Organizing Boot Camp:

Kitchen Organizing

Kitchen Organizing Continued: Fridges & Pantries

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As I was checking out some of my fave blogs last week, I popped over to Cook Kosher.  Cook Kosher is a tremendous resource for foodies, young and old, as well as those who are just navigating the world of cooking.  It is also the largest bank of kosher recipes on the web.  So…what I found on Cook Kosher last week was the story of a pantry transformation.  “Transformation” really is the wrong word to describe what I saw because what I will show you below will demonstrate that it was only small changes that ended up making the BIG impact.

Leah Schapira, food writer, recipe developer, and co-founder of Cook Kosher recently reorganized her pantry and demonstrated the results on the blog. Here is what Leah’s pantry looked like before:

After seeing what her mother-in-law had accomplished with her pantry re-organization, Leah developed a slight case of “pantry envy” and realized that while her own state-of-the-art pantry had the right structure, something was not right.  She was ready for a change and OXO containers came to the rescue:

“First came the research. I called my friend who got her sister to send me pictures of her pantry with OXO containers. I thought about what I needed. I realized my cereals and baking goods needed containers. I buy a lot of basics in bulk. Brown sugar in bags, 10 lb bags of sugar… It only makes sense that I store what I need in the pantry close to my cooking counters, while I can put the rest away in a closet.”

Once the pantry contents were transferred into size-appropriate OXO containers, the pantry had a whole different look to it.  Check this out:

Now the pantry “looks neat and organized and it is easy to tell what is in every container. The only cons I have realized, is that you need to refill the containers when they are empty and that you cannot read the back of the cereal box during breakfast.  That might be a plus, since morning is kinda hectic in my house.”

I think what Leah’s end result shows is that often small changes can have a really big impact.  Whether it is just decluttering or adjusting the height of shelves, grouping like items together, relocating or exchanging a piece of furniture, or containerizing, you might be surprised by the effect it will have on you, your space, and your time.  Leah, enjoy your “new” chic pantry!

I hope that you have either started working on your kitchen this week or have a plan to do so soon.  Think of the problem areas and try to make small tweaks for the better.

Thank you Leah and Cook Kosher for allowing me to feature your pantry today.  For the full story on this project AND for a chance to win the amazing OXO containers that Leah used in her pantry, click here.

Have a great weekend!

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One of the best things I did last year was reorganizing my pantry.  I am not exaggerating!  Pantries and fridges are places that we encounter daily. When the contents of our pantries and refrigerators are not categorized, visible, and easily accessible, we waste time, money, and precious emotional energy.  Any time you feel like you are not getting anywhere in your effort to get organized, clean out and organize your food storage area and you will feel more in control in no time!  Here are some tips for bringing and maintaining order in this invaluable area of kitchen real estate:

Eliminate expired products and ingredients that you have not managed to use in the last six to twelve months.  Simplify.

Do you tend to rummage through your pantry or fridge looking for things?  If your inventory is organized in groups, you will put an end to the incessant digging.

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It is OK if everything does not fit into your pantry!  Sometimes, a dedicated drawer outside of the pantry or a cart on wheels can be dedicated to food storage and serve your needs.  For example, you can organize snacks for your kids somewhere outside of the pantry or place your baking supplies and mixer onto a compact roll away cart.

Remove foods from boxes and crates and downsize liquids from large bottles into smaller carafes or pitchers.  Why dedicate any of your invaluable storage space to manufacturers’ packaging and the storage of “air?”

Deep pantries and fridges can be problematic as contents often get stuffed in the back and become “lost.”  Maximize your shelf space by using trays, pull out bins, or a lazy susan.  Also, you can adjust shelf heights to your advantage.  If you have a narrow pantry but vertically spacious shelves, invest in tall narrow containers for some of the staples you keep.

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Clear and uniformly-sized containers or jars are the best way to go!  You must be able to see what you have with ease.

Buying in bulk can save you money, but it might adversely affect your organization.  If you have space constraints, limit the quantities of food and supplies you purchase.  Also, don’t fall into what I call the “bulk buying fallacy.”  When you look at a bulk price in the store, you may see a modest savings when calculating out cost/quantity.  However, all of your savings go right down the drain or into the trash when you need to dispose of excess quantity that has expired, dried up, lost it flavour, gone bad…etc.  I have seen it so many times.  Bulk buying often leads to financial loss instead of gain, and this loss does not even account for the additional energy and stress that finding storage for all the bulk food may cause, which is a different cost or expense altogether.  So, choose your bulk purchases carefully, if you make them at all.

