With all this cold winter weather, we are spending a lot of time indoors. That makes NOW the perfect time to do some purging, sorting, and storing. Yes, we all love those magazine pictures of the pretty desk drawers with every paper clip in its spot or the closet photos where every blouse is so neatly arranged and by color, too. While those images are just that, images of the idealistic view on storage, there are real means for you to take control over your possessions and fight clutter control with ease and speed.
I am happy to have tips from some guest bloggers who are the pros in this world of keeping us organized! These ladies are truly on top of their game and bring an organized and logical methodology to managing a home. Adriane Weinberg, Owner of An Organized Approach has easy to implement suggestions for staying on top of the office work space. Adraine offers Business/Residential Organizing, Home Staging, Downsizing and Redesign. She is located in Montgomery County. Her latest blog post is here for your New Year’s Motivation.
Top Tips for the Office
1. Have a dedicated space to work, whether it’s a desk in a corner or a separate home office, with equipment and supplies nearby. You’ll see when to restock supplies instead re-buying things that you can’t find or forgot you have, which wastes money and time. 
2. Banish clutter. If toys, clothes and gift-wrapping supplies begin to creep in, take them where they belong as soon as they arrive. If clutter piles up, office work will get lost and you’ll waste precious time searching for what you need.
3. Process e-mail and regular mail every day. The longer you wait, the longer it’ll take you to do and you may miss an important deadline. Wait even longer and it will feel too overwhelming.
4. Use stackable, labeled in/out trays to sort papers according to your next action, such as act, file, read.
5. Have a filing system where you can retrieve paper or digital information within 10 seconds. Yes, 10 seconds!
Photo Organizing
Yes, the holidays just wrapped up and your family is still celebrating in the hard drive! Darla DeMorrow, author of The Pregnant Entrepreneur and owner of Heart Work Organizing has these fabulous tips on photo management. Heart Work Organizing is a professional organizing and decorating company based in Pennsylvania. Don’t forget to peek at more tips this month in her series “New Years Organizing Help”.
Darla says “We have a big fat organizing mess when it comes to our photos. We are the first generation to cross over from trying to take enough pictures to leave a record of our lives. We are now able to document our entire lives, 24×7 if we wanted.” She suggests:
When managing your photos (and slides, films, and audio recordings, for that matter), the key for the modern person is to edit and curate to the very best of our personal collection. That’s what we will pass down to the next generation. Because what are photos, if not our way to remember and tell our story in the future? Instead of thinking of your photos as a single collection, first break it down into physical photos (both recent and older) and digital photos. These linked articles describe how to organize both types of photos. While it may seem like a big job, starting with today’s photos and working backwards in 30-minute increments can get it done.
“But it’s worth doing. Truthfully, the hardest part of organizing photos for many people is just getting through it without stopping to relive every memory. Stay on task, because once you’ve organized your files, you’ll be able to create something really meaningful, whether it’s a collage to display, custom photo gift products, or a quality bound photo book. The photo book continues to be one of the best ways to not only store but also to share a personal story, because we all want to know where we came from, who we are connected to, and why we do the quirky things we do.”
Darla also provide more advice on creating family memories through photo album projects.
My 2 cents on organizing is that everything needs a home. Find a space for things so everyone can help return things to a clean and organized state. For more organizing advice, please check out my latest DIY Nuggets at Noon Video where I chat with Kelly Schaefer, Lifestyle Pro and owner of Task Complete Concierge and Organizing Service. More great tips for saving time and stress for better living every day!
