Purchasing Organizing Products

As the new year approaches, our focus turns to getting organized. What to do with all the newly acquired stuff?? Well, here is a tip - before you go to your favorite store to stock up on organizing supplies, focus your attention on the elimination process. Downsize before you buy. Once you go through all your stuff and get rid of what you no longer need, you may be surprised to find that you actually don't need any organizing supplies at all.

Dividing Up Chores

Chore charts are not just for kids. They are also a great idea for spouses or roommates too. Create a basic chore chart on your computer. Make a grid with each participants name and each chore that needs to be done each week. At the beginning of the week, allow all participants to choose their chores. If this is a hassle, write each chore on a popsicle stick and put that in a jar. Have participants take turns picking chores until all are doled out. Mark the assignments on the chore chart and put it up for all to see. This will keep both adults and kids on task.




Meagan Farrell, professional organizer, is the owner of Clear the Clutter organizing services. She can be reached at (360) 631-7268 or at clear_theclutter@yahoo.com. Check out her blog at http://cleartheclutterprofessionalorganizing.blogspot.com/

Article in The Everett Herald

Clear the Clutter got some nice press today. Check out this article in the Everett Herald:

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081209/LIVING/712099944/1028/LIVING03#Stocks.down.Clean.up

Why being organized helps your budget

In these rough economic times, it is important to remember that being organized is also good for your pocketbook. Unorganized people tend to have the following bad economic habits:

• Overbuying – if you don’t know what you have or can’t find something, you will have to go buy another. So often I hear clients exclaim “I have been looking for that! I thought I lost it, so I bought another.” Or as we are organizing their pantry, we come across enough spaghetti to feed a small nation. They had no idea what they had so every time they went to the store, they bought more. Keep things organized and know your inventory.
• Failing to plan ahead – if you do not plan ahead, you spend your life in catch up mode. By not playing on the offensive side and looking ahead, you find yourself always struggling to keep afloat. As a result, you eat dinner out or pick up fast food more often, you buy gifts at the last minute – often paying top dollar or spending more than you planned, or maybe you have to hire people to do things for you because you realize that you just don’t have time to get things done. Plan ahead and know what is coming so you can deal with things in a calm state of mind rather than a frantic, desperate state of mind. Desperation will cost you.
• Not having organized paperwork – do you open and process your mail as it comes in or is it in a big pile, mixed up with other papers that you will get to one day? How will this cost you? In late fees or worse. If you do not process your mail immediately, you may be missing bills that are due, tickets that need to be paid, sign up fees, etc. When you do not pay these bills, you end up paying more in late fees, reinstating fees or court fees. Process your paperwork each and every day in order to keep on top of it.


Meagan Farrell, professional organizer, is the owner of Clear the Clutter organizing services. She can be reached at (360) 631-7268 or at clear_theclutter@yahoo.com. Check out her blog at http://cleartheclutterprofessionalorganizing.blogspot.com/





http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081209/LIVING/712099944/1028/LIVING03#Stocks.down.Clean.up

Taking on too much

Clutter comes in two forms: too much stuff and too much to do. Don’t clutter your mind and calendar with more than you can handle. Set limits and learn to say “no.” Actually, you don’t even have to say “no.” Try saying, “I would love to, but my plate is full at this time.” Even if it is not what they were hoping to hear, they will appreciate your honesty.

Taking on too much stretches you thin and will impact the quality of what you do. Some warning signs of overload are forgetting details, always rushing, and not being able to do a quality job. These are all signs that you need to cut back and do a better job at less tasks.

“But if I don’t do it, no one else will!” you say? How do you know? Try setting your boundaries and not taking on the extra work. You might be surprised at who steps forward. Lots of times when one person takes on all the work, they are enabling others to sit back and rely on them. When they finally pull back and do less, new volunteers are able to step forward and spread their wings.

Meagan Farrell, professional organizer, is the owner of Clear the Clutter organizing services. She can be reached at (360) 631-7268 or at clear_theclutter@yahoo.com. Check out her blog at http://cleartheclutterprofessionalorganizing.blogspot.com/