Become a careful meal planner and “go deep” into your food supplies on a regular basis.  Use what you have on-hand for meal preparation.  More on that here.

Neglect will lead to the return of disorder.  Go through your fridge weekly and clean it out thoroughly at least once per month.  Tidy up your pantry on the same day that you clean the fridge and you will remain in control!

On Sunday, I cleaned out my fridge (part of my weekly routine) and tidied up my pantry.  It felt good!

How are you doing with your kitchen organizing?  Tell me about your progress.

Are you all ready to rock’n roll?  I was so delighted to hear from so many of you who voiced enthusiasm about joining the Order Matters’ 2012 Organizing Boot Camp.  We will start our program by organizing the heart of a home, the kitchen.  Needless to say, the majority of us spend a tremendous amount of time in our kitchens.  Whether it is for cooking, eating, entertaining, socializing, or doing school work, order in the kitchen is not only critical to our ability to be efficient and effective in the space, but also to our enjoyment at being there.  Our goal this week is to tackle kitchen problem areas and to complete a tune-up throughout this valuable space.

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TOOLS: a notebook and pen, measuring tape, supply of garbage bags, a few large bins/large boxes that can be used for items that might need to be donated/stored…etc., and cleaning supplies.

WORKING REQUIREMENTS: You have a minimum of one week to complete this project.  I recommend that you schedule yourself to dedicate at least 90 minutes each day this week towards your boot camp responsibilities.

WORKING CONDITIONS: Ensure that you have available counter space to spread out, if needed, that your sink is clear of dirty dishes, and that your dishwasher is available.

STAGE 1: Prep work

- Think about your kitchen and its problem areas.  The problems will be apparent.  They will immediately come to mind because they tend to bother you or resurface in your mind frequently. An overcrowded cabinet, a junk drawer, a mountain of tupperware that seems to avalanche on you every time you look for a container for a lunch, purchasing a bag of sugar and later finding that hidden behind the chaos in your pantry you had plenty of of sugar already…Whatever they may be, make a list of big and small organizing issues in your kitchen.  Rate them in complexity from easiest to what might be the most challenging or time-consuming problem to address.

- Rationalize.  Determine why you want to organize these areas and what organization will enable you to do or feel.

- Mentally and, if needed, on paper, break up your kitchen into zones: food preparation, cooking, cleaning/utility area, and food storage.  Depending on the size of your kitchen and its functions, the following zones might also apply to your situation: food serving (if you have a breakfast nook or kitchen table), entertaining (where you store items relevant to special occasions, general entertaining, and holidays), garbage/recycling,  homework/craft activity, and command centre areas (a place for making phone calls, paying bills, maintaining family calendar…etc).  Consider the flow of your usual activities in the kitchen and the current layout of the kitchen contents.  Is there anything that is out of whack?  I am not encouraging you to seek out problems, simply consider possibilities for improvement.   However, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

STAGE 2: It is time to do the hard work

Start with the simplest issue you have identified. 

• Empty out the contents of the area and wipe it clean.
• Sort items into categories.  Sorting often goes hand in hand with the next step…
• If the going gets tough, remind yourself why you are organizing!
  
• Purge!  I urge you to be ruthless.  Eliminate broken, unused, duplicate, and unloved items.  Tell yourself you are making room for an improved, efficient, and effective kitchen (and self).  Using the tools you prepared earlier, discard the garbage, identify items you can donate, move into other areas of your home, or store away.  This might be the most challenging and equally integral step of organizing.  Some of you have mentioned that you plan to move soon.   Shed the clutter now! Do not move it with you to you next home.  More on moving here.
• Assign a home.  Here is where you should ask yourself again whether the previous home was the best possible place for the item.  If the answer is still yes, then don’t change anything.
• Do you need to containerize?  It is not a must.  However, containers can help you keep things sorted and separated, in clear view, and prevent overflow. If you have determined that you want to proceed on the containerizing path, think of what you already have in your home that might fit the bill.  If you do not already have something appropriate, I want you to make a note in your notebook of the type of and measurements for the containers you require (length, width, and do not forget depth).

STAGE 3: Do more of the same

 - Repeat the above steps until you have gone through your list of problem areas.

