Ever get behind someone at the grocery store that takes a little longer checking out than the average person? Well, it may be that person is taking their time to stay organized. Slowing down is the one habit that can immediately boost your organization in life. I have listed some examples below.

Grocery Store: Take your time. There is no rush. Put your receipts, money, credit cards away where they need to go. Don’t shove them away just because you don’t want to hold people up for an extra 15 seconds.

Walking Out The Door: Stop and think. Do I have everything I need? Car keys, wallet, change of clothes for the gym etc….

Making Plans With Others: Don’t immediately make plans unconsciously, wait, check your calendar, look at how that day will feel, what about the day before or after?

*It might feel uncomfortable to slow down like this, but try it in smaller areas. Before you spring out of bed and go into robot mode, pause, and use this thought process; Are my basic human needs met before I can begin my day? Did I eat, drink water etc… If you find it challenging to think it through, bounce it off a friend or use pen and paper as a visual aid for your thoughts.

Recently, I have discovered a magic trick to keep the leftovers in my fridge from becoming lost and forgotten. I can’t believe such a simple idea can make such a difference!

A dry erase marker! Who knew?! After packing up leftovers on glass or plastic containers, grab your marker and write whats in there! Next time you open the fridge all you do is simply browse the labels.

*Tip: If you can, use the markers that come with the dry erase boards, they have a magnet attached. You can stick it to the front or side of your fridge for quick access.

When simplifying and organizing your space it is important to purge first. Sometimes those items may have an emotional attachment and can be hard to let go of. But if your item has an expiration date, that makes it easy!

• Batteries; The expiration date can usually be found on generic household batteries. It is ok to put them in your trash, your trash company may urge you to at least put them into a plastic bag.
• Medicine; Expiration dates are on most medicine. For some medicine it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are expired, but they are not as effective after they expire.
• Lipstick, Eye Shadow, Eye Pencils; 2 years
• Mascara Unopened:2 years Used:3 to 4 months. *Using clean brushes and sponges will help lengthen the life of your cosmetics. Be sure and wash or replace your applicators frequently.
• Paint; Unopened: Up to 10 years Opened: 2 to 5 years pending storage temperature and seal on lid.

   

So many business locations have some type of shoppers club that provide you with an opportunity to earn points and/or get discounts. Whether the card is on your keychain or in your wallet, they all tend to cause a mess. Here is a quick solution that I came up with in order to de-clutter your life from store cards once and for all!

In my research, I found that most stores don’t really need the actual shoppers club card. Most of them just need the card number or they can look it up if you give them your cell phone number. So, for the stores that require the card number, simply enter the shoppers club card numbers into your phone all together in one place and or even onto one little piece of paper in your wallet. Then it’s up to you to choose where you want to actually put the cards. I threw mine away, but thats because I back up my phone routinely. If your not up to date with your technology, rubber band yours cards together or put them in a ziplock and add them to your glove box or center console.

Is junk mail wasting your time? Eliminate most of it by following the steps below.

Direct Mail

• The Direct Mail Association created a website calledwww.dmachoice.org, to help you manage the mail you receive. You can specifically choose not to receive specific category’s of mail such as catalogs, magazine offers and other mail offers. It will also allow you to opt-out of receiving credit card and insurance offers permanently or for 5 years.
• Note: You will need to create a username and password. Also, they will prompt you to visit another website if you want to cancel credit card offers.

Catalogs/Magazines

• If you keep getting a catalog or magazine that you no longer look at, look for a phone number on the front or back cover and call the company. It usually takes an average of 3 minutes.

It’s that special time of year! Taxes! Digging through your files to find all the business receipts or medical expenses can be bothersome. That is why it is so important to purge through your files at LEAST once a year. If you own a business, it’s recommended to purge your files once every quarter. If it overwhelms you to think about it, at least look through your files from time to time just to stay familiar with what files you have.

Filing Tips

• Your files should be extremely accessible and close to where you sit at your desk.
• The file drawers should open easily and smoothly.
• It should be easy to open a folder and drop a paper in without cramming.
• Label folders with bold clear labels.
• For hanging folders I recommend keep your tabs lined up in a straight line vs. the zig zag, in order to avoid having the tabs becoming covered by bulky papers.
• Try to create broader categories vs. smaller specific categories in order to find your papers quickly. Ex: Create a folder titled “Banks” and then create subfolders of all your banks. Instead of trying to search all through your folders for different bank names. It’s easier to find a paper in 30 folders vs. 100 folders.

Always on the road? Loading and unloading your car daily? When someone gets in your car as a passenger do you have to first do a spring cleaning before they sit down? Here are a few pointers to help keep the clutter down!

Build In Time

• The top rule for everything in the organizing world; daily, weekly as often as needed to meet your desired level of organization. Put it on your calendar. “Clean out car”. Is there a time during the week that you drive by a car wash? Create the routine of running through the car wash and then stopping by the vacuums to dump trash.

Trash Can

• Do you have a place for trash? I prefer a small white plastic can from the dollar store. Keep it close and accessibly so you can quickly toss trash in when your in a hurry. You can also make it a habit to clean out trash and tidy up when your pumping gas.

Incoming and outgoing containers

• Any type of container with handles, designed to easily collect specific items coming and going. They will contain everything neatly so that items don’t roll under your seats to get lost. At the end of the day you can simply carry 1 container instead of doing a balancing act.

Electronics and cords

• Try ziplock bags clearly labelled for your many cords, adapters and chargers. Keeps them from getting tangled. Place them inside your center console and/or in the back pouch of the passenger seat.

Life is about the journey, not the destination. I am sure some of you may have created new years resolutions to, “be more organized”, “lose 10 lbs” or “make more money”. We all set these goals in search of reaching them and attaining immense happiness! Once we get there, we tend to fall right back to where we started because we didn’t develop any habits along the way.

If you set an intention to get more organized, from there I recommend recognizing any habits that will help you become a more organized person. For example, you are sick of having your children’s toys all over the floor. You can buy a few bins for the children’s toys but if your family doesn’t create the habit to get the toys into the basket then you still have a messy toy situation.

Everyone is on their own journey. The littlest habit changes can go a long way. They add up slowly to help create long standing habits of the future! By doing this you will start to build bridges between the mountains and valleys a.k.a trial and error in your life.

*Tip: When creating new habits, it is important that you find a way to remind yourself of this habit in any way possible. Generally, a habit is formed after a few weeks. Once formed, no need for a reminder!