Author Archive for Heidi DeCoux

Organizing Your Home: What to Get Rid Of, What to Keep, and Where to Start

Published
by
Heidi DeCoux
on November 10, 2009
in self improvement
. 0 Comments

Are there things that you want to get rid of that are cluttering up your home, but you are afraid you might, at some point, need them in the future?

The most common two questions I get as a professional organizer are:

“How do I figure out what to get rid of?”

“How do I know I won’t need that item again?”

In this article I am going to reveal a secret: knowing what to get rid of, what to keep, and where to get started.

What to Get Rid Of: Get rid of everything in your home that is not meaningful or useful. How do you know whether you’ll need that item again!? You don’t! You only know you don’t need it now. What you must believe is this: you’ll have the resources to get it again, because you had the resources to get it the first time. Trust the market place. It’s as eager as you are to exchange stuff. If you ever need that item again, you can easily find a substitute on Craigslist, eBay, or one of the many online free markets across the US.

Let’s say you get rid of an unused bookcase by selling it on Craigslist for $40 and that a year later you actually need a bookcase. Within a week or two you will be able to find one. Most of the time you will find one that suits your needs better than the old one. Plus, you got the benefit of having that $40 in your pocket for the past year.

What to Keep: Meaningful or useful items should be kept. If you are someone who loves memorabilia and cannot let it go, try this easy three-step process.

1. Prioritize the items you value and keep the top 10 things that mean the most to you.

2. Display your items to honor your memories. Frame a special t-shirt, hang unique items on the wall, or create a shadow box of meaningful jewelry, news clippings, etc.

3. Get a single, large rubber bin (less than 15 gallon) for each household member. Pick out favorites and fill the bins. Bless someone else by donating or selling all of the remaining items.

Where to Get Started: Write down all areas that you want organized. Start with the area you use the most. In one area:

Start by removing stuff that is definitely recycling or garbage. You will, most likely, get distracted but only focus on garbage; don’t touch anything else. Here is a tip for focusing: play your favorite song and have all garbage removed by the time the song ends.

Next, set out three large bins. Set out one bin for items to be donated, one for items to be sold, and one for items that belong in a different area. Get more bins if necessary. After sorting, move the bins out of the area.

After all items have been sorted you can begin organizing. Organize only the items you are keeping. Re-evaluate the area. What specific purpose should it serve? How can you make the most of the space? Is there a way to use the walls to display items and keep them off the floor? Let the answers to these questions direct the organizational process.

If you get stuck on one of these steps, or if you need help maximizing your space, consider hiring a professional organizer. Check with the National Association of Professional Organizers (napo.net) to find a qualified organizer in your area.

Heidi DeCoux is publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine, a professional organizer and creator of the Fast-Filing Method home office filing system. Heidi energizes her readers’ by simplifying their homes … schedules. For more info, free tips, and to receive her FREE Report: The Fast … Easy Way to Get Organized and Stay Organized Forever, visit ClearSimpleLiving.com

3 Simple Ways to Save an Hour a Day

Published
by
Heidi DeCoux
on August 30, 2009
in self improvement
. 0 Comments
by Heidi DeCoux

Scrolling through junk emails? Frantically searching for a logins and password you can’t remember? Read on to get a few helpful hints that will help you save an hour a day, the simple way.

#1 - Use the address book method to keep all of your many on-line passwords and log-ins organized and easily accessible. Start fresh with each account as a “new contact” in your book. Accounts like frequent flier miles, banking and loan logins and your multiple email accounts all need organization! Under each account, in the notes section, list the URL, password and username and any other important information. For added security, create a code where only you can decipher your own passwords. Add two numbers or letters to the end of every password. That way your real password is what is in front of the last digits or letters.

#2 - End email inbox insanity! Sort by three categories: 1. Junk. 2. Immediate action or response. 3. Interesting content.

Immediately delete the junk mail and respond to the important emails, if you can. Make a “To Read” folder. “Reference” emails should go in a corresponding “Reference” folder. Have a goal to clean out your inbox at the end of every day to keep all your email traffic from getting out of control, or deleting that important email that’s in the middle of the junk mail. When possible, address urgent emails immediately. Never feel obligated to read email forwards, or to even open them! If you do find an email forward interesting in content, make a “To Read” folder and place those types of emails there for you to go through later. Maintain only non-urgent emails in that folder. Take care of personalized emails as quickly as you can and end the interchange when it has served its purpose. Make time at the end of every week to go through that “To Read” folder. Read what you like and delete what you do not need.

#3 - Instead of amassing a long To-Do list, experiment by scheduling it into your daily calendar. Say you must shop for elegant thank-you stationary. Add it into your calendar as an important appointment - “Tuesday, 9:00am-9:15am, shop for thank-you’s”. It’s amazing that many tasks will actually take less than 15 minutes. This way you can add up your list of 12 or so items and knock them out in a 3-hour time block. Also, with the buffer of extra time, you can easily navigate any distractions or interruptions. Often enough, the time given for a specific task will be the time in which it is completed. Giving yourself 2 hours to finish a task usually means that you will take those 2 hours. Giving yourself all day, it will most likely take you all day.

Remember how in college you figured out how to get research papers done in one night? When you get focused and give yourself a little pressure, you will get more done in less time and usually do it better.

About the Author:
Heidi DeCoux is the publisher of the Life Made Simple E-zine and a professional organizer in Minneapolis specializing in home organization. Heidi energizes her readers’ by simplifying their homes & schedules. For more info, free tips, and to receive her FREE Report: The Fast & Easy Way to Get Organized and Stay Organized Forever, visit ClearSimpleLiving.com.
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