STAGE 4: Tune-up

- Review the rest of your kitchen and apply steps from stage 2 wherever applicable.

STAGE 5: Containerize & label

- At this point, you might have a list of containers you require as a result of the steps you have performed above.  Go ahead and find containers appropriate for your needs. Label, as it might be helpful to you and other members of your household.

STAGE 6: Maintenance

• Give a tour of the organized kitchen to your partner, children, and others in your life and kitchen.  Educate them of the various kitchen zones and specific changes you might have made.  Stress that it is important to you that this order be maintained.
• Establish routines to maintain the order you worked hard to create.
• Clean up after meal prep.  Never go to sleep with a dirty kitchen!
• Tackle organizing challenges as they arise following the steps in stage 2.

Let’s call this Phase 1 of Kitchen Boot Camp as on Wednesday, we will speak specifically about pantries and refrigerators.

So…what are the problem areas you will work on this week and why?

The planners had to meet the following criteria:

• Contain weekly views
• Be relatively light
• Look chic

SO, my top five choices are (in no particular order):

ELP Simplified Planner – A spiral bound, 8×10 agenda perfect for someone managing many obligations.  It is clean, fresh and just pretty. In addition to the weekly views, it contains monthly calendars which, is helpful for those who like to see the whole month at once.  It is the priciest of the bunch ($55), but you have got to think of your planner as an investment.

8 Days-A-Week Planner - This planner’s brightly coloured and cheerful cover will make you smile, and so will its price of $18.  It is 7×9.5 and is ideal for someone who is NOT consistent with planning, calendaring, and listing as it is undated.  So, what if you missed a week and just were not in the mood to be organized?  It happens to all of us at some point.

Sarah Pinto’s Weekly Planner – This compact spiral bound planner is just 5×7; it is destined to fit into your purse easily.  It comes in a few different choices of preppy covers.  The $20 price is right too!

My Agenda – This is a 7×9 bound beauty of a planner that is designed for the biggest multi-taskers on planet earth – MOMs.  I love that it is covered in stain-resistant fabric that feels almost like leather.  It features monthly views, weekly views and, most importantly, provides space to plan for each child in the family. $43 is expensive, but I find this baby quite comprehensive and ideal for busy parents. Right now, you can score a discount on this product, see below.

Erin Condren’s Life Planner – This is the planner of my choice for 2012.  You can personalize the laminated cover and even use pictures of your family.  It has monthly and weekly planning pages and plenty of blank pages throughout for your notes.  I love that the weekly pages include a special column for writing down goals and primary to-do tasks.  I am also a huge fan of the plastic zipper pouch inside, where you can keep your checkbook or stamps or address labels or anything that makes sense to you.  This planner is also 7×9, but is probably the heaviest of all of the above.  It is $50, but I really think it is quite fantastic.

Do you use any of the these planners already?  Do you have a fave?  I am also curious what people like to use to plan out their daily lives.

Most of us make resolutions and, sadly, statistics show that 88% of them end up in failure.  Let us not become another statistic!  If you have committed to becoming more organized this year, I urge you to read on.  And even if you consider yourself sufficiently organized, get real!  There is always room for improvement and certainly the need for maintenance.

“What is an organizing boot camp?” you may ask.  Order Matters Boot Camp is a rigorous year-long organizing program that will guide and inspire you to organize your space, time, and life.  Drawer by drawer, closet by closet, room by room, together we will shed clutter, create systems, invite order, and find simplicity.

I do not believe in accelerated organizing programs, ones that promise to get you organized in 14 or even 30 days.  Just like an exercise routine or a diet, getting and being organized requires time and commitment.

Here is how it is going to work:

• At the beginning of each week, I will present you with an organizing project.
• I will break it down into small, manageable tasks and provide you with questions to consider, step-by-step instructions, organizing tips, inspiration, and storage solutions.
• You will have at least a week to complete the project and have the opportunity to go at your own speed.
• Throughout the year, we will work on establishing systems, acquiring new habits, and performing a lot of regular maintenance.
• Together we will become more productive, efficient, and committed to doing more of what matters to us most.

I don’t know about you, but I am excited because I am not just the facilitator of this program, I will be an active participant as well.

Who is on board?!  I really need to hear your voices here and now (i.e. please comment)!  On Monday, the first project will come your way.